Peerless Martial Expert in the City
Chapter 394 - 397

Chapter 394: 397

"Self-defense? I don’t see any wounds on you, but these three seem quite injured."

As the thought crossed his mind, the policeman’s gaze toward Xiao Yi turned frosty, and his voice carried a sinister tone.

"Comrade police officer, you can’t just say that,"

If it had been someone else, facing such a frosty look and tone from a policeman, and with so many other officers standing behind him, making such a big show, they might have been intimidated already, perhaps unable to even finish their sentence. But could such a display possibly scare Xiao Yi?

Hearing his overtly transparent stance, unmistakably siding with those four opposite him, a cold sneer flickered across the depths of Xiao Yi’s eyes—it seemed he had indeed hooked a big fish.

Glancing casually at the direction of the road, where a silver-black Mercedes was slowly approaching, he rebutted without a change in expression, "Self-defense doesn’t mean I have to be hit before I can defend myself. If I am not mistaken about the concept, it should be that when our personal safety, life, or property are threatened, the appropriate counterattack constitutes self-defense, right?"

After speaking, without waiting for the policeman to respond, he directly added, "Don’t think about deceiving me. Although I’m not highly educated and lack a sophisticated background, I am nonetheless a student at Z University, and moreover, my classmate is a top scholar in the law department."

A student at Z University?

Hearing Xiao Yi’s words, the leader of the policemen furrowed his brows.

The status of Z University in G City, and indeed in the entire Southern Half Country, was extraordinary—it could almost be described as the spiritual leader of the southern half.

Of course, that wasn’t his concern; no matter how prestigious Z University was academically, it could not interfere with their police work. After all, its significance was purely academic and not administrative—it had nothing to do with them.

However, Z University’s strength lay not just in its rapidly rising academic status over the years but more so in its atmosphere of freedom. Over the years, Z University’s professors, students, and leaders were famously outspoken, vigorously active in major media, known for their boldness, and sometimes even Western and Harbor Island media compared Z University to Yanjing University of the early last century—a true bastion of free democracy, inclusive and daring to act.

But this concern flickered only momentarily in his mind. After his gaze lingered slightly on Xiao Yi and the indicated Wang Qingqing, it quickly disappeared. Such two naïve youngsters, what trouble could they possibly stir? His tone cooling, he stared coldly at Xiao Yi, "Kid, are you trying to pressure me with Z University? Do you think being a student there gives you the right to flout the law?"

"What a people’s policeman, today I really got to know one,"

Hearing the policeman skew the truth outrageously for the sake of their Director Li’s relative, twisting words and concepts to sidestep the previous topic and smear him, Xiao Yi could no longer restrain himself, a cold smile curling at his lips, "Which of my words threatened you? I was merely stating my identity, how is that threatening? As a lawful citizen, don’t I even have the right to state my identity? Are only your relatives and friends allowed to say ’I am XX director, deputy director’, while we ordinary citizens cannot even say ’I am a student of XX school’?"

With Xiao Yi’s words, there arose a deep resonance from within the hearts of the surrounding onlookers, particularly some who had been oppressed by the powerful yet had no outlet for their grievances, became visibly agitated, clenching their fists.

People seemed to suddenly break free from the shackles in their hearts, from the inherent awe of fully armed police, or perhaps, from the reverence civilians hold towards officials. A wave of murmurs rose, and some bold ones even gave Xiao Yi thumbs up, cheering phrases like ’well said’.

Wang Qingqing, too, was visibly excited. From a young age, under her father’s thorough guidance, she had unwaveringly regarded fairness and justice as the sole tenets of her belief, choosing law as her field with the intention of safeguarding these ideals in the future.

She firmly believed that the world was fair, just, bright, and pristine, but that did not mean she was an irrational and unprincipled fanatic who blindly believed that fairness and justice would eclipse all else involved.

