29. ‘The People Were Afraid to Venture Out of Their Houses at Night’
As Ancient Chinese historian Sima Qian described history’s first serial killer: “Liu Pengli was arrogant and cruel, and paid no attention to the etiquette demanded between ruler and subject. In the evenings he used to go out on marauding expeditions with twenty or thirty slaves or young men who were in hiding from the law, murdering people and seizing their belongings for sheer sport.
When the affair came to light … it was found he had murdered at least 100 or more persons. Everyone in the kingdom knew about his ways, so the people were afraid to venture out of their houses at night. The son of one of his victims finally sent a report to the [Han Emperor], and the Han officials requested that he be executed. The emperor could not bear to carry out their recommendation, but made him a commoner and banished him to Shangyong“.