Urban Martial Saint

The police said, immediately gesturing, and several officers at his side came over and surrounded Ye Qing and Feng Jianshe in the middle.

Feng Jianshe was very scared, staggering back a few steps, his face showing utter helplessness.

”Uncle, don’t worry, don’t worry, there will be no problems,” Ye Qing whispered a few words of comfort to Feng Jianshe, then turned and said, ”This time, my uncle’s mistake was unintentional. The items have already been returned to you, and my uncle has a good attitude towards self-surrender. I hope you will judge the matter seriously. As for my uncle, you can take him back to the station first. But I warn you, when my uncle goes, he does not have a scratch on him. I will visit him this afternoon, and if any changes occur, you all will have to take full responsibility!”

Ye Qing’s words were said with such force that it made the officers somewhat afraid.

Hou Renkang, however, let out a cold laugh and said, ”What a joke, as if you don’t need to go to the station yourself. You’re his accomplice; you need to come back for investigation too. Where else did you think you were going?”

The police officer’s eyes lit up and said, ”Right, right, right, you must come back with us!”

Ye Qing frowned and said, ”I hope you watch your words and not wrongly accuse innocent people. Without evidence, you can’t just arrest me!”

The police officer retorted, ”Damn it, you came with him, what the hell more evidence do you need? It’s obvious you two are in cahoots, stole the gold from the mine, and when the police chased you down, you had no choice but to surrender. No, this isn’t even a surrender; it’s more like throwing yourself into the net!”

Hou Renkang sneered from behind, ”Humph, no need to waste breath on him, just take him straight back!”

Ye Qing gave Hou Renkang a glance, then looked at the police officer, and finally understood what Qin Jing had said. This Hou Renkang was truly a heartless fiend; even after the items had been returned, he still wanted to drive people to a dead end.

Ye Qing asked in a deep voice, ”The items have been returned to you, why must you be so relentlessly aggressive?”

Hou Renkang immediately replied, ”What relentless aggression? I am just doing my job. Oh, you steal gold today, send it back, and then it’s as if nothing happened? What if someone else steals the factory’s gold next time and, if the police don’t surround them, they run off with the gold—who’s going to cover the factory’s losses then? I’ll tell you, in these cases, one must be made an example of to ensure such things won’t happen again.”

”My uncle is the only breadwinner in the family. If you send him to jail, how will his family survive?” Ye Qing looked at Hou Renkang earnestly and said, ”Everyone makes mistakes. Since he has returned the items, and moreover, hasn’t caused any damage, why can’t you give him a chance?”

Hou Renkang waved impatiently and said, ”I don’t have time to care about his family affairs. Whether they live or die is none of my concern. Right now, I’m focusing on this theft, and you, his accomplice, aren’t going to escape either!”

Ye Qing nodded slowly and said, ”You’re saying that I’m his accomplice. Alright then, I ask you, when did your gold go missing?”

”At eight-thirty this morning, when we checked the storeroom, the gold was already gone,” Hou Renkang replied coldly.

”Eight-thirty this morning, right, good, I happen to have an alibi,” Ye Qing took out his phone, dialed a number, stepped aside to speak a few words, then turned around and said, ”Which one of you is in charge? Come take a call!”

The police officer and Hou Renkang looked at each other, Hou Renkang gave him a look and said, ”No worries, as long as it’s within our Jiuchuan County’s turf, don’t be afraid of him!”

Confidence restored to the police officer, he went over and took the phone, saying brashly, ”Who is this?”

”Who are you?” a voice came from the other end of the line.

”Zhang Tianli from Zhongtang Township police station!” the police officer said arrogantly.

”Oh, Little Zhang,” the person on the other end spoke deliberately, ”This is Wang Yuanbo!”

”Wang Yuanbo?” Zhang Tianli was first taken aback, then his expression changed, and he said, ”Wang... Director Wang?”

In that moment, Zhang Tianli’s mind went blank. Could it really be County Chief Wang Yuanbo on the line? How was that possible?

Wang Yuanbo said, ”I just heard from Little Ye about you suspecting him of stealing the factory’s gold? Is that true?”

”Ah, that... that... we... we actually suspect he’s an accomplice of the thief...” Zhang Tianli said awkwardly, ”But with Director Wang personally making the call, I think... this surely doesn’t count as being an accomplice...”

”So just because I make a phone call, I’m suddenly an accomplice? By making a call, the criminal is no longer a criminal? What kind of fucked-up logic is that? Is this how you be a cop?” Wang Yuanbo cursed furiously, then demanded, ”When did the items go missing?”

Zhang Tianli, splattered with verbal blood, didn’t dare utter a rebuttal and said in a low voice, ”They were already gone when we checked the storeroom at 8:30 this morning. But, it’s possible they were taken before 8:30, or even last night, we can’t be sure!”

Wang Yuanbo said, ”I can vouch for that. Last night, Little Ye attended a meeting at the Education Bureau with the Municipal Police Chief Director Huang. Some of the county’s main leaders were there too; they can all testify to Little Ye’s innocence. As for after that, Little Ye was mostly with Director Huang, and he can vouch for that as well. Do you have any questions now?”

