Urban Martial Saint

(I have some family affairs to take care of today, so I’m updating three chapters earlier than usual, hoping everyone enjoys them.)

Zhao Chengshuang sat in his wheelchair, leaning forward to look at the map. He was aware of the three places Ye Qing had circled, all of which were the most remote areas in Shenchuan City. In particular, the last circled village, Shicun, had been mostly abandoned, leaving behind only a few elders to guard their homes, making it almost uninhabited.

That place wasn’t even accessible by vehicle, with steep mountains directly behind it — it could basically be considered a dead end. The kidnappers wouldn’t go there, would they?

”How do you know?” Zhao Chengshuang looked at Ye Qing and said, ”This is no laughing matter; it’s about my aunt’s life and death. He Ziqiang is no ordinary man. We can’t just be armchair strategists here!”

”It’s not armchair strategy!” Ye Qing shook his head and said firmly, ”I’ve seen He Ziqiang’s file. He’s undergone mercenary training in the Golden Triangle and followed the Great General Cha Cai. Cha Cai is notoriously cunning and ruthless in the Golden Triangle. His combat style is unique and has been compiled into reports specifically for military study.

The cases He Ziqiang worked on in Xiangjiang, although tricky, all bear the hallmarks of Cha Cai’s forces. If he’s still using Cha Cai’s style to hide, these three places are where he is most likely to keep the hostages!”

”Really?” Zhao Chengshuang looked at the map skeptically. What Ye Qing said sounded reasonable, but he had no idea who Cha Cai was, let alone whether there was any scientific basis behind it.

”If that’s so, why didn’t he hide my cousin in these three places the last time he kidnapped her?” Zhao Chengshuang raised his doubt.

Ye Qing said, ”That is exactly why I chose these three places. If it weren’t for what happened last time, I wouldn’t have considered them!”

”For real?” Zhao Chengshuang scratched his head and asked, ”Ye Zi, this involves my aunt’s life and death; you’d better not be bluffing!”

”I know!” Ye Qing took the pen and tapped on Shicun heavily, saying solemnly, ”This place is where they’re most likely to go, so I’ll personally investigate this area.”

Zhao Chengshuang pondered for a moment and then said, ”Alright, since you’re so sure, I’ll get some help.”

Zhao Chengshuang wheeled himself into the room, where Zhou Jianbin had just finished a meeting. Zhao Chengshuang hurried over, showed Zhou Jianbin the three places Ye Qing had circled, and urged him to dispatch people to check them out.

Zhou Jianbin didn’t even glance at the map, he just glared at Ye Qing and said sternly, ”You better not cause trouble, just stay put. After I find Yashi, then I’ll settle accounts with you!”

Zhao Chengshuang insisted, ”Uncle Zhou, what Ye Qing said makes sense. My aunt might be hiding in one of these three places; let’s send people to look for her quickly!”

”Cheng Shuang, you’re not a child anymore; how can you listen to such talk?” Zhou Jianbin looked at Zhao Chengshuang with disappointment and said, ”This is about your aunt’s life; how can you take it so lightly? Do you think we can find your aunt just by drawing three circles on a map? Do you think this is child’s play, or that he’s a Heavenly Master catching ghosts?

Do you think he’s a Demi Immortal with clairvoyance? The most crucial thing now is to lock down all roads in and out of the city to prevent these people from taking your aunt out of Shenchuan City. That’s what’s most important. Don’t meddle in this and make sure to watch this kid. Once this case is closed, I’ll settle things with him myself!”

”But, Uncle Zhou, what Ye Qing said is true. He’s a Special Forces point man with strong capabilities. What he says is by no means unfounded,” Zhao Chengshuang said, ”Regardless, him pointing out these three places gives us some hope. Can you assign a team and let me lead the search? What do you say?”

”Where do I have the manpower right now? Blocking all the roads in and out of the city is not easy. I’ve already called out the guards from the detention center to assist, and I just can’t spare anyone!” Zhou Jianbin waved his hand dismissively and said, ”Stop interfering. What good are Special Forces point men? When it comes to criminal investigation, we still have to rely on our criminal police.

Even if he’s a Special Forces soldier, so what? Criminal investigation is not about going to war. If he can find your aunt, I’ll write my name backward!”

While speaking, Zhou Jianbin gave Ye Qing a provocative look. In his view, Ye Qing was just a freeloader and a fraud, utterly useless and incapable. Otherwise, Lin Yashi wouldn’t have been kidnapped right in front of him!

At that moment, several people entered the yard, leading them was Old Lady Lin, leaning on a cane. The people beside her were all from Lin family, including Boss Lin.

Just as everyone entered the door, a young man supporting Old Lady Lin immediately bellowed out, ”Ye Qing! Ye Qing! Where’s Ye Qing? You Bastard, get the hell out here!”

Ye Qing turned to look and frowned upon seeing the group, particularly giving Boss Lin a chilly glance.

Boss Lin returned the gaze with an identical look, his hatred for Ye Qing having reached its zenith, wishing he could kill Ye Qing on the spot.

”Old Lady Lin, why have you come?” Zhou Jianbin hurriedly greeted her.

Zhao Chengshuang followed and asked, ”Auntie Grandma, what’s the matter? Why are you looking for Ye Qing?”

”What are you doing?” Old Lady Lin glared at Zhao Chengshuang and said sternly, ”I just want to ask where on earth he has hidden my daughter!”

