Chapter 24: Would I Want a “Used Goods”?

The expressions on Nie Yuanxiong and Ye Qianqian's faces were as ugly as if they had swallowed flies.

Previously, they had wanted to arrest Zhou Lang and humiliate him again, but they hadn't expected the tables to turn; this time, it was they who were being humiliated.

"Zhou Lang… I'm sorry."

Ye Qianqian spoke first. In the past, this woman had thought of Zhou Lang as just a poor kid, but now, she wanted to die. How could someone who could call a founding general his brother be an ordinary person? She feared that if Zhou Lang said just one word in front of General Qin, it could ruin her life.

"I'm sorry."

Nie Yuanxiong also stood up. Naturally, he didn't want to apologize to Zhou Lang, but his father kept signaling him with his eyes, so he had no choice but to speak up.

"Is an apology enough?"

General Qin said coldly, then turned to Secretary Lei Gang and said, "Handle this matter as quickly as possible. One day from now, you will personally report the results to me. These eight police officers are secondary; the focus must be on the father-son duo of Vice Mayor Nie Qingyun and Nie Yuanxiong. They must be thoroughly investigated. Furthermore, this woman named Ye Qianqian also needs to be educated. As a celebrity, she is a public figure, and such behavior will surely influence many others."

"Yes, Chief."

Secretary Lei Gang immediately stood up and made calls to the Municipal Police Bureau and the Discipline Inspection Commission.

"General Qin, please calm your anger. Allow me to take him back and educate him properly. After all, Nie Yuanxiong is still young; he should be given a chance." Vice Mayor Nie Qingyun was also panicking and immediately pleaded with General Qin.

"If the upper beam is crooked, the lower ones will be askew. Nie Yuanxiong's arrogance probably has something to do with you, right? My little brother Zhou Lang originally had an engagement with Ye Qianqian. Nie Yuanxiong and Ye Qianqian actually snatched the engagement letter, tore it up, and beat Zhou Lang up. Is such behavior just 'being young and ignorant'?"

General Qin snorted coldly, "If it weren't for the fact that Zhou Lang couldn't use force while observing the three-year mourning period for his Master, you would have already received your retribution, and wouldn't have waited until today."

At this point, Vice Mayor Nie Qingyun realized the severity of the matter.

As for Nie Yuanxiong and Ye Qianqian, they finally understood why Zhou Lang had no power to fight back when they beat him that time, yet had become so formidable now. In reality, the claim about not being able to use force while observing the three-year mourning period for his Master was something Zhou Lang had made up, but at this moment, no one doubted it.

"General, since Mr. Zhou and Ye Qianqian had an engagement, then Ye Qianqian should marry Mr. Zhou. I believe there must be a misunderstanding. Why don't you, General, make the decision and have the two of them get married?"

Vice Mayor Nie Qingyun's mind raced. He knew this was the key point of General Qin's anger. If he let Ye Qianqian marry Zhou Lang, the matter would basically be settled.

"Vice Mayor Nie, Ye Qianqian has long been involved with your son. Do you think I would want such a loose woman with such poor character? Since the engagement letter has already been torn up, there is no longer any connection between her and me."

Zhou Lang said coldly, not even glancing at Ye Qianqian.

Zhou Lang's words were like a direct slap to Ye Qianqian's face. She was so angry she almost vomited blood, but there was nothing she could do; she had to endure it.

In the past, she had thought Zhou Lang was trying every possible way to latch onto her, but she hadn't expected that Zhou Lang actually had such connections, calling a founding general his brother. If she had known this, she definitely would have agreed to the marriage with Zhou Lang. Therefore, she now realized that being with Zhou Lang would certainly be more promising than being with a vice mayor's son.

What she didn't expect was that when Zhou Lang first met her, he was indeed a penniless, ordinary college student. The earth-shaking changes in Zhou Lang's life occurred only after he was humiliated by her and Nie Yuanxiong.

