Chapter 896: Chapter 647: Trial
"Talk about making it sound like it’s my fault." Although Yang Xiao said this with a grin on his face, he couldn’t help but grumble inwardly.
After sending Huang Qiang away and sitting in front of Director Nalan’s desk, he gently caressed the armrest of his chair with his palm, savoring the delicate feel of the leather seat beneath him. Yang Xiao couldn’t help exhaling slowly, relaxing his body backwards into the chair.
Lifting his head to look around the spacious and bright office, Yang Xiao was filled with emotion. Indeed, power is the best aphrodisiac for a man. Imagine, the director sitting here daily, strategizing with laughter and ease - what a scene that must be.
Yang Xiao slowly sat up and started to tackle the topmost file from the pile that resembled a small hill to begin his day’s work. He couldn’t let Director Nalan down and aspired to be a man like him.
Not for the sake of low-level desires such as power and wealth but for his own ideals; to govern well in his position and protect the city beneath his feet.
Just as Yang Xiao was getting overwhelmed by the documents in front of him, suddenly, the office landline rang. Approaching to take a closer look, he was momentarily stunned – it was a call from his own office, the captain’s room of the investigation team.
A twinge of apprehension struck Yang Xiao’s heart. Could it be that Huang Qiang’s bad omen had come true, and a supernatural event had come knocking so soon?
No way, all was well when he wasn’t around, but as soon as he returned, so did the supernatural events. What was this supposed to mean? What would his brothers think of him?
"Hello..."
Answering the phone with a quiver in his voice, Beibei’s anxious voice came from the other end immediately, "Captain, there’s trouble! A child in Bright District in the east of the city is suspected to be possessed by something supernatural. His voice turned hoarse and he screamed, refusing to go to school, saying it’s very dangerous. As a result, half an hour later, the school bus he should have taken had an accident. Fortunately, only a few were slightly injured, and no one died."
"The child has made another premonition now, claiming there is a major danger at school. With hundreds of kids there, it would be a huge disaster if something happened. The police can’t take this lightly – better to err on the safe side. They’ve contacted us directly, and I’m preparing to take people over there," Beibei explained quickly, making the situation clear in a moment.
"I’m coming with you!" Yang Xiao stood up, ready to hang up and set out.
"No need for now. I’ll go check the child first. The investigation team from Luming Bureau has already rushed to the school; they are organizing an evacuation of students and teachers," Beibei clarified.
Hearing that the school’s teachers and students were being evacuated, Yang Xiao finally felt relieved. At the same time, a question arose, "Why are you the one informing me?"
After all, he was currently the acting chief of the Lin’an Patrol Bureau, albeit not publicly disclosed, but it was a fact, and he had no reason to get the news later than Beibei.
Pressed for time, it was Xi Menxiu who stayed behind that took over the phone to explain to Yang Xiao. It came down to an issue of the alert levels for contingency plans.
Like this incident, there was still no clear evidence linking it to a supernatural event, and there were no serious consequences like death or severe injuries, so the hazard level of the case was deemed low.
Before the preliminary investigation even started, the policy is not to report to the director. Given that the director, as the highest commander of a city’s patrol bureau, is tasked with myriad responsibilities day in and day out. Beibei had just called him out of habit.
"Inform the intelligence department that next time something like this happens, they should report to me immediately," Yang Xiao said, furrowing his brows. He disliked the feeling of not being in control; after all, he’s not a big shot and doesn’t have the airs of one.
"Understood!" Xi Menxiu was quite effective at providing reassurance. Yang Xiao could even sense that as he spoke those two words, his expression must have been stern, standing at attention.
During the morning, Yang Xiao took a few calls and made a few. Unlike Nalan Shuo’s ease with routine, many aspects here were new to Yang Xiao. Fortunately, Ms. Wen and Huang Qiang were there to help.
Around noon, Yang Xiao finally received the long-awaited call. It was from Da Xiong, who couldn’t help but feel both amused and annoyed, telling Yang Xiao to rest easy because this was not a supernatural event, but rather a child’s solo dramatic act.
Turns out the kid was addicted to reading supernatural novels and didn’t want to go to school, so he imitated content from the story, pretending to be possessed by a ghost to frighten his mother, with claims like school was dangerous and that there would be a big threat at school – all fabrications.
But as luck would have it, with blind chance akin to a blind cat stumbling upon a dead rat, the school bus indeed met with an accident which threw his mother into a panic. Coupled with the child’s incessant babbling and convincing act, they ended up causing a huge misunderstanding, much to Da Xiong’s dismay.
"How did you guys find out he was faking?" Yang Xiao asked with a sigh of relief, smiling as he had a hunch there must be an amusing story behind this.
"Huh, at first, I went in with the equipment to check, but there was no reaction at all. The people from Luming Bureau reported that there was no situation at the school either, so we started feeling that something was off."
"We asked the child and his family to step out of the bedroom, and after a simple search inside, we found a supernatural novel under the bed."
"When we found the book, the child still denied it, rambling on trying to scare us, claiming he was a literary master from a hundred years ago, retaining memories from his past life, proficient in spiritualism, predicting the future – he almost made us laugh, but the parents were still defending him, tearfully insisting that their child never lies from a young age."
