"You don’t mean anything." Gu Jin said with a chuckle, "Because the moment you do, you kill."
Then she turned toward the judge and said calmly,
"Now that I have given my statement, and she has accepted her crime, I hope you will give her a befitting punishment."
The judge’s gavel struck once, sharp and clear.
"Order," he said firmly, silencing the low hum of whispers still drifting through the room.
Han Xiaoyu stood frozen, her mouth slightly open, but no more words came out. Her lawyer reached for her arm, trying to pull her back into her seat, but the damage had already been done.
The judge looked down at the papers in front of him, then raised his gaze to the courtroom.
"After hearing all evidence, including the recorded confession, the court will now deliberate," he announced.
"We will reconvene in one hour for the verdict."
He gave a final nod, and the court was adjourned—for now.
The audience stood. The quiet buzz returned, people whispering as they filed out. Gu Jin stepped down from the witness box and returned to her seat beside Long Yifan.
Outside the courtroom, the air felt lighter but still tense. The sun had risen higher, casting long shadows across the steps.
Instructor Luo approached them, his expression unreadable.
"You handled yourself well," he said. "But don’t let your guard down. The court still needs to give its ruling."
Gu Jin nodded. "I know."
They sat on a bench nearby, waiting.
Minutes passed. Then the hour.
Back in the courtroom, everyone returned to their places. The judges entered again, their faces stern and focused.
The lead judge stood.
"After careful consideration of the evidence presented, including physical proof, testimony, and the defendant’s own confession," he said, "this court finds Han Xiaoyu guilty of attempted murder through forbidden alchemy."
Gasps sounded again, sharper this time.
Han Xiaoyu didn’t cry. She didn’t scream. She just stared at the floor, pale and still.
"As she is a registered alchemy student and underage, the court will not sentence her to death," the judge continued.
"Instead, she would be banned from the alchemy industry and have to spend the next 400 years of her life in prison."
The gavel struck again.
"This hearing is concluded."
Han Xiaoyu collapsed to her knees as the guards moved toward her, chains already glowing with magic.
"No! No! This can’t be!" she screamed, her voice cracking. "Please! I didn’t mean it! I was just angry! I... I wasn’t thinking!"
The guards grabbed her arms, beginning to drag her away.
She fought them off for a moment and turned desperately toward Gu Jin.
"Gu Jin!" she cried. "Please! I’m begging you! Tell them to stop! You can! I know you can! Please forgive me—I was wrong!"
But Gu Jin didn’t look at her.
Her expression was calm. Cold.
She stood, adjusted the strap of her bag, and walked away without a word.
Her footsteps echoed against the marble floor as she exited the courtroom.
Han Xiaoyu’s cries followed her, fading as the heavy doors swung shut behind her.
......................
Outside, the sun was bright, but the air felt heavy with everything that had just happened.
Gu Jin walked down the steps with Long Yifan at her side. She wasn’t in a hurry, but her gaze was fixed forward, her thoughts quiet and still.
Then a sharp voice cut through the crowd.
A couple rushed toward her—an older man and woman, dressed in plain robes, their eyes red and swollen from crying.
Han Xiaoyu’s parents.
The woman fell to her knees in front of Gu Jin, grabbing her hand.
"Please, child," she begged. "You have to help us. She’s our only daughter. She didn’t mean it. She was led astray!"
The father spoke next, stepping forward with shaking hands.
"She’s always been gentle, a bit jealous maybe, but never violent. Someone else must’ve pushed her. Some bad influence. Please, Miss Gu Jin, we are poor people. We don’t have power or backing. You can end this. Just say the word, and the court will listen."
He reached into his coat and pulled out a small pouch, holding it out to her.
"We know this can’t undo anything. But... please accept this compensation. Whatever you want, we’ll try to give it."
Gu Jin looked down at them—these desperate parents, trying to shield their daughter from the consequences of her own choices.
She didn’t take the money.
