Urban Martial Saint

Snake and his gang left Splendid Gold and Jade in a rage, each person’s face etched with resentment, yet none dared linger there. Even on their own turf, they were no match for Ye Qing, let alone on Ye Qing’s territory.

”Snake, what do we do now?” a lackey asked in a low voice, ”Are we just going to go back like this?”

Snake gave him a look, furrowing his brow slightly as he gazed at Splendid Gold and Jade, his face full of fury and helplessness. After a long silence, he gritted his teeth and said, ”Let’s go back first, we’ll talk about the other stuff later.”

”Why don’t we call the police? Let them deal with them,” suggested another lackey.

Someone immediately retorted, ”Are you freaking blind? Call the cops? Don’t you know what kind of relationship Ye Qing has with that Zhao Chengshuang? If we call the cops, they definitely won’t do anything to them; in fact, they might come after us instead.”

”So what do we do? Are we just supposed to swallow our pride and watch several of our brothers get killed by him, doing nothing?”

”But we can’t call the cops; the police in Shenchuan City are utterly useless. Calling them is worse than figuring it out ourselves.”

”Figure what out? Ye Qing is so strong, we’re no match for him!”

Everyone argued back and forth, each with their own opinion, but the goal was the same: they wanted Snake to come up with a way to deal with Ye Qing. However, Snake kept frowning and remained silent. Finally, when the chatter died down, Snake waved his hand and said with a stern voice, ”Enough, let’s go back first and then figure out how to deal with this matter!”

Everyone exchanged glances. Many among them had been bribed by Xu Cunxiao; they wanted Snake to confront Ye Qing, which is why they kept urging Snake to take action against Ye Qing. But no matter what they said, Snake insisted on going back, and they had no choice but to follow him back to Snake Form Gate.

At the same time, in a small alleyway opposite Splendid Gold and Jade, a few people were watching the situation from a distance. One of them was Xu Cunxiao, and the others were the three men from Mr. Wu’s group.

Seeing Snake and his men leave, Mr. Wu immediately frowned and said, ”Third Brother, aren’t these guys scared off by Ye Qing? Just like that, they’re going back. Aren’t they planning on seeking revenge?”

”Given Snake’s character, how could they not seek revenge?” Xu Cunxiao said with a cold smile, ”But even if he’s stupid, he wouldn’t clash head-on with Ye Qing. Taking so many people back with him, it’s very likely he’s planning to wait for the elders of Snake Form Gate to return and deal with this.”

”Oh?” Mr. Wu’s spirits lifted, ”Does that mean our plan is about to succeed?”

”Succeed my ass!” Xu Cunxiao shook his head, ”Now is the critical moment. The elders of the Snake Form Gate are not fools either. Our schemes could fool Snake, but definitely not his elders. So, before the elders of Snake Form Gate return, we must escalate the situation further!”

”How... How do we escalate it?” Mr. Wu asked in surprise, not understanding what Xu Cunxiao meant at all.

”Snake is the son of the Sect Leader of Snake Form Gate, and only if something happens to him will the elders go all out against Ye Qing,” Xu Cunxiao said, a cold smile playing across his lips, ”So, the key to the matter now is how to make Ye Qing kill Snake!”

”That might be difficult, right?” Mr. Wu said, ”I’ve seen it; Ye Qing is very cautious and always maintains that his men don’t clash directly with Snake’s guys. It’s impossible to make him kill Snake!”

”Success depends on the effort; nothing is impossible,” Xu Cunxiao said with a cold laugh, ”This matter is actually quite simple; we just need to enrage Ye Qing.”

”How... How do we enrage Ye Qing?” Mr. Wu asked curiously.

Xu Cunxiao gave him a glance and said with a cold laugh, ”Do you know that Ye Qing has an orphanage under his care...”

Mr. Wu’s expression changed, he took a deep breath and said, ”Third Brother, you mean to let Snake make a move on that orphanage?”

”Exactly!” Xu Cunxiao said with a cold laugh, ”The dragon has its reverse scales, and touching them infuriates it. This orphanage is Ye Qing’s reverse scale; if Snake dares to touch it, Ye Qing will definitely lose his caution. Once this man gets angry, he won’t be as prudent. In the chaos, if Snake accidentally dies at his hands, won’t we have succeeded?”

Mr. Wu slowly nodded, saying, ”Third Brother, your plan is good. But how can we get Snake to make a move against the orphanage?”

