Urban Martial Saint

Xiao Xie’s wife nodded, and without a word, Ye Qing leaped out of the window, leaving the two inside the room dumbfounded. This was the second floor, was he not afraid of breaking a leg by jumping down?

After a while, Xiao Xie whispered, ”This... this is truly an expert...”

Xiao Xie’s wife looked at their son on the bed, tears of joy welling up, and said, ”Son... our son is finally saved!”

Just at that moment, Zou Huanglong also ran in from outside, panting. As soon as he entered, he asked in surprise, ”Huh? Where’s Mr. Ye?”

”He just went out through there.” Xiao Xie pointed at the window and said.

”Are you kidding? This is the second floor, and your house is built high. How did he go out?” Zou Huanglong said, running to the window to look out, and was immediately astonished, ”Mr. Ye, where are you going?”

By this time, Ye Qing had already run out of this villa area and reached a small woods outside, searching everywhere for Old Wang Ba’s trail. Yet, there was no sign of movement around; it was as if the old fellow had disappeared.

How long had Ye Qing been looking for Old Wang Ba, and now that he finally encountered him, there was no way he would let him go so easily. He circled a few times and found nothing, so he ran directly to the tallest tree in the small woods, climbed up swiftly, and scanned the distance to search for Handsome Fatty Wang.

Standing high indeed allowed for a far view, and from this height, it didn’t take long for him to spot someone lurking in the bushes at the northwest corner. Judging by the clothes, it was the attire Old Wang Ba usually wore.

Ye Qing couldn’t help but smile; there was no way Old Wang Ba could escape now. He jumped down from the tree like a nimble cheetah, raced through the woods, and soon reached that spot. The previously lurking Old Wang Ba had no idea danger was approaching and still lay motionless in the bushes, seemingly believing this was the safest position.

Upon seeing Old Wang Ba’s clothing, Ye Qing, without a second thought, leaped like a ravenous tiger, intending to pin Old Wang Ba down thoroughly. However, when his hands grabbed Old Wang Ba’s clothes, he suddenly felt something was amiss. What he touched was utterly hollow; aside from the clothes, there was nothing else. In other words, Ye Qing had pounced into thin air!

After rolling on the grass and getting up, Ye Qing realized that he was only holding a piece of clothing, and there was no one there.

”Damn it!” Ye Qing couldn’t help but curse; he now finally understood that what he saw earlier wasn’t Old Wang Ba but just his clothes. The distance had been too far to see clearly, and seeing clothes in the bushes, he thought it was Old Wang Ba. Having run so far, he ended up with nothing but air. It must be said, Old Wang Ba was getting more cunning these days!

Holding Old Wang Ba’s clothes, Ye Qing knew that chasing Old Wang Ba now was entirely unrealistic. This fellow had clearly left the clothes here to mislead him, and he had probably fled down another path long ago. Furthermore, with the old oddball’s escape skills, catching up to him was utterly impossible.

Sighing, Ye Qing carried Old Wang Ba’s clothes back in resignation. As he reached the gate, he saw Yin Xianzi and Ding Lianshun walking back, looking equally frustrated.

The three exchanged glances, and Ye Qing asked first, ”Who were those two monks earlier?”

”Who else could they be!” Ding Lianshun said indignantly, ”It’s those two baldies, Shijia and Joyous Monk!”

”Shijia!?” Ye Qing almost choked, no wonder he heard about two monks and a Taoist before, it turned out to be Old Wang Ba, Shijia, and Joyous Monk together.

Just dealing with Old Wang Ba alone was despicable enough, and Shijia was even more so than Old Wang Ba. Combining these two was enough to drive even Zhuge Liang mad. It seemed that finding Old Wang Ba was becoming increasingly unlikely; with Shijia by his side, the two scoundrels were impossible for anyone to handle!

”Did the two of them ambush you?” Ye Qing asked.

”No kidding!” said Yin Xianzi, ”Otherwise, do you think we’d go looking for two monks to fight?”

”Uh, why... why did they ambush you?” Ye Qing wondered.

”I’d like to know too!” Ding Lianshun glanced at Ye Qing, ”Kid, do you have a grudge against them?”

”Is it just a grudge I have with them?” Mentioning these people made Ye Qing grind his teeth in anger. Which of Old Wang Ba or Shijia hadn’t set him up before?

”Damn, they must have seen the two of us with you, so they deliberately vented their anger on us!” Ding Lianshun said in exasperation.

”You gotta be kidding me!” Ye Qing grimaced and said, ”It’s a tactic to lure the tiger away from the mountain, can’t you two see it?”

”Lure the tiger away from the mountain?” Ding Lianshun was momentarily stunned and asked, ”Why would he do that?”

