Urban Martial Saint

Over at the orphanage, Ye Qing instructed his subordinates to withdraw everyone and did not ask anyone to clean up the scene, as if he didn’t wish to see the tragic sight beneath the boarding house.

However, he had a few subordinates carry Snake’s body to the nearby under-construction school building. He followed them inside, with Hou San accompanying him. Seeing the subordinates laying down Snake’s body, Hou San hurriedly said, ”Big brother, what should we do with the body? Should I drive it to the sea and dump it now?”

”No need.” Ye Qing shook his head decisively, his expression much more relaxed than before. He asked the nearby subordinates to leave, keeping only Hou San, then walked over, patted Snake’s body, and said, ”Alright, no one can see us now, get up!”

Upon Ye Qing’s words, Snake, who seemed stiff earlier, actually opened his eyes and slowly sat up.

Standing beside him, Hou San’s eyes widened in shock. If not for Ye Qing’s presence, he would have surely thought this was a case of resuscitation. After all, he had just seen Ye Qing stab Snake in the abdomen with a stick, bleeding profusely; how could he not be dead?

But looking at Snake sitting up, Hou San was certain that he really wasn’t dead. Moreover, looking at Snake’s condition, he seemed utterly uninjured; what was going on?

”How is it?” Ye Qing squatted next to Snake and asked, ”Was I right?”

Snake sighed and took out a black device that looked like a pager from his body and handed it to Ye Qing, saying, ”You’re right; my home has been bugged everywhere. It seems someone has truly been monitoring my every move!”

”What else?” Ye Qing asked calmly.

”70% of the brothers in my Snake Form Gate were bribed!” Snake said with a trembling voice: ”They urged me to make trouble at your orphanage. I brought this up... wanted to discuss whether it was feasible. But most of them, without even thinking, agreed to it. It seems they were all bought!”

It turned out that when Snake initially brought this up at the Snake Form Gate as a matter for discussion, he was actually using it to probe everyone’s reactions to see who had been bought. And indeed, the outcome was completely unexpected; so many people from the Snake Form Gate had been bribed, something he himself had not anticipated.

”Snake, do you believe what I said now?” Ye Qing said, ”I don’t know who was instructing you to target me, but now you should be able to see that the mastermind was merely using you. His real purpose was to provoke conflict between me and your Snake Form Gate, as well as the other six sects. Thus, they did everything to provoke me, pushing me to kill you, to create irreconcilable enmity between me and your sect.”

Snake sighed; although he was not the brightest, he wasn’t foolish. At this point, he understood that what Ye Qing said was true; he had indeed been used.

”So, what now?” Snake asked in a low voice.

”Can you first tell me exactly who instructed you?” Ye Qing asked.

Snake was silent for a moment, then said, ”It was a man from Western Province; his surname is Wu, I’m not sure of his full name!”

”A man from Western Province, there’s no mistake then!” Ye Qing nodded and said, ”You must have heard of the grievances between me and the people of Western Province. These people have long considered me a thorn in their side, certainly wanting to do everything to deal with me. Moreover, these people are despicable enough not to act themselves, but to use this method of killing by proxy, implicating me with your Snake Form Gate.”

Snake clenched his fists and said sternly, ”This man surnamed Wu, if I ever see him again, I will definitely kill him with my own hands!”

”Seeing him again might not be so easy!” Ye Qing shrugged and said, ”At this stage, the people from Western Province would probably not show themselves again, only watching from the shadows as my people and your Snake Form Gate members fight.”

”So what should we do?” Snake’s eyes widened, he said, ”Thirteen brothers from our Snake Form Gate have been killed, we must avenge them!”

”Don’t worry.” Ye Qing spoke slowly, ”Rest assured, those people from Western Province are definitely still in Shenchuan City. Furthermore, the place where they are staying won’t be far from your Snake Form Gate. Tonight, we just need to stage another play, and we might be able to draw them out, to avenge those brothers of your Sect who were killed!”

”Another play?” Snake anxiously said, ”I’ve already pretended to be dead, what’s next to act?”

Ye Qing smiled faintly and said, ”Your seniors from Snake Form Gate will be returning to Shenchuan City tonight. I think tonight is the real climax. These people from Western Province have been busy for a long time, just to await tonight’s fierce battle between me and your sect members. They definitely won’t go far. Just do as I tell you, and tonight, you’ll be able to lure the people from Western Province, and then you can take your revenge!”

