Urban Martial Saint

(There are five more chapters this afternoon, making it ten in total for a burst release. I’m asking for Monthly passes and recommendations to encourage me.)

After asking Gu Xianping about Chen Jun’s condition, Ye Qing immediately ran out of the ward, preparing to search for Chen Jun. He had only taken a few steps when Wang Qian’an arrived with a man in his late forties to early fifties.

”Mr. Ye, the commander was worried you might run into other troubles, so he specially asked me to follow you and give you a hand,” Wang Qian’an intercepted Ye Qing, saying, ”Let me introduce you, this is Director Lin Guoqiang of the county hospital, he is the commander’s fellow townsman. If you need any help, feel free to ask Director Lin!”

”Yes, Mr. Ye, whatever you need, just come to me!” Lin Guoqiang said with a smile as he shook hands with Ye Qing. Although he had no idea who Ye Qing was, he had already heard about what Wu Anping did tonight. Someone who could make Wu Anping send troops to arrest Hong Tianxiang was definitely not an ordinary person. Therefore, he treated Ye Qing with great respect.

”Thank you, Director Lin. You know what, I do indeed have something I need your help with,” Ye Qing said, ”Do you have a doctor surnamed Deng here?”

”A doctor surnamed Deng?” Lin Guoqiang thought for a moment and said, ”You are talking about Xiao Deng, right? He is one of our surgeons and was transferred to the hospital not long ago.”

”That’s probably him,” Ye Qing said. ”Could you bring him here?”

”No problem.” Lin Guoqiang stopped a nurse passing by and said, ”Ask Doctor Deng to come over now.”

Upon the director’s orders, the nurse immediately ran off to carry out the task. Meanwhile, Lin Guoqiang looked at Ye Qing with some confusion and asked, ”Mr. Ye, do you know Xiao Deng?”

Ye Qing replied with a light smile, ”I didn’t know him before, but now that I don’t know him, it’s as if I do!”

”What happened?” Lin Guoqiang was very surprised, unsure of what Ye Qing meant.

Ye Qing then recounted the incident of Doctor Deng telling the nurse to throw Chen Jun out of the hospital. After hearing Ye Qing’s account, Lin Guoqiang’s face turned green. It was a fact that the hospital refused medical treatment without a deposit, but there had never been an incident where a doctor threw a critically ill patient out of the hospital before. This was akin to challenging the moral bottom line of the public. Especially with Wang Qian’an listening in, if the story got out, the hospital’s reputation would be utterly ruined!

”What was Xiao Deng thinking!” Lin Guoqiang frowned deeply and said in a stern voice, ”The sacred duty of a doctor is to save lives and provide aid. Even if there’s no payment, you can’t just let a patient die. To think he actually threw the patient out, such behavior is detestable! Absolutely detestable!”

In the midst of the conversation, Doctor Deng had been brought over by the nurse.

Doctor Deng had only just been transferred to the county hospital and had previously worked in a rural clinic. It had taken a great deal of effort to get transferred here, so he valued his current job very much. Being summoned by Director Lin Guoqiang made him as nervous as a minister summoned by an Emperor in the old times— he almost wished he could have bathed and changed his clothes before coming over. He greeted Lin Guoqiang with a series of nods and bows, smiling apologetically non-stop.

Seeing his behavior, Lin Guoqiang felt even more disgusted and glared at him, demanding, ”Doctor Deng, Mr. Ye Qing here alleges that you threw his friend out of the hospital?”

”Ah?” Doctor Deng was taken aback, glanced at Ye Qing, whom he did not recognize. And with the director personally inquiring about the matter, he feared it was no small issue.

”Not at all,” Doctor Deng shook his head and said, ”I haven’t done anything, and I don’t recognize this gentleman.”

”Is that so?” Ye Qing glanced at him, suddenly grabbed him and walked towards a nearby ward, pointing at Gu Xianping on the hospital bed, and said, ”You may not know me, but you should recognize him, right?”

Upon seeing Gu Xianping, Doctor Deng finally remembered the incident. Faced with Lin Guoqiang’s menacing glare, he almost wet himself in fear and said tremulously, ”Director... Director, they... they did not pay the deposit and were occupying a bed. At that time... there was a shortage of beds, so... so I had a nurse make some room...”

”So what Mr. Ye said was true!” Lin Guoqiang was furious and said, ”I can’t believe that we, as doctors, could do such a thing. The patient was so badly injured and was close to death. Instead of thinking about how to save him, your first thought was to have him thrown out, are you even human? You...”

”Director Lin, educating your subordinate can wait. Right now, I just want to know where my friend was thrown out to,” Ye Qing looked at Doctor Deng and said, ”He was badly injured, and now that he’s been thrown out, what if something happens to him? Who will explain this to me? Can the hospital take responsibility?”

Lin Guoqiang angrily glared at Doctor Deng and demanded, ”What are you standing there for? Speak up! Where did you throw the person?”

”I... I don’t know...” Doctor Deng was nearly in tears, his voice trembling as he replied, ”Nurse Xiao Li was the one who had someone throw him out; I... I don’t know anything about it...”

”You don’t know? You’ve had someone thrown out and yet you have the nerve to say you don’t know!” Lin Guoqiang scolded angrily, and he quickly took Ye Qing with him to find Nurse Xiao Li.

