Reborn Cat Sheriff

Chapter 335 The Consequences of Drunk Driving

"Ugh! What a mess this is!"

Fu Boxian looked at the man handcuffed to the radiator, then at Hu Lijun who was helping Lin Ge rinse his mouth. He coughed helplessly and rubbed his head, not understanding how things had escalated to this point.

Standing next to Hu Lijun was Zheng Mingxing, who had rushed over after receiving the news.

His face was extremely pale; no one had expected that a simple extortion case would escalate to the point of nearly turning into a murder.
Zheng Mingxing wanted to criticize Hu Lijun for not controlling the scene properly, but the police station was short-staffed, and it was unreasonable to send Hu Lijun out on a mission with only a cat. Add to that the dozen or so people who had gathered to watch, and it was simply impossible for Hu Lijun to handle everything alone.

Hu Lijun even had to control the young man suspected of committing a crime! The fact that he and Mimi were able to control the situation was a testament to their timely reaction and proper rescue.

So he sighed and decided to let Hu Lijun off the hook for now.

This incident, occurring right in front of the traffic police squadron, tarnished the reputation of both units. At this moment, not only Zheng Mingxing, but even the squadron leader Guan Zhenzhong, had a face as dark as ink. Such an incident during the Spring Festival meant that no one could escape criticism and a written self-criticism afterward.

"Old Hu, take this guy to the hospital! Your cat bit him pretty deep; it won't stop the bleeding without some stitches."

Fu Boxian cleaned the cat's wound on the man named Li Sanwei, but he couldn't completely stop the bleeding. Lin Ge's bite was too deep; only in this way could he be forced to let go and save the woman.

"I'm not going to the hospital! It's just a little bleeding, a little pressure will stop it! My family doesn't have money, we can't afford to go to the hospital!"

Surprisingly, when Hu Lijun offered to take him to the hospital, Li Sanwei shook his head and refused without hesitation.

"You don't need to pay! The police station will cover the medical expenses for the cat bite. You also need the rabies vaccine, so stop dawdling. You don't want to die of rabies someday, do you?"

Hu Lijun's threatening remark made Li Sanwei hesitate.

Rabies... If you get infected, you'll definitely die if you don't get vaccinated in time. It's just a trip to the hospital for wound cleaning, they shouldn't find anything, right? Anyway, at worst... if you notice anything unusual, just run away, it's better than dying of rabies.

Li Sanwei glanced at the cat staring at him, especially noting that the cat's sharp fangs looked rather dirty; what if it really did have some kind of virus...

After thinking about it, Li Sanwei nodded obediently.

Zheng Mingxing asked the traffic police squadron for a police auxiliary officer to help Hu Lijun take Li Sanwei to the hospital for wound cleaning. Zheng Mingxing himself stayed at the traffic police squadron to discuss traffic and security issues with the leaders there during the post-Lunar New Year school and work resumption rush.

Then, less than half an hour later, he unexpectedly received a call from Hu Lijun.

"Instructor Zheng, Li Sanwei has run away!"

On the other end of the phone, Hu Lijun sounded breathless. He seemed to be running and chasing after something, and along the way, one could hear various horns and loudspeakers from nearby shops.

"Ran?"

Zheng Mingxing stood up without regard for his image.

Hu Lijun stopped at an intersection, looked around awkwardly, and said, "I went to the restroom and asked Xiao Gong to keep an eye on things for me. Who knew that right after I got my rabies vaccine, Li Sanwei suddenly attacked. He knocked Xiao Gong unconscious and took the opportunity to escape. I've chased him to the outside of the hospital, but I can't find him anywhere. Instructor Zheng, could you please ask Mimi to come over and help me? Can you please not make a big deal out of this and give me some time to catch him?"

“I’ll ask someone to go find Mimi right away, don’t worry. There’s still plenty of time. As long as we catch him again in time, we can pretend this never happened. I’ll also call the station and ask anyone who’s available to come and help you.”

Surprisingly, Zheng Mingxing did not criticize Hu Lijun, and even showed more patience than usual.

