Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Xu Zhangying looked utterly baffled. "So what if I am? Why are you shouting like that?"

Tang Xinrong's face instantly twisted like a spilled palette of emotions, as if his entire psyche had been upended. Then he spat and sneered with venomous contempt, "You filthy piece of trash sure knows how to put on an act. From a distance, you actually had me fooled. How can a savage animal like you even be a cop? The quality of mainland mutts has really gone downhill these past few years—what a joke! No wonder you’re such a lunatic and mentally unstable. Turns out you’re just a mongrel!"

Before Xu Zhangying could respond, Xia Qing, standing beside him, took a step forward and roared, "Shut your mouth!"

He was nearly half a head taller than Tang Xinrong, and his usually indifferent face was now flooded with blazing anger. At the same time, in the air imperceptible to Xu Zhangying, the pheromones of a top-tier alpha instantly dragged Tang Xinrong and Zhong Heping into an invisible, terrifying pressure.

It was at this moment that the Major Crime Unit truly realized for the first time that this polite young professor was a peak alpha standing at the pinnacle of pheromone dominance. His control over his pheromones was frighteningly precise—so much so that Zhao Yang and Tan Song, standing just three steps away from Tang Xinrong, remained unaffected by the oppressive force.

Tang Xinrong could only feel a physiological tremor rapidly spreading from the depths of his chest to his entire body. It took him a full three seconds to regain sensation in his fingertips. Once he recovered, he was immediately consumed by deep humiliation and resentment. Furious, he snarled, "Xia Qing, how dare you use pheromone suppression on me! You’ve got some nerve! No wonder you empathize so much with this worthless beta—must be remembering your own days as a mongrel. Everyone knows how you and your mother—"

"Uncle Seven, I’ve been looking for you everywhere. Turns out you’re here in this godforsaken place gossiping with the police." Suddenly, a man’s voice rang out from the direction of the entrance.

Everyone turned to see Tang Youning striding over with four tall, burly men in suits. Though his tone had been teasing, his face was icy, devoid of any trace of amusement.

The moment Tang Xinrong saw him, whatever bravado he’d mustered instantly evaporated. He stammered incoherently, "Youning! What are you doing here? Who told you?"

Tang Youning glanced at him, then at Tang Yingshao, who stood handcuffed and looking bored in the corner. He shook his head. "Uncle Seven, I recall you were here representing Shunyuan Foreign Trade for the Qingyuan bidding conference. Since when did you become the spokesperson for Qingyuan? I handed the company over to you as a favor, since you begged me. But if you don’t appreciate it, consider yourself unwelcome here."

Tang Xinrong’s face turned deathly pale. Though he was Tang Hongyun’s biological son, as an ordinary alpha among many descendants, he had never stood out. Past middle age, he still lacked any substantial backing, especially compared to this top-tier alpha nephew who had been absent from the Tang family for over thirty years. The assets in his hands were a drop in the ocean.

Tang Youning’s cold, dismissive words almost completely dismantled Tang Xinrong’s will to resist. Meanwhile, aside from Shao Qiaoqiao, the rest of the Major Crime Unit had no idea why this legendary Tang heir had suddenly appeared.

Tang Youning’s gaze swept past Xu Zhangying without lingering, as if he couldn’t care less about the tense standoff between the police and the thugs. He merely tilted his head slightly and said impassively, "Second Uncle was furious when he heard you brought Yingshao here to fight the police. He figured you wouldn’t back down, so he sent family to assist the officers."

As soon as he finished speaking, the bodyguards behind him stepped forward and marched straight toward Tang Xinrong. Fang Puxin and Yan Jianbai exchanged a glance before moving aside with Zhao Yang to make way.

Tang Xinrong panicked completely, but the Tang family bodyguards clamped onto his shoulders and arms with iron grips, restraining him with practiced efficiency. His hair gel and clothes were disheveled from the struggle, leaving him looking utterly pathetic. Within seconds, all traces of his earlier arrogance were gone.

Watching the absurd scene unfold, Xu Zhangying let out a soft sigh of relief. A hand gently rested on his shoulder.

He turned to see Xia Qing, whose usually stoic face had softened slightly from the emotional turmoil. His eyes held a silent question, but he didn’t voice it.

"Let me go! I can’t leave yet! Don’t touch me!" Tang Xinrong bellowed.

Fang Puxin ignored him, swiftly cuffing his hands behind his back. Only then did the Tang bodyguards release their grip, though they still flanked him on either side. Fang Puxin checked the time—just a few minutes had passed. The SWAT team would soon arrive to take over the mass crime scene.

The moment the cold metal touched his wrists, Tang Xinrong began trembling violently, as if struck by some sudden illness. Song Yuli gave him a strange look, but seconds later, Tang Xinrong’s eyes turned bloodshot, and he roared at the black-suited man beside him, "What are you standing around for? Have you forgotten Code Three?"

Zhao Yang and Qi Feng had been discreetly observing the Tang family’s peak alpha, who was dressed in hot pink. Tang Xinrong’s sudden outburst snapped them back to reality.

Xu Zhangying frowned, his mind racing—what code?

Then, in the next instant, his peripheral vision caught Tang Xinrong violently breaking free from the bodyguards, his face twisted with unprecedented hatred as he charged straight at Xia Qing!

In that split second, Xu Zhangying also saw the black-suited man lunging for the control panel near the industrial crusher—No! They were trying to activate it!

