Urban Martial Saint

Ye Qing hadn’t expected Iga-ryu’s power structure to be this bizarre. After listening to Wen’er’s mother explain all this, besides being surprised, he was thinking even more about Huangfu Ziyu.

”Auntie, you just said you can help me rescue Zi Yu?” Ye Qing looked at Wen’er’s mother and said, ”What do you think I should do in this situation?”

Wen’er’s mother said, ”First of all, you have to be clear on one thing: you must make the Iga Ryu Clan Master not dare to kill the woman you love!”

”Make them not dare to kill Zi Yu? How can I be sure of that?” Ye Qing was stunned by Wen’er’s mother’s words. He hadn’t thought of this point at all, and for the moment he had no idea what she meant.

Wen’er’s mother said, ”Let them know you’ve already obtained the things inside the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master and that you’ve grasped the secrets within it. Best if you make them believe you’ve already taken Heavenly Cluster Clouds. That way, in order to trade for the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master’s secrets, in order to trade for Heavenly Cluster Clouds, they’ll have to ensure your beloved stays safe and sound!”

This was in fact exactly what Ye Qing had been thinking; he’d been mulling over this matter earlier as well.

”But I don’t even know what Heavenly Cluster Clouds actually looks like. Even if I want to trick them, it won’t be easy, right?” Ye Qing asked.

”You don’t need to know what Heavenly Cluster Clouds looks like. You only need to make them think you’ve got Heavenly Cluster Clouds.” Wen’er’s mother said, ”For this, you can have people leak some hints and insinuations, but don’t reveal too much. If you reveal too much, they’ll start to doubt you instead!”

Ye Qing nodded repeatedly. He had to admit that Wen’er’s mother truly deserved to be called resourceful and shrewd. No wonder she’d been able to lead those Sect Leaders of South Ridge Sect to rob tombs before. From the ideas she was coming up with now, one could see her cleverness. At the very least, all those South Ridge Sect Sect Leaders together were no match for her.

”Don’t take what the Great Elder said too seriously about how if you don’t bring back the things in the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master, the Sect Master will immediately kill Huangfu Ziyu. I’m telling you, that’s pure nonsense. The way Japan’s Ninjas do things is very different from us people of Huaxia in one big way: when they’re acting for the Sect, they rarely mix in personal feelings.” Wen’er’s mother said, ”Even if the Great Elder died because you lured him into the ancient tomb, even if the Sect Master is the Great Elder’s son, for the sake of Heavenly Cluster Clouds, he can set aside his hatred. So Heavenly Cluster Clouds is the key. Let them know you’ve obtained Heavenly Cluster Clouds, and not only will they not harm Huangfu Ziyu, they’ll actually protect Huangfu Ziyu well and come to you to trade for Heavenly Cluster Clouds!”

”As long as they dare show themselves to trade with me, I’ll be able to rescue Zi Yu!” Ye Qing said crisply. With Fu Qingping’s help, he was very confident he could save Huangfu Ziyu.

”I know the Fu Qingping at your side is very strong and can help you save her. But don’t pin too much hope on him either. Since Iga-ryu was able to capture Huangfu Ziyu, they must have already figured out most of the forces on your side as well!” Wen’er’s mother said. ”So they’ll also guard against Fu Qingping. When the time comes, even if Fu Qingping helps you, you may not be able to save Huangfu Ziyu smoothly!”

Ye Qing frowned slightly. Although he was very unwilling to accept it, he had to admit that every word Wen’er’s mother said was true.

”Then Auntie, what do you think should be done about this?” Ye Qing asked. In fact, he could tell that since Wen’er’s mother had said so much, she definitely already had an idea in mind. Wen’er’s mother had been in Iga-ryu for so long; with her intelligence, and with her understanding of Iga-ryu, she might really be able to think of a better method to rescue Huangfu Ziyu.

Wen’er’s mother pondered for a moment and said, ”Ye Qing, as I just said, to save Huangfu Ziyu, the first thing is to ensure her safety. So Heavenly Cluster Clouds is the most crucial point. You must first leak the news about Heavenly Cluster Clouds!”

Ye Qing nodded. This was indeed something he could manage. However, making Japan’s Ninjas believe they’d taken Heavenly Cluster Clouds was not difficult, but finding Huangfu Ziyu was not that easy. Right now, the hardest part of rescuing Huangfu Ziyu was first figuring out where she was being held. Otherwise, no matter how many powerful people Ye Qing had helping him, it would be useless.

”Once her life is secured, the next step is actually getting her out!” Wen’er’s mother said. ”If I’m not mistaken, during this period, Japan’s Ninjas must be in a rather chaotic state. And in such a time of chaos, they’ll know very little about outside news as well. So I can be sure that no one in all of Iga-ryu knows that those Elders have already died in the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master!”

Ye Qing’s heart stirred. That was indeed very possible. After all, the only people who knew about them leaving the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master were those from Handsome Fatty Wang’s group. As long as Handsome Fatty Wang and the others didn’t leak the news, no one else would know how many people had actually made it out of the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master this time. The people of Iga-ryu, the people of the Church—if Ye Qing and his group said nothing, who would know these people had died in the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master?

