Chapter 309: Tit for Tat

Supported by bailiffs, the first witness hobbled into the courtroom on a crutch. His eyes were sunken and his frame emaciated, looking as though he had just recovered from a severe illness.

He was a young man of about twenty, yet he moved more like an old man in his fifties or sixties. His steps trembled so violently he needed a crutch and someone to hold him upright.

Once he took the witness stand, Gou Changzheng picked up a file. "The plaintiff's first piece of evidence is the witness Yu Bin, nicknamed Abin, to prove that Gao Jian entered Jianglong Villa on the night of the eleventh. He is both an eyewitness and a victim."

I looked up. I had some impression of this young man. Jiang Long had sent him upstairs to check out the noise, and he happened to run into me right after I destroyed the fuse box.

The Fate Ghost had been standing right behind me at the time. He saw its true form—that horrifying entity woven from countless tangles of black hair—and it scared him senseless.

Afterward, I let the Fate Ghost siphon a portion of his life force, but I didn't take his life.

Now standing in the witness box, Yu Bin clearly hadn't fully recovered. He trembled and didn't dare lift his head. It wasn't until the judge questioned him that he finally stated his name.

But when it came time to identify me, an unexpected incident occurred. The moment Yu Bin made eye contact with me, he lost control of his emotions. It was as if he had recalled something utterly terrifying, the memories he had so painstakingly suppressed surging back into his mind.

"A ghost! There's a ghost!" he screamed, pointing at me in a delirious state. "The ghost is right behind him! I saw it! I saw it!"

"Silence!" Chen Haiyi struck his gavel, but Yu Bin's reaction only grew more violent. He grabbed the bailiff beside him. "Let me out of here! There's a ghost! A ghost!"

The people in the gallery broke into murmurs, having no idea what was going on. I was also a little baffled. 'He can see ghosts? But the Fate Ghost already died taking my place. What ghost is he talking about?'

Yu Bin's mental state was too unstable for him to testify. Left with no choice, Chen Haiyi had the bailiffs escort him away.

Gou Changzheng looked somewhat embarrassed. The gaze he leveled at me grew even more hostile.

"Didn't we already go over his lines before bringing him up? Why did he suddenly lose his mind?"

Gou Changzheng muttered under his breath. Beside him, Jiang Chen slightly lowered his head. "Be careful. There's something wicked about that Gao Jian."

Clearing his throat, Gou Changzheng presented the second set of evidence—my fingerprints and shoe prints extracted from Jianglong Villa by the police, surveillance footage from the perimeter of Longteng Community, and testimonies from the thugs present at the scene.

Gou Changzheng laid out the evidence, aiming every spearhead directly at me. He recreated the events of that night in the villa for the judge and jury, and his version was extremely close to the truth.

The man possessed keen deductive skills; he was able to reconstruct the crime scene relying on nothing but thug testimonies and forensic details.

"Defendant, do you have any objections to the plaintiff's claims?" Chen Haiyi looked at me. After seeing a witness frightened out of his wits, there was a very strange look in his eyes.

"I do!" I shouted, pointing at Gou Changzheng. "He's completely making things up! He is framing me!"

Even as I shouted, my mind raced, searching for the clues regarding Jiang Long's death that the police hadn't yet grasped.

"First, the video footage you provided came from the perimeter of Longteng Community. It only proves that I entered the community that night and had the time to commit the crime."

"Second, the fingerprints and footprints extracted from inside the house only prove that I entered the crime scene that night. It similarly cannot directly prove that I am the murderer."

"Third, all of your testimonies come from Jiang Long's subordinates, and their statements match perfectly. I suspect you colluded beforehand, deliberately trying to pin the blame for the murder on me!"

Because I practiced the Profound Truth Mental Method and frequently recited Daoist scriptures, my words carried an innate aura of righteousness. As I spoke, even I started to believe my own arguments. "The testimonies you just provided all mentioned one issue: I entered Jianglong Villa completely alone, without any accomplices. Everyone here should know exactly what kind of man Jiang Long was. Twenty years ago, he fought alongside Jiang Detao to conquer the underworld; he was the top boss of the entire North District. With a single stomp of his foot, both the criminal underworld and the authorities would tremble. Could a man of such terrifying reputation, surrounded by his underlings in his own villa, really be killed by a single outsider?"

I looked toward the plaintiff's table. "Could you fabricate an even more outlandish story?"

"That's true. Jiang Long's nickname was 'River Dragon.' He was incredibly vicious, a madman who licked blood off the edge of a blade. Killing him in a one-on-one fight would be hard."

"Exactly. Plus, with so many of his boys there, even just one slash from each of them would have hacked Gao Jian to death. But look at him—he doesn't have a single obvious knife wound. I feel like there's more to this than meets the eye."

Murmurs rippled through the gallery. Gou Changzheng tried to speak, but having seized the initiative, there was no way I was letting go. "I am being framed, and their testimonies are fabricated! As for why they are scheming so desperately to set me up and put me to death, it's because I hold an earth-shattering secret regarding the Jiangjin Group! If this secret gets out, it will likely completely overturn the Jiangjin Group's image in everyone's eyes, and it might even trigger a massive earthquake across Jiangcheng regarding its number one financial conglomerate!"