"Then thank you very much, Instructor Zheng."

Hu Lijun breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that Zheng Mingxing was surprisingly easy to talk to this time. He had even prepared himself for punishment, but Zheng Mingxing's first reaction was to help cover it up.

The only regret right now is that the dead cat has disappeared again! If it had been my own Mimi instead of that lazy auxiliary police officer who came with me, how could she have been knocked unconscious by Li Sanwei with handcuffs and then escaped?
"Seriously, it was just a minor act of intentional assault. Was it really necessary to run away or even attack a police officer?"

Hu Lijun felt that there must be other issues behind this matter.

However, Li Sanwei's facial recognition was normal, and there was no criminal record on his file. So why would this guy do something like this? Hu Lijun really couldn't figure it out, and for now, he could only guess at the worst-case scenario.

For example... what this guy might have done before facial recognition and the inclusion of the archive system in the networked database.

A decade or two ago, police agencies primarily relied on paper documents. It was common for criminals to flee from the south to the north, or for someone to commit murder in the north to flee to Hainan. There were even instances where police officers spent three or four years painstakingly pursuing a suspect only to discover the target was hiding in a neighboring province or city just across the river – these are all real occurrences. Given Li Sanwei's age and his previous violent killings, there is indeed a possibility he had committed a crime before.

"Damn it, could it be a murderer who committed a crime years ago, fled, changed his name, and is hiding in Zhangzhou City?"

Hu Lijun's back was a little wet.

Even a police officer, thinking about his recent close, unsuspecting encounter with a murderer, couldn't help but feel a chill. He had a wife and children at home; he certainly didn't intend to die a heroic death here.

"Brother Hu?"

Suddenly a familiar voice rang out from the side.

Hu Lijun looked up and saw Sun Chang and Zhang Ke, both dressed in casual clothes. The two were walking hand-in-hand towards him, and they bumped right into each other. Sun Chang was even holding a large ice cream cone; it was hard to imagine what it tasted like to eat that in winter.

"Brother Hu, what happened?"

Zhang Ke noticed that Hu Lijun's complexion wasn't good, and his panting appearance seemed abnormal.

"Oh! How embarrassing! It's good that you two ran into each other, come and help me! If this matter can't be resolved as soon as possible, I'm afraid I won't be able to stay in the police station any longer."

Hu Lijun smiled wryly as he conscripted Zhang Ke and Sun Chang, then briefly recounted the beginning and course of events. Zhang Ke immediately agreed without hesitation, while Sun Chang took the keys from Zhang Ke and was about to return to the police station to retrieve his dog.

Seeing how enthusiastic the two were, Hu Lijun felt much better.

But as long as that guy hasn't been caught, how can he be completely at ease?

"Damn it! Why isn't Mimi here yet!"

Hu Lijun gritted his teeth and cursed angrily.

"Ah!"

Lin Ge couldn't help but sneeze, feeling snot dripping from his nose and hanging on the tip of his nose. He quickly shook his head and flicked it away.

Winter is definitely not cat-friendly!

In the cold weather, his fur alone wasn't enough to keep him warm. Plus, the ground was freezing cold, so Lingo couldn't wait to get back to his warm cat bed.

He had gotten annoyed by the traffic police and had secretly left on his own. Since he wasn't wearing a collar, he was unaware of the accident that had happened to Hu Lijun. He lazily strolled towards the police station, hoping to find the white cat and see where it and its kittens had disappeared to.

"Ok?"

As he was looking around, he suddenly smelled a familiar scent.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be his own unique flavor.

Lin Ge looked up in surprise, following the direction of the scent. He quickly saw a figure hurrying across the street, wearing a hat and keeping his head down, blending into the crowd. Lin Ge didn't recognize the person at first, nor did he know why he smelled like him. But after staring at him closely for a moment, he suddenly realized—it was Li Sanwei, the man he had bitten earlier! But why was this guy here, and all alone?
Honestly, how could the police station release someone who almost killed someone so easily?
Lin Ge sensed something was amiss and, disregarding the freezing weather, quickly turned around and followed.

