The Restless Spirit's Father

Liu Xiaodan couldn't do it. He didn't want to lie even if it would be easier. There was just not enough evidence for all of these. Didn't he slaughter Ren Ditian and the others because he had no evidence to save Li Feng and his friends?

However, the judge kept on making things hard for him.

"Intention to kill?" The judge hummed and interrupted them again. He looked at the police officers in the audience. "It said in your report that Huang Kun threatened Miss Chuan that he would kill Liu Xiaodan, didn't he? Same with the testimonials of Jiang Hou's roommates. Can you confirm this?"

Liu Xiaodan looked up at the judge. Was he really that intrigued by this that he wanted to investigate himself? Could it be because he pleaded guilty that the judge wanted to see if he wasn't actually trying to cover for someone?

Right... who would plead guilty around twenty counts of second-degree murder after all?

The police officers scoured through their things and assented to the judge's claims. The man then hummed. "Mr. Liu, are you saying that as long as the target didn't want to kill you, you cannot hurt them?

"The testaments of your dorm's resident nurse said that you were even helping Mr. Chen before he died. As for Jiang Hou's murder... you were found in the rooftop with your friends... keeping a Ruan Jin from jumping."

Ruan Jin, who was in the audience, shuddered at the mention of his name. Right! That night, they were saving him from Ye Ling who wanted to push him from the roof. That was why they weren't deemed suspects, right?

The judge then looked at Liu Xiaodan. "Mr. Liu, why are you pushing the blame on yourself? Are you covering for someone?"

"I remember answering the first question with a 'yes', Your Honor." Liu Xiaodan kept the bitter smile on his lips. "I am responsible for all of this. That's why I'm pleading guilty."

"So you're just acting on your conscience?" The judge's brows rose. He then looked at the defendant's camp. "Atty. Cao, you do realize that whether this man had a magical ghost or not, there is certainly no evidence against him in these murders.

"As for his fight against Ren Ditian's group, it was clearly within the bounds of self-defense. He and his three friends were attacked by over a dozen armed men."

"N-No, I ordered Guangru to—"

"Mr. Liu, please. This is a court trial; evidence should speak for you." The judge then turned to the prosecutor. "Give me prints or any real probable cause that this man initiated the killing. If you cannot produce anything, I will ask the jury to decide right now."

The prosecutor took a deep breath, walked back to his camp, and tried to do something. By the look of things, they would surely lose this case. The only prints that could be counted valid, however, were Chuan Nayi's prints on the knife she used to counter-threat Huang Kun and Li Feng's on the knife stuck to Jiang Hou's c.h.e.s.t. Liu Xiaodan really looked like a bystander in all of these.

After a few seconds of rummaging through everything, the prosecutor could only say... "The prosecution rests, Your Honor."

Figures. The judge knew.

He then spoke, "Will the jury be able to come up with a decision in the next hour?" Considering that it was still early, they couldn't possibly suspend until past noon. The jury only had thirty minutes to decide, but the lead juror accepted it. The judge then nodded. "Then, we wait."

...

Liu Xiaodan was waiting next to his lawyer who tried to satisfy both his client and Liu Xiaodan's requests. However, no matter where they looked, Liu Xiaodan was innocent in the eyes of justice. He didn't kill any of them just because he wanted to. Even Ren Ditian was killed as a result of self-defense. If anything, he didn't have to spend all that time in prison at all.

However, Liu Xiaodan couldn't face anyone anymore. All the trouble that rooted from Guangru's actions had gone overboard.

After thirty minutes, the jury began to read their decision based on the facts shown to them and the things they had heard in court. The judge didn't even doubt their decision at all.

Not guilty.

The people started murmuring in the background as Ren Liang had grown enraged. There's no way he wouldn't get any justice for his son. However, his daughter kept on saying things to ground him. Ren Ditian was a thug and a disgrace to the family. The only reason why Ren Liang was mad was that Ren Ditian was Ren by blood.

Li Heilong figured as much. After discussing with Li Feng, he knew that Liu Xiaodan didn't cause any of this. However, he did ruin Li Feng's future because of this. Now that the jury did save him, Li Heilong could only take him away from Li Feng... by force.

The judge hit the plate and called for order. He then looked at Liu Xiaodan. "Mr. Liu, you're deemed innocent, but your mindset is disturbing me. Even with the fact that you really want all of us to believe that you can control a ghost child to kill people."

