Urban Martial Saint

"Li, you really know how to play the game!" the man chuckled and said, "But, I just can't figure it out. What's the deal with this guy surnamed Ye? Why does he have to oppose our Eldest Brother? Tell me, could there be some other reason for this?"

Hearing the man's words, Ye Qing felt a sudden pang of anxiety in his heart. If these people guessed his intentions, his brother Ye Jun would probably be in great danger. Ye Qing had always dared not to ask Zhao Chengshuang and Li Lianshan for help for this very reason, as he was afraid to alarm the enemy. To be absolutely safe, he would rather search alone than take any risks.

"What other reasons could there be?" Scarface curled his lips in disdain and said, "I think he must have a grudge against the Eldest Brother or maybe he's a relative of a former foe of Eldest Brother come to seek revenge. Eldest Brother has been in Shenchuan City for so many years; it's impossible for him not to have a few enemies, right?"

The man nodded, "That's also possible!"

Ye Qing let out a sigh of relief, thankful that these people hadn't thought of the disabled and beggar children. Otherwise, it would have been dangerous.

The man and Scarface walked into the bungalow next door, leaving no one else in the yard except for the dogs that continued to bark fiercely. Ye Qing quietly crawled out from under the car as the dogs' barking grew even more intense.

Scarface, annoyed by the noise inside the house, cursed loudly, "What are you barking at? I've only been away for a few days, and you don't recognize me anymore? You're really a bunch of ungrateful dogs. Keep barking and I'll chop you up!"

Ye Qing stealthily moved to the side of the bungalow and, as soon as he got close, he smelled a pungent stench of decay, which was a strong odor of a corpse. With this smell, Ye Qing was almost certain that those missing disabled people and children were hidden somewhere here. Boss Lin's men showed no mercy to these beggars; sick people weren't taken care of at all, so deaths were quite common.

Several men sat in the living room playing cards. Seeing Scarface enter, they all greeted him. Scarface nodded at the men and went with the man he had been conversing with into an inner room, emerging shortly afterward with a package.

"We should have been doing this all along, huh. Bring a package back every night, and there will never be a shortage of goods in the place," Scarface muttered.

"Li, the thing is we're nearly out of goods ourselves," the man said helplessly, "Recently, Eldest Brother hasn't been letting these creatures go out, so even the carriers are gone. Our stockpile here can last at most a month. If these creatures aren't allowed to carry goods soon, we really will be out of goods next month."

"Yeah," another man playing cards turned his head and said, "those goods we get back aren't even finished products; we have to process them ourselves. It takes a few days to get them ready for the market. These past days, those little brats have been eating well and having fun. If we don't get some new goods soon, I bet they'll forget how to work!"

"Enough, enough, I'll talk to Eldest Brother," Scarface waved his hand and said, "You guys stop complaining. I estimate that this Ye guy won't last many more days. As for those little brats, can't you just let them be? If they don't work these next few days, give them less food; just don't let them starve to death. Dammit, we're not some charity shelter. Why be so good to them?

Also, in the next few days, I need to find a couple of corneas and a kidney; someone at West Gate is asking for them."

"How old do you need?" a man leaned over and asked, "Just right, we have a kid in the basement who's about to kick the bucket, and his corneas are still usable."

"Corneas even differ by age, huh? Hurry and choose, someone will cut them out in a couple of days, we've got five hundred thousand for this!" Scarface glanced at the men and said, "I'll give you guys a bigger share this time, fifty percent is yours!"

"Really?" The men were greatly excited, all clamoring to help Scarface with the selection.

"Alright, give me a call when you've made a choice. I'll head back first to deliver the stuff to hold them off for a while." Scarface, carrying a parcel, walked out of the yard. The dogs were still barking loudly, but Scarface picked up a rock from the corner of the wall and hit one of the dogs, silencing it with a yelp. The other dogs dared not make any more noise.

Ye Qing crouched and hid behind a pile of sacks nearby, narrowly avoiding Scarface's line of sight. However, the stench of decay here was the strongest, almost making Ye Qing want to vomit.

"Damn, asking for a beating!" Scarface cursed as he got into the car, completely oblivious to Ye Qing lurking in the darkness as he drove away from the yard.

As the light from the car's headlights faded, Ye Qing immediately moved away from behind the sacks and took several deep breaths. The pungent smell of decay made even breathing difficult for him.

After taking several breaths, Ye Qing turned to look at the pile of seven or eight sacks, knowing there had to be something wrong inside of them. He took a deep breath, held it, and went over to untie the top sack.

As soon as he loosened the sack, a human head directly tumbled out. Even Ye Qing, who was battle-hardened, was taken aback by the sight, taking several seconds before he could regain his composure. This is part of a series from My Virtual Library Empire (M|V|L1EMPYR).

