Chapter 221
Chapter 221
Qingzhai Station had never been so crowded.
With the people of Qingzhai Village gathered there and Qin Ying looking battered and bedraggled, the railway police officer found the situation difficult to handle.
No one had noticed when a third group arrived.
When their leader, a powerfully built old man as broad as double doors, with snow-white eyebrows and beard but a vigorous bearing, made his move, the railway police officer shouted instinctively.
“What are you doing? No fighting!”
Qingzhai was no major station. The railway police usually dealt with nothing more serious than villagers trying to bring prohibited items aboard or getting into verbal disputes.
The officer did not even have a can of pepper spray on him. He gripped the baton at his waist, feeling distinctly uneasy.
As he studied the men before him, doubts churned in his mind.
They did not really look like an organized crime group.
Gangsters might be arrogant and overbearing, but they were not stupid. Who would wear a Black Trench Coat in the height of summer, when merely standing still was enough to make a person sweat?
Maybe they were mental patients?
The railway police officer let his thoughts wander for only a moment before raising his voice again to restore order.
But the white-haired old man who had just thrown someone away with one hand circled behind the crowd.
He reached out, and good lord, that hand was big enough for the NBA. He planted it on top of a yellow-haired punk’s head.
His palm nearly covered the punk’s entire face.
It gave everyone the impression that all he had to do was curl his fingers to treat the man’s head like a squishy toy and knead the brains inside for fun.
“Sir, don’t do anything rash!”
Even the railway police officer could hear the tremor in his own voice.
The old man with the white buzz cut raised his eyes and swept his gaze over Qin Ying.
Half her body was covered in blood, and her face was as pale as paper.
He then turned to look at her car. It had been splashed with Coffin paint, and all four tires were flat.
Slowly, he turned back toward the group from Qingzhai Village.
His grizzled hair stood up like needles, and his eyes carried an inexplicable pressure that no ordinary person could possess.
The yellow-haired punk whose head he held like a basketball was utterly terrified.
He did not dare make a sound. His legs went limp beneath him, and he began to sink toward the ground.
The last time they had met, Qin Ying had gathered from Deputy Director Chen’s thunderous cursing that he had quite the temper.
Despite her weakness, she did not miss the opportunity to state her case. “Director Chen, these are the people who set us up.”
“They smashed our car and put venomous snakes inside it.”
“I almost fell into their hands too.”
Every word she said was true. The moment she finished speaking, the yellow-haired punk let out a bloodcurdling scream.
His head was on the verge of being crushed in one hand by the massively built Deputy Director Chen.
Deputy Director Chen glanced at Qin Ying. “Understood.”
Then he flicked his arm.
The yellow-haired punk was skinny, but he was still around 1.7 meters tall. Yet Deputy Director Chen sent him flying one-handed as easily as if he were tossing a stalk of wheat straw.
He landed squarely on Zhang Yubo.
Zhang Yubo had been hiding behind the crowd and fanning the flames. He had already been kicked through the air and knocked unconscious.
When the yellow-haired punk crashed down on him, everyone heard the sharp cracks of bones breaking.
As though that were a signal, the people from Qingzhai Village exchanged glances and prepared to scatter in every direction.
Deputy Director Chen rounded on the men who had come with him and barked, “What are you standing there for? Waiting for someone to hand you a bonus?”
Only then did the four hulking men behind him step forward, each wearing a Black Trench Coat.
Like Zhang Lang, they had all undergone Monstrous Beast Genetic Modification. Catching these villagers was even easier for them than catching rabbits.
Seeing this, Aunt Mo broke from the crowd and ran toward the railway police officer.
Her earlier arrogance and belligerence had vanished without a trace.
As she ran, she pulled her hair loose and shouted, “Gangsters are beating people! The authorities must stand up for us!”
The railway police officer, still gripping his baton, saw the scene descend into chaos and reached out to stop her.
But a leg suddenly shot in from the side.
Qin Ying’s head hurt as though it were about to explode, but she had not forgotten her grudge.
She raised her foot and kicked Aunt Mo onto her backside.
Qin Ying had only just opened a “Door” and could barely remain standing. The kick was weak and did little damage.
She looked around for something she could use as a weapon, but when she found nothing suitable, she pulled out her phone, gripped it tightly, and swung it at Aunt Mo.
Messing up her own hair was part of Aunt Mo’s usual tantrum routine. Unfortunately, with her disheveled hair covering her face, she failed to dodge.
