Chapter 145 Tonight, she'll make that corrupt official bleed profusely.
Under the hazy moonlight, several burly men looked fierce and menacing.
Judging from this situation, it's clear that there's no possibility of negotiation.
Now that things have come to this, Xiao Qidi can no longer pretend to be a fool, or he will truly become crippled.
As the burly men rapidly approached, Xiao Qidi's arm trembled violently, and a small dagger hidden in his sleeve fell into his palm. He then used the dagger to cut open the thick rope next to his wrist.
At that moment, one of the burly men swung a wooden stick with both hands and smashed it hard against Xiao Qidi's knee.
At that very moment, all the ropes binding Xiao Qidi slipped off.
Xiao Qidi suddenly raised his foot and, despite being behind, kicked the strong man's arm.
Bang!
The wooden stick slipped from my hand and flew away.
The burly man winced in pain, clutching his wrist, and exclaimed in surprise, "How did this idiot get untied?!"
The other burly men immediately took action, swinging their clubs and smashing them down on Qi Di.
Thud! Thud thud!
Several more muffled thuds followed.
Before they could even see Xiao Qidi's movements clearly, they were all sent flying backwards, clutching their chests and coughing up blood.
Xiao Qidi will not show any mercy to these heartless scoundrels.
If it weren't for the consideration that they might still be useful if their lives were spared, they would have all perished in that instant.
"Someone come quick! Someone come quick!" a burly man shouted at the top of his lungs. "This idiot is even more powerful than we thought! Quickly... kill him!"
With a whoosh.
The two doors opened, and seven or eight burly men ran out of the house.
Seeing the situation in the courtyard, they didn't say a word, but pulled out the machetes they were carrying and attacked Xiao Qidi.
Xiao Qidi's face broke into a cold, sharp smile.
He has killed countless martial arts masters and well-trained enemy soldiers.
These desperate thugs, who are only good enough to intimidate ordinary people, are simply not worth a second glance.
Xiao Qidi didn't even use weapons, relying on his fists and feet to launch powerful attacks. With each attack, a strong man would inevitably fall to the ground and not get up.
In no time, all the burly men present lost their fighting ability.
They were either knocked unconscious or groaning in pain while clutching their broken arms or legs.
"What's going on? Why is there such a commotion? Is it so difficult to even deal with an idiot?" The thin man who had gone to the brokerage to pick someone up earlier shouted as he poked his head out of the house.
When he saw his accomplices lying all over the yard, and then saw Xiao Qidi looking murderous.
The thin man froze for a moment, his expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly closed the door.
Then they heard him shouting from inside the house: "Boss, let's go! We've run into a tough nut!"
How could Xiao Qidi give them a chance to escape? He rushed to the door, kicked it open, and pounced inside...
About half an incense stick's time had passed.
Xiao Qidi has already taken down the entire human trafficking gang.
There were sixteen people in total.
One was their leader, another was the skinny man, and the rest were just helpers.
Xiao Qidi tied their hands and feet and threw them in the courtyard. Then he searched the other rooms of the house and released the women and children who were locked inside.
There were more than twenty women and children who fell into the hands of these human traffickers, as well as men whose tongues were cut out and faces were disfigured.
However, Xiao Qidi did not find any trace of An'an.
There were four children among them, but all of them were three or four years older than An An.
"Have you seen any other little girls?" Xiao Qidi asked anxiously.
The women and children present were still in shock and were all in a daze.
Xiao Qidi continued, "Don't be afraid. I've already taken control of the human traffickers, and no one will hurt you anymore. Please tell me, have you seen a little girl who is about four or five years old, very thin, with big eyes, and a very cute and well-behaved appearance?"
"You mean... that child who claims to be named An'an?" a young girl asked in a low voice.
Xiao Qidi hurriedly said, "Yes, it's her! Where is she?"
"Little An'an is gone," a child of seven or eight years old said.
Xiao Qidi then learned that these people were all from out of town and had been sold to human traffickers by the officials because they could not pay the money demanded by the officials.
An'an was the last one brought by the traffickers. Although she was locked up with them, she was taken away separately by the traffickers after a short time.
As for where they went, they didn't know.
Xiao Qidi's expression was cold and stern. He then asked them if, besides the human traffickers he had tied up in the courtyard, they had any other accomplices.
Everyone looked around at the door, carefully examined themselves, and indicated that they were all there.
Xiao Qidi frowned more and more deeply, lost in thought.
