Me and countless me.

Chapter 321: Killing Ximen Qing and the Bandits
It was a dark and windy night. When Li Ke came out, he saw a dark cloud covering the bright moon in the sky. The strong wind made the doors and windows of every household creak constantly. The windows with paper stickers on them even made banging sounds, and it looked like they would break at any time.

The sound of wind blowing the doors and windows blocked the sound of Li Ke opening the door. The moonlight was blocked and people could not see Li Ke's figure or the way Li Ke walked out of Yun Ge's house. Everything seemed to foreshadow one thing.

"Someone is dying."

Li Ke walked slowly towards Ximen Qing's home, not even worried that he would be suspected after killing Ximen Qing.

The reason is very simple. Nowadays, when ordinary people owe usury, they don’t think it is the creditor’s problem. Most of them think it is their own problem. It is not uncommon for ordinary people to sell their children because of an illness and eventually lose everything and die on the streets.

Moreover, Ximen Qing's behavior in this matter was not so inhumane. He did not demand repayment when his family could pay the debt. Instead, he took the land deeds when his parents and eldest brother's family of three were all unable to work in the fields, and then threw his parents and eldest brother into a mass grave.

From the perspective of people of this era, Ximen Qing, the creditor, had done a very good job. In fact, if Ximen Qing had not casually abandoned the bodies of his parents and eldest brother, leaving them to be eaten by wild dogs, and it was Yun Ge and Yun Dalang who finally chased away the wild dogs and buried them, he would not have come to kill Ximen Qing so quickly and decisively. Instead, he would have come back to deal with Ximen Qing after getting a position.

But unfortunately, he didn't feel any magical powers in himself. He just felt more physically and powerfully. As for the magical powers, he also experimented with them. Since there was no magic power in his body, he could still use some small spells that did not consume much power. But if he didn't practice Taoism and observe the precepts, he would be seeking death if he used them.

As for the more convenient talismans, that was no use. He had no Taoist connections in this world, so throwing the talismans out would be useless...

But for now, it's enough.

Li Ke quickly crossed the remote village where Yun Ge lived, and walked along the blue bricks and stones with little soil at the base of the wall, leaving no trace of his footprints. Then he stopped when passing by the street because he heard the footsteps of the night watchman in the street.

"It's dry and dry, be careful with the candles!"

The night watchman walked away slowly, and Li Ke followed him quietly, so that the night watchman did not hear any noise. Then when the other party turned the corner, he quickly arrived at Ximen Qing's residence.

Ximen Qing's residence can be said to be quite luxurious, with three courtyards and even a gatehouse outside. However, at this time, the gatehouse was already asleep in a tattered coat, with a wine gourd and some bone remains beside him, which clearly showed that he could eat some meat.

Li Ke couldn't help swallowing his saliva, because he hadn't eaten or drunk meat for nearly three months in order to save money for his family, so he walked over quietly, looked at the young appearance of the doorman, stretched out his hand and touched his neck.

The doorman suddenly fell into an even deeper sleep, and Li Ke took the opportunity to sneak into Ximen Qing's yard. Not meeting anyone, he quickly walked towards the main building.

Halfway through the journey, Li Ke heard footsteps and hurriedly hid. It turned out to be two servants coming towards him with wine and meat, chatting and laughing as they walked.

The servant holding a lantern to light the way smacked his lips and spoke with a hint of aftertaste.

"Old Man Wang's daughter tastes really good, but it's a pity that he didn't get enough money in the end. It would have been great if he didn't? We could have continued playing."

The other servant who was holding the plate also spoke with a smile.

"Yes, but it was really intense. I held down her hands, but she was still kicking. It really took a lot of effort."

Li Ke, who originally did not want to commit more murders, narrowed his eyes and immediately realized that these two servants had taken advantage of the opportunity to collect money from Ximen Qing to profit for themselves and persecute decent women.

"I was planning to let you go, but now you're here!"

