I remember it very clearly, it was July 22, 2019.

That night, a guy driving a BMW clashed with a pedestrian on an electric bike on the road. In the end, the pedestrian used a watermelon knife to counterattack and kill the BMW driver, and the video was uploaded to Weibo.

Less than an hour later, it shot up to the top of Weibo's trending list.

At that time, I was working as a journalist for an official media outlet in Kun City. As soon as I got the news, I rushed to the Kun City Public Security Bureau.

Outside the Kun City Public Security Bureau, my colleagues were already waiting with their long-range cameras and equipment.

A woman holding a child was tearfully giving an interview.

I glanced at them, then walked past and entered the main gate of the bureau.

Back then, I was mainly responsible for in-depth reporting on criminal cases for an official media outlet in Kun City. I frequently interacted with the city bureau's criminal police and often exchanged materials with the bureau's publicity department, so I had the "privilege" of entering and exiting the bureau freely.

Although it was already the early hours of the morning, the bureau was still bustling with activity.

The officer in charge of this "counter-killing case" was Detective Chen Wei, an "old hand" in his early thirties.

I had met Chen Wei a year ago on a "serial dismemberment case." He started his career as a grassroots officer and had been doing criminal investigations for seven or eight years, solving numerous homicide cases with his sharp eyes.

When I went in, Chen Wei had just come out of the interrogation room to get some air in the courtyard.

I handed him a cigarette and pointed to the woman being interviewed outside the courtyard, "What's going on out there?"

Chen Wei took out a lighter, lit the cigarette for himself, and took a deep drag.

"The family of the deceased, demanding severe punishment for the killer. We told her to go home and wait for the investigation results, but she wouldn’t leave and kept causing a commotion."

"Is there more to the case?"

"You've seen the video; it happened like that. The deceased, Liu Hu, an unemployed vagrant, was drunk driving and scraped against a guy on an electric bike. He then slapped the guy in the face with a watermelon knife. The knife fell to the ground and was picked up by the other guy, who chased him and slashed him several times, spilling his guts all over the place. He died on the spot."

"At present, it looks like a sudden incident. Whether there's more to it will have to be investigated."

According to Chen Wei, the process of the case was very clear: Liu Hu initiated the provocation and was counter-killed, and the weapon was his own.

Now, they mainly needed to investigate whether the two had any grievances and then classify the case as either premeditated murder, excessive self-defense, or legitimate self-defense.

I asked Chen Wei for his opinion, and he shook his head, "Hard to say."

From his expression, I understood that this case wouldn’t be easy.

In the video, which I had already watched several times, Liu Hu clearly initiated the provocation, even slapping the other person with a watermelon knife, a behavior that threatened the other's life.

When the other person picked up the watermelon knife and counterattacked, it certainly wouldn’t be considered premeditated murder.

But after slashing twice, Liu Hu was already fleeing for his life. The guy still chased him and slashed several more times.

Whether this still counted as legitimate self-defense was debatable.

Liu Hu was a scum who deserved to die.

I sighed, feeling sorry for the pedestrian.

"Can I go see him?" I asked Chen Wei.

"Let's go," Chen Wei extinguished his cigarette and walked inside.

"What's his name?"

"Pei Jianye."

Upon hearing the name, I frowned slightly. It sounded familiar.

When I saw Pei Jianye in the interrogation room, I immediately remembered.

I knew this guy!