Urban Martial Saint

Zhao Chengshuang was momentarily stunned. He had not expected Ye Qing to pose such a question. After a moment of silence, he said, ”Ye Zi, I understand your thoughts. However, black and white are opposites, yet they coexist. As society evolved to this stage, if there is a good side, there must inevitably be a bad side, and losing any side would render society incomplete.”

Ye Qing said, ”If all these people are the ’cancers’ of society, then why can’t they be eliminated all at once? I think that black and white do not necessarily have to coexist!”

”That’s easy to say, but the reality isn’t so,” Zhao Chengshuang sighed and added, ”The presence of these people is inevitable. There’s a saying that sums it up well, ’Where there are people, there is Jianghu.’ That’s just the way it is.”

”’Where there are people, there is Jianghu!’” Ye Qing slowly repeated the statement, then looking at Zhao Chengshuang, he said, ”But why do I always feel that this is due to the inaction of the police?”

”Don’t speak so poorly of me…” Zhao Chengshuang quickly waved his hands and said, ”Ye Zi, it’s not that we police are inactive, it’s just that, this kind of thing can’t be completely eradicated. For example, the three major gangs of Shenchuan City, Tianqing Gang, Fubang, and Fierce Tiger Gang, coexisted and formed a relatively stable structure. When these three gangs were here, they restrained each other and didn’t dare to do anything too outrageous. Their subordinates could make a living and live peacefully without turning to crime. Other gangs from outside, even if they wanted to intervene, found it wasn’t so easy. During that time, the public security in Shenchuan City was very good!”

”However, after the Fierce Tiger Gang collapsed, the situation in Shenchuan City started to change. You must have seen it, daily street fights and brawls occur, those penniless thugs have to find ways to make money, they have to fight and struggle. And the larger forces began to vie for the territory of the Fierce Tiger Gang, which leads to even more conflicts and struggles. From outside, those gangs also try to make their move. Everything leads to chaos,” sighed Zhao Chengshuang and continued, ”With the collapse of Fierce Tiger Gang, Shenchuan City became chaotic. After Tianqing Gang and Fubang fell in succession, Shenchuan City fell completely into disorder. Now, it’s not just chaos within Shenchuan City, but external forces also want to get involved. With all this, Shenchuan City will only become more chaotic. But imagine if we tried to clean up all these people all at once and rid Shenchuan City of organized crime, what would happen then?”

Zhao Chengshuang looked at Ye Qing and said, ”If Shenchuan City didn’t have these gangs, things would only be more complicated. External forces are trying to get involved, each wanting a piece of the territory. Then, the public security would only be more chaotic, and governance would be even more troublesome. So, under the current situation, we can only try to stabilize it, try to ensure these people don’t commit crimes, and maintain social stability. That’s why I asked you to step in and regulate these people. Under your influence, they’re certainly much better than under anyone else’s!”

Ye Qing did not speak further. Although he did not fully agree with Zhao Chengshuang’s words, he had to admit that Zhao Chengshuang was right. The situation had indeed reached this point, and the police could only try to stabilize these individuals and maintain public order as much as possible.

”Ye Zi, I know you were once a soldier and despise evil, disliking these gang members. But now you’ve entered society, and things are different from before,” Zhao Chengshuang patted Ye Qing’s shoulder and added, ”Don’t dwell on these problems anymore, just understand one thing. If these people under your control do not commit crimes, that’s the greatest contribution you can make to society.”

After a moment of silence, Ye Qing nodded, turned to Black Bear, and said, ”Xiong Zi, clean up, call up Mad Dog, Yue Peng, Chen Jun, Hou San, and others, and get ready to leave!”

”What’s the plan?” Zhao Chengshuang immediately asked excitedly, ”Ye Zi, do you have a plan?”

”Just like you said…” Ye Qing clenched his fist and declared, ”’Kill the chicken to scare the monkeys!’”

”’Kill the chicken to scare the monkeys,’ but wouldn’t you need more men for that?” Zhao Chengshuang instantly remarked, ”With just a few people, could it work?”

”Bringing too many people is ’the fox exploiting the tiger’s might.’ To ’kill the chicken to scare the monkeys,’ you have to show force!” Ye Qing smiled and said, ”These few people are enough!”

At eleven o’clock, Ye Qing and others arrived at the hotel arranged by Li Lianshan. Li Lianshan was ready and waiting there. Seeing that Ye Qing had brought only a few people, his eyes went wide as he said, ”Ye Zi, for such a big event today, you’ve only brought these few people? You can’t be serious, I’ve already sent out a message telling people each can bring ten subordinates. Bringing these few, how will you manage the situation later on?”

Yue Peng chuckled and said, ”To manage the situation, just a few of us are enough!”

