Urban Martial Saint

Ye Qing walked around the corridor twice, looking for a spot to quietly climb up and personally search for some evidence. However, the police were guarding all around, making it impossible for him to ascend.

Just as Ye Qing was growing anxious, the man who had driven him over earlier quietly approached and patted him on the shoulder.

Ye Qing, with his heart pounding in anxiety, looked up with a less than friendly gaze when disturbed.

The man took a step back from the intensity of Ye Qing’s gaze but eventually managed to suppress his own fright, and said in a low voice, ”Brother, may I have a word with you?”

”What is it?” Ye Qing asked in a deep voice.

”Come here, over here, it’s not convenient to talk here!” The man strongly insisted, pulling Ye Qing aside. After ensuring that no one was around, he whispered, ”That... just now... the thing in the car, you... you mustn’t tell anyone else, alright?”

”What thing?” Ye Qing’s mind was entirely focused on the three women; he had no time to ponder what the man might have done.

However, the man thought Ye Qing was feigning confusion and became anxious, saying, ”Hey, buddy, I went through all the trouble to bring you here. If not for merit, at least there’s the effort, right? You can’t screw me over!”

Ye Qing couldn’t be bothered with him and turned away to look at the corridor.

The man glanced at the corridor and then back at Ye Qing, asking, ”Is this matter related to you?”

”My friends were kidnapped!” Ye Qing said firmly.

Realizing the situation, the man tried to comfort him, ”Oh, the police are here, don’t worry!”

”How can I not worry!” Ye Qing sighed, ”By the time they find them, who knows what condition they’ll be in.”

”Don’t just assume all cops are useless. They do have some capacity,” the man said, pausing briefly before continuing, ”Besides, you getting worked up here isn’t helping. Even if they let you up there, could you really bring them back safely?”

Ye Qing clenched his fists and said resolutely, ”If I could get up there, I would have a chance to save them!”

The man glanced at Ye Qing skeptically, as if he thought Ye Qing was bluffing. However, an idea soon struck him, and he said, ”Brother, how about we make a deal?”

Ye Qing responded coldly, ”I don’t have time for your deals!”

”Just hear me out!” the man said, ”I help you get into that room, get you to meet the witness giving statements, but you have to keep tonight’s secret for me. How about it?”

Ye Qing turned to look at the man, frowning, ”You can help me get in?”

”You just say yes or no, don’t worry about the rest!” the man insisted.

After pondering for a moment, Ye Qing nodded, ”No problem!”

In fact, Ye Qing hadn’t planned on using the man’s issue for anything. But since he was willing to make the deal, Ye Qing was happy to agree.

”Good, wait here!”

After speaking, the man turned and headed towards the police officers at the blockade. Ye Qing saw him speaking with the officers for a moment, and they immediately straightened up. Shortly after, one of them walked over to Ye Qing and said, ”Hello, come inside and have a look!”

Ye Qing was astonished. Could a few words from the man actually get him upstairs?

Following the officer upstairs, Ye Qing entered a room where three criminal investigators were searching for evidence. Accompanied by an officer and still in his military uniform, no one objected.

The policeman brought Ye Qing into the room, saying, ”Take a look for yourself, but try not to disturb the scene.”

”Alright, thank you!” Ye Qing entered the room and looked around.

The three criminal investigation personnel had found plenty of evidence at the scene, all marked with specialized labels.

Ye Qing scanned them briefly; these pieces of evidence were of little use to him. Without sparing them a second glance, he walked straight to Fang Tingyun’s door and bent down to examine it closely.

After a while, his eyes suddenly fixated on one spot. He reached out slowly, touching the area, and upon looking at his fingers, there was some black soil on them. He sniffed it near his nose and rubbed it in his hand, Ye Qing pondered for a moment, then suddenly got up and walked out of the room.

”Where is my friend giving her statement?” Ye Qing asked the officer at the door.

”I’ll take you there.”

The police officer led Ye Qing to a car downstairs. As soon as he entered, Ye Qing saw Mu Qingrong wrapped in a big blanket. She looked somewhat haggard, clearly shaken by the night’s events.

However, she was relatively lucky. The other three girls had been taken away, but she had run down the building, and those people didn’t dare to chase her, which is why she wasn’t captured. Otherwise, she would have been in danger.