With Zhou Lang saying this, Vice Mayor Nie Qingyun didn't know how to respond. After a while, he snapped back to reality and shouted at Nie Yuanxiong and Ye Qianqian, "The two of you, why don't you kneel before the General and Mr. Zhou!" He understood that if General Qin insisted on pursuing this matter, it wouldn't just be Nie Yuanxiong receiving a lesson; he would also be implicated, and his official position would be at risk.

Nie Yuanxiong and Ye Qianqian were typical bullies who feared the strong. They had already panicked, and after a moment of hesitation, they were about to kneel.

"People like you can only accept the sanctions of the law. Kneeling to me is useless. Stop bothering me here; get out!"

But to their surprise, General Qin hated spineless people the most in his life. Seeing Nie Yuanxiong and Ye Qianqian about to kneel, he became even more furious.

"General…"

Vice Mayor Nie Qingyun wanted to say something else, but General Qin waved his hand to stop him. "If you don't leave, do you want my men to throw you out?"

As soon as these words were spoken, an Aura radiated from him. He was a veteran of a hundred battles, someone who had climbed out of piles of corpses back in the day. This burst of anger made the legs of Vice Mayor Nie Qingyun, Nie Yuanxiong, Ye Qianqian, and the others turn to jelly.

"Let's go."

Vice Mayor Nie Qingyun knew that the situation was beyond saving. He sighed and walked out.

General Qin's four subordinates also followed them out to prevent these guys from fleeing.

Not long after, the director of the Feiyun City Municipal Police Bureau and the secretary of the Municipal Discipline Inspection Commission arrived with their people and took Vice Mayor Nie Qingyun, Nie Yuanxiong, Ye Qianqian, and the others away.

…

"Chief, I have been an incompetent Municipal Party Secretary. After such an incident occurred, I truly have no face to see you."

After Vice Mayor Nie Qingyun and the others left, Secretary Lei Gang stood before General Qin with a look of shame. Earlier, General Qin had been somewhat cold toward him and Leng Xinyue, which had made him somewhat afraid. Back in the day, both he and Leng Xinyue had been soldiers under the General's command. This sense of awe was deeply ingrained in their bones and would never change for the rest of their lives.

"Social parasites are everywhere; this is not entirely your responsibility," General Qin said, his expression softening. "I will be returning to the capital soon. Just make sure you handle this matter involving Zhou Lang well."

Subsequently, he introduced Zhou Lang to Secretary Lei Gang. "Zhou Lang is my little brother. In the future, please take care of him. Of course, if you have any matters, you can also ask him for help."

Although this wasn't the first time they had heard General Qin call Zhou Lang his little brother, Secretary Lei Gang and his wife, Leng Xinyue, still felt very shocked inside.

General Qin was already ninety years old and was a founding general, while Zhou Lang was just a young man in his early twenties. Why could he call General Qin his brother?

And since General Qin even asked him and Zhou Lang to look after each other, didn't that mean Zhou Lang's influence was at least on the same level as his, or perhaps even higher?

"Chief, please rest assured. I will definitely give Mr. Zhou an explanation regarding this matter."

Secretary Lei Gang weighed the situation in his heart and very appropriately addressed Zhou Lang as Mr. Zhou.

"Secretary Lei, I am just a student at the Dianxi University Medical School. You can just call me Little Zhou," Zhou Lang quickly stood up and said to Secretary Lei Gang.

"Lei Gang, don't look down on Zhou Lang. You should know that my legs have been crippled for the past few years, right?" General Qin said. "This time I came to Feiyun City, it was to go to Feiyun Temple to find Zen Master Fangzhi to treat my legs, but even Zen Master Fangzhi was powerless. Fortunately, I happened to meet Zhou Lang, and he only spent one week to make me recover. Come to think of it, Zhou Lang is my benefactor."

"General, you are overstating it. You are a national hero; being able to treat your illness is my honor, Zhou Lang," Zhou Lang said. General Qin had always been someone he respected, so he had no intention of acting like a benefactor in front of the General.

"Mr. Zhou, I didn't expect that despite your young age, your Medical Skills would be so exquisite." With the General saying that, how could Secretary Lei Gang dare to call Zhou Lang 'Little Zhou'? He continued to address him as Mr. Zhou.

