Urban Martial Saint

Mu Qingrong turned on the light ahead, and the house was not large, with a two-bedroom, one-living room layout, but it was very clean inside.

Huo Pingping looked around and said, ”This place doesn’t seem like somewhere a sleazy man would live.”

”That’s hard to say, wasn’t the signal strongest over here?” Mu Qingrong turned to Ye Qing and said, ”Where’s your mobile phone? Bring it here and let’s measure where exactly that signal receiver is located.”

”Yikes, what are you doing?” Huo Pingping exclaimed, ”Going through someone’s trash? Aren’t you disgusted by it?”

At that moment, Ye Qing was rummaging through the garbage can, and seeing him like that, Mu Qingrong frowned again. She had mild obsessive-compulsive disorder regarding cleanliness. Although it wasn’t severe, she still couldn’t stand others being dirty.

”Ye, what are you looking for?” Fang Tingyun asked.

”In a room, the most valuable place for investigation is right here.” Ye Qing pointed at the pile of trash in front of him and said, ”By looking at what’s in the garbage, you can tell what the people inside have done and what has been in the room. Therefore, even the police pay most attention to the garbage can in the room during investigations. There might be some evidence in this garbage can.”

Huo Pingping said, ”You make it sound quite reasonable, but since you’re here already, why sift through the garbage? Just find the signal receiver, that would be the best evidence.”

Ye Qing said, ”You guys go look for that, I want to see if there’s any valuable information in here.”

Huo Pingping said, ”Nonsense, how would we know what a signal receiver looks like? If you don’t come in and help, how can we find it?”

”The computer inside the room.” Ye Qing said.

”Computer?” Huo Pingping pushed the door open and entered a room, which indeed had a computer. Moreover, the computer was still on, with its CPU light blinking.

”Is this the signal receiver?” Huo Pingping glared, ”Isn’t it just a computer? You made it sound so mysterious before, had you said it was a computer, I would have found it already!”

Ye Qing explained, ”The signal receiver is not the computer, but a receiver connected to the computer; it’s used together with a pinhole camera. This device, linked to the computer, allows the computer to receive those signals.”

Huo Pingping, confused, waved her hand and said, ”All right, all right, cut the chatter. You mean, our photos must be stored inside this computer, right?”

”Yes!” Ye Qing honestly replied, which was also a main reason he was reluctant to enter the room. The computer might have stored these girls’ numerous photos, and it would be embarrassing for him to see them.

Immediately, a few girls rushed into the room, and Huo Pingping locked the door from the inside, firmly guarding against Ye Qing.

Ye Qing did not intend to go in, but focused solely on the pile of trash at his feet, collecting anything useful from within. Shouts of surprise occasionally came from the room; apparently, whatever was on the computer was shocking them.

After a good half hour, the girls finally opened the door and came out, each with a sour expression on their faces.

”How did it go?” Ye Qing asked.

The girls looked at each other, none of them spoke, but their infuriated expressions probably meant nothing good.

”Don’t let me find him, or I will definitely break his legs!” Huo Pingping swung a rolling pin around and shouted.”

Mu Qingrong, after seeing the photos on the computer, believed Ye Qing even more.

”Did you find any clues here?” Mu Qingrong asked.

”These few things…” Ye Qing pointed to the items on the table.

The girls looked, and on the table there were a few cabbage leaves, several small pills, and some burned ash.

”What are all these things?” Huo Pingping wondered, as the other girls also looked puzzled, unsure what these could be clues to.

Ye Qing said, ”The cabbage leaves still have water on them, probably washed not long ago. This means, the owner was likely here an hour ago. Moreover, he dined at home this evening; this is his residence.”

The girls involuntarily looked at the cabbage, and just as Ye Qing said, they were indeed wet. Surprisingly shocked, they never would have noticed these things, but Ye Qing observed them so meticulously. No wonder he said the garbage can could reveal clues; it seemed he was indeed correct.

”And the rest?” Huo Pingping hurriedly asked.

Ye Qing continued, ”This ash is from burned foil, and there’s still a residual cocaine odor, a common drug usage method among addicts. This means, the resident here is an addict.”

”Even that you know?” Huo Pingping bent down to smell it and said, ”I can’t smell anything.”

Ye Qing replied, ”This kind of smell is not so obvious; only those who are sensitive to this smell can detect it.”

”Are you saying you are highly sensitive to these smells?” Huo Pingping looked at Ye Qing suspiciously, ”Aren’t you a soldier? How come you’re so familiar with these things?”

Ye Qing: ”When I was in the army, our main task was to fight drug trafficking.”

”So that’s it!” The girls suddenly realized.

Mu Qingrong couldn’t help asking, ”What about this medicine?”

