SCW Chapter 1

Translator: Ichinonsense
TL Note: A dog was killed for survival by the dying MC in ch2. If you view dogs as sacred animals similar to cows in Hinduism and/or feel very sensitive about it, it's advisable not to read this, thank you.
Chapter 1 - Death Row Prisoner



"Criminal suspect Guo Jianjun, Male, Chinese nationality, 33 years old, born on 11 November 1975, suspected of HSH organized crime's leader, intentional homicide , intentional assault, intentional arson, intentional robbery, intentional illegal sale and possession of firearms, intentional bombing , rape, smuggling, sexual assault on woman, coercion, illegal gambling charges, extortion, bribery, crime of disrupting financial order. The above charges, proved by testimonies and valid pieces of evidence, after the trial verdict, convicted. By the collegiate bench, I hereby declare the sentence."

At this point, the judge looked around and saw all of the people stood up and looked down at the verdict on his hand, then he read it out loud, "The criminal suspect Guo Jianjun is sentenced to death, and deprived of political rights for life, this judgement shall be final, shall not be appealed and to be executed immediately. High People's Court of G Province, 4 April 2008, adjourned!"

In the solemn court, the crowd who heard the trial immediately clapped with passion and cheered loudly, someone shouted, "Scum of society!" The judge on the main trial bench subsequently withdrew.

The defendant on the dock was wearing a prison suit and his head was shaved. Two armed police officers grabbed each of his arms, he wore heavy handcuffs and fetters, the fetters made a rattling sound while dragged on the ground.

His footsteps were slow and heavy, although he had been sentenced to death and to be executed immediately, there was no usual appearance of a prisoner facing his death, the corners of his mouth tilted, always hanging a faint smile.

Walking to the door, bright sunshine shined upon his bald head, Guo Jianjun stopped, then took a deep breath, his heart was feeling warm, suddenly a new feeling blossomed. The cold handcuffs in his hands seemed to bring warm, his two eyes fell on the people around him.

"Is this Guo Jianjun? Doesn't look like a bad guy! How could you not learn at a young age?" A white-haired aunt, probably older, curiously stared at Guo Jianjun with hazy sight, She wanted to see this province's infamous, the evil villain, in the end, looked like this. The place was crowded, bright lights flashed non-stop from the hands of reporters. Unfortunately, a circle of armed police officers would not let them get close.

Guo Jianjun gave a deep bow toward the direction of the old aunt. The white-haired old aunt shouted, "Child, remember to be a good person in the next life!"

Guo Jianjun smiled, the armed police officer behind pushed him, he staggered and stepped down his legs. After a long awaiting for the prisoner, the rear door opened, several armed police officers put him into the van, then followed in. The door closed, a siren sounded. In the eyes of the crowd, a convoy of several cars rushed out of the court gate.

The convoy moved towards the suburbs, a middle-aged military police officer with two stars on his shoulders, looked at Guo Jianjun. The sight in front of the police officer, was none other than a tall and handsome young man, if not for him to dress as such, no one would have believed him as a prisoner of death. What was the reason for such a person to come to this situation?

Looking at the passing of the street through the van window, Guo Jianjun felt the opposite person's gaze, twisted his body and smiled, "Big Brother! can I have a smoke?"

The middle-aged officer had performed the task numerous times, but this man's expression and behavior were not like a person who would meet his demise, he could not help but becoming alert immediately, he looked seriously at the prisoner. Two armed military police officers on both sides of him, while his finger touched the trigger.

Guo Jianjun smiled and shook his head, "This is not a Hong Kong's film of gangster vs police, are you afraid that I will run away? Or are you afraid someone will rob the van? Will I be able to do that? This is the communist country, few people in China dare to do such a thing."

However, the police officer stayed silent, closely watched his movements.