”The fact that the people of Iga-ryu don’t know those Elders have already died in the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master is something we can make use of!” Wen’er’s mother said.

Ye Qing nodded and said, ”I still have a living Seventh Elder over here, but his Martial Arts have already been completely crippled by me. The information about these Elders can indeed be used—but exactly how to use it, that will require long-term planning!”

”I do have a suggestion,” Wen’er’s mother said.

”Auntie, please go ahead!” Ye Qing quickly asked. Wen’er’s mother understood Iga-ryu extremely well; in this matter, her ideas definitely wouldn’t be wrong.

Wen’er’s mother took a deep breath and said, ”I just told you, the Iga-ryu Ninja are not that easy to deal with. Even if you have Fu Qingping helping you, you still might not be able to rescue Huangfu Ziyu. Do you know why?”

Ye Qing pondered for a moment and said, ”Auntie means that the Iga-ryu Ninja will avoid my grandmaster?”

”That’s right, exactly!” Wen’er’s mother nodded and said, ”The fact that you have Fu Qingping assisting you is practically known all over the world. The Iga-ryu side definitely knows this as well, so there’s no way they won’t guard against Fu Qingping. Therefore, I can be sure that if the Iga-ryu people want to come take Heavenly Cluster Clouds, they will definitely avoid Fu Qingping. They might force you to send Fu Qingping away, or they might come to make the exchange while Fu Qingping is not here. In any case, they absolutely will not come find you at a time when Fu Qingping can make a move!”

Ye Qing slowly nodded; this was indeed the case. He had also been thinking about how to fabricate a situation where Fu Qingping was not by his side in order to deceive the Japan Ninja. However, this was not so easy to carry out. After all, the Japan Ninja should also have planted spies among the Seven Steering Committees of Hong Alliance; whether Fu Qingping was present or not, the Japan Ninja would definitely be able to get the news.

”After I saw Wen’er last night and heard her talk about what happened in the Tomb of Ghost Valley Master, I’ve been thinking about this too, pondering when exactly this group of Japan Ninja will choose to come find you for the exchange!” Wen’er’s mother paused lightly, looked at Ye Qing, and said, ”Just now, I suddenly thought of something.”

”What is it?” Ye Qing hurriedly asked. This concerned a major matter related to Huangfu Ziyu.

”I heard that on the fifteenth, Fu Qingping will be fighting The Immortal Lord in place of Shijia?” Wen’er’s mother asked first.

Ye Qing’s heart stirred at once. Could the timing Wen’er’s mother was referring to be this?

The news that Fu Qingping would be fighting The Immortal Lord in Shijia’s place had already spread. Not only did Huaxia’s Martial Artists know about it, the Iga-ryu side had definitely also received the information. Thinking about it, this really was the best opportunity. Once Fu Qingping went to fight The Immortal Lord, he simply wouldn’t have any spare energy to help Ye Qing. In that case, if they came to Ye Qing for Heavenly Cluster Clouds, Fu Qingping simply wouldn’t be able to assist Ye Qing. This timing, for Iga-ryu, was absolutely the best window.

”Auntie means that the Iga-ryu Ninja will seize this opportunity to come find me?” Ye Qing asked in a low voice.

”I think there’s a very high possibility!” Wen’er’s mother nodded.

Ye Qing took a deep breath, clenched his fists, and said in a deep voice, ”Do they think that just because Grandmaster isn’t here, we won’t be able to save Zi Yu?”

”There are quite a few experts here in Shenchuan City, but I still advise you: this matter must be planned carefully!” Wen’er’s mother said, ”The Sect Master’s strength is far above that of the Great Elder. If your people here cannot subdue him in a single strike, then it will be dangerous. After all, Huangfu Ziyu is still in his hands!”

Ye Qing slowly nodded. He had actually been pondering this as well. How to rescue Huangfu Ziyu in a single move—this was indeed quite a troublesome issue. Ye Qing was currently thinking about what Wen’er’s mother had just told him, about the Iga-ryu side’s lack of timely intelligence. Perhaps, regarding the rescue of Huangfu Ziyu, he could work an angle through those Great Elders.

Before Ye Qing could come up with a concrete plan, Wen’er’s mother continued, ”Ye Qing, I’ve thought of a way for you. Do you want to hear it?”

”Auntie, please go ahead!” Ye Qing replied quickly. Right now he rather trusted Wen’er’s mother’s ideas. If Wen’er’s mother hadn’t told him so much, and he had just gone ahead with his original plan to rescue Huangfu Ziyu, the likelihood of failure would probably have been much higher.

”Just now I told you, the Iga-ryu side still doesn’t know that those Great Elders have already died.” Wen’er’s mother looked at Ye Qing and said softly, ”So, you could let the Iga-ryu side find out that you’ve already captured those few Iga-ryu Elders. At the same time, you send them a message, asking them to use Huangfu Ziyu to exchange for these Elders!”

”Oh?” Ye Qing’s heart moved slightly. What Wen’er’s mother said overlapped somewhat with what he had in mind; both were about working an angle through those Elders. However, there was still one discrepancy. Since they were going to use these Elders to exchange for Huangfu Ziyu, then why bother fabricating a story about Heavenly Cluster Clouds?