Urban Martial Saint

Watching Chen Si leave, Mad Dog, who was standing next to Ye Qing, immediately turned his head and anxiously said, ”Big Brother, what did that woman mean by what she said just now? Was she cursing you?”

Ye Qing gave a faint smile, shook his head, and said, ”Although I haven’t had much interaction with her, she has no reason to curse me. We have no grudges against each other!”

”Then why did she say something like that?” Black Bear was also very puzzled, as he had met Chen Si and knew that she had actually helped Ye Qing a few times. Logically speaking, Chen Si should not hold much hostility toward Ye Qing.

Ye Qing smiled faintly, looking in the direction where Chen Si had left, and said, ”What do you guys think is the relationship between someone who can make a bet with her and her?”

”What kind of relationship?” Black Bear was full of surprise, not understanding what Ye Qing meant.

”At the very least, they must be acquaintances,” replied Mad Dog.

Ye Qing nodded, then asked, ”And what about someone who wants me dead, what is their relationship to me?”

”Definitely your enemy, Big Brother!” Mad Dog declared immediately.

”Not necessarily an enemy; it’s also possible they just see me as a hypothetical adversary,” Ye Qing paused and continued, ”Chen Si has been in Shenchuan City for such a long time and hasn’t even talked to Li Brother once. I’ve also been back for two days; why didn’t she look for me earlier but just had to find me at this time?”

”Why?” Both Mad Dog and Black Bear were completely baffled, as neither of them could match Ye Qing’s intelligence and couldn’t understand what was really going on.

”Tonight, we dealt with the issue involving the seven sects of Snake Form Gate. Not only did we expose Xu Cunxiao’s trap but also repelled him, averting a major crisis,” said Ye Qing. ”I think that’s probably the main reason she came to see me tonight!”

Mad Dog said, ”Big Brother, do you mean that they’ve been waiting all along to see if we could resolve this crisis?”

Ye Qing nodded, saying, ”They have irreconcilable hatred with those people from the Western Province, and now that they have all entered Shenchuan City, it’s impossible they didn’t have someone to monitor each other’s movements. I guess they already knew about what Xu Cunxiao was doing beforehand. However, they didn’t tell us. Instead, they waited to see if I could resolve this crisis. If I’m not wrong, had I not managed to resolve it, they might have kicked me while I was down, pushed me out of Shenchuan City, and taken over Shenchuan City themselves!”

Black Bear scratched his head and said, ”This Fire Butterfly wouldn’t do such a thing, would she?”

”Of course she wouldn’t, but the people right now might not be under her command,” Ye Qing smiled and said, ”Don’t forget what she told me as she left. That remark was already hinting a lot to me.”

”Hinting at what?” Black Bear still couldn’t figure it out.

”Someone who can make a bet with her must be someone close to her. And this person can bet with her, which means that their status definitely isn’t much lower than hers. Moreover, this person seems to really wish for my death,” Ye Qing smiled and said, ”The words Chen Si spoke were actually to remind me. There is someone on their side, whose status isn’t lower than hers, who is hostile towards me and telling me to be extra careful tomorrow night!”

”What?” Black Bear’s eyes widened, and he said, ”All that meaning from just one sentence? Captain, could you have guessed wrong? Maybe she was just saying something offhand.”

”Whether it’s casual or not, we need to be more vigilant,” said Ye Qing. ”The Chen Family People and those from the Western Province, either side is much stronger than us in power. Now that both parties are in Shenchuan City, and we’re caught in the middle, survival is not easy. So, we have to be extra careful with everything and cannot afford any mistakes. One small error could turn us into cannon fodder!”

Mad Dog and Black Bear looked at each other, seeing Ye Qing so serious for the first time. However, upon reflection, it made sense. After all, the strength of the forces from the Western Province and the Chen Family was just too powerful. Compared to them, the local forces of Shenchuan City were like a child against two adults. In such a situation, one indeed needs to maintain absolute vigilance and avoid any mistakes, or either side could crush them with a simple flick of their hand!

Ye Qing said, ”Mad Dog, find fifty brothers who are skilled in martial arts and have them arrange things at the hotel. Let them rest well tomorrow and set an ambush in the hotel early tomorrow night!”

”Got it, Big Brother, I’ll arrange it now!” Mad Dog said, ”Big Brother, who are we ambushing? Are we guarding against those people from the Chen Family?”

”No!” Ye Qing shook his head, and said, ”We are guarding against the people of Wang Tian’an from the Western Province!”

”Ah?” Mad Dog was taken aback, saying, ”Why should we be wary of them? Isn’t this our banquet with the Chen Family People?”

