Urban Martial Saint

Ye Qing had asked the little boy about his brother Ye Jun.

It turned out that after Ye Qing swept through several of Boss Lin’s bases in Shenchuan City, he dared not let these people beg in the city anymore, so he sent them all to a few stash points.

Ye Jun and this little boy were sent to the same stash point and got to know each other there. Ye Jun took good care of the boy and even gave him the wolf tooth pendant before leaving, fearing he might not return.

”He told me that if one day I met someone who recognized this pendant, I should pass on a message to him,” the boy said, looking at Ye Qing. ”He said, ’If we can’t be brothers in this life, I still want to acknowledge you as my brother in the next!’”

Ye Qing’s eyes immediately reddened. Ever since his father married his stepmother Zhou Hongxia, he and his brother Ye Jun had depended on each other for survival. The bond between them was very strong, and aside from his father Ye Changwen, Ye Jun was the person he worried about the most. He was uneasy at the thought of the pain Ye Jun must have suffered in Shenchuan City during this time.

After a long silence and wiping the tears from his eyes, he looked up at the boy and said, ”Thank you for relaying this message to me. By the way, where is your family from? I’ll help you get in touch with your relatives so they can take you back.”

”I don’t have any family,” the boy said calmly, his expression betraying none of the sorrow or pain one might expect from someone his age.

”How... how can you have no family?” Ye Qing was surprised. ”Where did you live before? Who took care of you?”

The boy replied, ”My dad died soon after I was born. A few years later, my mom died in a car accident. The villagers said I was a Broom Star and drove me out of the village, so I have no home now.”

Ye Qing looked at the boy, who was only six or seven years old, speaking about his past with a calmness that didn’t fit his age. Ye Qing couldn’t understand how a child of such a tender age could experience such family tragedy and not be sad.

”So... how did you survive before?” Ye Qing asked, astonished.

”When I got hungry, I’d find something to eat from the trash bins, and when I was tired, I’d just sleep on the sidewalk. I wasn’t homeless for long before they took me away,” the boy said, nodding towards Scar Lee.

Scar Lee flashed a smile at Ye Qing, trying to appease him, ”Actually... not everything we do is bad. Many homeless kids we picked up got to eat, drink, and stay alive...”

Ye Qing glared at him, and Scar Lee promptly shut his mouth. Ye Qing turned back to the boy, frowning slightly. He had wanted to take the boy back home, but now that he had no family, it was a bit problematic.

Of course, the easiest solution would be to leave it to Zhao Chengshuang, who would surely find an orphanage willing to take the boy in. But looking at the wolf tooth pendant around the boy’s neck, Ye Qing couldn’t help but think of his brother Ye Jun. To be honest, he couldn’t bear sending the boy to an orphanage—after all, his brother had looked after him quite well.

”Let’s do this, you come with me for now. Later on, I’ll help you find your relatives, and if they are willing to take care of you, I can send you back. And if they don’t want you...” Ye Qing paused, then continued, ”then I’ll take care of you. How does that sound?”

The boy shook his head and said, ”Big brother, you are a good person. But don’t take me in. I’m a Broom Star and will bring disaster to you!”

Ye Qing’s heart gave a painful twinge. It was incomprehensible to him that such a young child could speak these words. He couldn’t imagine what the boy had been through over the years.

”It’s alright, big brother isn’t afraid!” Ye Qing picked up the boy, turned to Scar Lee, and said sternly, ”You know what you have to do now, right?”

”Of course, of course!” Scar Lee nodded vigorously, saying, ”Don’t worry, I’ll cooperate with you. Boss Lin definitely won’t trust me anymore, even if I snitched it’d be useless.”

”Feel free to try betraying me, but don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Ye Qing said coldly. ”Next time, you won’t be able to stand and talk with me again!”

Scar Lee shuddered, hurriedly shaking his head and gesturing no, repeating, ”It won’t happen, definitely won’t…”

Ye Qing didn’t pay any more attention to him, he gathered his things and left with the boy.

Scar Lee watched from the window as Ye Qing walked away, letting out a long sigh of relief. He had survived another close call that evening and had witnessed Ye Qing’s methods. He now understood the photo Ye Qing showed him wasn’t really of his brother—it could have been any picture intended to lead him straight to Boss Lin.

Ye couldn’t wait to exploit it to catch Ye Qing’s weakness, certainly bringing Scar Lee along to identify him immediately. In reality, Ye Qing must have been shadowing Scar Lee all along, also unraveling Boss Lin’s new hideout in the process.

One could say, every move was within Ye Qing’s calculation. Ye Qing even anticipated that Scar Lee would try to betray him to Boss Lin, using him once again. He even wondered if Ye Qing had planned it all the night before when he deliberately let him go at the stash point.

And now, Boss Lin had finally caught so many disabled people and children, only for Ye Qing to sweep them all away. Most crucially, the stash point contained a lot of goods, and Boss Lin’s losses were at least upwards of twenty million.

