Urban Martial Saint

The traitor dealer clutched at the bedpost and wailed for a while before he dried his tears and stood up, asking, ”Where did Third Master spend his last days?”

Ye Qing gave him the address of his old home. The traitor dealer memorized it and then asked, ”When Third Master passed away, was there anyone with him?”

”Only me,” Ye Qing replied softly, reflecting on how solitary Third Master Li’s twilight years were. If not for Ye Qing’s company, he would have been truly alone.

The traitor dealer glanced at Ye Qing and asked, ”Then, who buried Third Master?”

Ye Qing replied, ”The whole village was involved.”

The traitor dealer asked, ”The person who wore mourning was you, right?”

”Yes,” Ye Qing replied.

”That’s right!” The traitor dealer nodded and said, ”That means you are Third Master’s successor!”

”What successor?” Ye Qing was puzzled. The old man had said it, and now the traitor dealer too. What exactly did that word imply? What exactly was being passed on?

”Since you are Third Master’s successor, you are one of us,” the traitor dealer moved to the bedside and grabbed Ye Qing’s hand, saying, ”I will cure your illness!”

Ye Qing’s heart skipped a beat, asking, ”Can my illness still be cured? I heard from Divine Doctor Lin that my condition is rare worldwide, it’s not...”

The traitor dealer interrupted, ”Don’t believe all that. Tell me, have you recently tried to forcefully unblock your body’s acupoints?”

”Yes,” Ye Qing replied, even more surprised. This traitor dealer seemed to really have some skills; such things weren’t just guessed randomly.

The traitor dealer waved his hand dismissively, ”Don’t listen to that nonsense. Listen, what you have is not an illness. It’s just that the inner strength inside of you is too strong; you used too much force when unblocking the meridians, causing a rapid burst of inner strength which damaged the meridians throughout your body, leaving them temporarily paralyzed.

Even without treatment, just lying down for another ten or eight years, you could essentially get up again.”

Ye Qing was frustrated. Lying in bed for another ten or eight years was worse than death.

Ye Qing said, ”I’ve only practiced the Acupoint Seeking Technique for less than a month. How could I have such strong inner strength?”

The traitor dealer asked, ”Did Third Master teach you boxing?”

”He did,” Ye Qing nodded.

The traitor dealer asked, ”Did he tell you how to breathe during boxing?”

Ye Qing replied, ”He did.”

”There you go!” The traitor dealer shrugged and explained, ”The way of inner strength is ultimately a method of breathing and exhaling. Third Master didn’t teach you systematically, but while teaching you boxing, he subtly started teaching you. However, since those methods weren’t systematically linked, you didn’t feel it, but the foundation of inner strength had already been laid.

After you practiced the Acupoint Seeking Technique, based on that foundation, your progress was remarkably fast.”

At this point, the traitor dealer paused and continued, ”However, with Neijia Kung Fu, the foundation of inner strength is key, as are the meridians and acupoints. Even if you have a foundation in inner strength, you must gradually unblock the meridians and acupoints without being too eager for quick success.

Like in your case, forcibly breaking through the meridians, experiencing such a scenario was inevitable.”

Ye Qing suddenly understood; it seemed that Third Master Li had invested a lot of effort in him from the start. He indeed had a foundation in the way of inner strength.

”How long will it take for my condition to be cured?” Ye Qing asked, genuinely concerned about the prospect of lying down for a decade.

”With me here, it will be very quick,” the traitor dealer scratched his head carefully, as if afraid to mess up his painstakingly styled hair.

The traitor dealer held up a finger and declared, ”One week, and you’ll be completely healed!”

”Really?” Ye Qing was astounded. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe the traitor dealer; he just couldn’t believe his illness could be cured so quickly. After all, even Divine Doctor Lin was at a loss with it.

The traitor dealer replied, ”Of course! You are Third Master’s successor; would I lie to you?”

Ye Qing felt slightly reassured. The traitor dealer might appear despicable and sleazy, but when he spoke of Third Master, his genuine feelings showed. It appeared he truly respected Third Master Li.

”What... what exactly is your relationship with Third Master?” Ye Qing curiously asked.

”That...” The traitor dealer hesitated for a moment, then said, ”It’s not convenient to tell you now. I will tell you later.”

As the traitor dealer spoke, he walked over, opened the room door, and addressed the two women outside, ”Ladies, could you please help me buy some traditional Chinese medicine?”

”Buy traditional Chinese medicine for what?” Fang Tingyun asked curiously.

”To save your man,” the traitor dealer’s sleazy attitude was completely obvious.

Fang Tingyun’s face flushed, and she muttered softly, ”He... he’s not my man...”

”Oh, what’s the difference!” The traitor dealer waved his hand, listed a few names of traditional Chinese medicine, and said, ”You help me buy these medicines, and also please buy a pencil for me.”

”A pencil? For what?” Fang Tingyun asked, puzzled.

The traitor dealer replied, ”Don’t ask, just hurry and buy these things if you want your man to get up quickly.”

Fang Tingyun muttered to herself but still went downstairs to buy these items. Fortunately, this place was a hospital, so those items were not hard to purchase. In less than half an hour, Fang Tingyun brought the items up. The traditional Chinese medicine was easy to find, but it took her twenty minutes to find the pencil.

