Mastering the Sword Manual, sweeping across the globe

During this questioning, Zhang Qiliang did not look at anyone.

At the very edge of the crowd, a middle-aged man who had been standing silently took a deep breath and stepped out.

He was in his early fifties, dressed in dark casual clothes, his hair neatly combed. He was none other than Shen, the district resident, in charge of all work in the district.

Shen Zuotang felt that this was truly an undeserved disaster, a stroke of bad luck.

As a newly developed first-tier city with a highly developed economy, and a district that ranks at least in the top three economically, I'm so busy signing documents all day long that I don't even have a chance to catch a glimpse of such trivial matters.

Shen Zuotang bowed slightly as he walked about three steps in front of Zhang Qiliang.

"I feel deeply remorseful and ashamed for everything that happened today, and for the fact that similar incidents have been rampant in our district for many years with no way to get help."

"This is a major dereliction of duty in social governance. We sit in this position, yet we have failed to protect those who should be protected. The victims are able to speak out today because you are here. Before this, how many people, like those friends in the comments section, suffered losses, reported to the authorities, and filed complaints, only to have the matter end without any resolution? This is a debt we owe."

"Here, on behalf of the XX District Government of Yuxi City and relevant departments, I would like to make the following statement: For all consumers who have been exposed today and those who have subsequently reported cases and who have been defrauded in Tianmei Gediao and similar places, the compensation will be advanced by all departments involved in this case—including but not limited to the express delivery system, market supervision system, commerce system, tax system, consumer association and other departments."

"They're really rich," Zhang Qiliang sighed.

—Keep in mind, this is referring to places like this!

While browsing videos, Zhang Qiliang noticed that a media outlet called Golden Eye had actually filmed a series on this topic a few years ago. You can imagine how much material they had!

Shen Zuotang's forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat. "If there is not enough cash, starting with me, all relevant bureau-level and division-level cadres in this district will have all their real estate and vehicles registered under their names! If the subsequently recovered embezzled funds are insufficient to cover the advance payment, the difference will be made up by the personal assets of the relevant responsible persons!"

"Who approved the opening of these stores? Who condoned this business model? Who shirked responsibility after receiving complaints? Who was perfunctory in previous police dispatches? The Procuratorate is here. Investigate what needs to be investigated, and handle what needs to be handled! Those who neglect their duties, those who cover up wrongdoing, and those who accepted bribes—none of them will escape!"

After speaking, Shen Zuotang turned around and bowed deeply to Zhang Qiliang:

"Yuxi City, XX District, expresses its sincerest apologies to all the victims."

"Are you satisfied now?" Zhang Qiliang asked the man with the dog-chewed hairstyle next to him.

"Satisfied." Dog-chewed Bro was more than satisfied—more than satisfied. Just seeing this scene and being able to participate in it, let alone getting a refund and triple compensation, he was about to make 20,000 to 30,000 yuan. He would be more than satisfied even if he had to pay another 20,000 to 30,000 yuan!

“Alright,” Zhang Qiliang looked around and found a stone stool to sit on at the entrance of the shop. “Then tell me, what illegal, corrupt, bribery, dereliction of duty, and other illegal things you have done over the years.”

These words instantly turned the already heated online space into a frenzy.

In the live stream, the chat was so full of comments that the entire screen was obscured, making it impossible to see the image.

"It's here! It's here! It's here!!! A scene destined to be iconic!!!"

"Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap, is Superman going to do some on-the-spot work?!"

"This is what real inspections look like! It's more powerful than any imperial inspection team!"

"To all officials of XX District, Yuxi City: What day is it today???"

"Look at those people's faces! They were just sweating a moment ago, but now they've turned completely pale!"

"That young man standing on the very edge is shaking!"

"A massive anti-corruption operation, broadcast live globally!"

"The hashtag #ChinaSupermanWorkingOnSite# has climbed to second place on Twitter's trending topics."

……

"Shen Zuotang, you should set an example."

