Urban Martial Saint

Walking out of the hall, Ye Qing didn’t go back to rest. Instead, he went directly to the courtyard where Li Lianshan lived.

After Li Lianshan’s previous kidnapping incident, the closest brothers to Ye Qing and Li Lianshan moved into the estate of the Seven Steering Committees of Hong Alliance to temporarily live there, to prevent being kidnapped again. During this period, Li Lianshan and his group have not left the estate.

As Ye Qing walked into the courtyard, he saw Hou San, Chen Jun, and Mad Dog playing cards. Seeing Ye Qing come in, they immediately put down their cards and enthusiastically surrounded him.

These were the brothers Ye Qing had brought from his hometown. Back home, they merely scraped by at the bottom, earning three to five thousand a month was considered a luxury. However, ever since arriving in Shenchuan City, they have become Ye Qing’s right-hand men, holding positions of high status and are feared by many. They don’t even bother checking their monthly income anymore because money has become just numbers to them; they can never spend it all. Following Ye Qing has given them dignity, and naturally, they are very grateful and respectful towards him.

”Big Brother, how come you have time today?” Hou San asked excitedly.

Ye Qing had been busy and rarely had time to spend with his brothers. Seeing their passionate gazes, Ye Qing felt a sense of nostalgia. It was only when he was with his brothers that he could relax a bit and not think about all the worrying matters.

”They are busy with the fight against the Corpse Ghost Dragon, and with a few days free, I’ve come to see you,” Ye Qing smiled and said, ”By the way, is Old Li here?”

Chen Jun laughed, ”Li is inside. Ever since the kidnapping, Li has become very cautious. He stays in the courtyard and rarely goes out, afraid of being kidnapped again.”

”Hahaha...” Ye Qing couldn’t help but laugh as he entered the hall with everyone, just in time to hear Li Lianshan’s voice, ”Damn it, don’t you know how to play cards? You didn’t keep the circles, and you held back the 30,000 not to play, deliberately not letting me win, right?”

A younger gang member quickly said, ”Big Brother, we’re playing so big, I have to protect myself. You haven’t played a single ten-thousand, so you’re definitely keeping tens. Every other ten-thousand has been played except 30,000. Would I let off that bomb? If I played it like that, then I truly can’t play cards!”

”It’s not about knowing how to play cards; it’s a matter of character. You know I want to win, but you hold back the 30,000 not to play. Isn’t that a character flaw?”

”Big Brother, card playing is one thing, but can’t we avoid personal attacks...”

Listening at the door, Ye Qing couldn’t help but smile; it seemed Li Lianshan was really almost driven mad from being confined here, and even got into noisy arguments while playing Mahjong.

”Ye Zi?” Li Lianshan heard Ye Qing’s laughter amidst his argument and immediately jumped up, knocked the Mahjong tiles aside and said, ”Not playing anymore, Ye Zi’s here, I’ll go chat with him.”

Another gang member said, ”Big Brother, I’ve already won this hand, shouldn’t you pay up!”

”Damn it! You take it yourself!” Li Lianshan opened a drawer, shouted, and ran over to Ye Qing in the hall, laughing, ”Ye Zi, how come you’re here? Has that old bastard, the Corpse Ghost Dragon, already died? When can I leave here? Damn it, being held here these days is driving me crazy. I’m just wandering around this courtyard every day. If this continues, you’ll have to collect my corpse!”

”The Corpse Ghost Dragon isn’t dead yet, but it won’t live much longer,” Ye Qing smiled, ”Hold on a bit longer, and in a few days, you’ll be able to leave.”

”How many days exactly?” Li Lianshan asked, ”If it drags to half a month, I reckon I’ll grow moldy. You smell it; I’ve been cooped up here for days, I’m almost starting to stink. I urgently need to get out and have a nice relaxing sauna!”

”No worries, it won’t be long. It’ll be resolved soon,” Ye Qing whispered.

”That’s good!” Li Lianshan nodded, leading Ye Qing to sit on the sofa nearby, ”By the way, there’s something I haven’t told you yet.”

”What is it?” Ye Qing asked curiously. Given the situation, if Li Lianshan remembered to mention something, it must be important.

