Halfway There

"Court's adjourned!?"

"It really is!"

The gallery had already been restless, but the moment Zhang Bingxin announced the adjournment, the spectators could no longer contain themselves.

"Liu, didn't the paper predict this case would be over after the first hearing!?"

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

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 unsympathetic. Without personal feelings getting in the way, one hearing by the book would have been enough to convict the defendant. Three hours, give or take.

But...

How had an unknown defense lawyer appeared out of nowhere and brought everything to a halt, forcing the prosecutors to adjourn and look for new evidence?

How had that same lawyer single-handedly silenced all three prosecutors and still found time to set a trap for a top legal shark and shut him up!?

The defendant was even gaining ground!

"Where did this guy come from?"

Liu Cui was stunned too. She was a reporter.

She had worked in Greenwood City for years, 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's ears pricked up. She turned, and her expression changed at once.

Dozens of reporters had seen the court adjourn. As everyone packed up to leave, they rose together, microphones in hand, and headed for the aisle.

Why else would they do that after a hearing like this?

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

Damn it, I spaced out!

Liu Cui was so anxious she wanted to slap herself.

She snatched up her microphone and hurried toward the exit, calling back as she went.

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

Zhang Xia belatedly caught on. She scrambled to pack her things, then looked up at the courtroom's doors, momentarily at a loss.

"Liu, who are we interviewing?"

Generally speaking.

Reporters had two main targets.

First was the presiding judge. He had the final say in the case, and anything he said could be important.

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. Corner Xu De!"

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

Zhang Xia hurried after her.

Inside the courtroom.

"Ad... adjourned?"

At the Defendant's Bench, Wang Qiang's clouded eyes stirred. He watched the courtroom gradually empty, dazed.

Only when the court bailiffs came to take him away did he snap back to himself.

Then he instinctively looked toward the defense table.

Xu De was quietly gathering his documents. As if he sensed the look, he raised his head and glanced over, offering a reassuring smile.

All at once.

That expression seemed to make Wang Qiang's heart beat a little stronger.

He drew a deep breath and left under escort, a court bailiff on either side.

Once he saw his client leave the courtroom.

Xu De wasted no time. He packed up his defense materials, turned, and headed out.

Click!

The corridor door opened.

But the clear path he expected was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a mass of reporters stood packed together like a human wall.

When they saw him emerge.

Their eyes lit up. Without a word, microphones and cameras thrust toward Xu De's mouth amid flashing lights.

A barrage of urgent voices came with them.

"Xu De, what's your view of this case!?"

"Did you expect the hearing to be adjourned? And what do you think of the prosecution?"

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

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

"..."

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

The frenzy felt almost like a crowd mobbing a celebrity.

But Xu De had no desire to be one.

He looked back toward the prosecution's exit.

He happened to catch sight of Chen Wei's gloomy face and the backs of Li Youcai and Liu Cui as they stormed out, furious.

At that, Xu De looked away.

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

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

With that thought.

Xu De's expression tightened, his face turning unusually stern.

"Make way, make way!"

He pushed aside the microphones shoved in his face and forced his way through the crowd.

Seeing that he had no intention of talking.

The reporters grew frantic.

"Mr. Xu, just one comment!"

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

"Xu, just a moment..."

No matter how hard they tried to stop him.

Xu De acted as if he had heard nothing. Before long, he broke through the crowd and disappeared at the end of 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 court!"

Whether they praised him or attacked him, as long as they wrote about it, he was certain to become the center of public attention!

As for when to publish...

Liu Cui glanced at the people from more than a dozen other news outlets around her.

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

Liu Cui 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's morning edition!"

When the morning edition came out...

Public debate would erupt all over again!

The two hurried away.

As for Xu De...

By then.

Xu De had left the courthouse. He took in the quiet of five in the afternoon and drew 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 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. Standing before Xu De, she looked tense, her eyes darting now and then toward the courthouse.

Xu De smiled. Rather than answer immediately, he asked her a question.

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

There was no hurry to tell her about the hearing.

If his experience was any guide... by tomorrow morning at the latest, Greenwood City would be full of reports about him!

An unknown nobody, famous overnight!

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

At that.

Xu De's eyes gleamed as he said:

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

Lin Yue froze, then stared at him in disbelief.

"Wait... the hearing just ended. We're going to steal without even eating!?"

Xu De said, "Cut the chatter. We need to hurry!"

With that.

The two hurried off into the distance.

The national emblem hung high on the courthouse behind them, silently overlooking their retreating figures until they vanished from sight.

Five thirty in the afternoon.

Chen Wei of Yang Teng Law Firm was unusually quiet.

He rode back to the firm alone in a taxi. Anyone who looked closely would have noticed his rumpled collar, hair like a bird's nest, and several bloody scratches on his face.

Liu Cui had done that.

The reason was his disastrous performance at the hearing...

Looking like that, he returned to Yang Teng Law Firm.

Creak.

The door opened. In the firm's lobby, several lawyers getting coffee turned instinctively. When they saw who it was, they smiled.

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

"Ha, I heard Hu Guang was prosecuting. With him there, I figured you wouldn't even need to... Huh?"

Their greetings faltered when they got a good look at Chen Wei.

Then they hesitated.

"Chen Wei, what happened to you?"

At that.

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

"Nothing."

The lawyers exchanged glances before trying again.

"Chen, how did the case go?"

"The firm's paying close attention to it. It might not be great for our reputation, but winning would really prove what this firm can do."

The case?

The anger Chen Wei had just suppressed nearly burst free.

He clenched his fists until his knuckles went white and forced a reply through gritted teeth.

"The case... nothing to report!"

What kind of answer was that?

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

"Chen Wei, someone's waiting for you in the firm. I think he's an old classmate. We'll let you catch up."

An old classmate?

Chen Wei paused, his brow furrowing.

Before he could work out who it might be, a voice suddenly sounded beside him.

"Haha, Chen Wei! How'd the case go!?"

That voice... sounded familiar.

Chen Wei went still. Slowly, he turned his expressionless face toward it.

A beaming face came into view.

It was...

Sun Hao!

That was right. The visitor 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 "crucial pre-battle intelligence" before the hearing.

Sun Hao!

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

"Well? 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 and then nearly black before his eyes. Veins bulged on his forehead, and his features twisted with rage.

His breathing grew ragged. The emotions he had kept bottled up could no longer be contained, and his chest heaved violently!

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

Sun Hao... Sun Hao...

"Sun Hao!"

The furious roar echoed through the law firm.

The next second.

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

"You still dare show your face here?!"