Urban Martial Saint

Seeing Ye Qing’s gaze, the man repeatedly waved his hands and shook his head, saying, ”Dude, don’t get it wrong, I’m not one of them.”

”Then what do you want from them?” Ye Qing asked in a deep voice.

The man hemmed and hawed for a moment before finally biting the bullet and saying, ”Dude, I’m not afraid to say it straight, what I really want is to earn some credit!”

”Earn credit?” Ye Qing was surprised.

”Dude, I’m actually a police officer too,” the man shrugged his shoulders, saying, ”Otherwise, how could you have gotten upstairs to see that girl giving a statement today?”

Ye Qing nodded. If this man was a police officer, he didn’t really doubt it. After all, the man had some influence with the police. If he wasn’t an officer, it would indeed be hard to accomplish these things.

”The crimes these guys have committed are not minor; this case is considered a major one in Shenchuan City. Whoever arrests them and cracks this case will make a great contribution.” The man looked at Ye Qing and said, ”Dude, I can see you’re not a cop. Without my help tonight, things wouldn’t have gone so smoothly for you.

Now these guys are of no use to you anyway, so what’s the difference who takes the credit? I’ve been running around helping you out tonight, so even if there’s no credit, there’s at least the effort, right? Be it to me or someone else, the credit is the same, why not let me have it?”

Ye Qing sized up the man, who was looking anxiously at him, almost as if he wanted to grab Ye Qing by the neck to make him agree. Having been a cop for so many years and always climbing up the ranks relying on his family’s connections, he had never cracked a major case and felt ashamed deep down.

Fortunately, his skin was thick enough, and he had gotten through the years, but he had always been determined to make a significant contribution to show those who looked down on him. Now that such a great opportunity was before him, he didn’t want to let it go!

After pondering for a moment, just as the man was about to burst from waiting, Ye Qing slowly nodded, saying, ”No problem!”

The man was overjoyed, grabbing Ye Qing’s hand and saying repeatedly, ”Dude, I won’t say anything else, thank you, thank you so much!”

Ye Qing waved his hand; these people were of no use to him. Besides, the man had indeed helped him a lot tonight, so letting him have the credit wasn’t a big deal.

After letting go of Ye Qing’s hand, the man immediately ran to the side to make a phone call. With one hand on his hip and one foot on a nearby stone, his voice was very arrogant: ”Hey, Old Mo, it’s Cheng Shuang. You’re still working on this case, but I’m telling you, stop it, because I’ve already caught the people.

Send someone over to the Old Pharmaceutical Factory right away and take them all back. You think I’m lying? When have I ever lied to you? Rubbish, how could I not catch them alone? Don’t tell me this stuff; the hostage has been rescued now, how can it not be that group? Don’t tell me you still haven’t found any leads.

Your team’s ability to do things is just not good enough; just because they can’t find leads doesn’t mean I can’t find them either. Alright, no more crap, just send someone over quick. This case happened in our jurisdiction; let’s make a good show of it this time for the other branches to see!”

After hanging up the call, the man ran excitedly over to Ye Qing, grabbed his hand, and asked, ”Dude, what’s your name? Mine is Zhao Chengshuang.”

”Ye Qing.”

”Great name!” Zhao Chengshuang gave a thumbs-up in admiration.

”How is it a great name?” Huo Pingping, who was next to them, couldn’t help but ask.

Zhao Chengshuang was immediately tongue-tied and unable to answer; he had simply blurted out the compliment, and when asked for an explanation, he didn’t know what made it great.

As if he hadn’t paid attention to the remark, Ye Qing said to Zhao Chengshuang, ”Alright, these people are your responsibility now. I need to take them back first.”

”Yes, yes, no problem; just leave them to me.” Zhao Chengshuang couldn’t wait for Ye Qing and the others to leave quickly so he could brag about his role to his arriving colleagues.

Huo Pingping said, ”This place is in the middle of nowhere; how do we get out of here?”

”Here, take my car.” Zhao Chengshuang directly handed over the car keys. If he hadn’t been waiting to take credit here, he would have even offered to drive Ye Qing and the others away himself.

Ye Qing hesitated for a moment, then whispered, ”I can’t drive.”

”What?” Zhao Chengshuang’s eyes widened in surprise, and immediately Huo Pingping’s spirits lifted as she smirked, ”Oh, so there’s something you can’t do, huh?”

Ye Qing remained silent. When he was in college, he had taken three majors and was too busy to learn how to drive. In the military, there was even less time for that. So while he knew how to do many things, driving was indeed something he didn’t know.

”So, what do we do now?” Zhao Chengshuang scratched his head, not wanting to leave this place for the life of him, as if the moment he did, the credit would be snapped up by someone else.

”If he can’t, I can!” Huo Pingping grabbed the keys and asked, ”Where’s the car?”

Zhao Chengshuang immediately led everyone to the car, and as he watched them get in, he still seemed a bit worried and asked Ye Qing softly, ”Dude, what’s the status of those guys now? They won’t escape now that you’re out, right?”

”Don’t worry, they definitely won’t escape!” Ye Qing confidently replied. If those people could escape, that would truly be a miracle.

Zhao Chengshuang was thrilled, saying excitedly, ”That’s great, then you guys hurry back and rest. Don’t worry, I will tell them to not disturb you guys in the middle of the night. Whenever you’re free, come to the station and give your statement!”

