Right, buckle up, folks - this one's about to get slightly confusing.

The long and short of it is that there was a man who hired a hitman to take someone out, but that hitman hired another hitman do to it. That second hitman then hired another one, who hired another, who hired another.

So basically, there was one businessman and FIVE hitmen involved in this very bizarre string of events in Guangxi, China. If you're still following, then congratulations.

The slightly less abridged version is that businessman Tan Youhui hired someone to 'take out' his competitor for ¥2m ($282,000/£218,000).

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The court heard how that hitman tried to subcontract the job to someone else, triggering a chain reaction of reluctant hitmen.

Credit: Nanning Intermediate People's Court

According to the BBC, the plan eventually failed when the final hitman met the man they were all hired to kill - who has been named only as 'Wei' - and proposed he faked his death instead.

In the end, following a trial that lasted THREE YEARS, Tan and all five hitmen were convicted of attempted murder by the court in Nanning, Guangxi.

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The Nanning Intermediate People's Court said on its website that the beef all stemmed from a dispute in 2013, when Wei took legal action against Tan's firm.

Worried about the potential of losing money in a lengthy court case, Tan contacted hitman Xi Guangan and asked him to kill Wei.

He agreed to the job, but then decided to ask another hitman called Mo Tianxiang to do it instead, offering him ¥1m (£100,000).

Mo accepted, while Xi went back to Tan and asked that he paid another ¥1m after the deed was done.

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But then Mo got in touch with a third person - Yang Kangsheng - who quoted ¥270,000 (£30,000) upfront and a further ¥500,000 (£55,000) after the killing.

The sentencing. Credit: Nanning Intermediate People's Court

He then passed it on to another hitman called Yang Guangsheng for a reduced fee, who then passed it onto a fifth dude, Ling Xiansi, for ¥100,000 (£11,000).

The chain finally broke when Ling met up with Wei in a café, and told him all about the hit, which was when the two hatched a plan to fake the murder and get Wei to pose for a photo, in which he was gagged and bound.

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Understandably, Wei later reported the case to the police.

Tan, who started the whole confusing thing off, was sentenced to five years in prison, while Xi - the first hitman in our very convoluted story - was handed three years and six months.

Yang Kangsheng and Yang Guangsheng got themselves three years and three months, Mo three years and Ling got the shortest sentence of two years and seven months.

I dunno about you, but I'm shattered.