Urban Martial Saint

Next, Ye Qing sought out Liu Changping for a detailed inquiry about his first love; he learned that this woman was named Chen Xueru and came from Erhe Village in Xishan City.

Erhe Village is located at the estuary near Xishan City, a place often afflicted by floods. Over twenty years ago, a sudden flood one night devastated the entire Erhe Village. According to local records, hardly anyone from the entire village survived. Liu Changping had searched several times in the past, but the village no longer existed, and he had never seen any of its former residents again. As for Chen Xueru and her family, it was said they had all been swept away by that flood, not one spared.

After searching in vain for several years, Liu Changping finally succumbed to despair and married his current wife. Unfortunately, his wife was barren by nature and to this day, they remain childless. His wife had urged him several times to divorce and find someone else, but Liu Changping never did. Though he didn’t express much, for an older person to go through life without children, what a profound sorrow it was!

Listening to Liu Changping speak, Ye Qing, too, felt a tinge of sympathy. Seeing Huang Fulin’s situation, Ye Qing could somewhat understand the profound importance of having a child for the elderly. To be honest, Ye Qing truly hoped that Old Wang Ba wasn’t just fooling people this time; he really wanted to help Liu Changping find a child and fulfill his greatest lifelong regret.

Liu Changping gradually began to trust Ye Qing, or perhaps it was his burning desire to find his child that made him lay out every distinguishable feature he could remember, hoping for Ye Qing’s help in his search. He repeated some key characteristics and information multiple times, entrusted only to Ye Qing to help find the person.

Ye Qing committed all this information to memory and after consoling Liu Changping with a few words, they reluctantly left the room together.

Uncle Zhou Bolong was sitting outside; upon seeing the two emerge, he immediately came over and asked, ”What happened? What did you two talk about for so long?”

Liu Changping’s eyes were slightly red as he shook his head and said, ”It’s nothing, Uncle Zhou, I should be going now. I’ll come another day to play chess with you!”

After giving Ye Qing a deep look, Liu Changping then turned and walked away. As Ye Qing watched him leave, Zhou Bolong turned to Ye Qing with furrowed brows and asked, ”What exactly did you say to Old Liu? What’s gotten into him?”

Ye Qing did not elaborate, simply repeating the things he had previously discussed outside and concluded, ”Uncle Liu asked me to try and find his daughter for him, there’s still some hope, after all!”

”You talk as if it’s really possible, are you sure he actually has a daughter?” Zhou Bolong said, ”Ye Qing, you’re Fifth Brother’s friend, and he speaks very highly of you. The number Fifth Brother gave you, that’s my private number, which not many people know about. Whoever can call this number is someone closely related to the Zhou family. As long as it’s not something utterly immoral, I will help resolve it if it’s within my capability. I think you’re a decent person, so I am convinced that the Shenchuan City matter wasn’t your fault. But, as a young man, you have to follow the right path and not fall into evil ways. Superstitious feudal beliefs are not to be trifled with.”

Ye Qing stood up straight, respectfully replying, ”Uncle Zhou, rest assured, I most certainly will not let you down!”

”I hope so,” Zhou Bolong sighed, ”Truth be told, if you could really help Old Liu find a daughter, I’d be grateful on his behalf. You don’t know, but Old Liu and his wife, at their age, to go through life all alone, for them, to be without children is the saddest thing. If he truly could have a daughter, ah, that would be the greatest joy of his life!”

It was clear that Zhou Bolong was very close to Liu Changping and had given much thought to his friend’s situation. Ye Qing sighed; in fact, he felt the same way. No matter what he might gain from Liu Changping, he wanted to try helping him find his daughter, if only to fulfill an old man’s wish.

After saying goodbye to Zhou Bolong, Ye Qing headed straight back to the hotel, where Old Wang Ba was leisurely enjoying a soda in the room. Seeing Ye Qing return, he immediately got up and said, ”Hey, Little Leaf, how did it go?”

”Is what you said really true?” Ye Qing looked at Old Wang Ba, his voice stern, ”Does Liu Changping truly have a daughter?”

”Damn it, would I lie to you?” Old Wang Ba said: ”Though I might not take the little things in life seriously, and I play around, this matter is of great importance. I swear on Third Master’s name, I haven’t lied!”

Seeing Old Wang Ba’s resolute expression, Ye Qing believed him somewhat and said, ”But, Liu Changping told me he went back several times without finding anyone. Plus, it has been confirmed by local authorities that his entire family was swept away by the flood, all perished. So where exactly is this child you’re talking about?”

Old Wang Ba shrugged, ”That, I don’t know.”

