Urban Martial Saint

Downstairs, Ye Qing still didn’t know that a few people upstairs were deciding his fate.

He was surrounded and beaten by those dozen people, unable to fight back, with no place to hide, his clothes covered with several footprints. Finally shaking them off, he jumped, grabbed hold of the second-floor railing, and vaulting himself up, he managed to escape from the crowd below.

”Hey, you come down here, or else I’ll come up and beat you!” a man pointed at Ye Qing and threatened.

”I’m telling the truth, the electric bike really isn’t something I stole, it was Old Wang Ba who let me ride it.” Ye Qing said helplessly.

”Cut the crap, Old Wang Ba isn’t any good either, that old guy still owes me five days’ rent!” the middle-aged woman said with her hands on her hips, ”You must be in cahoots with him. I’m telling you, I’ve long thought Old Wang Ba was up to no good, all day long not doing honest work, conning and cheating wherever he can, surviving by deceit. Who knew he’s also a thief? Are you here to help him sell the stolen goods?”

Ye Qing was utterly collapsed, Old Wang Ba’s reputation in this area was that bad, huh? Mentioning him was just further ruining his own reputation.

”Big sis, don’t get excited, really, the bike wasn’t stolen by me. How about this...” Ye Qing pulled out a wad of money from his pocket, saying, ”Here’s some money, consider it compensation for your mental suffering. Also, on behalf of Old Wang Ba, I apologize to you, really sorry about all this, how about that?”

Seeing the wad of money, the crowd’s eyes below immediately lit up. The money in Ye Qing’s hand wasn’t small, probably upwards of several thousand.

”Then throw the money down first.” the middle-aged woman shouted.

Ye Qing immediately threw the money down, the middle-aged woman picked it up and carefully counted it, nodding to the man next to her, ”Yes, it’s all real.”

Ye Qing nearly broke down, did they really think the money was fake?

”Then... then it’s all settled now?” Ye Qing cautiously jumped down from above, luckily, after taking the money, these people really didn’t intend to beat him up.

Ye Qing felt slightly relieved, planning to go upstairs to confront Old Wang Ba. But just as he turned around, the middle-aged woman suddenly shouted, ”Wait a minute.”

”What’s wrong?” Ye Qing’s heart skipped, he feared neither heaven nor earth, but was truly scared of this group of villagers coming over to beat him. After all, it was indeed Old Wang Ba’s fault, they were in the wrong, and he couldn’t strike back.

The middle-aged woman looked greedily at Ye Qing, ”Let’s put the electric bike matter aside, but Old Wang Ba has been living here for days, eating and drinking, he owes money, will you pay on his behalf?”

Ye Qing felt reassured, so it was all about money in the end. This was easy to handle, he pulled out some more money, and barely managed to settle the situation below. Watching the middle-aged woman happily pushing her electric bike away with the money, Ye Qing was still filled with rage, rushing upstairs like a gust of wind.

”Old Wang Ba! Old Wang Ba!” Ye Qing shouted loudly. Upstairs, there were several rooms, and he wished he could kick open each one to find Old Wang Ba.

”Here, here, keep it down.” Old Wang Ba beckoned to Ye Qing from the third floor.

”You bastard!” Ye Qing cursed, rushing into the room in one leap, pointing at Old Wang Ba and cursing, ”I knew you’d pull some stunt, did you set up the electric bike to trap me? If I’d known, we could’ve quietly returned it at night, but you made me ride it back, do you just think I’m too idle?”

”Hehe...” Old Wang Ba gave a dry laugh and said, ”Alright, alright, stop shouting, there are guests here.”

It was only then that Ye Qing noticed there were three others in the room, all staring at him.

”Come, let me introduce you.” Old Wang Ba pointed at the man lying on the sofa and said, ”This...”

”We’ve met.” Wu Changming interrupted Old Wang Ba with a faint smile.

Ye Qing took a closer look at Wu Changming, finally recognizing him, and was taken aback, saying, ”Aren’t you the chief steward of the Yelu Family? What happened to you? How did you get so injured?”

”Mr. Ye still remembers me.” Wu Changming sighed despondently, looking at his bandaged arm and thigh, and said, ”All thanks to the Wanyan Family!”

”The Wanyan Family?” Ye Qing frowned, the last time he met the Yelu Family people was when the Wanyan Family was besieging them. At that time, Ye Qing even saved them once and urged them to quickly escape down the mountain. Yet, unexpectedly, they were still caught up by the Wanyan Family, and Wu Changming was injured this badly. It seemed the Yelu Family suffered significant losses this time.

”These two, you don’t know.” Old Wang Ba pointed to the two elderly men beside him and said, ”Actually, I don’t know them either, but as long as you know they’re from the Yelu Family, that’s enough.”

Ye Qing looked at the two elders; last time, he indeed hadn’t seen these two.

”These two are elders of the Yelu Family.” Wu Changming explained from the side.

Ye Qing nodded, cupping his hands towards the two men as a greeting. These two, however, showed no reaction, merely scrutinizing Ye Qing up and down, leaving their intentions unclear.

”Old Wang Ba, let’s talk about my issue first.” Ye Qing originally wanted to ask Wu Changming how he ended up in this situation, but since he had finally caught Old Wang Ba, he thought it was more important to first clarify matters related to Huangfu Ziyu.