"Lei Gang, doesn't Little Leng have an injury? Why not ask Zhou Lang to take a look at it for her?"

General Qin smiled slightly. From the nervous expressions on Secretary Lei Gang and Leng Xinyue's faces just now, he knew that his two old subordinates had not changed for the worse, which brought him great relief. After all, in this era of rampant materialism, there were not many people in high positions who could still harbor a sense of awe.

"Then I will have to trouble Mr. Zhou."

Secretary Lei Gang said quickly. If it weren't for General Qin saying that his leg ailment had been cured by Zhou Lang, he certainly wouldn't have believed that Zhou Lang possessed such brilliant Medical Skills, but he had always trusted the General's words.

"Secretary Lei, calling me Mr. Zhou really makes me feel uncomfortable. You should just call me Little Zhou," Zhou Lang said with an embarrassed smile.

"You are my Chief's little brother; how can I address you as Little Zhou?" Secretary Lei Gang waved his hands repeatedly.

"I think it should be like this: you two should address each other as brothers," General Qin said.

"Chief, that won't do. That would mess up the seniority," Secretary Lei Gang said quickly.

"This is a special situation; let's just keep our relationships separate," General Qin said.

"Since the Chief has spoken, I have no choice but to comply." Secretary Lei Gang nodded, not acting coy, and said to Zhou Lang, "Then I will trouble you, Brother Zhou."

However, he was afraid that Zhou Lang wouldn't be able to cure his wife's illness later, so he immediately added, "She has had this illness for seven or eight years, and countless doctors have seen her without any effect."

By saying this, in case Zhou Lang couldn't cure her later, he wouldn't be left without a way to save face.

Zhou Lang smiled and said to Leng Xinyue, "Sister-in-law, let me take your pulse."

"I will trouble you, Brother Zhou." Leng Xinyue was also very polite to Zhou Lang.

After taking her pulse, Zhou Lang remained silent.

"Brother Zhou, is there a cure for Little Leng's illness?" General Qin asked.

"This illness is indeed very strange. Near Sister-in-law's heart, there is a blockage in the Bloodline. Sister-in-law should be experiencing signs of angina from time to time. You know, this Bloodline blockage seems different from the situation with the Bloodline blockage in your legs, General. I haven't found the specific cause yet. If I'm not mistaken, Sister-in-law has been shot in the chest, right?"

Zhou Lang said, "However, I possess some esoteric arts. Using these esoteric arts, I might be able to investigate the cause of the illness. It's just that this place isn't very suitable for using esoteric arts. I think it would be more appropriate to go to Feiyun Temple. There, Zen Master Fangzhi can assist me."

"Brother Zhou, I have to admire your Medical Skills. What you described is exactly Little Leng's condition. However, don't underestimate Little Leng; she was also a special forces soldier back in the day, but during a mission at the border, she was shot by a mercenary's sniper rifle, and her body couldn't recover, which is why she retired early."

General Qin said, "Anyway, I am staying at Feiyun Temple tonight. Let's go there now."

…

An hour later, inside a meditation room at Feiyun Temple.

Zhou Lang had Leng Xinyue sit upright on a meditation cushion, while he took out a Perspective Talisman.

There was a foreign object in Leng Xinyue's Bloodline, and this foreign object moved as the blood flowed. With his current level of cultivation, he could only determine the location of the foreign object by using the Perspective Talisman.

At this moment, General Qin and even Secretary Lei Gang were staying outside the meditation room. Only Zen Master Fangzhi was in the room, acting as Zhou Lang's assistant.

"Mr. Zhou, this… is this a talisman?"

Leng Xinyue didn't know what Zhou Lang had taken out, but Zen Master Fangzhi, who looked like a high monk and was always composed, felt a shock in his heart.

Zhou Lang didn't speak, but simply nodded.

"A talisman?"

Although Leng Xinyue respected Zhou Lang, she was still stunned and quickly asked, "Brother Zhou, you aren't planning to use this talisman to treat my illness, are you?"

Because in the general perception of people, talismans were superstition, things used by some Taoist priests to deceive people, and it was impossible for them to be used to treat illnesses.