Urban Martial Saint

The coordination between these two men was truly in sync; if it had been anyone else, they would have definitely not escaped this time. Ye Qing finally understood the ferocity of Li Qiang and his gang. To be known as the Northwest Bandit, even his subordinates were formidable.

However, Ye Qing was no pushover; the life-and-death battles he had experienced over the years at the border had honed his reflexes to be extraordinarily sharp. Seeing that he couldn’t dodge, he stopped trying to avoid them, instead let out a loud shout, lifted the man who was entangling him, and hurled him straight at the man behind him.

The man behind him never expected that Ye Qing would use someone as a weapon. It was too late for him to dodge, and he was knocked to the ground by the man. The dagger in his hand also stabbed into the man’s thigh, causing him to let out a stifled groan, and his grip on Ye Qing loosened a bit.

Ye Qing took advantage of the situation to extricate himself from the man’s grasp, twisted his hand, and dislocated the man’s arm, rendering him completely unable to continue fighting. Then he rushed toward the other man, bringing him down with three punches and two kicks.

After dealing with these two men, Ye Qing then went to open the trunk of the car. Sure enough, as he had expected, Lin Peng was tightly bound and stuffed in the back of the trunk. He could barely move a few fingers, and the noise Ye Qing had heard earlier was made by him tapping on the trunk with these fingers.

Seeing Ye Qing, a spark of life returned to Lin Peng’s eyes, and he grunted a few times.

Ye Qing went over to release him, and as soon as Lin Peng was freed from the ropes, he immediately ran over and kicked the two men wildly.

”Damn it, tying me up, throwing me in the trunk, almost suffocated me to death!” Lin Peng was bursting with anger and kicked them several times before he stopped, turned to Ye Qing, and said, ”Ye Zi, thanks a lot. If it weren’t for you, I might have lost my life this time. Damn it, this Li Qiang, really is a Ruthless Bandit, so tough to deal with!”

The two men, after being kicked several times by Lin Peng, didn’t utter a word, as if they didn’t feel any pain at all. Ye Qing walked up to them, and they stared defiantly back at him, their eyes still filled with ferocity. Bandits from the Northwest were indeed much more formidable than those local thugs in Jiuchuan County, even more so than the gang members in Shenchuan City. No wonder they had injured those police officers; these officers were no match for them!

Ye Qing looked at them and quietly asked, ”Where did Li Qiang go?”

One man snorted coldly and said, ”Big brother has already left Jiuchuan County, you won’t catch him!”

”Oh, feeling quite arrogant, aren’t you?” Lin Peng immediately came over, lifted his foot to kick again, but Ye Qing stopped him with his hand.

”You don’t need to say; I already know!” Ye Qing said with a light smile, ”Li Qiang hasn’t left Jiuchuan County at all!”

The expressions on the men’s faces changed drastically, and they stared at Ye Qing in astonishment. After a moment, they simultaneously said, ”Hmph, big brother has already left Jiuchuan County, you don’t need to try to trick us into talking. It’s useless. We have seen all sorts of people, and we’ve seen plenty like you. Did you really think a few words could scare us?”

”Damn, these bastards, they are really too arrogant!” Lin Peng angrily said, ”Ye Zi, don’t stop me, let me beat them up!”

Ye Qing continued to restrain Lin Peng, and said to the two, ”I’m not tricking you. I not only know that Li Qiang is still in Jiuchuan County, I also know that he has gone to his mother’s grave.”

Upon hearing this, the men’s faces changed dramatically, and they could no longer maintain their composure.

”You… don’t talk nonsense…” one man said shakily, his twitching facial muscles betraying his emotions.

”Nonsense or not will soon be revealed,” Ye Qing said with a light smile. ”It just so happens, let’s take a trip together and see whether I’m talking nonsense or not.”

With that, Ye Qing promptly stuffed the two men into the car. Lin Peng watched Ye Qing in amazement, and said, ”Ye Zi, you’re not serious, right? Is Li Qiang really still in Jiuchuan County?”

Ye Qing replied, ”Of course he is.”

Lin Peng immediately became excited, ”Then what are we waiting for? I’m going to call some people over to help right now; we can’t let him get away no matter what!”

”No hurry,” Ye Qing waved his hand, ”Come with me first and see for yourself.”

Seeing Ye Qing’s confident demeanor, Lin Peng didn’t fuss any further and merely followed Ye Qing as they drove away from the riverbank.

Da Fei was waiting outside the riverbank and was greatly surprised to see Ye Qing bringing Lin Peng over. He couldn’t help saying, ”Brother, you were right! They really hadn’t left Jiuchuan County!”

Initially, Da Fei, like Wang Yuanbo, believed that it was impossible for Li Qiang to return to Jiuchuan County. Now, he was utterly convinced. Ye Qing had rescued Lin Peng unharmed in such a short time!

