America: I came here to study, not to show mercy.

Chapter 208: My child, can't he become the President of America?
The headdress was snatched from her hand and then put back on Li Xiaoen's head.

"I think this headdress suits you better."

Staring intently at him, Sophie let out a soft snort.

"Let's leave it at that for now. I'll buy you a bunny girl outfit later."

Without the headdress on his head, Li Xiaoen chuckled, ignoring the girl's narrowed gaze that was gradually turning dangerous. He straightened up and kissed her before lying back down. "You know what's going on in town, so I'll leave it to you to handle. What do you want to do? Call the police?"

“If we call the police, the priest might not receive the punishment he deserves. I want to inform the media first, stir up public opinion, and let more people know about it.”

Rolling her eyes at the young man's blatant attempt to change the subject, Suffer carefully said, glancing over.

"I've already said, you can handle everything."

Li Xiaoen smiled and shrugged. "However, I think it's best to hurry, so that those two children don't get hurt any longer."

"I know."

Sophie took a deep breath and nodded. "Just inform Catherine. They won't let go of a story like this. It's a good opportunity to curry favor with her so she won't cause you any trouble later."

Li Xiaoen was taken aback upon hearing this, and couldn't help but complain.

"Back then, you kept saying that you wouldn't let her cause me any trouble."

"This is also one of the methods, and it's a bit more reliable."

Suffolk had nothing to say about the young man's pretentious act. He rolled his eyes at him and said, "She's not an enemy. Maintaining a basic relationship with her isn't a bad thing."

"Okay, I understand, teacher."

Li Xiaoen nodded seriously, which made the girl grab him with both hands. He couldn't help but laugh out loud twice, and then sat up while hugging her.

"Pack your things and go to the police station. First, settle things with Meng Kai'er about your family. I'm afraid that if things get out of hand, it will cause more trouble."

"you're right."

Li Xiaoen was always very proactive when it came to things that were actually going to be done, and Su Feier nodded in agreement.

As they drove past the abandoned church, Sophie called for a stop. Since it wasn't very clear from inside the car, she got out and walked towards that corner.

"It's not very obvious."

With a slight frown, Sophie carefully examined the bushes in the corner of the church. She then peered at other places, but after several attempts, she could not discern any difference.

"You can't tell from this, but you can at least see the melting snow flowing down the wall here."

[The limited-time Eye of Insight has been activated. Upon self-examination, the host has not been observed in any way.]

After confirming the situation, Li Xiaoen relaxed and tugged at the girl's arm. "Let's go. If you stay here and keep studying, we'll just alert them and all our efforts will be wasted."

"The key point is, I really can't tell the difference between the bushes."

Somewhat unwilling, Suffer had no choice but to obediently lift her feet after hearing the young man's words.

Upon arriving at the police station, they discovered that Meng Kai'er had already been released. The two inquired with the resort's security team and learned his address, which turned out to be in a corner of the staff's residence near the elementary school boarding dormitory.

It came effortlessly, as if it had been planned in advance. The two found Meng Kai'er in the somewhat deserted courtyard of the house.

He sat on a dilapidated sofa, still drunk and incoherent, his face unshaven, his clothes clearly unchanged, wrinkled and stiff from the drying water, covered in dried mud, and emanating a strange smell.

"You should know why we've come to find you."

The two stopped a few steps away from the man, frowning as they approached. Li Xiaoen took the initiative to ask him a question.

"So many years have passed, I've long forgotten about it. I don't want to get involved in any of your troubles, so don't ask me."

Raising his cloudy eyes, Meng Kai'er shook his head and sighed, "Besides, so many years have passed now, the statute of limitations for this case has long expired, hasn't it? What's the point of you still coming to investigate?"

"the truth!"

Sophie interrupted, "We need the truth, that's all."

"..."

"Ha ha……"

These words startled Meng Kai'er, and it took him a long time to recover. He then suddenly burst into laughter twice, his face turning bitter. "The thing that has tormented me for so long, a human life, is all you've been investigating just to find out the truth?"

"one million!"

His face suddenly darkened, and he stared intently at him. "If you offer the same price as Marceau, I'll tell you, and I'll give you the evidence!"

Upon hearing this, Li Xiaoen and the other person were stunned for a moment, and couldn't help but look at each other.

Seeing that Suffer hesitated slightly and turned to leave, Li Xiaoen quickly grabbed her arm.