”Since the Chen Family People want to invite me to dine, that means they want to cooperate with me. There’s no problem eating with them tomorrow. However, what we need to guard against the most are Wang Tian’an’s men!” Ye Qing said gravely: ”Me having a meal with the Chen Family People tomorrow, to Wang Tian’an, is definitely a perfect opportunity. If he isn’t a fool, he will certainly send people to surround the hotel, attempting to kill me and the Chen Family People once and for all. So, Wang Tian’an is the person we need to be most vigilant about!”

”I see.” Mad Dog suddenly realized, then said, ”Big Brother, since you know Wang Tian’an will send people to ambush us, why still choose Li’s hotel as the location? That hotel is really too remote, far from our turf, and it’s not convenient for our men to get there. And, outside, it’s always not as safe as inside the city. How about we change the place? Eating inside the city is just as good, without so many worries!”

”No need!” Ye Qing shook his head and said, ”Don’t you understand? The Chen Family People have been waiting for me to break Xu Cunxiao’s setup before approaching me, which shows they wanted to see my strength first, and whether I’m qualified to ally with them. This time, they set the time and allowed me to set the place, which is actually still testing me, to see if I have the courage and boldness. If I choose a location inside the city, we indeed would be safe, but they would definitely look down on us, thinking we are too timid and lack boldness. Even if we join hands later, we would not have much say. Therefore, I must set the location there, to let them know, we are not the timid ones!”

”Is it really so complicated just to have a meal?” Black Bear was full of confusion, as he was the one least able to understand these complex matters.

”Sometimes, details determine success or failure.” Ye Qing said with a faint smile, ”When we conduct military operations, we often deduce the enemy’s whereabouts from the details. Details may seem simple, but they are also very important!”

”Military operations aren’t quite the same as eating a meal!” Black Bear said.

Ye Qing said: ”Having this meal is like going to war!”

Black Bear scratched his head, still unclear about the subtleties. However, he did not ask further. That was just his nature; whatever Ye Qing said was final, and he wouldn’t argue.

”In that case, would fifty men be enough?” Mad Dog asked.

”Those fifty men are mainly for keeping watch. If it really comes down to fighting, having many or few men doesn’t actually make much of a difference!” Ye Qing said, having experienced so much in Xi Hang. Ye Qing had come to realize that in a fight between real masters, numbers didn’t really affect the outcome.

Mad Dog, who had never practised martial arts, naturally didn’t understand all this. However, he didn’t ask further, just nodded and said, ”Alright, Big Brother, I’ll arrange it right away!”

Ye Qing nodded, and Mad Dog immediately left the room to organize the affair with those fifty men.

Inside the room, Ye Qing slowly walked to the sofa to sit down, his mind still pondering the matter of the Chen Family. He knew White Horse Chen San had arrived in Shenchuan City, but he was still unclear about White Horse Chen San’s personality. Thus, cooperating with the Chen Family People, the outcome was still uncertain in his own heart.

However, Ye Qing was also very clear. In the current situation, these two factions were about to go to war, and he must choose to cooperate with one side. Otherwise, once both sides start fighting, he would definitely be the first to be sacrificed. With Wang Tian’an’s side, it was impossible for Ye Qing to cooperate, so he could only cooperate with the Chen Family People. In fact, from the moment Ye Qing returned to Shenchuan City, he started considering cooperation with the Chen Family People. But the Chen Family never approached him, and he couldn’t just go find them directly, hence the delay until now.

Ye Qing knew the ambitions of the people in Western Province, they wanted to swallow the entire underground forces of the Southern Six Provinces to contend with Meng District General Helian Tiehua. Therefore, those people from Western Province are definitely Ye Qing’s enemies. As for the Chen Family People, Ye Qing didn’t know if they had any ambitions either, and he felt uncertain within his heart.

After much contemplation, Ye Qing sighed in the end. Right now, it seemed he stood firm in Shenchuan City, but he was very clear that his own strength really wasn’t much. That’s because he didn’t have many masters around him that he could rely on. On the contrary, the Chen Family and Western Province had many experts, an advantage Ye Qing did not possess. For Ye Qing to stand firm in such a situation and control the underground forces, he was far from enough, he also must have some martial artists to hold the situation!

But, martial artists were already scarce to begin with, and trustworthy ones even rarer, where could he find such a group of people?

After a long silence, Ye Qing suddenly gritted his teeth, stood up and said loudly: ”Xiong Zi, come here, I’ll teach you a boxing technique!”

Black Bear was still daydreaming about the earlier matters. Hearing this, he immediately asked curiously: ”What boxing technique?”

Ye Qing looked at Black Bear and said word by word: ”Li Style Bajiquan!”

Ye Qing had made up his mind, since he couldn’t find trustworthy masters, he might as well train those around him. Black Bear’s physique was very suitable for practicing such an overbearing boxing technique like Li Style Bajiquan!