Urban Martial Saint

This acquaintance wasn’t Old Wang Ba, who often squatted in the alleyway scamming people, but Wang Tiezhu, a schoolmate from Lin Huayu’s school.

Wang Tiezhu squatted by the wall with a piece of tattered, floral cloth spread out in front of him. The cloth was covered with a variety of small toys, all made of straw, such as little horses, pigs, and sheep. The materials were inexpensive, but the craftsmanship was exquisite, and the toys looked lifelike. In this little alley, they were quite eye-catching.

Wang Tiezhu himself seemed to shrink back, squatting by the wall, not daring to raise his head to make eye contact with the passersby, only looking down at his own feet.

The sneakers on his feet had several holes, and bits of his toes were showing through. He tried desperately to pull back his feet to cover the holes, but his pants were ill-fitting with very short legs, failing to cover the holes and only making his entire appearance look even more destitute.

The vendors around were all loudly hawking their goods, trying to get the pedestrians to stop and look. Wang Tiezhu didn’t even dare to shout; he just crouched timidly in the corner, hoping that passersby would take an interest in his goods.

However, he had chosen the wrong spot. The people who came here were all looking for cheap, essential items for their daily lives, mostly people struggling to get by. How many of them would care about his little trinkets?

Lin Huayu hadn’t noticed Wang Tiezhu at all. She curiously looked at the stalls on both sides, about to move forward, but Ye Qing stopped her.

”What’s up?” Lin Huayu asked curiously.

Ye Qing pulled Lin Huayu out of the alley, saying, ”Didn’t you want to go to a park?”

Lin Huayu waved her hand, saying, ”No rush, I want to look at these things first, they look really fun.”

Ye Qing said, ”There’s nothing interesting here. I’ve never been to a park before; let’s head to the park first.”

”Alright then.” Lin Huayu immediately turned around and walked ahead towards the park, ”Ye, this East Lake Park is nothing special. Wait until we have a day off, I’ll take you to Xihang Park. The scenery there is much more beautiful than here, and there’s also...”

Ye Qing wasn’t really listening to Lin Huayu’s words; instead, he kept looking back at Wang Tiezhu in the alley. He didn’t want Lin Huayu to go in because he didn’t want Wang Tiezhu to see them. Wang Tiezhu was already very self-conscious at school, and should they meet under these circumstances, Ye Qing feared it would be even more damaging to him.

After accompanying Lin Huayu around the park for a while, Ye Qing wasn’t really paying attention to the scenery. That night, after escorting Lin Huayu home, he didn’t even think about riding his bike; he immediately rushed to the small hotel where Scar Lee was staying.

Scar Lee really had been holed up in his room all day, not daring to open the door even a crack, almost constantly watching out the window, quietly keeping an eye on the situation outside.

Once Ye Qing entered the room, Scar Lee immediately closed the door and anxiously asked, ”You said you were looking for someone; who are you looking for? Can he help us deal with Boss Lin?”

Ye Qing shook his head and handed a photo to Scar Lee, saying, ”Have you ever seen the person in this photo?”

Scar Lee looked at it carefully, his brow slightly furrowed, saying, ”It seems a bit familiar, but I can’t recall where I’ve seen him.”

Ye Qing urged, ”Is it someone you’ve taken away with those disabled people?”

Scratching his head, Scar Lee exclaimed, ”Ah, now that you mention it, I suddenly remember. Yes, he should be among those disabled people; I think I’ve seen him.”

Realizing this, Scar Lee paused, looked at Ye Qing, and asked anxiously, ”He... what’s his relation to you?”

Ye Qing’s expression turned icy, and he said through gritted teeth, ”He’s my brother!”

”Ah?” Scar Lee’s eyes widened, finally understanding why Ye Qing was so determined to go against Boss Lin.

”He... he’s your brother?” Scar Lee looked at the photo, then at Ye Qing, saying, ”You two don’t look much alike.”

Ye Qing didn’t respond to him, but simply said with a heavy voice, ”Do you know where he is now?”

Scar Lee responded, ”I’ve seen him; he’s definitely among those disabled people. But as you said, Boss Lin must have changed his hiding places by now; I really don’t know where they are.”

Ye Qing furrowed his brows, took the photo back from Scar Lee, and said sternly, ”So you’re saying, he’s still alive?”

Scar Lee quickly replied, ”Of course, I remember that I saw him not long ago. Young people like him, strong in body, aren’t so easy to die. Right now, he’s surely still with Boss Lin, and if we find him quickly, he’s certainly a live lead.”

”Good!” Ye Qing nodded and said coldly, ”Scar Lee, I’m giving you an opportunity. You write down all of Boss Lin’s places for me, honestly, including each place’s share as well as the main sources of income. Write it all down clearly for me. As long as you don’t lie to me, after dealing with Boss Lin, I will ensure you can leave Shenchuan City safely!”

Scar Lee nodded hastily, saying, ”No problem, no problem. Don’t worry, even though the hiding spots are easy to move, his places in the city can’t be shifted. But what are you planning to do exactly? Are you planning to knock down his places? This doesn’t really help much in saving your brother, does it?”