”Ah?” Zhao Chengshuang was stunned for a moment and said, ”Auntie Grandma, what are you talking about? What’s going on?”

”Cheng Shuang, you still don’t know?” Boss Lin said, ”That Ye Qing is nothing but a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He deliberately got close to the Lin family because he wanted to plot against the Lin family fortune. I have enough reason to suspect that this kidnapping was absolutely orchestrated by him!”

Zhao Chengshuang said, ”Are you joking? Ye Zi is a good person, why would he plan such a thing? Don’t forget, last time it was he who saved Hua Yu. If he wanted to plot against the Lin family fortune, why would he save Hua Yu? Couldn’t he just ask for the money directly?”

”Huh, ask for money directly?” Boss Lin let out a cold laugh and said, ”After taking the money, could he even leave Shenchuan City?”

”What do you mean?” Zhao Chengshuang frowned, feeling that the atmosphere was somewhat off.

”That Ye has plans that aren’t just for one or two hundred million in petty cash,” Boss Lin said coldly. ”He’s after the entire Lin Corporation! Do you know the shortest route to scheming for the entire Lin Corporation?”

”What is it?” Zhao Chengshuang asked curiously.

Boss Lin declared loudly, ”It’s by becoming Uncle’s son-in-law, Hua Yu’s husband, the legitimate heir to Lin Corporation!”

As soon as these words came out, the eyes of the people from the Lin family around Ye Qing filled with even more anger. Each of these people had their own selfish motives, aiming to grasp the family assets for themselves. At this moment, there was an outsider trying to dip into their share, so their animosity towards him was extreme.

”That’s impossible, right?” Zhao Chengshuang shook his head, ”No, Ye Zi isn’t that kind of person!”

”You can know someone’s face but not their heart!” Boss Lin beat his chest and stamped his feet, saying, ”Cheng Shuang, you’ve been deceived by him so deeply. These days, there are just too many people who are cruel at heart but pretend to be kind and virtuous. How can you be so blind? Don’t you understand? Last time, Hua Yu was captured by him, but then he deliberately saved her. For what reason?

Of course, it was to please Hua Yu, to create this ’hero saving the beauty’ scenario, and to deceive that naïve girl. Don’t forget, given Ye Qing’s capabilities, he could have easily dealt with those kidnappers that night. So why didn’t he take care of those kidnappers at all? This shows that they were all in cahoots!”

”Exactly, I knew there was something off about that Ye!” Zhou Jianbin turned his head furiously to look at Ye Qing, his right hand already resting on his gun holster, as though he was ready to act at any moment.

Zhao Chengshuang furrowed his brows and said, ”I know what kind of person Ye Qing is. Those guys were just kidnappers; Ye Qing was just teaching them a lesson without seriously harming them.”

”What he would or wouldn’t do, you’ve been entirely fooled by him,” Boss Lin said. ”The thing he did was full of flaws. Moreover, look at the way he ran into Hua Yu again. It was too coincidental, entirely a trap he had planned himself, intentionally appearing as if by accident for Hua Yu to find him. What is this called?

This is called letting the enemy go to catch them later, the most cunning tactic for pursuing a woman. As a result, that naïve Hua Yu fell for it as well. Just look at how enchanted she was, and she too, like you, was deceived by him. Cheng Shuang, Hua Yu is just a naïve girl, but you’re not a child anymore, how can you not distinguish right from wrong?”

Zhao Chengshuang said gravely, ”Lin Tianhao, all these things you’re saying are just your own conjectures. What evidence do you have? Do you have any evidence to prove Ye Zi is a bad person?”

”I knew it, without evidence, you would absolutely not give up!” Boss Lin took out a stack of photos from his bag, throwing them in front of Zhao Chengshuang, and said, ”These were found in Ye Qing’s room, photos of all the Lin family members’ movements and portraits. Look carefully, even you are in there. Mr.

Ye, he clearly has been planning and plotting all along, wanting to target members of the Lin family, to take the Lin family’s assets. This kidnapping, it was all him, on the surface it seemed like he wanted to kidnap Hua Yu, but in reality, it was targeted at your auntie. He wanted to strike at her first!”

Zhao Chengshuang looked down to see that the stack of photos indeed included both direct and collateral relatives of the Lin family, and it was clear that they were all taken covertly. These items, while not evidence, were sufficient enough to make one doubt the motives of the person who took these photos.

”These... these were all found on Ye Zi?” Zhao Chengshuang was silent for a moment, then suddenly looked up and said, ”Lin Tianhao, regardless of how these pictures came about, why did you automatically suspect Ye Zi and decide to search for evidence at his place?”

Everyone in the room immediately turned their eyes toward Boss Lin; indeed, that was a question, although none of them had considered it before.

Boss Lin was very composed and glanced at Zhou Jianbin before saying, ”Uncle Zhou, you tell them.”

Zhou Jianbin cleared his throat and said, ”I authorized the investigation. I’ve always been suspicious of that Ye, but as the police, we need to have a search warrant to act. Tianhao was eager to help, so I authorized him to investigate Mr. Ye. Unexpectedly, we did find these pieces of ’evidence’!”

Having said that, Zhou Jianbin turned sharply towards Ye Qing and spoke in a grave tone, ”Mr. Ye, let’s see how you talk your way out of this one!”