Chapter 17

In the dilapidated courtyard of an abandoned house, the sun shone brilliantly.

The blind man’s back hunched lower and lower, his head nearly touching the dirt. Large beads of sweat, mixed with blood and grime, slid down his cheeks and splattered onto the ground.

Li Jin, calm and composed, took the rope and pants from Jin Shu’s hands and sat down on a broken stool at the doorway. He glanced at the items and chuckled lightly. “You probably didn’t realize—when he fell, he hit his head hard on the stone in the courtyard. It bled profusely.”

“So you didn’t notice that the waistband you used as a murder weapon was soaked in blood. Even your own pants are stained through.”

At this, the blind man’s lips trembled. His sightless eyes bulged like fish eyes. Suddenly, he straightened up and shouted, “I—I was forced! I was forced into it!”

“Forced?” Li Jin folded his fan, eyes narrowing. “Go on, tell me how.”

The blind man paused, fists clenched, teeth grinding. “He deserved it! He stole my money. I told him to stop. I took him out begging, found him a place to stay.”

His body shook. He inhaled deeply, took a long moment, then continued:
“I didn’t mean to kill him. I brought him back, even gave him two of my better clothes—ones I couldn’t bear to wear myself.”

“I told him, don’t steal from me. If we beg together, we’ll earn more. We split the money fifty-fifty.” He sneered. “He agreed on the street, but once inside my room, he changed his tune.”

Kneeling there, his cloudy eyes stared blankly at the ground. Shackled hands reached out to touch the dusty stones—like a ritual, a tribute to the courtyard he cherished, a memory of his days wandering the streets.

“I may be blind, but I’ve got a good heart! I took him in when he had nowhere to go. I gave him a room. And for that, the cripple next door called me a fool, a lunatic. I endured it all!”

“But him! He beat me! Took my clothes, stole my silver, and hit me in my own room!”

He slapped his chest, then pointed skyward. “He deserved to die!”

He looked like he’d placed himself in the seat of justice, as if everything he did was righteous and harmless.

Li Jin sat expressionless, eyes sharp as blades, stabbing into the blind man’s face. Though blind, he was acutely sensitive to the atmosphere. He couldn’t see Li Jin’s gaze, but he could feel the pressure—like invisible hands tightening around his throat.

“Why did he hit you?” Li Jin asked slowly, each word deliberate.

The blind man’s story seemed airtight, but it was selective—he only spoke of what favored him. He painted himself as a benevolent savior, but the tale reeked of the old fable: the farmer and the snake.

Li Jin, who’d seen the duality of human nature, wanted the full truth.

“Tell me. Why did he hit you?”

The blind man hesitated, lips opening and closing, then finally muttered:
“He said the clothes I gave him were… stripped from corpses at the mortuary. Said the food I gave him was… not fresh.”

“Not fresh?” Li Jin raised a brow.

“It wasn’t fresh…” The blind man looked aggrieved. “I begged two buns—I couldn’t give those to him. So I gave him my old leftovers.”

Li Jin glanced at Jin Shu. She bent slightly and whispered, “Barely edible.”

No surprise there. Li Jin looked at the blind man, who was desperately trying to beautify his actions, and laughed. “If I’m not mistaken, you didn’t split the begging money with him either, did you?”

The blind man’s face turned pale, but his expression hardened. He tried to rise, voice filled with rage: “You rich young masters know nothing! I was born blind. He’s a perfectly healthy man—why should he get half? He sold my misery! My misery! All he did was lead the way—why should he get half?”

And just like that, the scattered pieces of the case began to form a complete picture.

Li Jin raised a brow. “Sold your misery?”

He chuckled. “Everyone on the street knows—you chop wood and climb trees just fine. Who’s buying your misery?”

The blind man was stunned. The question was beyond his comprehension—he’d never heard anything like it.

“And that ‘healthy man’ you mentioned—his mind’s not right, his leg’s injured. Even with sight, he’s not living any easier than you.” Li Jin glanced at the radish pit where the body was buried. “Your so-called kindness was just a way to use him.”

Li Jin’s words stripped away the blind man’s final veil of self-righteousness, exposing the selfish heart beneath. “And you still think you were delivering justice? Ridiculous.” He lifted his chin, eyes narrowing.

Just as Li Jin exhaled and prepared to rise, a commotion erupted outside the courtyard. After a full day of absence, Yang An finally appeared—poking his head out of a carriage and waving at Li Jin from afar.

A grand procession pulled up at the gate, dusty from travel. The spectacle was stunning. Everyone in the courtyard—except the blind man, who was still drowning in guilt—was taken aback. Several carriages stopped in succession. A crowd poured out, carrying tables and chairs, setting up in the courtyard with chaotic efficiency. Ink, brushes, paper, even the judge’s gavel and signs for “Silence” and “Avoidance” were all present.

In an instant, the small courtyard was packed to the brim.

Yang An had moved the entire county court from Linyang straight into this humble courtyard.

Dressed in official robes, Yang An hopped off the largest carriage, dragging his advisor behind him in a jog. As he entered the courtyard, he saw Li Jin sitting on a broken stool, raising an eyebrow at him. Yang An waved frantically and cried out: “Oh dear! Your Highness, such noble status—how can you sit in such a shabby place…”

Before he could finish, he spotted the rope and tattered pants in Li Jin’s hands. His face twisted with fury as he pointed at Jin Shu: “You lowly coroner! How dare you hand such filthy items to His Highness! Do you want to lose your head?”

His righteous indignation was so loud, birds within fifty meters took flight.

Li Jin stuffed the items into Zhou Zheng’s arms and stood up, looking down at Yang An with a face like frost. “Quite the display of authority, Lord Yang,” he said coldly. “What, you think you can lay hands on my people too?”