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墨書 Inktalez
Cheng Yimin noticed our skepticism and spoke again, "Those actions were indeed suspicious. We usually sleep until noon, but he would leave early. Once, I asked him what he was up to, and he arrogantly told us that Fang Qi and Du Ziguo were out of the picture now, leaving only Wang An and Zhao Li."
Zheng Shuai wore a worried expression. "We all thought it was unnecessary. So what if he was taken to the police station? We had our share of facing such consequences for stealing, and he had been in there several times before. He never acted like this during his previous stays; we don't know what’s different this time."
The two fell silent for a moment, and Cheng Yimin added, "That's all we know."
I furrowed my brow. Previously, Zhang Bin had been with us, and Zheng Shuai and Cheng Yimin should be able to vouch for his innocence. However, given the current situation, their testimonies did not favor Zhang Bin. So who was lying—Zhang Bin or the two of them?
To verify the facts, I asked Gu Chen to contact the boss of the restaurant we had visited earlier to find out whose story was true. The boss remembered these individuals well because they were quite loud. One young man had been particularly vocal about wanting another young man to rape his sister.
There were many diners at the time, but this person seemed oblivious to his surroundings, prompting the boss to intervene. However, the young man had indeed been drinking heavily, and the boss couldn't determine whether he was just rambling or if there was any real intent behind his words.
What was the truth?
I shrugged and said to the two of them, "Regardless, you’ll have to go back to the station for a bit. I hope you never get into trouble again. If you were to steal a phone, you could at least sell it for a couple hundred bucks. But look at you now—dressed decently yet without even a television at home. Where has all your money gone?"
Zheng Shuai spat in disdain and replied, "How much do you think we have? Most of it went to Zhang Bin. We barely have a few dozen bucks each; what can we do with that? We don’t even know where Zhang Bin has spent the rest of the money. He claims it’s for clothes, rent, and food, but who knows how much he’s actually hiding?"
I shook my head; from Zhang Bin's demeanor, he certainly didn’t seem like someone with money.
Just as we were about to leave, Mary suddenly called us: "Come back! A video has gone viral on social media; we've already blocked its source, but I don’t know how many people have downloaded it."
"What happened?" I asked, sensing urgency in her voice.
"A murder video," Mary replied slowly.
We rushed back to the police station as quickly as possible. At that moment, Captain Shao and Mary were present; this was the first time we had seen such a scene since arriving in Yumu City. It became clear that things had escalated significantly. We still didn't know what had happened or whether it was related to our ongoing investigation.
Captain Shao looked at us and said, "We need to speed up the investigation. Mary, play the video."
Then, a video appeared before our eyes.
The screen was dark, and a person sat in front of the camera. The dim lighting made it hard to see clearly, but we could all recognize that this person was none other than Du Ziguo. Compared to his photos, Du Ziguo looked significantly thinner, with deep circles under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept in a long time.
His voice was low, and we had to listen carefully to understand what he was saying.
"I set up an automatic upload feature. If you are seeing this video, it means I am no longer alive. The person who killed me is named Zhang Bin. I am so certain because I discovered his secret. I found out he has been holding a woman captive, but I don’t know who she is."
At that moment, it seemed there was some noise outside, and he glanced to the side.
Then he continued, "I decided to confront him, so the outcome would either be my death or his. The reason I want to kill him is that he has done unforgivable things to me. Under his manipulation, I became addicted to drugs. During my addiction, he forced me to rape my own sister."
"I know I bear a significant part of the responsibility for what happened, but I just can't accept it." Du Ziguo was furious, yet tears streamed down his face. "I raped my sister, and she committed suicide because of it. I hate myself for having no self-control, but I hate Zhang Bin even more; I wish I could tear him apart."
"I can't go home; I can't face my father or my family. My sister Zhao Li and my brother Wang An—I don't know what has happened to them. As long as someone like Zhang Bin exists in this world, there will never be peace. I have to kill him; otherwise, he will kill me."
At that moment, Du Ziguo picked up the camera: "I've thought about this for a long time; I can't let him harm anyone else. If I'm not back after five days, it means I'm dead. Tell my siblings I'm sorry, but I love them."
