Urban Martial Saint

Ye Qing dialed the kitchen staff, and the phone was eventually passed to Cheetah.

”Who is it!” Cheetah’s voice sounded somewhat vague, apparently eating, still with food in his mouth.

Hearing his brother’s voice, Ye Qing felt his heart pound violently, as if he had returned to the blood-boiling battlefield. Brothers in arms, sharing life and death!

”It’s me!” Ye Qing replied.

”...” After a long pause, Cheetah’s almost distorted voice came through, ”Captain! It... it’s the Captain! The Captain! The Captain! The Captain!”

He repeated the sentence several times, as if those were the only words he knew. He was so excited he could barely hold the receiver.

”Captain?”

”Is it really the Captain?”

”Let me listen!”

”Give it to me! Give it to me!”

Several competing voices came from the other end of the phone, belonging to Gecko, Toad, Green Wolf, and Eagle Eye.

Hearing his brothers’ voices, Ye Qing’s blood surged through his body. He held back his excitement and said, ”You don’t have much time to rest at noon, so stop fighting. Pass the phone to Gecko; I need to talk to him!”

”Gecko, the Captain wants you!” Cheetah held the phone up high, preventing the other three from grabbing it.

Gecko, overwhelmed with excitement, ran over to take the phone and hurriedly said, ”Captain, it’s Gecko, how... how are you now?”

”I’m fine!” Ye Qing said, ”Gecko, I need you to help me look something up.”

”Captain, just tell me!” Gecko responded straightforwardly without any fuss.

Ye Qing: ”Russian-made B750, where is it currently in circulation?”

”Are you talking about that solid-state mechanical time bomb?” Gecko asked.

”Yes,” Ye Qing confirmed.

Gecko said, ”The Russian-made B750 was the darling of the time bombs in the sixties, but then it was gradually replaced by the newer B900, so it’s rare to see these days. However, this type of bomb is quite active among mercenaries, mainly traded among those three Mercenary Corps in the heart of Africa.

The year before last, those three Mercenary Corps bought up all the B750s on the market, and now it’s practically their signature weapon.”

Ye Qing’s brow furrowed; the shrapnel he had retrieved the day before was from a Russian-made B750. He wasn’t very knowledgeable about bombs, which was why he had called Gecko to inquire about this.

According to Gecko, the culprits behind the two bombings were likely individuals from those African Mercenary Corps. No wonder they had such strong counter-surveillance capabilities; anyone from those corps was almost as skilled as active Special Forces soldiers!

”Captain, what do you need this information for? Has something happened?” Gecko asked curiously.

”What happened?”

”How’s the Captain?”

”Let me say it! Let me say it!”

The line was buzzing with commotion, and Ye Qing quickly responded, ”It’s nothing serious, just helping a friend investigate a case.”

”I see,” Gecko nodded, then asked, ”Do you want me to send you the files on those three Mercenary Corps?”

”No need, it’s classified,” Ye Qing paused, then added, ”I’m quite familiar with those three Mercenary Corps.”

”Captain, I’m retiring from the army this year, and when I do, I’ll come to Shenchuan City to help you!” Gecko declared.

”I’m going too! I’m going too!” another voice called out loudly.

”What are you guys doing!” Ye Qing exclaimed angrily, ”You’re the best soldiers with the brightest prospects in the army. You can’t just talk about retiring. Keep working hard, and don’t let me down by mentioning retirement again!”

Silence followed on the other end, and after a while, Green Wolf said quietly, ”Captain, it’s too late to talk about that. Xiong Zi just completed his early discharge a few days ago, he’s already gone, said he’s going to Shenchuan City to find you!”

”What!” Ye Qing was taken aback, Black Bear had talked about meeting up after his discharge. It was unexpected that the guy had actually requested an early discharge.

”Not only did he leave, but he also took Da Hei with him!” Toad said angrily, ”Commander Chen was so furious he nearly sent people to capture him, accusing him of stealing from the army’s finances!”

Ye Qing was speechless, considering Black Bear’s character, he was indeed capable of such actions.

Ye Qing said, ”Forget it, Xiong Zi is just that kind of person. You five do your job well in the army. Don’t disappoint me!”

Eagle Eye said, ”Captain, you need to leave a contact number. Xiong Zi blindly headed to Shenchuan City like a buzzy fly, with no contact information; we won’t even be able to find you.”

Ye Qing hadn’t wanted Black Bear to retire, but since Black Bear had already gone through with it, he could not change the situation. He left his contact information and chatted with his brothers for a few more minutes. Noticing it was getting late, he bid them farewell.

Ye Qing went straight to the hospital at noon, firstly to thank Lin Tianyou and secondly to visit Zhao Chengshuang.

As a result, when he arrived at the hospital, Lin Tianyou was not there. Instead, he ran into his old nemesis, Huo Pingping.

Huo Pingping was there taking care of her cousin. Seeing Ye Qing, her almond-shaped eyes went wide with anger, as if she were staring at a pervert.

”Dead soldier, how was your morning? Did you get kicked straight out the door?” Huo Pingping eventually couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity.

”No, I got the bidding qualification,” Ye Qing said.

