Urban Martial Saint

”A source of trouble?” Ye Qing looked at the Cold Moon Blade, curiously asking, ”Why do you say that?”

”Didn’t I just mention,” the old man looked at Ye Qing and continued, ”Throughout history, famed instruments have been exceedingly rare, and any one of them could provoke countless people to fight to the death over it. The reason why the Sha Men were pursued and killed by the people of the Xihang Shen Family ten years ago was exactly due to several famed instruments attracting such conflict. Now, your strength isn’t enough, yet you have two famed instruments in your possession. What do you think will happen? If others learn of the treasures you hold, surely many masters will covet them, and robbing you would be all too common. You’re not of the Xihang Shen Family, whose might frightens the world and deters challengers; you can’t protect so many famed instruments!”

Ye Qing nodded slowly, understanding Old Wang Ba’s meaning. It’s the principle that ’an innocent man is guilty of possessing a jade.’ Holding two famed instruments, inevitably someone would take issue with him and come to rob them. But, to whom should he give the Cold Moon Blade then? Such an item is a curse to anyone who receives it. If a person cannot control the Cold Moon Blade, keeping it would also be a source of trouble!

After much contemplation, Ye Qing ultimately decided to give the Cold Moon Blade to Huangfu Ziyu. For one thing, Huangfu Ziyu was very capable, and there weren’t many who could snatch something from her hands. In fact, there were few who dared to provoke her. Moreover, Ye Qing had received Huangfu Ziyu’s favors several times before, especially the last time when she had leapt off a cliff without regard for her life to save him, leaving Ye Qing with an indescribable feeling toward her, something akin to a mix of guilt and gratitude. He wanted to give this famed instrument to Huangfu Ziyu as a form of thanks.

However, when Ye Qing made this decision and then called Huangfu Ziyu, she didn’t pick up the phone at all. Ye Qing called three times in succession without an answer, leaving him somewhat astonished, not knowing what could be keeping Huangfu Ziyu so occupied. Ultimately, he set the matter aside for the moment, planning to contact Huangfu Ziyu another day.

In a suburban villa, Huangfu Ziyu was sitting on the couch while her cellphone lay on the table in front of her. She wasn’t busy with anything, yet when she saw that the incoming call was from Ye Qing, she chose not to answer.

Xiao Qing and Xiao Lu stood behind Huangfu Ziyu, and both could clearly see that when the phone rang, Huangfu Ziyu’s body trembled slightly; she did care. However, she intentionally didn’t answer the phone, not because she didn’t want to be in touch with Ye Qing. In her heart, the responsibility of revitalizing the Huangfu Household couldn’t be complicated by personal sentiments. Therefore, with Ye Qing, she had always chosen avoidance!

After the phone rang thrice and finally stopped, Huangfu Ziyu didn’t look away. After a while, Xiao Qing, standing behind her, couldn’t help but whisper, ”Miss, shall I send someone to check if something’s wrong with him?”

”No need!” Huangfu Ziyu decisively waved her hand and said in a firm voice, ”I’ve already arranged with those of the Western Province not to involve Ye Qing. If he stays out of Sha Men and the Shen Family’s affair, there won’t be any trouble. Don’t worry!”

Xiao Qing glanced at Huangfu Ziyu and sighed softly. Actually, while Huangfu Ziyu was telling Xiao Qing not to worry, in truth, it was she who was most concerned.

”Or maybe, he has other matters to attend to,” Xiao Qing said. ”Miss, I will send someone to check on him. If it’s nothing serious, we’ll leave it be. But if something major has happened and we remain unaware, that wouldn’t be good, would it?”

Huangfu Ziyu remained silent for a long time, then slowly gestured with her hand, not speaking a word, which could be taken as tacit agreement with Xiao Qing.

Back in Tian Sheng, after waiting for two hours, Da Fei and Black Bear’s injuries had mostly healed. Both had taken half a Ziyu Chenxiang Pill, yet as neither of them possessed Inner Strength, their recovery naturally wasn’t as prompt. Ye Qing, though having taken only a third of a pill previously, was protected by his Inner Strength and additionally, his injuries weren’t as severe as those of Da Fei and Black Bear, so his recovery was quicker.

Seeing both men recovered, Ye Qing felt a lot more at ease. He arranged for them to rest a while and handed over the management of the venue to Mad Dog. Having dealt with the affairs here and with dusk approaching, Ye Qing then remembered he had to pass on a message for Shen Ba.

Ye Qing couldn’t contact the People of the Shen Family himself, and the only ones who could, were the Lin family. Therefore, Ye Qing made a call to Lin Zhen Nan, intending to inform him of the matter. Yet Lin Zhen Nan’s phone was unreachable, and calling Lin Huayu yielded the same result.

This turn of events puzzled Ye Qing and after a moment of pondering, an ominous feeling suddenly took hold of him. He immediately grabbed the Seven-Star Ancient Sword and headed out. Just as he reached the doorway, he suddenly turned back and took the Cold Moon Blade with him as well. If something had truly gone wrong at the Lin family, having two famed instruments would offer him more assurance than just one!

As Ye Qing left the main gate in urgency, he paid no attention to his surroundings. Across from Tian Sheng, in a car parked on the street, the Xu brothers, Xu Cunxiao and Xu Cunzhi, watched the scene with cold eyes. Seeing Ye Qing drive away, they sneered.

