Urban Martial Saint

Shen Qingyi hurried into her room, taking off the mud-stained clothes and changed into a fresh set of clean clothes, feeling somewhat relieved at last.

Lili also went to the kitchen and asked several maids to bring over the meal.

The maids were all very surprised, assuming that Shen Qingyi wouldn’t want to eat under any circumstances. But now she wanted a meal all of a sudden, which delighted them immensely.

They quickly served the food. Shen Qingyi was sitting in her room. Once the meal was laid out on the table, she began to eat slowly. Having saved Ye Qing, her mood was a mix of excitement and joy—no longer the anger and discouragement from before.

Meanwhile, outside the piles of boulders, several patrolling men also discovered that Ye Qing was no longer hanging above the boulders. They were all shocked and hurried to report to Shen San.

Shen San was discussing with several Shen Family brothers how to deal with Sha Men. Old Madame Shen had taken Shen Da and Shen Er out and had not returned yet, so now the Shen Family was under his leadership. The arrival of Sha Men’s forces was imminent, and as the person in charge of the Shen Family Manor, he was naturally extremely concerned about the matter.

Upon hearing that Ye Qing was missing, Shen San too was taken aback and quickly led people to the boulder pile to see for themselves. The spot where Ye Qing had been hanged was indeed empty, nobody could see Ye Qing there anymore.

”What’s going on?” Shen San asked with a frown, saying sternly, ”Did any of you see someone come here?”

The guards all shook their heads; in fact, when they patrolled, they didn’t always look up at this spot. It was only because one of them glanced up unintentionally that they realized Ye Qing was no longer hanging there.

”How is that possible?” Shen San exclaimed angrily, ”Who has the skill to take someone from Shen Family Manor right under our noses? What have you been doing? Someone took a person away from our Shen Family Manor, and none of you knew about it. How dare you even call yourselves guards of the Shen Family Manor?”

The guards all wore embarrassed expressions, bowing their heads, not daring to meet Shen San’s eye. Shen San was furious to the extreme. He hung Ye Qing out there partly as a show of power and partly as a trap for Cui Yulong. Now that Ye Qing had been saved, his plan was utterly ruined, and his rage was unimaginable.

”Third Brother, don’t be too angry!” Shen Wu said in a deep voice beside him, ”Ye Qing was hung above the Eight Trigrams Array, and it’s certainly not possible for ordinary people to save him. Barely a few people can escape our Eight Trigrams Array. I suspect that the person who saved him is most likely one of our own Shen Family members!”

”An insider from the Shen Family?” Shen San’s expression turned cold as he said in a deep voice, ”Could it be Qingyi?”

Shen Wu knew about the incident that afternoon when Shen Qingyi came to ask Shen San to release Ye Qing, and without voicing his own opinion, he said in a low voice, ”Whether it’s Qingyi or not is still uncertain. Let’s go inside and take a look. Maybe the other party left some traces!”

Only then did Shen San come to his senses and immediately led people into the pile of boulders. Arriving beside the boulder where Ye Qing had been tied, Shen Wu carefully looked around. He picked up a piece of the cowhide rope that was scattered on the ground, examined it for a while, his brows slightly furrowed, and said, ”Third Brother, look at this.”

Shen San came over, looked at it, and asked, ”What about it? Isn’t that the rope used to tie Ye Qing?”

”It’s the rope, but, take a closer look at the end of the rope,” Shen Wu said seriously. ”The end seems even, yet there’s some disarray, which suggests it wasn’t cut in one go. This indicates that the person who broke the rope wasn’t very strong, and probably used a dagger or scissors to cut through this cowhide rope. In that case, this person is likely a girl who doesn’t know martial arts!”

”What else is there to say?” Shen San said indignantly, ”It must have been Qingyi!”

Shen Wu shrugged, ”Third Brother, Qingyi is a likely suspect. But until we find definitive evidence, let’s not jump to conclusions. Old Madam is extremely fond of Qingyi, and if she hears we mistreated Qingyi somehow...”

Shen Wu didn’t continue, but his meaning was clear enough. If they dared let Shen Qingyi be wronged, Old Madame Shen would never let them off the hook.

Shen San knitted his brows, knowing full well Shen Wu’s words weren’t alarmist. After a moment of silence, his expression gradually returned to calm, and he gestured, ”Let’s go, let’s have a look at Qingyi’s place!”

Shen San led the Shen Family members in a formidable procession straight to Shen Qingyi’s separate courtyard. At that moment, Shen Qingyi was dining in her room. Shen San first went to the entrance to ask the guards if Shen Qingyi had gone out, only to learn that she hadn’t left the yard at all, which surprised him. Nevertheless, he and his men entered Shen Qingyi’s room.

Lili was standing at the doorway. Seeing Shen San and the others coming, her heart thumped wildly, and she quickly bowed, ”Third Master, Fourth Master, Fifth Master!”

Shen San glanced coldly at Lili and asked sternly, ”Has the young miss been in her room the whole time?”

