“You should do your best not to let it know what we discussed. Also, you definitely cannot trust anything it says and any of its illusions. Firm up your confidence. You must save your son, and you must trust that we can help you. In the end, we will definitely get rid of that harmful thing.” Xiao Xia encouraged him. “As for your case, I will apply to have your mental state examined after the hearing.”
“But I was already examined once!” Li Jing Ming said.
“I can appeal for another examination. You don’t have to worry about this. Leave the legal matters to me. You just have to cooperate.”
“How do I cooperate? Pretend to be crazy?”
Xiao Xia didn’t know how to answer this question.
If she were discovered to have instigated her defendant into committing perjury, she would be disbarred, and if it were serious, she would be persecuted. She didn’t want to do this since her creed had always been to be worthy of both the heavens and the earth.
“Maybe that spirit didn’t actually turn into anything, and merely made your brain see illusions. Seeing things should be a sort of mental illness, right!?” She said awkwardly. In the conflict of her principles, her desire to save someone triumphed.
“That’s right. It made you see things. Otherwise, you can’t explain the things you saw during the day. Have you ever seen it transform in the daytime?” When Li Jing Ming confirmed it, she let out a breath and continued: “Ghosts are intangible things to begin with. It’s more believable to call it hallucinations. Since that’s the case, you can just tell the truth during the reexamination.”
“That’s all I have to do?”
“That’s right. You truly did see a ghost turn into various things to try and kill your family!”
“Alright, I’ll listen to you, Lawyer Yue.” Li Jing Ming clutched his head in pain. “You must help me! Lawyer Yue, I beg you!”
“Don’t worry, I keep my promises. What’s wrong? Mister Li? Mister Li? Priest, priest, help me.” Li Jing Ming’s abnormal appearance made Xiao Xia involuntarily ask Ruan Zhan for help.
“It’s about to come out.” Ruan Zhan said calmly: “Mister Li, remember Lawyer Yue’s words. No need to be afraid. If you aren’t afraid, its power will be diminished.”
“I will definitely do so.” Li Jing Ming continued to struggle. “You guys should leave quickly. It hates Lawyer Yue to death and will harm her.”
“You should leave first.” Ruan Zhan told her.
“No.” Xiao Xia was scared pale by Li Jing Ming’s twisted appearance, but she remained in her seat. “Wake the officer first so that there will be many witnesses when “Li Jing Ming” attacks me. During the reexamination, the expert will ask the officers about his behavior during incarceration. This will be beneficial to him.”
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
“I’m sure.” Xiao Xia gritted her teeth and no longer looked at Li Jing Ming whose face had turned malevolent.
Her feeble appearance while trying to be brave made Ruan Zhan’s heart soften a little for a moment. “Get behind me.” He said.
When Xiao Xia heard this, she seemed as if she were granted a pardon and immediately leapt behind him.
“Why try and act tough when you’re so timid.” Ruan Zhan was between laughter and tears, but he still allowed her to hide herself. He then had the officer wake right before Li Jing Ming started acting up. That officer didn’t have time to wonder why he felt dizzy and had a gap in his memory. He had his hands full with calling for help and restraining the suspect.
Xiao Xia still felt some lingering fears towards Li Jing Ming’s rampaging appearance as she sat in the sunny café.
“I wasn’t encouraging Li Jing Ming to commit perjury.” She hated the bitterness of coffee so she was sipping juice through a straw. “It was definitely that ghost making him see things.”
“The more you try to explain, the guiltier you sound.” Ruan Zhan decided to put an end to Xiao Xia comforting herself. “Actually, what you said makes a lot of sense. Ghosts are intangible things and cannot commit murder and arson by themselves. It can only use fear to scare people to death, or control other things to do their bidding. Even if it changes form, it can only appear at night. Furthermore, those illusions are all incorporeal. It’s impossible for it to touch anything.”
“So this was all due to it attaching itself to Li Jing Ming and making him hallucinate? After all, if it couldn’t touch anything, his wife could only have abused him verbally, but not physically.”
“It could also have attached itself to other people. His wife for example, as well as others, and have them act as they normally would.”
“That would explain the witness statements. A month prior to this case, he started openly arguing with his family. It must have been that ghost going around inciting things.”
“That’s very possible.”
“Dear god, I hope I never get possessed by a ghost. This is too scary.” Xiao Xia recalled Li Jing Ming’s tragic state and naturally pitied him. “If I were manipulated into harming my friends and family, how could I live with it after regaining consciousness?”
“You don’t need to worry.” Ruan Zhan looked at the jade Buddha on her chest and said: “Keep that on you. Never take it off.”
“So it turns out this was protecting me? Is that why it failed to harm me all those times? Cheh, if I had known earlier, why would I need to be scared of it?”
She looked confident due to the knowledge of her backing. Ruan Zhan suddenly realized that Wan Li probably understood her the most in this world. He had momentarily forgotten Wan Li’s warning and told her about the amulet. As expected, this super optimistic young lady assumed everything would be fine from now on, just as Wan Li predicted.
“This is just an amulet. It is only able to ward off evil spirits to a certain extent. It cannot protect you.” He frightened Xiao Xia. “It wasn’t able to harm you because it is currently incomplete.”
“What do you mean incomplete?” Xiao Xia was only happy for a few seconds before being scared by the new information.
“Didn’t Li Ji Ming say it had never left his side? But you clearly know it had also possessed your landlady. There’s no way it could switch vessels in the middle of the day.”
“Why?”
“Actually, I suspect it’s a spirit that has nursed its grudge for over a century. Accurately speaking, it is no longer a simple spirit. It has turned into a fiend.”
“Fiend?” Xiao Xia parroted.
“Or rather, a half-fiend.”
“Can you use less of your special jargon?”
“It means that it is stronger than ordinary evil spirits. Furthermore, it is able to split itself and possess several people at once. Most commonly they can split themselves into two, but the stronger ones can split into more. Although its powers would be weakened, it would be able to control even more people at the same time. Furthermore, the parts are able to remain in contact, and work together to achieve their goals.” Last time he had been very puzzled over the incompleteness of the dark miasma in Xiao Xia’s house. Today, he finally realized the truth after meeting Li Jing Ming. It had already been a struggle for him to deal with the incomplete form. He had only succeeded after using a blood incantation. If they allowed it to become whole, he would definitely be disadvantaged. If it returned to its territory, its power would increase even more. Even putting his life on the line may not result in victory. Of course, he couldn’t tell Xiao Xia all of this. She wasn’t able to help with this, and would only increase his troubles.
“You mean it wasn’t able to do anything to me because it split into two, but if it were complete I’d be straight out of luck?”
“Very insightful.”
“Hey, can you not use such a mocking tone when talking to me?” Xiao Xia flared up.
“I’ll try my best.”