Urban Martial Saint

Upon hearing Yuan Xiaoyu’s words, Ye Qing was utterly shaken. For a moment, his mind went blank, and he almost couldn’t keep his grip on his phone.

His father, Ye Changwen, and his brother, Ye Jun, were the two most important people in Ye Qing’s life—the two who could touch his heart the most. Now, with his brother still missing and his father involved in such an incident, even Ye Qing couldn’t remain calm.

”What happened?” Ye Qing clenched his teeth and asked in a deep voice, ”Who did it?”

”It was... It was...” Yuan Xiaoyu seemed to hesitate, and after a long pause, she spoke in a low voice, ”Your uncle...”

”My uncle?” Ye Qing was startled; indeed, he had a few uncles. However, after his mother passed away, he never interacted with these uncles or aunts. For all these years, Ye Qing had no idea where these uncles and aunts lived or how they were getting on. And the first news he heard about them was that they had injured their own father?

”What exactly happened?” Ye Qing asked in a stern voice.

”It’s still about that house of ours...” Yuan Xiaoyu said indignantly, ”They must have heard from somewhere that we traded that house for a bigger one, so they came to our home, wanting dad to give them a share.”

”On what grounds?” Ye Qing said briskly.

Yuan Xiaoyu replied, ”Right, that’s what dad said too. But they argued that the house was bought by dad and... your mother together back then, so there should be your mother’s half in it. Therefore, the part we received from the trade should include your mother’s half.”

Ye Qing knew that the mother Yuan Xiaoyu mentioned was his own birth mother, Liang Xuefang.

”What’s that got to do with them?” Ye Qing asked, feeling that his uncles were being completely unreasonable.

Yuan Xiaoyu explained, ”They claim that Aunt Liang, your mother, borrowed some money from them to buy the house. But the money was never paid back to them, so they’re entitled to half of the house.”

”Bullshit!” exclaimed Ye Qing angrily, ”When mom went to them to borrow money, every single one of them said they had none and refused to lend a penny. It was my grandparents who took out their savings to help us buy that house. Besides, the money was paid back to grandpa a long time ago. What has it got to do with them?”

”But they’re adamant that the money Aunt Liang borrowed was never returned, so they insist on having their share of the house. That’s why they demand half of the house we received from the trade,” sobbed Yuan Xiaoyu. ”They’ve come to make trouble several times, smashing several of our windows.

These past few days, just as we were being relocated, we rented a place to stay, and they even came knocking, accusing dad of trying to avoid them. Things escalated into a huge argument, and they... they got violent and hurt dad!”

Ye Qing, grinding his teeth in fury, asked, ”Is dad seriously injured?”

”He wasn’t beaten severely, but dad has a weak heart. The altercation almost... almost did not pull through...” Yuan Xiaoyu’s voice trembled, ”Fortunately, Boss Yang hired a renowned doctor from the city overnight, saving dad’s life. Big brother, we really owe Boss Yang a lot for this time.

But that’s all the help he could offer since it’s our family issue, and it wouldn’t be right for him to intervene. Now your uncles come around every day looking for trouble. Yesterday, mom was stopped by them in the street while going to the market to buy groceries. If it weren’t for the police arriving, she could have been beaten too; they even stole her bicycle. Brother, when can you come back?”

Ye Qing’s brows furrowed deeply, feeling grateful for what Old Fifth Yang had done, but he was very dissatisfied with his uncles’ actions.

”Take good care of dad; I’m on my way back now!” Ye Qing said gravely, and after hanging up the phone, he let out a long sigh.

As he entered the hall, Elder Master Ding and Tie Yongwen were discussing the matters of the Ding family members. Both were shaking their heads and sighing; the changes in the Ding family over the years had indeed surprised and saddened them both.

Seeing Ye Qing enter with a stern face, Elder Master Ding and Tie Yongwen were taken aback and promptly asked him what had happened.

Ye Qing did not hide anything and briefly recounted his family’s situation. After listening to Ye Qing’s explanation, Elder Master Ding and Tie Yongwen exchanged glances, at a loss for words. Indeed, a judge can hardly try his own family. Since the matter involved Ye Qing’s uncles, it was not for outsiders to intervene.

In fact, given the relationship between Old Fifth Yang and Ye Qing, if it were just some wealthy people bullying Ye Qing’s parents, Old Fifth Yang would certainly not stand idly by. But now that it was Ye Qing’s uncles causing the trouble, Old Fifth Yang found it difficult to get involved, as both parties were Ye Qing’s relatives, and it wasn’t his place to handle the situation.

Therefore, only Ye Qing could personally resolve this matter.

”It sounds like you’ll have to go back yourself, after all,” Tie Yongwen said.

Ye Qing nodded and said, ”Uncles, I’m planning to drive back later. As for Shenchuan City’s matters, I’m afraid I will have to trouble you both. Also please, keep an eye on Wang Tiezhu’s situation. With everything that’s happened, I’m afraid someone might still harbor ill intentions and try to hurt him.”

Elder Master Ding nodded and replied, ”Young man, you can count on us. Starting today, I’ll have someone guard their hospital room twenty-four hours a day. If anything happens to them in Shenchuan City, I am willing to take full responsibility!”

