Half the Battle Won

"The hearing's adjourned!?"

"It really is adjourned!"

The moment Zhang Bingxin announced the adjournment, the already restless gallery could no longer contain itself.

"Liu, didn't the paper predict this case would end at the first hearing!?"

Reporter Zhang Xia covered her open mouth. She watched the judges and prosecutors file out, the shock in her eyes beyond words.

The Wang Qiang Case was simple. Almost no one had expected it to take more than one hearing.

After all, the prosecutors and judges were hardly sympathetic. With no personal feelings involved, one Trial Hearing conducted by the book should have been enough to convict the defendant. Three hours, tops.

But...

How had some unknown defense lawyer appeared out of nowhere and stopped that outcome cold, forcing the prosecutors to adjourn and look for new evidence?

How had that same lawyer single-handedly left all three prosecutors speechless, while still finding time to set a trap for a top-tier courtroom shark and shut him up!?

And the defendant's position was only getting stronger!

"Where did this guy come from?"

Liu Cui was stunned too, and she was a journalist.

She had worked in Greenwood City for so long, yet this was the first she had heard of a lawyer named Xu De.

But she had no time to dwell on it.

A swell of commotion reached her ears.

Liu Cui caught the sound, turned, and immediately went pale.

The moment court adjourned and people began packing up, dozens of reporters sprang to their feet and headed for the aisle, microphones in hand.

What else would they do after a Trial Hearing like that?

They were going to fight for a spot to interview the people involved!

Damn it, I spaced out!

Liu Cui panicked. She could have slapped herself.

She snatched up her microphone and hurried out, calling a warning as she went.

"Xia, hurry! If you don't move now, you won't even be able to squeeze in!"

Zhang Xia belatedly caught on and fumbled to pack her things. Then she looked up at the courtroom's doors, momentarily at a loss.

"Liu, who are we interviewing?"

Ordinarily,

there were two main targets for reporters.

First was the Presiding Judge. He had the final say in the case, so anything he said mattered.

Second were the prosecutors. They held the evidence that determined the nature and direction of the case!

But this case...

"Do you even have to ask? The defense lawyer! We need to catch Lawyer Xu!"

Liu Cui took a deep breath and plunged into the crowd.

Zhang Xia hurried after her.

Inside the Trial Hearing.

"Ad... adjourned?"

In the defendant's seat, Wang Qiang's clouded eyes stirred. He watched the courtroom slowly empty, feeling dazed.

Only when the Court Bailiffs came to escort him away did he snap back to himself.

He instinctively looked toward the defense table.

Xu De was quietly sorting his documents. As if sensing something, he looked up at Wang Qiang and gave him a reassuring smile.

All at once,

that smile seemed to make Wang Qiang's heart beat a little stronger.

He took a deep breath and left between the two Court Bailiffs.

Once his client was escorted out,

Xu De wasted no time. He packed up his defense materials and turned to leave.

Click!

The corridor door swung open.

But the path he had expected was nowhere in sight. Instead, reporters packed together before him like a human wall.

The moment they saw him,

their eyes lit up. Without a word, countless microphones and cameras thrust toward Xu De's face amid bursts of flashbulbs.

An urgent clamor rose with them.

"Lawyer Xu, what are your thoughts on this case!?"

"Did you anticipate the adjournment? And what do you think of the prosecution?"

"Lawyer Xu, we're from Phoenix News Television. We'd like an exclusive interview. Do you have a moment...?"

"Can you tell us why you dared to make a Not-Guilty Defense?"

"..."

Questions poured from dozens of mouths, washing over Xu De like a tide.

Their fervor felt like the scene around a celebrity.

But Xu De had no interest in being one.

He glanced back in the direction the prosecution had gone.

Just in time, he caught sight of Chen Wei's stormy face and the retreating figures of Li Youcai and Liu Cui, both beside themselves with rage.

Xu De looked away.

The first hearing was over, but that did not mean he could rest.

He intended to prepare an even bigger surprise for the prosecutors!

With that thought,

Xu De composed himself, his expression turning stern.

"Excuse me. Make way!"

He pushed aside the microphones thrust into his face and forced his way through the crowd.

The reporters saw that he had no intention of speaking

and grew visibly anxious.

"Mr. Xu, just one sentence!"

"Please wait! We're willing to pay for an exclusive interview!"

"Lawyer Xu, hold on..."

No matter how hard they tried to stop him,

Xu De acted as if he heard nothing. Before long, he broke through the crowd and vanished down the corridor.

Seeing this,

Zhang Xia and Liu Cui lowered their hands in frustration.

"What do we do?" Zhang Xia asked, flustered.

He had not said a word. How were they supposed to write their articles?

