Lin Wei published the story three days later.
I watched him do it. Sitting in his chair. Staring at the screen. His finger hovering over the mouse.
"It's ready," he said.
Ruan Qing sat by the window. Drinking tea. Waiting.
I stood in the corner. Watching.
"Then publish it," I said.
Lin Wei looked at me. His eyes were tired. His face was pale. But his hands were steady.
"Once I click this button," he said, "there's no going back. Zhang Feng will know. The loan sharks will know. Everyone will know."
"That's the point."
He nodded. Then he clicked.
The screen refreshed. The article was live.
"The Truth About Lin Yue: How a Murdered Woman Was Convicted for Her Own Death"
Ruan Qing set down her tea.
"It's done," she said.
Lin Wei leaned back. Exhaled.
"Yeah," he said. "It's done."
I waited for something to happen. Fireworks. Thunder. The ground to shake.
Nothing.
Just a website. Just words. Just the truth.
Damn. I thought it would feel bigger than this.
---
The story spread.
Not like wildfire. Faster than that. The way truth spreads when people have been waiting for permission to believe it.
Within an hour, the comments started. Within three hours, the shares started. Within a day, the news picked it up.
"New Evidence Overturns Murder Conviction"
"Woman Died in Prison for Crime She Didn't Commit"
"Where Is Zhang Feng Now?"
I watched it all from Lin Wei's apartment. Standing in the corner. Reading over his shoulder.
Ruan Qing came and went. Bringing food. Bringing tea. Bringing updates from the outside world.
"The police are reopening the case," she said on the second day.
"Zhang Feng's office is empty," she said on the third.
"He's gone," she said on the fourth.
---
I went back to Evergreen Court.
The apartment. Apartment 5C. Zhang Feng's place.
The door was unlocked. I walked through it.
The apartment was empty. Not empty like he was gone. Empty like he had left in a hurry. Drawers open. Clothes on the floor. The closet door hanging open.
The suits were still there. The expensive ones. The ones he never wore. The tags still on them.
But the nightstand was empty.
The phone was gone.
The old one. The one with the messages. The one he couldn't throw away.
He had taken it with me.
I walked through the apartment. Room by room. Looking for something. I didn't know what.
The kitchen. Dishes in the sink. Takeout containers. The trash hadn't been taken out.
The bathroom. Towels on the floor. Medicine cabinet open. Bottles scattered.
The living room. The bottle on the floor. Cheap whiskey. Plastic. Empty now.
He was gone.
I stood in the middle of the living room. Alone.
Three years. Three years of watching him. Following him. Waiting for him to break.
And when he finally did, I wasn't there.
I was here. Standing in his empty apartment. Surrounded by his garbage.
Damn. I needed a drink. But I couldn't drink. I couldn't do anything except stand there like an idiot, surrounded by the mess he left behind.
Hah. Look at me. The great Chen Lü. Ghost lawyer. Champion of the dead.
Standing in an empty apartment. Feeling sorry for myself.
Pathetic.
---
I found him three days later.
Not me. The police.
They found him in a hotel on the edge of the city. Cheap place. Neon sign. Dirty sheets.
He was sitting on the bed. The phone was in his hand. The old one. The one with the messages.
He had been sitting there for three days. Not eating. Not sleeping. Just sitting. Holding the phone.
When the police knocked, he opened the door.
He didn't run. Didn't fight. Didn't say a word.
He just handed them the phone.
"It's all there," he said. "Everything."
---
I watched the news report from Lin Wei's apartment.
Ruan Qing was there. Lin Wei was there. I was in the corner.
"Zhang Feng has been arrested," the reporter said. "He is expected to face charges of murder, evidence tampering, and perjury."
Lin Wei turned off the TV.
The room was silent.
"So," Ruan Qing said finally, "it's over."
I looked at the blank screen.
"Yeah," I said. "It's over."
But it didn't feel over.
I waited for the relief. The rush of victory. The feeling that I had done something right.
It didn't come.
Zhang Feng was arrested. But Lin Yue was still dead. Her sister was still alone. The years she lost were still gone.
I thought about what the woman in grey had said.
"The truth does not undo what happened. It does not bring back the years. It does not bring back the dead."
She was right.
But she was also wrong.
The truth didn't bring Lin Yue back. But it let her rest. It let her sister know. It let the world see what really happened.
That was something.
Not justice. Not really.
But something.
---
Lin Wei coughed. That dry, hollow sound.
Ruan Qing handed him a glass of water.
"You should rest," she said.
He shook his head. "I'm not done."
"Done with what?"
He looked at me.
"Your next case," he said. "Ruan Qing told me. There are others. Others like Lin Yue."
I didn't answer.
"I want to write their stories too," he said. "Before I die."
I looked at Ruan Qing. She didn't look back.
"You're dying," I said. "You don't have time."
He smiled. That thin, tired smile.
"Then I'll write fast."
---
Ruan Qing stood.
She walked to the window. Looked out at the street.
"There's a woman," she said. "She died last week. Car accident. But it wasn't an accident."
She turned to look at me.
"Her husband did it. Pushed her car off the road. Made it look like she lost control."
I waited.
"She's been waiting. At the funeral home. She saw me. She knows I can see her."
Ruan Qing paused.
"She wants a lawyer."
I looked at Lin Wei. Then at Ruan Qing.
"What's her name?"
"Li Na."
I thought about it.
Lin Yue was gone. Zhang Feng was arrested. The story was out.
But there were others. Others like Lin Yue. Others who had died before their cases were finished. Others who were still waiting.
"Then let's go," I said.
Ruan Qing nodded.
Lin Wei opened his laptop.
"I'll start writing," he said.
---
I walked through the door. Through the lobby. Through the hallway.
Outside, the street was waking up. A woman with coffee. A man checking his watch. A kid weaving through traffic on a bike.
Normal. Ordinary. Alive.
I followed Ruan Qing.
She didn't look back. She never did.
But I didn't need her to.
I knew where we were going.
The funeral home. The quiet building with no sign out front.
A woman was waiting there.
A woman who had died before her case was finished.
A woman who needed a lawyer.
I was still dead. I was still a ghost. I still couldn't touch anything or make anyone hear me.
But I had Ruan Qing. I had Lin Wei. I had the truth.
And that was enough.
For now.
---
End of Chapter 11
---
EPILOGUE
Six months later.
Lin Wei died on a Tuesday.
Ruan Qing was with him. I was in the corner. Watching.
He didn't say anything. Didn't open his eyes. Just stopped breathing.
Ruan Qing sat there for a long time. Then she stood. Walked to the window.
"He's gone," she said.
I looked at the bed. Lin Wei's body was still there. But something else was standing in the corner.
Lin Wei. His ghost.
He looked at me. Then at Ruan Qing.
She couldn't see him. Not yet. Maybe not ever.
But I could.
"Took you long enough," I said.
He smiled. That thin, tired smile.
"I had to finish the story."
He looked at Ruan Qing. She was still staring out the window.
"Take care of her," he said.
"You take care of yourself."
He laughed. A real laugh. The first one I had heard from him.
"I'm dead," he said. "What's the worst that could happen?"
He faded. Slowly. Not like Lin Yue. He took his time.
Until he was gone.
---
Ruan Qing never knew.
She never asked.
But sometimes, when she was alone, she would look at the corner where he used to sit.
And she would smile.
Just a little.
Just enough.
---
End of Ghost Lawyer (Book 1)