Chapter 107: Tiger Mom, Someone’s Bullying Me
They sped down the highway, driving like their lives depended on it—because they did. They needed to reach the airport and get on a plane as soon as possible.
But the moment they came off the expressway, they saw a line of police blocking the intersection, apparently stopping and checking passing cars.
The people inside the vehicle went pale. The driver’s hands tightened on the steering wheel.
“What do we do? How are they this fast?”
Something was wrong—this wasn’t normal.
The person in the passenger seat clenched his jaw, furious and panicked. “Turn around! Forget flying—we’ll go next door!”
“But we need to leave the country!”
“Just get out first! We can fly from the neighboring province!”
No official lockdown had been announced, but it was obvious there were far more traffic police and officers stationed at every junction, stopping cars for checks.
The people in the car didn’t dare gamble on whether they were being hunted.
If they were—and they got stopped—it would mean surrendering on the spot.
So they chose the longer, safer route: detour first, escape first.
“We’ve already packed up all our assets. As long as we get out of here… as long as we leave, we’re free!”
As for what was left behind in the villa—yes, it was a pity. Yes, it was worth a fortune. Yes, a lot of it was extremely rare “good stuff”…
But Shang Yongyi had his eyes on that villa now. No matter how unwilling they were, they couldn’t retrieve it.
They drew a deep breath, feeling like someone had torn a chunk of flesh straight off their bodies—pain so sharp it made their hearts twist.
Yet just as they turned to leave—just as the car swung around—
A police cruiser stopped directly in front of their hood.
Before they could react, another vehicle rolled to a stop behind them.
Then two more police cars appeared at the sides.
Every possible escape route was sealed.
The men inside went deathly pale. With police surrounding them on all sides, their minds raced for an exit.
There wasn’t one.
“Get out.”
When they saw Shang Yongyi step out with the police, the last shred of hope in their chests collapsed.
No one escaped a trap set by Shang Yongyi. No one.
“It’s over… it’s really over. How did they recognize us?”
They were shaking. And as the police yanked them out, they heard Shang Yongyi’s cold question from above:
“Where are the other two? Where did they go?”
The files recovered from the hidden rooms showed that six people were responsible for this operation.
But only four were in this car.
So where were the remaining two?
The four clamped their mouths shut like mutes.
They were latecomers to the business, but the founder, the villa owner, the one who handled contacts and bribery—all of that had been done by the other two.
Those two were the true core of the organization.
Seeing their silence, Shang Yongyi wasn’t surprised. He’d already looked into the other two and found plenty worth digging into.
“You’re not waiting for them to come back and rescue you, are you?”
His contemptuous tone sparked resentment in their chests.
Then he added, almost casually:
“Lift your heads and look around. Tell me—who’s missing?”
It sounded nonsensical at first, but once they stood and scanned the area, they realized one person wasn’t there.
Lin Jiangye.
“Where is he?” The question came out trembling, fear leaking through the words.
Shang Yongyi curled his mouth into a smug smile. “You can guess. Where do you think he went?”
Where could Lin Jiangye go?
To catch the masterminds, of course.
—
At the same time, two men in long coats were dragging suitcases toward the airport departure entrance.
They’d bought their tickets early. And this airport was the farthest one from the city center—by the time police noticed anything and rushed over, the two of them would already be airborne.
But just as they were about to enter the terminal, a white blur streaked past them—
And in the next second, scorching pain exploded across their faces.
“AAAAAHHHH!”
Their screams startled everyone nearby. When people turned toward the noise, they saw two men being swarmed by birds—violently.
A whole flock.
And most of them were crows.
Slash after slash, claw after claw—by the time airport security rushed over, the two men’s faces were already torn and dripping with blood.
Bystanders staggered back, terrified they’d get caught in the attack too.
Strangely, the moment security arrived, the crows stopped.
They landed on the entrance structure above the doors, rows of black eyes fixed on the people below.
It was unnervingly eerie.
The guards tried to escort the injured men into the medical room to treat the wounds.
But the instant the two men tried to move toward the terminal, the crows dove down again—attacking like some program had been triggered.
The crows targeted only those two men.
And they only attacked when the men tried to enter the airport.
