A madman in France? How come he's always at crime scenes!

Chapter 30: Expecting Possibilities! New Defense Strategies

Wu Liang never expected that Zheng Meiling would pull out such a big thing.

Originally, I thought this trip would at most yield some scattered clues about Ding Hu borrowing money, but this woman actually managed to get all of Ding Hu's words into her phone.

The audio folder was densely packed with recordings, spanning at least two years. Wu Liang didn't stay in the store long; he put the phone into an evidence bag and gave Zheng Meiling a receipt.

Zheng Meiling held the receipt and looked at it over and over three times before chasing after him to the door.

"Attorney Wu, that money—"

I'll let you know if there's any progress.

"Don't try to fool me. That bastard owes me 38,000 yuan, I remember it all."

Wu Liang didn't even turn his head, striding through the alley.

Back at the law firm, he connected his phone to his computer, imported the files, and the progress bar slowly climbed forward.

Zhang Jiajing leaned closer to look at the screen; densely packed audio files were being copied. She counted them and gasped.

"So many?"

Wu Liang didn't explain, but picked out the one with the most recent date, August 19th, the day before Ding Hu died.

He plugged in his headphones and started playing.

Ding Hu's voice leaked from the earphones; he was drunk and his tongue was tied, with Zheng Meiling's intermittent responses in between.

Wu Liang took off his headphones after listening to only half of the audio, his expression extremely unpleasant.

"The boss?"

"Pack your things, let's go to the Third Hospital."

The Mental Health Center of the Third People's Hospital of Tongcheng City. When Dr. Ma, Ni Dayong's attending physician, was asked to leave the duty room by Wu Liang, his face showed obvious reluctance.

"I can play the recording. But you have to tell me what it contains."

Wu Liang glanced at him: "Ding Hu was drinking and bragging, and he mentioned Ni Dayong's daughter."

Director Ma immediately realized the seriousness of the situation and turned to shout towards the nurses' station:

"Xiao Liu, administer two injections of tranquilizers! Also, call two male nurses to wait outside Ni Dayong's ward!"

Wu Liang hadn't expected the other party to agree so readily. Director Ma explained as they walked:

"Ni Dayong's condition has been fluctuating since he was admitted to the hospital. If you can really stimulate him and trigger a typical seizure, it will help us to judge the severity of his condition."

"Director Ma, are your surveillance cameras working properly?"

Director Ma nodded.

"The entire process was recorded."

At the ward entrance, two male nurses stood on either side, their muscular arms peeking out from under their white coats.

Director Ma pushed open the door, and Ni Dayong was sitting on the edge of the bed, staring blankly out the window.

Hearing the door open, he slowly turned his head.

"Attorney Wu?"

Wu Liang pulled up a chair and asked without beating around the bush, "Do you know Zheng Meiling?"

Ni Dayong shook his head.

"Ding Hu's mistress." Wu Liang placed Zheng Meiling's phone on the bedside table, screen up. "She secretly recorded every time Ding Hu came to see her."

Ni Dayong's gaze fell on his phone, a hint of unease flashing in his eyes.

Without further hesitation, Wu Liang pressed play and took a step back.

Ding Hu's voice came through the phone's speaker, heavy with the smell of alcohol and a certain unbridled smugness.

[...That idiot, Meiling, that idiot is incredibly patient. I used to be on my guard, but I never imagined that this big, strong guy was such a coward at heart!]

The woman's voice was languid: "You brag all the time, but I haven't seen you make much money."

[Damn it, this makes me so angry. If this idiot really didn't have money, that would be one thing. But guess whether he has any or not? He can enroll his daughter in tutoring classes without a second thought. But when it comes to me, he says he doesn't have money? Who does he think he is?]

[You also have a daughter?]

I'll be 18 soon.

Ding Hu chuckled twice, sending a chill down the spines of everyone present.

【Eighteen is great! Eighteen means she's no longer a child—I've already talked to someone, and we'll find a chance to bring her out when the time comes…】

[Shameless bastard, he's even eyeing that young girl.]

Upon hearing this, Ni Dayong began to tremble, his breathing becoming rough and rapid, as if someone were choking him.

Wu Liang took another half step back and winked at Director Ma.

Anyway, that's what he owes me. I hold his family's manhood in my hands!

What is your lifeline?

Hehe, I've had too much to drink, I won't say anymore. Tomorrow I'll ask him for more money, and if that doesn't work, I'll make him take out a loan! Don't worry, Meiling, this time I'll definitely pay you back with interest...

The two people's voices were barely audible.

But Ni Dayong's reaction was more intense than Wu Liang had anticipated.

"Stop talking!"

Ni Dayong suddenly spoke, his eyes fierce and menacing, his fingers gripping the bed sheet so tightly they almost tore it apart.

