Urban Martial Saint

When Ye Qing returned to the Li Family, things had mostly settled down there. The members of the Li Family who had been taken away, along with their families, had all been brought in for questioning, and the villas where they previously stayed had been sealed off. Thus, the Li Family now appeared particularly desolate.

The remaining members of the Li Family were all gathered in Li Changshan’s small courtyard, including Li Bing’en. Although Li Bing’en still appeared foolish and silly, no one in the Li Family dared to underestimate him anymore. Everyone knew that this foolish Li Bing’en was the leader of the younger generation in the Li Family. Of course, many people also felt regret; if only Li Bing’en weren’t foolish, to what astounding level might his current abilities have reached? Perhaps he could have restored the Li Family’s former glory during the peak of Northern Fist King Li Changqing’s era!

While some felt regret, others felt fortunate. For years, Li Bing’en had always been a fool in the Li Family, and many often bullied him, including quite a few juniors from Li Changshan’s side. Now seeing Li Bing’en’s abilities, they felt inherently imbalanced, unable to understand how their intelligence and martial arts skills could lose to a fool. Thankfully for them, Li Bing’en was still a fool; no matter how strong he was, he was always just a fool in their eyes, never able to surpass them.

When Ye Qing arrived at Li Changshan’s courtyard, he happened to catch the end of a Li Family meeting. For the first time, Li Changshan, as the family head, imposed constraints on the Li Family members. The most crucial point was that henceforth, the Li Family must not involve themselves in anything potentially criminal, and everything Li Changyuan had done before must be completely severed.

On this point alone, Ye Qing was very pleased. He had spared no effort in preserving the Li Family because he wanted to keep the Li Family that Third Master Li had established single-handedly, but he did not want the Li Family involved in criminal activities again. The fact that Li Changshan could explicitly prohibit this point meant that, even though the Li Family’s strength had greatly diminished, they were at least on the right path and might someday regain the prosperity they had during Third Master Li’s time.

Seeing Ye Qing come over, Li Changshan dismissed all the Li Family members, keeping Ye Qing behind to discuss the future management of the Li Family with him. Li Changshan was very receptive to Ye Qing’s opinions and considered everything Ye Qing proposed, adopting most of them, which showed that he was a very humble person.

In fact, Ye Qing had always admired Li Changshan. However, the incident where Li Changshan killed Li Changfeng and Li Changyuan that afternoon changed Ye Qing’s view of him somewhat. If it weren’t for the deaths of those two, Ye Qing would certainly have regarded him as having an equivalent status to Li Changqing. But with such an incident occurring, for some reason, Ye Qing felt a sense of wariness towards Li Changshan.

Regarding the Li Family’s situation, Ye Qing did not say much, only offering the most critical advice, which was not to get involved in those illegal activities anymore. After all, the Li Family was a martial arts family, and getting involved in such activities would inevitably ruin the entire Li Family.

After discussing these matters concerning the Li Family, Ye Qing talked with Li Changshan about taking Li Bing’en to the Southern Six Provinces. In the afternoon, Li Changshan had been somewhat reluctant to allow Li Bing’en to go south. However, now he didn’t oppose it anymore and repeatedly instructed Ye Qing to take good care of Li Bing’en.

The two of them didn’t sit for long. After drinking two cups of tea at Li Changshan’s place and finishing discussing Li Bing’en going south, Ye Qing directly got up to leave and went to rest.

Ye Qing planned to stay in the Li Family Courtyard tonight. He intentionally chose the room next to Li Bing’en’s to take care of him. Li Bing’en had demonstrated such impressive skills during the day, and Ye Qing couldn’t shake an uneasy feeling, worried that someone might try to harm him. After all, Li Bing’en was the direct grandson of Northern Fist King Li San. When he was a fool, nobody saw him as a threat despite the frequent teasing. But now, with such strength, it was different. Ye Qing’s staying next door was to guard against any unexpected situations.

Upon reaching the courtyard, Li Bing’en’s room was still lit, and Ye Qing could hear continuous giggling sounds coming from inside, which puzzled him. He walked to Li Bing’en’s door, pushed it open, and saw Li Bing’en sitting on the bed, giggling at something on the bed, not knowing what amused him so much.

”Bing’en, what are you playing with?” Ye Qing walked into the room and glanced at the bed, his expression changing instantly.

On Li Bing’en’s bed, there was a coiled snake. But the most shocking thing was that this snake had two heads, each continuously flicking its tongue, looking very terrifying. Moreover, its tongue was triangular, and its body was covered in scales, clearly an extremely dangerous venomous snake. How did it end up on Li Bing’en’s bed?

”Bing’en, be careful!” Ye Qing hurriedly rushed over, reaching out to grab the venomous snake. However, the snake seemed agitated by his movement and suddenly opened its mouth, biting Li Bing’en’s ankle directly.

