Landlord in the Arctic-Chapter 95: The Arrest

What?

Feng Shan had just heard the biggest joke since he’d arrived in Alaska.

Something this serious had happened, and the state troopers were saying they couldn’t come until tomorrow? ’Is this what they call efficient?’

"Kivalina doesn’t have a police station?"

Feng Shan raised his voice, asking again.

His voice, laced with suppressed rage and disbelief, rang out with startling clarity in the quiet living room.

His second question was met with silence once more.

The atmosphere in the living room grew heavier, helplessness and resignation written on every face.

Louise lowered her head, her eyes dim. "Kivalina doesn’t have a law enforcement agency. When a crime happens, all we can do is report it to the nearest city and wait for the state troopers to arrive. We’ve been applying to the state government for the VPSO program for five years straight, and we’ve never been approved."

"Those state commissioners are too busy sharing powdered doughnuts to give a damn whether we live or die," Old Swan said angrily.

"And then what? You’re just going to wait for the state troopers and let the criminal waltz away?" Feng Shan shot a sideways glance at the men in the living room.

’Even without police, you have guns. Are they just for show?’

Louise sighed. "Federal law states that no person shall be subject to search, seizure, arrest, or other criminal penalties without due process. Kivalina isn’t a reservation; we don’t have our own law enforcement authority."

Fuck!!!

A surge of anger welled up in Feng Shan’s chest. He was furious and speechless at their inaction. "Little Swan, get on your snowmobile. We’re going to catch Morris."

"Feng, you don’t have the authority! You’ll be prosecuted!" Louise called out to Feng Shan’s retreating back.

...

’No authority?’

’That depends on where you are.’

’First, I’ll find that bastard.’

Feng Shan looked at Little Swan, whose face was full of admiration. "Do you know where Morris lives?"

"I do!" Little Swan nodded emphatically, his eyes shining with excitement.

"Take me there!"

The snowmobile sped down the muddy street and pulled up in front of a dilapidated shipping container home. Little Swan pointed to the half-open metal door.

"This is Morris’s place."

Feng Shan jumped off, strode to the door, and kicked it. The metal door buckled, leaving a huge dent.

’Hmph, it didn’t open.’

’Fuck, it’s an outward-opening door.’

He pulled the door open, and a foul stench wafted out—a nauseating mix of rotting food and raw sewage.

Pinching his nose, Feng Shan entered the room. He fought back the urge to gag, found a long, moldy white sock, and fled back outside, gasping for fresh air.

Once he’d recovered, Feng Shan held the sock in one hand while his other hand quickly tied knots in a thin straw rope, performing a divination.

A moment later, the result of the divination appeared in his mind.

The owner of the sock was not far from him.

"That piece of trash is to the northwest. I’ll give you directions!" Feng Shan tossed the moldy sock aside and got on the snowmobile.

Although he didn’t know how Feng Shan knew Morris’s location, Little Swan felt his blood boil at the sight of someone stepping up to deliver justice.

He instantly twisted the throttle all the way, and the snowmobile shot out of Kivalina, kicking up a two-meter-high spray of mud.

Once on the Tundra, Feng Shan would correct their course from time to time.

The snowmobile sped on, crossing a series of rolling snow-covered hills. A snow-capped mountain loomed in the distance.

To avoid alerting their target, he had Little Swan park the snowmobile in a thicket at the foot of the mountain.

"Feng, you’re going after Morris alone? I can help." Little Swan eagerly pulled a pistol from the snowmobile’s storage compartment.

Feng Shan stopped him. "Don’t come. Wait here for me."

With that, he took the Type 56 carbine from his shoulder, pulled the bolt, and checked its condition.

After confirming the rifle was in good working order, he headed straight for the snow-capped mountain.

"Be careful!" At that moment, Little Swan thought the man was incredibly badass—filled with a sense of justice, just like Batman.

’Catching a criminal is simpler than catching a Black Wolf.’

Feng Shan climbed the mountain and quickly found Morris’s hiding spot.

