Urban Martial Saint

Seeing the situation, Gu Xianping was startled and ran hurriedly to block the door of the ward, pleading, ”Don’t... don’t throw him out, he’s still bleeding. I’ll go get the money right now to pay the deposit. Can you please save him first?”

”Stop talking nonsense. This person has been here for two hours, and you still haven’t paid the deposit. According to the hospital’s rules, it’s time to throw him out!” The nurse waved her hand and said, ”Don’t bother with him, hurry up and throw the person out, or Doctor Deng is going to get angry again.”

A few men quickly ran over, pushed Gu Xianping aside, went straight in, and lifted the barely alive Chen Jun to take him outside.

”Put him down, put him down... You’re doctors, how can you not save a dying person?” Gu Xianping went up and grabbed one man’s arm, shaking it forcefully, trying to stop them. But compared to these burly men, he was far too frail and aged, completely unable to prevent them in the slightest.

”Old man, looking for trouble, huh!” One man shoved Gu Xianping aside and said, ”Get lost, don’t hinder our work!”

Gu Xianping staggered back a few steps and fell to the ground, unable to get up for quite some time. Watching Chen Jun being taken away, he couldn’t help but burst into tears, tremblingly saying, ”It’s a sin, such a sin...”

At that moment, Gu Yunzhi, who had been standing by silently, suddenly rushed forward, grabbed the man who had pushed Gu Xianping, and bit down on his arm.

”Ah!” The man cried out in pain and, in a fit of rage, slapped Gu Yunzhi across the face, cursing, ”You little bastard, are you looking to die!”

Gu Yunzhi, just a middle school student malnourished and underdeveloped, was knocked to the ground by the man’s slap. He struggled a few times but couldn’t get up, and the man, still angry, kicked Gu Yunzhi in the waist before resentfully saying, ”Damn it, if you want to die, go away and die, don’t bother me!”

After speaking, the men carried Chen Jun out together. Gu Xianping saw Gu Yunzhi lying on the ground and not getting up, so he struggled over to help him up, only to see Gu Yunzhi’s mouth and nose bleeding, a sight of utter misery.

”Yunzhi! Yunzhi! How are you?” Gu Xianping held his son, his voice hoarse, tremblingly saying, ”Yunzhi, don’t scare me, say something...”

Gu Yunzhi slowly opened his eyes, looked at Gu Xianping, then closed them again weakly. The man’s kick to his waist had really hurt.

Just then, a mocking voice suddenly came from the side, ”Oh, if it isn’t Teacher Gu!”

Gu Xianping looked up and saw He Tao with seven or eight people walking over from afar. He Tao’s face bore a mocking smile, as if Gu Xianping was already at his mercy.

Seeing He Tao, Gu Xianping turned pale with fright. He had been avoiding He Tao but, in the end, he couldn’t escape!

”Teacher Gu, Biao asked you to come over. How about it, do you have the time?” He Tao walked up to Gu Xianping, bent down, smiled faintly as he looked at him, his eyes full of arrogance and contempt.

At the entrance of the hospital, right after He Tao took away Gu Xianping and his son, a taxi drove up. Getting out of the car was Hou Da, who with difficulty leaned against the wall and slowly made his way into the hospital. At the same time, he took out his phone and dialed the emergency number again, asking, ”I... I’m the one who made the call earlier, have you dispatched officers yet? How... how’s my brother?”

An annoyed voice came from the other end of the phone: ”Are you bothersome or what, you’ve made seven or eight calls already. I told you, we can’t move people from the station right now. Once personnel are back, we’ll immediately check out the situation there. I’m warning you, don’t call here again, or I’ll charge you with obstruction of public duty!”

Hou Da urgently said, ”How can there be no personnel available? My... my brother is almost dying, why won’t you send someone to check? Human life is of utmost importance, what kind of work are you doing?”

”It’s none of your business how we operate. There are no police at the station right now, what can I do? I’m telling you, watch your words, or else, beware I might arrest you!”

Hou Da was stunned for a moment and said, ”I’m just making a report, there’s no need to arrest me...”

”Quit your blabbering. You keep calling the emergency number, that’s harassment, do you understand? Forget it, I’m not wasting words with you. I’m warning you, call again and I’ll immediately send police to arrest you!”

”Didn’t you say there are no police in the station? How can they still come to arrest me? Hello? Hello? Hello...”

After hanging up the phone, Hou Da stood there in a daze for a while, then suddenly clenched his teeth, turned around, and slowly walked out of the hospital. If the police were unreliable, then he had to go back and see his brother himself. Even if it meant death, he couldn’t let his brother endure it all alone!

No sooner had Hou Da left the hospital, two more cars rushed into the hospital, and seven or eight people came out aggressively. The leader was Wang Qing, her face full of arrogant anger, like a shrew, leading the people straight into the hospital. She stormed up to the front desk and started pounding on the counter, demanding, ”Where’s the room of someone called Yuan Xiaozheng?”

