Chapter 56: The Arrest

"Uncle Ye, why are you here?"

Tian Miao's face lit up with surprise before realization dawned on her.

"My dad sent you, didn't he?"

The man nodded, walking past the people behind him toward Wang Defa, and effortlessly snatched the document signed by Li Peng right out of Wang Defa's hands.

Wang Defa was too terrified to even move.

Ye Xindu was one of the Five Tigers of the Northern Theater Command, renowned for his ruthless and unyielding nature. Having survived numerous major battles, his military achievements were enough to terrify anyone.

Why had he come here?

"Step aside. I'm going into the operating room."

"T-This isn't according to protocol..."

Slap!

A heavy blow landed across his face, and Wang Defa stumbled back several steps, clutching his cheek.

Although he held a rank of his own, that empty title of a rank was entirely incomparable to a commanding general of the troops like Ye Xindu.

In the military, absolute obedience to orders was a sacred duty. Since his rank was lower than Ye Xindu's, he didn't even dare to speak.

Ye Xindu cast a cold glance at him and strode toward the operating room.

Wang Yue refused to let this happen.

She knew that once they forced their way in, everything would be over.

Her son would lose his only chance to get the most suitable kidney. She had spent so much money and exhausted every effort—wasn't it all to secure the best for her son?

No!

Nobody in this world was going to stop her from saving her son!

At that moment, Wang Yue believed she was noble, a giant shielding her child from the storm, making the choice every devoted mother had to make.

So she spread her arms and blocked the entrance of the operating room.

"You are not allowed in!

Surgery is underway inside. If you break in now, you are committing murder!

Who gave you the right? Who gave you the audacity?

Whatever matters there are, wait until the operation is over.

I will take full responsibility for any consequences."

A look of utter perplexity crossed Ye Xindu's face.

"Where did this absolute idiot crawl out from? With acting skills like that, why aren't you on the stage?

You put a red smear on a baboon's face, and the earth itself won't be big enough to hold your ego.

Pin her down."

As his words fell, one of his attendants pounced forward like a hungry tiger, grabbed Wang Yue, and executed a body slam.

The back of Wang Yue's head struck the floor with a sickening thud.

She let out a piercing shriek and instinctively reached out to scratch her attacker. The man showed no mercy, smashing the butt of his rifle straight into her face.

Wang Yue spasmed from the agonizing pain, her body convulsing as blood gushed from her nose and mouth, collapsing onto the floor like a dead dog.

A pungent odor of urine drifted through the air.

She had been beaten so badly she lost control of her bladder.

Li Manjiang hurriedly rushed over to support his wife, wanting to say something but not daring to speak too loudly.

He was terrified he might be beaten up right along with her. Although he didn't recognize the man, he could tell the visitor possessed earth-shattering authority.

Of course, he was even more afraid of drawing attention to himself. After all, he had too many skeletons in his closet; if a real investigation was launched, the consequences would be unthinkable.

He could only mutter weakly under his breath.

"How can you people resort to violence?

Is there no law or order left?"

By this time, intimidated by Ye Xindu's aura and rank, the squad of guards brought by Wang Defa quietly lowered their weapons and stood at ease.

Zhou Guodong led his men straight toward Li Manjiang and slapped handcuffs on Wang Yue.

"We are the law! The law of justice.

Wang Yue is under suspicion of hiring hitmen for murder, orchestrating a traffic accident, and illegally purchasing another person's kidney. We now have critical evidence and witnesses, and she is formally under arrest.

Li Manjiang, you're coming back with us to assist with the investigation as well."

Li Manjiang's face turned ashen. How had things come to this?

How could an obscure rural kid, an unemployed nobody, wield such monstrous influence?

When this all started, it was merely about taking one of the kid's kidneys, and he felt he had offered more than generous compensation.

How had it escalated step by step into this disastrous field?

With both him and his wife taken, what would happen to their son?

Clatter.

The door of the operating room was kicked open, drawing gasps from the people inside.

By this time, Li Qi had already been injected with an anesthetic and had passed out.

When he heard Li Peng's voice inside the operating room, he had pretended to wake from his sleepwalking episode and calmly lay back down on the bed.

As for Liu Xianming, he didn't waste time overthinking. Regardless of whether Li Qi was sleepwalking or acting, as long as he was successfully anesthetized, the fate of his kidney and his very life would be entirely in his hands.

The process didn't matter.

At that moment, Liu Xianming picked up the scalpel, preparing to slice open Li Qi's abdomen.

"Stop right there!"

