Chapter 164 Arrested Again

Chu Dong sat on the sofa, glancing around Professor Lantian's room. The old-fashioned furniture was predominantly brown, giving it a heavy and solemn feel. Next to a large bookshelf stood a brand-new piano that clearly cost a fortune. The floor, however, was made of ordinary grayish-white composite wood and was impeccably clean; if not for the large muddy footprints he had left behind, it would have been spotless.

It was somewhat hard to imagine that Lantian still lived in such a traditional courtyard house. In his impression, the professor did not seem short of money, but upon second thought, traditional courtyard houses nowadays were worth a fortune, and not just anyone could afford to live in such a place.

Sensing the old man's genuine concern for him, Chu Dong did not hide anything and recounted the sequence of events step by step. Of course, he omitted any grandiose tales of single-handedly slaughtering a crowd, merely explaining that a group of people had sought revenge against him, leading to a clash that resulted in his current state.

Lantian sighed angrily, condemning Qian Feng and his associates for disrupting the public order of the capital and essentially dragging the reputation of the capital through the mud. For a scholar, this was the absolute peak of fury, but he could do little more than express condemnation; expecting him to burst into a string of vulgar curses was unrealistic.

Lantian urged Chu Dong to take off his down jacket so he could examine his wounds, insisting that they should go to the hospital despite the risks if things looked too bad. Chu Dong politely declined.

"Professor Lan, I'm sorry to have caused you trouble. I actually didn't remember your address; it was pure coincidence that I ended up here. I'll rest for a bit and then leave, otherwise it will be terrible if I implicate you."

Lantian was quite displeased with Chu Dong's polite alienation. "How can you say something like that? Even if it weren't you today, if it were anyone else, I couldn't just stand by and do nothing. Just rest here in peace; I refuse to believe anyone would dare to do anything to you."

The old man's stubborn streak flared up. He brought over a pair of slippers and went back into his room to fetch a small medical kit. Elderly people often had their own private medicine boxes, and Lantian was no exception. Inside were medications for heart conditions, painkillers, and anti-inflammatory drugs. Rummaging through the pile, he put on his reading glasses and carefully inspected them to see what could be used.

Since Chu Dong truly had nowhere else to go and genuinely needed some treatment, he stopped acting tough. With the old man's assistance, he peeled off his heavy outer down jacket. The process inevitably pulled at his wounds, causing him to grimace and bare his teeth. Once the clothes were off, revealing his well-toned and muscular torso, Lantian couldn't help but gasp when he caught sight of Chu Dong's back.

There were over a dozen lacerations across his back. A few of them were deep enough that the flesh had gaped open. Although the bleeding had stopped, disinfection was still necessary to prevent infection. Fortunately, none of the bones appeared to have been damaged, or the old man wouldn't have dared to treat him himself.

Even so, Lantian furrowed his brows deeply as he sprinkled crushed anti-inflammatory powder onto Chu Dong's wounds. The gashes, resembling little baby mouths, were truly shocking to behold.

"You shouldn't put your shirt back on for now. The heating in the room is decent, so it's not too cold. Here, I'll find you a blanket, and you can just lie flat here for the night. Tomorrow, I'll find a doctor to come take a look at you." Lantian was getting on in years, and the commotion in the middle of the night had exhausted him. Seeing that Chu Dong was not very mobile, he brought over a blanket, covered him gently, and placed a pillow under his chin so he could rest comfortably on the sofa.

After Lantian returned to his bedroom and a long time had passed—long enough for Chu Dong to hear the old man's soft snoring—Chu Dong endured the tearing pain in his back and climbed up. He found his phone, turned it on, and immediately switched it to silent mode. No sooner had he finished than a cascade of over a dozen text messages flooded in. Most of them were missed call notifications from Tan Xue, interspersed with text messages she had sent—some expressing worry, some asking questions, and naturally, quite a few demanding an explanation.

"Brother Dong, what are you busy with?"
"Brother Dong, call me back, or I'll be angry."
"You dare hang up on me? Fine, I'll give you one chance. If you don't have a good reason, my previous promise is canceled!"
"Are you still alive or not? Damn Brother Dong, see if I don't skin you alive for actually daring to ignore my calls..."

Ignoring Tan Xue's texts for the moment, Chu Dong sent an email first. Once it went through successfully, he lay back down on the sofa and texted Tan Xue back. If this girl went without any news from him much longer, there was no telling how much trouble she would raise later.

Just as a text message went through, a call came in. Chu Dong hurriedly hung up. Texting was fine, but making phone calls in someone else's living room in the middle of the night was simply impolite.

"I'm not in a convenient place to talk on the phone right now. We'll talk tomorrow," Chu Dong texted back, then promptly powered off his phone again.

Upon reading this, Tan Xue replied asking why. After waiting for a long time without a response, she couldn't help but call again, only to hear the automated voice prompt that the phone was turned off. Furious, she hurled her phone against the soft pillow, her lips pursed in a pout so prominent she could hang an oil jug from it.

Li Youlan was woken up by Tan Xue's commotion. Groggily glancing at the clock, she saw it was already past one in the morning. "Xue'er, why aren't you sleeping yet? What time is it? I'm going back to sleep." With that, she flopped back down and fell straight back to sleep.

In the dead of night, snowflakes began to drift across the skies of Beijing. Urged on by the northern wind, the snow grew heavier, draping the entire capital in a thick white blanket.

