Urban Martial Saint

The little girl didn’t notice Ye Qing until she heard his shout, which made her realize someone was there.

Upon her first glance at Ye Qing, the little girl was obviously scared and quickly took two steps back.

Meanwhile, the dog immediately stood protectively in front of the little girl, baring its teeth and growling at Ye Qing, clearly trying to intimidate him. This dog was actually quite afraid of Ye Qing before, but now, in protecting its owner, it showed such boldness, proving its extreme loyalty to its owner.

At this moment, Ye Qing couldn’t care less about the dog, quickly waving his hand, ”Little girl, little girl, could you help uncle make a phone call? Uncle has an urgent matter and can’t make a call. Could you do uncle a favor?”

The little girl, uncertain if she understood Ye Qing’s words, stared at him for quite a while, then suddenly clutched her doll, turned, and ran off. The dog, seeing the little girl running, immediately followed with three small puppies, not even looking back.

”Little girl, little girl, help uncle out!” Ye Qing shouted anxiously, but the little girl had no intention of stopping; instead, she ran even faster, quickly disappearing from sight.

Ye Qing’s heart, which had been filled with hope, was quickly extinguished. He thought he had finally found someone to help him, but unexpectedly, he scared the little girl away.

But when Ye Qing carefully recalled the earlier event, he hadn’t said anything frightening or scared the little girl at all, so why did she suddenly run away? These children, they’re so timid!

It was so hard to wait for someone to come, but they ran away. This made Ye Qing feel even more desperate. It seemed that relying on others to help him leave this place was almost hopeless. Now, he could only think of a solution himself. But in his current condition, unable to even crawl, what solutions could he possibly come up with?

Sitting against the rock for a while, Ye Qing felt a wave of dizziness. Hunger and fatigue made him sleepy but unable to fall asleep. Coupled with his disappointment and frustration, Ye Qing could only lie on the ground, closing his eyes to rest. If he could regain some strength, he might attempt to leave on his own.

After lying there for about half an hour, Ye Qing suddenly felt something was off. He opened his eyes abruptly, only to see, not far from him, three children standing neatly in a row, staring intently at him. Each had a puzzled look, but upon seeing Ye Qing awake, they seemed a bit joyful.

One of these three children was the little girl who had run away earlier. It seemed she had brought two others to come back for Ye Qing. Apparently, she hadn’t been scared off but had gone to find help for Ye Qing.

The other two children were a girl and a boy. The boy was the oldest, about eleven, and the other girl was around eight or nine. These children, like the little girl from before, were also poorly dressed, and their clothes seemed unwashed for who knows how long. Most crucially, their clothing was so thin that, although winters in Shenchuan City weren’t very cold, their attire was still far too inadequate.

Without a doubt, these three kids surely came from grim backgrounds. They might even be stray children. Otherwise, in such weather, what child would be dressed like this?

However, none of this mattered to Ye Qing now. Seeing these children, his earlier disappointment vanished, and he asked hopefully, ”Hey kids, could you help me make a phone call?”

Seeing Ye Qing speak, the youngest girl immediately smiled, turning to make signs to the older boy, uttering unintelligible sounds—she seemed to be mute.

No wonder when Ye Qing spoke to her before, she didn’t respond to him—she couldn’t speak.

The older boy nodded to the little girl and looked at Ye Qing, his face showing a hint of confusion and concern. Cautiously, he watched Ye Qing for a moment, and then slowly walked closer to him.

Ye Qing looked at the older boy and sincerely said, ”Hey kid, help me make a call. Whatever you want, I can give it to you!”

It was unclear if the older boy didn’t understand Ye Qing’s words or if he simply didn’t want to respond, as he didn’t answer. He just slowly moved closer to Ye Qing. Watching Ye Qing intently for a while, it was hard to tell what he was thinking.

”You help me make a call, and I can give you money, lots of money,” Ye Qing continued.

The older boy still made no move. He watched Ye Qing for a while longer, and it was unclear what he was observing. Ye Qing asked a few more times, but he persisted in his silence, as did the other two girls, who merely watched from a distance, showing no intention of talking to Ye Qing.