Qin Ying slammed the corner of her phone into Aunt Mo’s head twice. Before the woman could even process what had happened, streams of warm blood were already running down her scalp.
Qin Ying didn’t take it too far. After those two quick blows, she immediately withdrew her hand and stepped aside.
Before long, all the troublemakers were crouching in a row against the wall.
Sitting casually on the steps, Qin Ying swept her gaze over them. Seeing every last one of them black-and-blue, she relaxed.
Apparently, none of the colleagues who had come were bleeding hearts.
The Thunderbird perched on her shoulder and watched the commotion.
Nearby, Deputy Director Chen was showing his black-covered credentials and speaking with the police officers stationed there.
A tall, dark-faced man in a trench coat inspected Qin Ying’s totaled car, then pulled a dead snake the Thunderbird had electrocuted from the back seat and brought it over.
The station police took one look at the carcass. Its head was emerald green, narrow, and pointed. It was a highly venomous species native to Qingzhai Mountain.
Deputy Director Chen’s expression changed. He strode over, crouched beside Qin Ying, and studied her. “Were you bitten?”
He had assumed Qin Ying was in this condition because she had been poisoned, but Qin Ying shook her head. “No.”
She pointed at the Thunderbird on her shoulder. “My little pet saved me.”
The snake had clearly been electrocuted, and Qin Ying couldn’t keep the Thunderbird hidden forever.
Rather than have someone uncover it later, she might as well reveal a little now.
It would be even better if she could get its existence officially acknowledged.
At that, Deputy Director Chen glanced at the Thunderbird on her shoulder.
Its plumage was a purplish blue, and its tail feathers were unusually long. He could tell at once that this little creature was no ordinary bird.
He was about to reach out, but the Thunderbird sensed his intention. It took wing and lunged forward to peck him.
No matter how docile the Thunderbird was around Qin Ying, it was still One of the Nine Chicks of the Phoenix, a sacred bird the Sand People had worshiped for a hundred years.
It would never tolerate being pawed at by an ordinary person. The only reason it hadn’t electrocuted him was because Qin Ying had warned it not to.
His hand meeting empty air, Deputy Director Chen calmly withdrew it. “As long as you weren’t bitten.”
He reached into an inside pocket and took out a plastic medicine case.
After opening it, he gestured for Qin Ying to take a pill.
Seeing it was the same kind of healing medicine Wu Qian and the others had taken, Qin Ying accepted without ceremony. She wiped off her left hand, took a pill, and tucked it beneath her tongue.
The badly injured Wu Qian and the others were still on the mountainside, waiting to be extracted.
Qin Ying was in poor condition, so they didn’t let her go with them. Instead, she stayed behind at Qingzhai Station to rest.
Someone at Qingzhai Station cooked her a bowl of noodles. Before Qin Ying could finish, her eyelids began to droop, and all she wanted to do was sleep.
The staff were terrified she might keel over dead at the dining table, so they hurriedly arranged a room for her to rest in.
Having drained her mental energy yet again, Qin Ying took off her filthy hiking jacket and fell into a deep sleep.
She had no idea how long she had been asleep when she suddenly sensed someone beside her.
Opening her eyes, she found Qin Zhiguo’s broad, dark face looming over her, with Dean Tan standing beside him.
Both men sighed in relief when they saw her wake up.
Qin Ying tried to move, but Qin Zhiguo hurriedly barked, “Lie still.”
Only then did she realize she was lying in the infirmary.
“Uncle, why are you here?”
She asked weakly, her eyelids already drooping as she began to drift off again.
Seeing her like this left Qin Zhiguo both furious and heartsick. “Someone died. How could I not come?”
After a moment, he started scolding her. “You stick your nose into everything! You actually dared come here alone? Where did you get the nerve?”
At the sound of Qin Zhiguo’s scolding, the feathers behind the Thunderbird’s crest bristled.
Deputy Director Chen, who was also in the infirmary, immediately held out an arm to stop Qin Zhiguo. “Stay back. The Thunderbird is very protective of its master.”
When they had noticed something was wrong with Qin Ying, they had wanted to treat her immediately, but the Thunderbird pecked at anyone who came close.
Though the Thunderbird didn’t shock anyone, its speed alone was more than they could handle.
All anyone saw was a flash of blue light, and then they had already been pecked on the head five or six times in a row.
By the time they realized what had happened, an enormous lump had swollen on their forehead.
If the Thunderbird hadn’t recognized Qin Zhiguo, there was no telling how many people it might have electrocuted during the short trip to the infirmary.