Urban Martial Saint

Shenchuan City and Chang Yuan City are neighboring provinces, very close to each other; taking a plane takes just half an hour.

Yin Xianzi and Ding Lianshun followed Ye Qing all the way as they got off the plane, exited the airport, and Ye Qing hailed a taxi in front before turning his head to look at Yin Xianzi and Ding Lianshun.

Ding Lianshun instinctively wanted to turn around and hide, but was directly held back by Yin Xianzi.

"Why are you hiding, we saw him on the plane earlier; he definitely knows we're following him." Yin Xianzi said, "Anyway, this matter is almost exposed, so there's no need to hide; we're protecting him, not trying to kill him, so we don't need to avoid him too much."

"Makes sense!" Ding Lianshun immediately stood tall, looking at Ye Qing and said in a low voice: "Hey, you don't know, we've been secretly following him before, not daring to let them find out, so I instinctively wanted to hide. But, what do you think this guy's up to?"

"Don't speak, he's coming over." Yin Xianzi said softly.

Just as Yin Xianzi said, Ye Qing didn't get in the car but instead turned around and walked over to them.

"What should we do? Should we retreat first?" Ding Lianshun asked softly.

"Why retreat, he's coming directly at us, hiding makes it seem like we're afraid of him." Yin Xianzi replied in a low voice.

As the two were murmuring, Ye Qing had already walked up to them. They immediately shut up, putting on an indifferent expression, and calmly looked at Ye Qing, maintaining the demeanor of experts.

"It's been quite a journey for you two." Ye Qing said with a faint smile.

"You're the one with a journey, running around late at night, aren't you afraid of breaking a leg?" Yin Xianzi sneered coldly.

Ye Qing laughed: "Haha, apologies, I have some matters to attend to here in Chang Yuan City, sorry for making you two go through the trouble as well."

Yin Xianzi and Ding Lianshun's expressions both changed; Ye Qing's words sounded like he was mocking them. They were already very unhappy about protecting Ye Qing in the first place, and now Ye Qing spoke like that, they were naturally very angry.

However, anger aside, protecting Ye Qing was a direct order from Heavenly Master Lin Xuan Yue, and they could only comply.

Seeing the two remain silent, Ye Qing chuckled lightly and continued: "I've hailed a taxi; how about you two come with me? It's not easy to get a taxi this late at night, and if you two are to follow me, it's most convenient to sit together. If we get separated by too far, it'll be troublesome once we lose track. After all, it's not as controlled as walking."

Yin Xianzi furrowed her brow; she could see that Ye Qing was deliberately trying to annoy them. Seeing Ding Lianshun about to lose his temper, she quickly spoke first: "Alright, sitting together is indeed more convenient."

Ding Lianshun looked at Yin Xianzi in surprise, unsure why she agreed with Ye Qing. Yin Xianzi tugged at his clothes, taking advantage of Ye Qing turning around, whispered to Ding Lianshun: "Sticking close for protection is safest, once the Medicine King Mountain matter is resolved, we'll kill him personally. This person won't be bouncing around for long anyway, so why bother with these minor frustrations?"

Ding Lianshun was silent for a moment, then said in a low voice: "Is this guy setting a trap to screw us over?"

"What if he is setting a trap?" Yin Xianzi whispered: "If we stay close to him, any trap won't let him escape. Besides, in this world, what trap could hold us!"

Ding Lianshun thought about it, felt that Yin Xianzi was right, and no longer questioned, followed Yin Xianzi to join Ye Qing in getting in the taxi.

Ye Qing sat in front and didn't speak further, but directly instructed the driver to head to the suburbs.

The information he received from Su Kaicheng clearly showed the location of the mercenaries hidden here, in a place called Xiang Village in the North Suburb of Chang Yuan City. This Xiang Village is complex with people, usually very bustling, the mercenaries hiding here makes both the military and Ministry of Security apprehensive. Without absolute assurance to resolve all mercenaries at once, an open battle would surely affect the surrounding civilians. And these mercenaries are all extremely capable fighters, though the military could gather a lot of personnel, they couldn't completely resolve them all at once. Therefore, although the military and Ministry of Security knew where they were hiding, they dared not act directly.

These mercenaries are actually very clever, hiding in a crowded area to protect themselves. Their presence here deterred the military from casually dispersing the surrounding civilians, fearing that it would provoke them into harming innocent civilians. These mercenaries, according to the information from Su Kaicheng, are considered the most difficult ones to solve.

Chang Yuan City is the closest to Shenchuan City, so Ye Qing plans to start here and deal with the group of mercenaries first.