The video had a date and time stamp at the bottom—it was recorded early on the fourth.
And the fourth was when Zhang Bin changed his bandages.
So the question arose: Zhang Bin changed his bandages every four days consistently. He had previously brought Du Ziguo along; thus, hiding from Du Ziguo would be meaningless since Du Ziguo could use this information to find him. Zhang Bin should have been aware of this; so who exactly was Zhang Bin hiding from?
“Du Ziguo is really dead,” Guan Zengbin said after watching the video.
I frowned and replied, “But there’s a significant difference here. According to your logic, Zhang Bin actively wanted to kill Du Ziguo. But it seems that Du Ziguo was the one who sought out Zhang Bin for a fight.”
At that moment, Gu Chen chimed in, “The problem is that with this video surfacing, it’s clear that Zhang Bin survived while Du Ziguo is dead. However, during the interrogation, Zhang Bin didn’t mention this at all. This indicates that he must have hidden the body somewhere we can’t easily find.”
I shrugged, not having much to say.
Captain Shao remarked, “Yumu City is a city where news spreads quickly through social media. If we don’t resolve this case soon, it might reach higher authorities. We’ve already been reassigned from Dongxing City; if we can’t solve a case in this city, our chances of going back will be slim.”
Just then, Mary suddenly said, “Look, there’s more.”
With that, Mary opened her WeChat to show us.
The post was shared by Aunt Li, a well-known figure in our community committee. Aunt Li was warm-hearted and upright, often sitting on the curb discussing trivial matters. At that moment, she had shared a post claiming to reveal the truth behind the murder video.
The post exaggeratedly described the situation and left us frowning after reading it.
It narrated Zhang Bin’s life in the first person perspective, even though he was only twenty years old. The author claimed to be Zhang Bin’s classmate and painted him as a notorious troublemaker from a young age—pulling down girls’ pants, extorting protection money from friends, and spitting in teachers’ cups. By seven, he was stealing money from others’ homes; by twelve, he had gotten someone pregnant.
Now grown up, he was depicted as a ruthless criminal—committing murder and arson without remorse. The post accused him of abducting women, colluding with the police, forming his own gang, and terrorizing Yumu City.
After reading the post, I felt like I wasn’t looking at Zhang Bin but rather at a feudal landlord from an old society. The portrayal of Zhang Bin was utterly villainous and detailed as if the author had witnessed everything firsthand. It included various images of Yumu City and some other unknown images that seemed to lend credibility to the claims.
After finishing the post, I sighed and said, “If he really were like what’s described in this post, Zhang Bin would have been beaten to death at school.”
Mary helplessly said, "That's how the internet is these days; too many people are riding the coattails of trending events. It doesn't matter if the posts are true or false, as long as they touch on a hot topic and pique the curiosity of the crowd. This post is likely just a rumor. I'll check the IP address shortly; the shares have already exceeded five hundred, which could lead to charges of spreading false information."
I nodded in agreement.
Captain Shao said, "But that's not the most important thing right now. Let's set that aside for now and focus on finding out who released this video, where it originated, and whether this person is alive or dead. If they're alive, bring them here; if they're dead, bring the body."
We nodded in acknowledgment.
At that moment, we received a call from the substation police station informing us that a body had been discovered in an ice hole, and it matched exactly what they had seen in the video.
"Did they find the body so quickly?" I frowned. "The video just came out, and now a body has been located?"
A colleague from the substation replied, "You need to come quickly. We don't know who leaked the news about the body being found, but there are people everywhere by the river waiting for it to be pulled up. There are also quite a few reporters waiting to report on it. That social media post blew up in no time."
After hanging up, I looked at everyone and said, "Let's go; they've found the body."
Gu Chen remarked, "That's quite a coincidence."
I shook my head and replied, "It's more than just a coincidence; it's too coincidental. If there's no one orchestrating this behind the scenes, I absolutely won't believe it. Mary, look into why this video spread so quickly. From what I can see in the video, this so-called murder footage doesn't show any murder; it's just someone confessing their intent to fight."
Mary nodded and said, "There might be some hired online influencers at play here, but we still need to find out who hired them."
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