Urban Martial Saint

Wu Yian won’t be waking up for the time being. Finding a new principal isn’t too difficult anyway, since the orphanage under Ye Qing offers very attractive conditions. As long as Ye Qing puts the word out, there will undoubtedly be plenty of people eager to apply.

However, Ye Qing wasn’t considering it just yet. Although the orphanage was his creation, he wasn’t stationed there daily to keep watch. Most of the orphanage’s operations had to be handled by the principal. In other words, the true manager of the orphanage was the principal there. So, in looking for a new principal, the candidate not only needed to be capable but also, most critically, had to have a sense of responsibility and compassion akin to Wu Yian’s. Otherwise, even if someone could manage the orphanage, if they didn’t truly care for the children, what would be the point of hiring them?

Ye Qing had great trust in Wu Yian. When Wu Yian was in charge of the orphanage, Ye Qing never had to worry about anything related to it. Now that Wu Yian had collapsed, the orphanage matters were genuinely giving Ye Qing a headache. Yet, Ye Qing was still unwilling to look for someone else. The best course would be to find a way for Wu Yian to wake up and resume managing the orphanage.

The best way to wake up Wu Yian was to treat him using the acupuncture techniques recorded in the Acupoint Seeking Technique. However, the acupuncture methods left behind by Divine Doctor An Shiping were exceptionally complicated—beyond the skills of ordinary acupuncture practitioners. The only option was to find a few acupuncture experts to save Wu Yian, but it wasn’t easy to find such experts.

According to several veteran Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners, since the rise of Western medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine itself had been in decline. Acupuncture, in particular, was disappearing rapidly. These days, it might be nearly impossible to find anyone nationwide who could carry out the intricate methods recorded by An Shiping. Thus, this was a rather troublesome matter for now.

”The matter of selecting a new principal can wait for now!” Ye Qing waved his hand and said, ”After a while, who knows? Maybe Principal Wu can come back. I still trust him to manage the orphanage!”

”Ye Zi, are you losing it?” Li Lianshan remarked. ”Of course I trust Principal Wu with the orphanage too. But the real issue here is, can he still manage it in his current state? The man had a stroke! He could end up entirely paralyzed. I know you respect him—the old guy might be stubborn, but he genuinely cares for the children, and I respect him as well. But the immediate concern is that the orphanage urgently needs a manager. That’s the pressing issue here. Strokes… I’ve never heard of any effective treatment for them. Don’t put all your hopes on something unlikely. Even if Principal Wu gets discharged, he won’t have the strength to manage the orphanage anymore!”

Ye Qing replied, ”Who says strokes can’t be treated?”

Li Lianshan countered, ”Come on, even though I’m not a doctor, I know that much. My second uncle had a stroke once; he ended up completely paralyzed. There’s no cure for a disease like that!”

”Old Li’s right; it’s really untreatable!” Zhao Chengshuang nodded in agreement.

”We’ll discuss this matter later…” Ye Qing waved his hand and said, ”By the way, did you guys look into the situation of that child who arrived at the orphanage yesterday morning?”

”Damn, I almost forgot about that!” Zhao Chengshuang slapped his thigh and said, ”I’ve already looked into the boy’s family situation. He’s not from Shenchuan City; he’s from Tianhui City. His father’s name is Ding San, and they’re from a town near Tianhui City. Their family was doing quite well for themselves, but recently, something happened over there that completely destroyed their family!”

”What happened?” Ye Qing asked in surprise, recalling what the little boy had said last time about the police beating him. It had struck Ye Qing as odd—children don’t usually lie, so there had to be something deeper going on.

”This matter starts with something that happened at a high school over there…” Zhao Chengshuang sighed and explained, ”It all began with a campus violence incident. Eight high school girls were taken one by one to the dormitory restroom and were beaten, humiliated, and forced to sleep with certain people by six older female students. When the eight girls refused, those six girls took turns beating them all night. By the next morning, one of the girls had suffered internal bleeding and was taken to the hospital, which is when the incident came to light.”

”What the hell? How could such a thing happen?” Li Lianshan’s eyes widened. ”Couldn’t those eight girls fight back?”

Zhao Chengshuang glanced at him and said, ”Do you think everyone’s as tough as you? Those eight girls were all straight-laced, obedient types at home. But those six older girls were connected to petty gangsters outside of school. At school, they acted like little tyrants, and no one dared to cross them. Those kids who were beaten didn’t dare fight back either; they were terrified of being targeted by those girls. And let me tell you, those six little troublemakers were vicious. After medical examinations, seven of the eight victims were declared to have suffered serious injuries. Can you imagine how ruthless they were?”

