Urban Martial Saint

Ye Qing furrowed his brow as several key clues had now essentially been broken.

Li Wenyuan and Shangguan Tian didn’t know much, only aware of a Xu Dingjiang. Lin Yaqing, who was mentioned by Li Wenyuan, was now also dead. Moreover, the clues from Lin Yaqing’s side also pointed to Xu Dingjiang. But with Xu Dingjiang dead as well, the trail had basically gone cold again. It seemed that the person behind the scenes was well prepared and had no intention of letting Ye Qing uncover his identity!

Lin Zhen Nan, who was next to him, also saw the content in the photo. He calculated the timing of the text message and knew it was sent by Lin Yaqing after Old Lady Lin had asked for reconciliation with Ye Qing. That meant the Lin family had already cleared the air with Ye Qing then, and yet she had still ordered someone to kill Ye Qing, which was indeed a serious taboo. No wonder someone could use this photo to threaten her. It seemed Ye Qing was completely right; Lin Yaqing was really involved in this matter.

”Ye Qing, Mr. Du, I’m truly sorry!” Lin Zhen Nan looked at Ye Qing and Du Tianyi, slowly bending down to bow, and said, ”I hadn’t expected someone from our family to dare to commit such an act. Yaqing is dead now, and the dead deserve respect. On her behalf, I apologize to both of you!”

”Uncle Lin, please don’t say that!” Ye Qing hurriedly helped Lin Zhen Nan to stand up, looking at Lin Yaqing’s corpse and couldn’t help but sigh.

From beginning to end, Lin Yaqing had been hostile towards him. And in the end, she died because of this issue, truly exemplifying that evil brings its own retribution. However, she was dead now, and he could say no more; he could only bid farewell to the Lin family members along with Du Tianyi and leave this place.

Shen Baichuan had been hiding in the shadows, watching the situation unfold. Seeing Ye Qing and Du Tianyi leave, he couldn’t help but chuckle to himself. With the trail gone cold, no one would be able to track him down; he remained the heir of the Shen family and had nothing to worry about now!

Leaving the Lin family, Ye Qing and Du Tianyi both looked somewhat dejected.

”It looks like we’ll have to go to Yang Shitao to find any answers now!” Du Tianyi said gravely.

Ye Qing nodded, fell silent for a moment, then took out a cassette from his pocket and said, ”Let’s first see what’s on this cassette.”

Du Tianyi nodded, and they went back to their residence, found a player, and inserted the cassette.

First came a series of rustling noises, and after a while, a man’s voice emerged: ”Good, good, just like that. Put the recorder here; if he comes in later and we can clearly record what he says, that would be best. This will be the evidence if he doesn’t want to cooperate with us, just use it to completely screw him over!”

Ye Qing and Du Tianyi looked at each other, discerning that someone was intentionally setting a trap, preparing to deal with someone. But who were they planning to deal with? Could it be Lin Yaqing?

After whirring for a little while more, someone finally opened a door. Then, two people walked into the room.

”Young Master Ding is here!” the previously speaking man laughed.

Ye Qing and Du Tianyi’s expressions changed. Young Master Ding—who else could it be but Ding Shaoyan!

”Ding Shaoyan!” Du Tianyi gritted his teeth, surprised that, after coming full circle, it still ended up pointing back to him.

Ye Qing also knitted his brows tightly, carefully listening to the voices coming from the cassette.

”Cut the crap!” Ding Shaoyan said. ”You said you could deal with Ye Qing, that you could kill him to avenge me, is that true or false?”

”Young Master Ding, what’s your status? Would we dare deceive you?” The man laughed. ”Just by ourselves, of course, we don’t have the ability to kill Ye Qing. But if Young Master Ding is willing to help, then this matter can be easily handled!”

”How can I cooperate, how can I help?” Ding Shaoyan asked.

The man replied, ”It’s simple, just play a bit of a tragic role; start by dealing with Tie Yongwen first, then killing Ye Qing will be easy!”

Du Tianyi slammed his fist on the table, his eyes nearly spewing fire.

Ye Qing patted his shoulder, signaling him to calm down, and continued to listen intently.

”You want to kill Tie Yongwen?” Ding Shaoyan sounded surprised. ”I thought you said kill Ye Qing? Why kill Tie Yongwen?”

The man explained, ”Ye Qing is protected by Tie Yongwen, and Ye himself is so powerful, who could kill him easily? To kill him, we need to pull the rug from under his feet, have to deal with his support first, then it will be easier to kill him!”

Ding Shaoyan was still puzzled, ”But, Tie Yongwen is our Ding Family’s bodyguard, killing him isn’t right!”

The man sneered, ”Young Master Ding, it’s true that Tie Yongwen is your Ding family’s bodyguard, but let me ask you, has he ever protected you? He claims to be the Ding family’s bodyguard, yet he crippled your martial arts for a stranger. Do you feel weak in your arms and legs now? He not only showed you no respect but also did such a thing. Do you think he’s your family’s bodyguard?”