If the men stepped backward or moved off to the side, the birds did nothing.
The bizarre scene drew a crowd. Phones came out. People started filming.
Most of the onlookers had no idea what was happening.
But the two targeted men knew perfectly well.
Crows that obeyed commands—there was only one person in the country associated with that.
They exchanged a look, ignored the pain, and decided to force their way inside anyway.
They yanked their coats over their heads and charged.
They didn’t notice the pillar facing the entrance—where a white-tailed eagle and a gyrfalcon were perched.
One had speed. The other had size.
In one clean strike, the two birds ripped their coats away.
And then the crows descended again and beat them down.
When Lin Jiangye’s group arrived, the two men were sprawled on the ground, soaked in blood, while medical staff rushed to stop the bleeding.
Fly? The crows were warning you.
Run? The white-tailed eagle and the gyrfalcon worked as a brutal duo—strength and speed together, tormenting them until they couldn’t even stand straight.
Lin Jiangye walked up slowly. The police moved in behind him and cuffed the two men immediately.
The moment they saw the young man with a big bird perched on his shoulder, they recognized him.
“I didn’t think you’d be this fast.”
Faster than they’d planned—far faster. And they hadn’t expected him to use crows as an interception net.
Lin Jiangye said nothing. He looked them over once, then turned as if to leave.
But after a single step, sharp laughter sliced through the air.
He looked back.
The two men had their mouths wide open, laughing hysterically—as if they weren’t worried about what came next.
No—more accurately, they had no future left to worry about.
Trading in protected animal products alone was enough to get them sentenced to more than ten years.
And the secrets found in the other hidden room would add at least another decade—possibly life.
“You’re dead, Lin Jiangye,” they hissed, eyes viciously locked on him.
And as if on cue—whether coincidence or calculation—Lin Jiangye’s phone rang.
He answered.
It was Shang Yongyi.
The neighboring city of Wenyang had suddenly erupted into chaos—large numbers of animals had fallen into a frenzied, violent state.
Lin Jiangye’s heart clenched.
In an instant, he understood exactly how they planned to kill him.
“So this is… your plan?”
The two men lifted their heads. The stitches on their freshly treated wounds split open again, but they didn’t care. Grinning through the pain, they looked deranged.
“You love animals, right? Then let’s see how you save them this time!”
“Oh—and you’re big on taking in rescued animals, aren’t you? Didn’t you bring all of Zhang family’s animals home? The ones on the streets now are circus animals—either old or scarred up. Tsk, tsk… so pitiful. Why isn’t our great animal-protection hero Lin Jiangye running over there?”
Their mocking, syrupy sarcasm made the surrounding officers bristle.
They didn’t yet know what had happened, but they could tell it was nothing good.
And they’d just watched these suspects openly provoke Lin Jiangye—who had helped them crack a major case not long ago.
Lin Jiangye’s expression turned even colder.
The two men kept laughing, still arrogant, still mocking—
So Lin Jiangye punched.
Hard.
One of them flew backward and slammed into a police car, collapsing in agony and unable to stand.
“Take them away. I’m going next door.”
The moment he moved, Bai Zhengwen grabbed his arm.
“It’s too dangerous! Forestry and the police over there will handle it!”
“But they’ll use the most direct method.”
And the “most direct method” meant one thing: shooting.
If animals harmed civilians and couldn’t be controlled, Lin Jiangye had no doubt the local police would choose to shoot them.
And that would be the correct decision—because officers had to protect people first.
But Lin Jiangye couldn’t bear it.
Those circus animals—old, injured, worn down—what had they done wrong?
Now they were being used again, turned into tools of chaos… and into murder weapons aimed at him.
Bai Zhengwen still didn’t let go. “I’ll contact them and ask them to use tranquilizers whenever possible.”
But very quickly, Lin Jiangye had no choice but to go anyway.
Because the organization had prepared something else for him:
A madman.
A member of the Zhang family, holding a remote, had kidnapped several children and dragged them onto a rooftop.
Explosives were strapped to the kids.
And he had started a livestream on his phone.
“Lin Jiangye… Lin Jiangye, come out! If you don’t come out, I’ll blow them up!”