Li Sanwei was extremely cautious the entire way, carefully concealing his identity from beginning to end. The large hood of his down jacket served as a natural cover, and he kept glancing around warily as he walked, appearing both anxious and calm. However, he still didn't realize that a cat had already set its sights on him and was slowly approaching, using the flowerbeds and roadside trees as cover.

"Damn it! You little bastard, you almost got your old man caught!"

Muttering curses under his breath, Li Sanwei hurried home expressionlessly. He needed to pack his things quickly and leave Zhang City; at this point, he couldn't even worry about his wife and children. After all, if what happened back then were exposed, he would surely die.

"be found?"

The muttering through gritted teeth did not escape Lin Ge's ears.

Twitching his ears, Lin Ge had even more doubts in his mind, and he became more vigilant. Unfortunately, the slippery tree was not suitable for climbing at the moment, so his trail would still be noticed by passersby who would stare curiously, forcing Lin Ge to hide in the wet grass.

A Ford Focus roared past on the side of the road, and Lin Ge caught a whiff of Sun Chang's scent inside. Unfortunately, the Focus was too fast and disappeared into the traffic before Lin Ge could even say hello.

Not long after, another police car with its lights flashing drove past in the opposite lane.

The appearance of the police car made Li Sanwei even more vigilant. He lowered his head, wrapped his coat tighter, and quickened his pace. He soon turned into an alley, while Lin Ge was blocked on this side of the road.

The pedestrian crossing was a bit far, and as a cat easily overlooked by drivers, Lingo preferred to use crosswalks with traffic lights. So he had to run to the other end of the intersection, wait for the green light, cross the street, and then come back.

Using scent tracking, Lin Ge quickly located Li Sanwei again.

It was a garage-like room facing the alley, with a half-open roller shutter door. Peeking inside, I saw a lot of construction site equipment. Li Sanwei, who had gone to the innermost part of the room, had changed his clothes and was now dressed as a migrant worker. Then he pushed out an electric scooter from the side of the roller shutter door, the kind without license plates. He placed a bulging canvas bag on the back seat, tied it with a rope, and calmly made a phone call while tidying up.

"Okay! It's alright now, I'm out. That woman wasn't dead or injured, what law did I break? I'll settle it with some money, don't nag. I'll figure out what to do with my son, I'll go out and find some work to earn some money."

He appeared to be in contact with his wife, the woman who had been seen wearing a tattered coat at the traffic police station earlier.

His words sounded perfectly reasonable, but Lin Ge, who had been living in the police station for almost half a year, immediately recognized that the guy was lying. Given what he had done before, how could a little money really solve everything?

Even if he managed to save the woman by chance, a charge of intentional assault would be enough to send Li Sanwei to jail for the rest of the Spring Festival!
Lin Ge felt increasingly uneasy.

The man gave Lin Ge the feeling that he was about to run away, but Lin Ge couldn't understand what could possibly make him go to such lengths. Surely this guy hadn't killed the middle-aged man who called the police in a fit of rage? How did he even get back?
"Hmph! You might escape the first day of the month, but do you think you can escape the fifteenth? You've ruined my peaceful life, so you'd better pay the price! I'm out of money for my trip, so how can I not kill your whole family after all my twenty years of hard work going to waste?"

Turning around, Li Sanwei retrieved a sharp little axe from the house, tucked it into his belt, then got on his electric scooter, chuckled twice, and drove off.

"..."

Lin Ge, who was hiding behind the right corner, heard Li Sanwei's mutterings and his fur stood on end.

"Wha...what's going on? What was he saying just now? Whose whole family is he going to kill? Holy crap, what's this guy's background? Is he planning to kill someone and then run away? Who's the target? Could it be..."

The image of the woman in the wool coat and her smug middle-aged husband as she left suddenly flashed into Lin Ge's mind.