”Your issue is not crucial, let’s discuss the important matters first.” Old Wang Ba said: ”This Wu Changming, you know him too. He’s the steward of the Yelu Family, and just a few days ago, their Yelu Family was ambushed by the Wanyan Family, the Prince Wan Yan led the attack himself, nearly wiping out all of the Yelu Family. As of this generation, the Yelu Family is completely extinct!”

Upon hearing this, Wu Changming couldn’t help but shed tears, covering his face and sighing deeply: ”Wu Mou is incapable, a disgrace to our ancestors!”

Ye Qing was indeed very concerned about the matters of Huangfu Ziyu, but since Old Wang Ba had shifted the topic here, he was too embarrassed to change it. After all, such a catastrophe befalling the Yelu Family undeniably evoked a sense of poignancy.

”Prince Wan Yan’s actions are truly ruthless!” Ye Qing said solemnly. He had witnessed Prince Wan Yan’s methods before and had no goodwill towards him.

”And this is not the crucial point. The crucial point is that the Yelu Family’s young mistress, also said to be the last scion of the Yelu Family, is currently held captive at the Wanyan Manor!” Old Wang Ba looked at Ye Qing and said in a deep tone: ”This time, I’m bringing you here to help rescue the young mistress of the Yelu Family, Yelu Ying!”

”Ah?” Ye Qing was taken aback, staring wide-eyed at Old Wang Ba, saying: ”I... I’m going to... go to Wanyan Manor to rescue someone?”

”Exactly, it’s you!” Old Wang Ba pointed a finger at Ye Qing, saying: ”Who do you think else would do it?”

”Well...” Ye Qing felt a bit awkward, saying: ”Old Wang Ba, it’s not that I don’t want to rescue her, but the Wanyan Manor is heavily guarded. Moreover, Prince Wan Yan might be there, even if I go in, I can’t rescue her. Besides, if you had mentioned this earlier, I would’ve brought a few masters to help out. Now, going alone, how can I rescue her?”

”Nonsense, if I had told you to come and rescue her, would you have come?” Old Wang Ba retorted, glaring.

Ye Qing was momentarily speechless; actually, had he been directly asked to rescue her, he wouldn’t have opposed it. But if it was Old Wang Ba personally inviting him for a rescue, he definitely wouldn’t have come, knowing how many times Old Wang Ba had tricked him before!

Old Wang Ba continued: ”Besides, who can you call for help? Ding Lianshun and Fairy Yin are trapped in Beimang Mountain, Southern Fist King Shen Tianjun is even busier than you, can you ask him to come and help?”

Ye Qing countered: ”That’s not necessarily true; Uncle Shen is mainly busy with the mercenary matters. Taking out a day to come here isn’t difficult.”

Old Wang Ba chuckled: ”Right now, he’s not busy with mercenary matters!”

”What do you mean?” Ye Qing was greatly surprised.

Old Wang Ba glanced at his watch, laughed: ”A call should be coming soon, just hold on for a moment.”

Ye Qing was puzzled, not understanding what Old Wang Ba meant. Just as he was about to speak, his phone suddenly rang.

Ye Qing looked down and saw it was a call from Shen Da of the Shen Family. His heart skipped a beat, recalling Old Wang Ba’s earlier words, Ye Qing couldn’t shake a feeling of unease.

He answered the call, and the anxious voice of Shen Da immediately came through: ”Ye Qing, have you seen that fatty?”

”Which fatty?” Ye Qing was momentarily unresponsive.

”The one you brought, the ’Handsome Fatty Wang’, have you seen him?” Shen Da asked urgently.

Ye Qing’s heart skipped a beat, he urged: ”No, he... what’s wrong with him?”

”Damn him!” Shen Da rarely cursed: ”That bastard snuck into our family’s Treasure Pavilion and stole all our famed instruments!”

”What!” Ye Qing jumped up in shock, almost spitting blood.

Last time he left Handsome Fatty Wang at the Shen Family Manor, he didn’t want him to cause trouble, and also to ensure his safety. Who would have thought, that damnable Handsome Fatty Wang would cause even more trouble than Old Wang Ba, having stolen the entire Treasure Pavilion of the Shen Family. The Shen Family’s Treasure Pavilion housed countless famed instruments, each one of immense value, he actually stole them all? How did he even pull that off!

”Do you know where he might go?” Shen Da asked anxiously.

”I don’t know either.” Ye Qing paused, saying: ”Mr. Shen, don’t worry, I will immediately send people to find him, we will definitely find him as soon as possible, don’t worry too much.”

”Alright!” Shen Da said in a deep tone: ”No matter what, you must find him before he loses those famed instruments!”

”Okay, I’ll send someone to find him right away!” Ye Qing hung up the call, glaring at Old Wang Ba beside him, said: ”Did you know that this fat bastard would go and steal?”

”Eighth Master, my iron mouth predicts everything, you think it’s fake?” Old Wang Ba said: ”I’m telling you, just from the way that fat bastard lifts his butt, I can tell what kind of crap he’s about to let out. You sending him into the Shen Family Manor was like letting a wolf loose in a sheepfold; if he doesn’t steal, then the sun surely rises from the west!”