Xu Cunxiao sneered, ”I’ve bribed so many people around him, as long as I tell them to do this, they will definitely urge Snake to make a move against the orphanage. Haven’t you seen it? Snake doesn’t have any opinions of his own when it comes to doing things, as long as his men coax him, he’s capable of doing anything!”

Mr. Wu, as if suddenly enlightened, nodded repeatedly and said, ”Third Brother, you really think ahead. It seems that this time, Ye Qing will inevitably make enemies with those seven sects!”

Xu Cunxiao couldn’t stop sneering, his eyes fixated on the splendid Splendid Gold and Jade across the way, glinting with endless chill. This time, he had come with the intention of killing Ye Qing.

Not long after Snake and his men returned to Snake Form Gate, more than a dozen disciples came over, asking about how to deal with Ye Qing.

”You keep talking about dealing with Ye Qing, but with our current situation, can we fight him?” After listening for a while, Snake couldn’t help but complain, stood up angrily, and said, ”Ye himself has the bravery of thousands, and with so many men under him, how can we fight him? I don’t mind seeking revenge, but if we all die, who will avenge us in the future? We must have our revenge, but it can’t mean meaningless sacrifice, right?”

The group exchanged glances, and upon hearing Snake’s words, they realized that he was just wary of Ye Qing’s strength and that was why he dared not seek revenge, not for any other reason. They exchanged looks again, understanding each other’s thoughts.

”Snake, sitting here, Ye Qing’s strength won’t decrease,” one of the disciples said: ”We’re indeed not a match for Ye Qing right now, but to seek revenge, we don’t necessarily have to confront him head-on. We can still resort to some strategy when we act!”

”What strategy?” Snake inquired curiously.

The disciple said, ”Although Ye Qing is very strong, he’s not without weaknesses. We only need to strike at his weak point, then we can have him in our grasp. After that, killing or flaying him, he will absolutely not dare to resist!”

”Weakness?” Snake immediately widened his eyes, urging, ”What weakness does he have?”

”I heard that Ye has an orphanage in the suburbs, and he values those kids a lot. If we can control the children of the orphanage, then we can threaten Ye Qing. At that time, if we want to kill or torture him, he definitely won’t dare to fight back!” The disciple paused, then added: ”Besides, there aren’t many people looking after the orphanage right now. With our manpower, making a move against the orphanage is the easiest!”

”Orphanage?” Snake frowned slightly, and said, ”Isn’t attacking these children a bit too despicable?”

”Snake, we’re just capturing those kids, not killing them, it’s just a threat to Ye Qing. Besides, Ye Qing has killed so many of our injured brothers, aren’t his methods despicable?” Another disciple urgently said: ”Snake, the most crucial thing for us is to avenge our brothers, this is our only chance.”

”Right, Snake, this method is good, this is how we can get our revenge!”

The group, all talking at once, tried to persuade Snake to take this approach, but Snake still hesitated. After a long silence, he waved his hand to quiet everyone down and said with a grave voice: ”I need to think about this matter. All of you go out, gather the brothers together, and I will decide after I’ve thought it over.”

The group looked at each other; they had all been bribed by Xu Cunxiao and were eager for Snake to go along with the plan. But they didn’t dare press too hard for fear that Snake might notice something was amiss. So, they left the room to let Snake consider it by himself.

As soon as they left the room, they immediately summoned all of Snake Form Gate’s men. After waiting for about ten minutes, Snake came out of the room, and everyone immediately looked at him with hopeful eyes.

Snake’s gaze swept over everyone present. Some looked at him hopefully, wanting him to agree to make a move against the orphanage. Others were bewildered, clearly having no idea what was happening. Still hesitating, Snake finally spoke up, ”Fellow brothers, Ye Qing has killed so many of our own. But, Ye Qing is too strong; we are no match for him and can’t avenge our brothers. However, this vengeance must not go unclaimed, so now there’s a method before us. This method can help us get our revenge, but it will also completely ruin our reputation. I don’t know what to choose, so I want to ask for your thoughts, whether you want to take this approach to avenge our brothers, or not!”

Then Snake recounted the idea of striking at the orphanage to everyone, which caused an uproar among those who were initially confused. Having no clue about what had transpired, they didn’t expect the plan would involve targeting children at the orphanage.

”Snake, attacking these kids is illegal!” one of the disciples said anxiously.

”Exactly, they’re just kids after all, it has nothing to do with them. If we attack them, once the word gets out, where can we show our faces?” another disciple shouted.