Urban Martial Saint

(This book has been renamed as ”Urban Martial Saint”, when searching, just search for Urban Martial Saint.)

Nine-Fingers Wu Yong’s words left everyone stunned. Ye Qing immediately came over and asked in surprise, ”Didn’t you just say that the dragon crocodile doesn’t have a shell?”

”The dragon crocodile doesn’t have a shell, but if you look closely...” Nine-Fingers Wu Yong flipped the dragon crocodile over, pointing to the place where the dragon crocodile’s body was connected to the shell, and said, ”Look here carefully.”

Ye Qing looked closely and saw that there were some scars at the point where the dragon crocodile’s body was connected to the shell. Although the dragon crocodile’s body was attached to the shell, it was clear that this was definitely not natural, but something added later by human hands.

”This...” Ye Qing widened his eyes and said in a deep voice, ”You mean, the shell was deliberately put on by someone?”

”Yes!” Nine-Fingers Wu Yong stood up, frowning at the pond ahead, and said in a deep voice, ”The dragon crocodile is extremely powerful and ferocious. Normally, no one can control it. Who on earth could forcibly put such a shell on the dragon crocodile? It’s truly astonishing. It seems this tomb is not simple at all. What is the identity of the tomb owner to arrange such a terrifying thing for tomb guarding?”

Ye Qing looked at the dragon crocodile, also in shock. It seems this must be the means of the Demon Sect. The people of the Demon Sect, to prevent others from obtaining Patriarch Bodhidharma’s secret techniques, went to great lengths. It seems that the people of the Demon Sect are very wary of Patriarch Bodhidharma’s secret techniques. One wonders what is hidden inside that makes the Demon Sect so nervous?

”Looking at this situation, someone must have used some drug to knock the dragon crocodile out and then put the shell on.” Ye Qing said, ”If the dragon crocodile were awake, it would be impossible to put the shell on.”

”That seems to be the only possibility.” Nine-Fingers Wu Yong nodded slowly, then frowned again and said solemnly, ”Mr. Ye, we must be careful this time entering the tomb. The dragon crocodile alone is already extraordinary. The other party even added such a shell on its back. If I’m not mistaken, this shell should be the legendary Dragon Turtle Shell. The shell is extremely hard, and ordinary swords and even famed instruments can’t penetrate it!”

”Dragon Turtle Shell?” Ye Qing was astonished. It was the first time he had heard of this name. However, he knew the tortoise shell was extremely hard. The scabbard of the Ancestor of Miao Dao couldn’t harm it, so one can imagine the hardness of the shell. Judging by this, the shell’s hardness is probably not much less than that of the Devouring Demon Flower.

”Dragon turtles were also a kind of creature in the past, like the dragon crocodile, they are long extinct. I never imagined that someone could find these two creatures and transform them into one.” Nine-Fingers Wu Yong’s face was full of uncertainty. These things had a great impact on him. He had been tomb-robbing for years, but he had never been so shocked as this time.

”Since this thing is so rare...” Handsome Fatty Wang suddenly asked from behind, ”Why has no one discovered it for such a long time? The dragon crocodile was hiding in this mountain spring. Don’t the people from the nearby village come here?”

”There’s only one village nearby, and there’s a small river in the village, which is enough for their water needs. This mountain is a Stone Mountain, very barren, and the villagers rarely come here.” Nine-Fingers Wu Yong paused for a moment and continued, ”Moreover, I’ve inquired in the village, and they know about the dragon crocodile, but those people don’t know it’s a dragon crocodile—they just think there’s a Divine Dragon in the mountain spring, so no one dares to approach this place. Who can discover the true form of the dragon crocodile? Besides, the dragon crocodile only appeared in recent decades; it wasn’t here before.”

”Oh?” Ye Qing asked in surprise, ”There wasn’t a dragon crocodile here in the past?”

”I inquired in the village, and the elders there mentioned this. When they were young, they often came to swim in the mountain spring and never encountered anything unusual. It was only a few decades ago that an invading army passed through here and clashed with the local garrison by the mountain spring. The locals were outnumbered and were captured by the invading army. Those invaders were extremely brutal, slaughtering the local garrison by the mountain spring, staining the pond red with bloodwater. That night, the invading army camped here, and in the middle of the night, there were screams of panic. Almost the entire invading army was wiped out. Some who escaped were so terrified they lost their minds and kept claiming it was the Dragon God manifesting,” Nine-Fingers Wu Yong said, ”Since then, there’s been talk of a Divine Dragon appearing in the mountain spring. Initially, the villagers didn’t pay much attention, but after some villagers were attacked by the dragon crocodile, they no longer dared to go near this place.”

Nine-Fingers Wu Yong continued, looking around, ”This village is very remote, and outsiders rarely come here. The villagers are superstitious and merely believe it’s the manifestation of the Dragon God, without realizing it’s the dragon crocodile causing trouble. Therefore, no one ever investigated it, and this matter of the dragon crocodile persisted until now. In fact, if you hadn’t killed and dragged out this dragon crocodile today, even I would have continued to think it was a water monster!”

