The Dagger Revealed!

Words carried weight.

But...

Those words hit far too hard!

The moment defense attorney Xu De finished speaking, the First Courtroom, packed with over four hundred people, fell so silent they could hear one another's heartbeats.

No one could process what they had heard. They looked up at him, stunned, their minds blank.

They understood that there had been a conflict and that the two sides had faced off.

Under those circumstances, it would have made sense for the defense attorney to argue for legitimate self-defense or an accidental death.

But... an act of bravery!?

At the Defendant's Bench.

Wang Qiang, who had been sitting with his head lowered as he awaited judgment, looked up at Xu De. His expression was blank, and so was his mind.

I... I was acting bravely?

"Your Honor, we categorically reject the charges brought by the prosecution."

"And we absolutely refuse the victim's litigation representative's baseless, exorbitant demand for compensation!"

Having said his piece, Xu De felt a weight lift from his chest. He slowly sat down.

"That concludes our statement."

At the judges' bench.

Presiding Judge Zhang Bingxin's stern face showed a flicker of bewilderment. He stared at Xu De for a long moment before realizing he had not imagined what he'd just heard.

Only then did he turn hesitantly toward the prosecution.

"Prosecution, do you disagree with the defense's statement?"

In truth, there was no need to ask.

Anyone sitting at the Prosecution Bench would have bristled at Xu De's argument.

Sure enough.

Before prosecutor Hu Guang could speak, the victim's litigation representative, Chen Wei, lost his composure.

"Absurd! Utterly absurd!"

"Your Honor, the trafficking case clearly stirred up the defendant's emotions and led him to kill in the heat of passion!"

At the Prosecution Bench, blood rushed to Chen Wei's head, and his face flushed red.

He spoke rapidly, feeling his blood pressure rise as he glared at Xu De.

"Calling this an act of bravery is absurd! It's nothing but sophistry!"

Chen Wei had expected the other side to challenge the prosecution fiercely. He had even expected a plea for sympathy.

But he had never imagined Xu De would open with something so outrageous!

An act of bravery?

If that argument held up, they could forget about compensation... Li Youcai and Liu Cui would be lucky if they didn't have to pay anything themselves!

Chen Wei slammed both hands onto the table. "I demand that the defense's argument be rejected!"

At that.

Xu De remained expressionless at the Defendant's Bench and refused to give an inch.

"Then produce evidence to refute it!"

"You!"

Chen Wei's blood surged again. He was about to fire back.

Fortunately, Hu Guang sensed that things were going wrong and immediately cut him off.

"Counsel for the defense."

"Are you aware that the essence of an act of bravery is protecting yourself or others by stopping an unlawful attack in progress?"

Hu Guang's gaze darkened, his tone pressing.

"According to the case file, the victim committed no unlawful attack during the killing."

"It was the defendant who initiated the confrontation on the bus—voluntarily, first, and in the grip of emotion!"

The crucial requirement for an act of bravery was an unlawful attack.

It could be a fist or a knife, but whatever form it took, it had to actually exist and occur!

Claims like "I suspected" or "I believed" were nothing more than excuses and twisted logic.

"When the conflict escalated, the victim posed no physical danger to anyone at the scene!"

Hu Guang shook his head and stated the facts.

"Any danger present came from the villagers, not from the victim himself."

The danger came from the villagers, yet Wang Qiang had killed Li Erniu. That was clearly neither legitimate self-defense nor an act of bravery.

However...

"Prosecution."

"You say the danger came from the villagers. Then let me ask you..."

Xu De frowned and drew a deep breath. An edge crept into his voice.

"Why did the villagers threaten the seven police officers at the scene!?"

He gave them no chance to explain.

"Because of the trafficking case!"

"In other words, the root cause of the threat to the officers' and the defendant's safety was the trafficking case!"

"And the central offender in that case was the deceased, Li Erniu."

"To sum up, we can conclude that the villagers of Li Family Village and Li Erniu came into conflict with the police over the trafficking case. To protect the officers and the others present, the defendant, Wang Qiang, grappled with the offender Li Erniu!"

"In the end, Li Erniu's attempted murder led to his own death, while our client acted in legitimate self-defense."

At those words.

The people in the courtroom finally understood what he meant.

"That... actually makes sense."

"Wait, I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. Give me a second..."

"Why is the prosecution frowning? What are those prosecutors whispering about?"

"..."

In the gallery.

The spectators widened their eyes and couldn't help whispering to one another.

