Urban Martial Saint

Ye Qing has been looking for Old Wang Ba for several days now, and still hasn’t found him. Ye Qing is quite anxious about it. Unexpectedly, after searching high and low with no success, Old Wang Ba actually called him directly, walking right into his trap!

”Damn you, where are you now!” Ye Qing spoke with no civility. This old guy eats, drinks, lives, and spends on his dime; even his underwear was bought by Ye Qing. And now, when Ye Qing needs him the most, he’s nowhere to be found. How could Ye Qing not be furious?

Old Wang Ba angrily said, ”I stole a phone and called you from an abandoned construction site. ****, you little bastard, do you have any idea what kind of days I’ve been having these past few days? I haven’t had a full meal in ages, nor a good night’s sleep. Everywhere I go, the police are looking for me. Are you trying to kill your Eighth Master!”

”Enough with the nonsense; hurry back to Shenchuan City. I’ll send someone to pick you up, and once you’re back in Shenchuan City, everything will be fine!” Ye Qing said gravely, ”I have an urgent matter to discuss with you!”

Old Wang Ba grumpily said, ”Urgent my ass! Eighth Master has urgent matters too, and I can’t go back now. Let me tell you, you’d better get that wanted notice withdrawn quickly, or once my matters are settled, I’ll head to Shenchuan City and wreak havoc with you!”

”If you have the guts, come back now and fight me!” Ye Qing said urgently, ”Let me tell you, Zi Yu has been kidnapped, and that’s the most crucial matter. You don’t have to come back, but at least calculate for me where she is. I need to rescue her!”

”Oh?” Old Wang Ba’s voice clearly carried a tone of schadenfreude, ”The day that female demon got kidnapped has finally arrived? Who’s the senior who did this great deed? Quickly tell me, I must go and light incense for this person!”

This old guy, Old Wang Ba, had suffered losses at Huangfu Ziyu’s hands several times before, so he was always very cautious of her. Now that he heard she got kidnapped, he was only filled with schadenfreude. However, Ye Qing knew Old Wang Ba was just joking around.

”Stop with the nonsense! You’re telling me you don’t know about Zi Yu being kidnapped?” Ye Qing said, ”Hurry up and tell me, where exactly is Zi Yu now? Where can I find her?”

”I know jack shit! You really think I’m a god?” Old Wang Ba said, ”Though I can calculate, I need to actually perform the calculations to know things! I haven’t even started said calculations, so how could I possibly know Huangfu Ziyu got kidnapped?”

Ye Qing said urgently, ”Then quickly calculate for me now, where exactly is she!”

”Calculate what for god’s sake! Eighth Master is being chased around the clock by cops like a dog, where do I find the peace of mind to calculate this kind of thing for you?” Old Wang Ba said, ”If you want to know the whereabouts of that female demon, you’d better quickly find a way to withdraw the wanted notice, and then wire one to eight hundred thousand over to Eighth Master. Once Eighth Master has a full meal, a sound sleep, and regains his strength, then I’ll have the mood to help you calculate!”

Ye Qing knew this old guy Old Wang Ba is slippery. If the wanted notice is really withdrawn, then he can forget seeing this old guy again. So Ye Qing definitely won’t be fooled by his words.

”Either you calculate for me now, and I’ll help you withdraw the wanted notice, or you don’t, and let the police catch you, then I’ll go find you to calculate for me. You take your pick!” Ye Qing paused for a moment, ”Even if you’re the best at hiding, with so many police nationwide, they will catch you someday. We’ll see how far you can go; if they don’t starve you, they’ll tire you out!”

On the other side, Old Wang Ba was silent for quite a while and then said through gritted teeth, ”You little punk, you’ve got guts!”

Upon hearing this, Ye Qing knew Old Wang Ba’s tone had softened, and immediately said in a low voice, ”Eighth Master, I am about to marry Zi Yu. Please, just help me out, I am really worried about Zi Yu!”

”Alright, alright, stop playing those tricks with me!” Old Wang Ba said, ”Here’s the deal, you go to Liaoshen City in Liaodong Province.”

”Zi Yu is in Liaodong Province?” Ye Qing immediately frowned. Liaodong Province—it’s within the scope of the Eastern Three Provinces. How could Huangfu Ziyu be taken to such a distant place within just three days?

Old Wang Ba said, ”You’ll know when you get there!”

”What do you mean ’you’ll know when you get’ there?” Ye Qing said urgently, ”Is Zi Yu really there or not?”

”I’ve already told you. You’d better help me withdraw the wanted notice quickly. That’s it for now, Eighth Master needs to get moving; those workers over there are watching me!”

Old Wang Ba hung up the phone directly, not giving Ye Qing a chance to ask more questions. Ye Qing hurriedly dialed back, but the phone was already turned off, leaving him speechless. What is this supposed to mean?