Fang Tingyun handed the traditional medicine and pencil to the Traitor Dealer and said, ”The medicine is ready, what should I do next?”

The Traitor Dealer grandly waved his hand and said, ”Boil three bowls of water down to one and then feed it to him.”

Fang Tingyun looked around the modern hospital room and said, ”This... how should I boil it?”

”Oh, what’s so difficult about that? Just bring over an induction cooker and boil it right here,” the Traitor Dealer said as he walked to the desk with the pencil, pulling out a few notebooks from the snakeskin bag he carried and seriously began writing something in them.

Mo Xiang, seeing him so focused, couldn’t help but peek over his shoulder and said, ”A crow was thirsty, huh, isn’t this a primary school text? What are you up to? Still studying primary school lessons?”

Fang Tingyun also looked at the Traitor Dealer in surprise, wondering if this guy hadn’t even graduated from primary school yet.

”Don’t look at me like that, I’ve had my middle school diploma for decades!” the Traitor Dealer said with a wave of his hand, ”This is the job I took on today.”

”What job?” Fang Tingyun asked in surprise.

The Traitor Dealer didn’t say a word, took out his job-hunting cardboard, and pointed to a line of words on it.

”Homework ghostwriting, middle school and above, face-to-face consultation.”

Fang Tingyun’s eyes widened and after a moment he murmured, ”You really have a broad range of services!”

”Gotta make a living, gotta make a living, heh heh...” the Traitor Dealer chuckled sheepishly, continuing to copy from the textbook.

Mo Xiang frowned slightly and said, ”Children’s homework should be done by themselves, otherwise how can they learn anything?”

The Traitor Dealer disagreed strongly and said, ”Oh come on, it’s all the same. Knowledge, schmowledge, as long as it’s enough to get by. Look at me, I only graduated from middle school but I still live quite freely. Besides, now I’m involved in a cultural job, which you call textual editing. Just mention it, and it sounds high-end and classy!”

Mo Xiang couldn’t be bothered to argue with him and, looking at the textbook, suddenly said, ”Li Yilong, isn’t that my student?”

”Huh?” the Traitor Dealer turned to look at Mo Xiang, then back at the textbook on the desk, and said, ”You... you’re a teacher?”

”This kid, how could he behave like this!” Mo Xiang was slightly angry.

”Lady, please... don’t get mad, don’t tell his parents, please,” the Traitor Dealer instantly got anxious, ”The kid is actually a good person, very loyal. He’s one of my regulars. If you tell his parents, then there goes my livelihood. Lady, we are both friends of Ye Qing, there’s a saying, right?

A friend of a friend is a friend too, so we’re practically friends, and you really can’t cut off my means of making a living!”

Mo Xiang didn’t bother with him anymore and turned her head aside, continuing to read her book.

Fang Tingyun somehow found an induction cooker and started boiling the medicine right there in the hospital room.

Before the medicine was even ready, Lin Tianyou arrived. Smelling the strong medicinal scent, he curiously asked, ”What’s all this about?”

Fang Tingyun had just stepped out, so Mo Xiang pointed at the Traitor Dealer, who was still intently doing homework, and said irritably, ”Ask him.”

Lin Tianyou looked at the Traitor Dealer, a flash of surprise in his eyes, clearly the Traitor Dealer’s appearance had a bit of a shocking effect on him.

The Traitor Dealer said nonchalantly, ”Of course the medicine is for treating a sickness, isn’t that obvious?”

”Treating what sickness?” Lin Tianyou was even more surprised.

The Traitor Dealer pointed at Ye Qing and said, ”Of course to treat his sickness!”

”Huh?” Lin Tianyou was shocked and looked at the Traitor Dealer and said, ”Do you even know what sickness he has?”

The Traitor Dealer said, ”How could I not know? In Traditional Chinese Medicine, this is called Qi Deviation!”

”Qi Deviation?” Lin Tianyou was even more astonished and turned to glance at Mo Xiang, subtly pointing to his own head with a gesture that questioned whether the Traitor Dealer was mentally sound.

Mo Xiang shrugged, indicating she didn’t know either.

Lin Tianyou didn’t bother with the Traitor Dealer anymore and walked over to the bedside to express his concern. Seeing that Ye Qing had still not improved, he sighed and turned to leave.

”Ye’s condition is still uncertain, it’s better not to take any medicine indiscriminately,” Lin Tianyou specifically warned Mo Xiang before leaving.

The Traitor Dealer suddenly got irked and said, ”Hey, what do you mean by that? Make it clear. What, you want to doubt my medical skills?”

Lin Tianyou ignored him and walked straight out.

The Traitor Dealer pointed at the door and said to Mo Xiang, ”Who is that jerk? Acting all high and mighty.”

”Lin Tianyou!” Mo Xiang paused for a moment and then added, ”The youngest Divine Doctor in Shenchuan City!”

The Traitor Dealer immediately shut his mouth and after a while, sheepishly said, ”So what if he’s a Divine Doctor, just now he was lucky he ran fast. Otherwise, I would’ve found a few buddies to grab a sack and give him a good beating!”

Mo Xiang gave the Traitor Dealer a look and couldn’t help asking, ”Are you a thug or a scammer?”

The Traitor Dealer looked serious, raised the homework notebook in his hand, and said, ”Lady, please, watch your language. You’re insulting a cultured person!”