Liu Cui took a deep breath and said firmly,

"Write about what he did in the Trial Hearing!"

Whether they praised him or criticized him, once it was in print, it was sure to become the talk of the city!

As for when to publish it...

Liu Cui glanced at the reporters from the dozen-odd other newspapers around them.

They were all old hands. If she was even a step slower, there would be nothing left for her paper.

She made up her mind.

"We'll finish it today and send it straight to the editor-in-chief for review. It has to be in tomorrow morning's paper!"

When that edition came out,

the public debate would erupt all over again!

The two hurried off.

As for Xu De...

By then,

he had left the courthouse. He savored the quiet of five in the afternoon and took a breath of fresh air.

A slender figure who had been waiting outside spotted him and came forward.

"How did it go? What happened at the Trial Hearing!?"

It was none other than the "Nine-Heavens Flying Dragon, Jade-Faced Thunder Primordial, Universal Salvation, Demon-Subduing Lord of Longevity"!

She also went by Lin Yue. Now she stood before Xu De, tense, her eyes darting toward the courthouse now and then.

Xu De smiled. Instead of answering right away, he asked her a question.

"Did you find the people I asked you to get to help?"

There was no need to rush his account of the Trial Hearing.

From his experience, by tomorrow morning at the latest, Greenwood City would be full of reports about him!

An unknown nobody making a name for himself overnight!

Lin Yue suppressed her curiosity and nodded. "I found them."

At that,

Xu De's eyes gleamed. He said,

"It's getting late. Let's go straight to Li Family Village under cover of darkness!"

Lin Yue froze, then stared at him in disbelief.

"Wait... the Trial Hearing just ended. You're going to steal it without even eating?"

"No time for that. We need to hurry!" Xu De said.

With that,

the two rushed off into the distance.

The national emblem hung high on the courthouse behind them, silently watching their backs until they disappeared.

At half past five that afternoon,

Chen Wei of the Yang Teng Law Firm was unusually quiet.

He took a taxi back to the firm alone. A closer look would have revealed his rumpled collar, hair like a bird's nest, and several bloody scratches on his face.

Liu Cui had done that.

All because of his disastrous performance in the Trial Hearing...

He returned to the Yang Teng Law Firm looking just as disheveled.

Creak.

The door opened. In the firm's lobby, several lawyers getting coffee turned at the sound. When they recognized him, they smiled.

"How'd it go, Lawyer Chen? Back in triumph?"

"Ha, I heard Hu Guang was prosecuting. With him on the case, I figured you wouldn't even need to—huh?"

Their greetings stopped as soon as they got a good look at Chen Wei.

They hesitated.

"Lawyer Chen, what happened to you?"

At that,

Chen Wei took a deep breath and forced down the emotion surging in his chest. His face blank, he said,

"Nothing."

The lawyers exchanged glances, then tried another question.

"Lawyer Chen, how did the case go?"

"The firm's paying close attention to it. The reputation isn't great, but winning would really show what we can do."

The case?

The anger Chen Wei had just suppressed nearly exploded.

He clenched his fists until his knuckles whitened and forced an answer through gritted teeth.

"The case... is fine!"

What kind of answer was that?

His colleagues were baffled, but none dared press him. One smiled and said,

"Lawyer Chen, someone's waiting for you at the firm. I think he's an old classmate. We'll leave you two to catch up."

An old classmate?

Chen Wei stopped and frowned.

He was still trying to work out who it could be when a voice suddenly sounded beside him.

"Haha, Chen, how'd the case go!?"

That voice... sounded familiar.

Chen Wei went still. Then his expressionless face slowly turned toward the speaker.

A broadly smiling face came into view.

It was...

Sun Hao!

That was right. The man who had come was Sun Hao of Jinmao Law Firm—Xu De's team leader and Chen Wei's old classmate, the one who had supplied him with "critical pretrial intelligence." Sun Hao!

Sun Hao rose from the sofa with a smile and walked toward him.

"How'd it go, Old Chen? Did you win the case?"

The moment those words left his mouth...

Chen Wei's face, which had looked passable a moment ago, flushed red before darkening almost to black. Veins bulged on his forehead, and his features twisted with rage.

His breathing grew faster. The emotions he had kept bottled up finally broke free, making his chest heave!

His hands clenched into fists, his knuckles cracking. Every muscle in his body went taut, their outlines standing out sharply!

Sun Hao... Sun Hao...

"Sun Hao!"

His furious roar echoed through the law firm.

The next second.

In Sun Hao's stunned eyes, Chen Wei's rage-twisted face descended on him, followed by a fist that grew larger by the instant.

"You've got the nerve to come see me?!!"