"Hey! It's just a cigarette! Why are you so nervous.." Guo Jianjun's eyes swept a few people's badges and collar then turned out of the window, sighed "I was also a soldier in the past, fought with guns, worked really hard and won the reward, the blood flew through the sweat!" Finished, he no longer said anything, looked out of the window with confusion, seemed to remember something.

The officer and several soldiers were a little surprised to hear that. The officer's watchful expression lessened, and the finger unconsciously moved away from the trigger.

The officer looked up and down at Guo Jianjun, paused, and finally asked, "Have you been a soldier? A Military police officer or a PLA?"

"Back then..." Guo Jianjun faced back and smiled. After a slight of hesitation, the officer took a pack of cigarettes, pulled out one of the dots, and cautiously handed it to Guo Jianjun. The latter thanked him, fingers on the cigarette, took a deep breath and exhaled through his mouth.

In response to the former's inquiring eyes, Guo Jianjun said slowly, "I was an infantry soldier on 1993. I spent three years at the frontier, and after returning from the army, I returned to my hometown in rural areas where my mother and father lived without relatives. However, I came back and found out that my father died in the second year of my military service because of illness and lack of money for treatment. Because my mom was expecting that I would be rewarded after the duty and did not want to burden me with my thoughts, she did not tell me about father's death. When I got home, my father was gone and my mother was bedridden. The grief was painful, but the living still had to live, and mother's illness had to be healed. My allowance back then was less than 3000 yuan, I had to pack all of our stuff, then took my mother to the city to do all the checks needed, I bought all the medicines needed, but money was tight. With the help of my comrades and villagers, I got some money to get my mother to stay in the hospital. However, the hospitalization cost was too high for rural people like us, I had to entrust mother to the city's comrades, I went to the south with some villagers to find some work, hoping to earn some money for the bills." Here, the cigarette in his hand had been burned to the bottom, Ashes dropped on the van's floor.

A leather shoe stretched over to put out the cigarette butts, the officer took out another cigarette, handed it to Guo Jianjun, "Continue!"

"Thanks!" Guo Jianjun waved his handcuffed hands, his mouth heavily sucked in. He continued to say, "In the city, the villagers got me a work in a construction site as a laborer, every day had to go upstairs and downstairs to pick bricks and cement, 800 yuan for one month, including food and clothing, wages would be paid in the sixth month. Although it sounds tiring, it was nothing for ex-infantry like me. 800 yuan would be enough for a rural family like us even if we had to wait for half a year. Ha! Six months later, the building on the site was finished. But when the payment time was due, our boss was gone. We were only a group of workers from rural areas and a bit unfamiliar with the laws, Where to get back our wages? Find the local government also useless, a few more times, even the government's door did not let us in. In the end, everything was for naught, Mother's sickness was still waiting for money, and I did not have any technical skills. Had to find another workplace, to be the laborer. Hey! The result was that I did not come across any money nor work."

"Why don't you report it?" The officer frowned. Several military police officers were also attracted to the story, curiously stared at him, this famous Guo Jianjun surprisingly had such a job.

"Report?" Guo Jianjun sneered, "Brother, you stay in the army for a long time. It was not like nowadays, and it was no use to report it. Now there is a way, even the prime minister would come down to give the workers their wage. But back then, just try it!"

The middle-aged officer looked slightly embarrassed, took the cigarette butt from the prisoner's hand, and dropped it off. He handed another one, briefly asked, "Later?"

"Huh! Later, my mother's condition worsened, anxiously waiting for money for the surgery, my comrade in arms was there to see the doctor, while I sold my parents' house. At that time the house was cheap! if it was put now, it would be ten times the price. Finally, the money from selling the house was almost spent. I was also pushing it too. Just then, i met the boss who owed my wages. I begged for the wages but nothing came, in the end, he called a bunch of people to beat me up. Dragged a wound, i contacted a few former comrades, told the matter to them to get revenge. Oh! Worthy of me who used to life and death on the frontier. After a discussion, the boss was kidnapped and beaten to pulp, we also threatened him if he would tell the police then his whole family would be killed. Boss was also timid, he really did not report it," Said Guo Jianjun, followed by a laugh.

