Chapter 149 The magistrate plans to silence the people.
Officer Zhao said, "The thief is not from this county; he came from outside."
The county magistrate's face darkened. "Well, so this outsider dares to provoke us! Looks like we haven't collected enough toll fees from the county!"
Upon learning that the thieves were from out of town, he was furious, but also somewhat relieved.
Because outsiders had to pay various fees not only when entering or passing through Hewan County, but also when leaving, there were constables guarding each entrance and exit point every day.
If anyone is found to be acting suspiciously, they will not be allowed to pass.
The thief will not be able to escape from Hewan County with the entire warehouse of valuables.
However, the county magistrate still had many doubts, so he asked, "Officer Zhao, how did you find out?"
“It’s not difficult,” Officer Zhao said with a smug look on his face. “Yesterday, a rather memorable couple came to our Hewan County. It just so happens that your house was burgled last night, and it just so happens that someone came to the county government early this morning to pay the fines for the detained people. This is definitely not a coincidence.”
"So the thieves were that man and woman from out of town?" the magistrate asked, his eyes wide. "But how could just two people have stolen my entire warehouse clean?"
Officer Zhao frowned in thought, "Well... I can't figure it out right now, but as you know, there are many unorthodox methods in the martial arts world. They must have used some special methods that we don't know about. Anyway, I'm sure the thieves are those two. We'll find out when we arrest them and interrogate them."
The magistrate asked, "Have you seen those two people?"
"I've seen the woman there," Officer Zhao said with a sneer. "She came to pay the fine early this morning, and I was the one who handled it. I was wondering why she was so generous. Not only did she take the penalty and compensate the yamen, but she also redeemed everyone who owed our yamen taxes. It's like she wasn't spending her own money."
The magistrate's face twitched. "You vile woman! You actually used my money to run to my county office and ransack her! I'm furious! Constable Zhao, go and arrest them! I'll grind those two vile men and women to dust!"
“Yes, sir,” Chief Constable Zhao said, bowing. “This is a matter of great importance. We must use all the constables we can. I will describe the female thief’s appearance to the constables to facilitate the search and capture.”
The county magistrate gritted his teeth, "What does she look like?"
"Tsk..." Constable Zhao narrowed his eyes. "She's very young, around twenty years old, tall and curvaceous, and her face is truly beautiful, especially her eyes, which are big and bright. Even without makeup, dressed in tattered coarse linen clothes, she would stand out in a crowd."
The magistrate's brows furrowed. "What... now that you mention it, I also feel like I've seen that face before?"
As he spoke, he pondered and recalled, glancing to the side.
His eyes widened, and he pointed at Ning Jinli, who was still in the courtroom, exclaiming, "Hey! Isn't that her?! The man next to her is her accomplice!"
Officer Zhao turned around in surprise, only to find that the thief he was looking for was already there!
Xiao Qidi and Ning Jinli overheard part of the conversation between Constable Zhao and the county magistrate.
Xiao Qidi cast a questioning look at Ning Jinli.
Ning Jinli chuckled and gave him an approving look.
Xiao Qidi nodded slightly, a smile appearing in his eyes, and gave her a thumbs up.
"That makes things easier!" Constable Zhao's eyes flashed with a fierce light as he drew his sword and rushed towards the two men. "Don't move! You can't escape!"
Ning Jinli muttered, "We didn't intend to run away either..."
Not only did she not intend to run away, she was even planning to cause some trouble with Xiao Qidi so that she would be sent to jail by the yamen runners.
"Where did you hide the stolen goods?" Constable Zhao demanded sternly.
Xiao Qidi remained calm and silent.
Ning Jinli pouted, "You're saying we stole it and that's it? Where's the evidence?"
Officer Zhao roared, "Who else could it be but you!"
Ning Jinli raised her chin, "You want to slander me without any evidence? If you're so capable, then lock us in a jail cell!"
"Still being stubborn," Officer Zhao sneered. "Fine, I'll grant your wish."
"Guards, take these two thieves to the cell and torture them severely!"
At a command, several constables seized Xiao Qidi and Ning Jinli's hands and took them away.
This was exactly what the two men wanted, so they only made a few token noises about being wronged and that there was no law anymore, but in reality, they walked faster than the men escorting them.
“Sir, your family fortune must still be in the county. Once the constables get them to talk, they will be able to return everything to you.” Constable Zhao clasped his hands and said, “I have other cases to handle, so I will take my leave now.”