Having lost such a large sum of money, Scar Lee could be certain that the person Boss Lin hated most was Ye Qing, with him coming in as a close second. Even if he could prove to Boss Lin that he wasn’t a traitor, with Boss Lin’s personality, he would undoubtedly kill him. Therefore, he would absolutely not report to Boss Lin anymore; he now had to rely on Ye Qing to save his own life!

In fact, Scar Lee had overestimated Ye Qing. The reason Ye Qing let him go was indeed to trap him and force him into a corner to help himself. The plan for this evening was something Ye Qing had come up with after saving him. It was certainly effective; at least Boss Lin’s biggest revenue stream in Shenchuan City had been cut off by Ye Qing.

Setting aside whether Boss Lin could outmaneuver Ye Qing, even if he wanted to recover this revenue stream, it would take at least a year or more. In such a long time, who knew into whose hands those businesses might flow? In other words, the revenue stream that Boss Lin had spent years building up was practically ruined by Ye Qing.

Boss Lin was furious, his lungs nearly bursting with rage. Even so, he had to watch helplessly as Ye Qing schooled his subordinates right in front of him, and to see the people and goods he had finally caught, all swept away by the police. Sitting in the car, his fists clenched so tightly they made a crunching sound, but the anger in his heart remained unabated.

About a dozen cars frantically fled the village and circled around half the suburbs, until the driver in front finally turned his head and asked, ”Eldest Brother, where are we headed now?”

Boss Lin’s face darkened, and after a long silence, he forced out three words through gritted teeth, ”Yang Shitao!”

Boss Lin was well aware that with his current situation, it would be very difficult to overcome Ye Qing. Hence, he must enlist the help of Yang Shitao’s power!

Yang Shitao’s villa was not far from here. Boss Lin had most of his men disperse, only taking two cars with him to visit Yang Shitao.

When Boss Lin, with a dark expression, walked into the living room, a barely noticeable sneer flickered at the corner of Yang Shitao’s mouth. He knew that Boss Lin must have suffered a great loss tonight, otherwise, he wouldn’t have sought him out.

”Xiao Lin, what happened to you?” Yang Shitao pretended to be oblivious and exclaimed in feigned surprise, ”Weren’t you supposed to handle that Ye fellow? Where is he now?”

Boss Lin was so angry he nearly spat blood. After taking a few breaths, he said in a deep voice, ”Boss Yang, the thing you mentioned last time, is it still possible?”

”Which thing?” Yang Shitao pretended not to understand.

Boss Lin gave Yang Shitao an irritated glance and said firmly, ”You said you could use Lin Huayu to deal with that Ye fellow!”

”Oh, that matter,” Yang Shitao said with a faint smile. ”What about it? Have you decided to go after your own cousin sister?”

Grinding his teeth, Boss Lin said sternly, ”I just want to deal with Ye, I don’t want to hear any nonsense!”

”Hahaha...” Yang Shitao laughed heartily and remarked, ”Xiao Lin, if you had been this resolved earlier, you wouldn’t have ended up in this predicament. By the look of you, you must have suffered quite a bit tonight, huh?”

Boss Lin remained silent, his fists clenched so tightly they made a crunching sound, his face so dark it seemed water would drip from it.

Leaning back on the sofa, Yang Shitao said, ”This Ye guy is quite capable. It doesn’t seem easy to kidnap your cousin sister from under his nose.”

Boss Lin said in a deep voice, ”I can provide the routes she takes and her daily habits.”

”These are not important; give me some time, and I can figure them out too. But, the hardest thing is how to kidnap her from under Ye Qing’s nose!” Yang Shitao paused, then added, ”Remember, she must be taken right in front of Ye Qing to achieve the effect we want!”

After a moment of silence, Boss Lin asked, ”Do you have any ideas?”

”If I provide the idea, we’ll have to renegotiate the previous price,” Yang Shitao said with a casual smile as he looked at Boss Lin. ”This time, if I can kidnap your cousin sister, you’ll have to give me ten million. If I can take care of Ye Qing, you’ll owe me twenty million!”

”What!” Boss Lin slammed the table and stood up, exclaiming in anger, ”Boss Yang, what do you mean? We’re in this together. I provide you with the information to grab my cousin, and you’re asking me for money?”

”If you’re unwilling, I won’t force you,” Yang Shitao said with an easy smile. ”After all, he’s not causing me any trouble right now. I suppose you are the one who’s more worried. He’s set his sights on you. I guess in a few days, your influence in Shenchuan City will be uprooted by him. If you’re not in a hurry, then let’s put this matter aside for now, and we can talk again later!”

Boss Lin clenched his teeth tightly, glowering at Yang Shitao for a long time, but eventually, he compromised and slowly sat down, saying sternly, ”What’s your idea?”

A cold smirk slid across Yang Shitao’s face as he said, ”Come, let me introduce you to a friend.”