Urban Martial Saint

It must be said that Ye Qing’s money really played a significant role. Based on the testimonies of these six people, Ye Qing and his team quickly determined the characteristics of the perpetrator.

These more than a dozen cases actually happened on the same day, and the victims were not far from each other, so Ye Qing could conclude that all these people were killed by the same top-level master. Within one day, this person needed to travel to more than a dozen places to kill all these individuals, so it was unlikely that he had time to change clothes and vehicles. Hence, as long as they search according to the vehicle and clothing characteristics, finding this assassin would not be difficult.

Getting these physical characteristics, Zhao Chengshuang was extremely excited. It’s important to know that this case spanned several provinces and caused a huge stir domestically, drawing significant attention from higher authorities. However, comprehensive investigations from various parties had yet to yield any clues for solving the case. Now, obtaining this information from Ye Qing was indeed a major breakthrough for this case. Even if they hadn’t found the murderer yet, Shenchuan City was ahead of other provinces in the matter of solving the case, and Zhao Chengshuang could also gain prominence from this case.

”Ye Zi, what do we do now?” Zhao Chengshuang asked excitedly, holding those critical pieces of information, ”Should I gather the surveillance nearby and compare it little by little with these traits? Considering our manpower situation, we could find this person in less than half a day!”

Ye Qing looked at the information and slightly furrowed his brows. For some reason, the physical traits derived from this data gave him a sense of familiarity, which made him a bit anxious. It seemed as if the murderer was someone he knew.

After a long silence, Ye Qing slowly shook his head and said, ”Cheng Shuang, can we keep these data confidential for now? Let me see those surveillance materials first.”

”Why?” Zhao Chengshuang asked in surprise.

”This matter is related to the orphanage. I need to find out exactly what’s going on,” Ye Qing replied softly. In truth, he was more worried that his speculation was correct. If the murderer was indeed someone he knew, what should he do then?

Zhao Chengshuang looked at Ye Qing, hesitated for a moment, and finally nodded, saying, ”Okay, I’ll help you get the surveillance records so you can look into it yourself. However, it’ll take you more time to examine them alone.”

Ye Qing nodded. Spending time wasn’t an issue; his biggest concern was if his speculation turned out to be right. In that case, the situation would be more severe.

They tidied everything up, and by this time it was already past four a.m. They had almost spent the whole night working there. It was still early, so they decided to sleep in the house since it was too early to do anything else.

Though lying in bed, Ye Qing barely closed his eyes throughout the night. The more he thought about those physical traits, the more familiar they seemed to him, and he could vaguely deduce who this person was. Yet, he was reluctant to admit it. If it did turn out to be this person, the situation would become incredibly difficult to resolve.

Early the next morning, Ye Qing woke Zhao Chengshuang up, urging him to go back and bring those surveillance materials over. Zhao Chengshuang was still muddled with sleep and didn’t want to leave, but Ye Qing was really anxious about this matter. If it wasn’t thoroughly investigated, Ye Qing would keep worrying all the time.

Soon after breakfast, Zhao Chengshuang brought all the surveillance materials. Ye Qing didn’t go out but laid out all the surveillance footage, examining and searching through them. With the traits of the murderer, the search was much easier. Additionally, Ye Qing searched with purpose, which naturally sped up the process. By midday, Ye Qing had watched through all the surveillance materials, finding several segments that actually captured the murderer, and played them back repeatedly. Honestly, the more Ye Qing watched these clips, the more alarmed he felt. The person on the screen indeed matched the one he had speculated about. Ye Qing was even certain that the murderer was exactly the person he guessed!

This realization made Ye Qing’s heart immensely heavy. The person he had speculated about was none other than Li Changshan, the younger brother of Northern Fist King Li Changqing. The murderer’s physical traits, even their movements, were completely identical to Li Changqing without the slightest difference. Although Ye Qing was unwilling to believe it was him, the videos left him no room for denial.

Could it be that those more than a dozen children were really killed by Li Changshan? But why would he do this? He knew well of the significant connection between these children and Ye Qing, and Ye Qing had guaranteed their safety to the Purple Robe Lama. Yet, he chose to kill these children, wasn’t he intentionally framing Ye Qing?

Despite being filled with bewilderment, Ye Qing had to acknowledge this fact. He slowly put away the videos, leaned weakly against the sofa, and involuntarily recalled the incident when Li Changshan came to Shenchuan City.

