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墨書 Inktalez
Without solid evidence, we could only summon a person for twenty-four hours. Although all the accusations pointed to Zhang Bin, none of the evidence could be considered direct; we needed to verify each piece individually. Thus, after twenty-four hours, we had no choice but to release Zhang Bin.
Today, the citizens of Yumu City had gathered almost entirely at the entrance of the police station. Zhang Bin had never seen such a scene before; he covered his face with his clothing, seemingly afraid of being recognized. However, the crowd around him paid no attention to his distress and surged forward, eager to catch a glimpse of Zhang Bin's true appearance.
They shouted loudly, and someone yelled, "The post says that Zhang Bin colluded with the police and got away with murder! Is there no justice left? Is there no rule of law?"
Hearing this, the crowd seemed to feel elevated in their own image, as if their souls were being uplifted. They chanted in unison, surrounding Zhang Bin. If it weren't for the police clearing a path, Zhang Bin would likely have been beaten to death on the spot. The power of the people is great, but the power of a blind mob is terrifying.
The police chief stood atop a car and shouted through a megaphone, "Calm down! Calm down! There is currently no evidence proving that this Zhang Bin is the murderer! Everyone needs to stay composed; if this Zhang Bin is not the murderer, then the real murderer is still out there free! Please do not act rashly!"
But with emotions running high, who cared about reason?
Some members of the crowd blocked the police car, preventing Zhang Bin from getting inside. He tried to hide behind his clothing as he dodged left and right but ultimately remained exposed before everyone.
"Look at him!" someone shouted. "In that photo, he looked like some kind of dog; now he looks like a ghost! The elders of Yumu City should remember this face—justice may be delayed, but it will never be absent."
This statement ignited a fire within many hearts as they echoed back, "Justice may be delayed, but it will never be absent."
Zhang Bin cried out desperately, "It wasn't me! I swear it wasn't me!"
An older woman spat angrily, "Hmph! With that ugly face of yours, you dare claim innocence? We are civilized people; let's not give the police any trouble. We won't resort to violence; we will use our words—come on, let’s use our words!"
With that, she cleared her throat and spat a thick glob of phlegm right onto Zhang Bin's face. Soon after, numerous so-called civilized individuals followed suit, spitting on him one after another. It was as if they were holding a contest for the leader of a beggar's gang; they took turns spitting until Zhang Bin was enveloped in an unbearable stench.
We stood beside Zhang Bin as some of their saliva splattered onto us.
"It wasn't me!" Zhang Bin cried out in despair, his face turning red from humiliation. But what could he do?
At that moment, a child suddenly dashed out from the crowd, wielding two kitchen knives and charging toward Zhang Bin. I was standing right next to him when I saw Wang An rushing from afar. A student with knives in both hands emerging from the crowd was both astonishing and terrifying.
The crowd parted to create a clear path leading straight to Zhang Bin.
"Wang An shouted," Zhang Bin! You killed my sister and my brother! I'm going to take you down!"
"That's the kid! Poor thing, poor thing! Old blind man, old blind man." A crowd recognized Wang An, the pitiful boy who had appeared in the post.
Gu Chen stepped forward to face Zhang Bin, watching as Wang An rushed toward him. He frowned. I had known that Wang An was filled with rage, but I never expected him to be wild enough to wield a kitchen knife and attempt murder in front of so many people.
Gu Chen wanted to step in and restrain Wang An, but the angry crowd seemed to have endured for too long. Several people rushed forward and trapped Gu Chen. At that moment, Wang An had already reached Zhang Bin. Zhang Bin's left arm had been slashed twice by Wang An before, and now it seemed that Wang An was intent on taking his life.
Zhang Bin hurriedly tried to dodge. In his panic, he grabbed someone nearby to use as a shield against Wang An's knife. I realized who this person was—Zhang Bin had unwittingly pulled Guo Feng, Teacher Zhao's foolish son, into the fray.
He must have come along with Wang An to watch the commotion, but in the chaos, he ended up being used as a human shield.
Wang An, despite his martial prowess, was still just a kid and couldn't control his strength. He saw Guo Feng but it was clearly too late.
With a "thud," one knife fell to the ground while another plunged into Guo Feng's abdomen.
A tear dropped onto the ground.
A fat man collapsed.
Guo Feng looked down at his stomach and only after a few seconds did he realize what had happened and began to cry. Wang An lost all courage to continue attacking; he clung to one of Guo Feng's arms and cried out loudly. In the confusion, Zhang Bin had disappeared, and I quickly crouched down to examine Guo Feng's wound.