He took a deep breath. "I can't let you roam the city freely. I'm sending you away."

Uproar then came from Liu Xiaodan's friends and buddies while Liu Li stood up in protest. The judge then hammered at the plate again. "Listen, this is for the best. Sit down, sit down."

The people had to sit down and keep to themselves. "The prison taking care of Liu Xiaodan had given its reports about his stay as well.

"He's best to be kept away from the public and locked in isolation." The judge turned to Liu Xiaodan who wore a bitter smile. "You might be not guilty of these charges, but you're too dangerous to be out here. I'm sending you to Cherry Medical Facility." The judge then hammered the plate once. "Dismissed!"

Only a few muffled protests came after the trial. Even if Liu Xiaodan was not guilty, he would still be sent to a medical facility that specialized in handling mentally-disturbed patients. Perhaps, that was the best indeed.

Liu Xiaodan only lowered his head and sighed. This was for the best. Away from his friends, away from his parents. That way, no one would get hurt.

It seemed that only the Mian family was not happy with the ending. If Liu Xiaodan got sent to a far place, wouldn't that mean they wouldn't be able to cleanse him from the threat of the dybbuk? This was certainly outrageous. They had already seen the damage it could do; if they let it go, wouldn't the dybbuk kill more in the future?

...

In the end, the Ren family and the Li family appealed for a graver punishment. They couldn't even make him pay for the damages he had caused to them. Also, Li Heilong had to make sure Liu Xiaodan would be staying in the Mian temple as per the request of Mian Bingbing.

Everything she wanted, he would give. He already made a terrible mistake before; he's not doing it again.

While his case was being appealed, Liu Xiaodan would still have to stay in prison. By rights, he should be going home. However, the court issued exclusion from society towards him. He could only stay in prison while waiting for changes or his transfer.

"You're back!" Tang Mingming welcomed Liu Xiaodan as soon as he resettled in his cell. The pretty boy was seated on the floor, with his arms crossed on the bed and supporting his head. "What happened? I thought you'd either go free or die..."

"I'm absolved, but they're appealing for a worse penalty." Liu Xiaodan was tired after going back from court. However, he was still smiling since he was able to hug his mother and everyone who wanted to hold him. Ruan Jin even cried so bad his howls were heard in the whole courtroom.

Remembering all of it made it feel warmer for Liu Xiaodan as he lay on his bed, his head on the tummy of the black bear. "It might take a week or longer, depending on the circ.u.mstances."

"How lucky." Tang Mingming giggled before looking at the shadow on the wall. "Did you hear that, Jun? Xiaodan's staying with us longer!" A black hand moved on the wall, and a very translucent black figure went to rub Tang Mingming's cheek. "Heheh, I know, right!"

Liu Xiaodan only looked at the two before chuckling. "You two... don't want to be liberated from this prison for real?" He pitied these souls, but they also wanted to stay together.

Tang Mingming only shook his head. "You know what? There are a lot of trapped spirits in here. You saw it all, didn't you? The audio-visual room had a lot of stuck souls. There's also this woman next to the disposal shoots. If you wanna help someone, pick one of them."

A glint of light flashed across Liu Xiaodan's eyes. "The woman next to the shoots... the woman in the black bag?" He then received a nod from Tang Mingming. "What's her story?"

"Erm, I'm not really sure. She was already here before me. Might as well ask her yourself... but..." Tang Mingming shuddered. "She eats humans. Approaching her must not be the best course of action."

"Xiaodan... eats them... too."

"Huh? What do you mean Xiaodan eats them, too? Xiaodan doesn't eat humans!" Tang Mingming frowned at the shadow cast next to him. Then, he twitched loudly. He then looked at Liu Xiaodan. "Ah, yeah... you're right... he does..."

"You know I can see your fearful gaze and hear your fearful voice. What exactly do I eat?" Liu Xiaodan frowned at the pretty boy. He didn't eat any humans; killing them was one thing, but eating was definitely out of question.

"Silly!" The pretty boy then laughed out, his laughter enticing to those interested in swinging. "I mean entities! You eat entities! Human meat isn't good—tastes yucky."

Liu Xiaodan raised his eyebrows. "You have tasted human meat before?"

Tang Mingming then tilted his head to the side and smiled ambiguously, his beautiful eyes appearing very deep as if drowning Liu Xiaodan. "Honey, why would they not find any of those assholes' bodies if I did not eat them?"