Chapter 166: Must Kill Him

Early the next morning.

Lin Meng was still groggy with sleep when he suddenly heard the voices of his stepmother and Pan Qiaolian talking.

"What? Li Dahai is coming to our house with the police. What does he want?"

"I don’t know, but it doesn’t look like anything good. You should hurry and have Xiaomeng hide!"

"At a time like this, where can he hide!"

Hearing their anxious voices, Lin Meng jolted awake, his drowsiness vanishing in an instant.

He threw on his clothes in a few quick motions and walked out.

"Xiaomeng, you came out just in time. Li Dahai brought a police officer over, and it looks like they’re going to arrest you. Hurry and find a place to lay low for a couple of days!" Pan Qiaolian said, her face filled with anxiety.

Lin Meng shook his head, his expression grim. "Under these circumstances, I probably won’t be able to hide. Besides, if I run, they’ll very likely make things difficult for my stepmother."

"Xiaomeng, Li Dahai won’t actually have the police take you away, will he?"

Li Wanrong’s face was stricken with panic, tears on the verge of falling.

Lin Meng held her hand and softly comforted her, "Stepmother, don’t worry. Even the police need evidence to do their jobs. They wouldn’t dare act recklessly."

Zhou Xinlan nodded nervously.

Just as she was about to say something, Li Dahai walked over with a man in a police uniform who looked to be in his thirties.

Behind them trailed four or five auxiliary police officers.

"Officer Wu, that’s the kid!"

As soon as Li Dahai saw Lin Meng, he pointed a finger straight at him.

Officer Wu nodded and strode up to Lin Meng. "Kid, I received a report that you’re suspected in a kidnapping case. I must ask you to come with me to the police station for an investigation," he said coldly.

Hearing that he was going to take Lin Meng away, Li Wanrong instantly panicked. "Officer, my son has always lived in the village. How could he do such a thing? Is there some kind of misunderstanding?"

Officer Wu glared at her and reprimanded her mercilessly, "Do you think we don’t know whether it’s a misunderstanding or not? Since when is it your place to question how the police handle things?"

"I..."

Li Wanrong turned pale with fright, not daring to utter another word.

To bottom-rung farmers like them, even a lowly police officer was a formidable figure.

The notion that commoners shouldn’t fight the authorities was practically carved into their bones.

"Officer Wu, if you’re saying I’m suspected of kidnapping, you have to show some evidence. Who exactly did I kidnap?" Lin Meng’s expression instantly darkened.

"My cousin, Li Dabiao, of course! He invited you to dinner the night before last, and we haven’t been able to contact him since. He must have been kidnapped by you!" Li Dahai shouted with absolute certainty.

"The witness has spoken. What else is there to defend yourself with? Just come with me!"

Officer Wu reached out to grab Lin Meng’s wrist.

Lin Meng certainly wasn’t going to admit to it. He dodged to the side and said with a cold face, "Officer, it seems you haven’t even asked me about this matter yet. Are you saying his words alone can be used as evidence?"

"Whatever you have to say, you can say it down at the station. We police don’t need to explain ourselves to you! You just need to cooperate obediently."

Looking impatient, Officer Wu reached for Lin Meng again.

"Without conclusive evidence, I won’t go with you."

Lin Meng scoffed and dodged once more.

He wasn’t stupid. This police officer and Li Dahai were clearly in cahoots.

Once inside the station, would he even have a chance to speak?

Having grasped at thin air twice in a row, Officer Wu was thoroughly enraged. "Fine! Openly resisting arrest! You have absolutely no respect for the people’s police or the law!"

With that, he yanked the handcuffs from his waist, producing a sharp CLINK of colliding metal.

Seeing this, Li Dahai immediately fanned the flames from the sidelines, deliberately raising his voice to shout, "Officer Wu, I told you this kid was always arrogant! Now that he’s done something guilty, he’s completely lawless!

"You absolutely must arrest him and rid the people of this menace!"

Officer Wu nodded and tossed the handcuffs directly to Lin Meng. "Kid, cuff yourself with these! Don’t force me to do it myself! If you dare resist again, I’ll arrest you immediately on charges of obstructing official duties and violently resisting the law!"

Lin Meng let out a mocking laugh. "Arresting someone based solely on a one-sided story—so this is how you police officers operate.

"Anyone who didn’t know better would think you took someone’s money and were working for them."

A flash of guilt crossed Officer Wu’s eyes, but it was quickly replaced by humiliation-fueled rage. "Watch your mouth, kid! Daring to slander a law enforcement officer will only make your crime worse!

"What are you guys standing around for? This kid openly insulted a police officer. Cuff him right now! If he dares to resist, beat him to death!"

The auxiliary police officers behind him exchanged glances and walked toward Lin Meng.

"You’re the police! How can you be so unreasonable!" Li Wanrong hurriedly stepped in front of Lin Meng to protect him.

"Exactly! You have no evidence, so on what grounds are you arresting him!" Pan Qiaolian couldn’t help but shout as well.

Officer Wu exploded with anger and waved his hand dismissively. "These two women are harboring a criminal and obstructing official duties! Take them away too! We’ll teach them a good lesson down at the station!"

"Don’t you dare!" Lin Meng suddenly found it hard to suppress his fury, clenching his fists as he considered fighting back.

Noticing this, Li Dahai smiled with deliberate provocation. "Lin Meng, aren’t you a good fighter? Throw a punch if you’ve got the guts! Let’s see if you can bear the charge of assaulting a police officer!"

Lin Meng certainly knew the severity of assaulting a police officer, but he absolutely could not watch helplessly as his stepmother and Pan Qiaolian were harmed.

Besides, with his connections to the Bai family, they should be able to help him suppress this matter.

With this in mind, Lin Meng lost all his reservations.

"Tch, you’re always acting so tough, but in front of the police, you’re just a coward!" Li Dahai, seeing Lin Meng stay silent, assumed he was scared and spat contemptuously.

His expression was simply ugly to the extreme.

Some of the villagers who had been drawn over by the commotion also couldn’t help but shake their heads, feeling that Lin Meng was doomed.

Ordinary people like them, no matter how much money they had, definitely couldn’t win against officials.

Alas, Lin Meng was still too young!

At this moment, Lin Meng looked at Li Dahai with a calm face, as if he had accepted his fate. "Village Chief, I have a few words I want to say to you."

"Heh, you know you’re wrong now? It’s too late to beg for mercy!

"However, if you kneel down, apologize to me, and agree to compensate me with two million, I might consider letting you serve two years less in prison."

Li Dahai walked toward Lin Meng with a smug face.

"Motherf*cker!"

Lin Meng cursed loudly and delivered a vicious slap.

The strike sent Li Dahai crashing to the ground on his butt. His mouth was full of bloody froth, a few of his teeth had fallen out, and his face was entirely bewildered.

After landing that slap, Lin Meng finally felt a surge of satisfaction.

Coming to his senses, Li Dahai began cursing furiously, "You little bastard! How dare you hit me! Officer Wu, you saw that, right? Hurry up and arrest him! I’m going to kill him!"