Nurse Xiao Li was busy in the hallway; hearing that Lin Guoqiang was looking into Chen Jun’s case, she too was startled, immediately shifting all the blame onto Doctor Deng. Doctor Deng, not to be outdone, countered by blaming Nurse Xiao Li, and the two of them started arguing in front of Lin Guoqiang.

Ye Qing, standing beside them, grew restless and went up to Doctor Deng. He grabbed the doctor’s collar and threw him to the side before turning to glare at Xiao Li and said, ”All I want to know is where my friend has been thrown! Speak up!”

Xiao Li, the nurse, was so frightened by Ye Qing that she trembled and almost burst into tears. However, facing Ye Qing’s fierce expression, she eventually stammered out the location where Chen Jun had been thrown.

Upon learning of Chen Jun’s whereabouts, Ye Qing didn’t say another word and dashed off to find him. Lin Guoqiang glanced furiously at Doctor Deng and Xiao Li before calling several male nurses to grab a stretcher and rush out as well.

The hospital’s backyard was an abandoned old road with a stinking ditch by its side. Right then, Chen Jun was lying in that ditch. The dirty water flowing into his wounds caused such intense pain that his whole body shuddered. Yet, he didn’t have the strength to struggle even a bit and couldn’t climb out of the stinking ditch.

Chen Jun mustered all his strength to prop up his upper body with his arms so his head wouldn’t sink into the ditch. Otherwise, even if he didn’t die from excessive blood loss, he would probably have drowned in that ditch.

He had been struggling there for over an hour, and in that time, not a single soul had passed by on the path. It had grown so dark that nothing was visible, and Chen Jun knew that no one else would come down this path.

”Heh!” Chen Jun let out a bitter laugh. He had only ever been a street thug, and he had contemplated many fates for himself: maybe ending up in jail or getting hacked and losing limbs, powerless, then barely scraping by with a small stall for the rest of his life. Or if he even lacked the energy to run a stall, then he’d have to beg with a bowl in hand. Regardless, it would be a life, and the poorest way to live was by begging, but ”Undying” would eventually come out on top.

But of all the endings he had considered, he had never imagined that one day he would lie in a stinking ditch waiting to die. The murky, foul water passing over his wounds caused waves of excruciating pain, preventing him from even passing out.

”Be a good man, be a good man, huh? Is this what it means to be a good man?” Chen Jun attempted to lift his head to look at the sky, feeling his strength draining away by the minute. His arms had gone numb, and he likely couldn’t support himself much longer. He knew that once he completely lost his strength, it would be time for him to drown in the stinking ditch.

The sky was densely packed with stars—Chen Jun had never seen such a clear sky. Yet, at this moment, he found the sight to be deeply ironic.

”Who the hell said that ’Good begets good, evil begets evil’? What did I do wrong, dammit! I’m not willing to die like this...” With the last of his energy, Chen Jun cursed, and his elbow buckled. His body tumbled into the ditch, his head submerging as well.

An overwhelming stench assaulted his nostrils, and at this moment, Chen Jun felt his mind was unusually clear. As he lay in the ditch, he could even hear footsteps and shouts coming from afar.

”Chen Jun! Chen Jun!”

Chen Jun tried with all his might to lift his head, but he just didn’t have the strength left. He listened as the footsteps passed by on the bank and gradually faded away. It seemed that the person calling out for him hadn’t found him.

Chen Jun despaired. In the dead of night, sinking in a stinking ditch, how could it be easy for anyone to find him? Could it be that he was going to die just like this? Dammit, he was still a virgin—dying like this was such a waste!

Lying face down in the ditch, Chen Jun heard the footsteps turn back again. However, the person didn’t stop but walked right past him again, still calling out his name.

Chen Jun gave up all hope. His head was growing dizzy from lack of oxygen, and his lungs felt like they were about to explode. The sensation of suffocation from the lack of oxygen was unbearable, and he couldn’t help but try to breathe, but as soon as he did, the foul water filled his lungs, causing unimaginable discomfort. Most importantly, it made him even more confused.

Just as Chen Jun was on the verge of passing out completely, a large hand suddenly grabbed his back and hoisted him up.

”We found him!” came a voice filled with joy, followed immediately by someone pressing on his chest several times.

”Blagh!” Chen Jun spewed several mouthfuls of dirty water and finally managed to open his eyes. He saw several people standing around him, one of whom was unmistakably Ye Qing!

”You... you finally came!” were the first words Chen Jun uttered upon opening his eyes.

Instead of anger, Ye Qing laughed and said, ”Yeah, I finally didn’t arrive too late.”

After vomiting a few more mouthfuls of filthy water, Chen Jun weakly said, ”Got any money? Lend me some for a deposit so I can be hospitalized.”

”Don’t worry; there’s plenty!” Ye Qing patted Chen Jun on the shoulder and said, ”Once you’re better, I’ll take you to Shenchuan City, and you’ll make a fortune!”

”Shenchuan City? Are you trying to trick me? Making a fortune isn’t that easy!” Chen Jun waved his hand dismissively and said, ”Can I earn fifty thousand a year? If I can make fifty thousand a year, that’s... that’s enough!”

”Ha ha ha...” Ye Qing laughed heartily and said, ”You can! Absolutely you can!”