"Military origin, how could you have done such a crime?" The officer shook his head.

"It was too late, Mother didn't wait for the money and left this world," Said Guo Jianjun with a low voice, he suddenly looked at the officer, slightly shouted, "What about the military origin? if it was the warring era, I would not hesitate to throw my blood for the country. To protect the country, to protect the homeland, but I couldn't even protect my own parents, what's the point of adhering to the military's beliefs? Now you go and see, those who are in the most glamorous places enjoying themselves, are those the ordinary soldiers who defended the motherland? Or those ordinary people?!"

"Is this the reason you betrayed your motherland and harmed your national interests? Have you forgotten the phrase in your military oath... That the national interests are above all?" The officer was in a rage. The surrounding police officers in the compartment looked at each other with a bit of gaping stare, this was the first time they performed the task and encountered such a thing.

"Harmed the interests of the country, perhaps! But you said that I betrayed the motherland, please take back that sentence. I, Guo Jianjun, dared to do anything these past years, but to betray the motherland, only the traitor would do that, I can not afford to bear the name of a traitor... If I had to put on this charge before I was dying, I really wouldn't stop crying," Guo Jianjun stared coldly at the opposite party with a chuckle.

Several military police officers did not quite understand what Guo Jianjun meant by this remark. The middle-aged officer turned out to be emotionally stable, and looked thoughtfully at him for a moment, slowly said, "Do you regret it to this day?"

"Regret?" Guo Jianjun laughed, "Regret in life? Is regret useful? Anyone who walks the path of the world would know that sooner or later they would come back to the beginning. At least 18 years later, I might be a hero."

"18 Years later, is a hero?" The officer could not help but laugh, "Do you read martial arts novels?"

"Oh! No more, no less. Yes, I will introduce you to a place to read some novels. It is free to go and see, there's also a lot of novels in it," Guo Jianjun said.

The middle-aged officer nodded and smiled, "Thank you! I'll go see it later."

The van shook a bit from the bump, apparently, they had come into the countryside, not far from the destination. Guo Jianjun glanced at the corner of a certain military police officer, the officer was wearing a black hood, and never took it off from start to finish. He could not help but asked, "Later, is brother the one who will send me to my destination?"

The officer nodded and did not say anything more. Guo Jianjun exclaimed at the officer wearing the black hood, "Brother, please! Wait a little longer and entertain me some more," But no one responded him.

Felt helpless, Guo Jianjun sat on the swinging car, his feeling was down. Yesterday bustling like a dream, beauty in the arms left and right, fleeting in the blink of an eye. He thought of an old song, the mouth could not help but muttered, "Last night, Last night's stars have fallen, disappeared in the distant Milky Way, want to remember, but forgotten..."

The van slowed down and finally stopped.

Guo Jianjun got dragged off the van, looked up to see the sky had become overcast, hiding thunder and lightning. After the officers intervened, he was pushed to the designated execution site.

The executioner readied his gun, the dark muzzle aimed at the prisoner, finger to the trigger, just about to pull it, but overheard the exploding thunder. Guo Jianjun's closed eyes suddenly opened fiercely to see the sky, a purple lightning from above, he only felt paralyzed, then gradually lost consciousness. Before his consciousness dissipated, he asked himself in his heart, "Did I really deserve to be struck by a heavenly lightning?"

The death row prisoner's body instantly became charred black, all of the officers in the surrounding were stunned. The commander recovered his blank mind, he called the forensic officer to examine it. A while later, the forensic officer stood up and shouted, "Already dead!"

Standing in front of the charred body, the commander looked at the camera, not sure how to report the photographed evidence for the execution, then he took the executioner's gun, pointed at the heart of the charred body, "Bang!" A shot! He muttered, "You are executed according to law, not lightning!"