”Liaodong Province, Liaoshen City?” Ye Qing furrowed his brow. Why would Old Wang Ba mention such a place? Could it be that Huangfu Ziyu is already in Liaoshen City? How is that possible? It’s only been three days. Did the Right Protector kidnap her and take her directly to Liaodong Province?

Ye Qing didn’t know if Old Wang Ba was telling the truth, but since they couldn’t find Huangfu Ziyu in the Southern Six Provinces, Ye Qing was truly out of options. With a sense of desperation, he boarded a plane heading for Liaoshen City.

Of course, Ye Qing did not cancel the arrest warrant for Old Wang Ba. He suspected that Old Wang Ba was deceiving him, so it was best to leave the warrant active. If Huangfu Ziyu couldn’t be found there, he could use the warrant to flush Old Wang Ba out.

Ye Qing went to Liaoshen City alone, leaving Liu Mubai in Shenchuan City. This way, if there were any news of Huangfu Ziyu in the Southern Six Provinces, Liu Mubai could rush to the rescue. In fact, Ye Qing didn’t have much confidence in this trip to Liaoshen City because he knew Old Wang Ba was notoriously unreliable.

Ye Qing took a plane but had to transfer midway. By the time he arrived in Liaoshen City, it was already past six in the afternoon. During the twelfth lunar month, the North is much colder than the South. Although Ye Qing was prepared, he was still frustrated to find that his thick clothes were nothing compared to the down jackets everyone was wearing outside.

Actually, as Ye Qing disembarked from the plane, most people outside were staring at him. Everyone shared the same thought: ”This guy dressed like that, won’t he freeze as soon as he leaves the airport?”

The airport was fine, with powerful Northern heating keeping indoor temperatures above twenty degrees. However, once outside, it was freezing cold, with temperatures dropping to below twenty degrees.

Shenchuan City was basking in sunlight, but Liaoshen City was enveloped in goose feather-like snow. In this weather, it wasn’t easy for Ye Qing to catch a cab, so he ended up squeezing onto a bus heading downtown.

Fortunately, Ye Qing’s Inner Strength was formidable, so despite his thin attire, he didn’t feel the cold at all. Once downtown, Ye Qing found a hotel, checked in, and then rushed out to buy warmer clothes to change into.

Even though he wasn’t afraid of the cold, wearing those thin clothes on the street was indeed too attention-grabbing.

As everything was tidied up, Ye Qing suddenly realized he didn’t know what to do next. Old Wang Ba only told him to come to Liaoshen City, but didn’t specify for what or where exactly. Was Old Wang Ba expecting Ye Qing to search the entire Liaoshen City for Huangfu Ziyu? Finding her here alone is like searching for a needle in a haystack!

However, calling Old Wang Ba’s phone always resulted in a shutdown. Ye Qing couldn’t reach Old Wang Ba and genuinely didn’t know what to do, so he ate some food and wandered aimlessly on the streets with a glimmer of hope. If Huangfu Ziyu were really here, perhaps by walking around more, he might chance upon her.

But clearly, this chance was very slim. Even if Huangfu Ziyu had indeed been kidnapped to Liaoshen City, there was no doubt she would be kept inside, not roaming the streets.

The streets of Liaoshen City at night are quite silent, completely different from Shenchuan City. Over there, even at two or three in the morning, there are still people everywhere. But in Liaoshen City, by six or seven in the evening, the streets are already sparse. The cold weather here in Liaoshen City is so harsh that few are willing to come out at night. And even if anyone does come out to play, they go into nightclubs and rarely roam the streets alone.

Throughout his walk, Ye Qing saw less than ten people on the street. By the end of this journey, Ye Qing was somewhat despondent, knowing clearly that he wouldn’t meet Huangfu Ziyu this way. Since he couldn’t contact Old Wang Ba, Ye Qing truly didn’t know what he should do in Liaoshen City. Yet, since Old Wang Ba instructed him to come here, there must be some deeper meaning, which Ye Qing had always believed.

With this aimless wandering on the streets of Liaoshen City lasting over two hours, even someone with Ye Qing’s stamina was beginning to feel tired. Now, it was past nine at night, and there were even fewer people on the streets. On the contrary, as he walked, Ye Qing found himself in an increasingly remote location, gradually drifting out of the city center.

Just as Ye Qing was about to hail a cab back to his hotel in the city, his phone suddenly rang. Ye Qing saw that it was another unfamiliar number.

Seeing the unfamiliar number, Ye Qing immediately answered the call, urgently saying, ”Old Wang Ba, where are you?”

”Holy crap, how did you know it was me?” came Old Wang Ba’s surprised voice from the other end, ”Eighth Master even changed his number to call you!”

”Cut the nonsense, where in Liaoshen City is Ziyu?” Ye Qing angrily demanded, ”Hurry and tell me, or I’ll have them upgrade your arrest warrant. Next time the police won’t just arrest you, they’ll shoot you on sight!”