Ye Qing furrowed his brow. Hearing about this incident made him think about his younger brother, Yuan Xiaozheng’s experience at school. Campus violence—unfortunately, it was prevalent everywhere.

”Dammit!” Li Lianshan roared angrily, ”If it were me, I’d fight them no matter what!”

Zhao Chengshuang went on, ”There was one girl who tried to fight back, and not only did those six girls assault her, but her family was also beaten by the gangsters involved. This incident caused quite the stir at the school back then, so after that, no one dared to resist those six girls.”

”What? Even their family got beaten?” Li Lianshan asked, incredulous. ”Where were the police? Didn’t they do anything about it?”

Zhao Chengshuang shrugged and said, ”That’s where things got really complicated. It turned out the local police were in cahoots with those six girls. The earlier incident was swept under the rug, and even the later case involving the eight girls was completely hushed up. In the end, all six girls were released without any charges. This caused an uproar, and the victims’ parents tried to appeal the decision. But what happened? They were silenced—threatened, beaten, and forced to abandon their cases.”

”Those little troublemakers, they really have that much influence?” Li Lianshan asked, wide-eyed.

”It’s not about their influence; it’s who’s backing them that matters!” Zhao Chengshuang paused before continuing in a heavy tone, ”I heard that those six girls were being groomed by someone with considerable power in the area. Their job was to scout for pretty high school girls at school, and this person would then send those girls as ’gifts’ to powerful officials or wealthy businessmen in exchange for benefits. Because of this, all incidents involving those six were forcibly suppressed, no matter how big they were.”

Li Lianshan flew into a rage. ”Goddammit! Those high schoolers are just kids! That bastard, does he even count as human?”

Zhao Chengshuang shrugged again and said, ”The little boy who arrived at the orphanage yesterday is from one of the affected families. Ding San’s daughter was one of those eight girls beaten by the six. Later, when they returned to school, they sought her out for revenge. Unable to bear the torment, she jumped to her death.

”What!?” Li Lianshan’s jaw dropped. ”That’s… that’s insane! They drove her to suicide?”

”Ding San’s family was devastated by the incident. They were already too afraid to file any appeals, but the death of their daughter drove them to desperate measures. They kept appealing, but eventually, Ding San was falsely accused of a crime and arrested. His wife was sent to a psychiatric hospital, where she later died. His parents were hit and killed by a truck near their home. All that’s left of the family is that boy.” Zhao Chengshuang sighed. ”While Ding San was incarcerated for several months, no one in the town dared to take in his son. That boy managed to survive by scavenging for food in trash bins on the streets. When Ding San returned home, everything had been destroyed—only he and his son were left. But how the boy made it all the way to Shenchuan City remains unclear. Did Ding San get arrested again? It doesn’t seem likely. So, how did his son end up here from Tianhui City?”

”Yeah, what’s going on?” Li Lianshan echoed with confusion.

”This is bad!” Ye Qing abruptly slapped the table and said in a deep voice, ”That child must have been sent here by Ding San. He’s planning to take revenge!”

”What?” Both Zhao Chengshuang and Li Lianshan stared at Ye Qing in shock. ”Surely not?”

”Why not?” Ye Qing said. ”His entire family of four was wiped out because of this. If you were in his position, wouldn’t you want revenge too? But before he could act, he had to ensure his son’s safety—so he sent the boy to our orphanage. Now that the child is secure, he’s probably going back to settle the score!”

”Damn right, he should take revenge!” Li Lianshan gritted his teeth. ”Those bastards deserve to be slaughtered, every single one of them!”

Ye Qing ignored Li Lianshan and quickly walked to the door, calling Black Bear in.

”Xiong Zi, head to Tianhui City right now and find a man named Ding San. No matter what, bring him back to Shenchuan City!” Ye Qing said in a grave tone. ”I’ll get in touch with Director Liu so the police can assist you in any way they can!”

”Understood!” Black Bear didn’t hesitate for a second. He walked out, taking a few men with him as they headed straight for Tianhui City.

”Why are you in such a hurry?” Li Lianshan asked curiously. ”The man’s seeking revenge, and you want to bring him back? Are you planning to stop him from avenging his family?”

”I’m not stopping him,” Ye Qing said seriously. ”The problem is, does he even have the ability to pull it off? He’s just an ordinary man—how many of them could he take down? If he dies, what happens to his son? He’d truly end up an orphan!”