He was in a hurry to find Xiumei and then kill her. He had already been delayed because of the theft at the magistrate's house, and he couldn't afford to delay any longer.
The county magistrate smiled and nodded, "You've worked hard, you should go now."
Officer Zhao then left.
The county magistrate breathed a sigh of relief, then quickly ordered his men to carry the seriously injured trafficker into the room and to fetch a doctor for treatment.
Before the doctor arrived, he also entered the room, dismissed everyone else, and leaned close to the bedside to ask in a low voice, "How did you end up in that person's hands? What about the others?"
The trafficker said weakly, "They've all...they've all been...captured by him...You must go and rescue our people. If...if something happens to us, you...you..."
Before he could finish speaking, the human trafficker fainted again.
The county magistrate looked grave. He patiently waited for the doctor to arrive, then gathered his men and hurriedly left the yamen.
at the same time.
Inside the prison cell, Xiao Qidi and Ning Jinli had already knocked out the jailer and guards.
Next, Xiao Qidi was put in charge of keeping watch.
Ning Jinli, on the other hand, used the time portal she opened in the death row yesterday to instantly arrive in Linxian City and quickly contacted Duan Wu.
After briefly explaining the situation to Duan Wu, she instructed him to quickly select a group of soldiers and assemble them in front of the Fairy Temple.
"I'll teleport your troops to Xiumei's house now," Ning Jinli instructed while adjusting the space-time tunnel. "Then split into two groups and proceed according to plan."
Duan Wu and his soldiers clasped their hands in greeting and replied, "Yes, Fairy!"
Ning Jinli quietly wiped the cold sweat from her forehead, focused her mind, circulated her internal energy, and began the teleportation.
She can currently only teleport a maximum of five people and five horses at a time; she can't teleport any more than that, but she can teleport them in batches.
After sending fifty people and fifty horses in batches, she felt that her internal energy was almost exhausted and her body was nearing its limit. So she gritted her teeth and took Duan Wu with her and sent them through.
“These troops… should… be enough…” Ning Jinli supported Duan Wu’s arm, bent over and panting, large beads of sweat constantly sliding down her pale face.
The soldiers were extremely tense, fearing that something might happen to her.
Duan Wu's face changed with worry. "Fairy, what's wrong with you?"
"Phew... It's alright..." Ning Jinli took a deep breath and said with difficulty, "I've consumed too much energy and my inner strength is almost exhausted. The next thing... I have to leave it to you to assist Xiao Qidi. I... I... I need... I need to rest. You go quickly."
"Are you really alright?" Duan Wu was still worried.
Ning Jinli straightened her back. "Stop dawdling. If you delay the operation, I'll beat you up later."
Duan Wu dared not delay any longer. He divided his fifty soldiers into two groups and rode off in two different directions at high speed.
Ning Jinli not only needed to rest, but also needed to absorb energy and convert it into internal force to replenish herself. So she mobilized the last bit of internal force in her body, changed the location of the other end of the time-space passage, and then dragged her body, which felt as heavy as ten thousand pounds, and staggered into the time-space gate.
The next second, she appeared in the ruins of the Kutcherberg nuclear power plant.
The portal to this time and space was opened during the last rescue of the experts.
"Hiss... Huff..." Ning Jinli took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled.
This desolate, human-controlled wasteland is filled with ubiquitous nuclear radiation, which is exactly what she needs.
Next, she can properly absorb the nuclear radiation energy and use the Heavenly Profound Heart Method to refine and replenish her internal energy.
——
On the other side, the magistrate of Hewan County personally led dozens of people to the house where the human trafficking gang was based.
It was nearly noon, and the sun was high in the sky.
The magistrate of Hewan County, despite his advanced age, rode a fast horse at breakneck speed, his body nearly falling apart from the jolting.
But he didn't have time to catch his breath. He ordered his men to break down the gate of the house and then personally led his men inside.
Not long after, he found the other human traffickers.
However, only three are still alive, one of whom is the leader of the human traffickers.
The remaining dozen or so all became gruesome corpses.
The ringleader and the other two were also severely injured and disabled.
Besides the human traffickers, the local residents who were previously held captive by them are still here.
The magistrate of Hewan County looked extremely grim. He ordered his men to give the three survivors a simple first aid on the spot, while he drove the local people into the courtyard.
