Urban Martial Saint

Ye Qing dragged Ding Shaoyan out of the Xingyi Martial Arts School and went straight to his car, driving hastily towards Tian Sheng.

Ding Shaoyan was thrown onto the passenger seat by Ye Qing. Having been kicked by Ye Qing, several of his ribs were broken, and he lacked any strength to struggle and escape.

”Ye Qing, you... you will definitely pay the price for this...” Ding Shaoyan said weakly, a flicker of hatred shining in his eyes as the acute pain in his chest made him wish he could kill Ye Qing with his own hands.

Ye Qing didn’t pay any attention to him, only focusing on driving towards Tian Sheng. Ding Shaoyan kept muttering on the side, but Ye Qing acted as if he hadn’t heard a thing.

After driving a distance, Ye Qing suddenly cried out in pain, as if he had been attacked. His body jolted violently, and the car slid far out of control, finally stopping by the curb.

Ding Shaoyan’s face was full of surprise; he looked at Ye Qing in astonishment, not knowing what had just happened. He wondered if Ye Qing was suffering from some acute illness.

”Who!” Ye Qing suddenly turned and looked at the back seat, shouting, ”Who ambushed me!”

”Heh heh heh...” A sinister cold laugh came from the back seat, and amidst Ding Shaoyan’s shocked gaze, a figure slowly sat up.

This person was short and ordinary in appearance, with only his eyes sparkling with cold light, making his whole presence seem more sinister. The man was none other than Li Tianlu, the assassin who had come to Shenchuan City to kill Ye Qing.

Looking at the back of Ye Qing’s seat, there was even a dagger lodged there. It seemed the man had stealthily thrust the dagger through the driver’s seat to ambush Ye Qing.

Ding Shaoyan couldn’t help but be overjoyed, hurriedly saying, ”Are you... are you one of our Ding Family’s men? Quick... kill him now, kill him!”

Li Tianlu didn’t bother with Ding Shaoyan, just coldly smiling at Ye Qing, ”They say Ye Qing has unmatched martial prowess and unparalleled cunning, that only an assassin on the eighth table could kill you. Hmph, it seems you’re not all that. Or could it be that I can take a seat at the eighth table now?”

Ye Qing’s expression changed, and he gritted his teeth, ”Are you from the teahouse?”

”Wrong!” Li Tianlu shook his head, ”You still don’t understand. The teahouse is merely a middleman that provides business for us assassins. So, no assassin can truly be called a man of the teahouse. Don’t get the concept mixed up!”

”What teahouse? What assassin? What are you talking about?” Ding Shaoyan exclaimed, ”Hey, are you sent by our family? Let me tell you, no matter who from our family you are, you kill him right now, understood?”

”Young Master Ding, my purpose was to kill him from the start, which is something you don’t need to worry about,” Li Tianlu said with a cold smile to Ding Shaoyan, ”However, you should understand, I am not a man of the Ding Family. So, it’s not your place to boss me around. It would be best if you just stay quiet. Otherwise, I wouldn’t mind killing one more person!”

Ding Shaoyan’s face went through several changes, but ultimately, he shut his mouth obediently. If Li Tianlu could handle Ye Qing, he surely could handle him even more easily!

Ye Qing was unable to stand up from the seat; the knife seemed to have caused him substantial harm. He took a few deep breaths and said solemnly ”Impossible! Impossible! If you were tracking me, I would have definitely known about it!”

”Congratulations, you’re wrong!” Li Tianlu said with a sneer, ”I wasn’t tracking you. I’ve been here waiting for you from the start.”

Ye Qing’s expression turned colder and he asked in a deep voice, ”You... How did you know to wait here for me? How did you know that I was coming here?”

”Why wouldn’t I know? Because you being here was orchestrated by none other than me, how could I possibly not know you would come?” Li Tianlu looked at Ye Qing mockingly, without any intention of killing him right away or concealing anything. He could tell that Ye Qing had been seriously injured and could be killed at any moment.

Therefore, he wanted to chat a bit longer with Ye Qing, enjoying slowly uncovering the mystery and the sense of achievement that came with it.

”You orchestrated this? What... What have you orchestrated?” Ye Qing asked, and then suddenly his expression changed as he said, ”Is it... you who kidnapped Wang Tiezhu?”

”Now you’ve finally guessed right!” Li Tianlu laughed loudly, ”Ye Qing, are you surprised that the one who kidnapped Wang Tiezhu wasn’t Ding Shaoyan or someone from the Xingyi Martial Arts School but me? If I didn’t tell you, you probably never would have guessed it in your life!”

Ye Qing’s brow furrowed deeply as he spoke in a deep voice, ”If you just wanted to kill me, why kidnap an innocent person? Don’t bodyguards only kill their targeted individuals?”

”That’s why Wang Tiezhu isn’t dead yet. Kidnapping him was merely a means to an end,” Li Tianlu explained, ”Ye Qing, you truly are powerful, so much so that even I couldn’t kill you. However, there are many ways for an assassin to kill someone, and direct confrontation isn’t necessary.

For example, I kidnapped Wang Tiezhu and framed it on unusual circumstances, knowing you’d come to the Xingyi Martial Arts School in a fury. That way, you’d end up fighting those two men.”

