Urban Martial Saint

Lin Mengjie said these words with trepidation in her heart.

Lin Mengjie came from a poor family, and her mother had passed away when she was in high school. Her father was but a simple and honest farmer, unable to afford her education.

It was by a chance opportunity that Old Fifth Yang, having just made his first pot of money, found her and offered to support her studies. From her high school days, her living expenses and tuition fees were all provided by Old Fifth Yang. After she graduated, he directly offered her a high salary to manage these venues in Jiuchuan County. To be honest, everything she had today was given to her by Old Fifth Yang.

Lin Mengjie knew that Old Fifth Yang was neither a pious believer nor a philanthropist. He had only financially supported her and no one else over the years. Thus, she always assumed that Old Fifth Yang helped her only because he was attracted to her outer appearance. However, in all this time, Old Fifth Yang had never harbored any improper thoughts towards her; he took care of her as if she were his daughter. Mengjie still remembered one time, when Old Fifth Yang hosted an official who got fresh with her. Old Fifth Yang caused a huge scene over it, had a falling out with the official, which resulted in ruining his biggest project at the time. Despite that incident, Old Fifth Yang never expressed any resentment after coming out.

Since that incident, Lin Mengjie gradually started to consider Old Fifth Yang as part of her family. Because, in her life, aside from her parents, no one else had treated her that well!

Now, standing before Old Fifth Yang and saying such words, she really hesitated. Yet, she still spoke her mind. In fact, the day Ye Qing returned and spoke to Old Fifth Yang about this matter, she had already made up her mind, it was just that she had waited until now to speak. She didn’t know if Old Fifth Yang would be angry, but since she had decided, she hadn’t thought about avoiding it.

Old Fifth Yang looked at Lin Mengjie, remained silent for a while, then suddenly asked, ”Do you want to go out for a walk, or do you simply want to help Ye Qing?”

Her face turned a hint of red at such a question, which took Lin Mengjie by surprise. Actually, she hadn’t thought of going out on a stroll; she just wanted to help Ye Qing. She hadn’t considered these reasons before, but when Old Fifth Yang posed the question, she suddenly felt that her desire to help Ye Qing was actually because she didn’t want to see him overworked with those matters. Within this reluctance, there was indeed a faint affection of a young girl hidden.

Lin Mengjie hung her head for a while, not knowing how to answer Old Fifth Yang’s question.

Before she could speak, Old Fifth Yang spoke again with a faint smile, ”No matter the reason, wherever you want to go, I won’t stop you. However, remember, if you don’t fit in at Shenchuan City, Jiuchuan County will always be your home!”

At these words, Lin Mengjie’s eyes immediately welled with tears. Looking up at Old Fifth Yang, her eyes became misty as she said softly, ”Fifth Brother, thank you!”

Old Fifth Yang gave a faint smile and said, ”I’ve told you, call me Uncle Yang.”

”Uncle Yang...” Lin Mengjie looked at Old Fifth Yang, feeling an inexplicably warm affection in her heart.

Ye Qing first took Xu Changzhi and the others to Old Fifth Yang’s villa, then he hurried back to the hospital. As soon as he sat down, he received a call—it was from one of Old Fifth Yang’s men.

”Ye, there’s been an incident!” The man said anxiously, ”Lin Peng has been kidnapped!”

”What?” Ye Qing stood up abruptly and asked urgently, ”Which Lin Peng?”

Ye Qing knew two Lin Pengs, one a classmate and the other a classmate of Yuan Xiaozheng. The former was a policeman, while the latter had been expelled from school after revealing the truth about Yuan Xiaozheng getting beaten up. However, that matter had been resolved with the arrest of the school leaders, and Gong Ping, who had been abusing his power, was currently under investigation. As for Lin Peng, he had returned to school and was no longer troubled by anyone.

”Lin Peng, your classmate?” The man seemed surprised, adding, ”Ye, have you forgotten? The assassin you caught together the last time!”

”Oh, him!” Ye Qing suddenly realized and asked urgently, ”What happened? Who kidnapped him?”

”It’s Li Qiang. Lin Peng followed your advice this morning and was keeping watch at his mother’s grave. Li Qiang really showed up to pay respects to his mother, and Lin Peng’s group intended to apprehend him, but Li Qiang was too fierce. He injured four policemen and kidnapped Lin Peng while making an escape.”

Ye Qing frowned, was silent for a moment, then asked, ”Where are they now?”

”Li Qiang and his group took the provincial road; the county bureau’s people are in pursuit. We just got this news. Fifth Brother knew you’re good friends with Lin Peng, so he asked me to call and inform you. Ye, do you need assistance? If so, I can send a car to help you right now!”

”No need!” Ye Qing said in a deep voice, ”Get me surveillance on all intersections. I need to know every position of the car that Li Qiang is in, keep me updated at all times.”

Without hanging up the phone, Ye Qing stood up and dashed upstairs, calling down Da Fei and leaving Mad Dog to watch over Ye Changwen on the upper floor.