Someone shouted, "There's been a murder! Damn it, Zhang Bin has killed again!"
The scene descended into chaos. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Zhang Bin had run into the police station—the very place he had once been most reluctant to enter had now become his safest refuge.
Guo Feng's abdomen was bleeding; Wang An had put all his strength into that stab. The kitchen knife was buried deep inside him, with only the handle visible. His stomach looked like it had been unzipped, exposing his intestines.
Guo Feng cried out loudly while Wang An sobbed uncontrollably.
"Call an ambulance! Quickly call an ambulance!" I shouted frantically. "Guan Zengbin! Where's Guan Zengbin? Someone is hurt here!"
The surroundings were filled with noise, and I couldn't hear anything clearly; my mind was blank.
"Wang An, I really want to sleep. Wang An, it hurts so much," Guo Feng said softly, looking at Wang An.
"It's okay, you're going to be fine. You're going to get better," Wang An pressed his hand firmly against Guo Feng's abdomen, trying to stop the bleeding.
"Don't cry, Wang An. Don't cry. Aren't you the one who looks down on friends who cry?" Guo Feng reached out a hand, wanting to wipe away Wang An's tears.
Wang An held back his own tears and said, "Yeah, I'm not crying. I'm not crying."
Guo Feng forced a smile. "You promised me that once you finished your business, you'd come play with me. Have you finished?"
"I've finished," Wang An managed a smile that looked worse than crying.
"Then let's make a pinky promise." Guo Feng extended his thumb.
"Pinky promise," Wang An hooked his pinky with Guo Feng's.
Then he closed his eyes, seemingly drifting off into a sweet sleep.
"Make way, make way! The ambulance is here!" The sound of the ambulance echoed nearby.
But there were too many people; they were packed tightly together with no room to move. After five long minutes of standoff, the ambulance finally made its way in. They lifted Wang An onto the stretcher and Guan Zengbin followed closely behind.
Wang An tried to follow as well but was stopped by a police officer. Wang An turned back to look at him with fierce eyes, ready to fight if necessary.
Knowing the relationship between Guo Feng and Wang An, I gently said, "Let him go too."
The crowd that had gathered began to disperse, leaving one by one in defeat.
Before long, the shouting crowd finally vanished at the entrance of the police station. Two blood-stained kitchen knives were left beside a police car, and a pool of bright red blood slowly flowed along the ground's texture. All of this signified that within just a minute earlier, a tragedy had occurred that should never have happened.
"It's all my fault," Gu Chen cursed. "If only I had noticed earlier, that person wouldn't have been stabbed!"
I patted Gu Chen on the shoulder. Such things happen in the blink of an eye. Wang An didn't want to kill Guo Feng, but Zhang Bin certainly didn't want to be killed by Wang An either. So, instinctively, he pulled someone nearby to take the fall, and unfortunately, that person turned out to be Wang An's best friend, Guo Feng.
But whose fault was it really? Undoubtedly, the crowd had already placed the blame for this life lost squarely on Zhang Bin. He had become thoroughly infamous in Yumu City. With a small population and a compact layout, Zhang Bin had lost his right to continue living here.
Although we didn't have enough evidence to prove he was the murderer.
Zhang Bin peeked nervously around the police station. He was drenched in sweat, his face pale. He stepped out and said, trembling, "I—I really didn't mean it. It was just a reflex. But that Tall Guy really wanted to kill me; I admit I was scared."
Zhang Bin no longer exuded the arrogance he had when he first arrived. Sometimes we must understand that those who shout the loudest are not necessarily the most ruthless. The truly dangerous ones often won't give you a chance to hear them speak. Wang An clearly belonged to the latter category.
The chief shook his head. "This is just too crazy."
I glanced at Zhang Bin and said, "Right now, there isn't enough evidence to prove you're the murderer in the rape and murder case, so you can go home. However, until this case is fully investigated, you absolutely cannot leave Yumu City. Otherwise, we will arrest you again. And you'd better not show your face around here for a while; you know what happens if someone spots you."
Zhang Bin nodded, looking despondent. He looked at us and said, "I've confessed everything I've done, but the rest isn't me. I don't understand why everyone thinks it's me; I really didn't do it. Does stealing mean that nothing I say is true?"
"Do you believe me?" Zhang Bin's voice quivered with emotion.
We remained silent.
Zhang Bin gave a self-deprecating smile and turned away from us, murmuring to himself, "Does stealing mean that nothing I say is true?"
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