Urban Martial Saint

Zhao Chengshuang left Mu Qingrong’s residential complex and headed straight for Yipinxuan in the city.

Yipinxuan wasn’t very famous in Shenchuan City, yet among the rich and official elites, it was quite renowned.

The décor here was rather ordinary, and its location wasn’t great, even a bit secluded. However, it fit that fresh and elegant vibe perfectly, aligning with the understated style preferred by the upper crust of society.

A tycoon frequenting luxury hotels daily was considered a nouveau riche. An official who didn’t know how to keep a low profile probably wouldn’t go far in his career.

Zhao Chengshuang might have looked the part of a dissolute rich second-generation, but he was certainly not the type to bring trouble to his family. Though he hadn’t achieved any remarkable feats over the years, he had behaved properly and hadn’t given his father much to worry about, for he knew how to keep a low profile.

Like last night’s events, he’d rather make a deal with Ye Qing to prevent his matters from being exposed, than to press Ye Qing using his family background and status.

Yipinxuan was a place Zhao Chengshuang frequented often. But today, his mood differed starkly from the past.

In the past, he was just the image of a profligate rich second-generation, but today, he was lauded as a model police officer who had broken the record for the fastest case solved in Shenchuan City.

It was Zhao Chengshuang’s friends hosting this banquet, who, upon learning of his third-class merit, instantly clamored to celebrate his achievement.

Zhao Chengshuang initially wanted to bring Ye Qing along to win him over, since his hope for a second-class merit might depend on Ye Qing in the future. But having been kicked out by several girls, he had to come alone.

In the private room, five people had already arrived, including an additional man in his thirties.

Seeing this man, Zhao Chengshuang couldn’t hide his surprise. He knew the man, whose surname was Lin, named Lin Chongshan, who also had a nickname in Shenchuan City, Boss Lin!

Technically, Zhao Chengshuang and Boss Lin were somewhat related. However, the two had rarely interacted.

Boss Lin had once attempted to befriend Zhao Chengshuang, but after a stern warning from the elder, Zhao Chengshuang had deliberately kept his distance. After all, Boss Lin was known for his unsavory dealings, and it wouldn’t look good for Zhao Chengshuang to be too close to him.

This evening, Zhao Chengshuang never expected that Boss Lin would show up.

Greeting his friends, Zhao Chengshuang saw Boss Lin get up warmly to shake his hand and congratulate him on his award.

In such a situation, Zhao Chengshuang couldn’t exactly send him away, so he just smiled and let it pass.

Once everyone settled down and after a few rounds of drinks, the friends began chattering at Zhao Chengshuang to recount the story of the previous night’s case-solving ordeal.

Zhao Chengshuang was prepared and exaggerated his morning’s story again. Of course, in his version, Ye Qing still played only an auxiliary role.

However, Zhao Chengshuang didn’t notice that throughout the story, Boss Lin listened very carefully. After Zhao Chengshuang finished, a strange light flickered in Boss Lin’s eyes, and he suddenly said, ”Chengshuang, I heard that the limbs of those seven bandits were all broken, and most of them are now disabled. Your methods are quite brutal, aren’t they?”

Zhao Chengshuang, having drunk a lot, was caught off guard and immediately replied, ”Ah, you don’t understand. Those people, they’re downright bastards, scum of the earth. Which one of them doesn’t have blood on their hands? Breaking their limbs is actually letting them off easy. Once they’re interrogated, won’t each of them be executed several times over? So, there’s nothing brutal about it.

Given the crimes they’ve committed, not to mention breaking limbs, even killing them could be justified as resisting arrest, and who would pursue justice for such scum?”

”Hehehe...” Boss Lin chuckled lightly, nodding his head, ”That’s true, but your ability to handle them alone seems to have improved a lot. Fighting so many people by yourself and breaking all their limbs, that’s not easy!”

”It wasn’t all my doing, I’ve said I had a friend with me,” Zhao Chengshuang said with a laugh, lowering his voice, ”To be honest, I’ll tell you this. Breaking those people’s limbs, that wasn’t my handiwork. You guys know what I’m like, not so fierce—it was my friend who did that.”

”Oh?” Boss Lin’s eyes suddenly brightened, staring intently at Zhao Chengshuang, ”May I know the name of this friend?”

”Why?” Zhao Chengshuang became cautious, not wanting these people to approach Ye Qing before him.

Laughing, Boss Lin said, ”Nothing much, I’m just not used to seeing someone with such a fiery temper. To tell you the truth, in all my years in Shenchuan City, I haven’t seen anyone so ruthless. It’s common to see killings, but not killing and yet practically crippling a person, I really haven’t seen that before.”