Upon closer inspection, it was the head of a young man in his twenties, but half of his hair had already turned white. His face was a wretched iron blue, exuding a strong stench of decay. His face was beginning to rot, and near his temples, livor mortis had even set in. One arm was curled up to his chest, without a hand; the wrist ended in a neat cut and was also decaying.

In the darkness, it looked extremely terrifying!

Ye Qing's face turned cold, and he immediately untied the rest of the sacks. Without exception, each sack contained a corpse. The three sacks at the top held the bodies of disabled adults, and the lower down the pile, the more advanced the decomposition of the bodies.

The rest were filled with children, the oldest looking around thirteen or fourteen years old, and the youngest probably only five or six, still innocent. Particularly, an eight-year-old girl, who would have been quite cute if not for her small emaciated frame.

Her eyes were tightly shut, her face still holding the pain and reluctance of death, with her fingers curled into claws as if she was trying to grasp something before she died. Her beautiful eyes were wide open, the hollow gaze as if accusing the world of its darkness and distortion.

Ye Qing's heart nearly shattered at the sight, but his anger reached new heights when he opened the sacks further and saw what was inside.

Several corpses in the sacks had been eviscerated, with vital organs removed. Especially one young man, whose body was nearly emptied of his viscera, leaving a hollow shell of a corpse behind. Undoubtedly, these people had been cut open while still alive, their organs harvested and sold for money.

These beasts, it wasn't enough for them to ruin so many lives, they wouldn't even let them die with their bodies intact!

Ye Qing clenched his fists, his heart aching as if it were bleeding. He was terrified, afraid that his younger brother might have died as innocently as these people had.

The few children fared a bit better, with only two having had organs removed. However, there was one thing they all had in common: their eye sockets and lips were dark, making them appear as though they were poisoned.

Ye Qing, who had been working on drug enforcement at the border for so long, recognized at a glance that these children must have died from overdosing.

Ye Qing gritted his teeth; he knew that people like Boss Lin were devoid of conscience. But he could never have imagined that they would commit atrocities as chilling as this!

"What's going on? Why are the dogs outside still barking?" At this moment, a man's voice came from inside the house.

"Go check it out," another voice shouted.

Someone was heading towards the doorway, but Ye Qing, as if he had heard nothing, kept staring intensely at the bodies inside the burlap sacks.

The door opened and a man stepped out. Upon seeing Ye Qing in the courtyard, he was taken aback and said, "Who's there?"

Turning his head, Ye Qing looked over; the man, seeing him clearly, changed color and exclaimed, "Who are you? Old Han, come out quick, something's happened!"

Five or six men burst out of the house, each armed with a weapon. These people were highly vigilant, as the business they conducted here was no good deed.

A man switched on the courtyard lights, and seeing Ye Qing, he was momentarily stunned before saying, "Who the hell is this guy?"

"I don't know him, he's definitely not one of ours," another said gravely. "Whoever he is, we can't let him get away tonight!"

Right, the contents of the sacks had been exposed, and Ye Qing had seen everything clearly. If they let Ye Qing escape, they would be in trouble!

The men, in unison, spread out, surrounding Ye Qing in the center and slowly advanced towards him.

Ye Qing stood still, seemingly oblivious to the intentions of the men. Finally, as they took their positions, one of them pointed at Ye Qing from a distance and cursed, "Fuck, is this son of a bitch deaf? Why isn't he saying anything?"

"Who cares, Li is looking for a kidney, isn't he? This one delivered himself right to our doorstep, saves us the trouble of choosing!"

"Exactly, and his corneas don't look too bad either!"

The men discussed among themselves, evidently regarding Ye Qing as easy prey. They had no idea that Ye Qing was the very grim reaper who had dismantled several of Old Lin's strongholds before.

Of course, this was because Ye Qing had changed clothes. In their minds, Ye Qing was supposed to be a man in military uniform, not a young man dressed in casual clothes.

"Hey kid, I'm asking you one more fucking time, who the hell are you?" The man in the vest pointed his machete at Ye Qing and said, "If you don't say anything, I'll chop you up. Don't fucking say after I've chopped you that you know so-and-so. By then it'll be too late for anything!"

Ye Qing looked at him coldly and finally spoke his first words, "If you're going to fight, then fight. Why all the nonsense!"

The man was taken aback for a moment and then shouted in anger, "Yo, you've got some nerve. Fine, if you're in such a hurry to die, I'll oblige!"

Waving his machete with bravado, he pointed at Ye Qing and ordered, "Chop him into pieces for me!"

The five or six men beside him immediately rushed forward, raising their machetes toward Ye Qing.

Ye Qing's fists were already tightly clenched, and his eyes had turned as cold and green as those of a starving wolf!

His murderous intent was overflowing.

(Four more updates tonight.)