Li Tianlu sighed and continued, ”I originally thought those two could seriously injure you, allowing me to take advantage and kill you easily. But it turns out your strength was so formidable that even they were defeated by you. So, I had to change my tactics.”

Li Tianlu glanced at the back seat and said, ”Normally, with your vigilance, I wouldn’t have been able to hide from you in the back seat. But you were so agitated after leaving the Xingyi Martial Arts School that your guard was down. Hiding in the back, just out of your line of sight, was perfect timing. Sometimes, being an assassin is also a study of psychology.

It’s a pity that many don’t understand this. They only know brute force and will always be nothing more than low-level assassins!”

Upon hearing that Wang Tiezhu was still alive, Ye Qing sighed in relief, deeply afraid that Wang would lose his life because of him.

”Where is Wang Tiezhu now?” Ye Qing didn’t bother with Li Tianlu’s nearly narcissistic ramblings and asked the most crucial question directly.

”You’re about to die, and you’re still worrying about others?” Li Tianlu sneered at Ye Qing and said, ”You’d better think about yourself first. Which way do you prefer to die? Quick and easy, or painfully and slowly?”

”Where is Wang Tiezhu!” Ye Qing asked again.

Li Tianlu furrowed his brows and said sternly, ”It seems you wish to be tortured to death slowly. Fine, I’ll grant you that!”

As Li Tianlu spoke, he reached for Ye Qing’s neck. However, as soon as his hand was halfway extended, Ye Qing suddenly reached out and grabbed his wrist with such strength that Li Tianlu couldn’t break free.

Li Tianlu’s expression changed, and he exclaimed, ”You... you tricked me!”

Ye Qing stood up, and only then did Ding Shaoyan realize that the dagger hadn’t penetrated Ye Qing’s body; his back had merely been scratched, without any fatal injury. That is to say, Ye Qing’s feigned weakness had all been an act!

”You think you can kill me with such tricks?” Ye Qing said coldly, ”I noticed you tampered with my car door right away. I pretended not to know, but I’ve been on the alert the whole way. When you stabbed the dagger into the backseat, I moved forward along the force of the dagger, so you didn’t actually injure me. But without pretending to be hurt, I couldn’t have gotten these words out of you!”

Li Tianlu looked as pale as death and said in panic, ”How is that possible? How could that be? How? I was so careful, how could you possibly know I touched your car door?”

Ye Qing didn’t answer his question but shouted angrily, ”Where is Wang Tiezhu?”

Li Tianlu seemed not to hear Ye Qing’s words and just kept muttering to himself about the impossibility, looking as if he were having a mental breakdown.

Ding Shaoyan was greatly surprised. Couldn’t Li Tianlu take a hit? One failure, and his mind had become completely muddled?

”How could this be? How?” Li Tianlu muttered for a while, then suddenly raised his right hand, throwing a handful of white powder into the air.

”Lime powder!” Ye Qing immediately closed his eyes and let go of Li Tianlu’s hand, stepping out of the car. Unable to see in the car, he feared a sneak attack from Li Tianlu.

Moving back a few steps and wiping the lime powder off his eyelids with his sleeve, Ye Qing opened his eyes again only to see that Li Tianlu had run far away. On the other side, Ding Shaoyan also ran out of the car, clutching his chest and shouting for help as he ran.

Ye Qing no longer cared to deal with Ding Shaoyan and turned to chase after Li Tianlu. However, after only two steps, he was nearly hit by a fast-approaching business van. If Ye Qing hadn’t stopped in the nick of time, allowing the van to swerve around him, he would have been hit.

”Damn it, do you have a death wish!” The driver leaned out and cursed.

Ignoring him, Ye Qing attempted to get around the van to chase Li Tianlu, but the driver suddenly cried out, ”Motherfucker, it’s you!”

Ye Qing looked closely and recognized the driver as somewhat familiar, but he couldn’t quite place where he had seen him. During this moment of hesitation, the driver saw Ding Shaoyan and exclaimed, ”Young Master Ding, you... what happened to you?”

”Is Young Master Ding here?”

”What happened to Young Master Ding?”

Several heads popped out of the car at the same time, all faces that Ye Qing recognized. It was only when another head emerged from inside the car that Ye Qing finally remembered where he had seen these people.

The last person to show his face was Pu Tianri, the Taekwondo instructor from Shenda University Taekwondo Gym, who Ye Qing had defeated with three moves the last time. The others in the car were members of the Taekwondo Gym, who had all witnessed Ye Qing’s dominance before,—no wonder they all recognized him.

As for Ding Shaoyan, he was also from the Shenda University Taekwondo Gym and was naturally well-acquainted with these people.

Realizing who it was, Pu Tianri glared at Ye Qing with rage and said, ”It’s you, you shameless scoundrel! I’ve finally found you. My elder brother and our master have come to Shenchuan City, and they want you to witness the true power of Taekwondo, you...”

Ye Qing didn’t wait for him to finish and went straight around the car to continue the chase after Li Tianlu.

”Stop right there!” Pu Tianri opened the car door, stepping directly in Ye Qing’s path.