”Ex-military, they’re all like that,” Zhao Chengshuang waved his hand, ”He’s also experienced a lot of this in the army; it’s second nature.”

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”Your friend has been a soldier,” Boss Lin’s brows lifted as he slowly overlapped Zhao Chengshuang’s description with the person in his mind.

Recently, several of Boss Lin’s establishments in Shenchuan City had been smashed, twenty or thirty of his men crippled, and some even arrested by the police. Although this had not shaken Boss Lin’s foundations, the incidents had put him on alert. Therefore, he had temporarily hidden away those disabled men and planned to find the person smashing his places first.

However, since Ye Qing was always on the move and even lived under a bridge, it wasn’t easy for Boss Lin to find him.

This morning, after hearing about last night’s case, and especially learning that all seven thugs had their limbs broken, he immediately thought of the person who had been smashing his establishments. Therefore, he had made a special trip to congratulate Zhao Chengshuang and to verify through him if this person was indeed the one targeting his places.

And after listening to so much from Zhao Chengshuang, he was almost certain that the soldier described was the one vandalizing his properties.

Boss Lin’s frown deepened slightly as he began to calculate how to deal with Ye Qing.

Meanwhile, Ye Qing officially moved into Mu Qingrong and her roommates’ place. Ye Qing didn’t have much luggage, which he moved in one trip. The girls helped him unpack, and by ten o’clock that evening, Ye Qing officially became the shared tenant of the ladies.

”Ye, welcome to our home!” Fang TIngyn said sincerely.

”Thank you, everyone,” Ye Qing turned to look at the women, still feeling a bit awkward under the circumstances.

”Don’t rush to thank us. You can move in, but, after all, there are differences between men and women, and it would be better to set some rules,” Huo Pingping said, bringing over several sheets of paper, ”I’ve made a list; everyone should take a look and add anything that needs to be included.

”Wow, that’s a lot?” Chen Keai took the list, her eyes wide, ”First, absolute protection of the female tenants’ personal safety. Oh, what, are you a girl now?”

”Don’t sweat the details!” Huo Pingping gestured grandly, ”Look at this, see what needs to be added.”

”Second, absolute protection of the female tenants’ privacy. Third, absolute obedience to the female tenants’ commands. Big sister, what are you trying to pull?” Chen Keai put down the list, her eyes wide with surprise.

”What’s wrong? Is there something not right?” Huo Pingping asked curiously.

Ye Qing gazed at the several densely packed sheets of paper, and his head began to spin.

Mu Qingrong waved her hand, ”Ye Qing, don’t mind her; Pingping just likes to joke. There are no strict rules for living here. We’re all friends; just treat it like your own home.”

Immediately, Huo Pingping protested, ”Hey, how can that be okay? He’s a man, and we’re all girls. If he likes to walk around naked in his own home, then what are we supposed to do?”

”Enough, don’t worry about other people,” Mu Qingrong laughed, ”As long as you don’t do that, no one else in this house will.”

”Get lost, like a dog could ever spit out ivory.” Huo Pingping tossed her head, staring at Ye Qing, ”Dead soldier, although they have no rules, I have rules. Listen up, you’re absolutely forbidden from setting foot in my room. Dare to step one foot inside, and you better watch out or I’ll chop off your dog paw!”

”Understood,” Ye Qing answered decisively; he had no intention of entering Huo Pingping’s room anyway.

After everyone finished organizing, they each returned to their rooms to sleep. Ye Qing wasn’t in a hurry to go to sleep, but sat in his room, continuing to practice breathing as recorded in the Acupoint Seeking Technique.

Having memorized the Acupoint Seeking Technique after so many days, the details of the acupoints and meridians along with the flow of Internal Breath within the body were etched in his mind, including some medical knowledge.

Most diseases could be linked to the body’s acupoints and meridians; thus, the Acupoint Seeking Technique was essentially a medical text for treating illnesses with Inner Strength.

Ye Qing had already memorized many treatment methods for different diseases, but for many more, although he knew how to treat them, it was beyond his current capabilities because treatment required the support of Inner Strength and the use of Inner Strength to open up the meridians or acupoints, something he could only do with further cultivation.

After two hours of breathing practice, Ye Qing could clearly feel a flow of air moving inside him. However, he refrained from using these flows to break through acupoints or widen meridians. Cultivating Inner Strength is a matter where haste can make waste, and any slight mishap when impacting acupoints could potentially paralyze the body.

This is commonly referred to as Qi Deviation in martial arts novels.

After finishing his cultivation, Ye Qing stood up, walked to the desk, took out the files Wang Xuan had given him, and began to review the business inside.

These were the tasks Ye Qing would have to attend to tomorrow.

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