Chapter 97 On Crimes

Bai Xiao looked him in the eye calmly. "I was on my guard, so I didn't drink the water in the cup. They had also smeared drugs on the rim of the cup, and I touched some of it, but my constitution is unique. I have a high tolerance for anesthetics and sedative-hypnotics. I was only pretending to be unconscious."

She concealed the matter of the recovery potion and wasn't sure if there were still drug residues in her body. However, if a test were conducted, her strong physical fitness would definitely be detected. A powerful physique has a strong metabolism, which could serve as an excuse. Furthermore, she didn't believe the advance troops would have complete medical testing equipment available for use.

Whether true or false, Bai Xiao's explanation was coherent and logically rigorous, appearing far more persuasive than Rao Junyu's flimsy accusations.

Although the crowd remained silent, the scales in their hearts were already tipping toward Bai Xiao.

When she took the initiative to offer to undergo a medical examination, this tilt reached its peak.

On one hand was the long-standing trust built with his family's Bodyguards; on the other was the obvious truth. On the day his mother died, he had seen the expressions on everyone's faces clearly. Things were definitely not as Bai Xiao described, but he had no evidence. Rao Junyu was filled with indignation yet had no way to argue, his face flushing deep red from the strain.

He made a final, desperate struggle: "You're lying! That day—that day I clearly heard you fighting upstairs! You must have done something. Wen Jianhua obviously had something to say then, and you killed him to silence him!"

Bai Xiao turned her head to meet his bloodshot gaze, looking at him as if he were a circus monkey.

"You need evidence to speak."

"But he's right, the fact is this woman killed people."

"The woman isn't wrong either; she's the victim."

"Both sides had guns; none of them are any good. I'd say it's just dog eat dog."

...

As the details of the matter were laid out in the open, the onlookers began to gossip once more.

Xu Jiye raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet, then said, "Alright. Our country's laws have always upheld the principle that the burden of proof lies with the claimant. Rao Junyu, since you have no actual witnesses or physical evidence, the Disaster Relief Department cannot arbitrarily convict anyone based solely on your word. However..."

As he spoke, he shifted his gaze back to Bai Xiao. "Regarding whether you were truly drugged, the advance troops do not have the medical equipment to perform blood tests.

However, the headquarters can send someone later to investigate the movement patterns and traces at the scene you described, as well as the state of the corpses. If it is as you say, a case for self-defense can be tentatively established. Once the main forces arrive, the Security Team will conduct a detailed investigation, and a conclusion will be reached then.

Nevertheless, possession of a firearm is also a serious crime. Given the special circumstances of Mian Mountain, according to the regulations, you will first be sentenced to hard labor to atone for your crime."

Bai Xiao leaned against the railing of the bulletin board with her arms crossed and asked, "May I ask if I'm being punished because it can't be proven that the killing was self-defense, or because of the firearm possession?"

"Regarding the killing, once the investigation is complete, if your words are found to be true, you will not be charged for the time being. But the matter of the firearm is already settled and naturally warrants punishment. You admitted to possessing a gun just now, didn't you?" Xu Jiye didn't know what she was plotting, but he was impartial and answered frankly.

"I admitted to possessing a gun, meaning I admitted the gun I held belonged to the Rao Family. Everyone on Mian Mountain knows this. Do you admit that, Rao Junyu?"

Rao Junyu hesitated, but this was indeed something everyone on Mian Mountain knew. He had no choice but to nod in admission, yet he still argued with a stiff neck, "My family did have a gun, but everyone saw it that day—you had a gun too! It was your gun that Wen Jianhua used to kill my mother!"

Bai Xiao pulled out two guns from the tactical belt under her windbreaker.

At her sudden withdrawal of two guns, the surrounding crowd couldn't help but retreat two steps in fear.

The guards also acted as if facing a great enemy, raising their guns to point at her one after another.

Bai Xiao held up the small silver gun. "This gun belongs to the Rao Family; everyone on Mian Mountain knows it. That day, for my own safety, I didn't return it to them. I am now handing it over to the Disaster Relief Department for safekeeping. Captain Xu, the Rao Family's crime of illegal possession can't be pinned on me, can it?"

"Since it's the Rao Family's gun, you are naturally not considered the owner." Xu Jiye nodded, waiting to hear the rest.

Bai Xiao handed the Rao Family's silver gun to a nearby guard and then held up her own pistol. She pressed her thumb lightly, and the magazine dropped into her other palm with a click.

Then she tucked the gun back into her waist. With one hand against the bottom of the magazine and the other palm open upward, silver-gray steel pellets flowed into her palm like water.

She reached out to show everyone the ammunition. "This gun of mine isn't a real firearm; it's just an air gun from a club. As a member of a shooting club, I traveled alone and struggled all the way from the city to the mountain. These are special circumstances under a great disaster. For my own safety, I took a gun from the club before coming here, thinking that if I encountered danger, I could pretend it was real to bluff people. Does this count as breaking the law at a time like this?"

Air guns were a special case. One couldn't determine their power just by looking at their appearance, weight, or bullets; their kinetic energy had to be tested to judge if it reached illegal standards.

Regardless, an air gun was not a real firearm. Even in times of peace, the sentencing standards were worlds apart, let alone now.

Sure enough, after seeing Bai Xiao's demonstration and hearing her description, everyone, including Xu Jiye, couldn't help but imagine a scene.

A frail girl struggling to escape from the city, taking a fake gun from a club for her own safety to protect herself if she met with danger on the road. In these turbulent times, such an action was truly beyond reproach. If even this was considered a crime, it would seem a bit too heartless.

That group of people had been predisposed to assume that those living in the Villa Area were like the Rao Family and could obtain real firearms through some means. Especially since the Rao Family really did have a gun on the mountain, when people saw another gun appear, they subconsciously assumed it was also real.

It was like in a war-torn country where people hear an explosion and assume it's a terrorist attack, whereas in a peaceful country, people would only think it's fireworks or firecrackers.

Bai Xiao's thought was that she didn't have real bullets anyway. She had checked that small silver gun; it only had three rounds left. It was useless for her to keep it. She might as well take this opportunity to resolve the potential trouble from the Rao Family. Let them be sentenced first, then explain her own gun.

Resources on the mountain were scarce. Even with the Disaster Relief Department present, it was impossible for them to have the full range of functions they had in peaceful times, such as maintaining a whole series of operations like arrest, investigation, judgment, sentencing, and detention.

Mian Mountain was in a state of neglect with much to be rebuilt, leaving many loopholes to exploit. How could the administrators have the spare time for such a process? Everything was surely focused on post-disaster construction.

Rao Junyu was simply unable to believe that Bai Xiao's gun wasn't real. He protested hysterically, "How is that possible! Even if it's not real, it's a controlled weapon! Otherwise, how could it have killed someone!"

"At such close range, forget an air gun—even a fruit knife could kill someone. Can you say a fruit knife is a controlled weapon? The key issue is that Wen Jianhua already had the intent to kill. Without a gun, he would have still used another tool to kill your mother." Bai Xiao clung to the single point of murderous intent and wouldn't let go.

"Yeah, the situation is clear now. It's so chaotic outside; a young girl took a fake gun to bluff people for self-protection. It's their own greed that got them killed; they deserved it."

"Looking at it this way, a girl with a fake gun had the courage to deal with people holding a real gun. In the end, she even indirectly saved you, yet you're biting the hand that fed you. You really are ungrateful."

...

Those who had been condemning her just a moment ago were now saying her actions were excusable, remarking on how it wasn't easy for a young girl and so on.