This trial was being broadcast live by multiple media outlets, which was exactly why I dared to speak up.

Shocked by the implication of my words, the commotion from the gallery grew louder and louder.

"Silence!" Chen Haiyi struck his gavel, nursing a headache as he stopped me from continuing. He then looked at Jiang Chen. "How does the plaintiff explain the defendant's claims?"

"He's a thief crying thief! He's biting back at us!" Jiang Chen stood up without thinking, his reaction quite intense.

"Ahem!" Gou Changzheng gently tugged at Jiang Chen's sleeve and stood up. "The court is a place of fair and strict judgment. Everything requires evidence, and one cannot make baseless accusations. I hope the defendant can provide solid proof. If you cannot, I'm afraid I will have to add a twenty-second charge against you—malicious defamation and defrauding the public."

"Don't think I don't know what kind of wishful thinking you're doing. Jiang Detao used all his connections to ensure I couldn't hire a defense lawyer and couldn't obtain crucial evidence to confront you in court. But do you really think my death will keep your secret buried forever?" Ignoring the presiding judge's warning glares, I acted like a complete ruffian with nothing to lose. "I'll tell you the truth: I've already handed those documents over to several different people for safekeeping. The moment anything happens to me, they will immediately make mass copies and deliver them to the prosecutor's office. When it stirs up a city-wide storm, don't blame me for not warning you."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Chen's face drastically changed. Ultimately, he wasn't as seasoned as Jiang Detao; the slightest bluff exposed his flaws. I immediately grasped the Jiang family's bottom line and felt a bit more confident. As long as I didn't disclose the exact location of the documents, I would be safe for now.

"Mind the court's decorum. You are not to speak without permission," Chen Haiyi warned me, signaling Gou Changzheng to continue.

This lawyer was also incredibly slick. "This so-called secret regarding Jiangjin Real Estate is purely a fabrication by the defendant to divert everyone's attention. The facts of Jiang Long's murder are already very clear. The defendant had the time, motive, location, and ability to commit the crime. Furthermore, Jiang Detao, the chairman of Jiangjin Real Estate, has preserved an audio recording of the defendant. It vividly captures the defendant's arrogant and brutal nature, broadcasting a murder live over an open phone call!"

Subsequently, Gou Changzheng submitted Jiang Detao's phone recording. Jiang Detao's own voice had been partially muted out, while my voice had been completely retained.

"Defendant, how do you explain this?"

In the recording, I was clamoring about broadcasting a murder live, and in reality, I had actually done just that. But given the current situation, I absolutely couldn't admit to it. "The voice on the phone is indeed mine, but I only said those things because the other party deliberately goaded me into it. It's simple logic—who in their right mind would broadcast a murder live to the chairman of Jiangjin Real Estate? Furthermore, why would I do it without seeking wealth or profit, only wanting to take back what was mine?"

Because it involved information regarding the Underworld Live Show, I smoothly ended that topic and steered the conversation back to Jiang Long's death. "As for the evidence provided by the plaintiff, I believe it completely falls apart under scrutiny. Since you claim I killed him, then bring out Jiang Long's autopsy report! Let the judge see exactly what murder weapon and methods I used to cause his death!"

Gou Changzheng didn't answer directly. The sly old fox knew how to dodge the heavy blows and focus on the light ones, pivoting instead to stating other charges. Meanwhile, I clung fiercely to the Jiang Long murder case. For a time, the trial descended into a stalemate until Gou Changzheng's cross-examination period ended.

"It is now the defendant Gao Jian's turn to present evidence, followed by cross-examination from the plaintiff's defense lawyer."

After Chen Haiyi spoke, everyone in the room turned their eyes on me. Gou Changzheng sneered and said to Jiang Chen, "He doesn't even have a defense lawyer, and he's been held in police custody ever since his arrest. Where would he go to find evidence? From the moment this lawsuit began, we were already standing in an invincible position."

The courtroom suddenly fell deathly silent. Under the oppressive weight of all those stares, I racked my brains but couldn't think of a single solution.

"Defendant, please present your evidence, otherwise your previous statements will be deemed invalid," Chen Haiyi and several other judges urged me simultaneously.

My arms felt a little stiff. The cold air from the AC blasted against my back, and the sweat on my forehead dried only to bead up again. I licked my cracked lips, my eyes fixed on the malicious faces sitting at the plaintiff's table.

Some gloated over my misfortune, while others covertly made provocative gestures. And I could only watch, all alone. Gou Changzheng was right—I had no evidence to present.

I let out a helpless sigh. "I don't have any evidence at the moment..."

Just as I was about to give up on the cross-examination, the doors to the courtroom were pushed open.

A beam of sunlight streamed into the room, and a smiling middle-aged man walked in through the gallery.

"I am the defendant's defense lawyer. My apologies, I'm late."