”What!” Huo Pingping spat out the water she had just sipped, sizing Ye Qing up and down, and said, ”You... how did you manage that? Don’t tell me that Old Bastard has a thing for men too?”

Ye Qing had no idea what was going through Huo Pingping’s mind and just shook his head, saying, ”A friend of mine helped me make contact.”

”Oh, so you’re saying your friend is quite capable!” Huo Pingping glared at Ye Qing and said, ”How come I never heard you had such a friend before?”

Lin Tianyou hadn’t really been friends with Ye Qing before, of course. Naturally, he couldn’t say this out loud because Huo Pingping certainly wouldn’t believe it. She couldn’t fathom that someone they had met only a couple of times could become such a close friend. In fact, the friendship between Ye Qing and Zhao Chengshuang had developed in a similar way.

They hadn’t known each other long, but Zhao Chengshuang’s admiration for Ye Qing was boundless.

Ye Qing entered Zhao Chengshuang’s room, where many people had come to visit that morning, leaving the table piled with items. Sitting on the bed, Zhao Chengshuang was enthusiastically boasting to a nurse about his bravery during the rescue. The young nurse, probably new to society, was completely taken in by Zhao Chengshuang’s tales, starry-eyed with admiration.

When Ye Qing came in, Zhao Chengshuang immediately halted his bragging. He was embarrassed to continue since Ye knew all too well what had really happened.

”Brother Ye, have you eaten?” Zhao Chengshuang changed the subject, and the nurse hurriedly left the room.

Ye Qing sat down on the bed and smiled, saying, ”You seem to be recovering well?”

Zhao Chengshuang moved his arm around and said, ”So-so. Muscle and bone injuries take one hundred days to heal. Anyway, it’ll be two or three months before I can get out of bed. Half a month more, and I should be able to go home to recuperate!”

Ye Qing nodded and said, ”That’s good, as long as there are no internal injuries.”

”By the way, how is your investigation going?” Zhao Chengshuang looked at Ye Qing and said, ”I heard Old Five Chen was blown up yesterday? What exactly happened?”

Ye Qing said, ”It was Old Five Chen’s subordinate who killed that old woman!”

”Ah?” Zhao Chengshuang’s eyes bulged, and he said, ”What... what does that mean? Are you saying someone is avenging the old woman?”

Ye Qing nodded, and Zhao Chengshuang was even more astonished, saying, ”That can’t be, right? That old woman had no relatives or friends, was a loner, and no one liked her. How could someone seek revenge for her? Besides, why didn’t they seek revenge in the past two years? It’s been so long, why seek revenge now? What does this mean?”

Ye Qing didn’t say anything. At this point, he seriously suspected that the old woman’s son hadn’t died. Moreover, the matter had already involved mercenaries and was beyond the police’s ability to resolve.

Zhao Chengshuang muttered to himself for a while before looking back at Ye Qing, saying, ”Brother Ye, this is no small matter. Back-to-back explosions are unprecedented in Shenchuan City’s history; it’s a slap in the face for our police department. What do you think we should do about this case?”

Ye Qing was silent for a moment before saying, ”I need to see Xu Beihua again!”

”No problem!” Zhao Chengshuang nodded, saying, ”I’ll arrange it for you right away!”

Half an hour later, Ye Qing appeared before Xu Beihua again, in the capacity of a lawyer.

Seeing Ye Qing, Xu Beihua got excited and hastily said, ”Brother Ye, how is my case going? It’s been proven to be an accident caused by someone else; can I be released on bail now?”

Ye Qing looked at Xu Beihua and said, ”You can be released on bail at any time!”

”That’s great!” Xu Beihua stood up excitedly, saying, ”Brother Ye, thank you for this. Are you free tonight? Let me treat you to dinner; I really want to thank you!”

Ye Qing shook his head and said, ”I dare not go!”

”Why?” Xu Beihua was surprised, unable to figure out what Ye Qing meant.

”I don’t want to die for no reason,” Ye Qing said.

”What... what do you mean ’die for no reason’?” Xu Beihua was even more confused and looked at Ye Qing nervously.

Ye Qing said softly, ”Do you know what happened to Old Five Chen?”

”What happened?” Xu Beihua grew more anxious, feeling a bad premonition.

Ye Qing said, ”Last night, he was killed by a time bomb!”

”What!” Xu Beihua stood up abruptly, his face full of horror and shock, trembling uncontrollably. He understood the implications; Old Five Chen being blown up was eerily similar to the explosion in Beihua Residential Area!

Ye Qing looked at Xu Beihua and said, ”I think, right now, the police station is probably the safest place for you!”

Xu Beihua stepped back, looking around at the walls. Hearing about Old Five Chen’s death, he even felt-danger in the police station; he was on edge.

”Brother Ye, please... please save me. I... I don’t want to die...” Xu Beihua pleaded with a quivering voice.

Ye Qing shrugged and said, ”I’d like to save you, but I can’t find the person who planted the bomb!”

Xu Beihua: ”Then... how can we find him?”

Ye Qing looked at Xu Beihua and said, ”If you’re willing to cooperate with me, it shouldn’t be hard to find him.”