Urban Martial Saint

Zhou Binglin looked furious and exclaimed, ”What do we do now? Do we really have to go back to our hometown just to retrieve that Blood Letter?”

”Is your hometown far from here?” Ye Qing immediately asked, his mood somewhat excited upon learning that the Blood Letter could still be retrieved.

Zhou Binglin said, ”Not far, it would take about an hour back and forth. But it’s too late now, there are no buses!”

”Let’s take a taxi!” Ye Qing suggested.

”A taxi?” Zhou Binglin widened his eyes and waved his hands repeatedly, ”If we take a taxi, it will cost more than two hundred yuan round trip; it’s not worth the money. How about this, I’ll go fetch it tomorrow and bring it to you at the hospital? What do you think?”

”That won’t do,” Ye Qing shook his head, ”This matter must be settled tonight. You take me there; I’ll cover the taxi fare.”

”You’ll pay?” Zhou Binglin looked at Ye Qing in surprise, unable to understand what Ye Qing was really up to. Coming to them for money, yet ending up paying out of his own pocket, who does business like this?

Ye Qing promptly took out three hundred yuan and handed it to Zhou Binglin, ”Is this enough?”

Seeing the cash, Zhou Binglin immediately brightened up and said, ”Enough, enough, alright, let’s go get it!”

In fact, a round trip by taxi cost only about one hundred and fifty, so with three hundred yuan, Zhou Binglin could make a tidy profit; of course, he was happy.

Ye Qing led Zhou Binglin down the stairs, preparing to leave the machinery factory and hail a cab on the street. However, just as they reached the entrance of the residential area of the machinery factory, Ye Qing saw seven or eight police cars sealing off the entrance, with a group of officers stationed at the gate and others conducting house-to-house searches.

”What’s happening so late at night?” Zhou Binglin muttered in surprise.

Ye Qing’s expression changed suddenly. He remembered that after the call with Lu Jiangong, he had not changed locations. With that signal source, locating him had been all too easy.

Ye Qing immediately pulled out his phone, removed the battery, and threw it together with the phone into a nearby trash can.

”Hey, that phone was still usable, right?” Zhou Binglin widened his eyes, reached to retrieve the phone from the trash, but was promptly stopped by Ye Qing.

”Let’s go this way!” Ye Qing didn’t bother explaining; he pulled out five hundred yuan and handed it to him, ”Do as I say, and this money is yours!”

Without a second word, Zhou Binglin followed Ye Qing in a new direction, eagerly; after all, as a man in his fifties or sixties with no money at home, he doubted Ye Qing would kidnap him.

Ye Qing and Zhou Binglin walked to the end of the residential area. The police still hadn’t caught up, and Ye Qing finally breathed a sigh of relief. He looked at Zhou Binglin and asked, ”Is there another way out?”

”There’s a back path; I’ll take you,” Zhou Binglin led Ye Qing around the courtyard wall and out through a small path.

The two reached the street, and Ye Qing immediately hailed a cab, taking Zhou Binglin straight to his mother’s old house.

Elsewhere, Old Wang Ba had finally arrived at the hospital where Lin Dade was anxiously waiting at the entrance of the ward. Zhou Guiting’s daughter, Ding Ding, was still standing by the door, peeking through the crack inside, not having changed her position for a long time.

Seeing Old Wang Ba approaching, Lin Dade immediately greeted him, ”Uncle Ye!”

”Huh?” Old Wang Ba paused and said, ”My surname isn’t Ye!”

”You’re not surnamed Ye?” Lin Dade expressed surprise, ”Aren’t you Young Brother Ye’s father? How could you not be surnamed Ye?”

It was only then that Old Wang Ba remembered the lies he had told Lin Dade earlier and chuckled, ”He takes his mother’s surname; I am surnamed Wang!”

”I see!” Lin Dade suddenly realized and glanced at Old Wang Ba, whispering, ”You’re not a house-husband, are you?”

Old Wang Ba immediately puffed up and glared, ”Hey, as handsome as I am, how could I possibly be a house-husband!”

Lin Dade looked at Old Wang Ba with his sleazy appearance and smiled knowingly, assuming an ”I understand” expression, which only added to Old Wang Ba’s frustration.

”Where is my son?” Old Wang Ba asked angrily, unable to explain to Lin Dade, and decided to take advantage of Ye Qing instead.

”He just went out on business,” Lin Dade said, ”By the way, Uncle Wang, you might want to leave first. Zhang Jun is now the team leader, and with Deputy Director Lu backing him, he has quite some power. Your son just hit his sister, and Zhang Jun will surely come to seek revenge. If you stay here, it will be troublesome when they arrive!”

”Powerful?” Old Wang Ba sneered, ”Hey, I have never respected these so-called powerful people in my life. I want to wait here today and see how capable these people really are, and what they can do to me!”

