sbdcsierra Chapter 333: Can a fair conviction be achieved?
Chapter 333: Can a fair conviction be achieved?
Lu Yangyang stared intently at Miss Jiang.
Miss Jiang's hand holding the knife was still trembling slightly, but her eyes seemed to have been suddenly filled with strength, becoming exceptionally firm.
Zhang Shitou on the ground was already on the verge of death, and didn't even have the strength to twitch.
Lu Yangyang precisely kept him alive, forcing him to endure the pain of his body being slowly dismembered, unable to die even if he wanted to.
Looking at the mangled body on the ground, Jiang gripped the knife tightly. She recalled that night, asking herself over and over again, could she really survive? How could she survive? Although the bandit leader was a mountain bandit, he seemed to be a good person. The people in the mountain stronghold praised him for his righteousness and always took care of the homeless and sheltered them.
She knew she couldn't stay here any longer, and she couldn't drag them down with her. Her best outcome was probably to find a quiet place and let herself die.
Until that lewd man sneaked into the hut under cover of night, he pushed her onto the dilapidated wooden bed and said that she was so beautiful, it was a waste for her to be with a clueless man like the gang leader, and that she should be with him instead, because he knew how to treat women best...
She struggled desperately, pleading with him in a low voice, telling him that she had contracted a sexually transmitted disease and wouldn't live much longer. But to prevent her voice from being heard, he covered her mouth tightly. He didn't hear a word of her pleas, only saying not to lie to him like that, and then he took her without a second thought. In that instant, she truly felt despair.
He also warned her not to even think about telling the bandit leader about this. The bandit leader would never make a decision for her. The most important thing in his life was his brothers. He would go to great lengths for them. If the bandit leader found out, she would have to marry him. He even asked where she was from so he could go and propose marriage. He said she was dressed well and her family must be well-off. He suggested she take him home so he could marry into the family. He was fed up with living such a hard life in the mountains with the bandit leader every day!
At that moment, all she felt for the world was self-mockery.
Yes, what right does someone like her have to yearn for good people in this world to save her? She did nothing wrong, yet she ended up like this. Perhaps it's a debt from her past life that she has to repay in this one.
How could she forget that these people were bandits? She actually hoped they had humanity because of a little kindness?
It's ridiculous.
So she stopped struggling. The next evening, a different person came to find her. They seemed to have discovered the secret to humiliating her, and even made a ridiculous promise that if she came down the mountain next time, they could buy her hair ornaments and snacks.
After a few nights, they seemed to have tasted the sweetness of it, and every night someone would come to see her, and not just one. She thought, then let's all die together, let's all just give up on life.
Taking advantage of their promise to bring her things down the mountain, she gave one of them her silver hairpin, saying that the embellishments on it were gemstones and that she could get more silver by pawning it at a certain pawnshop. They believed her and took her earrings and jade pendant as well.
That's why the eldest brother was able to send people to secretly follow those bandits, scout the area several times, and then bring his men over.
She was prepared to die alone.
But she never expected that someone would hand her a knife like that.
Let her settle accounts with these beasts herself.
The person who had bullied and humiliated her despite her resistance back then is now in a different position; he's nothing special after all.
Miss Jiang gripped the knife firmly and stabbed the person on the ground with all her might. Blood spurted out, splashing onto her sleeve and even a few drops onto her chin.
Her hands stiffened, her body trembled slightly, and then she suddenly burst out laughing.
Lu Yangyang turned around and dragged the remaining people over. Having witnessed Zhang Shitou's horrific state, they didn't even wait for Lu Yangyang to speak before kneeling on the ground, desperately kowtowing and begging for mercy from Miss Jiang.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, we were wrong, it was my fault..."
"Please let me go, I really acted rashly, I'm so sorry, so sorry..."
"I'm sorry, I deserve to die, I deserve to die, please spare me, please spare me, I'm sorry..."
"Sorry……"
They kept saying sorry, kowtowing until their heads were bleeding, and some were even so scared that they wet their pants, begging like ghosts howling.
Lu Yangyang picked up a stick from the ground and struck them a few times. Several people fell sideways, all of them arching their bodies in pain, unable to even cry out.
Lu Yangyang stepped on one of the people's heads and said to Miss Jiang, "Come on, one by one. We need to settle accounts with everyone, and no one can be left out."
Jiang held the knife and stabbed again and again. The dark clouds in the damp sky seemed to finally begin to disperse layer by layer. She cried and laughed at the same time, and with all her strength, she lowered the knife in her hand towards those who had once raised their knives against her.
No one uttered a sound, whether they felt those people deserved their fate or were simply stunned by the scene.
When she collapsed weakly to the ground, with no strength left, her tears, which had long since dried up, began to fall drop by drop down her bloodied cheeks. Her frail figure knelt on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.
Lord Jiang couldn't bear to watch and turned his face away.
Lu Yangyang scooped up some water from the water vat, wet the handkerchief, knelt down in front of her, and handed the handkerchief to her.
Miss Jiang took the handkerchief, subconsciously moved back a little, lowered her head, and slowly wiped the bloodstains from her face.
"Thank you."
Lu Yangyang looked at her and said, "Wait for me a moment."
Then he got up and walked up to the chief, asking, "Chief, you've seen it too. You think those people outside aren't good people, but there are also bad people in your stronghold. Take Bitter Granny and the others, for example. All they want in their lives is a place to live. Do you want to take them with you to die, or do you want fairness and justice, with the guilty being punished and the innocent released?"
The leader stared intently at her and asked sternly, "Who exactly are you?"
Lu Yangyang spread her hands: "I told the boss a long time ago that I am indeed a pig butcher. But someone once told me that it's not that there is no fairness in this world, it's that you haven't met the person who will give you fairness yet. It doesn't matter if you haven't met that person yet, there will definitely be one."
Lu Yangyang turned around and raised her voice to ask Lord Jiang, "Lord Jiang, may I ask, can you ensure a fair conviction?"
Lord Jiang gripped his knife tightly, his heart pounding as he looked at Lu Yangyang. Before this, upon learning that his sister had been taken away by bandits, he had wished he could kill them all. But Lu Yangyang's actions had just made his blood boil, and he felt a clarity he had never known before. To be ruthless towards criminals and merciful towards the innocent was their original intention when they entered officialdom. However, under the invisible network of power, how many people had forgotten that sense of justice?
He called out loudly, "Yes!"