Urban Martial Saint

Pi Junchao hurried to the reception room, where Ye Qing was already seated, leisurely sipping tea. His expression was serenely indifferent, as if completely unaware of the chaotic fighting outside.

Upon seeing Ye Qing’s demeanor, Pi Junchao’s previously anxious heart also calmed down a great deal. Ye Qing’s composure signified that he wasn’t taking the situation to heart, so Pi Junchao figured he should stay composed as well.

”Brother Ye, how do you have so much free time?” Pi Junchao asked with a light smile as he approached, ”It’s late at night; what brings you here in person?”

”Hehe...” Ye Qing let out a light laugh, glanced at Pi Junchao, and said, ”Brother Pi, we’re all clear-headed here, why bother with such pretense?”

Pi Junchao smiled and said, ”It’s not really pretense; I truly don’t know the purpose of your visit at this hour.”

Pi Junchao paused, looked at Ye Qing, and said, ”Are you here to help me, or are you looking to take advantage of the situation? Honestly, I can’t figure it out!”

”If you’re talking about helping you, I’m not capable of that. It’s certainly not easy to help you under the siege of the two major gangs in Shenchuan City!” Ye Qing said, ”As for taking advantage of the situation, you should know that’s not the kind of person I am.”

Pi Junchao was puzzled, ”You’re not here to help me, nor to go against me. Then, Brother Ye, did you come here just to show your neutral stance?”

”That’s not it either. I’m here mainly to relay a message for someone else.” Ye Qing spoke calmly, ”It’s really been unsettled in Shenchuan City these days. From last night till now, someone has tallied up that nearly twenty-two people have died in this armed conflict, and more than one hundred have been injured. Brother Pi, you and Shangguan Tian and Li Wenyuan are settling your personal grievances, which is indeed exhilarating. But don’t you think this is causing a lot of disturbances to the public?”

Pi Junchao frowned slightly, not understanding what Ye Qing meant.

”Brother Ye, did you come here to talk to me about moral issues?” Pi Junchao asked.

”Moral issues are something both of us understand, so there’s no point discussing them. Let’s talk about the legal side of things instead,” Ye Qing replied, locking eyes with Pi Junchao. ”Brother Pi, you know that my brother Zhao Chengshuang has recently been promoted to Deputy Chief of the Xicheng District Police Bureau. That should have been a good thing, but unluckily, his jurisdiction includes some of your territory. Over the past few days, there have been no fewer than twenty conflicts involving weapons in my brother’s jurisdiction, making it quite tough for him!”

Pi Junchao said gravely, ”You should be saying this to Shangguan Tian and Li Wenyuan, not me. I don’t want to fight, but they might not be willing to let me off the hook!”

”One hand can’t clap alone, after all,” Ye Qing said with a smile. ”In such matters, both sides need to be talked to. I came to see you first today mainly because we have a better relationship. If it weren’t for your care since my arrival in Shenchuan City, I wouldn’t have achieved what I have today. So, my loyalty is with you, Brother Pi. I wanted to discuss this with you first. If possible, I was hoping we could all sit together, talk calmly, and try to resolve this peacefully. What do you think?”

Pi Junchao looked at Ye Qing, his brow furrowing slightly. Even now, he couldn’t understand Ye Qing’s intentions. Logically, Ye Qing should be looking to make demands on the Fierce Tiger Gang during this opportunity. Yet, Ye Qing hadn’t made any specific requests but instead offered to play the role of a mediator. Was this really Ye Qing?

And if they did gather both sides for a talk, Ye Qing wouldn’t gain any advantage. Could it be that he genuinely wanted to quell the conflict?

”Brother Ye, what exactly are you trying to do?” Pi Junchao asked sternly.

”Just trying to help settle things down,” Ye Qing replied with a smile, standing up. ”Tomorrow night, no wait, it should be tonight given the time. At half-past seven this evening, Tian Sheng, at my place, let’s sit down and have a good talk. Each side may bring ten people, and Brother Pi, you’re welcome to join us!”

After finishing, Ye Qing left the room with a light smile. Pi Junchao frowned deeply, still unable to fathom Ye Qing’s true intentions. After consulting with a few elders, they too were utterly confused; none had expected Ye Qing to make such a sudden move and organize a negotiation. What benefit could this hold for him?

”Forget it, since it’s at Brother Ye’s place, I might as well go and see,” Pi Junchao waved his hand decisively and said, ”If I stay at home tomorrow, the Tianqing Gang and Fu Bang will come to kill us anyway. Rather than being chased out of Shenchuan City by them, it’s better to go to Ye Qing’s place and take a chance, to see what he’s really up to!”