"Stop talking, stop talking, stop talking—"

"Oh no, go up there and hold him down!"

Seeing this, Director Ma quickly directed two male nurses to step forward.

Ni Dayong sprang up out of bed!

The handcuff chains were instantly taut, and the metal edges grazed his skin, drawing blood instantly.

"I kill you!"

His eyes were bloodshot, veins bulging on his face, and he screamed wildly into his phone.

"Killing you once isn't enough—it's not enough!"

Two male nurses pounced on him at the same time.

Although Ni Dayong wasn't particularly strong, he had tremendous explosive power; with a single swing of his arm, he almost knocked the guy on the left over.

The second nurse grabbed him around the waist, and he slammed him against the wall with a thud.

Director Ma personally stepped forward and pressed down on his shoulder, while Xiao Liu rushed in and inserted a tranquilizer.

Wu Liang reacted quickly and snatched the phone before Ni Dayong could break free and throw it away.

The recording abruptly stopped, leaving only Ni Dayong's heavy breathing and the muffled groans of the nurses as they restrained him in the ward.

Five minutes later, Ni Dayong was secured back to the bed.

As the medication took effect, the bloodshot in his eyes slowly faded, his pupils dilated, and his lips moved, but he could no longer utter complete sentences.

Director Ma wiped his sweat and turned to look at Wu Liang.

"...Attorney Wu, you're ruthless."

……

It was already evening when I got back to the law firm.

Wu Liang apologized to Ni Dayong several times in his heart, because repeatedly reopening a man's wounds was too much to bear.

But this is a necessary step.

Based on the current chain of evidence, Ni Dayong's crime can basically be classified as a crime of passion, with the presence of mental illness and a certain degree of voluntary surrender, so the sentence will not be too severe.

Zhang Jiajing placed a plate of green pepper and shredded pork rice on Wu Liang's table, the oil still sizzling.

"Boss, let's eat. You've been staring at that screen for two hours straight."

Wu Liang didn't touch his chopsticks; he was still flipping through Ding Hu's audio transcript.

The recording proved the extortion and the malice, and Ni Dayong's mental evaluation was also obtained.

But all of this combined still only results in a reduction in the sentence. He always felt there was another way, hidden somewhere out of reach.

Zhang Jiajing hurriedly shoveled down a mouthful of rice and mumbled, "Boss, I encountered a question on a practice test today that almost got me stuck."

"Speak," Wu Liang said absentmindedly.

"If a person has been a victim of unlawful harm for a long period of time, and then retaliates against another attack, causing serious injury to the attacker, does this constitute excessive self-defense?"

"There was an option called 'expected possibility,' which I felt was both right and wrong, and I couldn't figure it out even after flipping through books for a long time."

Wu Liang took a bite of rice while still staring at the computer.

"The concept of 'expectation of possibility' boils down to one question: Can the law expect a person to act lawfully in a certain situation?"

"For example, if a fishing boat capsizes during a typhoon, and two people are clinging to a plank that can only support one person, and one pushes the other into the water, the person dies. In this case, although the law cannot absolve them of responsibility, the sentence can be reduced because you can't expect them to politely wait in line to die when faced with a life-or-death situation."

"That's the core of expecting possibilities. It's not that he did the right thing, but that the law can't demand that a person be a saint."

Zhang Jiajing suddenly realized and made two more notes in her phone's memo app.

Wu Liang had just taken a bite of his rice when his chopsticks suddenly stopped.

He stared at the transcript of the recording on the table.

【Eighteen is great, eighteen means she's no longer a child—I've already made arrangements with someone, I'll find a chance to lure her out then…】

When Ni Dayong received that phone call, he had already been subjected to continuous blackmail for more than a decade, which had even driven him to the brink of mental illness.

In this situation, can the law expect him to resolve the issue legally?

Wu Liang pushed the lunchbox aside and remained silent for a long time.

Zhang Jiajing chewed her food, then looked up at Wu Liang, who seemed lost in thought:

"Boss? The food's getting cold."

Wu Liang didn't hear it.

Call the police? Ding Hu holds the key to a murder case from fifteen years ago.

Patience? Ding Hu's next target is his daughter.

The law says: You should call the police.

The law says: You should trust public authority.

The law says: You should use legal means to protect yourself and your family.

But the "Ni Dayong" that the law expects is a calm, rational person who can still calmly dial 110 after fifteen years of mental torture.

And that Ni Dayong doesn't exist.

Ni Dayong is now just a man suffering from mental illness who has been cornered.

After realizing there was no way out, the man had no choice but to use the last resort to protect his daughter.

and so……

Wu Liang looked up and met Zhang Jiajing's bewildered expression, his tone becoming excited.

"I've figured out how to handle Ni Dayong's case!"