Urban Martial Saint

Xu Cunxiao sneered as he stood up, saying, ”The ninety or so members of Snake Form Gate are nothing to Ye Qing and Li Lianshan of Shenchuan City. Using them to deal with Ye Qing and Li Lianshan is completely useless. What I actually want to exploit is the alliance of these seven sects to have these old fools deal with Ye Qing and Sha Men, reducing a few enemies for us!”

”Wasn’t that the plan all along?” Mr. Wu, looking completely baffled, still didn’t understand what had happened.

Xu Cunxiao said, ”However, those old fools from the seven sects aren’t idiots either. Do you think they would just strike out at Ye Qing and Sha Men heedlessly? Especially in such a chaotic situation in Shenchuan City, everyone wants to avoid getting involved. Even if there are real grievances, these old fools would definitely swallow their anger and avoid conflicts. Exploiting them isn’t so easy!”

”That’s why we kicked off all these events, to make them fight for the territories. Then they will definitely start fighting against each other!” Mr. Wu said, ”Isn’t this exactly our previous plan?”

”Hahaha…” Xu Cunxiao laughed and shook his head, saying, ”This whole business about fighting for territory, Snake believes it, but do you think those old fools will? Having lived for so long, even if they are not crafty as spirits, they are certainly not fools; they definitely won’t be deceived by these events. To make them truly fight against Ye Qing and the people from Sha Men, they need a compelling reason to fight to the death!”

”What reason?” Mr. Wu asked curiously.

Xu Cunxiao said, ”Think about it, if Snake dies at the hands of Ye Qing or Sha Men, will these seven sects fight desperately against Ye Qing and Sha Men?”

Mr. Wu said, ”That’s for sure, Snake is the only son of the Sect Leader of Snake Form Gate. If he dies, the Sect Leader will definitely fight desperately. The other six sects will surely support him with all their strength!”

”Exactly!” Xu Cunxiao smiled and said, ”That’s why I say, the only one we really need to deceive is Snake alone. In fact, most people could see through the tricks we pulled off tonight. However, Snake is too arrogant and lacks any real strategy, making him easy to deceive. Moreover, I’ve already bribed his close subordinates; these men beside him talk negatively about Ye Qing. If said right, Snake will believe that Ye Qing did it, and then he will be completely trapped by our deception!”

”So that’s it!” Mr. Wu suddenly realized, finally understanding Xu Cunxiao’s plan and feeling immensely shocked. He didn’t even know when Xu Cunxiao had bribed Snake’s subordinates—Xu Cunxiao indeed left no stone unturned.

”By the way, what happened to those members of Snake Form Gate we captured just now?” Xu Cunxiao asked.

Mr. Wu said, ”Following your orders, Third Brother, all were sent to Ye Qing’s territory to fabricate evidence of their presence there.”

Xu Cunxiao nodded and said in a deep voice, ”Stick to the original plan. Kill them all, leave no survivors, and then dump them into the sea. Remember, you must steal Black Bear’s watch and plant it on one of them, creating the false impression that Black Bear killed these people. With Snake’s intelligence and his impulsive nature, huff, he will definitely go all out against Ye Qing, and then we will find a way to have Snake die by Ye Qing’s hand. Then our grand plan will truly be accomplished!”

Hearing this, Mr. Wu’s face filled with excitement, saying, ”Alright, Third Brother, leave it to me!”

Watching Mr. Wu walk out of the courtyard, the faint smile on Xu Cunxiao’s face gradually turned cold. He clenched his fists tightly and gritted his teeth, saying in a low voice, ”Ye Qing, the last few attempts failed to kill you, but this time, I’ll see what you can do to escape this peril. Once I’m done here, I will personally take your life to avenge my brother’s arm!”

Xu Cunxiao said this and fiercely punched the table, smashing it to pieces, showing his deep resentment towards Ye Qing. Dealing with Ye Qing and Sha Men was something he personally asked Wang Tian’an to assign to him. His main task in Shenchuan City was to deal with Ye Qing and Sha Men, while Wang Tian’an was now leading people from Western Province, confronting Chen San and Chen Si siblings. For the people of Western Province, the most crucial enemies were these two remnants of the Chen Family, whereas Ye Qing was only seen as a stumbling block that needed to be dealt with swiftly.

Having just returned to the large hotel, Ye Qing immediately sent Black Bear and others to investigate the matter. After having dinner with the people from Xingyi School and seeing them all off, he also hurried back.

For safety reasons, Ye Qing had Fang Tingyun, Mo Xiang, and others move earlier to stay with Lin Yashi at Lin Zhen Nan’s place.