Faced with the two's astonished gazes, Li Xiaoen carefully chose his words and gave a strange smile.

"Based on all the information I've gathered, there shouldn't have been any deaths in that fire, right? What are you talking about involving human lives? I highly doubt the truth of what you're saying."

"The matter escalated too much, and Samuel simply suppressed it!"

Meng Kai'er answered in a shout.

"is it?"

Li Xiaoen raised an eyebrow. "Is it possible that he deliberately lied to you, involving a life? If you accepted the money to help cover up the truth, you would be considered an accomplice or an accomplice, which would be more effective in silencing you?"

Upon hearing this, Meng Kairen fell silent, but Li Xiaoen did not intend to give him any more time to think, and then spoke leisurely.

"Because you're involved in a murder case, as a Catholic, you must have had a very difficult time these past few years, right?"

"Just because I wanted to make you completely afraid to tell the truth, this lie has tormented you for so many years and made you into the person you are now. Think about it, reality is so dramatic, isn't it God's punishment for you?"

By this time, the man had fallen silent.

“Father White told you to fire the shots outside our suite.”

Now that things were out in the open, Li Xiaoen decided to be direct: "Father White did that, so he must have already known about the fire. Did you confess to him and tell him?"

"I don't know why you were willing to follow his orders, but have you ever thought about what he did to your sons, who are altarkeepers in the church?"

"impossible!"

Upon hearing this, Meng Ke'er suddenly looked up, staring at him with bloodshot eyes. "White has been investigated in several Catholic scandals. Working at the church, they didn't have enough time to commit crimes!"

"Have you ever considered that this is just a smokescreen, and that he's actually committing crimes through underground tunnels?"

Li Xiaoen's face darkened, and he took a deep breath. "Besides, you should also know that he often invites colleagues to stay at his house for half a day..."

How did you know this secret?

His face turned ugly, and Meng Kai'er suppressed his turbulent emotions, gritting his teeth and letting out a cold smile. "I strongly suspect that you are deliberately provoking me!" "That's the truth."

Li Xiaoen calmed down, emphasized something, and was about to say something when a powerful alarm blared from outside the campus, forcibly stopping him from speaking.

"Catherine, you're that fast?"

Li Xiaoen looked at Su Feier in surprise and suspicion.

“There haven’t been any cases of Catholic clergy committing crimes for many years. The Church in China has repeatedly assured us that this is a big news story. Catherine probably doesn’t want to wait a moment longer.”

Sophie was also surprised and carefully offered an explanation.

The two exchanged a glance, then turned to look at Meng Kai'er. At this moment, the man was completely stunned, his face ashen.

……

The truth is not complicated. On the first day after receiving a million dollars and leaving the West Coast, Mengkel was told that someone had died in the fire. Even with a million dollars, decades ago, and with life now carefree, he was still tormented and often went to church to confess.

Unfortunately, every time, similar rumors would spread through the town or online. He moved several times until he came to the town of Aurora. A week after confessing to Father White, a stranger threatened him with the incident, stole half of his property, and even dragged him into drinking, where he unknowingly became addicted to yakiniku (a type of herbal medicine).

He quickly squandered all his assets, and only after his wife ran away did he realize it was a conspiracy by White specifically targeting him. He tried to confront White, but was immediately kicked out. He called the police, but the matter was dropped because White had church connections...

In the end, he even had to rely on the other party's connections to enable his two sons to attend boarding school and work as a church altarkeeper to obtain financial assistance. He also got a cushy job looking after an abandoned school site.

Having been stomped into the mud and then pulled back with a helping hand, the already timid Meng Kai'er pondered for a long time. The money couldn't be recovered, and in the end, she gave up on the pointless entanglement...

On the way back, Li Xiaoen's mind was still filled with Meng Kai'er's distraught self-narration. He glanced at the cassette tape that the other party had given him and handed it to Su Feier beside him.

"With Catherine's media influence, we don't need to worry about the church issue."

"Well, we can say that we have achieved our main objective for this trip."

Nodding, Suffer even took out a transparent evidence bag, similar to those in police stations in movies, from her bag and put it inside, which made Sean Lee raise an eyebrow.

In the small town of Aurora, in a corner of the elementary school's boarding dormitory area, Meng Kai'er seemed to have lost all his energy. He slumped against the wall in front of the room, looking utterly dejected. The sighs and commotion coming from the dormitory area were incessant. His brows were furrowed, his eyes were bloodshot and filled with tears, and his face showed a painful struggle.