”What?” Ye Qing, taken aback, looked at Old Wang Ba and said, ”Didn’t you say he has a daughter and a granddaughter? How do you not know about this?”

”Damn it, just because I know those things doesn’t mean I have to know where his daughter and granddaughter are,” Old Wang Ba said: ”Have you ever had your fortune told? When reading fortunes, it’s about observing a person’s face and palms to reveal details about their offspring, lifespan, and marital and career prospects. But to ask where his daughter and granddaughter are, that’s too much; my skills aren’t that advanced yet!”

Ye Qing looked at Old Wang Ba and after a moment of silence said: ”Are you just fooling people for fun? Fortune-telling, palm reading—all that is superstitious feudal crap. We should base our words and actions on facts!”

”Hmph!” Old Wang Ba sneered coldly, glancing at Ye Qing, and said, ”You claim fortune-telling and physiognomy are superstitious beliefs. Then let me ask you, before you practiced Inner Strength, wasn’t the concept of Inner Strength also considered superstitious?”

”This...” Ye Qing was at a loss for words, unable to respond. Honestly, before experiencing Inner Strength, Ye Qing had thought it was all just stuff from martial arts novels. Who knew it really existed? Besides, thinking about Cui Yulong’s Evil Blade, there were too many inconceivable things in this world. Maybe fortune-telling and physiognomy weren’t entirely nonexistent after all.

”Zhouyi Bagua has existed for thousands of years, continually influencing the progress of human civilization. If all of this were false, why hasn’t it been thoroughly debunked over these thousands of years? Why, instead of being completely squelched, has it spread even wider?” Old Wang Ba continued, ”I’ll tell you, some things, you really can’t help but believe. Moreover, there are some things you are better off believing in than not!”

Ye Qing hadn’t expected to be persuaded by Old Wang Ba. He looked at Old Wang Ba for a while and asked, ”When do we leave?”

”What’s the rush? Tomorrow,” Old Wang Ba replied.

”Why tomorrow?” Ye Qing wondered.

Old Wang Ba threw himself on the bed and said, ”Come on, you booked such a nice room. Are you telling me we’re not going to enjoy it and just leave?”

Without another word, Ye Qing grabbed Old Wang Ba and dragged him out of the room. That old man really knew how to relax. But Ye Qing had no time to waste playing along; after settling matters here, he still had to find a way to deal with the situation back in Shenchuan City.

Driving through the night, they hastened towards Xishan City, arriving there the next morning. Having driven all night, Ye Qing was fatigued and gradually slowed the car down, planning to grab some food on the roadside and also ask for directions to Erhe Village.

However, just as Ye Qing slowed down, intending to pull over, a three-wheeled cart suddenly burst out in front and crashed into Ye Qing’s car. Ye Qing reacted quickly, steering sharply, the car swerved, avoiding the cart, but the vehicle behind him wasn’t so lucky and got hit directly. The three-wheeled cart flipped over, and the driver lay motionless on the ground with a pool of blood near their head, looking severely injured.

”Somebody’s been killed! Somebody’s been killed!” An old woman emerged from nowhere, shouting loudly, causing a few more people to gather.

”How could you drive like this?”

”Yeah, the road is so wide, how could you still hit someone?”

”Driving a car means nothing if you disregard other people’s lives!”

Seven or eight people around were pointing fingers, directing criticism toward the person driving behind. Through the rearview mirror, Ye Qing saw a young girl sitting in the car behind, her face pale as she watched everything unfold. Girls generally can’t endure much shock, and faced with such an incident, she was overwhelmingly scared and even forgot to get out.

”So lively so early in the morning!” Old Wang Ba got excited, leaning over the car window to look back, and happily exclaimed, ”Oh, she’s a beauty too!”

About seven or eight people crowded around, vocally criticizing the girl for driving too fast. The old lady simply sat down at the front of the car and burst into tears.

”People are hurt like this, and you won’t even get out of the car. Isn’t that a bit rude?”

”Exactly. She looks pretty but has such a cruel heart!”

Amidst the crowd’s comments, the girl finally came to her senses and hurriedly opened the car door to step out. As she approached the old woman, just about to speak, the old woman suddenly jumped up, seized her clothes, and wailed, ”The damn killer, what did my man ever do to you? Why are you so heartless, why did you hit him to death? He was just a cart driver, trying to make a living. Now that you’ve killed him, my family is ruined. I can’t live on, I might as well take my children and die too!”

The old woman’s crying sounded almost like she was cursing, making even Ye Qing inside the car frown. The girl was in a panic and quickly said, ”It’s not certain whether he’s dead or not; let me have a look. If he’s still alive, we need to get him to the hospital right away!”