Li Lianshan said, ”You remember those kids that the Purple Robe Lama’s followers came here and took, right?”

”I remember,” Ye Qing nodded, ”Didn’t we already have them sent back? What’s wrong, is there someone who wasn’t sent back?”

”They were all sent back, but...” Li Lianshan frowned, solemnly said, ”I got word a few days ago that about seventy of those kids we sent back have been assassinated.”

”What!?” Ye Qing’s face changed drastically, he stood up abruptly, and asked, ”Assassinated? By whom?”

”That’s the problem,” Li Lianshan said, ”With so many deaths, it certainly isn’t a coincidence. I had people investigate, and the results show that those who killed the kids must be martial artists, and experts at that!”

”Martial artists killed those kids?” Ye Qing’s face turned cold, emitting murderous intent. Regardless of who it is, killing defenseless children is infuriating enough. To think it was done by martial arts experts makes it even more hateful. Experts targeting children is utterly unacceptable!

”Exactly!” Li Lianshan nodded, ”Initially, I didn’t believe it, but I specifically sent some martial arts experts from the orphanage to investigate, and it’s true, martial arts experts committed the killings!”

Ye Qing furrowed his brow, remained silent for a moment, then asked, ”Were the murdered kids all those we sent back?”

”That’s right!” Li Lianshan nodded, ”All the kids we sent back, taken by those Lamas.”

”There’s a problem here,” Ye Qing’s brows furrowed. He vaguely sensed someone was setting a trap.

”I think so too,” Li Lianshan said to Ye Qing, ”Ye Zi, first off, I suspect it’s someone around us who committed this. These kids’ residential addresses were only known to us; others had no idea. Despite all being from the Eastern Province, they are from different locations. Finding and killing them without specific addresses would be near impossible. Only we had these addresses, so...”

Li Lianshan didn’t continue, but the meaning was clear. Ye Qing tightly furrowed his brow, Li Lianshan’s words mirrored his own thoughts. Additionally, he recalled something else. The Purple Robe Lama had personally warned him not to leak these kids’ information, fearing it would be exploited by others. And so it happened, with so many kids murdered; if the Purple Robe Lama found out, he would surely blame Ye Qing’s inability, perhaps even confront him. How should Ye Qing handle this?

Especially now, when they need the Purple Robe Lama’s Crossing the River with a Reed technique to help activate the Buddha’s Bone Sarira and the Buddha’s Left Hand against the Corpse Ghost Dragon. If conflict arises with the Purple Robe Lama now, it will be even more troublesome. The confrontation with the Corpse Ghost Dragon cannot be delayed.

”Did you investigate who’s responsible for this?” Ye Qing asked in a serious tone. The situation was too strange and bizarre; intuition told him someone was plotting something against both him and the Purple Robe Lama, making it exceptionally complex.

Li Lianshan shrugged, ”Given that martial arts experts are involved, we can’t get any results. I investigated, but found no clues. I’m currently exploring our side, trying to determine who leaked the kids’ information. It’s hard to investigate externally, so internal inquiry might yield better results.”

Ye Qing nodded, Li Lianshan’s words were correct. External investigations are challenging, internal ones are key. Someone must have leaked the information; identifying them could lead straight to the perpetrator.

After a moment of deliberation, Ye Qing said to Li Lianshan, ”Don’t pursue this matter any further for now.”

”Why?” Li Lianshan asked, puzzled.

”If it’s indeed an insider’s doing, they must be a martial arts expert too. Continuously probing might not result in any findings, but if we do find something, they might resort to silencing threats, only increasing casualties!” Ye Qing said gravely, ”I’ll personally investigate this affair.”

Li Lianshan thought for a moment and agreed, ”You’re right. I won’t get involved with this matter. But you must quickly clear this up. I’ve learned these seventy kids died within the last ten days, and every day about ten more die. At this rate, who knows how many will perish!”

Ye Qing slowly nodded; the matter also weighed on him. With the upcoming face-off against the Corpse Ghost Dragon, he wasn’t sure about the outcome. If he couldn’t clarify things before the battle, he might never have the chance to investigate further. If he dies in battle, he won’t be able to address the issue.