Chapter 28 TWENTY-EIGHT

Chapter 28: Chapter TWENTY-EIGHT

Xin Linhua scoffs in disbelief.

His once tense posture suddenly turns lax and relieved.

Half of this shitty court proceedings would have been skipped if the judges could have been bothered to check the facts before coming.

Now they’re all pulling out their phones with creased brows and narrowed eyes to check if what Xin Linhua said was true.

Xin Linhua can’t help but feel exhausted and exasperated. This whole thing is a joke! This entire court session is a joke!

The said video is long. Some uploaded after editing and some just uploaded the whole thing that’s about half an hour long.

The court is quiet now, only the sound of the video playing from various phones can be heard. The judges keep frowning, one even takes off his glasses.

The first judge turns to the line of officers standing at the side.

"Captain." He exhales "Your account is different from what I’m seeing here. You showed us a video that’s about two minutes long, but I’m watching an entirely different show over here."

The Captain bows his head like he’s been wronged. He walks forward once more.

"Sire. The institute barely has cameras due to the Privacy Act. There’s no reason to pry into people’s daily life and certainly, no one will try to kill each other in the institute. At least, that’s what we believed."

"Get to the fucking point." Xin Linhua grits out.

"The entrance of the Research Division has about four cameras only." The Captain continues "They were all destroyed due to the Pyromancer going out of control. The footage we showed you just now is the only one we managed to salvage from the scuffle and ruins."

"Ah..." Another judge exhales.

"Permission to speak." Xin Linhua raises his hand.

"So you do know court rules." A third judge sneers "Permission granted."

Xin Linhua turns to the Captain like a man who’s ready to set hell loose on earth.

"Captain, you should think carefully about your answers from now on." A smile hangs on his face "Don’t leave anything out and certainly, do not second guess things."

"Guide Xin Linhua...that sounds like a threat."

"It’s a reminder Captain." Xin Linhua steps off the podium "Well then, please answer this. When you arrive, how chaotic was the situation?"

"Very." The Captain replies smoothly "Fire, blood and chaos. It was hard to control the crowd."

"Oh...I see. Then, did you notice the crowd recording with their phones?"

"I can’t remember. We were in a rush to put the fire out and control the scene."

"I see..." Xin Linhua stops in front of him "What do you think about the peach blossoms in North Xiang garden."

"Guide Xin Linhua. How is this relevant to the case at hand?" The man frowns.

"Very relevant." Xin Linhua grins "Please answer the question."

"I don’t know. I’ve never been there."

"Mm..." Xin Linhua leans in "Captain, I have an eye for things you know. Your right shoulder has been glowing all day."

The Captain’s expression changes. His hand flies to his shoulder, fumbling around for whatever it is Xin Linhua saw.

"Here, lemme help you." Xin Linhua tugs at his collar.

A small, pink petal glistens in between his fingers. A peach blossom leaf.

"Well, this is awkward." Xin Linhua rubs his nose "It’s not spring yet, so–"

"I was at Jingyi garden all day yesterday." The Captain calmly takes the leaf from him.

"Oh...but I thought you weren’t a fan of peach blossoms."

"I wasn’t there for peach blossoms."

"Oh..." Xin Linhua nods.

"Guide Xin Linhua." One of the judges rubs his temples "What are you doing?"

"Taking the long approach." Xin Linhua answers honestly "If I had asked the Captain outrightly, he’d have denied it."

"Denied what?"

"The existence of the video you watched." Xin Linhua’s smile slowly turns cruel "The CCTV weren’t damaged, he broke them himself."

"Guide Xin." The Captain narrows his eyes "You have a lot of charges against you, surely you don’t want to add defamation to it."

"Of course not." Xin Linhua tilts his head "Everyone knows that North Xiang Garden and Jingyi Garden are the only place you can watch flowers bloom all year round."

"And?"

"Not just anyone is allowed in there." Xin Linhua’s expression coughs slightly "With the Captain’s...abilities, he’d have to be associated with someone who’s qualified enough to bring him in there. Certainly, not me, we’re not that close."

"Where are you getting at?"

"Jingyi Garden does not open at all times, it’s extremely random." Xin Linhua continues "You’d have to be very active on social media to keep up and receive updates about their openings and reservations."

Silence descends over the court. Almost every eye locks onto the Captain. Some try to click the scattered pieces in place.

Xin Linhua turns back to the Captain.

"So here’s my deduction. The Captain got rid of the CCTV, unaware that the crowd had a video. He didn’t conduct a proper investigation when he was questioning the eye witnesses so he didn’t discover the video they recorded. He wants to pin the murder on me so he wrapped everything up real fast.

"The Captain must be a fan of high society if he’s obsessed with ogling pear blossoms in the middle of autumn, nearing winter. Amidst keeping an eye out for the update about Jingyi Garden, he stumbled upon the video of Gao Chengi and I.

"He knew he fucked things up so he rushed to meet someone at the Garden. That person...has to be the one who got him a pass. Usually, a trial shouldn’t happen in such short time. It takes weeks, months. Some even span up to half a year.

"It all depends on how huge the case is and how much evidence is at hand. The Captain must be really good at his job, he got me indicted in just a few days despite the fact that I supposedly killed a man."

The more Xin Linhua speaks, the more chaotic the court becomes.

No one had thought much about it before– how fast the court hearing was moving. They had all been engrossed by such a major event, they overlooked the tiniest details.

"Guide Xin Linhua." The Captain clenches his fist behind him "You can’t just make claims without evidence."

"Evidence..." Xin Linhua chuckles "I happen to have one. You wouldn’t believe what I stumbled upon."