"Our benefactor!" An older woman suddenly knelt down. "Please... help us again! Don't abandon us!"
With her taking the lead, all the other women and children knelt down as well.
Xiao Qidi knew that even if he had the human traffickers under control, these poor people who were unfamiliar with the place would have nowhere to go, and if they left, they would be caught by the officials.
"Don't panic," Xiao Qidi reassured. "I will take care of each and every one of you. Now, listen to my instructions."
Hearing Xiao Qidi say this, everyone was filled with gratitude, and hope rose in their eyes.
While thinking, Xiao Qidi instructed, "Leave the child inside. The rest of you go and untie the men who have been tied up by the traffickers in the yard and bring them into the house. Then you search the house inside and out and collect all the traffickers' supplies."
"Yes, benefactor!" The crowd perked up and immediately got to work.
Xiao Qidi returned to the courtyard, went straight to the leader of the human traffickers, kicked him in the stomach, and then grabbed him by the collar, asking, "Where did you take An'an?"
The trafficker leader was sweating profusely from the pain, but he revealed a sinister and arrogant expression. "You were just pretending to be stupid. I've really messed up this time. You're something else, but let me tell you, you're dead."
Xiao Qidi's eyes darkened, and he moved his large, slender hand to the shoulder of the human trafficker leader, suddenly pinching him.
Crack—
The collarbone of the human trafficker leader shattered instantly!
The intense pain made the man tremble violently, but he gritted his teeth and didn't make a sound or beg for mercy.
"Answer me, where is An'an?" Xiao Qidi's eyes gleamed with a chilling light in the torchlight.
The human trafficker leader revealed a sinister smile, "What...what An'an? I...I don't know her, I don't know anything about her!"
Xiao Qidi was furious. "You're all in my hands now, what's there to argue about?"
The human trafficker leader stopped answering and continued to stare menacingly at Xiao Qidi.
Seeing that this guy was a tough nut to crack, Xiao Qidi figured it would be difficult to get him to talk anytime soon, so he turned his attention to the thin man.
Relatively speaking, the thin man appeared to be the weakest among the group of human traffickers.
Sure enough, as soon as he looked over, the skinny man wet his pants in fear.
"Come on, tell me, where did you send An'an?" Xiao Qidi stretched out his right hand and slowly placed it on the thin man's shoulder.
"I...I..." The thin man trembled all over, his face growing paler and paler.
Xiao Qidi gradually increased the pressure on his fingers.
The thin man burst into tears, "Don't...don't ask me! I...I don't know anything!"
Just as Xiao Qidi was about to break one of his collarbones as well.
The thin man suddenly turned fierce, shut his mouth, his cheeks tightened, blood flowed from the corner of his mouth, and his whole body began to convulse violently.
Xiao Qidi hurriedly pried open his mouth, only to see that the guy had actually bitten off his own tongue.
"Ugh... ugh..." The thin man stuck out half of his tongue, blood foam constantly coming out of his mouth, clearly indicating that he was no longer able to speak.
The excruciating pain of biting off one's tongue is something most people cannot endure.
But this guy would rather suffer like this than reveal a single word.
This was completely unexpected by Xiao Qidi.
Xiao Qidi released his grip, leaving the thin man lying on the ground, convulsing in pain.
If he does not receive timely medical treatment, he will die from excessive blood loss while suffering excruciating pain.
But Xiao Qidi would never offer any help to such a beast.
"You really won't talk?" Xiao Qidi stood up and coldly surveyed the group of human traffickers.
All he got in response was the cold laughter of these scumbags.
Xiao Qidi said coldly, "Don't think that just because the officials of Hewan County are colluding with you, I can't do anything to you."
"Ha! Hahahaha!" The human trafficker leader burst out laughing.
Xiao Qidi pondered to himself. At present, he could only confirm that there were yamen runners and constables in Hewan County who were colluding with these human traffickers. It was unclear whether they had other backers. So he deliberately probed and said, "After I hand you over to the magistrate for punishment, let's see if you can still laugh."
"Hahahaha!" The human trafficker leader laughed even harder.
Xiao Qidi feigned anger and continued deliberately, "So arrogant? They don't even put the county magistrate in their eyes?!"
Seeing Xiao Qidi's humiliation, the trafficker leader couldn't help but feel smug. He shook his head and said, "What's a county magistrate! In front of me, he'd have to tuck his tail between his legs and be all polite!"
