An Unexpected Side (continued)

Ying Zhou spoke impatiently to the side, which frightened Xie Xiaomei so much that she hid behind Si Ming, only peeking out to observe.

Si Ming, "Stop complaining, you're pretty free anyway."

Ying Zhou protested, "Who said I'm free? My schedule is almost booked until next year. For me, the most important thing right now is to seize the time to cultivate and become stronger as quickly as possible before that guy makes another move."

"Haste makes waste, and you should have heard of the principles of work-life balance. Burying yourself in intensive training will only reduce your efficiency. Taking walks and relaxing from time to time is the correct way to cultivate. Besides, I'm giving you a legitimate opportunity to beat someone up and vent your anger. Are you going to refuse?"

Ying Zhou clicked his tongue and conceded, "Then it's settled. I'll go first when we make our move."

"Be careful not to seriously injure him. The purpose of this operation is to apprehend him, not to kill him. He's just a shady merchant selling illegal goods, not a robber or murderer. Don't use excessive force."

"Okay, okay, you're so long-winded."

"Sigh, rebellious teenagers are so hard to manage." Si Ming turned to Xie Xiaomei and said, "You must never be like him; you must be an obedient and well-behaved child."

Xie Xiaomei nodded and said, "I will definitely be very obedient."

Ying Zhou clicked his tongue in annoyance, which startled Xie Xiaomei so much that she quickly pulled her head back.

Si Ming listened intently to the sounds coming from inside the factory. After a while, he said, "They've started the transaction. You can make the arrests now."

Ying Zhou clenched his fist, revealing a bloodthirsty smile, and was about to storm in through the main gate when Si Ming quickly tossed him a mask, saying, "Put this on. It's our team's symbol. You don't have to wear the special uniform, but you must at least wear the mask."

"What a hassle."

Despite his complaints, Ying Zhou obediently put on the mask. He quite liked the golden-winged roc mask; it was bright, dazzling, and fierce enough to be anything but kind, perfectly matching the aesthetic sensibilities of a rebellious teenager.

"Don't forget to recite the poem's title," Si Ming reminded him again.

"Okay, okay, stop nagging. Are you a middle-aged woman?"

Ying Zhou arrived at the locked factory gate, activated the Brahma Sea Asura Art, and boundless divine power surged from his bloodline. With a roar, he kicked out and sent both iron gates flying.

"Who!"

The people conducting transactions in the factory were horrified.

"Since you have asked so sincerely, then I will mercifully tell you: in order to prevent the world from being destroyed, in order to safeguard world peace, and to uphold justice based on love and truth..."

As Si Ming the stage, he used his palms to illuminate himself. Through tireless efforts, he is now able to emit colorful light.

Ying Zhou, looking slightly flustered, said, "Hey, this isn't the line we agreed on. Isn't it a bit too childish?"

Xie Xiaomei didn't think it was childish, or rather, she was at a childish age anyway. She used both palms to generate energy and strike the ground behind her back, creating an upward airflow, and then strode forward with the wind.

"The Dao opens ninefold, revealing mirages; the profound cultivator wields One Sword, his traces traversing the heavens."

This grand entrance was incredibly impressive. Compared to his own ostentatious entrance, which resembled kicking down a door, Ying Zhou immediately felt defeated and embarrassed. He then angrily shouted, "Slaughtering the world and severing souls, all spirits wail in grief. Moro descends with heavenly calamity, creating blood waves in the sea of corpses."

Then, in response to the three, a thunderbolt was thrown through the air, which they dodged, and it exploded in empty space.

"You actually used a forbidden weapon like a thunderbolt; your crime has become much more serious now," Si Ming quickly said to Ying Zhou. "As long as no one dies, you can do whatever you want."

"Receive!"

Ying Zhou grinned maliciously, picked up a bulldozer and smashed it down, causing the criminals to scatter in panic. Then, he took advantage of the chaos to rush into the crowd and unleashed a flurry of wild punches. With his Asura Divine Power, even though he didn't have any fancy moves, those hit suffered broken bones and were lying on the ground. Almost no one could withstand his second punch, and screams of agony filled the air.

One of them tried to abandon his companion and sneak away, but Xie Xiaomei struck him on the back with a powerful Air-Splitting Palm, causing him to scream in pain.

But these criminals were clearly not comparable to the delinquents in school. A mere palm Air-Splitting Palm was not enough to incapacitate him. With a roll to dissipate the momentum, he retaliated by throwing a thunderbolt at Xie Xiaomei's face.

Xie Xiaomei instinctively unleashed an Air-Splitting Palm that struck the thunderbolt directly, causing it to explode mid-air and the resulting smoke obscuring her vision.

Si Ming hurriedly reminded him, "Charge forward and grab them! Don't be afraid."

At the same time, he flicked his finger, sending out a burst of energy that struck the fleeing man's calf, depriving him of any chance to escape.

Wearing the mask, Xie Xiaomei was quite courageous, as if she were a different person. With the experience of her previous success, she was full of confidence. She immediately rushed over, kicked the fleeing man in the back, sending him flying and crashing into the wall. Then she struck out with both palms, repeatedly striking the man's back with her palm strikes from a distance.

"Stop fighting! Stop fighting! I surrender! I surrender!"

The fleeing man immediately prostrated himself on the ground, begging for mercy.

Xie Xiaomei, still feeling exhilarated, stopped her palm strikes and ran to Si Ming's side, excitedly clenching her fists and exclaiming, "I did it! I did it again!"

Si Ming reached out and patted the other person's head, praising, "Well done."

"Hehehe." Xie Xiaomei showed a very happy expression.

On the other side, Ying Zhou, who had just defeated six criminals, saw this scene and scoffed, muttering, "I clearly caught six, and she only caught one..."

"Tie them all up. We'll check the evidence, and once we've confirmed everything is in order, we'll take them to the Mohist Knight Guard base."

Si Ming took out a rope and tied the hands of the seven criminals together. Ignoring their pleas to "take us to the hospital quickly," he found the cardboard boxes they had used for the transaction and opened one of them.

Ying Zhou leaned over to look and found that there were a lot of discs inside. He picked up one of them to check and found that the cover featured a nude woman posing provocatively.

"Wait, wait a minute! The illegal transaction you're talking about is selling pornographic DVDs, not drugs, right?" He threw the DVDs back into the box as if he'd been electrocuted.

Si Ming, "Of course it's not drug trafficking. Drug trafficking is a serious crime. Besides, since Yu Shuying took over the gang's power, no one has been trafficking drugs anymore. Anyone who dares to do this will face attacks from both the underworld and the legitimate world."

Ying Zhou said weakly, "Selling pornographic DVDs isn't illegal, is it? Don't those DVD rental shops have 18+ DVDs?"

Si Ming, "Look closely, these discs are all high-definition and uncensored. National regulations stipulate that adult films in rental shops must be censored, otherwise it's illegal. In short, cavalry is allowed, but infantry is not, and it must be within the bounds of common sense and cannot cross the line. Look at the films here, quite a few of them are quite hardcore."

Xie Xiaomei picked up a disc and asked doubtfully, "Brother Siming, why is the sister above being tied up?"

Si Ming hurriedly said, "Children shouldn't see these things. Qingqing, you need to take over your body quickly."