Da Fei saw Ye Qing’s rapid pace and knew something was wrong. As they walked, he asked, ”Ye, what’s happened?”

Ye Qing said, ”My friend has been taken hostage by a criminal. You drive, take me to chase after them!”

”Damn, who the hell is so audacious to dare kidnap your friend at this time!” Da Fei immediately became furious and said, ”If I catch that bastard, I’ll chop him to pieces!”

Without speaking, Ye Qing, with Da Fei, ran downstairs, got into the car, and left the hospital. At that moment, Old Fifth Yang had also relayed the approximate location, and Ye Qing and his companions headed straight for the provincial road to the west of the city.

By the time Old Fifth Yang learned about the incident, Li Qiang’s car had already entered the provincial road, which meant Ye Qing and his group were setting out to chase at least thirty kilometers behind the other party. Fortunately, there were intermittent surveillance cameras along the way, barely providing a way to pinpoint the exact location of Li Qiang’s vehicle.

Ye Qing had remained on the phone the whole time, listening to the position reports from the other end, chasing for nearly an hour, and entering the territory of the neighboring county.

It was already after eleven at this point, and Ye Qing, while listening to the phone, vigilantly scanned his surroundings. After driving about five more kilometers, he saw several police cars stopped at the side of the road, and Wang Yuanbo was also standing by the roadside.

Da Fei pulled over and stopped the car, and Ye Qing got out, asking in surprise, ”Director Wang, what are you doing here?”

”Mr. Ye, you’re here too!” Wang Yuanbo greeted Ye Qing politely and said, ”We were chasing the suspect Li Qiang to this point, but we’ve just received news that his car has entered the highway. We’ve already contacted every highway checkpoint, and the police in various areas are monitoring the situation. As soon as they come off the highway, the police will stop them. They can’t escape!”

”Entered the highway?” Ye Qing frowned and asked in astonishment, ”What about Lin Peng?”

Wang Yuanbo said, ”He must’ve been taken onto the highway as well.”

”Is that so?” Ye Qing was silent for a moment and then suddenly asked, ”Director Wang, could I ask you for a favor?”

”Sure, just say it,” Wang Yuanbo replied very courteously.

Ye Qing said, ”Send someone back to guard Li Qiang’s mother’s grave.”

”Ah?” Wang Yuanbo was taken aback and said, ”That… what for? Li Qiang has already left Jiuchuan County and entered the highway; what’s the point of going to his mother’s grave now?”

Ye Qing slowly shook his head and said, ”Their car may have entered the highway, but Li Qiang may not have!”

”What do you mean?” Wang Yuanbo was surprised and stared at Ye Qing in astonishment.

Ye Qing explained, ”Li Qiang is a very arrogant man. His willingness to kill so many people in Jiuchuan County shows he doesn’t take the Jiuchuan County police seriously at all. His return to commit such murders shows that he is a filial son. How could such a person leave Jiuchuan County without even paying respects to his mother? Also, anyone with a bit of intelligence wouldn’t take the highway at this time. The highway is closed off; once on it, wherever he comes out, he won’t be able to escape the police encirclement. Li Qiang is not a fool; he wouldn’t blindly walk into a trap!”

Wang Yuanbo frowned slightly, stayed silent for a while, then said, ”Mr. Ye, your analysis seems quite logical. However, now that he has taken one of our police officers hostage, the case has been escalated. Even if Li Qiang is a cunning thief, he definitely wouldn’t dare return to Jiuchuan County because that would mean certain death. Plus, it wasn’t his choice to get on the highway; he was forced onto it by our police cars. Sorry, but we are short-staffed right now and can’t afford to focus on something that seems irrelevant!”

”Hey, how can you say it’s irrelevant!” Da Fei objected discontentedly, ”My brother Ye is even helping you solve the case, isn’t he?”

Wang Yuanbo gave a faint smile and said, ”Mr. Ye, I appreciate your willingness to help us. However, police investigations follow forensic methods, not just something you can master by reading a few novels or watching a few movies. Everything we do adheres to police regulations, and it’s all about minimizing losses. So, I’m sorry, but we really can’t spare the manpower for other tasks right now!”

Da Fei wanted to say more, but Ye Qing waved him off and nodded, ”Director Wang, I understand. In that case, I won’t disturb you any further. You all carry on.”

After speaking, Ye Qing turned and got back into the car. Da Fei looked discontent and said, ”Ye, this Wang Yuanbo clearly doesn’t respect you. Damn, his words were really unpleasant. How can you bear with it?”

Ye Qing shook his head and replied, ”You can’t blame him. Moving all the personnel over here is standard procedure. If anything unpredictable happens, he won’t have to be responsible or take the blame. But if he diverted resources for something else at this time and an accident occurred, then the responsibility would be on him. I mean, who wants to take the blame, who wants to bear so much responsibility? It’s normal for him to act this way!”