As he watched the vehicle drive away, Zhao Chengshuang became even more overexcited, unable to resist dancing and humming to himself, ”Today is a good day, everything I wish for is happening...”

Huo Pingping, looking at Zhao Chengshuang dancing and humming through the rearview mirror, couldn’t help saying, ”Damn soldier, is your friend out of his mind?”

Ye Qing turned his head to glance at Zhao Chengshuang and was momentarily at a loss for words. This guy, nearly thirty years old, was actually dancing here in the middle of nowhere.

Zhao Chengshuang was exceptionally excited, yet still somewhat uneasy, so he took his gun and ran into the factory to take a look. When he saw the terrible state of the people inside, his face instantly turned pale. He stood in shock for a good while before suddenly running to the entrance and starting to vomit.

Before long, several police cars arrived outside the factory. Mo Zhixing, the Deputy Director leading the team, frowned as he stepped out.

To be honest, he still had his doubts about what Zhao Chengshuang had said. He knew Zhao Chengshuang was good at all kinds of hedonism but clueless about solving cases. The guy couldn’t even catch a petty thief, let alone solve a big case like this.

And the case tonight was quite heinous. A home invasion and hostage-taking in the dead of night, and the commotion it had caused was significant even for Shenchuan City. It had happened in his jurisdiction, and he didn’t know whether to count it as his good or bad luck.

If he could solve such a big case smoothly, then he was certain to be credited with a huge merit, and promotion would definitely be no problem. But if it couldn’t be solved, he might as well give up any hope of promotion in this lifetime.

Therefore, he took this case very seriously and was leading his team in searching for any clues that could solve the case. Zhao Chengshuang had told him to come here to arrest people, and he was somewhat reluctant.

After looking around, Mo Zhixing asked, ”Where’s Chengshuang?”

From inside the factory area, Zhao Chengshuang’s weak voice came through, ”Old Mo, I’m throwing up... I... I’m over here throwing up...”

Mo Zhixing’s expression changed, and he hurriedly led his men in, asking urgently, ”Chengshuang, what’s wrong with you? Nothing serious, right?”

Even though Zhao Chengshuang was incompetent, he had connections; otherwise, how could he become the Deputy Captain of the Criminal Investigation Division so quickly? Although Mo Zhixing was his superior, he never dared to act superior in front of Zhao Chengshuang. Of course, Zhao Chengshuang was the kind of person who was friendly with everyone around him.

Although he had a strong background, he was always cheerful. Mo Zhixing had once received a favor from him, so naturally, he took Zhao Chengshuang seriously.

Hearing Zhao Chengshuang sounding like he was injured, Mo Zhixing became anxious. If something happened to Zhao Chengshuang, how would he explain it to the higher-ups?

Upon entering the factory area, he saw Zhao Chengshuang standing against a wall with a pool of clear vomit on the ground, looking extremely pale. Fortunately, there was no blood on him, so it seemed he wasn’t injured.

Mo Zhixing finally took a breath of relief, then punched Zhao Chengshuang on the arm and asked, ”Kid, how much did you drink tonight? Why are you vomiting like this?”

”I... I...” Zhao Chengshuang was dry-heaving but just couldn’t stop. It took some effort before he could finish his words, ”I... I haven’t drunk much, forget about me, hurry and take your men in to catch those criminals!”

Mo Zhixing widened his eyes in disbelief, asking, ”Did you really catch the criminals?”

Zhao Chengshuang started to vomit again and couldn’t speak. He just waved his hand to signal Mo Zhixing to go inside.

Surprised, Mo Zhixing led his team into the building. The sight that met him was so shocking that he almost vomited like Zhao Chengshuang had.

Fortunately, having been in his position for many years, Mo Zhixing had seen a fair share of gruesome scenes and managed to hold himself. However, some of the police officers with him, who had just joined the force and were not accustomed to seeing such bloody scenes, couldn’t help but vomit.

”How did it turn out like this?” Mo Zhixing restrained his urge to vomit, looking bewildered at the scene inside. He asked, ”Are these the criminals? Didn’t you say there were only five people? Why are there two more?”

Zhao Chengshuang followed and, not daring to look at the room’s interior, turned his head aside, saying, ”Enough talk, take them away and stop the bleeding first. If they die, what case are we going to solve?”

Mo Zhixing could not delay any longer, waving his hand to signal his subordinates to take these people away and at the same time, leave some behind to guard the scene. Of course, they didn’t bring them straight to the station but took them to the hospital first.

Seeing the men being taken away, Zhao Chengshuang finally breathed a sigh of relief and ran outside the factory to make a phone call.

”Hey, Old Master, it’s me. Don’t hang up, don’t hang up, don’t hang up, I’m not asking for money. No, really, it’s not about money,” Zhao Chengshuang said embarrassedly, ”I have to tell you, I solved a big case. Why would I lie to you? Do I look like someone who enjoys lying? Eh, let’s not talk about the past; I’m telling you, this is a huge case.

I caught several thugs who broke into homes and kidnapped girls. I’m not lying to you, you can rest assured. If you don’t believe it, you can come and see for yourself tomorrow. Oh, and if you’re coming over tomorrow, could you also bring cousin Hua Yu along so she can confirm whether these are the same guys who kidnapped her last time?”

(A reader group for this novel has been established with the group number: 310323423. Friends are welcome to join and chat. Additionally, we recommend a friend’s new book ”Urban Medical Saint”; you can find it by searching for ”Urban Medical Saint”.)