Urban Martial Saint

Feng Xuehua’s face paled with fright, and the young girl Yingying couldn’t stop crying beside her. The whole family seemed to have lost their pillar of strength. It was fortunate that Ye Qing and Lin Tianyou were there. Lin Tianyou took the old woman’s pulse and checked her breathing before announcing, ”It’s nothing serious, just a fit of rage leading to temporary shock. She’ll be fine after some rest.”

Upon hearing this, Feng Xuehua finally let out a sigh of relief and hurriedly, together with Ye Qing, moved the old lady to a bed in the inner room. As they were still settling her in, a series of hurried footsteps suddenly approached from outside, and several policemen entered the yard.

”Xuehua! Xuehua!” The leading policeman called out loudly from outside.

Feng Xuehua rushed out to see and was taken aback for a moment before asking, ”Bin Zi, what brings you here?”

This policeman was none other than Feng Xuehua’s husband, Zhao Bin, an Assistant Police at the town’s police station.

Zhao Bin asked, ”Has your brother come back yet?”

Feng Xuehua’s expression changed slightly as she responded, ”You... why do you ask?”

Zhao Bin said, ”Your brother stole gold from the mine, and the owners have already reported it. We received the alert and came specifically to arrest him. Xuehua, tell me, where is your brother now?”

Feng Xuehua hastily shook her head, saying, ”I haven’t... I haven’t seen him!”

”You might as well be farting here. Someone at the village entrance saw him; he ran back home. Now you’re telling me you haven’t seen him?” Zhao Bin said angrily, ”I’m telling you, what your brother did this time is despicable. He will definitely face a few years in jail if he’s caught. If you shield him, that’s a crime too. You’ll bear the consequences, understand? It’s best if you’re forthright with me about where he’s gone, or you’ll all be in trouble!”

Feng Xuehua suddenly hesitated, stammering, at a loss for words.

Ye Qing, witnessing this with anger, stepped to the doorway and said sternly, ”They already said they haven’t seen him. If you want to arrest someone, go hurry somewhere else. What kind of man are you, losing your temper at your own wife?”

Zhao Bin became enraged and shot back, ”Fuck, what the hell are you? When is it your turn to butt in here?”

Feng Xuehua hastily interjected, ”Bin Zi, don’t be mad, he... he’s the Qingzi I’ve told you about, the one who went to university!”

”Qingzi?” Zhao Bin looked Ye Qing up and down before saying, ”Oh, so you’re a university student, huh? Humph, what a piece of shit university student. Don’t even know basic manners. What have you learned all these years, stuffed it all into a dog’s stomach? Don’t know to call me uncle when you see me? Fuck, some university student. You think you’re something just because your family, which is worth nothing, has a university student, not knowing probably enrolled at some third-rate tech school – what a piece of shit university student!”

Feng Xuehua was extremely embarrassed and protested, ”Bin Zi, how can you talk like that?”

”Fuck, since when can you order me around?” Zhao Bin glared fiercely and shouted, ”I’m telling you, don’t bring your poor relatives over to me. This isn’t a charity house. Acting all self-important in front of me, thinking you’re actually capable? Bullshit!”

Ye Qing furrowed his brows; by all rights, he was a generation younger than Zhao Bin. However, Zhao Bin was so offensive that Ye Qing had no intention of treating him as an elder anymore.

Ye Qing said coldly, ”Are you done talking? If you’re done, piss off. You’re not welcome here!”

”Wow, fuck, you really are arrogant!” Zhao Bin couldn’t hold back his fury and declared, ”Who the hell do you think you are? You dare tell me to piss off? Do you even know who I am? Are you in such a rush for me to leave because you’re involved in stealing the gold too, in cahoots with Feng Jianshe? Bullshit, I think there’s no need to guess. Arrest him!”

The policemen behind Zhao Bin immediately rushed forward, ready to handcuff Ye Qing. Ye Qing frowned deeply and said in a stern voice, ”Zhao Bin, don’t go too far!”

Feng Xuehua approached Zhao Bin, tugging at his arm and pleaded urgently, ”Bin Zi, please don’t do this, Qingzi is still my nephew after all!”

”Step aside!” Zhao Bin flung his arm, and with a slap, struck Feng Xuehua across the face, furiously declaring, ”I’m warning you, don’t get involved in this, or don’t blame me for turning on you. Hey, you’re saying I’m going too far? Today, I’m really going to be excessive, and what can you do about it? I’m telling you, spill the beans on Feng Jianshe’s whereabouts right now, or I’ll take you back to the station. Let’s see if you’re still tough then!”

Holding her face, Feng Xuehua stood aside and really dared not speak. Ye Qing watched with tightly knitted brows; it was clear that Feng Xuehua’s life these past few years had not been good at all.

”Hey, how can you hit someone?” Lin Tianyou couldn’t help but stand up and object.

”I fucking hit someone, and what are you going to do? She is my wife; I’ll hit her if I want to, do whatever I like. Got a problem with that?” replied Zhao Bin, and with another slap across Feng Xuehua’s face, he asked, ”What now, I hit you, are you going to accept it or not?”

Feng Xuehua, head bowed and tears streaming down, finally nodded after a long while and whispered softly, ”I accept.”