Upon seeing Ye Qing, Mu Qingrong felt as if she had seen her savior and immediately stood up, her voice trembling slightly, ”Ye Qing, you... you came, Tingyun and the others were taken away, by... by the people who installed the pinhole cameras for us last time...”

”I know!” Ye Qing nodded, walked over, and gently patted Mu Qingrong’s shoulder, whispering, ”Don’t worry, I will find them and bring them back!”

”Can you hurry? I’m... I’m afraid something will happen to them,” Mu Qingrong was usually strong, but now her eyes were red-rimmed. As a girl, she understood all too well the harm this situation could do to the three girls, perhaps even ruining their lives forever.

”Nothing will happen, trust me!” Ye Qing nodded at Mu Qingrong and said, ”You stay here, I’ll go find them now!”

”I’ll go with you!” Mu Qingrong gritted her teeth and said, ”I want to find them myself!”

”No!” Ye Qing shook his head firmly, ”You stay here, I can go by myself.”

Ye Qing left alone and headed towards the entrance of the community where the man who had spoken with him earlier was still waiting in his car. Seeing Ye Qing come out, the man immediately approached and said, ”Brother, we spoke clearly earlier, right? I did the favor for you, now you’ve got to keep my secret too!”

”Don’t worry, I’ll keep my word!” said Ye Qing, looking around before adding suddenly, ”But could you do me one more favor?”

”Hold up, buddy, you’re asking for too much!” the man balked, ”How many favors do I owe you now?”

Ye Qing said, ”It’s a matter of life and death, I need your help!”

The man hesitated for a moment before responding, ”Are you trying to go save those three girls? Let me tell you, don’t worry about it, the police are already interrogating people about that. Plus, what else can I help you with?”

Ye Qing said, ”All you need to do is drive me to a place, that’s all!”

The man was taken aback, asking in surprise, ”That’s it?”

Ye Qing nodded, ”That’s all.”

”No problem, just tell me where to go!” the man said generously.

”Hold on a second.” Ye Qing turned and walked to a small shop at the entrance of the community. The shop owner was seated at the door, watching the commotion. Seeing Ye Qing approaching, he stood up promptly and asked, ”What will you buy?”

Ye Qing said, ”Brother, I want to ask, did any cars leave the community about ten minutes ago? The ones that left in a hurry?”

”God, you’re asking him?” the man following behind interjected, ”The police are questioning the community guards about that kind of thing. They know more than anyone. Instead of asking them, you’re asking him? What’s the point?”

The shop owner glanced at the man and said, ”Well, believe it or not, I did see it. Young man, I saw it clearly just now. A white Jinbei van, about ninety percent new, came out followed by a Japanese Honda Accord with two eights in the license plate, speeding very fast. That’s all I know.”

”Thank you, brother!” Ye Qing turned to leave, but the man stared at the shop owner in disbelief, then at Ye Qing, wondering, ”Why didn’t you go ask the guard?”

Ye Qing replied, ”He wouldn’t have the answer.”

”Why not?” the man asked incredulously, ”He’s right at the community gate. How could he not see the cars coming and going? Why would you ignore what’s near and seek what’s far?”

”It’s different,” Ye Qing shook his head. ”Although the guard is at the gate, he gets a fixed salary. So, usually at this time of night, he’s half-asleep and doesn’t pay much attention to the vehicles passing by. But the shop owner is different; he’s running his own business, so he is more attentive than others.

Every time a car passes and its lights flash over his shop, he looks up because that could be a potential customer. So, he knows about these things better than the guard does!”

After hearing Ye Qing’s analysis, the man was again astounded and after a while, he gave a thumbs up and said, ”Brother, you’re awesome, analyzing people’s psyche like that; not becoming a detective is a waste of your talent!”

Ye Qing remained silent. Analyzing people’s psychology was a necessary skill for a Special Forces team leader. He had to assess the opposing side’s income and usual conduct to understand their mentality and predict their actions.

For example, given the same combat map, an arrogant person would deploy his troops offensively. In contrast, a conservative person would set up defensively. However, a moderate person would use a combination of defense and offense.

By understanding the opponent’s psychology, Ye Qing would deduce where they would deploy their forces, allowing his strike team to take out those positions. This method had served him well over the years in operations along the border, and it was the fundamental reason his team never lost.

The man got in the car, turned to Ye Qing, and said, ”But brother, even if you can analyze psychology, the car has long gone. Where are we going to chase them?”

Ye Qing opened his right hand and showed it to the man, saying, ”To this place!”