Ye Qing replied, ”Old Wang Ba is also here. If they don’t get you two out of the way first, how can Old Wang Ba escape?”

”Old Wang Ba is here too?” The two people’s eyes widened instantly, and upon hearing that these three were together, they became increasingly anxious.

”Nonsense, what do you think I came here for?” Ye Qing sneered, ignoring the two, and turned back into the villa.

Inside the villa, Xiao Xie and his wife were anxiously waiting. Seeing Ye Qing come in, they almost ran up and knelt before Ye Qing, urgently saying, ”Mr. Ye, please save the child!”

Ye Qing quickly pulled them up and said, ”Don’t worry, let me go in and take a look.”

Ye Qing initially lacked confidence since he didn’t know what disease the child had. However, since Old Wang Ba suggested he could save the child, there should be no problem. Hence, Ye Qing decided to give it a try first. If he couldn’t find Old Wang Ba, he should at least cure this child.

When Ye Qing entered the room, the child was still gnawing on a bun. It was his third bun since Ye Qing went out. For a four or five-year-old child, such a big bun would normally last two meals, but he ate so much in one go, no wonder it was shocking.

Standing by the bed, Ye Qing closely observed the child’s condition but couldn’t discern any specific illness from him. Judging by his appearance, he looked malnourished, not like someone who could eat so much in one meal.

After a moment’s silence, Ye Qing reached out to grab the child’s wrist to check his pulse. However, when he caught the child’s wrist, a piece of paper suddenly dropped from inside the child’s sleeve.

Ye Qing was surprised. How could there be a paper hidden in the child’s sleeve? He picked up the paper and took a closer look; it was left by Old Wang Ba for him.

”Young Ye, by the time you see this note, Eighth Master will have escaped far away. Don’t even dream of chasing me; you cannot catch Eighth Master.”

The opening line alone made Ye Qing almost throw the paper away in anger. Old Wang Ba was indeed a prime candidate for a thrashing.

”Don’t bother asking Eighth Master about anything else; tackle what’s in front of you first. Listen, the child hasn’t caught any illness, nor is he poisoned; he’s been cursed. Know what sorcery is? If not, I won’t explain—it’s too complicated. But remember, a group of sorcerers has infiltrated Huaxia, and they also attempt to enter and infiltrate Heaven Earth Man Three Gates. This group isn’t particularly strong, but their curses are fierce, capable of controlling people, extremely terrifying. Moreover, these sorcerers have recruited an ancient figure whose age is overwhelming; he used sorcery to seal his existence many years ago to survive. It’s said that if he gathers ten pairs of living corpse couples and nourishes them with living corpse blood, he could lift the seal, extending his life. So, you must prevent these people from unsealing this ancient monster; otherwise, no one in the world will be able to contend with him.”

Ye Qing was utterly puzzled, scratching his head, and murmuring, ”What is Old Wang Ba talking about?”

Just after he finished speaking, another paper note fell from the child’s other sleeve. Ye Qing was even more astonished, picked up the paper, and found more writing on it.

”Oh, I forgot to tell you, the living corpses the sorcerers want are actually children born in Yin Year, Yin Month, Yin Time. They use Great Food Descent to turn these children into monsters that only eat and drink. They’re actually nurturing living corpses within the children. Once a living corpse develops, the child is doomed. The child you saw now has been subjected to Great Food Descent; be very careful!”

This explanation made Ye Qing slightly understand. He looked at the child on the bed, still devouring his food, completely unaware of anything. Who could have thought that all the food consumed was not absorbed by his body, but by the living corpse within him?

Ye Qing felt angry; these sorcerers were too brutal, using such young children to nurture living corpses—could they be considered human? Since Ye Qing encountered this matter, even without Old Wang Ba’s words, he would surely not hesitate to resolve it.

However, how should he stop these children from turning into living corpses? And what exactly is a sorcerer?

Thinking of sorcerers, Ye Qing suddenly remembered that in the Acupoint Seeking Technique, there is a record of sorcery. It’s said to be an evil technique from the Nanyang region, originating from Miaojiang Gu Techniques, which utilizes external objects to manipulate humans. Unlike Miaojiang’s nurturing of Gu Insects, sorcery is much more complex, using toxins and medicines, and very elaborate.

In the Acupoint Seeking Technique, there aren’t many records about sorcery. As for breaking sorcery, it’s straightforward — only one method is recorded, and that is to kill the sorcerer!

All sorceries require the sorcerer to continually perform the technique for maintenance, even a day’s delay is unacceptable. Therefore, although sorcery is potent, administering it is troublesome, and sorcerers typically don’t act unless necessary. Moreover, to break sorcery, the simplest way is to kill the sorcerer, halting the formation of the sorcery.