Even Zhang Xia, the reporter trying to record the proceedings, put down her pen and paper to join the discussion.

"Liu, why does this feel a little off...?"

Beside her, Liu Cui said nothing.

What a joke. Did Zhang Xia think a veteran reporter of more than ten years couldn't tell something was off too!?

"The case hasn't been decided yet. Let's keep watching," Liu Cui said, shaking her head.

"What nonsense is that kid spouting!?"

At the Prosecution Bench.

Prosecutor Wang Wei stared at Xu De as though he had seen a ghost, then turned to Hu Guang.

"Doesn't he know that fulfilling a personal duty doesn't count as an act of bravery?"

Wang Qiang and Wang Mei were father and daughter.

By law, Wang Qiang had a duty to protect Wang Mei. Even if he had indirectly protected others, that duty took precedence, so his actions did not qualify as an act of bravery.

Could Xu De really be unaware of that rule!?

"This young man..."

Hu Guang frowned. He had a persistent feeling that Xu De's real objective lay elsewhere.

But if Xu De had never intended to establish that this was an act of bravery... why bring it up at all?

Could he be trying to...

It was as though an electric current raced through Hu Guang's mind.

His eyes widened, his pupils contracting slightly as a possibility struck him!

He was about to speak, but...

"Defense counsel, by law, Wang Qiang had a duty to protect Wang Mei. He was supposed to do it. It was not some act of bravery!"

"So while there was a threat at the scene, it has nothing to do with an act of bravery. Nor did that threat have anything to do with the deceased, Li Erniu!"

Beside him.

Seeing that the prosecutor did not seem inclined to speak, Chen Wei, the victim's litigation representative, rose to his feet. His face was stern, and his slanted eyes fixed on Xu De.

"Your argument does not satisfy Article 183 of the Civil Code!"

As soon as those words left his mouth.

Hu Guang closed his eyes. His heart sank.

Damn. We fell for it...

They had fallen for it... Chen Wei had been maneuvered into a trap. Or rather, that audacious young defense attorney, standing alone, had outmaneuvered the entire Prosecution Bench!

Why?

Because...

"So what you're saying is that the defendant, Wang Qiang, did not commit an 'act of bravery,' but..."

Xu De seized on the point the instant Chen Wei finished speaking.

He let out a long breath. A relaxed smile spread across his face as he looked warmly at Chen Wei.

"But you do not deny that, when the conflict broke out, the danger faced by the officers and the others stemmed from the trafficking case. Correct?"

At that point.

Xu De paused, then gave the four hundred-plus people in the courtroom no time to react. His expression turned solemn, and his voice rang throughout the First Courtroom.

"Your Honor."

"The facts of this case are now clear!"

"The evidence supplied by the police shows that, at the time of the incident, the danger the officers faced came from Li Erniu's trafficking case—which had not yet ended!"

"That means his unlawful imprisonment of the victim, Wang Mei, Wang Qiang's daughter, for ten long years had not ended either!"

"I ask everyone here, especially the prosecution..."

"Did ten years of imprisonment and abuse count as striking first? Did it threaten Wang Mei's safety!?"

Xu De had finally shown his hand, revealing his true aim.

The case... could not be split in two!

If they looked only at Wang Qiang and Li Erniu, it was simply a killing in the heat of passion, falling under intentional homicide. Continuing to argue on those terms would doom the defense!

So there was only one thing he could do.

Unite the facts of the case and shift the starting point of this trial from Wang Qiang's killing to Li Erniu's purchase of a person!

First, he had used the act-of-bravery claim to draw their attention, betting that they would overlook the fact that "the villagers threatened the police because of the trafficking."

If they overlooked it and tacitly accepted that connection...

He could use it to establish that the trafficking case had not ended!

And if it had not ended when the killing occurred, Wang Qiang had a reason for his actions. It could not be intentional homicide. Li Erniu had to be the one who struck first. As for when he struck...

That was ten years ago, when he imprisoned Wang Mei!!!

Thus, the moment those words fell.

Everyone in the courtroom grew stunned, their hearts leaping into their throats!

"Tell me."

"In this trafficking case."

"A father had his daughter stolen, and she was imprisoned and tortured for ten years. When he fought back under those circumstances, was he acting in legitimate self-defense and fulfilling his legal duty, or was it..."

Xu De paused, then spoke four chilling words.

"Intentional homicide!?"

All at once.

The words swept outward from him like a gale.

Everyone in the gallery stared wide-eyed, their hearts hammering!