019 Passing Through—Through Walls?!

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Before long, the emergency doctor who had operated on Glasses strolled out into the corridor. Seeing this, Yang Tang was the first to step forward and ask, "Doctor, how is Glasses?"

"Don't worry, you brought him in just in time. The surgery was very successful. He lost a lot of blood, though, so he'll need to recuperate..."

"And where is he?" the pointy-chinned one asked.

"He's already been sent to the intensive care unit."

At the doctor's words, the three pointy-chin companions no longer paid any attention to Yang Tang and Ye Ni, and rushed straight to the ICU.

When only the four of them remained, Yang Tang suddenly remembered something and slapped his thigh. "Ah, I forgot to ask them to pay you back, Ye Ni!"

"It's fine. Since Glasses' father is a policeman, I doubt he'd go back on his word," Ye Ni said nonchalantly.

Wang Dong, clearly up to no good, chimed in, "You never know!"

"Is that so, young man? Sometimes a little skepticism about society is reasonable; but excessive doubt will only destroy you!" At that moment, a slightly hoarse, cold male voice came from behind Wang Dong.

Yang Tang immediately recognized that this must be Glasses’ father.

Sure enough, at the sound of the man's voice, Wang Dong and Longlong stepped aside, revealing a man just over 1.7 meters tall, with a slightly monkish face, wearing black-rimmed glasses and a police uniform, standing outside their circle. Behind him trailed three plainclothes men.

The short, middle-aged man scanned the group, his gaze quickly locking onto Yang Tang. He took the initiative and extended his hand. "Young man, my name is Wu Lie. You must be the one who called me, right?"

Yang Tang was quietly taken aback by the sharpness in Wu Lie's eyes, but still replied glibly, "That's right, it was me... My name is Yi Hong, and I’m sort of Glasses’ basketball buddy!"

"Sort of, huh? Seems like you’re a good-hearted person!" Wu Lie had clearly gleaned plenty from Yang Tang’s words. "Come on, let’s go check on Wu Hao together!"

Faced with the sudden invitation, Yang Tang hesitated a moment before agreeing. "Alright!"

"You three come along, too!" Wu Lie called to Ye Ni and the others, then led Yang Tang toward the ICU.

"This Wu guy is sharp. How did he know Yi Hong was the one who called him?" Longlong wondered aloud. "Yi Hong didn’t even speak up just now."

Ye Ni shot Longlong a look as if he were an idiot. "But Wang Dong spoke up, so it couldn’t be him. And since the three of us are together, it’s obvious, isn’t it? The caller must have been Yi Hong!"

*****

When Ye Ni and the other two got upstairs, they were blocked outside the ICU by Wu Lie's three plainclothes subordinates. The leader produced a fifty-thousand-yuan cashier’s check and slapped it into Longlong’s hand. "Miss Ye Ni, our chief asked me to thank you for covering the thirty-thousand advance for medical expenses. Here’s a little token of appreciation. As for the rest, you’re on your own." His words made it clear they were being dismissed.

Ye Ni raised her eyebrows, wanting to snatch the check from Longlong and tear it to pieces, but years of genteel upbringing kept her impulse in check. "What about Yi Hong? Your chief isn't planning to detain him, is he?"

"Absolutely not!" the man with the check replied firmly. "We’ve already received word from the normal college. After analyzing video from several angles, it’s clear that young Yi Hong was only saving someone and had nothing to do with the rest of the incident. Our chief is grateful to him—why would we detain him?"

"I hope you keep your word. Let’s go!"

Ye Ni didn’t threaten or argue. Seeing it was a lost cause, she simply walked away.

Inside the ICU, Yang Tang watched Ye Ni and the others drive off. His face was expressionless, but his heart was uneasy.

Why had Wu Lie left him alone? Was there some misunderstanding?

Just then, Wu Lie, who had just finished a quiet phone call, led Yang Tang out of Wu Hao's room and into the staff lounge.

"Yi Hong, thank you for what you did for Xiao Hao today."

"Mr. Wu, it was nothing, really. Just the right thing to do."

"You don't have to be so formal. Call me uncle, or whatever you like..."

"Uh, Wu, Wu..."

"What’s the matter? Hard to say?" Wu Lie smiled coldly, the expression not reaching his eyes. "By the way, I had your bike, the one parked at the college, brought here. It’s now by the hospital entrance. You can ride it home when you leave."

"Thank you so much!" Yang Tang feigned delight. "I was just wondering when I'd have time to go get it..."

"Yes, your bike isn’t cheap—an import, right?" Wu Lie fixed his gaze on Yang Tang. "So when my man brought it back, he checked the registry. Turns out the owner’s last name is Yang!"

At that, Yang Tang immediately understood. "Haha, Uncle Wu, you know how it is when you're out and about—you can't just let your guard down, so I accidentally used an alias!"

