“Did I make myself clear?” asked Qiao Zhan again.
Everyone was stunned.
“All of you are just agreeing on the surface. But in reality, you didn’t even take my words to heart, right?” yelled Qiao Zhan.
“Of course not, we’ll definitely remember what you said!” They quickly responded.
“Tell me then, what did you remember?” Qiao Zhan pointed at one of them.
“Regardless of who instructs us to mess with people from the Nan family, we should never act on those instructions,” replied the man fearfully.
“Why not?” Qiao Zhan probed.
The man was at a loss for words, having never thought of the reason before. What’s with all these questions?
“Because Qiao’s here…” replied the man hesitatingly with an appeasing smile.
“Does that mean that you will mess with them as long as I’m not around?” asked Qiao Zhan.
“No! Of course not!” The man became flustered.
“Why not? Say it!”
“Because we can’t afford to mess with them.” A smart guy thought of the best answer.
“Yeah, we can’t afford to.” Everyone agreed that this was probably the ideal answer.
Qiao Zhan thought that the answer was acceptable. Besides, he hadn’t thought of a better answer yet, anyway.
“Okay, then. If the police seek you out for an investigation, you must answer honestly,” instructed Qiao Zhan.
“Yes, we will.” Everyone responded.
“Tell me, what happened today?” Qiao Zhan asked them again.
Everyone was once again stunned. Glancing at each other, none of them knew how to answer.
There were simply too many questions thrown at them tonight. Feeling like examinees, they were at a loss for what to do.
“Are you blind? Don’t you know what happened today? If the police ask you, what will you tell them?” asked Qiao Zhan again.
“We’re too dumb. Qiao, can you give us a hint?” Someone asked timidly.
“Before I came, what were you guys doing?” asked Qiao Zhan.
“We were singing. That b*stard, Gao Bao, told us that he prepared a surprise for us tonight. However, when we turned up, there was no surprise at all.”
“What did you do other than sing?” asked Qiao Zhan.
“We flirted with some girls because Gao Bao called up a group of young ladies. But we didn’t do anything!”
“What else?” Qiao Zhan continued staring at them, not letting them off the hook so easily.
Everyone exchanged looks, but nobody knew what Qiao Zhan wanted to know.
“Whose drugs are those?”
With that, everyone understood. “It’s Gao Bao’s, of course! He wants to distribute them to us, but we refused. As lawful citizens, we would never touch those things!”
Only then did Qiao Zhan nod his head.
“Gao Bao said that I hit him. Did I hit him?” Qiao Zhan scanned everyone threateningly.
No one dared to respond. Someone whispered, “Do you want us to say yes or no?”
“What are you talking about? Just tell the truth! Are you implying that I’m trying to falsify your testimonies? Am I someone like that? When I entered, I tried to strike up a peaceful conversation. How is it possible for me to hit someone?” bellowed Qiao Zhan.
“Yes, you’re right. You tried to convince Gao Bao to turn himself in nicely, but he refused. Although you were furious and had an urge to hit him, you held yourself back because you’re a cultured man!” exclaimed one of the men.
“That’s right. You didn’t hit him at all!” agreed everyone else.
“These words came out of your mouth, and I had nothing to do with it, am I right?” Qiao Zhan pointed at them.
“We are only speaking the truth. We’re not under anyone’s orders.” Everyone said simultaneously.
“Good, that will do for now. I’ll be leaving then.” Qiao Zhan nodded in satisfaction.
It wasn’t until Qiao Zhan left did everyone finally heave a sigh of relief.
Truth be told, they were actually overjoyed that Gao Bao had fallen off his pedestal.
Now that the King of the Night was gone, it meant the underworld was about to undergo a drastic change. After all, the title of the next ‘King’ was now up for grabs.
At midnight, Ning Ran was suddenly jolted awake from her sleep.
This isn’t the time for meals. Am I going to be killed? Ning Ran was frightened.
“You can leave now,” said the female police officer who accompanied her to the hospital.
However, Ning Ran was in slight disbelief. It’s so late already. Why would they release me at this time?
“Am I going to be killed?” asked Ning Ran as she stared warily at the female police officer.
She flashed Ning Ran a friendly smile. “Did you watch too many television dramas? We’re living in a law-governed society. Those scenes in your imagination won’t happen here. We’ve already found evidence that you’ve been framed, so you can go now.”
Although the female police officer’s smile seemed sincere, Ning Ran still did not believe her.
After being locked up for such a long time, she lived on the razor’s edge, not willing to believe anyone’s words.
“Why aren’t you moving? Did you get addicted to staying here and don’t want to leave anymore?”
“It’s not that. I just find it a little unrealistic. What happened?”
“There are new developments to the case. The newly found evidence proved that you’re innocent, so you can leave now. It’s that simple.”
“Who testified?” asked Ning Ran.
“We can’t reveal the details of the case so easily. Those must be kept top-secret as the case hasn’t been closed yet. However, since you’re the suspect, I can reveal some parts to you. We found some video evidence that someone planted the drugs in your bag.”
“When were the drugs planted? Why didn’t I discover them?”
“It was planted when you were squeezing into a crowded elevator. There were many people there and the culprit was very experienced too. Hence, it’s hard for you to notice it.”
“Then, why was my drug screening results positive? I didn’t even take those drugs.” Ning Ran probed further.
“Someone added the drugs into your drinks, so the drug screening results proved you guilty. You can slowly delve deeper into the details later. Now that you’re released, you should leave as soon as possible. It’s already very late,” said the female police officer.
“Can I really leave?” Ning Ran was still in disbelief.
“Of course. Why would I lie to you?”
“I’m going to leave now, okay? You won’t detain me again when I reach the entrance, right?” A worried look crossed Ning Ran’s face.
The female police officer chuckled. “Of course not. We won’t detain people for no good reason. We’ll only catch suspects and criminals. I hope you’ll continue acting well. I’m looking forward to seeing more of your shows!”
With that, Ning Ran finally felt relieved. “Thank you so much!”
After exiting the police station, she spotted Qiao Zhan.
“I’m sorry, Young Mistress. It must have been hard on you.” Qiao Zhan walked towards her.
“Don’t call me that. I’m not used to it. All I wanted to know now is whether I’m really cleared of all charges.” Ning Ran was still a bit nervous.
“Of course! Let’s go.”
]Ning Ran spotted Nan Chen’s car and she ran over. She pulled the car door open and sat on the seats.
Although she was treated quite nicely inside, she had not bathed for a few days.
Her orange blossom fragrance was still there, but it had already been diluted by other stenches.
Frowning, Nan Chen instructed the driver, “Go to the sauna first.”
Ning Ran knew that she was quite smelly too. Although her body was not too filthy, someone like Nan Chen would find it hard to endure.
“Instead of asking about how much I’ve suffered, you’re disgusted by me? Where did your sense of pity go?” whined Ning Ran angrily.
“Well, you’re fine now, aren’t you?” Nan Chen threw the question back at her.
“You didn’t even visit me for all the days I’ve been detained. Were you prepared to let me fend for myself?”
“If that were the case, you’d probably be in prison by now. Do you think that you can prove yourself innocent?” Nan Chen asked.
Ning Ran was left speechless at that.