”Yes, the young miss has been in the room the whole time and never left,” Lili said softly. ”Earlier, the young miss was angry and didn’t want to eat. It took a lot of persuading before she agreed to have a meal.”

Shen San looked at Lili coldly and said, ”Ye Qing has disappeared, do you know that?”

Lili didn’t dare to meet Shen San’s gaze. Upon hearing his words, she immediately let out a cry of alarm, ”Gone? How... How can she be gone?”

Shen San’s brow furrowed slightly, unable to detect anything unusual from Lili’s face. After staring at Lili for a while, he decided not to waste any more time there and pushed open the door to Shen Qingyi’s room.

”Third Master...” Lili meant to stop Shen San, but he had already entered the room, causing her to swallow back the rest of her words.

Shen Qingyi had just finished eating. As she was about to set down her chopsticks, Shen San pushed the door open and startled her, causing the chopsticks to nearly fall to the ground.

Seeing Shen Qingyi’s reaction, Shen San couldn’t help but feel she was guilty of something and sneered coldly. He walked into the room and said in a deep voice, ”Qingyi, why are you having dinner so late?”

Shen Qingyi stood up and bowed slightly towards Shen San, speaking softly, ”Third Uncle, I had no appetite earlier and couldn’t eat. Only now have I felt a bit better, so I ate a little.”

”Is that so?” Shen San replied, ”Why would you suddenly lose your appetite? Could it be worry over Ye Qing that’s causing you not to eat? Oh, that’s indeed possible. Ye Qing was just taken away by someone, and here you are, immediately starting your meal. Qingyi, don’t tell me it was you who saved Ye Qing?”

Shen Qingyi, naive to worldly affairs, felt genuinely anxious upon hearing Shen San’s words and turned red, lowering her head and saying, ”Third Uncle, you... what are you talking about? I have no idea...”

Shen San found Shen Qingyi’s response all the more incriminating. He was about to become angry but was quietly tugged at the sleeve by Shen Wu, signaling him to calm down.

Taking a deep breath to suppress his rage, Shen San asked, ”Qingyi, do you truly not know, or are you pretending not to know?”

”Third Uncle, I really don’t know what you’re talking about!” Shen Qingyi responded directly.

”Is that so?” said Shen San, glancing at Shen Wu. Since Shen Qingyi was vehemently denying it, he felt at a loss.

Shen Wu did not speak, instead closely scrutinizing the surroundings of the room. After a while, he turned to Shen Qingyi and said, ”Qingyi, it’s already evening, why have you changed into a new outfit?”

Shen Wu’s observation was indeed meticulous. His words even caused Lili’s complexion to change slightly.

”I... I felt uncomfortable in those clothes, so I changed into another set...” Shen Qingyi’s heart pounded wildly as she looked at Shen San and the others, whispering, ”Third Uncle, if you all don’t have anything else, I would like to rest...”

”Oh, there’s nothing much. It’s just that Ye Qing has been taken away. We suspect that someone aiming at our Shen Family has infiltrated Shen Family Manor. We’re worried that these people might harm you, so we came to check and investigate if anyone is hiding here. These thieves are good at hiding; you never know, they might be holed up somewhere in your room!” said Shen Wu, strolling leisurely to the wardrobe beside Shen Qingyi, then suddenly pulled it open.

The clothes that Shen Qingyi had changed out of were hidden right there in the wardrobe. She had not expected Shen Wu to be bold enough to open her wardrobe. After all, it was filled with a girl’s clothes.

”Uncle Wu, what are you doing!” exclaimed Shen Qingyi, rushing to close the closet door, but it was too late. Shen Wu had already taken out the clothes she had changed.

The clothes were stained with mud and small stones, which Shen Qingyi had picked up in her hurry to leave and return. Upon seeing these, Shen Wu immediately frowned and looked at Shen Qingyi with cold eyes, ”Qingyi, what’s the matter with your clothes? Why are they covered with so much mud and small stones? Did you go out for a run?”

Seeing these clothes, Shen San’s spirit was immediately roused, and he rushed over, snatching Shen Qingyi’s clothes. He examined them for a while then couldn’t help but let out a cold laugh, ”Qingyi, explain this to me: what’s with the mud and small stones on your clothes?”

At a loss, Shen Qingyi stood to one side, her pretty face flushing red, unable to figure out what to say. She was not adept at lying, and now, caught red-handed, she was all the more unable to lie.

Lili hurried over and said, ”Miss just went out for a moment and accidentally tripped, which is how the clothes...”

Shen San didn’t even let her finish speaking. He backhanded Lili with a slap across her face, knocking her to the ground with her mouth full of blood.

”Lili!” Shen Qingyi cried out in alarm and hurried over to help Lili up. But by then Lili was already dazed from the heavy slap.

”Third Uncle, what are you doing!” Shen Qingyi shouted, raising her voice in anger for the rare occasion.

Seeing Shen Qingyi like this, Shen San was momentarily startled. Shen Qingyi was the favorite granddaughter of Old Madame Shen, and he truly didn’t dare to provoke her.