Ye Qing felt a bit bewildered. Could it be that these three children didn’t understand what he was saying? But if they can’t understand him, why not fetch an adult to help, rather than simply surround and stare at him?

”Little friend, can you call the adult from your family?” Ye Qing said while using his right hand, which could barely move, to gesture, indicating the child to help him.

The three children still didn’t speak, but now the big boy moved. He reached out a hand and tugged at Ye Qing’s leg, seeming to signal Ye Qing to stand up.

At this moment, Ye Qing could hardly stand up. He waved his hand at the big boy, indicating that he had no strength to stand.

The big boy understood, he grabbed Ye Qing’s left hand again and gestured toward him. Ye Qing shook his head once more, and this time, the big boy seemed happy. He turned around and gestured to the two girls, emitting some sounds without anyone knowing what they meant.

The older girl seemed delighted, nodding and beckoning to the big boy, while the little girl seemed anxious, hurriedly waving her hand at the big boy; it was unclear what they were communicating about.

Ye Qing sat leaning against the rock, utterly confused about what these three children were doing. But soon enough, the big boy suddenly turned around, grabbed his coat, and started pulling it down with force.

”What are you doing? What are you doing?” Ye Qing was astonished, seeing the big boy’s stance as if he wanted to rob him of his coat.

The big boy completely ignored Ye Qing, taking advantage of his immobile left hand to yank off his coat forcefully. After grabbing the coat, he immediately turned around and sprinted away, ignoring Ye Qing’s shouts.

Ye Qing was dumbfounded, unable to believe that not only did these three children not help, but they also took his coat. This was a disaster; in such cold weather, without Inner Strength to protect him, how long could he last being so cold and hungry? Was it possible that instead of being exploded to death by the power of The Honored Buddha’s Relic Sharira, he would freeze to death here?

What Ye Qing found most incomprehensible was these three children. They were so young, yet they did such things, taking advantage of his inability to move to strip his clothes. Was this really something children should do?

Seeing the big boy take the coat, the older girl was delighted, clapping and cheering, while the little girl shook her head and waved at him, seemingly unwilling to have the big boy do such things.

The big boy ignored the little girl and immediately put the coat on her as soon as he returned. The little girl seemed very unwilling, immediately throwing the coat off and looking at the big boy angrily.

The big boy seemed unhappy too, seeing the little girl throw the coat, he picked it up and handed it to the older girl, signaling her to wear it.

The older girl held the coat, looked at the big boy, then at the little girl, obviously hesitating a bit. Actually, among the three children, the big boy wore the lightest clothes, while the two girls were dressed a bit warmer. Especially the little girl, she was dressed the warmest. Yet, after the big boy took the coat, he gave it to the little girl first, showing his love for his younger sisters.

Honestly, when the big boy grabbed Ye Qing’s coat, he was a bit annoyed. However, seeing the big boy’s actions moved his heart a bit. After all, people often have to do things against their will to survive. Back when he and his brother Ye Jun had nothing to eat, he had stolen sweet potatoes from other people’s fields. As an older brother taking care of younger siblings, risking life was worth it.

Seeing the older girl not wearing the coat, the big boy got furious, gesturing and making noises, seemingly unable to speak. However, the little girl ignored him, turning her head away angrily. The big boy, annoyed, dragged the older girl and angrily left, ignoring the little girl.

The older girl turned around hesitantly, looking at the little girl, but couldn’t go against her brother.

The little girl didn’t follow them, waiting until they had gone far. Then she angrily made a few noises. Turning around to look at Ye Qing, who was still lying there, she extended a small hand to scratch her head and then looked around before suddenly running to a distant garbage heap and picking up some newspapers.

The little girl returned to Ye Qing’s side with the newspapers, carefully observing him, then tentatively approached him.

Seeing the little girl like that, Ye Qing smiled at her. He now realized these three children couldn’t understand his words, so he didn’t speak, only showing a friendly demeanor.

Seeing Ye Qing smile, the little girl smiled too, bringing them a bit closer. She unfolded the newspaper, covering Ye Qing’s body one piece at a time.

It was clear that this little girl was very sensible and knew a lot about survival in the wild. At such a young age, she knew newspapers could be used for warmth. These newspapers provided Ye Qing with some warmth, and his heart felt warmer too.