Zhang Tianli hesitated then asked in a low voice, ”This...Which Director Huang are you talking about?”

Finally, Wang Yuanbo couldn’t contain his rage anymore and exploded, ”Fuck, the Municipal Police Chief Director Huang, who the fuck else do you think I’m talking about? Has your brain been soaked in piss? I’ve spelled it out for you, and you still don’t get it? What, are you trying to say Little Ye is that person’s accomplice too? According to you, Director Huang and several county leaders can prove Little Ye’s absence from the scene. Are they supposed to be his accomplices as well? Jesus, have you lost your fucking mind by eating shit?”

Zhang Tianli was dumbstruck by the scolding, and it took a while before he regained composure and hastily said, ”I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Director Wang, I...I know what to do now!”

”You’d better fucking listen to me!” Wang Yuanbo paused, then lowered his voice and said, ”That Ye Qing is a friend of Director Huang, and no matter what happened, you’d better handle it properly. If not, I swear you’ll be the first I won’t let off the hook!”

”Yes, yes, rest assured, rest assured” Zhang Tianli replied repeatedly, his expression the very picture of awkwardness.

On the side, Hou Renkang watched Zhang Tianli’s phone call with some surprise, not knowing what had happened. Seeing Zhang Tianli hang up, he quickly walked over and asked, ”What’s going on? What happened?”

Zhang Tianli glanced at Hou Renkang and, without warning, slapped him twice across the face, cursing, ”Motherfucker, did you set someone up on purpose?”

”Huh?” Hou Renkang, struck dumb, stared at Zhang Tianli in shock, completely clueless about what was going on.

”Through my investigation, your factory has been missing some gold every so often, and you’ve always reported it as worker theft. Now, I suspect that you’ve been pocketing the gold and then framing the workers!” Zhang Tianli waved his hand and ordered, ”Take him back with you!”

The police officers were clearly baffled, not understanding what had gotten into Zhang Tianli.

”What the hell are you trying to do, Zhang Tianli?” Hou Renkang shouted angrily, ”If you want to go crazy, go do it somewhere else. Push me too far and see if I don’t make you unfit to serve as the station head!”

Upon hearing this, Zhang Tianli immediately started punching and kicking Hou Renkang, driving him back repeatedly.

The security staff, factory workers, and the few police officers were all stunned, wondering if Zhang Tianli was possessed.

Out of everyone on the scene, only Ye Qing knew what was actually happening. It was clear that Wang Yuanbo had put pressure on Zhang Tianli.

Ye Qing hadn’t planned to blow the situation out of proportion. He intended to return the items and then reason with Hou Renkang, asking to not hold Feng Jianshe responsible. If need be, he was willing to pay some money to compensate for Hou Renkang’s loss. After all, Feng Jianshe had stolen someone’s property, and they were clearly in the wrong. But Hou Renkang was just too malicious, intent on pushing Feng Jianshe to a dead end and having the gall to frame Ye Qing. Left with no choice, Ye Qing had to call Wang Yuanbo to sort things out.

Over the past few days, Wang Yuanbo had been ill at ease. With Jiuchuan County experiencing such major cases, and the unresolved matter where his brother-in-law had hit Xu Changzhi, he realized that neither Ye Qing nor Xu Changzhi were people he could afford to offend. He’d been pondering how to reach out to Ye Qing to help smooth things over with Xu Changzhi, then he received Ye Qing’s call explaining the situation.

Wang Yuanbo was nearly fuming to death. He hadn’t even managed to build a good relationship with Ye Qing yet, and now Zhang Tianli had gone and offended him. As Zhang Tianli was under his command, he had to take some responsibility for the incident. Although Wang Yuanbo initially spoke to Zhang Tianli in an even tone, he was actually seething with anger and eventually gave Zhang Tianli a good tongue-lashing.

Zhang Tianli wasn’t stupid; he quickly realized that the referenced Director Huang must be the Municipal Police Chief Huang Feiming. Whatever the relationship between Huang Feiming and Ye Qing was, the fact that Wang Yuanbo got so worked up proved Ye Qing was no ordinary person. Thinking about how he had just offended Ye Qing, he had no choice but to find trouble with Hou Renkang to win Ye Qing’s favor.

Hou Renkang was the most innocent—he had no idea what was happening and certainly didn’t know Ye Qing’s status, yet he was viciously beaten up by Zhang Tianli. Hou Renkang might have had some clout in Zhongtang Township, but Zhang Tianli was the police station chief—who would dare to stop him?

”Good beating, keep at it, hit him harder...” Qin Jing clenched his fists at the side, whispering encouragements excitedly.

Seeing his thrilled expression, Ye Qing couldn’t help but feel speechless. This guy really loved watching the drama unfold.

Zhang Tianli circled Hou Renkang and beat him for nearly five minutes, with Hou Renkang bleeding from the mouth and nose, until Zhang Tianli, panting heavily, finally stopped.