As the two servants approached, Li Ke jumped up the moment they passed by. First, he twisted the neck of the servant holding the lantern from behind, and then, the moment the servant with the tray started to shout, he covered his mouth and nose with one hand and pressed his knee on the servant's lower body!
The extreme pain made the servant unable to make any sound, and the next moment Li Ke broke his neck. Even the tray in his hand did not fall to the ground, but was caught steadily by Li Ke.

Li Ke took the tray and, with the help of the light from the burning lantern on the ground, saw that the boots on the two servants' feet were official boots, which were slightly larger than his own feet, and there was also a dagger hidden in them.

So Li Ke drew out the dagger without hesitation, cut open the clothes of the two men, filled the boots, and then put them on his own feet.

Then he changed into the clothes of a servant, cut some cloth, wrapped his clothes and boots and put them aside, and wrapped his face with one of the pieces of cloth.

There might be a maid in the house later. These servants might not be innocent, but the maid might not be. At this time, a maid came out from upstairs and asked the people downstairs.

"What happened? Did someone fall down? Don't spill the wine and food! Come up quickly!"

Li Ke did not answer, but casually lifted the burning lantern onto the door on the side, letting the candle inside start to burn the wooden board. Then he quickly went upstairs with the plate and saw the maid with a rosy face.

The maid's cheeks were flushed and the rouge on her lips was much less. When she saw Li Ke coming up with a plate, she subconsciously thought it was her own servant, so she scolded him harshly.

"You are being lazy again. Be careful or I will let the Master beat you to death like he beat Xiao Cuihong to death! You saw it. When I asked the Master to beat Xiao Cuihong to death, he did not object!"

When she spoke the latter part, the woman's voice became lower, but she was still full of pride, so Li Ke did not hesitate to rush upstairs before she reacted. By the time she saw the veil on her face clearly, he had already arrived in front of the woman!
The dagger in his hand, as a surprise, stabbed out instantly and pierced the woman's throat. The woman struggled for a while, making it impossible for Li Ke to pull out his dagger smoothly, and it got stuck on her bones. Li Ke frowned, and without hesitation pulled out the hairpin on her head and hid it in his hand. Then, before the other party fell, he quickly pushed open the door and handed the wine and food in his hand to the front!
At this time, Ximen Qing was hugging a maid, with one arm around her and his hand placed in her clothes. He even had a bellyband around his neck. He turned his head when he heard footsteps, only to see Li Ke, who was dressed as a servant, with his head lowered, dragging a tray.

So, he casually poured the wine in his glass towards Li Ke and cursed loudly.

"Who let you in? Get out!"

The moment the wine was splashed, Li Ke dodged and threw the tray in his hand. The full plate of wine and meat hit Ximen Qing's face, making him scream and lean against the table subconsciously, exposing his neck.

Li Ke's figure rushed over like lightning, and before Ximen Qing could react, the hairpin in her hand pierced through his chin and directly into his brain stem!

Ximen Qing, like the maid outside the door, died without making a sound. All that was left was a hoarse sound coming from his throat, and blood spurted out of his throat.

Li Ke's body was inevitably stained with blood, and the woman in Ximen Qing's arms naturally fell to the ground. After seeing Li Ke, she couldn't help but screamed, and then she rolled and crawled towards the door. However, Li Ke didn't intend to kill her, but picked up the chicken legs and beef on the table and ate them.

He had not replenished his nutrition properly during this period, so he had no time to do those things. After eating a few bites, Li Ke searched out some silver from the arms of Ximen Qing who was still struggling, but he did not even look at the silver bills. Then he crushed some gold and silver wine vessels and stuffed them into his own arms.

After doing all this, Li Ke overturned the oil lamp on the table, lit the gauze curtain in the room, then quickly went downstairs, picked up his clothes, and left quickly in the firelight.