”Ah!” Li Bing’en exclaimed in shock, quickly reaching out to pull off the snake. But the snake had two heads, and as he reached out, the other head bit his wrist directly, making Li Bing’en scream miserably and leap from the bed, jumping around trying to shake the snake off.

Even though Li Bing’en was very powerful, he was still inherently silly, having no problems fighting with people but losing his composure when bitten by a venomous snake.

Ye Qing dashed over, appalled by the situation. He tried to grab the snake, but Li Bing’en was jumping too erratically for him to get a hold.

”Bing’en, don’t move!” Ye Qing shouted tensely, holding Li Bing’en’s shoulder with his hand, urgently saying, ”Let me help you!”

Ye Qing initially wanted to restrain Li Bing’en, but Li Bing’en’s strength was far superior, and Ye Qing couldn’t hold him down. Bitten by the double-headed snake, Li Bing’en didn’t feel much pain, but he was so scared he nearly wet himself, unable to hear Ye Qing shouting.

Ye Qing tried several times, yet couldn’t press down Li Bing’en, let alone pull off that double-headed snake. Just as Ye Qing was growing desperate, Li Bing’en’s movements finally slowed, his face turning dark blue, appearing severely poisoned. The venom of this double-headed snake was undoubtedly not simple!

Seeing Li Bing’en in such a state, Ye Qing was shocked. Luckily, there was a chance now; he quickly ran over and with one grab, yanked the double-headed snake off.

The double-headed snake was fierce; when Ye Qing grabbed its tail, it immediately twisted around to try and bite him. However, Ye Qing was not Li Bing’en; after pulling off the snake, he rapidly let go, using both hands to simultaneously seize the snake’s two heads.

When handling a snake, one must grab at the seven inches mark; Ye Qing had grasped the exact spot of the snake’s seven-inch position, causing it to lose its strength. Yet, Ye Qing dared not dawdle, forcefully smashing it against the ground until the snake was dead before releasing his grip.

Looking at the bloody double-headed snake on the ground, Ye Qing was sweating profusely. He’d never encountered such a thing before. Even single-headed venomous snakes were rarely seen; a double-headed venomous snake, this certainly was not naturally occurring, right?

Glancing at Li Bing’en lying beside him, Li was already on the ground, lips tightly shut, face dark blue, shivering uncontrollably, cold sweat covering his forehead. Clearly, the venom of this double-headed snake was indeed severe.

Seeing Li Bing’en in such a condition, Ye Qing was startled. In haste, he dug out the bottle of Ziyu Chenxiang Pill from his belongings and fed one to Li Bing’en. However, the Ziyu Chenxiang Pill seemed to have little effect on the double-headed snake’s venom; Li Bing’en showed little improvement after taking one.

Ye Qing didn’t expect even the Ziyu Chenxiang Pill couldn’t counteract the snake’s venom, growing more worried and pacing anxiously. In his fluster, his left hand inadvertently bumped into the wooden box slung over his back.

This wooden box was precisely the one containing Ye Qing’s Seven-Star Ancient Sword. Inside the wooden box was another exceedingly important item, the Mu Ling Ye Qing had acquired from the Miao Borderlands.

When Ye Qing departed from the Miao Borderlands, the Wood Stretching Gu Master gave him two items: one was the Overlord Spear, one of the Seven Keys of Heaven Earth Man Three Gates; and the other was the Mu Ling. Mu Ling was the Treasure of Zhendong, claimed to counteract all poisons known to man, though no one could verify the truth of this claim.

Ye Qing had heard Wood Stretching mention this before, but since leaving the Miao Borderlands, none of those around him had been poisoned, so the Mu Ling had seen little use, nearly forgotten by Ye Qing. Now, witnessing Li Bing’en afflicted with severe poison, Ye Qing suddenly recalled its existence.

Without hesitation, Ye Qing opened the wooden box directly and took out the Mu Ling.

The Mu Ling was actually a bead, about the size of a lychee, exuding a faint fragrance, quite pleasant. But who would have thought such a small wooden bead could neutralize all poisons?

The moment Ye Qing held the Mu Ling, for some unknown reason, something within his body stirred, as if something was being absorbed by the Mu Ling.

Ye Qing was puzzled. He had held the Mu Ling several times before but never experienced this sensation. What was happening?

However, there was no time for Ye Qing to dwell on these questions. Seeing Li Bing’en at death’s door, Ye Qing hurriedly stuffed the Mu Ling into Li Bing’en’s mouth, pressing it beneath his tongue. This way, he could prevent Li Bing’en from accidentally swallowing the Mu Ling.

After placing the Mu Ling into Li Bing’en’s mouth, Ye Qing suddenly heard a peculiar noise from behind the room, sounding like someone stealthily departing.

Without hesitation, Ye Qing seized the Seven-Star Ancient Sword from the ground and dashed toward the room’s back. Here, a window was present, but covered by protective grates, which needed opening for passage.