The street brawl in Dongdan the previous night had quieted down. The injured had all been taken away for medical treatment, and even the pools of blood on the ground had long since vanished beneath the heavy cover of snow. However, the matter was far from over. The public security department had launched an overnight investigation, tracing every possible route Chu Dong might have used to escape, but to no avail. The heavy snowstorm only added to the difficulties of the manhunt, yielding zero results by daybreak.

Through his internal connections, Qian Feng had naturally learned of this development and flew into a rage, personally calling the police station near the scene of the incident to apply pressure. Naturally, the people at this local station were far from strangers to him.

Therefore, despite struggling through the night, they refused to give up. Reviewing the street surveillance footage, they discovered that Chu Dong had not managed to escape the local area after the incident. That meant the man was likely hiding somewhere nearby.

All available police forces were mobilized to launch a grid-style search of the surrounding neighborhood, leaving no blind spots unchecked. Given the surveillance footage showing that Chu Dong was clearly a dangerous individual, apprehending him if he resisted arrest would undoubtedly be troublesome. Consequently, several heavily armed assault teams were dispatched with rounds chambered to thoroughly inspect every single household.

A little past seven in the morning, they arrived at Professor Lantian's residence, and someone raised a hand to knock on the door.

"Is anyone home? We're police officers."

Despite being a heavyweight figure on stage, Lantian was truly at a loss when faced with such a situation. Emerging from his bedroom, he looked anxiously at Chu Dong, having no idea what to do.

"Professor Lan, open the door. It's fine. I'm just a victim; what can they possibly do to me?" Chu Dong offered a calm smile, urging the old man to answer the door.

Seeing Chu Dong remain so composed, Lantian's panicked heart settled slightly. He walked toward the door and called out, "Coming."

Opening the door, Lantian looked out at six or seven police officers standing outside. "Is there something you need?"

"Sir, sorry to disturb you. We're from the Dongdan Police Station. There was a gang fight near the Peking Union Medical College entrance last night, and a key suspect managed to escape. This individual is extremely dangerous, and we are conducting a routine check. We hope for your cooperation." The officer was very polite; this speech had clearly been repeated many times and rolled off the tongue.

"There are no dangerous people here. You can leave," Lantian frowned, moving to close the door.

"Sir, wait a moment. Is that down jacket yours?" An observant police officer spotted something suspicious inside the courtyard.

Lantian's body instantly stiffened as one of the officers brushed past him and stepped directly into the yard.

Chu Dong's down jacket had been thrown into the washing machine by Lantian to be washed yesterday. After being spun dry, it had been hung by the window. The places where it had been slashed by knives still revealed the fluffy down inside, making it exceptionally conspicuous now that it had dried.

Obviously, ordinary people would not want such a ruined piece of clothing, let alone wash it and hang it out to dry. Police officers were professionals trained to spot the tiniest clues, and right there, the facade crumbled.

Realizing that further concealment was pointless, Chu Dong stood up. After a night of rest, he felt significantly better; if not for the wounds on his back, he would have seemed completely fine.

"Stop looking, I'm right here." Chu Dong draped a blanket over his shoulders and stood in the doorway, smiling at Lantian. "Professor Lan, I'm sorry for causing you trouble."

The police officers drew their firearms, aiming directly at Chu Dong out of fear that he might resist arrest. From reviewing the surveillance footage the previous night, they all knew that if Chu Dong decided to fight back, no one present would be able to stop him.

"No need to be nervous. Let me put on my clothes first." Chu Dong turned back into the room, put on his shirt and suit jacket. As for his wool sweater, holding it in his hand was fine, but trying to pull it over his head with his back in this condition was a bit too painful. The down jacket wasn't fully dry yet, so he left it be. Changing his shoes, he calmly walked outside.

"I'll go with you. Is such a massive show of force really necessary?" Chu Dong chuckled. "Professor Lan, don't worry, I'll be fine. I'll come back to visit you later."

The police officers did not share his relaxed mood. Remaining on high alert until he reached them, one officer finally breathed a sigh of relief once the handcuffs were securely clicked onto Chu Dong's wrists, immediately reporting their success up the chain of command.

Qian Feng also received the news and was ecstatic. From his perspective, exonerating himself would be effortless—why would a mere pianist think he could fight someone like him? The fact that Chu Dong had engaged in a street brawl was an ironclad case, clearly captured on camera. Once the police had him in custody, a lengthy prison sentence awaited him. How could someone like that possibly continue competing with him for Xiao Rou? Qian Feng was so excited he felt like rolling around in the snow.

Lantian let out a heavy sigh of regret, wishing he had remembered to hide the down jacket. If not for that oversight, had he simply stood his ground a little longer, the police wouldn't have dared to force their way in, and Chu Dong would never have been discovered.

Lantian's granddaughter had woken up by this time as well. She was already fully dressed, but seeing Chu Dong in the living room had made her slightly timid, keeping her from coming out. Instead, she pressed herself against the window, quietly watching the scene unfold outside.

Chu Dong was dressed quite thinly. Stepping out into the sudden drop in temperature, he couldn't help but shiver, his breath turning into white plumes of mist in the air. Beijing was truly much colder than Dalian.

This wasn't the first time he had been taken away by the police, but it was undoubtedly the most disheveled he had ever been. Chu Dong smiled self-deprecatingly, raising a hand to smooth back his hair, which was still matted with dried blood. "Which way are we going? Is anyone going to lead the way?"