At this time, countless shouts had already been heard. Li Ke quickly left the path and crossed the river. He quickly took off his servant's clothes and dried his body, then wrapped the gold in a stone and threw it into the river. Then he changed into his own clothes and buried the gold under a stone by the river. He then quickly returned to Yun Ge's home, confirmed that the two were still sleeping, and quickly lay down to catch up on his sleep.

The next morning, when Li Ke woke up, Yun Ge had gone out early to sell pears. Li Ke chatted with Yun Dalang calmly, but before noon, he saw Yun Ge coming back with a look of surprise on his face, so he deliberately asked about it.

"What's wrong, Brother Yun? You look like something big has happened?"

Yun Ge put down the pears he had not sold and spoke with a feeling of both happiness and helplessness.

"The great Ximen in the city was killed by robbers. It was said that it was done by bandits from nearby. His lackey and vicious maid were also killed, but..."

When Yun Ge said this, he spoke helplessly.

"But when he died, there was one less person who could buy my pears. I really didn't know whether to laugh or cry."

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

Yun Ge felt helpless. Yanggu County was not a very wealthy county, so there were not many people willing to give tips. Now Ximen Qing was dead, so there was one less person who could consume fruit. This really made him feel worried.

But there was nothing he could do to worry about it, after all, he was just a pear seller.

Just looking at Li Ke, he couldn't help but speak.

"But Brother Li, you have to be careful. You just came back and you ran into this kind of thing. The police chiefs in Yanggu County are probably going to arrest you and question you. You have to know that this time, Ximen Qing's small building was burned to the ground, and four people died. Those police chiefs will probably be beaten with sticks."

Li Ke just smiled. It would be impossible to detect his methods using ancient criminal investigation methods. Moreover, even if he was tortured into confessing, he had people to vouch for him. As long as he didn't expose himself, there would be absolutely no problem.

But just as Yun Ge was speaking, Li Ke saw two constables walking towards him with worried looks on their faces. After seeing him, they started shouting loudly.

"Hey! Li Jiajilang, you're in trouble, come with us!"

But Li Ke did not make any move. Instead, he looked at the two constables in confusion and asked with a bow.

"May I ask you two, what have I done wrong?"

The constable sneered.

"You've done a great thing yourself, of course you know it!"

But while speaking, he still stared at Li Ke, and Li Ke could not help shaking his head.

"I came back to visit my family, and I really don't know what I have done wrong. If the county magistrate wants to arrest me, please bring the documents directly so that I can be punished."

Li Ke calmly stated his response, and the two constables looked at each other and remained silent. Yun Ge on the side cleverly brought two pears to the two constables and then spoke.

"You two must be thirsty after patrolling for so long, right?"

The two constables took the pears and no longer looked ferocious. They just couldn't help but sigh, and then bowed to Li Ke.

"I'm sorry to have made you laugh, little brother. This is the rule after all. If we don't try you, we won't be able to explain. Sorry, sorry."

After saying that, the two constables limped away. It was obvious that they had been beaten with a stick before setting out, and then came to investigate the case. Li Ke sneered. After all, these two constables came to embarrass him, probably not because they thought he was the one who killed Ximen Qing, but because they came back to work as constables to steal his job.

Li Ke knew this, so he responded so calmly without revealing any flaws.

So he nodded to Yun Ge and prepared to leave.

He packed up some silver and gave it to Yun Ge, asking him to get medicine for Yun Dalang. A few days later, Li Ke saw that the county government announced that the case was closed, saying that it was the work of bandits on the nearby Jingyang Ridge, and even issued a warrant to arrest the bandits who had fallen into exile. Li Ke couldn't help shaking his head when he saw this.

Most of the cases handled by the government offices in ancient times were handled in this way, so Li Ke naturally would not dwell on this. However, just when he had stayed in Yanggu County for a few more days and was about to leave.

The bandits on Jingyang Ridge really came down!

Li Ke’s question is:

"Are there really bandits on Jingyang Ridge?!"

(End of this chapter)