The elders nodded continuously, already driven into a corner with nowhere left to turn. At this moment, Ye Qing opened a new path for them, so of course, they would step onto it without hesitation. Even if it were a road to death, it was still far better than having no path and crashing to their demise!

The next morning, Ye Qing sent someone to deliver a message to Shangguan Tian and Li Wenyuan, inviting them to visit Tian Sheng in the evening. These two were even more puzzled; they couldn’t figure out what Ye Qing really wanted to do. However, neither of them was foolish; after discussing it, they decided not to go themselves and instead, sent their Deputy Chiefs to see what Ye Qing was up to.

On Ye Qing’s side, there was no particular activity; everything proceeded as usual. In the morning, he followed Qin Jing to collect money. Da Fei and his men miraculously got up early, took a bunch of people to the outskirts of the city for driving practice, and their spirits were quite high.

After collecting the money, Ye Qing made a trip to the orphanage. The educational aspect had already gotten on the right track. When Ye Qing arrived, five teachers were separately lecturing children of five different ages, and even Wu Yian himself had taken the podium. As for Chen Yuzhong and Deng Xiang, these two were teaching with great zeal. Ye Qing had advanced them a month’s salary the day before, so they could buy some necessities. This amount of money made their work enthusiasm soar, and their lectures were full of intonation and emotion.

Among the five teachers, Mo Xiang was a formal teacher with the highest qualifications and abilities, responsible for teaching the children basic knowledge. When Ye Qing arrived, she was on the podium teaching the children Pinyin. Her classroom had the most diverse group of students, with the youngest being only four or five years old and the oldest around thirteen or fourteen. It looked quite strange to see them all gathered together.

However, the children were all studying very seriously. Whether they were children from the orphanage or those from Erdao Village, they all belonged to the type whose poor families forced them into responsibility early on. Being able to continue their studies was a luxurious matter to them, and not a single one was distracted.

After inspecting the school, Ye Qing was very satisfied with the situation. It happened to be the end of class, so Ye Qing chatted with Wu Yian for a while. The day before, Da Fei had brought two cars over, directly arranging one for the former headmaster and even left a lad to act as his chauffeur, which left the headmaster incredibly flattered. The car wasn’t daringly used but parked at the school, causing envy among the headmasters of other schools in the town. It was known that their assigned cars were broken-down old vehicles, whereas the new car Ye Qing had bought was of much better quality than theirs!

Of course, what made these people envious the most was the high salary Ye Qing offered. By that morning, Wu Yian had already received over a dozen resumes, all from people wanting to apply for a teaching position. Wu Yian chatted casually with Ye Qing for a bit, then hurried off to meet these job applicants. He needed to select those with a sense of responsibility to work there, as the school was in urgent need of such people.

After making a round through the classrooms and greeting the children, Ye Qing was planning to go see Fang Tingyun. Just as he reached the second floor, Zhao Chengshuang called him.

”What’s up?” Ye Qing answered the phone and casually asked while walking.

”Ye Zi, that matter you asked me to investigate, I’ve got the results!” Zhao Chengshuang said.

”What matter?” Ye Qing couldn’t recall at the moment.

”Damn, your brother’s case!” Zhao Chengshuang said: ”You’ve asked Lin Tianhao about it before, haven’t you? The freight handler he told you to look for, I’ve found his information!”

Ye Qing’s expression changed immediately, and he said grimly, ”Are you talking about that Old Bai?”

”That’s right, that Zhou Jianbai!” Zhao Chengshuang said: ”I’m at the station right now. Do you want to come here, or should I have someone deliver the information to you?”

”I’ll come to you!” Ye Qing replied, hung up the phone, and leaped down from the stairwell, rushing out to the yard to drive off at top speed.

On the way, Ye Qing pushed the car to its maximum speed, charging into the Xicheng District police substation like a whirlwind. The people at the substation were now mostly familiar with his car, so no one stopped him as he entered.

Ye Qing got out of the car and headed straight to Zhao Chengshuang’s office. Along the way, not only did no one stop him, but many also greeted him; they were quite familiar with him now.

Right now, Ye Qing had no mind for anything else. He ran into Zhao Chengshuang’s office and demanded, ”Where’s the information? Where is it?”

After taking the Ziyu Chenxiang Pill, Zhao Chengshuang’s recovery was going well, and he now showed no signs of injury. Most crucially, the Bastard had a rosy complexion and appeared in much better health than before he the injury, which made one have to admire the efficacy of the Ziyu Chenxiang Pill.

With his legs crossed, Zhao Chengshuang was sitting in his chair. At Ye Qing’s words, he immediately took out a stack of papers from beside him, handed them to Ye Qing, and said, ”Here’s his information. However, it’s very old information, not too useful. The key for you now is to find out where he is. I’ve checked for you, he hasn’t gone far!”