Qin Guan could no longer face Old He.
He couldn't even bear the weight of Old He's heavy gaze.
His features were stiff, his eyes vacant as they stared blankly ahead, unable to focus.
Only his ears remained beyond his control, absorbing Old He's words.
"At eleven, you murdered your own birth mother. At fourteen, you killed your own father. All because they stood in the way of you living a better life! Or rather, because their very existence might block you from that better life! Just to erase that uncertain possibility, you—a child of barely ten years old—could ruthlessly strike down the parents who gave you life!"
"A child of ten, with blood already staining your hands! How dare someone like you call themselves human? A beast? No, worse than a beast! Even crows know to feed their parents, even animals protect their kin! But you—"
Old He grew more agitated as he spoke—a case handler shouldn't show such intense emotion, but he simply couldn't control it.
"You, Qin Guan! Capable of something like this, what cruel, vicious, evil act couldn't you do? Who would doubt it? Under heaven, ten out of ten people would despise scum like you! Degenerate! Beast! Aren't you good at playing the public opinion game? Keep playing! Have the guts to tell everyone what you've done! See how public opinion drowns you!"
Qin Guan only felt his mind, which had been clear moments ago, clouding over bit by bit.
Old He wasn't exaggerating.
Because of the time passed and the lack of evidence, his drunkard father and insane mother's cases couldn't convict him now. But if those two incidents were exposed, it would be extremely damaging to Qin Guan.
Universal contempt was inevitable.
The problem was the current case—Qi Min's death. His original plan was to manipulate public opinion to muddy the waters, then crush Xu Ruyi, dragging her into the case. If Xu Ruyi admitted to moving the body and planting evidence, the so-called evidence would be invalidated, and the case would likely be reopened.
The messier the case, the better for him.
But what if public opinion turned against him at this critical juncture?
How could he withstand such massive pressure?
His legal team might even withdraw—a notorious, vicious suspect, especially under such high scrutiny? Few lawyers would be willing to ruin their reputation and career prospects for a case bound to fail.
Qin Guan also had no more heavy funds to hire others—as family, Xu Ruyi had consistently refused to provide funds for his lawyers. His personal savings couldn't sustain a long trial.
He needed money. He needed good lawyers. He desperately needed favorable public opinion. His previous lawyer had spent considerable money, hiring legions of online shills, commissioning articles that portrayed his rise from hardship and his humble diligence after marrying into the Xu family, while also leaking Xu Ruyi's "dirt". That's what had drummed up a wave of sympathy.
And all of that would be gone.
If the childhood murders of his parents were exposed, the public outcry would crash down like a tsunami—who would trust a parent-killer?
"You've lost! Understand? Rolling your eyes? What, still dreaming? Let me tell you, you won't turn the Qi Min case around either! Killing your parents, killing your lover, killing your father-in-law, and your mother-in-law… Your hands are stained with so much blood! Don't tell me you naively think finding a good lawyer, clenching your teeth and refusing to talk, will get you acquitted? Lawyer Qin, did you buy your license?"
Old He sneered contemptuously, leaning forward with both hands on the table, his face close to Qin Guan's—Qin Guan gasped for breath, his eyes blinking rapidly with panic.
This torment and challenge would be hard to bear even as a free man, let alone now?
"I…" Qin Guan opened his mouth, but it felt frozen, his tongue stiff. "I didn't… You have no evidence, don't talk nonsense—"
"You didn't what?"
Old He leaned another inch closer. "Oh! You have no humanity! Capable of killing your own parents! You have no moral bottom line, betraying your wife, killing your lover! You have no shame! Your father-in-law and mother-in-law sponsored your education, raised you, brought you from that backwater to the big city, let you enjoy this high life! And you? You killed them too! Killed them with your own hands! And to this day, you don't even feel a shred of remorse!"
"No, I…"
Qin Guan wanted to refute, but his tongue felt even stiffer.
He couldn't parry this man's fierce assault—he had truly underestimated He Zhi Sheng before. He never imagined this man could be so sharp-tongued.
"Oh? You did feel remorse? In the park, you knelt before your father-in-law. You felt a bit guilty then, right?" Old He said, slamming a stack of photos onto the table with a sharp smack.
"See clearly! Who is this? You! Did you really think you covered all your tracks?"
In that instant, Qin Guan felt as if struck by lightning.
It was surveillance footage captured somewhere in the park on the day of the incident—Qin Guan kneeling beside her father's wheelchair. Though the image quality wasn't perfect, it clearly showed him kneeling, and the father pointing and shouting at him.
They were arguing.
He Zhi Sheng had actually found this.
He, Qin Guan, had meticulously cleared all the surveillance footage from that street. He'd checked it thoroughly back then, leaving no camera unchecked.
"Caught by the park's global eye camera. Didn't expect that, did you?" Old He pointed at the photo, his voice sharp. "Look at yourself! Kneeling before your father-in-law! You were apologizing, but he wouldn't accept it! He was going to tell Xu Ruyi! You were scared! You panicked! So you decided to kill him!"
"No, no," Qin Guan swallowed with difficulty. The air felt terrifyingly thin, his throat as if scorched. Reason, what to say or not say—he couldn't care less. He only knew he had to refute this, he had to defend himself.
"I… I did kneel to him. Because… he… he found out about me and Qi Min. He scolded me. I felt sorry for him, and sorry for Xu Ruyi, so I knelt."
"I was… I was begging for his forgiveness. I said so. Later, he… he got angry and went off alone…"
"How can you be so shameless?" Old He cut off Qin Guan's defense. His gaze was like a knife, scraping away Qin Guan's pretenses layer by layer, leaving his face pale, powerless, drenched in cold sweat.
"When the night is deep and quiet, don't you have nightmares?"
Old He leaned in even closer.
"Don't you dream of your drunkard father coming to settle the score? Of your mother crawling out of her grave to find you? Of Qi Min? Of the father-in-law and mother-in-law who raised you with their own hands, paid for your education, and gave their only daughter to you? Don't they stare at you? Don't they ask you why?"
Qin Guan's breathing grew even more labored.
He tried to control his body, but it was useless. His lips trembled. His hands trembled. His whole body trembled.
The last shreds of reason told him: Don't panic. Ignore it. This is their usual tactic. Stay steady. Don't react.
But his body disobeyed.
"Qin Guan, you killed your father-in-law, Xu Qian! After your conflict with him in the park, you sabotaged his wheelchair, causing him to die in that car accident! This case! You did that one too!" Old He roared.
"No, no, no," Qin Guan could only say the word "no."
"Still denying it now? Do you really think I have no way to deal with you?"
Old He stood up. His voice suddenly turned even colder. "Let me be straight with you. Today, Qin Guan, you are finished!"
As he spoke, he violently yanked the door open, grabbed the wheelchair placed outside, dragged it inside with a rough motion, and then kicked the door shut with a bang.