Snake stared at Ye Qing for a while before waving his hand, ”Alright, alright, whatever you say. However, Ye Qing, let me make it clear. I cooperate with you only to avenge our brothers from Snake Form Gate, but we will absolutely not meddle in your grievances with the people from Western Province!”

”Rest assured, I definitely don’t need your intervention in my grievances with the people from Western Province!” Ye Qing calmly replied.

”That’s good!” Snake nodded and asked, ”So what should I do now?”

”Now you...” Ye Qing smiled, ”Keep playing dead!”

”Still playing dead!?” Snake exclaimed, ”How long do I have to keep this up? This chicken blood on me smells terrible, it’s sticky and really uncomfortable!”

”Don’t you still want to avenge your brothers from Snake Form Gate?” Ye Qing asked.

Snake opened his mouth, and finally helplessly lay down, continuing to play dead.

Ye Qing called in some junior members and had them carry Snake’s ’corpse’ into a car, making it more bearable for Snake.

Watching the junior members carry away Snake’s ’corpse’, Hou San who was standing by couldn’t hold back and asked, ”Big Brother, what… what is actually happening? Why isn’t Snake dead? What exactly are you two doing? Didn’t he use to be our sworn enemy? How come he’s cooperating with us now? Also, didn’t I just see you kill him? Why isn’t he dead?”

Ye Qing glanced at him and said with a light smile, ”It’s a long story. Actually, this was all part of the plan I made with him at Splendid Gold and Jade.”

”Plan?” Hou San was surprised, ”What plan?”

Ye Qing smiled lightly, ”Do you remember when Snake led his men into Splendid Gold and Jade and started a fight with our guys?”

”I know, it was Chen Jun who led people to help us then; otherwise, with fewer men on our side, we would definitely have been at a disadvantage.” Hou San said, ”Back then, Big Brother, you beat up Snake. Did you manage to beat him into submission?”

”Hahaha...” Ye Qing laughed heartily, ”It wasn’t quite beating him into submission. However, when I fought him, it was actually to divert attention. I dragged him into that room, pinned him to the ground, forcefully spoke a lot of words to him, and even made a bet with him. Although this man isn’t highly intelligent, the plan of the Western Province people was too hasty, with too many flaws, and Snake himself was suspicious. I bet with him that his Snake Form Gate was definitely bugged and that his men were definitely bribed by someone. If I was wrong, he could come and kill me any time, and I would not fight back. Eventually, he agreed to the bet and then took his men back with him.”

”So that’s what happened.” Hou San suddenly realized, ”So you mean, when you kicked him into that warehouse while people outside were fighting, you had already agreed on this plan with him?”

”The latter part of the plan wasn’t agreed upon in advance, it was made up on the spot.” Ye Qing said, ”The most crucial part is, I won the two matters I bet with him. The Snake Form Gate was indeed bugged. Moreover, many of his men were indeed bought off, so he completely trusted me. When his men were persuading him to strike at the orphanage, he said he needed to consider it for a while, which was actually when he was sending me messages to make the latter part of the plan. Just now, when you saw me stab his abdomen with a wooden stick, it was all fake; he had a bag of chicken blood tied to his stomach, I just pierced that bag of chicken blood, he wasn’t wounded at all.”

”Damn, no wonder he could still jump up so lively!” Hou San slapped his thigh and exclaimed, ”Motherfucker, so it was chicken blood, and I didn’t even notice!”

Ye Qing laughed, ”On such a late night, not just you, even if we brought a chef here, he wouldn’t have been able to tell it was chicken blood!”

”That makes sense.” Hou San nodded, then suddenly remembered something and anxiously said, ”But what about those children in our collapsed sheds?”

”You think I would have let those children stay here and take a risk tonight?” Ye Qing laughed, ”I had already moved those children away earlier.”

”Really?” Hou San was startled, ”But I... I heard the cries of children from the sheds earlier?”

”That was just a tape recorder, I had recorded it in advance, it was to confuse people.” Ye Qing laughed, ”Only by making people believe there were children inside, could I make people believe my anger was real, let them think I really killed Snake. The Western Province people aren’t fools, to deceive them, it must look more realistic. I’ve done so much, they definitely believe their plan has completely succeeded. I think those Western Province people are probably celebrating their success by now!”