”You had the path to heaven, yet you did not take it; you found no door to hell, yet you barged in!” Xu Cunzhi sneered. ”Since you’ve come out on your own, that saves me the trouble of going in to kill you!”

Xu Cunxiao didn’t utter a word, simply driving off to tail Ye Qing from a distance.

In truth, they were unaware that in another alley nearby, another person was observing the scene. Seeing Ye Qing carry two famed instruments out, the observer was taken aback, and promptly reported back using their cellphone.

Huangfu Ziyu’s villa, Xiao Qing picked up the phone and immediately ran to Huangfu Ziyu’s side, urgently saying, ”Miss, I just got news, Ye Qing... Ye Qing seems to be holding our family’s Seven-Star Ancient Sword?”

”What?” Huangfu Ziyu was startled and said, ”Isn’t the Seven-Star Ancient Sword with Cui Yulong? How could it be in Ye Qing’s hands?”

”That’s not the key issue, the key is...” Xiao Qing caught her breath and said, ”In Ye Qing’s hands, there’s also the Cold Moon Blade!”

”What!?” Huangfu Ziyu immediately stood up. She was very clear about what it meant if Ye Qing held the Cold Moon Blade. At the very least, Huang Jianyuan’s death was probably closely related to Ye Qing. And if that was really the case, then Ye Qing was truly in danger!

After hesitating for a moment, Huangfu Ziyu suddenly grabbed the coat beside her, put it on, and said in a deep voice, ”Prepare the car!”

When Ye Qing arrived outside the Lin Family Courtyard, he sensed that something was off here. Normally, at this time, the gates of the Lin Family Courtyard would be open, with security guards at the gate. But tonight, the gates of the Lin Family Courtyard were tightly locked, and there wasn’t even a shadow of a person outside, which made Ye Qing even more astonished.

Ye Qing dared not be careless. He stopped the vehicle far away, tied up the two famed instruments with Golden Silkworm Silk, secured them to his back, and then stealthily made his way to the outside of the Lin Family Courtyard under the cover of night.

Although the walls of the Lin Family Courtyard were very high, they weren’t much of a challenge for a Special Forces operator like Ye Qing. With a running start and a jump, he climbed over and looked down from a high vantage point. Inside the courtyard, the lights were bright as usual. However, there wasn’t a single soul in sight, which was extremely unusual.

It was well known that the Lin family, being the wealthiest in Shenchuan City, had many bodyguards patrolling their yard. Ever since the kidnappings of Lin Huayu and Lin Yashi, the Lin Family Courtyard’s security had become even tighter. Especially at night, the courtyard was typically patrolled by more than fifty guards. With two in a group, they densely covered the entire Lin Family Courtyard. How could there be nobody at the gate?

Without a doubt, something had definitely gone wrong at the Lin family. Moreover, the incident that occurred must not have been simple. If someone had managed to enter the Lin Family Courtyard and taken out all the guards, how formidable must their strength be?

Ye Qing heightened his vigilance, slowly slid down the wall to avoid making a noise, and then crept along the shadows towards the attic where Lin Huayu lived.

Lin Huayu usually lived with Mu Qingrong, but for the past few days, since Mu Qingrong had been on a business trip, Lin Huayu was living alone in that building. Of everyone at the Lin Family, Ye Qing cared most about Lin Huayu, so the first thing he did upon entering was to check on her.

The lights were on in Lin Huayu’s building, and Ye Qing, approaching, noticed obvious signs of a struggle outside the courtyard. Moreover, there were seven or eight people lying on the ground, probably Lin Huayu’s bodyguards.

Ye Qing walked over for a closer look. All seven or eight people were dead; it seems the assailants were quite ruthless.

This circumstance shocked Ye Qing even more. All of Lin Huayu’s bodyguards were dead. Could Lin Huayu have encountered trouble as well? He couldn’t afford to delay, and he quickly made his way into the attic, where there were clear signs of someone having searched the place. But after walking through the building, Ye Qing didn’t find a single person—it was empty!

Could it be that Lin Huayu had been kidnapped?

Ye Qing’s heart skipped a beat. He treated Lin Huayu almost like his own sister. If she were in trouble, it would be an extremely serious matter for Ye Qing!

Without hesitation, Ye Qing immediately took out his phone to call Zhao Chengshuang. But when he took out his phone, he was stunned to discover that there was no signal at all. From his years of experience in the military, Ye Qing deduced that somebody must have placed a signal jammer in the area. No wonder he couldn’t get through when he tried to make a call earlier; the phone signals of Lin Zhen Nan and Lin Huayu must have been jammed as well.

It seemed that this attack was premeditated. The fact that the attackers brought a signal jammer indicated they had a well-laid plan. Moreover, judging by their strength, the people of the Lin family were probably in grave danger!

Thinking of Lin Huayu’s predicament, Ye Qing couldn’t afford a moment’s hesitation and immediately turned to go downstairs. After going round in circles, he found a landline phone, but as Ye Qing expected, the landline was also dead, likely with the phone lines cut. Without any communications, the people of the Lin family were effectively trapped here, and facing a group of powerful enemies, one could imagine the outcome!