Seeing Elder Master Ding speak so straightforwardly, Ye Qing bowed gratefully and said, ”Thank you, Elder Master Ding!”

”Don’t mention it!” Elder Master Ding waved his hand and asked, ”Where is your hometown?”

Ye Qing replied, ”Jiuchuan County, Pingnan Province.”

Elder Master Ding thought for a moment and then asked, ”Jiuchuan County, is it near Dengyang City?”

Ye Qing was taken aback and said, ”Yes. Elder Master, are you also familiar with that area?”

”I’ve been there during the war.” Elder Master Ding smiled, took a piece of paper from the side, quickly wrote down a string of numbers and handed it to Ye Qing, ”After you go back, if there’s anything that needs to be solved by the authorities, you can call this number. Just mention my name, Ding Hanwu, and most issues should get resolved for you.”

Ye Qing took the slip of paper and once again bent at the waist to bow deeply to Elder Master Ding. It was his first time meeting Elder Master Ding, yet the old man was so considerate of him, which touched Ye Qing deeply.

Tie Yongwen said, ”I don’t have many acquaintances over there, so I won’t say much. Rest assured about things here in Shenchuan City. With me around, no one will dare to cause trouble at any of your places, or at your orphanage!”

”Thank you, Uncle Tie!” Ye Qing repeatedly expressed his gratitude. After entrusting Wang Tiezhu to the two men, he hurried out of the Xingyi Martial Arts School and dashed off straight to Tian Sheng.

On his way, Ye Qing called Black Bear Mad Dog Li Lianshan, asking them to rush to Tian Sheng. He then called Fang Tingyun and Mu Qingrong to inform them that he needed to go home and asked them to help look after the orphanage in the meantime.

Fang Tingyun was quite worried about the situation at Ye Qing’s home, but she didn’t feel it was her place to say too much, only telling Ye Qing not to worry about things here. Mu Qingrong, on the other hand, agreed to help straightforwardly and even planned to visit the orphanage personally to arrange the details.

Having arranged things with the orphanage, Ye Qing finally let out a long sigh of relief. By the time he reached Tian Sheng, Black Bear and Mad Dog Li Lianshan were already there.

Ye Qing did not dare delay and quickly went over the details of his family’s situation. After hearing Ye Qing’s account, Li Lianshan was the first to slam his fist on the table and curse, ”Damn it, are these people sick or something? Even if Aunt Liang had a share in that house, it’s still your inheritance. What does it have to do with them?!”

Ye Qing waved his hand and said, ”Forget it, they’re determined to be unreasonable. There’s no use talking about all this. Li, during my absence, I’m afraid I’ll need to trouble you to look after my places. But rest assured, since Old Master Tie Yongwen has already spoken up, it’s unlikely anyone will make trouble at my places. You just need to keep them running normally.”

”Wait, wait!” Li Lianshan waved his hands, rubbing his temples. He glared at Ye Qing and asked, ”Which old master did you just mention?”

”Old Master Tie Yongwen,” Ye Qing replied with a puzzled look, suspecting Li Lianshan might have hearing issues.

”Tie... Tie... Tie...” Li Lianshan stammered for quite a while without finishing his sentence, utterly shocked as his eyes widened.

”Tie Yongwen, Old Master Tie!” Black Bear said impatiently, ”Did you slack off when you were learning to talk as a kid?”

”Old Master Tie Yongwen!” It was only then that Li Lianshan finally managed to complete the title, and then staring at Ye Qing, he asked, ”Which... which Old Master Tie?”

”Tie Yongwen!” Black Bear touched Li Lianshan’s forehead and asked, ”Are you running a fever or something?”

”Tie Yongwen? Which Tie Yongwen?” Li Lianshan persisted, keen to get to the bottom of it.

”The Tie Yongwen from Xingyi Martial Arts School, the Sect Leader of Southern Xingyi Fist!” Ye Qing clarified.

Li Lianshan’s voice trembled as he asked, ”The... the Tie Yongwen of the Ding Family?”

”Right, right, right, that’s him!” Ye Qing nodded. Had he known that mentioning Tie Yongwen’s identity could clarify things for Li Lianshan, he would have explained it sooner.

Li Lianshan fell into silence for a long half minute before finally coming back to his senses. He appeared calm as he took a deep breath, stood up, walked over to Ye Qing, and suddenly grabbed Ye Qing’s collar, yelling, ”Damn it, you know Tie Yongwen, why didn’t you say so earlier?”

Li Lianshan’s expression was fierce as if he had lost his mind. Ye Qing, completely confused, asked, ”What? What’s the matter? Do you have a grudge against Old Master Tie?”

”Grudge my ass. If I had such a huge enemy, would I still be alive today?” Li Lianshan pointed at Ye Qing’s nose and said, ”You little jerk, you’re so not cool. With such a big backer, you didn’t even tell me. Damn it, last time your friend was caught in the Southern Suburbs Dogfight Arena, I risked my life to save him.

If I had known you were acquainted with Tie Yongwen, I could have just dropped his name, instead of literally fighting for life. Tie Yongwen, big brother Tie Yongwen, those three words, who in Shenchuan City’s underworld wouldn’t respect?”