Urban Martial Saint

In the dead of night, Ye Qing sat alone in the room, surrounded by the documents he collected during the day.

These documents were delivered by Zhao Chengshuang and were obtained by the police through various investigations. They detail the situations of the victimized children, as well as testimonies from their families and neighbors.

During the day, Ye Qing briefly skimmed through these documents, selecting roughly thirty to forty of the most useful ones. Now that he finally had some free time, he planned to go through them again carefully to see if he could find any useful clues.

Flipping through these thirty to forty documents several times from beginning to end, Ye Qing selected the ten most useful ones because they included eyewitness accounts of the murderous assassin. Although none of them saw the assassin’s face, this was the only testimony available at the moment.

Ye Qing laid the ten documents out on the table, comparing the information in them thoroughly, reviewing them more than a dozen times, and discovered a major suspicion: The culprit’s capabilities were likely not very strong.

This made Ye Qing even more puzzled. He clearly remembered the Purple Robe Lama telling him that the murderer of these children was a Peak Master. However, Ye Qing’s inference from these documents suggested that the perpetrator’s abilities were not that strong, merely reaching the level of a Top-Level Master, which was vastly different from a Peak Master.

Of course, this deduction was made solely from these ten documents. As for the other hundreds of documents, they contained far less useful information, and Ye Qing could not infer anything valuable from them. This meant that Ye Qing could not determine the actual strength of the perpetrator from the other documents, but it was certain that the perpetrator shown in these ten documents could not be considered a Peak Master.

What on earth is going on?

Ye Qing slowly leaned against the sofa, frowning slightly. According to the Purple Robe Lama, there was only one perpetrator, and this person was a Peak Master. However, Ye Qing’s investigation showed a significant discrepancy in the perpetrator’s abilities from what the Purple Robe Lama described. Was it the Purple Robe Lama who was wrong, or was it himself?

Ye Qing knew after this detailed study that his conclusion was definitely not wrong. Yet, with the Purple Robe Lama’s level of expertise and his keen insight, his deduction could not be incorrect either.

If neither of them was wrong, then there could only be one explanation: The perpetrator was not acting alone; there were at least two of them!

If this hypothesis were correct, then there were two culprits, one a Peak Master and the other a Top-Level Master. Catching the Peak Master would be difficult, but catching the Top-Level Master would not be as challenging. At the very least, the Top-Level Master could not possibly leave no trace, unlike a Peak Master.

With this realization, Ye Qing suddenly stood up and grabbed his phone off the table to call Zhao Chengshuang.

Though it was late at night, Ye Qing assumed it would take Zhao Chengshuang a while to answer. Unexpectedly, the call was connected after just two rings, and Zhao Chengshuang’s low voice came through: ”What’s up?”

”I’ve made a discovery, you...” Ye Qing began, but was interrupted by Zhao Chengshuang: ”Trouble at the station? Okay, I’m on my way!”

”What?” Ye Qing was taken aback. Before he could react, Zhao Chengshuang hung up, leaving Ye Qing bewildered. What did Zhao Chengshuang mean by this? Was there something preventing him from talking on the phone?

Ye Qing fell silent for a moment but then felt a sudden jolt in his heart. Zhao Chengshuang’s voice had been notably low and somewhat hoarse, indicating he was not in high spirits. Recalling what he had told him about Lin Tianyou during the day, Ye Qing could almost guess why Zhao Chengshuang had spoken that way. It seemed like he was either with Lin Tianyou’s family or with Chen Keai, which would make speaking freely difficult.

After all, Lin Tianyou was brought out by Ye Qing, and when Zhao Chengshuang reported back the news of Lin Tianyou’s death, neither the Lin family nor Chen Keai knew how they would react for sure, but they were understandably very resentful towards Ye Qing. So, when Zhao Chengshuang answered the phone, he pretended it was about business and didn’t mention Ye Qing’s name.

Although Zhao Chengshuang was helping to cover for Ye Qing, it left him feeling uneasy. He felt extremely guilty towards both the Lin family and Chen Keai. He wanted to apologize to them in person, but for the time being, he couldn’t leave the Seven Steering Committees of Hong Alliance’s manor to do so, meaning his apology had to be delayed. The longer he postponed this, the heavier his guilt became.

With a sigh of frustration, Ye Qing slowly sat back down on the sofa. Before long, Zhao Chengshuang called back: ”Huo Pingping and Chen Keai were with me just now, so I couldn’t talk freely.”