”Damn, this is not a time to act the hero!” Li Lianshan waved his hand and said, ”Ye Zi, should I arrange for some more guys to come over and help now?”

”No need!” Ye Qing waved his hand, stepped into the hotel with his few companions and proceeded directly into the venue.

Although it wasn’t time yet, the room was already filled with many people - small faction leaders emerged after the collapse of Tianqing Gang and Fubang. Of course, there were also some small local forces from Shenchuan City that did not belong to any gang, called in by Zhao Chengshuang. He was planning to regulate the entire order of Shenchuan City this time!

Among them, several who recognized Ye Qing ran over from afar to greet him. Of course, many others looked at Ye Qing with hostility. Ye Qing had invited them for a meal, but they all were very clear that this was definitely more than just a simple meal.

Li Lianshan walked with Ye Qing around the room, introducing several of the larger forces to him and then escorted him into the conference room. The conference room had thirty seats, sitting the thirty biggest players in Shenchuan City. By dealing with these thirty people, the others would be simple matters.

At 11:30 a.m., people began arriving one after another. However, their attitudes varied greatly, some giggled and started greeting Ye Qing and Li Lianshan as soon as they entered, while others wore a cold expression, glaring at them with overt hostility as soon as they arrived. Some were expressionless, as if everything was irrelevant to them. In any case, nearly everyone who entered the room had ulterior motives, but most of them also shared a common purpose, which was to collectively oppose Ye Qing and Li Lianshan.

By noon, twenty-seven people had already arrived in the conference room, and three were still absent, which by then was considered late.

All twenty-seven people had taken their seats by the table. As the clock struck twelve, everyone stopped talking and turned their attention to Ye Qing and Li Lianshan. Zhao Chengshuang had set the meeting time for twelve o’clock, and now that it had arrived and not everyone was present, it was clear they were being disrespectful to Ye Qing and Li Lianshan. Everyone wanted to see how the two would handle the situation.

Li Lianshan was somewhat annoyed, clearly displeased. However, since Ye Qing was silently sipping his tea next to him, acting as if nothing had happened, Li pretended the same while secretly plotting how to deal with the latecomers.

Around 12:05 p.m., someone rushed in through the door, immediately saying, ”Oh, I’m really sorry, there was a traffic jam. I apologize for the long wait, truly sorry!”

After briefly excusing himself to the crowd, the man took a seat directly at the table. Just as Li Lianshan was about to slam the table in anger, Ye Qing grabbed his arm and discreetly motioned for him to stay calm.

It was then that Ye Qing finally looked up at the wall clock and said, ”It’s twelve five, we’ve already waited five minutes. As for those not yet here, we’ve done all we can. But that’s all we can do. Xiong Zi, go and tell the boss to lock the main door, and let no one else in. If someone dares to break through, kill them!”

”Yes!” Black Bear immediately turned around and went to take care of it.

A single word, ”kill”, subtly shifted the mood of everyone present. They exchanged looks and began frowning at Ye Qing and Li Lianshan, ready to join forces against them in that moment.

Li Lianshan looked at Ye Qing in surprise. While Ye Qing had stopped him from losing his temper, he, on the other hand, had just done something that would surely draw animosity. What was he really trying to accomplish?

Ye Qing, however, seemed oblivious to the reactions of those around him and said, ”For those not present today, the matters we discuss here will have nothing to do with them!”

At that point, a man seated near the front slowly said, ”Mr. Ye invited us here today, but I wonder what it’s about? Surely you don’t expect us to come under your command?”

As soon as these words were spoken, laughter erupted from the group behind him. Their combined forces were much stronger than those of Ye Qing and Li Lianshan, giving them a sense of reckless abandon.

Li Lianshan frowned slightly, angered by their arrogance and almost ready to burst. But seeing that Ye Qing remained calm, he held back his anger, considering that today Ye was the main focus.

”I hadn’t considered that,” Ye Qing shook his head and responded, ”Today’s meeting is primarily to discuss a few minor issues. These are the same issues I discussed with Director Liu when I was in Dongzhou!”

The crowd was aware that Ye Qing’s backers included Director Liu Changping and the military commander General Zhou Bolong. Hearing this, their faces changed, secretly wondering if Ye Qing was intending to use Liu Changping’s name as a threat.

”Is Director Liu planning to make Mr. Ye the underground king of Shenchuan City?” another man asked coldly, his tone clearly containing resentment.

”Of course not,” Ye Qing said with a slight smile. ”Director Liu despises evil and would never tolerate criminal influences. How could he possibly let me do such a thing?”

The crowd responded with mocking laughter, and one man scoffed, ”Mr. Ye, based on what you’re saying, does that mean your men need to disband first?”

Another person laughed loudly, ”Right, and there’s also Li, the big brother of Shenchuan City. If Director Liu dislikes him, then his men should be the first to go, right?”