Chapter 27 Paranoia

"Hello, I am Captain Wang Zhao Ping from the city's Criminal Police First Squadron. May I ask how to address this young man?" Wang Zhao Ping's voice was very polite.

"Oh, my name is Meng Lang, 'Meng' as in Mengzi, with the water radical and a 'liangmin' for a good citizen. Here's my ID."

Meng Lang seemed to have anticipated this and took out his ID from his pocket.

The corner of his mouth twitched slightly, and his feelings of being dragged out to clean up were intensified...

He took the ID, glanced at it, then looked up again at Meng Lang.

"May I ask what Mr. Meng's profession is?"

"Oh, I'm an insurance salesman."

"Uh... and this person?"

"I am Yan Weiwei, the landlady here, a full-time rent collector."

"..."

Wang Zhao Ping's expression became even stranger.

An insurance salesman and a landlady, two ordinary people took down Yuan Li, such a formidable character?

And that was when the other party had a gun?

At this moment, the beautiful policewoman called Xiao Ru came over with some confusion.

"Captain Wang, besides a shell casing, no bullet or bullet hole was found at the scene. I would like to ask about the situation at the time from the people involved."

"Sure! Mr. Meng, could you tell us about the specific location and direction where the suspect fired the gun, and the possible point where the bullet landed?"

"Oh, you're looking for the bullet? It should still be on me!"

Nani?

Everyone was astonished.

Meng Lang turned around, and indeed, there was a bullet hole the size of a fingertip on his lower back.

This made everyone's eyes nearly pop out of their heads.

It definitely looked like a bullet hole, but how come he was standing here hopping around alive and well?

"You didn't really train in Golden Bell Shield and Iron Cloth Shirt, did you?" Yan Weiwei asked in astonishment.

This martial art is known for being tough, but being immune to knives and guns too?

She originally thought that Meng Lang had not been hit since he looked unharmed, but to her surprise, Meng Lang actually did get shot.

"How could that be possible." Meng Lang rolled his eyes, then began to take off his clothes one by one.

First was the wool coat on the outside, followed by a thick black vest, and inside that was a blue vest...

Under everyone's weird gazes, Meng Lang struggled to toss the last blue vest on the ground, making a thumping sound, clearly very heavy.

No wonder this guy looked so bulky. It turns out he was wearing so many layers!

The policewoman picked up the two vests from the ground with some confusion and inspected them closely, her expression gradually turning peculiar.

"Captain Wang, this is a civilian PVE fiber anti-stab vest, commonly purchased by security companies for protection, mainly against sharp weapons, but it also offers some cushioning against bullets.

This one... appears to be a weighted vest used for training."

She turned the weighted vest over and found a hole about three fingers wide on the back.

Opening the pocket of the weighted vest, she took out a steel weight plate from inside, and there was a yellow-orange bullet embedded in it.

"This..."

Including Yan Weiwei, everyone stared at the bullet in shock.

The policewoman examined the holes and seemed to be reconstructing the shooting scene in her mind.

"The imitation 54 handgun uses 7.62mm round-nose bullets, and due to rough manufacturing processes, the muzzle velocity can be slightly reduced compared to the original.

After penetrating through two layers of thick clothing, one anti-stab vest, a portion of the kinetic energy would have already been lost, indeed it might be stopped by this 20mm steel plate.

However, the protective area of this steel plate is less than 10% of the entire back, yet this bullet happened to hit the weighted steel plate... It must be said, you are indeed very lucky."

Meng Lang inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

The intervertebral disc between the fourth and fifth lumbar vertebrae, he had searched human anatomy diagrams for a long time to find this specific location, thankful that his high school biology teacher hadn't failed him.

Upon hearing the policewoman's explanation, everyone finally understood.

How Meng Lang remained unscathed under close-range handgun fire was now clear to everyone.

But an even bigger question emerged.

As an ordinary person, why would you wear this kind of gear out at night?

Seeing everyone looking at him with strange expressions, Meng Lang, dressed only in a thermal vest, smiled embarrassingly.