”I see!” Ye Qing nodded slowly. In such a remote village, indeed, no one would bother to investigate such matters.

”You just said that decades ago, this dragon crocodile took out an entire invading army?” Handsome Fatty Wang furrowed his brow and said, ”This dragon crocodile has lived a really long life then, hasn’t it?”

”The dragon crocodile is said to be the offspring of a Divine Dragon and a crocodile. But in reality, there’s no such thing as a Divine Dragon in this world. The so-called dragon crocodile, as I’ve read in records, is a product created by ancient people by crossbreeding crocodiles and large snakes, combining the advantages of both. It’s a very fierce species,” Nine-Fingers Wu Yong said in a deep voice. ”Both large snakes and crocodiles are species with very long lifespans. Especially large snakes, the ones known to live long have already reached ages of one to two hundred years. And in fact, that’s just what’s been reported; those that haven’t been reported, who knows how long they can live. The lifespan of a dragon crocodile often surpasses even that of a large snake. So, how long a dragon crocodile can truly live is something no one knows!”

Ye Qing looked at the dragon crocodile, furrowing his brows tightly. Patriarch Bodhidharma lived nearly a thousand years ago. It’s been a thousand years since his passing, hasn’t it? After his passing, the people of the Demon Sect built this Great Tomb outside the place where he passed away to prevent his Secret Technique from being spread. It means that this dragon crocodile must have been left here by the people of the Demon Sect a thousand years ago. Could it be that this dragon crocodile has lived for over a thousand years?

”Although the dragon crocodile is powerful, it’s been killed by Mr. Ye now, so the greatest threat is gone,” Nine-Fingers Wu Yong smiled and said: ”Mr. Ye, since the dragon crocodile is in this mountain spring, the entrance to this tomb must be nearby. If we search carefully, we might just find the entrance to the tomb.”

”No need to search, the entrance to the tomb is in the water,” Ye Qing pointed towards the direction of the waterfall and said, ”There’s an iron chain extending from the rock over there; I guess there’s some kind of mechanism behind that rock.”

”Oh, is that so?” Nine-Fingers Wu Yong instantly perked up and turned to say, ”Blackie, take a few people and go down into the water to have a look.”

The Blackie who was called by Nine-Fingers Wu Yong froze for a moment; he was evidently still a bit afraid and reluctant to go into the water.

”Ninth Master, this... going into the water at night doesn’t seem very safe,” Blackie said in a low voice, ”How about we wait until dawn to take action?”

”What the hell are you talking about?” Nine-Fingers Wu Yong glared at him and said, ”Which tomb robber operates in the daytime? Are you out of your mind? What safety? Didn’t you see that the dragon crocodile has already been killed by Mr. Ye? The only thing left in the water is some small fish and shrimp. What are you afraid of?”

”This...” Blackie scratched his head but, in the end, dared not go against Nine-Fingers Wu Yong, so he rallied some people together to go into the water.

The people called over by Blackie had miserable expressions, but they still followed Blackie into the water. These people followed the direction indicated by Ye Qing, searched for a while by the rock, and then Blackie surfaced, shouting, ”Ninth Master, there’s a passage here, extending into the mountain’s interior.”

”Indeed!” Nine-Fingers Wu Yong exclaimed joyfully, ”Mr. Ye, you were right; there’s indeed a way there. Let’s get ready, prepare to descend into the tomb. Blackie, take two people and explore the path first!”

”Yes!” Blackie submerged again, and after swimming a circle in the water and seeing no danger, his courage grew, and he led his subordinates into the passage first.

Ye Qing and Handsome Fatty Wang were still wearing dive suits, so they didn’t need to change clothes. Meanwhile, Nine-Fingers Wu Yong and his team changed their clothes, packed their tools, and then successively entered the water, swimming towards the waterfall.

With the water monster gone, everyone’s courage grew significantly; they swam fearlessly to the side of the waterfall. Following the same direction Blackie indicated, everyone successively dove to the bottom, and indeed discovered a passage on the underwater mountain rock large enough for a person to swim through.

Since Blackie and his men were already scouting ahead, no one hesitated to enter the passage and swim inward. The passage was entirely submerged, with small fish occasionally swimming by. Upon seeing the group, they hastily retreated.

With waterproof flashlights, Ye Qing and his companions could see the condition of the passage. The surroundings were all rocky walls, evidencing that the passage was likely artificially carved, though the labor it took was unknown. Most startlingly, bones were left on both sides of the passage, animal bones, as well as human ones, which sent chills down one’s spine.

The length of the passage was uncertain; after about ten minutes of swimming, they still hadn’t reached the end. Ahead, it remained pitch-black, with no indication of how much further they had to go to reach the end.