Ye Qing shook his head, saying, ”I want to drive him into a corner so that he shows his hand, and then I can find his new hiding spots!”

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”So that’s how it is.” Scar Lee had an epiphany, found a piece of paper, looked down and quickly wrote a few words, then looked up, depressed, at Ye Qing and said, ”How do you write the ’emperor’ from ’emperor’?”

”You’re kidding me!” Ye Qing gaped and said, ”Did you even go to school?”

Scar Lee quickly said, ”What kind of question is that, I graduated from junior high years ago!”

Ye Qing looked at him with doubt and said, ”Then how come you can’t even write ’emperor’?”

Scar Lee was a bit embarrassed and said, ”Well, I... my junior high diploma was actually bought...”

”Forget it, just tell me and I’ll write it.” Ye Qing took the paper and pen, thinking that if Scar Lee wrote it himself, there’s no telling when he’d finish.

Scar Lee honestly recounted the details of the few venues controlled by Boss Lin, being one of the few confidants Boss Lin truly trusted and was most familiar with his affairs.

After recording this information, Ye Qing had basically figured out the distribution of Boss Lin’s influence in Shenchuan City.

Boss Lin didn’t have many places in Shenchuan City, but he controlled a significant trade there—the drug trade. About ten percent of the drugs that entered Shenchuan City each year came from him, so he made a lot of money.

The main source of income for these venues was also from drugs. In fact, if Boss Lin’s drug trafficking route were cut off, his income sources would be completely dried up.

Boss Lin valued this revenue stream greatly, just as he had employed many disabled people to carry drugs for him, creating multiple hideouts throughout Shenchuan City like a cunning rabbit with three burrows. Even Scar Lee didn’t know how many hideouts there actually were.

Ye Qing put the paper and the photo together and put them in his pocket, gave a few instructions to Scar Lee, and then left again.

Scar Lee stayed by the window watching Ye Qing walk away. He waited in the room for almost an hour, and when there was no more movement outside, he finally stood up, quietly opened the door, and slipped out.

Scar Lee made his way through several alleys to a secluded public phone booth and dialed Boss Lin’s number.

Boss Lin was sitting with Yang Shitao, having suffered huge losses last night, and he was trying to get some money from Yang to compensate. However, Yang did not give any positive response, and instead kept asking about the plan to deal with Lin Huayu.

Boss Lin wasn’t a fool; dealing with Lin Huayu was something he truly didn’t dare to do. Though he had done many bad things, he was still under the protection of the Lin family. But if he attacked Lin Huayu, it would be a different story entirely. He wouldn’t just lose the Lin family’s protection; Lin Zhen Nan would definitely not let him off.

Just as he was feeling agitated, the phone suddenly rang. Boss Lin picked up, irritated, and said, ”Who is it?”

”Eldest Brother, it’s me, Xiao Li,” Scar Lee replied hastily.

”I curse your ancestors, you double-crosser, you still dare to call me!” Boss Lin immediately stood up and bellowed, ”Where the hell are you now!”

”Eldest Brother, don’t get excited, don’t be angry,” Scar Lee said quickly. ”Eldest Brother, I didn’t betray you, it was Ye who tricked me. He told me himself, he did all that on purpose—to drive a wedge between us, to force you to kill me, so that I’d help him against you!”

Boss Lin snapped, ”Cut the crap, you think you can still deceive me? You ran away with that Ye, do you dare say you didn’t betray me?”

”Eldest Brother, I’m not lying to you. Besides, I... I’ve got some really important news from Ye!” Scar Lee paused, then said in a low voice, ”With this information, you can take care of Ye!”

”What information?” Boss Lin frowned.

Scar Lee took a breath and said in a low voice, ”Eldest Brother, do you know why Ye insists on opposing you?”

”Why?” Boss Lin was also eager to know the answer. Ever since Ye Qing arrived in Shenchuan City, Boss Lin was the first one he went after. But Boss Lin couldn’t think of any feud he had with Ye Qing—it was even their first encounter. So why was Ye Qing so set against him?

”Because Ye Qing’s brother was captured by us!” Scar Lee whispered, ”Among those livestock we detained, there’s his brother!”

”What?” Boss Lin’s face changed; he finally understood why Ye Qing wouldn’t let up on him. So this was the reason.

Scar Lee said, ”Ye Qing came to rescue his brother. Those livestock have already been maimed by us. I figure, given Ye Qing’s character, he definitely won’t let this go. Eldest Brother, now we only have two options: get rid of Ye, or be killed by his bite!”

”Nonsense, you think I don’t want to take him down?” Boss Lin said impatiently, ”This Ye is too damn lucky; several times he hasn’t died, how do you expect me to kill him?”

”Eldest Brother, we haven’t been able to get rid of him before mainly because Ye is just too strong; we simply couldn’t grasp his weakness. But this time it’s different!” Scar Lee let out a cold laugh and said, ”Because, we’ve grabbed his weakness. His brother is his biggest weakness!”

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