"Ah—"
On the embossed cover of the collector's edition of "Moral Education," Master Fuli jumped up, and the book in his hand was like a giant seal, heavily stamping on the middle-aged man's cheek, sending him flying.
The word "Moral Education" on the cover instantly completed the transfer printing process, branding the middle-aged man's face. His eyes rolled back as he flew backward and fell.
Master Fuli didn't stop, striking down the mastermind Zhang Ruiwen with a single book, then turned his gaze to the other five dumbfounded people. With a flick of his tiny fox wrist, he adjusted the angle and position of the book, launching another attack at a speed hard to discern by the naked eye.
"Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap—"
With five crisp sounds, Master Fuli returned to the rock, holding a copy of "University Moral Education" in his arms with a calm expression, and said to the criminals lying on the ground, covering their cheeks:
"I hope you remember tonight, aside from sending Zhang Ruiwen to the execution ground, if any of you others find yourselves dizzy after getting out of prison, remember to call Master Fuli..."
"Not selling you health products would be a disservice to the hardworking populace."
"But before that..."
Master Fuli let out a cold laugh, turned around, and pulled out two new energy fishing rods from behind him, generating arcs as they came near each other. The new energy fishing gear burst with blue light in the dark of the abandoned mine.
"I want to give you some suffering first, lest you don't know what kind of retribution your evil deeds might bring."
"Wait..."
"Fox Immortal! Wait a moment, we... we really don't have anyone named Zhang here, you may have the wrong people..."
"Xian'Er, look at my electronic ID, my surname is Yang, Bo Wen is my name...."
Upon hearing the cold laughter from the Fox Immortal, suggesting a kind of final verdict prayer, the leading middle-aged Yang Bowen immediately widened his eyes and began loudly proclaiming his innocence.
Oh my Great Sky Fox Immortal!
No, in our Medicine King Palace, the entire family is just six people, there's not a single Zhang among us!
"My surname is Yang, Yang Bowen, they are Wang Chen, Qian Yi, Wu Lei, my daughter Yang Yi, and our new apprentice, a freshman from the Northwest University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Lv Lele..."
Yang Bowen, sweating profusely, took out his electronic ID from a mini-program on Weixin and held it up to his face, earnestly explaining to the Fox Immortal about his mistaken identity.
Seeing their master's action, the disciples, still somewhat dazed, hurriedly took out their electronic IDs as well.
Lv Lele, trembling, reached into her small backpack and took out her student ID: "I... I am still a student, please don't take me to practice the Ten Thousand Soul Banner, I'm quite dumb and very greedy."
"......." Master Fuli paused his breathing, looking at the crowd shouting "Great Sky Fox Immortal", then scanned the raised IDs, recognizing their faces one by one, only to find a not-so-insignificant problem.
None of these six names matched with the ones from the criminal gang in the data.
It seems.....
"Why are you all yelling so loudly!"
Master Fuli's face went dark, he lifted a small paw and pointed at Lv Lele, who was holding up her student ID: "I haven't even zapped your butts, you over there, the student....."
"Uh..." Lv Lele shrunk her neck, afraid to meet Master Fuli's eyes.
"You're a student, I'll pat you later, and slip five hundred into your pocket, don't cry just yet....."
Master Fuli's face was full of dark lines, but he didn't entirely believe what they said, instead, he gestured to the Ba Mountain Mosquito.
The Ba Mountain Mosquito transformed into human form, flew into the mine pit, and took out Master Fuli's internal communicator.
Master Fuli raised his phone high, using an internal program to access the database and read the identity information of the six.
Their identities were highlighted in green, showing no criminal or disciplinary records, with Yang Bowen, the leading male, being a professor at a medical university.
Person, ID, database— the three matched, thoroughly eliminating the possibility of them lying about their identities.
"......"
Master Fuli's gaze shifted from the communicator screen, looking at the six opposite him in silence.
"Now, it's very apparent..."
"I got the wrong people, I was tracking down a criminal gang responsible for murder, the old man among them is over sixty, but after taking drugs, he turns into a middle-aged man."