Li Xiaoen's voice kept echoing in his mind, causing him to convulse uncontrollably in pain.

He could faintly hear the reporters' voices, and after a moment of distraction, he seemed to find a glimmer of hope. He hurriedly and frantically took out his phone and turned on the live news broadcast.

The scene shows the simple room he had only visited once, yet which was now an unforgettable memory. The floor in the corner had been dug up, revealing a narrow tunnel.

His last hope was completely extinguished. He trembled in terror, and the phone fell from his hand.

"dad……"

Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice. He shuddered and looked up blankly, his eyes blurred with tears. He couldn't see the adult-sized figure in the distance, so he had to support himself with his hands on the ground and lean closer to vaguely see two small figures running towards him.

"dad……"

Two figures approached and suddenly hugged him tightly, calling out in a tense and frightened voice.

Suddenly snapping out of his daze, he finally saw his two sons' faces clearly. He hurriedly and fearfully raised his hand to stroke their cheeks and hugged them tightly in his arms.

"Oh, yes."

As if realizing something, the two children lowered their heads, opened the worn bags they were carrying, took out a piece of bread and handed it to him. "Dad, this is bread from the Italian shop in town. Even though it's been sitting out for a while, it's still delicious..."

It felt as if a heavy hammer had struck his chest; Meng Kai'er felt a sharp pain in his chest, and his breathing involuntarily stopped...

"Ha ha……"

Suddenly, he threw his head back and let out a shrill laugh. Tears streamed down his face, but he didn't care. He kept throwing himself up and then hunching over until he finally collapsed to the ground, clenching his teeth, laughing and crying at the same time, groaning and laughing hysterically...

They left the town's affairs to Catherine's family's media. Even so, Li Xiaoen and his companion still parked their car in the main parking lot of the resort and looked out at the crowd gathered in the abandoned Catholic church, where dust was billowing and rising and spreading against the light snow.

"If the priest relies on the media and the power of public opinion, what kind of punishment will he ultimately receive?"

Turning his head to look at Suffer, Li Xiaoen asked a question.

"The death penalty is impossible."

Seeing the meaning in the young man's eyes, Sophie shook his head helplessly. "New York State has abolished the death penalty. The best outcome would probably be a life sentence without parole."

"What's the worst that could happen?"

"The worst outcome is that public opinion is useless, just like most previous cases."

As he spoke, Sophie lowered his eyes, "Because of the Catholic Church, he can escape criminal responsibility. The Church will pay compensation, and he will be transferred to another parish to receive psychological treatment..."

"that is it?"

Even though he had done some research beforehand, Sean Lee still found it hard to believe when he heard it from native Americans.

Sophie did not speak and remained silent.

He shook his head and exhaled. Just as he was about to say something, a sudden gunshot rang out from the church in the distance.

boom!
While everyone was still stunned, several more sounds rang out in succession.

bang bang bang...

After seven consecutive blasts, the entire town fell silent. A moment later, a commotion arose from the crowd at the distant church, who dispersed in fear.

Only then did Li Xiaoen release the girl in his arms. Looking into the distance, he saw several policemen pinning a thin figure down, and a bloodied and mangled figure lying not far away.

As they were locked in a tense struggle, Li Xiaoen and Su Feier exchanged a glance, their expressions grave, and they couldn't help but step closer.

"He's dead! I killed him!"

Even as he was pinned to the ground, Mengkel still let out a maniacal and gleeful laugh, "He hurt my child, he can't possibly get away unscathed..."

The frantic shouts brought everyone to a standstill, and they held their breath. After a long struggle, when the police car arrived, Meng Kai'er was finally restrained by two police officers and lifted up.

Just as they were about to walk towards it, the police car suddenly stopped, and Meng Kai'er was also stopped by two policemen. Amidst everyone's surprised and suspicious gazes, a tall yellow elementary school bus slowly drove over.

"..."

Meng Ke'er suddenly froze, his eyes bulging as he stared intently at the slowly departing school bus, then threw his head back and let out a painful, maniacal laugh.

"Ha ha ha ha……"

He laughed so hard he could hardly breathe, gasping for air.

"Why is this the case when crimes are committed against children on school buses? Why are you letting my child off so easily?"

"Can anyone tell me? Is it possible for my child not to become the President of the United States?"

(End of this chapter)