Urban Martial Saint

Ye Qing walked out of the Master Craft manor but did not leave immediately. Instead, he hid in a secluded place nearby.

Taking out the counterfeit set given by Master Craft, Ye Qing frowned slightly and casually tossed the counterfeit aside.

”Master Craft!” Ye Qing slowly raised his head to look at the manor ahead and muttered to himself, ”They say you are extremely cunning, and it seems to be true. You actually used a counterfeit to deceive me. Luckily, I made preparations in advance, otherwise, I would have fallen into your trap this time!”

As Ye Qing spoke, he took an instrument from his backpack. This instrument was a tracker commonly used by Ye Qing in the military. The tracker works by sprinkling some tracking powder on something and then using the tracker to locate it.

Before coming to Master Craft, Ye Qing was a bit cautious and had already thought of a plan to prevent being switched. He sprinkled some tracking powder on the genuine article and used the tracker to track it. This was the simplest and most effective method.

Although Master Craft tried various identification methods to fool Ye Qing, Ye Qing already knew he was given a counterfeit because he couldn’t sense any tracking powder on it. It couldn’t be his genuine article. However, Ye Qing didn’t point this out directly; since Master Craft wanted to play dirty, Ye Qing took the opportunity to trick Master Craft and let him suffer a big loss.

Using the tracker, Ye Qing easily found the location of the three genuine pieces, which were still in the attic where Master Craft worked.

After confirming the location of the genuine pieces, Ye Qing left the vicinity of the manor without lingering. Master Craft’s manor was heavily guarded, and even if Ye Qing wanted to retrieve his three genuine pieces, it wouldn’t be easy in broad daylight. It would be best to come back at night.

Meanwhile, as Ye Qing left Master Craft’s manor, Handsome Fatty Wang and two others were still lurking inside the manor.

Seeing Ye Qing leave, Rabbit immediately whispered, ”That guy finally left, let’s go steal those three genuine pieces now before any more mishaps occur!”

Handsome Fatty Wang glanced at him and whispered, ”Are you out of your mind? The security in Master Craft’s manor is so tight. If we steal them now, we’ll surely be discovered!”

”What are you afraid of?” Rabbit retorted. ”There are no experts on Master Craft’s side, I’m not afraid of them!”

”It’s not a matter of fear; the key issue is that we cannot let anyone know that we took the three genuine pieces!” Handsome Fatty Wang said. ”Now, there are so many people watching these three items; if they find out it’s us who took them, a lot of people will come for us. Whether we can even stay alive is another matter!”

”So what do you suggest...” Rabbit asked. ”We come back at night?”

”That’s the best way.” Handsome Fatty Wang replied. ”We’ll come at night, find an opportunity to steal the three genuine pieces. When Master Craft loses the authentic pieces, he won’t dare to make a fuss. Otherwise, Ye Qing will be the first to not let him off. He’ll just have to swallow his losses. This way, no one will know we did anything here. Everyone will think the three genuine pieces are either in Ye Qing’s hands or in Master Craft’s, and no one will suspect they’re with us. Then we’ll be safe, won’t we?”

”That’s a good idea!” Rabbit nodded repeatedly and said, ”So what do we do now?”

Handsome Fatty Wang: ”Obviously, go back and rest for a while, save up energy for the nighttime operation.”

A little after eight in the evening, as the sky was completely dark, a shadow silently slipped into Master Craft’s manor.

The shadow was none other than Ye Qing. He waited until it was dark before making his move, planning to use the counterfeit to swap for the genuine pieces and trick Master Craft. After all, Master Craft gave him a counterfeit, so people will surely think the genuine pieces are with Master Craft. They’ll come asking him for the items, not knowing that the genuine pieces had already been switched by Ye Qing.

During the day, Ye Qing had already observed the defensive setup of the manor. There were many people in the manor, and the security was tight, but it was clear that the people were amateurs. In several crucial spots, there were no guards stationed. The staffing arrangements in the entire manor were somewhat disorganized, with certain blind spots that couldn’t be monitored, and it was through these blind spots that Ye Qing infiltrated the manor.

He arrived at the place where Master Craft worked; the lights in the attic were already dim. It was past eight, the time for dinner. Master Craft had been busy all afternoon making those counterfeits, so he must have gone to eat.

Ye Qing listened carefully outside to ensure no one was inside, then quietly slipped in. The attic was pitch dark, but the bright lights from outside shone in through the window, making it possible to see the situation inside.