"I mistook fellow locals for criminals....." Master Fuli scratched his head: "But don't be too scared, I play fair, you won't take these hits for nothing..."
"Once I find that gang of criminals, I'll have them swallow this 'University Moral Education' book whole."
"You all sit tight here, I have a helicopter to take you to the hospital, after you're discharged, I'll book the most luxurious restaurant in Chang'an City, set up a few tables, and personally apologize to you...."
Master Fuli didn't hit them hard, he initially acted only to restrict enemy movements.
Once the enemies were restrained, it would be easier to use the new energy fishing gear to teach them a lesson.
Zhang Ruiwen's arrogance and reckless behavior didn't differ fundamentally from those of capitalist landlords.
Ansheng disliked landlords, so he naturally found Zhang Ruiwen particularly annoying, wanting to beat him up fiercely.
......
"So....Fox Immortal, are you real? You're not some kind of smart robot, right?"
Seeing Master Fuli squatting on the rock, pouting, Yang Yi plucked up the courage to raise her arm and asked, with a hint of curiosity.
"Open your mouth, and I'll spit a water line at you." Master Fuli rolled his eyes: "Wake you up."
"Dad....."
After getting a positive response, Yang Yi looked at her father Yang Bowen: "I want to cultivate immortality too....."
Yang Bowen rolled his eyes at the foolish question from his silly daughter, utterly uninterested in responding.
If I really had that ability, I would cultivate it, rather than almost wetting my pants from fear earlier.
A talking white fox with wings, flying down from the sky, and a girl suspected to be a transformed magical creature.
These were things Yang Bowen had never heard of before, and earlier, fear had taken the upper hand, forcing him to speak up, but thinking back now, his legs were still a bit weak.
"Speaking of....."
"What are you doing out here in these desolate mountains at night?"
After sulking for a moment, Ansheng curiously looked at them and asked.
Although Ansheng admitted that he hit the wrong people and was willing to apologize, he couldn't shake some of his frustration.
Really, some things were not entirely his fault.
This group of six, in the dead of night, carrying luggage, acting all suspicious in an abandoned mine, and to avoid harming innocent people, he even sent Ba Mountain Mosquito ahead to drive them to him.
And in their attempt to escape, their speed was comparable to an over-the-limit electric vehicle, quite unusual for ordinary people.
Thus, Ansheng mistook them for Spirit People, just like the Spirit Person he was tracking.
It was also led by a middle-aged man like the one he was after; everything coincidentally aligned.
"Uh....."
Yang Bowen hesitated slightly but realized that since the fox in front of him could even speak, there was no point in hiding anything: "We came here to gather herbs..."
"We are descendants of the Medicine King Palace from the Iron Chuan Medicine King Mountain, a hermit's sect. Occasionally, there are beast tides within the Qinling Mountain Range. Whenever a beast tide appears, there's sure to be precious divine medicine. And tonight, observing a strange mosquito swarm, we headed out together..."
Yang Bowen began explaining why they appeared at the Iron Chuan abandoned mine.
They noticed unusual animal activity in the Qinling Mountain Range, and with so much skill and courage, ventured out to gather medicine.
"Sect?"
Ansheng muttered, then frowned and addressed Yang Bowen: "What you saw as beast tides have nothing to do with celestial treasures; they're my scouts searching for that murderous gang."
"Call your disciples back, to avoid me making another mistake during tonight's operation."
Though unclear about the sect they mentioned, Ansheng provided a heads-up out of goodwill.
Tonight, in Qinling, there are no treasures, only the Spirit Beast Gang sealing the mountain and digging three feet deep for revenge.
Even the giant salamander, antelopes, and white-limbed wild oxen were mobilized, and the little foxes were calling in favors from their vast ecological base connections.
In case of another target mix-up, Ansheng truly wouldn't know how to explain it.
"Uh..."
Yang Bowen, with an embarrassed expression, pointed to himself, then the other five: "We're all here."
"?"
Ansheng was stunned, tilting his fox head:
"One book... wiped out your entire sect?"