Her eyes could see, her ears could hear; she would read newspaper reports about the darkness and listen to and accept those not-so-pleasant realities. More often than not, she chose to believe that all this was not the mainstream, but merely a minority.

But over the years, the increasing number of these reports, as well as her own experience just now, had somewhat disappointed her.

At this moment, hearing Xiao Yi’s words, she felt as if someone had asked a question that lingered in the deepest part of her heart, a question she lacked the courage to ask herself. Her whole heart stirred with excitement, as if she was the one interrogating the other party. Even her blood boiled...

"You..."

The police had never expected Xiao Yi’s reaction to be so intense, nor his thoughts so sharp, his words so cutting. Seeing the unusual expressions from the surrounding crowd, expressions he had never faced before, his face alternated between pale and flushed as he pointed at Xiao Yi, too angry to utter a single word.

"What’s all this noise? Everyone be quiet! We, the people’s police, represent justice, represent fairness, the most just, the fairest, we definitely won’t wrong a good person, nor a bad person! Are you trying to interfere with the police handling their duties by acting this way?"

Director Li had also not anticipated Xiao Yi to be so bold. Facing so many fully armed police, he was still incredibly daring, and more importantly, sharp-tongued and eloquent.

Seeing him resonating with the onlookers at that moment, and seeing the team captain who had accompanied him on his errand rendered speechless out of anger, Director Li also became angry and anxious. He glared at Xiao Yi and then swept his furious gaze over the most reactive individuals in the crowd, shouting angrily.

Hearing Director Li’s angry shout and seeing the murderous look on his face, the initially excited crowd instantly felt weaker, and the small spark that had just ignited was extinguished by reason; they quickly lowered their heads again.

"What a grandiose ’people’s police’ you are! I dare to ask, sir, what position do you hold in the public security bureau? Do you have the authority to say these things? Do you have the right to intimidate us citizens?"

A contemptuous smile appeared on Xiao Yi’s lips as he looked at the pot-bellied Director Li.

Upon hearing Xiao Yi’s words, the crowd nearby momentarily realized that Director Li was not a police officer. They lifted their heads again, their eyes intensely focused on Director Li. They felt a surge of anger at his earlier pretension of threatening them, and their impression of the police worsened even further.

"I..."

Director Li had not expected that his attempt to intervene and relieve his colleague would be seized by Xiao Yi to question him back. Looking at the disdain on Xiao Yi’s face and those icy eyes, his own face couldn’t help but show a flurry of panic.

Hearing Xiao Yi’s words, the police chief, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, furrowed his eyebrows, feeling that Director Li had spoken without thinking, that his earlier words were extremely low-grade and only added to the chaos.

Frowning, preparing to say something to defend Director Li and salvage the situation, he saw Director Li, after struggling for a while, his face turning red to his neck, retort, "What’s wrong with saying we’re the people’s police? Why can’t I speak? I’m a good citizen assisting the police with their duties, that’s our responsibility!"

Hearing Director Li’s words, the police chief finally relaxed, a satisfied expression appearing on his face. After all, as Director Li’s brother, his oratory skills were decent.

Even Xiao Yi had not expected him to come up with such a quick-witted response, and a hint of surprise flashed through his eyes.

However, it wasn’t his intention to catch him out on his words, that wasn’t his goal. After hearing his explanation and seeing the pride on his face as he looked at him, a hint of scorn flickered in his eyes. He directly turned his gaze back to the police chief and said, "Since the police comrade is just and fair, then, please uphold justice for us, the common people. These few owe us ten million. They not only refuse to pay but also attempted to physically attack me, with extremely hostile attitudes."

"You..."

Hearing Xiao Yi’s words, the two men who had just stood up with Director Li’s support almost spat out blood. Him saying they owed him ten million was one thing; he was holding an iron rod, they were like grandsons before him. How dare they show hostility or threaten his safety? All along, hadn’t he been the one threatening their safety? Even if it was bullying, this was too excessive, right? (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to visit qidian.com to cast your recommendation votes and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation.)