"Tell me who did this! Who tortured them like this!" the River Bay County Magistrate roared ferociously.
The people knelt on the ground, all with their heads bowed, and no one answered.
The magistrate of Hewan County grabbed a woman by the hair and asked through gritted teeth, "Was it that scumbag named Sumu who did it?"
The woman trembled with pain, but a cold smile appeared on her face as she spat on the magistrate's face.
"You're asking for it!" The magistrate of Hewan County slapped her in anger.
He then looked around at the crowd and said in a gloomy voice, "Such a brutal and disregard for human life has occurred within my jurisdiction. If you do not confess the truth, I will severely punish you all!"
The woman fell to the ground, a red mark appearing on her face, and a trickle of blood flowing from the corner of her mouth. She glared angrily at the magistrate of Hewan County and cursed, "You corrupt official! My family members were kidnapped by human traffickers, and I went to the county office to report it, but you ignored me! Now that these beasts are dead or crippled, you're threatening us! You'll die a horrible death!"
“I remember now,” the magistrate of Hewan County narrowed his triangular eyes. “I do have some impression of you, you shrew. Haven’t you ever wondered why you were arrested and brought here after you reported the crime and were kicked out of the county office?”
The woman was stunned for a moment, then realized, "It's you! So you...you're in cahoots with these beasts too!"
The magistrate of Hewan County glanced sideways and said, "That young man named Su Mu is now locked up in the county jail. He does have some skill, but unfortunately, he's no match for me. Tell me, was he the only murderer who tortured and killed these people, or did he include his accomplices?"
“Accomplice…ha…” The woman stood up with a cold laugh, pointed at herself, “I am his accomplice. I wish I could make these beasts suffer even more, I wish I could eat their flesh and sleep on their skin, and I wish I could cut you, you corrupt official, into a thousand pieces!”
At this moment, the other people also stood up one after another.
Whether they were old or young, men who had been tortured into disability by human traffickers or frail women, they all stared at the magistrate with eyes as sharp as knives.
"We are all his accomplices!"
"You corrupt official! You'll die a horrible death!"
Angri curses immediately followed.
"Sir, we've searched everywhere, but we haven't found anyone else," a subordinate reported.
"It seems that the only accomplice of that kid is that woman named Ding Li," the magistrate of Hewan County said, a sinister murderous intent flashing in his triangular eyes.
"You corrupt official! Give me your life!" A commoner, unable to bear it any longer, shouted and lunged at the county magistrate.
The other people immediately rushed towards him as well.
They all looked at him with hatred in their eyes, as if they wanted to devour him alive.
"Insolence!" Several guards drew their swords to defend themselves, shielding the magistrate behind them.
"Heh...a bunch of troublemakers," the magistrate of Hewan County squinted, stroking his beard and sneering, "Don't even mention you, even if the Heavenly King himself came, he couldn't take my life. But your lives, I'm determined to take today."
After saying that, he gave his men a wink.
The group he brought consisted partly of county constables and partly of his household guards. Ordinary people were no match for them, let alone the fact that most of them were women and children.
Just in case, he had no choice but to silence all the victims.
Just as a massacre was about to unfold, the rapid sound of horses' hooves rushed in from outside the mansion gate.
"Stop it, all of you!"
A loud rebuke, like a thunderclap, made the magistrate of Hewan County tremble.
He hurriedly turned around and was shocked to see more than twenty armored soldiers riding warhorses in front of him.
The overwhelming sense of oppression and intimidation left his men frozen in place.
Although he had a significant numerical advantage, his opponents were fully armed soldiers, so he dared not make any rash moves.
"I am the magistrate of Hewan County," he said, stepping forward with a cupped hand as he surveyed the group of soldiers. "May I ask which army you belong to? And who is your commander?"
The leading soldier, seated on his horse, looked down at the enemy and declared, "We are soldiers of Xitun Pass under the command of General Duan Wu!"
"Duan Wu?" The magistrate of Hewan County thought carefully for a moment, then smiled. "Oh, I remember now, he's General Duan's son, isn't he? I met him a few times many years ago. Not long ago, the imperial court issued a notice, and I already know that Duan Wu has become the commander of Xitun Pass. I was thinking of going to Xitun Pass to congratulate him when I had time. Has General Duan come to Hewan County now? What brings him here?"
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