Ye Qing used the rope he had just used to tie up Lin Peng to securely bind the two men. Then he drove out of the city, heading to the mountain where Li Qiang’s mother was buried. Ye Qing got out of the car, asked for the exact location of Li Qiang’s mother’s grave, and instructed Lin Peng to drive away from there, not to return to the county town, not to go too far, and especially not to contact Wang Yuanbo—just wait for his call.

Ever since the last incident, Lin Peng had absolutely obeyed Ye Qing’s commands. Hearing Ye Qing’s instructions now, although unsure what he intended to do, Lin Peng still drove away as told.

Ye Qing walked up a small path on the mountain and, after about fifteen minutes, finally arrived near a waste ground behind the mountain.

Li Qiang’s mother’s grave was located on this waste ground, and currently, two people were standing there. A fire was burning in front of the grave, illuminating the faces of both individuals.

One of them, neatly dressed with tidy hair, seemed rather decent except for a foolish grin plastered across his face—it was the same fool Ye Qing had encountered before. The other man was not very old, yet his face bore a weather-beaten look. Tall and broadly shouldered, his mere presence felt intimidating.

Without a doubt, this man had to be the fool’s brother, the Northwest Bandit, Li Qiang!

Li Qiang placed a bundle of paper horses and paper carts into the bonfire, his movements slow and careful, showing no hint of worry. It was as if he was not in the perilous Jiuchuan County or as if he utterly disregarded the police’s pursuit.

After all the articles were burned in front of the grave, Li Qiang knelt and deeply kowtowed nine times. Then, he stood up, helped the fool to bow a few times, and tidied up the items in front of the grave.

”Brother, go play over there for a while.” Li Qiang pulled a small toy from his pocket and handed it to the fool, sending him away.

Seeing this, Ye Qing knew Li Qiang had spotted him. It seemed that the Northwest Bandit was even more formidable than he had imagined!

Ye Qing no longer hid himself and walked straight out from behind the trees. Li Qiang stood in front of the grave, quietly watching Ye Qing approach. His expression was calm, revealing nothing unusual. It wasn’t until Ye Qing was right in front of him that he finally spoke, ”You are not a police officer.”

”No,” Ye Qing replied.

Li Qiang frowned and said solemnly, ”If you are not a police officer, why are you looking for me? For money? Or for power?”

Ye Qing smiled lightly and said, ”What if I told you I just came to see you? Would you believe that?”

”See me?” Li Qiang paused, staring at Ye Qing for a long time before saying, ”To me, there are only two types of people in this world: my friends and my enemies. There are no spectators in my life!”

”Hahaha...” Ye Qing laughed heartily, ”To me, there are also only two kinds of people in the world: good people and bad people. However, I believe that many bad people can become good ones!”

Li Qiang said sternly, ”Do you think I’m a good person or a bad person?”

Ye Qing replied, ”If you stop killing people from now on, you can be a good person!”

”Stop killing? Hmm, what do you think?” Li Qiang’s expression turned icy as he spoke, ”I started killing when I was ten years old. Over the years, I’ve forgotten how much blood these hands have been stained with. Why should I stop killing? Society itself is predatory. If I don’t kill others, others will kill me. If I want to live, truly live, I must kill all those who wish to kill me.”

”There are many people in this world who have never bloodied their hands and they still live well,” Ye Qing said, looking at Li Qiang, ”Why make life so difficult for yourself? By letting go of some things, you can lighten many burdens.”

”I can’t let go now that I’ve come this far,” Li Qiang slowly shook his head, his eyes suddenly flashing as he said coldly, ”If you want to fight me, then fight. If you don’t want to fight, then don’t block my path.”

Ye Qing sighed and said, ”Actually, ever since I learned about you, I’ve wanted to meet you. I always felt you were a person of loyalty and righteousness, while those from the Lu family deserved their fate. So, I never wanted to get involved, never wanted you to get caught by the police. But now, it seems that if I let you go today, who knows how many more will die by your hand in the future.”

”Why bother saying useless things? If you want to catch me, you’ll have to prove your capability!” Li Qiang bellowed suddenly and charged toward Ye Qing. Before he reached him, he leaped up and kicked at Ye Qing.

Li Qiang’s attack was fierce, his strength and speed were much greater than even Tie Yongwen’s top disciple. His reputation on the Northwest Road was indeed not unearned!

Ye Qing dodged the kick and reached to grab Li Qiang’s clothes. However, Li Qiang was ready, counterattacking with a punch. Ye Qing couldn’t dodge and had to clinch his extended hand into a fist, clashing with Li Qiang’s punch.

Li Qiang was sent flying two meters back by Ye Qing’s punch, landing and taking a step backward. Ye Qing also stepped back a few steps, showing the two were almost evenly matched in strength.