Sadly, Yin Xianzi and Ding Lianshun had no idea what Ye Qing was up to, and they followed him to Xiang Village, still pondering what Ye Qing intended to do.

As soon as Ye Qing arrived at Xiang Village, he could clearly sense the unusual situation here. Although there were many civilians on the streets, Ye Qing could tell that among them were a large number of disguised military personnel, distinguishable by their sharp gaze and straight posture. The military had planted many soldiers here in civilians clothes to monitor and guard against these mercenaries.

The two sides are now in a standoff, with the military hesitant to make the first move. However, if these mercenaries dare to harm anyone here, the military will undoubtedly take immediate action to eliminate them.

The information given to Ye Qing by Su Kaicheng clearly showed the hiding spots of the mercenaries. The mercenaries found a residential house in Xiang Village where they were hiding; this house usually gets rented out, so the surrounding residents are completely unaware that it is now inhabited by a batch of well-equipped mercenaries.

When Ye Qing arrived, he had already studied the map of Xiang Village thoroughly, understanding the situation clearly. After taking a walk around the streets, he found the house marked on the map, essentially a courtyard-style residence built like a fortress, easy to defend but difficult to attack. Moreover, the windows of the house were without protective barriers, meaning the people inside could jump out at any time, which is the main reason the military didn't dare to act rashly. If a fight breaks out and a mercenary randomly jumps out or throws a bomb, it would be a major incident.

Ye Qing circled around the house once, getting a thorough understanding of its terrain and the defensive situation inside. These defensive arrangements are generally standard among different international military forces, as favorable positions in a building are limited, dictating where personnel or snipers would be stationed—these decisions are mainly determined by the terrain, essentially fixed.

Ye Qing, being an elite in this area during his military service, could immediately discern the defensive positions inside the house. He was aware of where individuals were patrolling and where snipers were stationed, and began plotting his specific attack strategy mentally.

Yin Xianzi and Ding Lianshun always followed closely behind Ye Qing. Their eyesight being sharp, they identified the presence of many soldiers, starting to calculate their own moves.

"Could he be cooperating with the military to deal with us?" Ding Lianshun murmured to Yin Xianzi, who kept a distance intentionally from Ye Qing for the convenience of conversation. Both possessed profound inner strength, so their speech couldn't be heard by Ye Qing.

Yin Xianzi frowned slightly, whispering, "I don't think so? He wouldn't be foolish enough to believe these soldiers could kill the two of us, would he?"

"Then what exactly does he intend to do?" Ding Lianshun puzzledly mused, wondering about Ye Qing's intentions ever since Ye Qing boarded a plane to Chang Yuan City.

"It doesn't matter, we'll handle it as it comes!" Yin Xianzi coldly remarked, "If he's really getting the military to deal with us, today we'll show him our true capabilities."

Ding Lianshun's eyes flickered with murderous intent as he coldly glanced at the soldiers around, contemplating how to strike at them.

Actually, while they monitored the soldiers, the soldiers were observing them as well.

After Ye Qing loitered around for a while, someone immediately reported the matter to the temporary command center in Xiang Village. The guard there was a senior officer dispatched from the nearby military district, who, upon hearing that someone was wandering around the residential area, became suspicious.

"Keep an eye on him; this person might be the mercenaries' liaison," the officer said gravely, "If there's any suspicious movement, capture him immediately. Above all, do not harm innocent civilians, if..."

The officer's words were interrupted by a frantic voice over the telephone: "Not good, he's running toward that house!"

"What?" The officer was taken aback, not expecting Ye Qing to act so swiftly, struggling to react in time.

"Quickly capture him!" After a good three seconds, the officer managed to shout.

"Officer, it's too late; he's already inside," came an astonished voice from the other end of the phone, "However, he... he doesn't seem to be the mercenaries' liaison; he climbed the wall to enter and knocked out a patrolling mercenary!"

"What's going on!?" The officer jumped up, exclaiming, "He attacked a mercenary? This... where did this person come from?"

"Officer, could he be sent by the military to resolve this?" the subordinate queried softly.

"How can that be possible? If the military were sending someone, they'd inform me first. And furthermore, Xiang Village has many civilians, how can they act so recklessly? If they injure innocents, what then?" the officer exclaimed, pounding the table, "Regardless of who sent him down, this is sheer madness! Hurry, notify the units over there to seal off the surrounding street blocks, prevent these mercenaries from fleeing to nearby residential houses, minimize the losses to the fullest extent!!!"