”Uncle Wang, that’s not the right way to see it,” Lin Dade urged anxiously. ”Being police, they certainly cannot openly harm you, but if they call some gangsters over, then they will have no scruples. If they beat you up, won’t that be a beating for nothing? Besides, after the beating, you might even get arrested by the police, locked up for a few years, and fined a hefty sum—that would be a real loss. As the saying goes, a wise man does not suffer in front of him, Uncle Wang, you better go now. I’ll keep watch here, it’ll be fine!”

”No need!” Old Wang Ba waved his hand, ”Humph, this isn’t my first time in Xishan City. I’ve seen all kinds of big storms. I want to see just how much trouble a petty policeman can stir up. Not just him, Zhang Jun, even if Lu Jiangong himself comes, I’m not afraid. You don’t need to worry about me. By the way, could you go buy me something?”

Lin Dade looked at Old Wang Ba, unsure if he was boasting or truly capable.

”What do you need me to buy?” Lin Dade asked curiously.

Old Wang Ba said, ”There’s an old shop in North City District that specializes in a northern specialty, tobacco. Go and buy me a pack!”

”Ah?” Lin Dade’s eyes widened in disbelief. In such a critical moment, Old Wang Ba was asking him to buy tobacco, and to go so far for it—was he out of his mind?

”Hurry up and buy it for me, I need it!” Old Wang Ba stuffed some bills into Lin Dade’s hand, ”Hurry, don’t waste time!”

Lin Dade scratched his head, ”But, I need to look after the mother and daughter here ...”

”You’re talking as if I can’t take care of them. Just go, and stop talking nonsense!” Old Wang Ba pushed and persuaded Lin Dade, hurrying him out of the hospital. Watching Lin Dade ride away, he then returned to the hospital ward.

The little girl Ding Ding was still standing at the door of the ward, staring unwaveringly at the situation inside. Old Wang Ba managed a gentle smile, walked over, and spoke softly, ”Ding Ding, if you stay here, those doctor uncles won’t be able to focus on treating your mom. How about you come with uncle and play at the nurse’s station for a while? Once mom is better, uncle will come to take you back, okay?”

Ding Ding looked at Old Wang Ba, then worriedly at the ward, and said with a sobbing tone, ”Uncle, my mom will be okay, right?”

”She will definitely be okay, don’t worry, absolutely nothing will happen!” Old Wang Ba softly stroked Ding Ding’s forehead and took her to the nurse station, entrusting her to a few nurses there for care.

Since these nurses had seen Ye Qing’s generous action earlier and recognized Ding Ding as the little girl Ye Qing had brought in, they didn’t refuse and agreed to keep her there.

After handling everything, Old Wang Ba finally breathed a sigh of relief. The sleazy and cynical look on his face now held a trace of solemnity. He straightened up and slowly walked back to the ward entrance. He knew that Ye Qing had already seized this great opportunity, and it was time for him to pay the price for going against fate!

He couldn’t escape; as a descendant of the Iron Calculation Sect, he knew clearly that going against fate required a price to be paid. If you tried to flee, you would not only face a more severe price but could even affect the person whose fate was changed. The great fortune that was almost within reach could also slip away.

Just like now, if he fled and avoided facing it all, Zhou Guiting and Ding Ding might not even survive. If they died, not only would Ye Qing lose the chance for this great fortune, but he would also attract resentment, making future fortunes even more difficult.

The only thing he could do now was to minimize the price, which was why he had made that call for help earlier. And sending Lin Dade and Ding Ding away was to prevent them from being caught up in this.

Old Wang Ba stood at the entrance of the ward, leisurely smoking a cigarette, his face showing a self-mocking smile. Since the extermination of the Iron Calculation Sect, he had never calculated anyone’s fortune or changed anyone’s fate, only wanting to preserve the Iron Calculation Sect once more. Yet this time, he had to act unhesitatingly because he needed to fulfill Third Master Li’s last wish!

Before he could finish his cigarette, a noisy commotion suddenly came from the hospital corridor. Old Wang Ba put the cigarette in his mouth, took a deep drag, then tossed the cigarette butt on the floor, crushing it thoroughly, before slowly raising his head to look ahead. He knew that what was expected had finally arrived!

At the end of the corridor, over twenty burly men arrogantly made their way forward, with Hei among them. Hei was not regarded as a significant figure in Xishan City—after all, how capable could someone who bullies a rickshaw driver be? Yet the group coming this time were indeed powerful local thugs in Xishan City. Each of them was shouting loudly, not believing Hei’s words that the other side had martial arts skills, and they all laughed at the idea.

Upon entering, they immediately asked for the location of that ward. Arriving at the ward door, they didn’t see Ye Qing. The leading Flathead immediately turned to Hei and asked, ”Where’s the guy you mentioned earlier?”

”I don’t know, he was the one who brought Zhou Guiting to the hospital. Why isn’t he here?” Hei turned around, looking, and saw Old Wang Ba standing at the entrance of the ward, saying, ”Hey, old man, did you see a young man come here?”

”I saw him!” Old Wang Ba replied.