He was hiding in a cave on the side of a cliff. The entrance was fortified with a crude rock wall to block the wind, which meant the bastard had planned his crime in advance and prepared this shelter.

White smoke from a wood fire drifted out of a crack in the cliff, carrying with it the faint smell of cooking meat.

’The son of a bitch is living pretty well!’

A cold smile touched Feng Shan’s lips. He crept to within a dozen meters of the cave, stopped, crouched down, raised the Type 56, and shouted at the entrance.

"Morris, I know you’re in there! Get out!"

After he shouted, the cave fell silent. Just as he was waiting, a gunshot rang out from inside.

Feng Shan instinctively dropped to the snow and returned fire.

BANG! BANG! BANG!!

He emptied the carbine’s internal magazine in one go and heard a pained scream from the cave.

"Fuck! I’m hit! I’m hit! I’m gonna file a complaint against you! You have no authority to investigate, no right to arrest me!"

Feng Shan quickly pulled out a stripper clip and pressed ten rounds into the magazine.

"I’ll say this one last time: throw out your gun, then crawl out of the cave."

"If you don’t move in three seconds, I’m going to shoot. I’m sure that even if I miss, a ricochet will kill you."

"3..."

"2..."

"Shit, don’t shoot! I’m coming out!!" Morris’s panicked voice echoed from the cave.

A hunting rifle was thrown out of the entrance, followed by a man in winter clothes, who slowly crawled out, dragging an injured leg.

"Hands on your head, legs spread!" Feng Shan stood up, still aiming the Type 56. The muzzle never left Morris, who was lying on the snow. His finger rested on the trigger; if the man dared to make a single extra move, he would be turned into a human beehive in the next second.

"Okay, okay, buddy! I’m bleeding, I need a doctor! God help me," Morris yelled in frustration from where he lay in the snow, blood seeping from his right leg and staining the white ground.

’A doctor??’

Feng Shan sneered. He walked over, kicked the hunting rifle away, and pressed his own rifle against the back of Morris’s head. With his other hand, he patted Morris down, checking for a hidden pistol or other weapons, and felt the Hunting Knife he had given to Maria.

"Enough! I only have the one hunting rifle! Stop groping around my crotch like a bitch! I’m not in the mood! Get me a doctor!"

With a rifle pressed to the back of his head, Morris’s first instinct wasn’t to beg for mercy, but to demand a doctor. He seemed completely unconcerned about the crime he had committed.

Just as Morris thought he was in the clear and began to lift his head, something struck him hard on the back of his skull. His vision went black, and in the next instant, he passed out.

Feng Shan lowered his rifle, then used the tip of his boot to flip Morris onto his back, face-up.

Then he gathered a thick glob of phlegm and spat it in his face.

’Now that I’ve caught him, I have to get him down the mountain.’

’There was no way Feng Shan was going to carry this piece of filth.’

Back in his prison days, scumbags like this were the most despised inmates. They got the worst beatings, slept in the toilets, and were often forced to eat shit and drink piss.

He went into the cave, found a rope, and tied Morris up from head to toe. Then he tied another length of rope to his feet.

And just like that, he began dragging him down the mountain.

The snow on the mountain was thick enough. Whether or not his head hit a rock along the way would be up to fate. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

「At the foot of the mountain.」

Little Swan sat on the snowmobile, pistol in hand, craning his neck from time to time to look up at the snow-capped mountain.

He was worried that Feng might be in danger all by himself.

Morris had a terrible reputation in Kivalina. Even before what happened to Maria, he’d heard his grandfather say that Morris had once broken into the home of a woman who lived alone in the village. The woman had only escaped by hiding in her bathroom.

Later, Morris was arrested for a crime in another city and sentenced to ten years. He had only just returned to Kivalina in the last couple of days, and to think he’d harm Maria right after getting back.

’I should have secretly followed him, shot him dead with one bullet, and thrown his body into the Ice Sea to feed the seals.’

Little Swan raised his pistol, imagining Morris was right in front of him.

Suddenly, a figure appeared on the slope of the mountain, dragging something as he walked toward them.

...