"Accidentally?"

"Really... But your police registry is strange. Plenty of four-wheeled vehicles aren’t registered, so why bother with my bike?"

"Most ordinary vehicles don’t need to be registered. But expensive imports—whether bikes or cars—are all on record." Wu Lie spoke matter-of-factly. "Haven’t you heard the saying? There are two things in life you can’t escape: death and—"

"And taxes!" Yang Tang finished, feeling a pain in his jaw.

"What’s with the face? Who told you to be so obsessed with foreign brands? Don’t we make top bicycles in China? Don’t we make top cars? So, we can’t let people like you dodge taxes. It’s only natural that imported vehicles are fully recorded!"

Yang Tang could only laugh helplessly. "But, Uncle Wu, that bike was a birthday gift from one of my dad’s former overseas students. Has nothing to do with taxes, right?"

"Yang, you’re the registered owner now—so you tell me. And you even used a fake name—Yi, Yi what again? Tried to fool me!"

Yang Tang could only grin sheepishly.

"Alright, you can go. Here’s my card. When Xiao Hao wakes up, I’ll let you know." Wu Lie placed a business card in Yang Tang’s hand, dismissing him.

Yang Tang had wanted to leave anyway. He stood up. "Then I’ll be on my way!"

"It’s not like I’m stopping you," Wu Lie glared. "Remember, Yang: don’t use fake names in front of the police. You’re lucky it was me today. If it were someone else, you’d be in the station already. At the very least, you’d be held for forty-eight hours. See who you’d cry to then!"

"Yes, yes, lesson learned!" With that, Yang Tang left the lounge, finally relaxing only when he ducked into the empty men’s bathroom.

"Phew—"

Letting out a long breath, Yang Tang was filled with frustration. Just then, a squeaking noise came from the water pipe above the urinals.

He looked up and saw, damn, a huge rat baring its teeth at him from the pipe.

Separated by just a meter, their eyes met—big eyes to small. The furry rat seemed utterly unafraid of Yang Tang’s glare.

"Even a little beast like you dares to challenge me? Believe it or not, I could take you out in a second!" As he spoke, he activated [Scarred Grasp] with his mind.

He hadn’t expected the skill to work, but before the usual prompt could appear, his vision blurred and suddenly he was facing a stall door, with barely a fist’s width between his back and the wall.

"When did I turn around? Wait a minute—no urinals... Damn, this is the women’s bathroom!" Yang Tang muttered, and just then a trembling female voice sounded from the stall.

"Who’s there? Who’s outside?"

Oh crap!!

Yang Tang bolted for the door, dashing out of the ladies’ room. Before he could slip back into the men’s, a piercing scream erupted from the women’s side—"Help! Help! There’s a pervert!!" The shrieking was so loud half the building could hear.

Footsteps echoed faintly in the corridor.

Though he knew returning to the men’s was risky, Yang Tang gritted his teeth and slipped inside. After a moment’s thought, he pulled out a tissue, suppressed his disgust, wrapped up the dead rat that had fallen from the pipe, tossed it into the squat toilet, and then locked himself in a stall, dropped his pants, and started doing his business.

As he relieved himself, Yang Tang marveled—so, [Scarred Grasp] lets me pass through walls? If that’s the case, couldn’t I just tape a live rat to the wall of a vault, activate the skill from a distance, and pass right through?

Wait—if [Scarred Grasp] can kill larger animals like cats and dogs, and smaller ones like rats, would it work on something even smaller? Could I trigger the skill with any living creature?

Clarity arose within: "As long as your mind can lock onto a living creature, [Scarred Grasp] can attack it!"

"Really? What about microorganisms?" Yang Tang wondered.

But before enlightenment could answer, there came a rough knocking at the door. "Anyone in there?"

"Yeah, I’m using it. No other stalls free?"

No sooner had he spoken than the light in his stall dimmed. Looking up, he saw Pointy Chin peering in over the partition.

"Hey, Officer, isn’t this considered peeping at my—?"

Pointy Chin replied, "If you think so, file a complaint." With that, he dropped down and, from the next stall, said, "There was a peeping incident in the women’s bathroom just now. If not for Chief Wu, I’d haul you across the street for questioning right now, believe it or not?"

Yang Tang dared not reply, and was shocked to recall there was a police substation just around the corner from the hospital—no wonder Pointy Chin and his companions had arrived so quickly.

After their footsteps faded away, Yang Tang got up, flushed the toilet several times to make sure the dead rat hadn’t clogged the pipes, washed his hands, and went downstairs to retrieve his bike and ride home.

By the time he got back, it was nearly eight o’clock. Both his parents were home, and as soon as he walked in, he was met with a thorough scolding.

.

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