Ding Shaoyan was silent for a while before asking, ”What exactly do you want to do?”

Undoubtedly, Ding Shaoyan was persuaded. Ye Qing and Du Tianyi exchanged glances, both unable to suppress the anger in their eyes.

”It’s simple, kill Tie Yongwen and frame Ye Qing,” said the man.

”How do you frame him?” asked Ding Shaoyan. ”Ye Qing has a good relationship with Tie Yongwen. How can we frame him? That’s simply impossible!”

”That’s not necessarily true!” the man laughed. ”After all, Tie Yongwen is still your Ding family’s bodyguard. If Ye Qing has a conflict with your Ding family, wouldn’t Tie Yongwen side with you? If Ye Qing mistakenly assaulted your family, wouldn’t Tie Yongwen seek him out?”

Ding Shaoyan was silent for a while before asking, ”What exactly is your plan?”

”Hehe...” the man chuckled lightly, ”Right now, Ye Qing cares most about the orphanage in Eryao Town. If something were to happen there, wouldn’t Ye Qing go mad?”

”You want to target the orphanage?” Ding Shaoyan asked curiously. ”But what does that have to do with us?”

The man smiled, ”If you call Ye Qing and tell him there’s a bomb at the orphanage, forcing him to do something, what do you think Ye Qing will do?”

”You’re trying to get me killed!” Ding Shaoyan panicked. ”Ye Qing will definitely kill me. Even if he doesn’t kill me, if my grandfather finds out about this, I’m done for!”

”Not necessarily...” The man grinned, ”Like I said, we need to create a misunderstanding, forcing Ye Qing to act against you. As long as you are within the boundaries of Xingyi Martial Arts School, the people of Xingyi School won’t just watch you get killed by Ye Qing. The people of the Xingyi School will fight back against Ye Qing, which will escalate the situation, and Tie Yongwen will definitely have to intervene. Also, if a bombing really can be staged, Ye Qing will definitely lose his mind and might even attack the Ding family!”

”That’s impossible!” Ding Shaoyan flatly refused. ”Even if Ye Qing can’t kill me, my family will never let me off!”

”Man, you’re too impatient!” the man said. ”Like I mentioned, we’re creating a misunderstanding here. Call Ye Qing, make him think you’re behind this. Let the explosion happen, drive Ye Qing to madness, and then you won’t even need to lift a finger. Plus, we can find ways to prove that it was all a misunderstanding, that the call wasn’t made by you!”

”What do you really mean by this?” Ding Shaoyan was completely confused. ”What do you mean ’call him and then prove it wasn’t me’? What are you trying to say?”

”Hehe...” the man laughed. ”On the day of the operation, you can be with someone influential, staying with him the whole time, and not touch your phone at all. He can vouch that you didn’t make the call. This way, won’t it prove to be a misunderstanding?”

”Nonsense, if I don’t touch the phone, how can I call him?” Ding Shaoyan said.

Ye Qing also frowned, curious about this point. According to the data from the dashcam, Ding Shaoyan indeed hadn’t made a call that day, but how was the call made?

”Hehe, isn’t that simple?” the man laughed. ”You just need to record a message beforehand, and when the time comes, dial the number and play that message. All he needs to hear is your voice; how would he know whether it’s really you on the line or just a recording? And by then, all you need is someone to certify that you were not on the phone!”

Upon hearing this, the expressions of both Ye Qing and Du Tianyi changed; they finally understood what had actually happened. The call that Ye Qing received had indeed been in Ding Shaoyan’s voice. However, it was just a recording.

As Ye Qing recalled the day Ding Shaoyan had called him, Ye Qing had asked him several questions, but Ding Shaoyan had not answered at all, as if he hadn’t heard them, just kept talking about his own issues. Ye Qing had been too enraged at the time to think further. Now, it all made sense why Ding Shaoyan hadn’t responded—he was playing a recording, which was recorded beforehand, so how could it possibly respond?

”Ding Shaoyan!” Du Tianyi gritted his teeth, fury reaching its peak.

”Great idea!” Ding Shaoyan happily responded. ”Your method is good. Alright, I’ll find someone to prove I didn’t make the call. Hmm, the son of Tie Yongwen, Tie Weihua, is a good candidate. How about this, I’ll install another dashcam in the car these next few days, set it a little further back so it can capture me sitting in the front. Then, I’ll ride around with him for a bit, and if the dashcam captures me, it’ll further prove I didn’t make the call. Hehe, by doing this, I’ll completely disassociate myself from this situation, and it’s genuinely a good idea!”

The man sneered, ”As long as you follow my plan, Ye Qing will definitely fall for it. I’ve already found someone capable of planting the bomb. Once it explodes at the orphanage, Ye Qing will go berserk. When Tie Yongwen comes looking for him, hehe, that will be the time for Tie Yongwen to meet his end!”