Ye Qing: ”These medicines are scientifically called Triethylphosphine, also known as Lung Cleansing Pills in your terms, commonly used to treat lung diseases. Generally, drug addicts like him suffer from severe lung diseases and have to rely on these potent drugs to cleanse waste from their lungs.”

”Does this mean that this person has lung disease?” Huo Pingping said, ”But what does that prove? We are not here to look into this person’s life or whether he is sick or not, we are here to catch him!”

Ye Qing, with a calm expression, said, ”Triethylphosphine works through the bloodstream and requires a lot of physical activity after ingestion to speed up blood circulation and enhance the effects of the medicine. He had eaten here an hour ago, and after eating, he took the medicine, which means he is currently out exercising. All we have to do is wait here, and it won’t be long before he returns!”

”Really?” Huo Pingping was skeptical, ”I think we’d better just call the police. If he has not gone far, he could still be captured. Ms. Mu, what do you think?”

Mu Qingrong frowned, the photos from earlier making her anxious. At this moment, hearing Ye Qing’s deductions, she gradually began to trust him.

”Mr. Ye, what do you think? Is it appropriate to call the police?” Mu Qingrong asked softly.

Ye Qing was silent for a while and said, ”The place where this person is active should be near this residential area. If the police come, he will see them too. This would alert him, and surely we won’t be able to catch him. We can’t guarantee that he doesn’t have backups, so for safety’s sake, we should stay here and catch him ourselves first!”

Ye Qing’s words received unanimous approval from the women, their biggest concern now being if the other party had backups. If he did, they could not let this person send the backups out no matter what.

”Then let’s wait here,” Huo Pingping said as she sat down by the table, still holding the rolling pin, ”This is perfect; I’ve been wanting to break his legs myself!”

The other three women also sat down at the table. Everyone looked troubled. This matter had significant implications for their future lives, and everyone was nervous, fearing any missteps.

”We’d better turn off the lights,” Ye Qing said softly.

Huo Pingping pouted, ”Why? Do we have something to hide? He was the one who spied on us, and now we have to avoid him?”

Mu Qingrong said, ”The lights were off when he left. If he comes back to the door and sees the lights on, do you think he might become suspicious?”

Huo Pingping suddenly realized; she was too angry to have thought so deeply.

Huo Pingping turned off the lights inside the house, and the room was suddenly pitch black. In such a dark atmosphere, the mood among four women and one man became indescribably delicate.

Ye Qing stood in the corner, his ears pressed against the wall, listening intently for any noises outside.

Although the four women were sitting on the sofa by the table, each harbored her own thoughts. Particularly Fang Tingyun and Mu Qingrong; the former was thinking about how to make Ye Qing stay, while the latter was reflecting on all that Ye had done.

Previously, Mu Qingrong had a rather poor impression of Ye Qing and did not trust him at all. However, after having gone through these events, she suddenly realized that Ye Qing was not as frivolous as she had thought. He had many admirable qualities. Especially in his dealings: meticulous, and he thought things through thoroughly, which was quite rare.

However, his love for bragging was not appealing; she still couldn’t believe that Ye Qing was a top student from Northern University!

After waiting for over half an hour and still no one returned, Huo Pingping became restless and whispered, ”Little soldier, could you have guessed wrong? Are we supposed to just wait here all night?”

Ye Qing felt depressed; he had only met Huo Pingping today, and she had already given him several nicknames. Starting from the previously sleazy man, then Soldier Brother, and now, Little Soldier, what kind of relationship did that imply?

Ye Qing said softly, ”He will eventually come back!”

Huo Pingping pouted, ”That’s obvious, but the key is when? Suppose he comes back next year, are we supposed to just wait here until we starve to death?”

”Pingping, keep it down a bit. We haven’t been waiting that long, as long as we’re not exposed, he will definitely come back!” Fang Tingyun whispered.

Huo Pingping scoffed, ”I knew you’d side with him. Elbowing out your own; you ungrateful little goblin, I regret pampering you!”

Fang Tingyun’s face turned red as she whispered, ”Pingping, what are you saying?”

”I...”

Just as Huo Pingping was about to retort, Ye Qing suddenly said in a deep voice, ”Be quiet!”

Huo Pingping immediately shut up, staring at Ye Qing in the darkness. It was too dark to see clearly; she could only make out his silhouette and had no idea what Ye Qing was doing.

Just when Huo Pingping was feeling somewhat displeased and about to speak, a faint sound of footsteps came. Soon, the footsteps stopped at the door, followed by the sound of a key turning in the lock.

The women held their breath, staring intently at the door, every heart was hanging by a thread.

After such a long wait, they finally got a result!