Shen Mingyuan took a deep breath and stepped forward half a step: "I have never done anything illegal, corrupt, or derelict in my duty."

Zhang Qiliang looked at him intently.

Three seconds later.

Okay, you're not lying.

To climb to such a crucial position in a new first-tier city, one's character, resources, and intelligence must far surpass those of their peers, so it's not surprising that they refuse to get involved in the filth.

How many years have you worked here?

"Three years."

“Okay,” Zhang Qiliang nodded, “Then three years it is…is that appropriate?”

“Suitable.” Shen Mingyuan nodded deeply.

……

Many people don't understand this.

"Isn't this a rare good official? Why are they being so ruthless?"

"Pah! Someone this clean, if not from the Tianlong System, I'll eat shit!"

"There's no need to think so negatively, is there?"

"Judging from the way this doctor is sitting here, he doesn't seem too surprised?"

"Yes! Isn't that obvious?"

"Tell me, did this happen in his jurisdiction?"

"Just tell me, didn't he himself say that there's no way to complain?"

"Let's just say he's untainted by the mud—I just checked this water lily's resume, and he's indeed been working in this district for three years! Three years, oh, hehe, hehehehe..."

99 Door-to-Door Service

Compared to Shen Zuotang, few other officials appointed by the imperial court were as clean.

Zhang Qiliang asked them one by one.

The Censorate, Dali City, and the disciplinary authorities were all on site, making things incredibly convenient.

Warning, demerit, dismissal...

Detention, one year, two years, three years...

Five years, seven years, ten years...

Of course, there were also a couple of people mixed in who were either new to the job and not familiar enough with the business, or who were so honest that they never dared to ask for help—but also never dared to risk offending their colleagues by helping unlucky outsiders.

— Zhang Qiliang didn't care that these guys, who were equally inactive, were already expected to pay a considerable amount of compensation.

However, the reason why so many imperial officials immediately obeyed and accepted their fate when Zhang Qiliang appeared becomes clear.

"You mean you only helped three companies with illegal tax planning, helped two companies issue false invoices to offset accounts, received over 200,000 yuan in 'consulting fees' and reported them as ordinary labor income for tax purposes, your own small company hasn't paid taxes for three years, and you even 'coordinated' two audits for your relatives' companies—letting them know in advance when they would audit and what accounts they would audit?"

Zhang Qiliang looked at the head of the tax bureau's inspection department in front of him, his tone as calm as if he were reciting a diary.

The section chief's face turned deathly pale. His lips trembled as if he wanted to say something, but he swallowed it back. He stood there, his legs shaking like leaves, but he stubbornly refused to collapse.

"That's all." He squeezed out the three words, his voice weak.

Zhang Qiliang looked at him.

one second.

two seconds.

three seconds.

Fine beads of sweat appeared on the section chief's forehead and trickled down his nose.

Zhang Qiliang grasped his little finger.

The next moment, at least 100 million viewers worldwide saw scenes that were explicitly 15X, 18X, or even 22X, as stipulated by the film and television industries in most countries.

"It's here! It's here! It's this one!!!"

"My brother Ming's signature move!"

"I'm shaking even through the screen..."

"Cheers! Loud cheers! This is exactly how you should deal with this kind of scum!"

"To be fair, I'm not saying this is cruel—I'm saying this kind of parasite doesn't deserve to dirty my brother Ming's hands! Brother Ming, you rest, let me do it!"

"Hilarious! Ming could throw a building with one finger, what can you do with one finger? Pick your nose?"

"You can't say it like that, but I agree with him: these guys really don't deserve it!"

"Look at that face! It's already starting to change! Holy crap, this effect is even more amazing than movie special effects!"

"What does 'killing the chicken to scare the monkey' mean? This is exactly what 'killing the chicken to scare the monkey' means! My brother Ming is awesome!"

"Don't assume that just because everyone calls themselves Superman, this is the Superman from the movies. My brother Ming is most famous not for his super strength—he's famous for his super temper!"

"Hooking fingers... I can't look at this phrase the same way anymore."