Upstairs, a madman had kidnapped children.
Downstairs, a pack of animals that had lost all reason were charging and crashing through the streets.
“Hehehe… hehehehe. Which one will you choose?”
The two men shoved into the police car lowered their heads and laughed in a strange, ugly way.
For anyone else, there wouldn’t even be a question—they would obviously rush to save the children first. But for Lin Jiangye, who placed animals on the same level as humans—sometimes even higher—what would he choose?
This was a trap designed specifically for him, thought through again and again.
If he chose the animals and the children were blown apart by explosives, Lin Jiangye would be torn to pieces by public outrage. Continuing as the bureau’s special consultant would become impossible.
But if he chose the children, and the drugged animals caused worsening damage until the local police were forced to shoot them—could Lin Jiangye get past that in his own heart afterward?
He couldn’t. He would drown in guilt. A knot would lodge in his chest forever, and he would never be able to work properly for the bureau again.
So no matter which side he chose, the outcome benefited them.
At the same time, the moment Lin Jiangye saw the livestream footage, his whole body went rigid.
He had thought the drugged animals were the entirety of their plan. He hadn’t expected they’d prepared someone from the Zhang family too.
Animals or humans?
Animals or humans?
Animals or humans?
On one side were innocent animals—tormented by humans, nearly dead, and still not allowed to escape.
On the other side were innocent young children—who understood nothing, knew nothing.
Lin Jiangye felt like his heart was being ripped in half. Each half screamed that they were all innocent, all victims, all in need of saving.
But he was only one person.
By the logic of human society, he should save the people. One animal dying and one human dying were not treated as the same.
But—
As the seconds dragged on, the tearing pain inside him grew sharper. Even his body began to tremble, as if the ache had become physical.
Just as he hovered in agony, his phone rang again—and at the same time, someone lunged at him, grabbing him hard.
“Calm down, Lin Jiangye!”
Shang Yongyi was terrified by the sight of him—so pale he seemed drained of blood, like he might collapse dead in the next second.
He had never seen Lin Jiangye look this weak and helpless.
“Just calm down—this isn’t hopeless. There’s still a way out!”
At those words, Lin Jiangye lifted his head like a stiff puppet.
Then Shang Yongyi’s phone screen filled with Shang Fuyan’s face.
The man looked frantic. And when he saw Lin Jiangye like this, the pain in his eyes was unmistakable.
“Don’t panic. You don’t have to choose. This isn’t a ‘pick one’ situation. Come on—breathe with me. In—out… in—out…”
Under Shang Fuyan’s guidance, Lin Jiangye’s color slowly returned.
“But it is a pick one…” Lin Jiangye couldn’t understand why he was saying it wasn’t. How could it not be?
Shang Fuyan’s tone turned sharply serious.
“Lin Jiangye. Have you considered that the police’s job is to stop violence and protect the public? Two incidents this big—did you forget there are local police there?”
Was there no local police? Wouldn’t they handle the Zhang-family lunatic?
That man was obviously unstable—even if Lin Jiangye went, who could guarantee the lunatic wouldn’t demand something outrageous?
If the lunatic demanded Lin Jiangye kill himself, would Lin Jiangye really have to die to save those children?
That wasn’t how it worked.
“And another thing—you think this is your responsibility? No. It isn’t.”
“Listen to me, Lin Jiangye. This is not your responsibility.”
Just because his ability was strong enough to threaten criminals, does that mean criminals retaliating turns into his fault?
What kind of logic was that?
If that were true, then no one should be a cop ever again—because whenever criminals retaliate against society, the police would become the “culprits.”
Lin Jiangye closed his eyes. The knot of anguish, rage, and helplessness melted under Shang Fuyan’s words.
“Listen. Don’t go to that lunatic right now. Let the local police stall him as long as possible—do not go yet. I’ve already contacted people to fly Jiang Xin and a group of your ‘kids’ over by helicopter. We’ll use their scent and presence to locate and restrain the drugged animals and track every last one down.”
“My brother will block your movements as much as possible, so they think you’re already on the way. If the local police can’t handle the lunatic, then you go assess what he actually wants—but if you go, don’t agree to his demands. Stall for time. Or get him to put down the remote.”
