Chapter 47 - Mariticide

                                    

                                          


                          
        
                          
"Everything I said was the series of events told by the wife. Her name is Ling Yi Sha and since nobody else witnessed what happened or could provide any clues, I could only rely on her testimony to make a judgment." Magistrate Dong reluctantly sighs.
                          
"What about the coroner's report?" I ask the magistrate curiously.
                          
"Eleven stabs in total. All of the stabs were done in a short time frame so the coroner is unable to tell the sequence in which the stabs occurred. The coroner report states that three of the stabs were done from the back, and the fatal stab was one of the stabs from the back that punctured the victim's heart. The victim's throat was also slit and the victim's face was sliced once. Besides the three stabs from the back, the other stabs were all around the victim's upper chest." The magistrate answered as if reading from a script. He must have memorized or remembered the specifics.
                          
"Shouldn't you have found it suspicious when there were stabs on both the front and back of the victim? Also slitting the victim's throat and slicing his face is excessive." Judge Tang asks while munching on some food.
                          
"During the trial, I asked the accused about it but she said that she lost control of herself and could not remember what happened during the fight. She also said that she was mentally abused and that her husband had perverse sexual tendencies, and would beat and scold her if she did not agree to his abnormal role play and positions." Magistrate Dong calmy replied.
                          
Judge Cui who looked like he did not care about the conversation and was happily munching on the food raised his eyebrow and gave a weird look at Magistrate Dong and asked "So you believed her?"
                          
"No, but I asked her to describe the things that was she made to do and she told us quite a number of things that her husband suggested her to engage in open court. The relatives of the victim who were present that day started to throw rubbish at her and the friends of the victim riled up the townsfolk who were watching and got them to throw their rubbish at her too. Friends of the victim eventually offered themselves to be witnesses and said that they were not aware that the couple had a bad relationship. They were only married for one and a half year and their child is a child out of wedlock. In fact they day before the victim was killed, they had a family outing to the market and many townsfolk and friends spotted them." the magistrate continued explaining the facts of the fact.
                          
Although I am interested in hearing more, but I am getting tired and could not resist yawning out. Judge Cui was still happily gorging himself and Judge Tang said "I guess everyone is tired, just tell us our decision to end the story. It doesn't seem like there will be any way to seek an appeal for this case anyway since the wife was the only one at the scene and there are no more witnesses."
                          
"I sentenced her to a year in jail on the basis that she acted in self defence and that she was suffering from mental issues." Magistrate Dong said with a smile, probably relieved that Judge Tang said that an appeal was unlikely.
                          
I've long finished my dinner and stand up after giving magistrate Dong a nod, "Thank you for the hospitable welcome and the delicious food, it has been a long day for us so I will retreat first." and walk back to my room.
                          
...
                          
The next day, everyone woke up late as everyone was busy gorging themselves and drinking to release the stress that we've bottled up the night before. Knowing that the army had a secret unit that could go around and slaughter entire villages was disturbing, and knowing that we had probably crippled and killed some soldiers who were just carrying out orders was scary as we could be charged with the crime of rebellion.
                          
As we were living in the magistrate's office, the servants brought us our breakfast and I was sitting alone in the dining hall munching on my bread while observing the moving qi in my body. 
                          
I've not cultivated in more than two months as my qi pathways were frozen and Judge Cui, it will take some time for the qi to flow again but after the fights and heart throbbing action we encountered in Zi Di Mountains, I realised that my qi started to slowly cycle again and it was rubbing against the hardened qi pathways every time it moved. It was also absorbing the bits that were scraped out by the qi and becoming stronger.
                          
"Your qi seems to be flowing again." Uncle Cui's voice travels to my ear and I open my eyes to look at him.
                          
"Yup, I noticed that it started flowing slowly after we got out from the mountains but it seems like my qi is not as pure as it was before," I answered.
                          
"That day should have been your first time absorbing the qi from the heavens and earth? The qi from the heavens and earth is not as pure as those from the spirit stones for some reason. Some of the scholars claim that if qi is the breath of God, then the qi from the heaven and earth is impure because we are impure. While nobody is born evil, there is hardly anyone who has never done any bad things their entire life and as a result, we have introduced evil to the heavens and have allowed God to learn of evil." Uncle Cui says in a slow and monotone manner as if he was teaching his children some truths of life.
                          
Uncle Tang is the next person to arrive at the dining hall and as soon as he enters, he says "Are you still talking about the outdated theory of qi old Cui?" making a soft chuckle as he sits down with his breakfast.
                          
Soon Liu Kang and the rest join us at the dining table one by one. Once everyone was seated, Sima Di started munching and talking at the same time, "Nobody can correctly explain what qi is, but the most popular theory right now is the theory expounded by the previous Grand Tutor of the empire. The Grand Tutor believes that God did not want us to become immortals or Gods." Sima Di said confidently.
                          
"Oh, I have heard about this too! It was said that the path of cultivation is the path to become a god!" Liu Kang said excitedly and we all looked at him, waiting for him to continue but he just looked back at us blankly. Apparently, that is all he heard or remembered...
                          
Uncle Tang let out a soft sigh at Liu Kang and took over the conversation. "God made us in his image but yet we are not immortal like God. We lead short lives and have to rely on animals and plants for food. Do you think God would need to eat and sleep to stay alive?"
                          
"The grand tutor believes that cultivation is a gift from God, for the worthy to ascend. God left qi in our world so that we can eventually become gods but also left the heavenly tribulations which will strike down the unworthy."