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墨書 Inktalez
At 9:08 AM on January 22, 2002, the Zhangjiacun Police Station received an emergency call.
"Officer! Hurry! Someone's dead!" Huang Yan's voice trembled on the line.
Ten minutes later, the police car screeched to a halt on Zhuque Street.
Zhang Xing lay in a pool of blood, lifeless.
What was even more shocking was the message scrawled on the wall in eyebrow pencil: "Outsiders die; those who come here to make a fortune will not be missed."
"These beasts!" Officer Li clenched his fists. "They kill someone and act so brazenly!"
A special investigation team was quickly established, led by Captain Wang Jianguo, an experienced detective with twenty years of case handling under his belt.
"From the scene," Captain Wang analyzed, "there's more than one assailant. And this message... it reeks of hatred."
"Could it be a revenge killing?" young Officer Zhang asked.
"Very likely," Captain Wang pointed at the words on the wall. "'Outsiders die' indicates that the assailants were particularly concerned about the victim's status as an outsider. It could very well be someone familiar with him."
The investigation soon yielded clues. Neighbors reported that a man from Hubei lived in the building across, known as "Huang Mao," who had vanished after the incident.
"Huang Mao?" Captain Wang narrowed his eyes. "Let's check his residence immediately."
At Duan Haiming's apartment, police discovered graffiti that matched the writing found at the crime scene perfectly.
"This Duan Haiming can't escape!" Captain Wang slammed his hand on the table. "Issue a notice for assistance immediately!"
But Duan Haiming had already vanished without a trace.
On the afternoon of January 23, there was a breakthrough in the case.
"Wang Team, we have a lead!" Officer Zhang Xing burst into the office excitedly. "A couple living next door to Duan Haiming has also gone missing, and the woman had a pager!"
"A pager?" Captain Wang's eyes lit up. "Get me the surveillance footage right away!"
Soon, they discovered that a private residence on Tuanjie Middle Road had been frequently contacting this pager.
"Prepare to take action!" Captain Wang ordered.
In the early hours of January 24, the special investigation team surrounded the house on Tuanjie Middle Road.
"Police! Don't move!"
Teng Zhen Ting and Xu Yulin were abruptly awakened by the kicked-open door.
"Don't move! Raise your hands!"
Terrified, they dared not resist.
In their residence, police uncovered a large amount of stolen property, including clothing stained with blood from the crime scene.
"Where is Duan Haiming?" Captain Wang demanded sharply.
"I... I don't know!" Teng Zhen Ting's face was as pale as paper.
"Don't know?" Captain Wang sneered. "Then how do you explain these dirty items? How do you explain this blood-stained shirt?"
Faced with the irrefutable evidence, the two finally broke down.
"I'll tell everything! I'll confess!" Xu Yulin cried, "It was Duan Haiming who planned it! We just went along!"
"Nonsense!" Teng Zhen Ting retorted angrily. "You all agreed on this! I was forced!"
The two began to accuse each other, revealing all those involved.
"There were a total of eight people?" Captain Wang was shocked. "Such a large criminal gang!"
With leads in hand, the police immediately dispatched teams to various locations, including Yichang and Zhijiang in Hubei, to make arrests.
On January 25, Duan Haiming was captured at his home in Yichang.
"Duan Haiming, do you have anything to say?" the investigating officer asked.
Duan Haiming knew the situation was dire but remained defiant. "Do whatever you want! My life is over anyway!"
"Do you know Zhang Xing is dead?"
Duan Haiming froze. "Dead? We didn't intend to kill him... we just wanted money..."
The truth slowly emerged. It turned out that after they entered the house that night, Zhang Xing had fought back desperately, and in a fit of rage, Duan Haiming had struck him hard. When they realized Zhang Xing had stopped breathing, everyone was terrified.
"What do we do? What do we do?" Guo Xuefeng panicked at the time.
"What can we do now that it's happened?" Duan Haiming said, forcing himself to remain calm. "Look for the bank card and password!"
They searched the entire house and found the bank card but didn't know the password.
"Should we run?" Li Zhiwei suggested fearfully.
"Run? What are you talking about?" Duan Haiming still had some clarity. "His girlfriend will be back tomorrow; we'll force her to tell us the password!"
So Li Zhiwei was assigned to stay behind and wait for Huang Yan to return home. Little did they know that as soon as Huang Yan came back, she screamed for help, causing Li Zhiwei to flee in terror without taking anything.
Even more absurdly, before leaving, Duan Haiming wrote a message on the wall.
"Why did you write those words?" the officer asked.
Duan Haiming lowered his head. "I was just caught up in the moment... thinking since it was done anyway, I might as well vent my frustration..."
On January 26, Guo Xuefeng was captured in Zhijiang.
On January 27, Li Zhiwei was arrested in Yichang.
On the afternoon of January 28, the last suspect, Xiao Renquan, was escorted back to Xi'an. All eight villagers were accounted for, none left behind.
In the interrogation room, the eight sat facing each other, no one daring to make eye contact.
"Now, let's talk," Captain Wang said coldly. "Who is the mastermind?"
Instantly, the room erupted.
"It’s Duan Haiming! It was all his idea!" Teng Zhen Ting hurriedly distanced himself from the others.
"Nonsense! None of you are innocent!" Duan Haiming shouted in anger.
"I was forced! My son is sick and needs money!" Li Zhiwei cried in defense.
"Stop pretending! You were eager to participate back then!" Guo Xuefeng retorted defiantly.
The eight former villagers now turned on each other like enemies, blaming and exposing one another, eager to shift all responsibility onto someone else.
In June 2002, the Xi'an Intermediate People's Court began hearing the case. In court, the eight defendants hung their heads low, no longer displaying their earlier arrogance.
Mastermind Duan Haiming, Guo Xuefeng, and Li Zhiwei were sentenced to death. The other five received life imprisonment or fixed-term sentences due to lesser charges.
After the verdict was announced, the families of the eight broke down in tears. Duan Haiming's mother fainted on the spot, exclaiming, "My son! How did you end up on this path?" Li Zhiwei's wife wept while holding their sick child, "You killed someone to pay for our child's treatment, and now look—our child has lost his father and you bear the label of a murderer!" Teng Zhen Ting's father, with gray hair, lamented, "I lived my life honestly only to be shamed by my son in old age!"
The judge concluded, "Defendants, you were once simple farmers who came to the city to work for a living. Though life was tough, that does not justify your crimes. In a moment of folly, you harmed others and destroyed yourselves, ruining eight families in the process. Let this be a warning to all!"
Thus ended the downfall of these eight villagers. They paid with their lives and freedom for a mere 16,500 yuan—money they never even received.
Greed is like a ferocious beast; once unleashed, it devours everything in its path. These eight villagers from Hubei sounded an alarm for all: there is no such thing as ill-gotten gains; justice will always prevail. A single thought can lead to heaven or hell; when they chose to take that step, they sealed their tragic fate.
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