Urban Martial Saint

The man searched for about five minutes before finally arriving outside the room he was looking for. A hint of joy flashed across his face as he fished a small dagger from his body, quietly sliding it into the door crack. With a lift and a push, he managed to open the locked door effortlessly.

Ye Qing observed everything from afar. He could tell that the man didn’t possess any locksmith skills. However, the small dagger in his hand must be a famed instrument, capable of cutting through locks, which is why he could open the door with such ease.

The man slipped into the room and shortly emerged carrying a person. Ye Qing recognized this person as one of the staff from the orphanage, who had been involved in sending a group of children back. This further confirmed Zhao Chengshuang’s suspicion that these people were indeed after the children.

Seeing the man come out, Wolf Monk immediately took Ye Qing to hide around a corner. The man didn’t expect anyone to be watching him and ran down the stairs carrying the person on his shoulder, escaping from the orphanage along the original path.

Wolf Monk didn’t hesitate, swiftly following with Ye Qing. His qinggong was far superior to the man’s, and although he had Ye Qing in tow, they pursued him all the way without being noticed by the man, who continued to sprint with the staff member.

During this time, Ye Qing took out his phone and sent a signal to Cui Yu and others, asking them to prepare for assistance. As for the location, they needed to find the man’s hideout with Wolf Monk before sending it out.

After the man ran out of the small town, he changed direction and headed towards the nearby mountains. The rugged mountain road slowed down the man, who was carrying someone. But Wolf Monk seemed unaffected, still effortlessly following the man with Ye Qing.

After running along the mountain road for about twenty minutes, they entered the depths of the forest and came upon an uninhabited area. The place was desolate and rarely visited, with large stones accumulated around, making it convenient for hiding people among the stone piles.

Upon reaching the stone pile area, Ye Qing saw from a distance a few people approaching to meet the man. The man exchanged a few words with them before handing over the staff member, who was then carried into the stone pile by those men.

Wolf Monk glanced around and suddenly led Ye Qing in another direction, jumping onto one of the large stones. Then, with a few leaps across the stones, they reached the top of the stone pile. From here, they could clearly see everything happening within the stone pile below.

Once there, Ye Qing finally saw the full extent of the stone pile. Within it, six or seven men sat cross-legged, hands in a prayer gesture, silent yet eerie in appearance. In the center of these men burned a bonfire, illuminating the scene below. Without it, Ye Qing wouldn’t be able to see anything in the stone pile given the current lighting conditions.

”This should be their base. Should we act now?” Wolf Monk asked in a low voice.

”Not yet.” Ye Qing shook his head rapidly, replying softly, ”We need to find the missing people first.”

”Alright,” Wolf Monk nodded, not rushing into action but instead observing the activities of the people below with Ye Qing.

Wolf Monk’s speed was too fast, having brought Ye Qing to the top, those people hadn’t even carried the staff member fully inside when they arrived. After waiting for about half a minute, the people finally brought the staff member in.

As those people entered, the original group inside opened their eyes. Seeing the staff member brought in, they immediately stood up and walked over. They exchanged some words in a language Ye Qing couldn’t understand, raising his suspicion that these people might be foreigners.

Wolf Monk knitted his brow, unclear on what he was pondering. However, after a few sentences, the people below awoke the staff member.

The staff member seemed groggy upon waking, unsure if he’d been knocked out or drugged. However, upon realizing his surroundings, his face changed, and he let out a piercing scream, ”What are you doing?”

A man approached and asked coldly, ”Are you Wang Yuntao?”

Ye Qing knew the staff member’s name was indeed Wang Yuntao. It seemed these people had already investigated his details before grabbing him.

”Who... who are you?” Wang Yuntao trembled, ”I don’t know you. Did you capture the wrong person?”

”Just say if you’re Wang Yuntao or not!” The man replied impatiently.

”I... I... I’m not Wang Yuntao...” Wang Yuntao lied, understandably so, as the other side was evidently looking for Wang Yuntao. Admitting it would bring unknown consequences, better to deny it quickly.

”You’re not Wang Yuntao?” The man frowned, ”So did we get the wrong person?”

”What do we do if it’s the wrong person?” another man asked.

”What else? Kill him,” was the response.

At this, Wang Yuntao almost wet himself and hurriedly corrected, ”No... no, you didn’t catch the wrong person, I... I am Wang Yuntao, I am Wang Yuntao...”

”Really?” The man looked at Wang Yuntao and said gravely, ”But you just said you weren’t Wang Yuntao.”

Wang Yuntao quickly replied, ”I am Wang Yuntao, I am Wang Yuntao, without a doubt. If you don’t believe me, I... I can show you my ID.”

The man said, ”No need for the ID. If you claim to be Wang Yuntao, then we’ll ask you a few questions that you should know. Get them right, you’re Wang Yuntao. Get them wrong, and sorry, we’ll have no choice but to end you.”

”What?” Wang Yuntao turned pale, trembling, ”What questions do you want to ask? I... I graduated years ago, my professional knowledge is... is rusty...”

”No one’s asking about your expertise, just about work matters,” the man said sternly, ”Did the orphanage snatch a group of children from some monks and send them back, yes or no?”

”This...” Wang Yuntao was stunned, uncertain why they asked this question.

”What’s there to ponder over?” The man frowned, ”If even this question stumps you, you can’t be Wang Yuntao. Never mind, just kill him!”

”No!” Wang Yuntao waved his hands frantically, ”I know, I know, it happened, it happened. I... I was involved, it definitely happened!”

Ye Qing, hidden above, found Wang Yuntao’s reaction speechless. He already figured that these men were merely intimidating him into confessing. Wang Yuntao, being cowardly, was scared into honesty at the mere mention of killing, blabbering everything. It seemed interrogating him was no tough feat.

”You handled this situation; you should know more details, right?” the man continued, ”Then I ask, do you know the children’s list?”

”This... this...” Wang Yuntao scratched his head, ”There are so many children, I couldn’t possibly remember each one. If you need details on a child, how about I check it when I return?”

”I’m asking if you’ve seen the children’s list before,” the man inquired.

”I have,” Wang Yuntao nodded.

”Then you’d also know their home addresses?” the man asked once more.

”Uh, it’s annotated on the list,” Wang Yuntao stated, ”When sending the children back, it’s not just a simple drop-off, we must note their addresses to avoid mistakes, that’s our protocol!”

Dismissing Wang Yuntao’s latter comments, the man asked, ”You’ve seen the list and addresses, correct?”

”Yes... yes...” Wang Yuntao was bewildered, unsure why they asked all this.

The man grimly asked, ”Did you know about the recent incidents of those children being killed?”

”What?” Wang Yuntao was taken aback, surprised, ”What... what children being killed incident?”

”Are you pretending to be ignorant?” the man’s face turned cold, suddenly brandishing a dagger to Wang Yuntao’s neck, saying, ”We have enough evidence and witnesses proving you leaked the children’s list and addresses, leading to their deaths. Still feigning ignorance? Believe me, I could kill you with one stab!”

”No, no...” Wang Yuntao shivered uncontrollably, stammering, ”I... I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about, what children being killed? When... when did it happen? Which children were killed? And what list was leaked? I... I didn’t leak anything!”

From atop the boulder, Ye Qing had mostly pieced together the situation. Seeing Wang Yuntao’s terrified state, he frowned slightly, about to command the people below to stop when Wolf Monk suddenly stood up and sternly said, ”Who’s there?”

Ye Qing turned, bewildered, spotting a shadow not far behind on another boulder. Unaware of when it arrived, the figure was less than twenty meters away from Wolf Monk, silently approaching without alerting him, demonstrating significant skill!