Chapter 186: Is Your Head Filled with Iron? (Part 2)
"Get in. Stay put."
Chen Ge climbed into the police car, clutching his chicken and cat. From the officer's tone, he sensed this incident might be more serious than he thought.
"Thank goodness you're okay." Someone was already sitting in the back seat, his face tense, his voice oddly familiar.
"Liu Dao? What are you doing here? Did you call the police?" Chen Ge settled into the police car, feeling a strange sense of familiarity, like coming home. He wasn't nervous at all—in fact, he felt like dozing off. "And why was my livestream shut down? What was the peak viewership tonight? I gained 150,000 followers."
"You're still worried about your livestream?" Liu Dao grabbed Chen Ge's arm. "Bro, didn't you tell me those people in the mental hospital were all stunt performers from your haunted house? I swore to the police that was the case! You've thrown me right into the fire!"
"There are indeed employees from my haunted house in that mental hospital—you just didn't see them." Chen Ge had a clear conscience. For this livestream, he'd brought along Bi Xian, Xiao Xiao, and the white cat.
"I'm not blaming you, I'm just saying..." Liu Dao's face twisted in misery. "Forget it, this is my fault for not thinking it through. Honestly, a lot of viewers were fooled by you too."
"What are you talking about? I don't understand." Chen Ge reached out to pet the white cat's head, only to be met with a fierce glare.
Liu Dao spread his hands. "Under normal circumstances, if someone sneaks into a mental hospital late at night, sees victims locked in iron cages, and a murderer approaching with an axe, their first reaction would be fear, right?"
"That's right. Fear is a normal psychological response."
"But the problem is, you were chasing that killer around with a sledgehammer for over twenty minutes! Anyone watching would think it was a pre-rehearsed skit!" Liu Dao's emotions were getting the better of him. "I've been in the livestreaming business for three or four years, and I never—never—would have believed someone could actually chase a real killer like that! Weren't you scared? Is your head filled with iron?"
"It's not that exaggerated. I was just being a good Samaritan." Chen Ge emphasized repeatedly. "Honestly, I have a very strong sense of justice. When I saw the victims, I felt they'd suffered too much, so my anger overpowered my fear, and I just went after the killer."
Chen Ge spoke loudly enough for the two officers in the front to hear.
"It's useless to say anything now. It's my fault for not recognizing the situation sooner and calling the police earlier." Liu Dao pressed his temples. "When you first started streaming, someone reported you. I thought it was Qin Guang messing around, so I ignored it."
"Then your viewership hit over 400,000, and people started spamming about calling the police in the chat. I had my team suppress it."
"Finally, your viewership broke 600,000, setting a platform record for newcomers. By then, I had a really bad feeling. You were shouting at thin air and swinging your knife wildly. I thought it was all an act, and my greed got the better of me, so I pushed Sister Li and the others to keep rebroadcasting."
"It wasn't until you entered that hospital room and the stream suddenly went black that I realized something was really wrong. I called the police immediately." A hint of relief crept into his voice. "Anyway, forget it. The important thing is you're safe."
Liu Dao sighed, pulled a small bottle of pills from his jacket, and took two.
"What's that?"
"Quick-acting heart pills. Don't talk to me for a bit. This is my first time in a police car, and I need some time to process."
At the city police station, Chen Ge and Liu Dao were taken to separate interrogation rooms.
The police began questioning the specifics of the incident and every detail of the case.
Chen Ge insisted he had accidentally stumbled upon the suspect's scheme and was forced to fight back to protect the victims.
The entire process had been livestreamed, inevitably causing all sorts of fallout. What troubled the police was that all the evidence showed Chen Ge was indeed a victim himself—but this "victim" had chased the killer around the building with a hammer. The whole scene was mind-boggling.
"Mr. Chen, we need to hold a meeting to discuss your situation." After the interrogation, the police had no intention of letting him go.
"Alright, but could I borrow a phone to let my family know I'm okay?" Chen Ge was actually planning to call Captain Li for help. This time was different from before—his livestream hadn't been confined to a small circle. With over 600,000 viewers, this incident had blown up.
"Please be patient." The officer refused Chen Ge's request and left the interrogation room.
He was brought to the city station just after dawn, and it wasn't until noon that the interrogation room door opened again.
Light flooded in, and Chen Ge, sitting quietly in his chair, looked toward the doorway.
Standing there was a slightly heavyset officer, wearing a uniform different from the others.
"Captain Yan?" Chen Ge was momentarily surprised. This was the same officer who had awarded him the Third-Class Public Security Medal for his help in solving the Ping An Apartment massacre.
"Come with me. Someone wants to see you." Unlike their last meeting, Captain Yan's expression was stern.
Chen Ge silently stood up, wondering if he was about to meet some important figure.
Leaving the interrogation room, they walked down a corridor and stopped outside a waiting room.
Through the glass window, he could see the girl who had been locked in the iron cage. She had been successfully rescued, wrapped in someone else's police jacket, clutching a bottle of water as she sat on the floor in the corner.
Her body trembled. She couldn't communicate with anyone and wouldn't even sit on a chair.
Not far from her stood a middle-aged man. It was the first time Chen Ge had seen a man cry so brokenly.
The man seemed to be the girl's father. He called out her name, but she remained unresponsive, her eyes filled only with fear.
"Go in. That father wants to see you."
The door opened, and the middle-aged man spotted Chen Ge. He walked straight over, too emotional to form complete sentences.
...
More than ten minutes later, Captain Yan and Chen Ge stepped out of the waiting room.
"Earlier, we were discussing your case, debating whether your actions violated any regulations. I brought them here to see this too." Captain Yan looked through the window at the father and daughter. "If it weren't for you, this girl might have been locked in that cage forever, and that father would have spent the rest of his life searching for his only family."
Chen Ge felt a weight in his chest. The girl had been saved, but the trauma to her body and mind would take a long time to heal.
"You did well this time." Captain Yan looked at Chen Ge. "After our discussion, we've decided to suspend your livestream for a while. But as compensation, we'll credit you with another merit."
Suspending the livestream wasn't so much a punishment as protection, keeping Chen Ge from being exploited while in the spotlight.
As for the merit, Chen Ge didn't know what it would be yet, but since Captain Yan mentioned it so seriously, it was probably something good.
"I'm not expecting any merit. I just have too strong a sense of justice—sometimes I can't even control myself." Chen Ge wasn't entirely sure. His actions last night had indeed been reckless, carrying a butcher knife and a skull-crushing hammer, even breaking one of the killers' legs. "So, I can really go now?"
"You don't need to test me." Captain Yan pointed at his uniform. "We don't cheer for violence and bloodshed, but we will never betray conscience and justice."