It was just as Ye Qing expected. He sighed and asked softly, ”Is she angry?”

”She’s not angry, it’s just that she’s been crying,” Zhao Chengshuang said quietly. ”That’s how women are. Anyone would be devastated by such news. But Pingping is there to console her, so you don’t need to worry. Anyway, you called so late. Is there something urgent?”

”Oh, right.” Ye Qing suddenly remembered, quickly picking up the ten documents from the table, ”Can you get a few people to come over? I have some questions for them. And bring the crime scene photos from the list I gave you.”

”Oh?” Zhao Chengshuang was surprised. ”You... you looked through the documents I sent you? You’ve found a lead?”

”A small one. Please help me check it out,” Ye Qing replied, reading the list of names from the documents aloud.

”Wait, wait, let me get a pen to jot this down,” Zhao Chengshuang said hurriedly, recording all the names, ”Okay, I’ll handle this. But those people don’t live in Shenchuan City, so it might take a little time. I should have them brought in by the day after tomorrow.”

”Please do it as quickly as possible,” Ye Qing urged. This matter was related to the situation at the orphanage. If the perpetrator could be identified quickly, the orphanage could return to normal operations; otherwise, the staff would likely be too terrified to work.

”Don’t worry, I’ll arrange it,” Zhao Chengshuang assured.

Ye Qing hung up and organized the documents on the table. Just as he was about to lie down and sleep, a commotion erupted outside the courtyard.

Ye Qing had become wary of this kind of noise. Alerted, he immediately jumped up, opened the door, and headed outside. As soon as he walked into the courtyard, he saw from a distance over twenty people running towards him, members of the Seven Rudders of Hong Alliance.

”What’s going on?” Ye Qing quickly asked.

Upon seeing Ye Qing, one person shouted urgently, ”Ye, be careful, there’s someone on the roof!”

Ye Qing swiftly looked up and saw a tall figure with white hair draped over his shoulders, standing on the roof not far from him, carrying a longsword on his back. The old man was holding another person, who was covered in multiple wounds, blood dripping from his clothing, and appeared seriously injured. This person, notably, was also a member of the Seven Rudders of Hong Alliance.

Seeing this, Ye Qing immediately frowned. Last night, the Slaughter Venerable had come to attack, wounding a member of the Seven Rudders by day, and now another old man had come, critically injuring one of the members again. These assaults by the reclusive masters were relentless, giving them no respite at all.

”Who are you!” Ye Qing stepped back into the courtyard and shouted at the old man, ”I am Ye Qing. If you’re after me, come at me directly. Why harm others?”

The old man stood on the roof, glanced at Ye Qing indifferently, and did not respond, as if he hadn’t heard Ye Qing’s words.

Ye Qing’s intention was to lure the old man into the courtyard, where Bai Li Xi’s Guardian Insects were stationed. Once the old man entered, he would surely provoke the Guardian Insects into attacking. In this way, Ye Qing could save the man the old man was holding. Moreover, with the power of Devouring Demon Flower protecting him and potentially being able to unleash the Buddha’s Relic power, Ye Qing wasn’t particularly afraid of these top masters. Besides, with Helian Tiehua and the Wolf Monk in the manor, he only needed to hold the old man off for a while before they arrived, leaving the old man with no escape.

However, the old man ignored him, merely glanced at him before looking elsewhere, leaving Ye Qing bewildered. What was the old man’s intention? Did he not come to the manor to capture Ye Qing?

At that moment, someone suddenly leaped up from the distance, charging straight towards the old man.

Ye Qing saw clearly that the person rushing out was the Wolf Monk. With his hands pressed together, when he was still a dozen meters away from the old man, he unleashed both palms heavily at the old man.

The old man glanced at the Wolf Monk, then in one swift motion drew the longsword with the scabbard still on from his back, sweeping it casually with the scabbard to meet the Wolf Monk’s palms.

The Wolf Monk’s palms landed on the scabbard, which forced the old man to take a step back, and the Wolf Monk was knocked down. This exchange revealed their relative strengths; the old man seemed slightly stronger than the Wolf Monk.

Seeing the old man’s strength, Ye Qing was deeply shocked. The old man’s power was almost on par with the Executioner Scholar. It made Ye Qing wonder if Helian Tiehua could match him equally.

As Ye Qing pondered this, from far away, someone was running at high speed towards the rooftop, and it was none other than the Great General Helian Tiehua. Helian Tiehua moved incredibly fast, reaching the rooftop within just a few breaths.