Tian Miao lunged forward in a flash, throwing herself over Li Qi to protect him.

She had been just a split second away—her future husband's kidney was about to be harvested.

Like a fierce little tigress, radiating a dangerous aura from head to toe, Tian Miao stared daggers at Liu Xianming with a look of extreme ferocity.

At that moment, Liu Xianming displayed the composure of a seasoned senior physician at a major hospital.

He calmly placed the scalpel back onto the tray, stood straight up, and said with evident displeasure.

"What do you people think you're doing?

I am in the middle of a surgery. Everything else can wait until the procedure is finished.

If you interfere with the patient's emergency treatment, you are committing murder!"

Tian Miao almost laughed out loud. How could anyone be so utterly shameless?

"Shut your stinking mouth!

You aren't saving a life here; you're committing murder!"

Liu Xianming said with icy calmness.

"Young lady, you don't understand matters of medicine, but you shouldn't talk nonsense.

This person has already lost all vital signs and meets the medical standards for clinical death.

I need to extract his kidney to transplant it into someone in need.

If we delay any longer, it will compromise the transplant for the recipient.

How can the recipient's rights be protected? Can you shoulder the responsibility if something goes wrong?"

Seeing that Liu Xianming was still spouting nonsense, Zhou Guodong lost all patience and ordered the police officers accompanying him to slap handcuffs on him, as well as the other doctors and nurses in the operating room.

Liu Xianming remained defiant, shouting threats to report Zhou Guodong for brutal law enforcement and intentional homicide for profit.

It wasn't until he was pushed out of the operating room doors and saw Wang Defa squatting on the ground with a swollen, slapped face that his expression finally turned grave.

He didn't dare utter another peep.

Zhou Guodong saluted Ye Xindu, and Ye Xindu extended his hand, locking it in a firm grip with the officer.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable."

Ye Xindu smiled.

"Tian Dajiang was worried out of his mind and kept urging me to hurry over, saying that if this matter wasn't resolved properly, little Miao here would pluck out every last hair of his mustache."

The two men stepped into the operating room and looked at Li Qi, who remained unconscious. Ye Xindu nodded.

"He's got some grit for a young man. A fine piece of raw material.

I heard about what happened at the small coal mine with the black-market miners a few days ago. Did he really save Old Six?"

Tian Miao nodded repeatedly.

"Yes, yes! Li Qi is amazing, super-duper, lightning-fast invincible amazing!"

Ye Xindu pinched Tian Miao's cheek.

"A grown daughter is hard to keep at home. Look at you, acting like a tigress protecting her cubs.

If I ever fall on the battlefield one day, would you protect me like that?"

"Of course I would! Uncle Ye has always been the best to me. I'll definitely protect Uncle Ye."

"You, always so smooth with your words."

After the two finished speaking, Zhou Guodong cut into the conversation.

"Commander Ye, Wang Defa belongs to your military system, so it's not convenient for me to interrogate him."

"I'll take him back first. Tell me whatever you need interrogated, and I'll arrange it."

"That would be wonderful. I need to get to the people above him. This matter undoubtedly passed through the Ministry of Health, and all the surgical materials they used ultimately required a supervising official's authorization to be considered compliant.

I need that man's name, their transaction methods, and the frequency."

"Leave it to me."

Ye Xindu moved with the decisive, iron-fisted efficiency of a military commander, wasting absolutely no time.

He stood up, placed Wang Defa under escort, and boarded a helicopter directly.

Meanwhile, Zhou Guodong took Wang Yue, Li Manjiang, Liu Xianming, and the others back to the station for an intense interrogation.

As for Li Peng, upon seeing Li Qi lying on the operating table, he kept trying to push his way forward to demand Li Qi's bankbook password.

Blocked by the police officers, he had no choice but to retreat from the operating room and wait in the hallway.

Whether Li Qi lived or died didn't matter to him—he had to get his hands on that money.

Otherwise, he wouldn't even dare to show his face at home today, as his wife and his father-in-law's family would tear him limb from limb.

The hospital arranged a private room for Li Qi.

Half an hour later, he regained consciousness.

Li Qi instinctively reached out to touch his waist.

Fortunately, there was no wound; his kidney was still there.

Beside him, Tian Miao burst into a giggle.

"Little husband, what's wrong?

Scared your kidney was gone and you wouldn't be able to get up to any mischief anymore?"

"Who are you calling 'little'? Let me tell you, I'm plenty big."

"Oh yeah? Where's it big? Let me touch and see."

Tian Miao shoved her hand straight under the covers.