Ye Qing carried the tracker with him and easily found where the three genuine artifacts were placed using it. Ye Qing took out the three genuine articles and saw the tracking powder on them, confirming that these were indeed the items he had brought.

After securing the genuine articles, Ye Qing placed the set of high-quality replicas that Master Craft had given him earlier today in the spots where the genuine articles had been, then quietly left the attic.

Not long after Ye Qing left, three other figures slipped in—it was Handsome Fatty Wang and his two companions.

The three were a bit slower than Ye Qing but still managed to infiltrate Master Craft’s attic smoothly. That afternoon, they had clearly seen where Master Craft hid his genuine articles, so upon entering, they went straight to the cabinet without looking elsewhere.

”They’re really here!” Rabbit couldn’t help but whisper excitedly upon seeing the three items neatly placed in the cabinet.

”Keep it down!” Handsome Fatty Wang gestured for silence, taking a deep breath as he looked at the three items. The combined value of these three items had reached tens of billions of US dollars, which was why the three of them dared to risk their lives to steal them.

It’s important to know that Handsome Fatty Wang had previously suffered great losses over these items, yet he was still insistent, as their value was truly immense.

Seeing the three items, all three were excited. But little did they know, these items were not the genuine articles; they were the high-quality replicas Ye Qing had just left. The genuine articles had already been taken by Ye Qing.

Though Handsome Fatty Wang and his companions were seasoned tomb robbers with a keen eye for antiques, this set of replicas was meticulously crafted by Master Craft to fool Ye Qing, making them indistinguishable from the real ones. The three of them had no idea whether these were real or fake. However, having watched earlier as Master Craft placed the genuine articles there, they assumed these were the real deal and packaged them up to take away.

”Fatty, should we leave a set of replicas here to fool that old Master Craft?” Rabbit asked excitedly, clutching the three items.

Handsome Fatty Wang glanced at the replicas on the table and whispered, ”Let’s not waste time. Many people know Ye Qing is in Tianfu City; surely, quite a few are on their way to snatch these three items. We need to get out of Tianfu City as quickly as possible, escape this troublesome place, and then find a way to sell these items!”

Rabbit and the other companion said nothing further and immediately followed Handsome Fatty Wang out of Master Craft’s manor. Having acquired these three items, the three of them were elated, so much so that they nearly broke into song as they exited the manor grounds.

Unbeknownst to them, Ye Qing was watching them from a distance in the nearby woods.

Ye Qing had been aware someone was tailing him since he was at the hotel, but he kept silent, choosing to come to Master Craft’s place first to draw those individuals out. After obtaining the genuine articles, he hid immediately, knowing those tailing him were bound to appear. Unexpectedly, his efforts paid off when he discovered Handsome Fatty Wang and his two companions.

Seeing Handsome Fatty Wang, Ye Qing sighed and murmured, ”That damn fatty just can’t change his ways. Seems the lesson he learned in Tianzhao City wasn’t enough, and he’s still after the Gold Silk Armor.”

Last time in Tianzhao City, Ye Qing had set up Handsome Fatty Wang. But feeling that Wang’s misdeeds didn’t warrant death, Ye Qing had gone into Wan Yan Manor specifically to rescue him. Ye Qing originally thought that Handsome Fatty Wang would turn over a new leaf, at least not get involved in this matter again. Surprisingly, he showed up again, displaying a persistence that was somewhat admirable. Still, admiration aside, without absolute strength, getting involved in this matter was always exceedingly dangerous.

Realizing it was Handsome Fatty Wang who was tailing him, Ye Qing paid no further attention, as he was well acquainted with Wang. Watching Wang and his companions leave, Ye Qing also got up and quietly slipped away, not lingering in the area for even a moment.

Back at the manor, after dinner, Master Craft returned to his workshop. Everything remained unchanged at the scene, so he noticed nothing. After finishing the remaining replica items, he nodded in satisfaction, turning to open the cabinet to inspect the three genuine articles once more.

The moment he opened the cabinet, Master Craft’s face froze. The cabinet, which should have contained the genuine articles, was now completely empty. The three genuine articles that were originally there were gone!

”What’s going on? What’s going on?” Master Craft couldn’t react for a moment, utterly baffled by the situation, simply staring blankly at the empty cabinet, his mind echoing with the same question over and over.