Ye Qing was practically seething with rage and exclaimed, ”Second aunt, what are you afraid of him for? You are a person, you have dignity!”

Feng Xuehua’s tears streamed down her face as she shook her head at Ye Qing and whispered, ”Qingzi, stop talking, apologize to your uncle. This has nothing to do with you, don’t fight with your uncle, please!”

”Apologize? No way!” Ye Qing glared coldly at Zhao Bin and said sternly, ”He should be the one apologizing to me!”

Zhao Bin waved his hand dismissively, ”Damn it, enough, arrest him, arrest him, arrest him!”

Several police officers surrounded them, and one reached out to grab Ye Qing, but was promptly knocked down by a punch from Ye Qing.

”Daring to assault the police!” Zhao Bin roared and grabbed his baton to charge forward.

Feng Xuehua was horrified and hurriedly grabbed Zhao Bin, pleading, ”Qingzi, you... you shouldn’t do this...”

”Get lost!” Zhao Bin raised his baton and smashed it onto Feng Xuehua’s head, causing her to collapse to the ground with a gaping wound, blood pouring out.

”You’re asking for it!” A cold glint flashed in Ye Qing’s eyes as he took down two policemen next to him and charged towards Zhao Bin.

Zhao Bin instinctively raised his baton to strike at Ye Qing, but Ye Qing snatched it away and used it to hit Zhao Bin on the head. The blow was heavy; Zhao Bin fell to the ground, clutching his head and wailing in agony.

The other policemen had been beaten to the ground by Ye Qing as well and were crying out in pain, each clamoring that Ye Qing should be executed. But Ye Qing didn’t take any notice of them. It wasn’t his first time assaulting a police officer, and within the bounds of Dengyang City, he really wasn’t afraid of these cops. Such a trivial matter could be smoothed over by Huang Feiming in minutes!

Feng Xuehua watched in dismay. Honestly, she had always seen these police officers bully others; she had never seen anyone dare to bully them.

”Qingzi, you... you better run...” Feng Xuehua said, standing up while clutching her forehead, ”You’ve injured so many policemen, that’s a serious crime. If they catch you... you will be sentenced!”

”Second Aunt, don’t worry, I’ll be fine,” Ye Qing reassured her, while Lin Tianyou tore his clothes to help bandage Feng Xuehua’s wound.

Ye Qing walked to the door and called Da Fei, who was still with Feng Jianshe. Ye Qing told him to bring Feng Jianshe back while he himself went into the inner room to retrieve the bag of gold.

Soon, Da Fei brought Feng Jianshe back. Feng Jianshe had not wanted to return and had almost been dragged back by Da Fei. Seeing the policemen lying in the courtyard, Feng Jianshe was even more startled and would have run away again if not for Da Fei holding him.

”Uncle, don’t worry, it’ll be okay,” Ye Qing comforted Feng Jianshe, ”Let’s go return the gold to the owner; you won’t be in trouble.”

Zhao Bin shouted while clutching his head, ”Bullshit! Even if you return the gold, it’s useless. You’ve committed theft and assaulted the police; adding up these crimes, none of you will escape!”

Feng Xuehua whispered, ”Bin Zi, don’t be like this, they are still our family after all. If we return the gold, can’t we just let this matter go?”

”Impossible!” Zhao Bin glared at Feng Xuehua and angrily said, ”And you, I tell you, once I get back, we’re getting a divorce immediately. Our family doesn’t have relatives like you!”

”What?” Feng Xuehua was taken aback, her greatest fear being Zhao Bin divorcing her.

”Zhao Bin, remember clearly what you said—that we will divorce once we get back,” Ye Qing said sternly, ”If you don’t divorce my Second Aunt, I’ll be the first to not let you off the hook!”

Zhao Bin exclaimed loudly, ”Damn, as if I needed you to say that, I’ve been wanting to break free from that dead woman for a long time. The sooner the better, I’m still so young, to find another would be too easy. Shit, I’ve been dragged down by you and your poor family this whole time, I’ve been sick of it, the sooner we get divorced, the better!”

”Hmph, fine by me!” Ye Qing sneered, ”You better not regret it!”

Zhao Bin arrogantly yelled, ”Regret? I don’t know the meaning of it!”

Da Fei couldn’t help but give Zhao Bin a thumbs up, saying, ”Damn, that’s badass, a real man. Remember your words, that you don’t know what regret is, so don’t come whining later that you don’t want the divorce!”

”Ah, the both of you,” Lin Tianyou sighed, ”There’s always counsel for reconciliation, never for separation. But,” he said, looking at Feng Xuehua who was covering her face and sobbing, ”I think, divorcing such a person is the wisest decision. This time, I support Ye Zi’s opinion!”

Feng Xuehua cried even harder. She was just a peasant with no education or culture, adept only at household chores. Since marrying Zhao Bin, she had depended entirely on him. So, all this time, no matter how Zhao Bin treated her, she never wanted to divorce because she wouldn’t know how to live afterwards. And now, Zhao Bin had made up his mind about the divorce, and it felt like the sky was falling down on her.

Yet, there were Ye Qing, Da Fei, and Lin Tianyou, making light of the situation, which made her feel hopeless about her life.