At that time, Li Changshan arrived unexpectedly, claiming he wanted to stay in Shenchuan City for a while, which Ye Qing didn’t mind. After arriving, he went straight to the orphanage, and Ye Qing thought he intended to select some promising children as disciples from the orphanage. Now, Ye Qing finally understood why he went there; it turned out he wanted to obtain the children’s names and addresses, then secretly eliminate them. In other words, when Li Changshan arrived in Shenchuan City, he already harbored malicious intent, planning against Ye Qing from the very beginning.

Sitting silently on the sofa for a long time, Ye Qing picked up the phone from the table and dialed Li Changshan’s number. After just a few rings, Li Changshan answered the call, ”Ye Qing, what made you call me all of a sudden?”

Hearing this voice, Ye Qing momentarily felt it couldn’t have been Li Changshan who did it. However, everything shown on the screen confirmed that it was definitely him, without question.

After a brief half-second of silence, Ye Qing said softly, ”Uncle, I’ve found Li Bing’en.”

”Ah?” Li Changshan sounded pleasantly surprised, asking eagerly, ”How is he? Where is he now?”

”He’s injured, quite badly,” Ye Qing said, ”He’s here in Shenchuan City. Uncle, where are you?”

”I’m not far from Shenchuan City. Wait for me, I’ll be right back!” Li Changshan sounded very excited, seemingly very concerned about Li Bing’en.

Hanging up the phone, listening to Li Changshan’s response, Ye Qing was truly puzzled. It seemed like Li Changshan had no guard against him; he believed everything Ye Qing said, without any guilty conscience. Could it be he was mistaken? Was the murderer not him?

Ye Qing glanced at the frozen frames on the computer. From these frames, Ye Qing could infer that this person was definitely Li Changshan, no doubt about it. Could it be that Li Changshan was so confident that Ye Qing wouldn’t discover him, so he dared to return boldly?

Sighing deeply, Ye Qing slowly stood up and walked over to the window, contemplating everything outside in silence for a long time before picking up the phone from the table again, this time calling Zhao Chengshuang.

”How’s it going? Any leads?” Zhao Chengshuang asked as soon as he answered the phone. Ye Qing didn’t allow him to publish the information; he was the most anxious one about it. This information was immensely helpful for solving the case.

”Cheng Shuang, buy me an outfit,” Ye Qing said, ”Exactly the same jacket as the murderer’s.”

”Why buy this?” Zhao Chengshuang asked in surprise.

Ye Qing replied, ”Don’t ask too much, just help me get it.”

”Alright,” Zhao Chengshuang didn’t ask further. Ye Qing’s way of doing things was always different from normal people. But it must be said that his methods were very effective.

After arranging this, Ye Qing once again sat down on the sofa, quietly reflecting on everything about this matter. If Li Changshan really was the murderer, then he had to reassess this person. Regardless of his motives, one thing was certain — Li Changshan wasn’t as righteous and kind as he appeared. This person harbored malicious intentions and might even have done some shady things.

Ye Qing couldn’t help but think of the duel between the King of North-South Boxing. According to the Li Family, someone from the Shen Family poisoned Li Changqing before the duel, which led to his defeat at the hands of Shen Tianjun. Yet, through his interactions with the people from the Shen Family, Ye Qing found that they would never do such a thing. Moreover, peak masters are generally immune to all poisons; how many people in the world could concoct a poison capable of taking down the Northern Fist King Li Changqing?

The Shen Family had always suspected that King Yan Ning Qianshu was behind it. But the question remained as to how King Yan Ning Qianshu managed to poison Li Changqing. It was known that Li Changqing wasn’t any simple character and was extremely vigilant, leaving no room for Ning Qianshu to poison him. Hence, the poisoning was also very peculiar, leaving everyone puzzled as to how Li Changqing could have been poisoned.

Now, combining these circumstances with Li Changshan’s situation, Ye Qing suddenly realized with alarm that if Li Changshan indeed harbored malicious intent, the North-South Boxing battle twenty years ago might have an inseparable connection with him. While others might not have the means to poison Li Changqing, it would not be the same with someone close to him. As vigilant as Li Changqing was to others, he wouldn’t guard against someone close to him, especially his own brother.

If anyone was suitable to poison Li Changqing, undoubtedly, Li Changshan was the most fitting candidate.