The nurse, who had been very arrogant in front of Gu Xianping, was instead intimidated by Wang Qing’s imposing manner, and timidly said, ”Who are you...?”

Someone from behind Wang Qing glared and said, ”Cut the crap. Just answer which ward Yuan Xiaozheng is in, who cares who we are! What kind of quality is that for a nurse? Do you still want your job or not?”

The nurse, frightened, shivered and hurriedly picked up a notebook on the desk, saying, ”Sorry, sorry, I... I’ll look it up for you...”

Wang Qing, growing impatient, tapped on the desk and yelled, ”Hurry up, why are you so slow!”

After flipping through for a moment, the nurse hastily looked up and said, ”He... he’s in the fifth ward on the third floor...”

”Let’s go!” Wang Qing waved his hand, disregarding the nurse, and led the group directly upstairs.

In the fifth ward on the third floor, Yuan Xiaozheng had just been bandaged up and was now lying in the hospital bed. His sister, Yuan Xiaoyu, stood by his side, looking at his bruised and swollen face with a mixture of heartache and anger. Sitting by the bed holding Yuan Xiaozheng’s hand, her eyes were full of tears.

Just then, a commotion suddenly arose from outside, ”Here’s ward number five, looks like that bastard is staying in this room!”

”No mistake, let’s go” As they spoke, the door to the ward was violently pushed open, and seven or eight people stormed in.

”What do you want?” Yuan Xiaoyu immediately stood up and said, ”I’ve booked this ward, you...”

Wang Qing didn’t even look at her, glaring as he asked, ”Is this Yuan Xiaozheng?”

”You know Xiao Zheng?” Yuan Xiaoyu was startled and asked, ”Who are you people?”

”I am Hong Mingming’s mother!” Wang Qing glared fiercely, saying, ”Now do you know who I am? These are Mingming’s uncles and in-laws. You wench, what are you to Yuan Xiaozheng?”

Hearing the name Hong Mingming, Yuan Xiaoyu knew that these people had come looking for trouble. Her expression also turned cold as she said with a firm voice, ”I am Xiao Zheng’s sister. So it was your son who beat my brother like this. What’s your purpose in coming here now? To apologize? Sorry, my brother hasn’t woken up yet and doesn’t have time to talk to you!”

”Haha...” Wang Qing laughed loudly, saying, ”Wench, you wish. Apologize? What right do you have? Do you know who I am? My husband is the secretary of the County Political and Legal Committee, Hong Tianxiang, my brother is the head of the county education bureau, and my younger brother is the deputy director of the county forestry bureau. You want us to apologize to you? What gives you the right?”

As she learned about the identities of these people, Yuan Xiaoyu’s momentum weakened. She wasn’t Ye Qing, lacking Ye Qing’s courage and presence. Facing these aggressive officials, she naturally felt disadvantaged.

”What, got nothing to say now? Scared?” Wang Qing sneered, ”I knew it, you poor folks are the most spineless. You dared to let your brother fight with my son, but now you have no words? Weren’t you so fierce just now, talking about booking the ward, demanding an apology? If I apologize to you, could you even handle it? You wench, what makes you think that I should apologize to you?”

”Don’t overstep yourself!” Yuan Xiaoyu protested, ”Your son has beaten my brother to this state, doesn’t he at least deserve an apology? Is this how you raise your son?”

Wang Qing angrily said, ”My brother got beaten like this? Then do you know about your brother taking a knife and injuring my son? Can your brother still be considered a student? This is practically attempted murder!”

Yuan Xiaoyu replied, ”And your son brought so many people to beat up my brother, why don’t you mention that?”

”I don’t care about that. Right now, your brother stabbed my son with a knife, and this issue needs to be resolved properly!” Wang Qing said furiously, ”I don’t know what connections you used to get Pan Hongliang, that bastard, to release your brother. But to me, your brother is a criminal, an unforgivable one. Such a person should be locked up in jail, and this matter must be thoroughly dealt with...”

”My brother is only sixteen this year, a minor. He hasn’t committed a crime, why would he be in jail?” Yuan Xiaoyu retorted angrily, ”I warn you, watch your words, or otherwise I...”

”Or what?” Wang Qing’s brother, Wang Che, bellowed as he approached Yuan Xiaoyu and slapped her across the face, cursing, ”Damn, who the hell do you think you are? Talking to us like that? Do you really think you’re something special? People like you, once taken to the police station and interrogated, turn out to be just troublesome citizens!”

Yuan Xiaoyu was stunned by the slap and then her expression changed drastically. She cried out and lunged forward to scratch Wang Che, shouting, ”I’ll fight you to the end!”

Wang Che grabbed Yuan Xiaoyu by the hair, slapped her away, and shouted angrily, ”Dare to hit back, beat her!”

Several of Wang Che’s family members surged forward, encircling Yuan Xiaoyu, and immediately started punching and kicking her.

This night in Jiuchuan County was destined not to be a quiet one!