"TikTok is amazing! This even passed the review!"

"TikTok: I'm off work now."

Weibo trending topics: #ShakingPinkFingers# #MingGeEnforcesLawOnSite#

#1 trending topic on Twitter: Chinese Superman Live Justice!

YouTube comment section: 'This is not a superhero movie' / 'That's the scariest thing I've ever seen' / 'He's not smiling anymore'

A popular Reddit post: "Some observations about the Chinese superhero's on-site law enforcement: 1. He was genuinely doing the math; 2. He was genuinely enforcing the law; 3. He was genuinely angry."

Japan 2ch: 'Chinese superman, civil servant of the country'

An American netizen commented: 'We have superheroes in movies, but China has one in real life, and he's auditing tax officials.'

The Guardian headline: "Chinese Superman appears at barbershop, third in a series; local officials line up for stern questioning."

A French netizen commented: 'Il fait plus peur que nos impûts' (He's worse than our taxes).

--------

Almost at the same time.

Anping City, Jian'an Road, Shouyi International.

At least a thousand kilometers away, outside the "Shouyi International" hair salon, there was also a dense crowd of officials from all walks of life.

The largest group of officers was from the express yamen, with more than ten uniformed officers divided into several groups, questioning the shop assistants one by one—some were taking notes rapidly, some were filming the whole process with body cameras, and some were looking at the shop assistants' phones and scrolling through their chat history.

Market regulators occupied the other side of the entrance, with several plainclothes officers reviewing the store's ledgers and POS system, next to a thick stack of printed transaction records. Two technicians were squatting in front of a computer, exporting earlier data.

The tax inspectors were inside. Through the glass door, you could see them talking to the store manager. Several forms were spread out on the table, and two assistants stood beside them carrying a file box—the box was already half full.

Outside, business officials were using tablets to check business licenses and scope of business, while someone else was standing nearby taking photos.

Consumers set up a simple table on the street, where several staff members were working hard to communicate online with the whistleblower and register the complaints that came in by phone. There was a stack of printed forms on the table, seven or eight of which had already been filled out.

The street office and urban management personnel maintaining order stood on the outermost edge, setting up a simple cordon to keep onlookers at least ten meters away.

Everything is proceeding smoothly.

Suddenly, a secretary-like person jogged over from the back of the crowd, her face pale, and walked straight to a middle-aged man in a dark jacket, handing him her phone screen.

The middle-aged man looked down.

The next second, his expression changed as well.

He looked up, his gaze sweeping across the scene, and he practically spat out the words through gritted teeth: "Too slow!"

The order was quickly relayed.

The pace of the inquiry quickened, the pen tip almost pierced the paper as it recorded the data, the computer used for data entry was slapped twice to urge progress, and the staff member in charge of registration changed their tune drastically: "Please register first! As long as you send us a screenshot of your purchase record, I can't guarantee compensation, but the refund will definitely be in place immediately!"

The pace of the event noticeably quickened, or more specifically, it gradually took on a life-threatening feel.

Unfortunately, the uniforms present did not have the cheat version of the ability to detect subtle details.

So, after some less-than-honest shop assistants repeatedly gave evasive and evasive answers, certain measures to speed up efficiency were implemented...

An uproar immediately erupted around them.

At this very moment, on both sides of this hair salon, nearby, across the street, and even at the intersection of the next street, at least fifty audacious citizens have gathered, more than ten of whom are holding up their phones to livestream the scene.

The camera zoomed in, and all the suddenly accelerated rhythms, the shop assistants being held down, and the footage that would have been erased if Douyin hadn't closed early were all clearly captured.

The live chat exploded with comments again.

The officer maintaining order, sweat beading on his forehead, jogged over to the middle-aged man in the dark jacket and asked in a low voice, "What do we do? They're all taking pictures."

The middle-aged man's expression changed repeatedly as his gaze swept over the dark cameras, the rapidly scrolling comments on the live-streaming phone screen, and the dense crowd outside the police cordon.

There was a three-second silence.

"...Let them be."