Instead, she said in a calm, clear voice,
"You say she was led astray. Enticed by others. That’s possible. But even so—didn’t she have her own brain to think?"
Han Xiaoyu’s mother flinched.
"If someone told her to kill herself, would she have done it?" Gu Jin asked, voice still soft, but cutting like a blade. "No. She wouldn’t. But when it comes to killing someone else—me—she followed through. That’s the kind of person she is."
Han Xiaoyu’s father clenched his fists.
Gu Jin continued, her tone growing colder.
"With a daughter like that, I suggest you look out for your own lives. Because next time someone ’enticers’ her, it might be you who ends up dead."
The mother’s expression twisted into rage.
"You heartless witch!" she spat. "You think you’re so high and mighty now. But one day you’ll fall! One day you’ll be crawling in the gutters like a rat, and no one will help you!"
Gu Jin didn’t flinch.
But Long Yifan, who had stayed silent until now, took a step forward, eyes glinting with fury.
He smiled, but it wasn’t friendly.
"A rat in the gutter?" he repeated. "Funny you should say that—your daughter just got thrown into prison for attempted murder. Which makes her what? A snake that bites the hand feeding it?"
Han Xiaoyu’s father tried to speak, but Long Yifan cut him off.
"Don’t open that mouth unless you’re ready to hear truth. You raised a girl who smiled in public and planned murder in secret. And now you want to call her the victim?"
"You came here with a few silver coins thinking you could buy your way out of a crime. What kind of people are you? Oh wait—don’t answer. I already know."
The mother stood, face red with fury. "How dare you—!"
"How dare you," Long Yifan snapped back. "Your daughter tried to kill someone and you’re out here begging for forgiveness instead of apologizing for what she did. You think sympathy is owed to you? It isn’t."
He pointed at the pouch in the father’s hand.
"Take your money and go home. You’ll need it. Hire a lawyer, get her a priest, maybe even a therapist. But don’t come crying to Gu Jin like she’s the villain here."
The parents stood there, stunned, faces pale and mouths half open but silent.
Long Yifan took a breath, voice lower now, but no less sharp.
"And one last thing—if you ever curse Gu Jin again, I’ll make sure the next time you see a courtroom, it’ll be because you are on trial."
The mother grabbed her husband’s sleeve, pulling him back.
They turned and stumbled away without another word, disappearing into the crowd.
Gu Jin watched them go, then looked at Long Yifan.
He instantly put on a pleasing smile and said,
"Wife, don’t look at me like that, I will fall for you. Again."
Gu Jin rolled her eyes and turned to the car arranged for her to return to Beijing City.
She suddenly wanted to hug her mother and her father.
When Gu Jin opened her eyes, she saw a man kneeling on the ground begging her,
"Miss Gu, please! Please spare my father! He was enticed by others! He just wanted to earn money to treat me and enrolled in such a dangerous organization. He truly never intended to harm you!"
Gu Jin recognized the man.
In her previous life, she had caught an assassin, and since he was 49 years old, she had called his son, when she came to know through investigation that he didn’t have any criminal history.
Seeing his sick son cry, Gu Jin didn’t show much expression and only calmly ordered her bodyguard,
"Throw them both out. I don’t want to see them."
The meaning of her words was clear. She wasn’t going to kill the 49-year-old father and the boy.
The boy was instantly grateful and bowed to her,
"Thank you! Thank you!"
With that, he left, along with the father, who stared at her in shock.
A trusted subordinate of hers had asked her worriedly,
"What if he comes back?"
"Then kill him." Gu Jin said.
"Why did you even let him go in the first place?" The subordinate questioned.
"I’m tired." Gu Jin said and left.
What she didn’t tell was, she was envious. Seeing the son beg for his father, she felt pity.
She thought of how her mother had scarficied her life for Gu Jin and how she had begged the god in the same way.
He didn’t show her mercy. But when she had the chance, she did.