No negotiation begins by immediately giving the criminal what they want—if you do, they only escalate.
The moment Shang Fuyan learned what was happening, he instantly knew Lin Jiangye had been targeted.
He hadn’t called right away because his first priority was getting Jiang Xin and the animals there—especially Tiger Mom.
Among the drugged circus animals were tigers, lions, bears…
But those animals had been captive too long. Their wildness had been broken.
They could not stand against a real, fully wild Northeast tiger.
Tiger Mom would only need one light slap to knock them unconscious.
Tianheng, Kaiyang, the German Shepherd, the Border Collie—they could track scent.
Bixi, Opal, Diamond and the other birds could rally the city’s birds in minutes and sweep every corner so no animal slipped through.
They would become the local police’s strongest allies.
As for whether the local forestry bureau and police would approve it—Director Gao and Yue City’s forestry chief were already coordinating. Shang Fuyan didn’t believe they would refuse.
“Go now. You’ll arrive right when the helicopter lands. First priority: locate and secure the animals. Yue City’s forestry bureau has prepared a large supply of tranquilizer darts—Jiang Xin will hand them to you.”
The message that had just pinged Lin Jiangye’s phone was Jiang Xin sending the equipment list.
Wenyang City was a little over a hundred kilometers away—about two hours by car. From Yue City to Wenyang was roughly seven hundred kilometers; even a high-speed helicopter would take about the same amount of time.
Shang Fuyan had arranged everything. The torn halves of Lin Jiangye’s heart slowly stitched themselves back together.
“Follow my brother’s plan. Don’t act rashly. Don’t charge in. And don’t put all the blame on yourself. This isn’t something you have to carry alone.”
If anyone had to answer for failures, Wenyang City would be the first—not Lin Jiangye.
Where did the circus come from? Were the animals inspected? How did the staff get dangerous substances past checks? How did a Zhang-family lunatic bring explosives in?
But now wasn’t the time for accountability. First, end the crisis. Then investigate.
After the call ended, Shang Fuyan sat in Yue City’s Public Security Bureau and finally exhaled.
“Captain Shang… do you think Advisor Lin will go to that lunatic?” Yan Zhou frowned deeply. He was worried the lunatic would do something irreversible.
Shang Fuyan clenched his jaw so hard it ached. He was furious—ready to explode.
“Even if he goes, he can’t go now. That lunatic is malicious. No one can predict what he’ll do.”
Shang Fuyan suspected the lunatic had been thoroughly brainwashed.
He suspected that the moment Lin Jiangye showed up, the lunatic would demand humiliating things—and then drag Lin Jiangye into death with him.
Even if everyone later called Lin Jiangye a hero, what the public would remember most vividly would be the humiliation.
A cold light flashed in Shang Fuyan’s eyes. If he weren’t tied to Yue City as an officer, he would have flown to Lin Jiangye immediately.
Soon, Wenyang City’s forestry bureau and public security also approved Yue City’s request.
They weren’t stupid. Lin Jiangye had cracked too many major cases. They couldn’t let him walk into danger alone.
Otherwise—what were the police even for?
So, under everyone’s gaze, Wenyang police went up to the rooftop and began trying to draw the lunatic’s attention away.
At the same time, every psychiatrist and psychologist in the city was summoned to advise how to stabilize the lunatic’s emotional state.
On the ground, SWAT and forestry personnel coordinated to lock down areas where the drugged animals were rampaging, preventing them from spreading.
With windows shut and civilians moved indoors, the danger to the public dropped sharply.
They even used tranquilizers to put some large animals down and cage them.
The situation was being brought under control. The risk level plummeted.
Just as Shang Fuyan had said: Wenyang still had police. Lin Jiangye was not fighting evil alone.
The people who designed this trap calculated Lin Jiangye’s heart precisely.
But they forgot something.
Wenyang had law enforcement. Wenyang had government departments. Even without Lin Jiangye, they would fight to protect their citizens.
When Lin Jiangye stepped out of the car and saw Tiger Mom descending from the helicopter, his eyes instantly turned red.
“Tiger Mom… someone’s bullying me!”
