Chapter 83 - 81: Acquittal
January 1, 2020, after finally persuading his parents to go back first, Wu Li was transferred to the detention center.
On January 3, aside from Ma Qing, the three other injured parties finished giving their statements. That evening, everyone involved in the incident was brought back to the police station to give their statements, and the case was reconstructed in full detail, matching Wu Li’s previous account without any significant discrepancies.
By January 4, Ma Qing showed no signs of awakening and was declared to be in a vegetative state. His family filed a legal complaint with the court, accusing Wu Li of intentional injury. Their argument was that since Wu Li was trained in martial arts and had previously won a fighting competition, he was fully capable of defending himself without causing serious harm, yet he chose to use brutal force.
This case immediately caused an uproar online. Before this, there had been ongoing discussions about whether "Kung Fu is a killing skill," involving both insiders and outsiders. So, when there was new information regarding Wu Li’s case, it naturally became the center of attention again.
There had never been a case of successful self-defense in China involving one against many that resulted in crippling the attacker, so some people with ulterior motives started spreading the idea that Wu Li’s actions were not self-defense but intentional harm:
"Slow down that video and you’ll see, when Wu Li hit Ma Qing, he first deflected Ma Qing’s knife-wielding arm, and then he struck Ma Qing’s forehead with his palm. What does that tell you? It shows that he was fully capable of avoiding Ma Qing’s attack, even disarming him. Ma Qing was no threat to him, yet he still chose to inflict heavy damage!"
"It wasn’t just Ma Qing. The one with the broken leg, initially Wu Li kicked his lower leg, and the guy was about to fall, but then Wu Li deliberately stepped on him again, this time on his knee, breaking his leg!"
"The law does say that when your life is threatened, you can exercise unlimited right to counterattack. But from the video, it’s clear that Ma Qing and the others could not pose a threat to Wu Li, yet he still used excessive force. Shouldn’t such a person be punished?"
"Aren’t you the ones saying Kung Fu is a killing skill? Isn’t a brutal person with killing skills a major safety risk in society? If he really wanted to kill someone, can you imagine the destruction he could cause?"
"Exactly, if it’s a killing skill, it shouldn’t be in the hands of ordinary people!"
...