"Are you... are you kidding me? Is it really necessary to take it this far? Besides, he was just driving under the influence. The one who really broke the law and committed extortion is your son! Now he's going to be punished by law, but you're going to kill his whole family to get revenge? What... what kind of mentality is this? What does this guy... think human life is? I thought it was strange when he attacked that woman without hesitation. Sure enough, this guy has killed someone before, hasn't he?"

Lin Ge stared in disbelief as Li Sanwei disappeared into the alleyway.

The electric scooter wasn't slow, so Lin Ge calmed himself down and quickly gave chase. While chasing an electric scooter was practically impossible for a cat, he couldn't ignore it. Lin Ge now only regretted not wearing his collar; he desperately needed the police station's assistance.

"Damn it! I usually see patrol officers passing by all the time, but there isn't a single one today!"

After running for four or five minutes, Lin Ge was already panting heavily. He didn't know if Li Sanwei really intended to kill someone's entire family, but even if there was only a one percent chance, he couldn't ignore it. To make matters worse, he hadn't encountered any support along the way.

Whether it's the guys at Zhanghe Police Station, or the police from the Municipal Bureau or other departments, Lin Ge felt he was somewhat well-known in Zhangzhou and should have a certain amount of influence. Stopping a police car would be much better than running until his legs were about to give out. Lin Ge also knew very well that cats weren't particularly strong or enduring animals. If he kept running like this, Li Sanwei would eventually leave him behind.

Then, who can stop him from committing crimes?

Exhausted, Lin Ge stopped and gasped for breath.

At the edge of the road, Li Sanwei ignored the traffic lights and rode straight through. He rode arrogantly, even forcing a taxi to stop. His unwavering determination to go straight ahead made Lin Ge increasingly anxious and frustrated.

"Mimi?"

Suddenly, the sound of brakes came from behind, followed by several familiar voices.

Lin Ge turned around and was surprised to see five kids—Hu Miao, Zhang Yining, Nie Zhuangzhuang, Xie Zaiqi, and Zheng Jiacheng—each riding a bicycle and stopping behind him.

Nie Zhuangzhuang and the other two didn't even recognize Lin Ge at first. Only Zhang Yining and Hu Miao immediately recognized him as the police station's cat, and then they pushed their bicycles and rushed to Lin Ge.

What are you doing here? Aren't you cold?

Hu Miao laid the car down and curiously squatted down in front of Lin Ge.

"I'm cleaning up your idiot dad's ass!"

Lin Ge rolled his eyes in annoyance.

By this time, he had gradually deduced that Li Sanwei had definitely escaped from Hu Lijun. Although he didn't know the exact situation there now, there was no doubt that this was a big problem caused by Hu Lijun.

"Mimi, let's go play! I'll give you a ride, okay?"

Zhang Yining's face was flushed, and she patted her bicycle seat.

"Hmm? Maybe... no, that guy might be a murderer. How could he bring a few kids into danger like that!"

Lin Ge had just had a thought when he quickly shook his head. Just then, he suddenly noticed the cell phone strap pendant sticking out of Hu Miao's pocket. His eyes lit up and he quickly reached out to grab it.

"oops!"

Startled, Hu Miao watched helplessly as Lin Ge pulled her phone out of his pocket and dropped it to the ground. Seeing the phone bounce on the floor, Hu Miao's lips twitched with heartache.

But at this point, Lin Ge couldn't care less about anything else and patted the phone screen, urging Hu Miao to unlock it quickly.

"Mimi, this is my new phone!"

Hu Miao was heartbroken and tried to snatch the phone away, but Lin Ge protected it with his claws.

"Has something happened? Mimi, do you want to make a phone call? Who should you call? My dad? Or Uncle Nie?"

As expected, Zhang Yining knew Lin Ge better. Seeing Lin Ge's anxious and impatient look, she guessed that something might have happened. Seeing that Hu Miao was still a little dazed, she quickly took her phone out of her pocket.

"Zhang Yining, you really are a smart kid!"

Lin Ge's eyes lit up, and he quickly jumped onto Zhang Yining's shoulder, his solid weight causing the little girl to stumble.

(End of this chapter)