"I like to exercise regularly, so I bought a weighted vest to train my physical strength, hehe!"

"Weighted vests are one thing, but anti-stab vests for exercise? And that electric shock baton and anti-wolf spray, what were you planning to do carrying those when you went out?"

Yan Weiwei voiced the confusion everyone had.

"A single man lacking a sense of security... that's pretty normal, isn't it?"

Good god, lacking a sense of security!

Could this excuse be any more far-fetched?

But then Yan Weiwei, who seemed reflective, suddenly gestured with a hammering motion of her left hand into her right.

"Oh! No wonder that time I came to collect the rent, you even had to block the door when taking a shower...

Is this that thing... what's it called... paranoid delusion?"

Everyone: "..."

"Xiao Yu! Xiao Yu, are you alright?"

Just then, an anxious female voice came through.

Meng Lang turned his head and saw Lin Haitang rushing over with a worried expression but was stopped by an auxiliary police officer.

"Sister! I'm here!" Seeing her sister, Xiao Yu waved her small hand joyfully.

The auxiliary police responsible for barring bystanders let Lin Haitang through after realizing she was a relative of the parties involved.

"Xiao Yu, are you hurt? Did anything happen to you?" Lin Haitang, pale-faced, pulled Xiao Yu into her embrace.

"I'm okay, thanks to Sister Yan and the uncle."

Lin Haitang was taken aback and then noticed there were acquaintances among the people around.

"Weiwei? You all... what are you doing here?"

"Cough cough!" Wang Zhao Ping coughed, interrupting everyone.

"Ladies and gentlemen, since the parties involved and their guardians are here, please come to the police station to provide a detailed statement."

...

At eleven o'clock at night, in the police station conference room.

"On the evening of March 26, 2018, at 8 PM, Mr. Meng Lang informed Miss Yan Weiwei, the landlady, by phone, about the presence of a suspicious clothing thief near the rental property, which might threaten the safety of residents Ms. Lin Haitang and the child Lin Xiaoyu in Unit 302.

Out of concern for the tenants' safety, Miss Yan Weiwei decided to go to her property ahead of time, which is the vacant Unit 301, to lie in wait for the thief."

"Around 10:15 PM, Mr. Meng Lang returned to Unit 303."

"Around 10:20 PM, Mr. Meng Lang and Miss Yan Weiwei noticed the suspect Yuan Li trying to illegally unlock the door of Unit 302, where only the child Lin Xiaoyu was inside.

Mr. Meng immediately called the police and opened his door to stop the suspect's illegal actions."

"Around 10:24 PM, neighbors heard a loud noise that resembled gunshot sounds."

"At 10:25 PM, after a harrowing struggle, the righteous Mr. Meng Lang and Miss Yan Weiwei successfully subdued the armed criminal.

It wasn't until then that the resident of Unit 302, Lin Xiaoyu, heard the commotion outside and opened the door to find the three individuals."

"That's the general sequence of events. Is there anything anyone would like to add?"

After reading the statement, Qin Xiaoru, who was responsible for the report, looked towards the assembled group.

The group indicated that they had nothing to add, only Lin Haitang staring blankly at Meng Lang.

So... what he said was actually true!

Someone really was following Xiao Yu.

And considering that the person was armed with knives and even firearms, it was clear that they weren't just trying to scare her.

If it weren't for Meng Lang, Xiao Yu...

Thinking of the potential consequences, a growing sense of dread filled Lin Haitang's mind.

She looked at Meng Lang, her heart filled with both regret and gratitude.

Here he was, risking his life to protect Xiao Yu, and she had doubted him, and even...

Remembering her own previous actions, Lin Haitang felt increasingly guilty.

Amidst her guilt, Lin Haitang also noticed another small detail.

He came back to the rental around 10:15 PM?

But she clearly saw him entering a hotel with that woman around 9:30 PM. Even considering the time to take a taxi back...

That quick, huh?

"Thank you!"

"Uh... it's what I should do."

An illusion?

His grip was so strong on my hand, his expression full of gratitude and guilt.

But what's with that tinge of pity in his eyes?