The massive industrial crusher in this factory had been modified by Qingyuan. Essentially, it was a deep pit with a conveyor belt at the bottom and interlocking gears in the middle as crushing components. Even steel plates nearly ten centimeters thick could be shredded by its immense force—its mechanism resembled the moving stairs of an escalator.

If a person fell in, it would be no different from being thrown into a blender.

For a moment, Xu Zhangying’s chest felt hollow.

Somehow, Xia Qing’s face seemed to drift away like clouds on a late autumn day, gone in an instant.

From the onlookers’ perspective, all they saw was Xu Zhangying shoving Xia Qing aside before Tang Xinrong barreled into him, sending them both tumbling into the pit filled with metal debris and massive gears. The crusher roared to life with a terrifying scream the next instant. The gears began to turn with a sickening grind.

"Xu Zhangying!" Tang Youning screamed, lunging forward in anguish.

No one saw this disaster coming. Only Zhao Yang roared in fury, snatched the gun from Fang Puxin's hand, flicked off the safety in half a second, and fired a shot into the shoulder of the black-suited man standing before the control panel!

The gunshot snapped Qi Feng awake. With eyes bloodshot, she charged forward, grabbed the wailing black-suited man, and slammed his head against the wall with a horrific crunch. Two other thugs who tried to rush the controls were kicked down by Qi Feng, doubled over in pain while clutching their stomachs.

Li Jiali shouted in a trembling voice, "Hurry, save him!"

The crusher's terrifying whir lasted only half a second before stopping. Just as Tan Song and Song Yuli were about to rush forward, they saw Xia Qing leap into the crushing pit.

Shao Qiaoqiao screamed, "Professor Xia!"

The pit was five meters in diameter, with gears meshing like jagged teeth nearly two meters below ground level. Xia Qing stumbled only briefly after jumping in before lunging forward to lift the motionless Xu Zhangying.

Blearily, Xu Zhangying felt someone lift and turn him over with great effort. Something warm was dripping down his face, and it took his foggy mind a while to recognize it as blood. Then he noticed the hands holding him trembling uncontrollably.

During the brief unconsciousness brought on by the violent impact, he couldn't recall what had happened. His vision was bright, and everything was loud—for a moment, he thought he was back in the special care ward in Hangzhou, especially when he faintly heard Tang Youning's voice, though it sounded distant.

Who was holding him?

Xu Zhangying felt the person carrying him take a few unsteady steps before hearing them say, "Careful with his arm—it got crushed. There's rebar pierced through."

White-hot pain from his injuries jolted Xu Zhangying awake after dozens of seconds of unconsciousness. Li Jiali was speaking softly beside him, "He must have hit his head. Thankfully, he wasn't dragged into the crusher's gears."

Zhao Yang and Qi Feng crowded around him. Seeing his eyes open, Zhao Yang, eyes bloodshot, teeth clenched, snapped, "You idiot! You should've kicked him! Why did you shove Xia Qing away without dodging yourself?!"

Lowering his head, Xu Zhangying saw a hand pressing gauze tightly against his shoulder—a hand with a thin, white scar across the knuckles from stitches.

Just as Xu Zhangying relaxed slightly, rapid footsteps echoed as fully armed SWAT teams entered the factory in three formations. The leading officer saluted Yan Jianbai before swiftly taking control of the scene, surrounding over thirty thugs, Tang Xinrong, and others in an airtight perimeter.

Xu Zhangying tried to speak but tasted thick blood the moment he opened his mouth. Only then did his tongue and nose register sharp pain. "Fuck, why is my mouth full of blood?"

"Don't talk," Xia Qing's voice suddenly came from above him. Xu Zhangying realized he was half-lying in Xia Qing's arms.

Xia Qing added calmly, "You're bleeding from your mouth and nose. You can't stop it yourself."

Xu Zhangying instinctively wiped below his nose with his uninjured right hand, smearing it with slick blood. Qi Feng immediately scolded, "What are you doing?!"

Only then did Xu Zhangying realize both nostrils were pouring blood like faucets.

Tang Youning bellowed furiously nearby: "Why isn't the ambulance here yet?! Weren't they notified in advance?! What the hell are they doing?!"

Tang Xinrong was still struggling, yelling at the two SWAT officers restraining him, "You have no right to arrest me! I don't answer to you! I'm a U.S. citizen! Tang Youning, are you mute?! Why aren't you speaking up for your uncle?!"

Tang Youning pointed at him and snarled at the SWAT commander, "Arrest him now, damn it! He just tried to kill someone! Get him sentenced ASAP!"

Tang Xinrong shouted in disbelief, "Have you lost your mind, Tang Youning?! I'm your blood uncle! What kind of Tang family member are you—?!"

When Tang Youning returned with a bodyguard carrying a first-aid kit, he saw Xu Zhangying—his face covered in blood below the nose—lying in Xia Qing's arms, lifting his head to look at him. Blood spilled from his lips as he spoke, his teeth stained crimson: "You came back?"

The bodyguard knelt down, handing fresh gauze to Xia Qing, who replaced the saturated one. The bodyguard then began treating the bleeding in Xu Zhangying's nose.

Zhao Yang, Qi Feng, Yu Mei, and Li Jiali, gathered around Xu Zhangying, looked up to see the Tang family's top alpha—who had been staring expressionlessly at Xu Zhangying moments ago—begin shaking visibly. After a brief moment, tears welled up in his eyes without warning.