A hint of surprise flashed in Xiao Qidi's eyes. This human trafficker really had quite a background!
"Interesting. You're not even afraid of the county magistrate," Xiao Qidi said calmly. "Who gave you such confidence?"
The human trafficker leader glanced at Xiao Qidi with a contemptuous look on his face and said, "Kid, you're just waiting to die."
After saying that, he stopped talking.
While Xiao Qidi was interrogating the human traffickers, the people who had been held captive there, following Xiao Qidi's instructions, had thoroughly searched the house and found a considerable amount of valuables and food.
“My benefactor, all the supplies we found have been put in one room. There’s a lot of gold and silver treasures and a lot of food. What do you need us to do next?” A woman, acting as our representative, came into the courtyard and asked.
Xiao Qidi said, "You can divide up the gold and silver treasures, then go and make some food. Eat and drink your fill, and then get some rest."
"Then...do you need us..." The woman looked at the human traffickers who were already tied up next to her, her eyes filled with hatred.
She really wished she could personally strip these beasts naked.
Xiao Qidi understood her meaning and waved his hand, saying, "No need. I still have a use for their lives. I won't sleep tonight. I can keep watch outside for you and continue interrogating them."
"Yes... my benefactor." The woman bowed her head, spat at the traffickers, and turned to leave.
After she left, Xiao Qidi took out the sharp little knife he always carried, walked over to a burly man, and said expressionlessly, "You look the most robust, so let's start with you."
——
At the same time, Ning Jinli had already arrived at the residence of the magistrate of Hewan County.
After sending Xiumei to Medicine King Valley, she traveled through the time tunnel back to the factory, found some tools to take with her, and then returned to the death row. Taking advantage of the guards' inattention, she used pliers to cut the lock on the death row and slipped out.
The reason she came to the magistrate's house was that she had learned that the magistrate only handed over the taxes from normal projects, while the vast majority of the so-called tax silver collected from the people under various pretexts was moved to the magistrate's mansion.
Ning Jinli is now after the money the county magistrate has amassed from the people.
Tonight, she's going to make this corrupt official bleed profusely.
At this moment, guards are patrolling outside the magistrate's residence.
Ning Jinli released a mini drone nearby, observed for a moment, and seized the opportunity when the guards were in a gap, then climbed over the wall with her tool bag on her back.
Then they immediately hid in the suitable hiding place they had just found with the drone, and continued to wait for an opportunity to strike.
There were also servants standing guard inside the county magistrate's residence, who would occasionally walk around and patrol.
Ning Jinli relied on mini drones as eyes, but because she was unfamiliar with the layout of the county magistrate's mansion, she had difficulty finding the warehouse location for a while.
But she already had a solution to this problem.
Using a drone to keep watch, she took out a bottle of gasoline from her toolbox while avoiding the servants, poured it into a corner that was prone to fire, and then lit it with a lighter.
Once one spot is lit, it is immediately moved to the next.
By the time a servant noticed something was wrong, the magistrate's residence was already ablaze.
Soon, everyone inside was shouting and running around trying to put out the fire.
Ning Jinli hid in the shadows and continued to observe the situation with a mini drone. Before long, she saw the county magistrate hurriedly come out of his study and head straight for the back of the mansion.
At times like these, the county magistrate is most concerned about finances.
Ning Jinli believed that he must be heading towards the warehouse.
So they used drones to keep a constant watch on the county magistrate from the air.
The magistrate walked through the back garden and entered a rockery. He left his servants outside the rockery and strode in.
He didn't come out until quite a while later.
Compared to his hurried and nervous expression before going in, he came out looking completely relaxed.
"Hehe, found it." Ning Jinli crouched down in a dark corner, staring at the screen of the remote control in her hand, a smile playing on her lips.
About half an hour later.
The fire inside the magistrate's residence has been completely extinguished.
Since Ning Jinli started the fire with a gasoline lighter, the magistrate's servants had no idea how it started. After cleaning up the mess, they told the magistrate that it was probably due to the dry weather.
The magistrate ordered his servants and guards to search again, but they found nothing suspicious, and the matter of the fire was dropped.
Until the middle of the night, everyone except the night watchman, including the county magistrate, had gone to sleep.
Ning Jinli then slipped into the artificial hill in the back garden.
Based on her memory, she found the location where the magistrate had entered, clutching a small flashlight in her hand, and tiptoed forward.
Just then, several pairs of eyes glowing green appeared inside the artificial hill...
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