After several sneak attacks on Lin Zhen Nan’s residence, both the Lin family and the Shenchuan City Police Department took the matter very seriously. Lin Zhen Nan had specially hired a large number of bodyguards from out of town, who were always guarding the Lin Family Courtyard. The police also patrolled the area around the courtyard regularly. Thus, although the situation in Shenchuan City was turbulent, the Lin family courtyard had become the safest place.

In fact, Chen San and Chen Si aimed only at people from the Western Province and would not strike at the Lin family. After suffering a significant setback in Xi Hang, the people from Western Province dared not provoke the Shen Family anymore. Since the Lin family were related by marriage to the Shen family, they would definitely not provoke the Lin family either, for bringing out Shen Tianjun was not a joke. Therefore, having Fang Tingyun and Mo Xiang stay at the Lin family was much safer than staying with Ye Qing.

Also moving over with Fang Tingyun and Mo Xiang were Mao Mao, her grandchildren, and Broom Star, a rather unusual child. Ye Qing hadn’t seen Broom Star in the past few days, but it was said that Broom Star’s behavior was becoming increasingly odd, especially his strict vegetarian diet, not touching meat at all. Although he had always been like that, it had now become more pronounced; even if a pan that had cooked meat was washed ten times, he would not use it. Thus, the family had arranged separate cookware for him, and the child lived healthily on a daily diet of greens, mushrooms, and tofu, much to the amazement of elders like Old Lady Lin with his precocious speeches.

Having experienced so much, Old Lady Lin had begun to believe in Buddhism and had even set up a Buddhist altar at home. Once at the altar, Broom Star casually deciphered a Buddhist saying for her, astonishing her deeply. Since then, Old Lady Lin frequently joined Broom Star in chanting Buddhist scriptures in front of the altar, becoming more serene, a complete change from her former authoritarian demeanor. It shows that people need to experience certain things to change.

As for Broom Star, the child, he sat in front of the Buddhist altar every day, seemingly never bored, but rather interested in these things, arriving even earlier than Old Lady Lin each day.

Regarding Broom Star’s peculiar behavior, Fang Tingyun, Mo Xiang, and others had long since ceased to find it strange and simply let him be. The child had suffered enough hardship from a young age; if he could find something he loved doing, everyone was more than happy for him.

At the orphanage, according to Liu Changping’s exact words, the province was about to hold a meeting to decide on the matter soon. They estimated that the decision would be made within the next few days. Liu Changping and Zhou Bolong had also traveled far and wide for this cause, but whether it would be finalized remained uncertain. After all, it involved hundreds of children and had been escalated to discussions at the Provincial Party Standing Committee, where the outlook seemed rather bleak. Many leaders were reluctant to take responsibility, preferring to place these children in public orphanages where their responsibility would be less if something went wrong. However, if placed in private institutions, these leaders would have to bear significant responsibility if something went awry, and everyone was well aware of the choices.

This news deeply troubled Ye Qing, who had worked hard in hopes of allowing these children to stay and live in his orphanage. But his individual power ultimately could not match the energy of those leaders. Despite his willingness to use all his resources to support these children, the final decision was not in his hands. In this society, aspiring to be a good person was no easy task. Sometimes, when you try to do good, various rules restrict you, forbidding you from acting, which is the most perplexing part.

According to Liu Changping, the province would specifically dispatch an inspection team to research this issue. Liu Changping told Ye Qing to treat the members of the inspection team well, as a few good words from them for the orphanage could increase their chances.

In fact, Ye Qing understood; Liu Changping bringing up the matter to this extent meant there was basically no hope left. Hence, Ye Qing did not dwell much on the inspection team; instead, he thought of other ways to keep the children. For example, having them stay in an orphanage in Shenchuan City would keep them closer to him, where he could still look after them.

Returning to his rented house, with Fang Tingyun, Mo Xiang, and the others having taken the children to the Lin family, only Ye Qing and his brothers were left. Therefore, the room was smoky and dismal. When Ye Qing entered, Chen Jun Hou San and Qin Jing were in the middle of playing cards. Qin Jing had a mournful look on his face, as if he’d been sliced into.

Seeing him, Ye Qing couldn’t help but wonder, ”What’s with that expression, did you lose a lot?”

”Not at all!” Qin Jing immediately replied, handing his cards to Ye Qing, ”Ye Zi, it’s your turn!”

Chen Jun instantly said, ”Big Brother, don’t listen to his nonsense. We’re only playing for fifty cents, and he’s only lost three yuan and fifty cents to have that look!”

Hearing this, a smile finally appeared on Ye Qing’s face; that was indeed just like Qin Jing’s character.