Chapter 402 - 402 The Fool Got Bitten by a Snake
Ye Qing was somewhat astonished in his heart, wondering why those policemen had suffered a heavy loss with him, and why the Lu Family was wiped out of fifteen people within one night. This Li Qiang was truly no ordinary man.
Li Qiang was extremely ferocious. He did not show the slightest shock at Ye Qing's strength but seemed much more excited instead.
"Interesting!" A sharp gleam flashed in Li Qiang's eyes as he said, "It's been a long time since I've encountered an opponent who's a match for me like you. I hope you won't disappoint me!"
After that, Li Qiang let out a loud shout and charged again. His right fist swung, throwing three consecutive punches at Ye Qing.
Ye Qing stepped back a few times, dodging Li Qiang's fierce offensive, and then suddenly returned a kick directly towards Li Qiang's chest.
Li Qiang was quick to react. Knowing it was too late to back away, he threw a heavy punch, landing squarely on the sole of Ye Qing's foot. Both of them then took several steps back, standing firm and eyeing each other before charging together once more. Punches and kicks flew, each move executed with sharp intensity and swift speed. This way, they fought for nearly ten minutes, remaining deadlocked, with several small trees around them being knocked down.
"Interesting, really interesting!" Li Qiang's laughter grew louder, as he had never met anyone in the vast wilderness of the Northwest who could compete with him. Unexpectedly, upon returning to Jiuchuan County, he encountered such a formidable opponent.
Ye Qing, however, frowned slightly. During the exchange with Li Qiang, he had realized that although Li Qiang's skills were impressive, his fighting method was more about risking mutual destruction, with occasional odd boxing techniques. In other words, while Li Qiang wasn't weak, he hadn't received formal training nor learned proper boxing technique, relying instead on animal-like agility and desperate fighting tactics against people.
This style of fighting was surely fierce at first and could easily frighten the opponent. But after truly engaging with him for some time, one would find that he was actually full of flaws. Ye Qing had spotted those flaws several times, but he held back to observe more of Li Qiang's capabilities. Ten minutes later, Li Qiang was visibly running out of tricks and even his breathing had become rough, a clear sign that his stamina was waning.
Seeing this, Ye Qing knew there was no need to continue the fight. Dodging a kick from Li Qiang, he seized the opening on his right side, surged forward, and slammed his right elbow hard into Li Qiang's right shoulder.
The impact force of Bajiquan is exceptionally terrifying. Li Qiang couldn't resist at all and was sent flying several meters by Ye Qing's blow, crashing heavily to the ground. When he tried to stand up, pain shot through his right shoulder, forcing a grimace from him.
Ye Qing watched Li Qiang quietly and declared, "You've lost!"
Li Qiang's face turned extremely ugly. Clenching his teeth, he glared at Ye Qing and bellowed, "I haven't lost, as long as I'm not dead, I haven't lost. Come on, keep fighting, keep fighting!"
Li Qiang stubbornly stood up with his right shoulder sagging. The impact had caused his entire right side to ache, rendering his right arm useless.
"What's the point?" Ye Qing shook his head slowly and said, "If we continue fighting, you know what the outcome will be."
"So what? Even if I die here, I would never kneel before you and beg for mercy!" Li Qiang shouted and charged forward, raising his left fist to strike Ye Qing again.
Now, with his right arm immobilized, Li Qiang had no advantage in continuing the fight with Ye Qing. Ye Qing sidestepped, lightly pushed, and sent Li Qiang tumbling to the ground.
Ye Qing said, "I never asked you to kneel before me and beg for mercy; I just wanted you to kill fewer people from now on!"
"Impossible!" Li Qiang snarled, "Unless I die here, no one can dictate what I do in the future!"
Ye Qing frowned, not understanding what had happened to Li Qiang to make him so stubborn. Ye Qing had not planned to capture or deal with him—just to advise him—but he hadn't expected such intense aversion in response.
Li Qiang seemed to have gone mad, repeatedly charging at Ye Qing, getting repelled several times but still returning without second thoughts. Before long, his body bore many bruises, yet he kept rushing towards Ye Qing like a wild beast.
Seeing Li Qiang's frenzied state ignited anger within Ye Qing. This man was incommutable, impervious to advice, and seemingly fixated on killing Ye Qing without any personal grudge involved. One could only imagine his usual conduct and the fate of those who offended him.
"Li Qiang, I don't want to fight you anymore!" Ye Qing stated gravely, "I'm giving you a chance to leave Jiuchuan County. As long as you can promise me to kill fewer people from now on, that's enough!"
"Impossible!" Li Qiang bent over, low growls escaping his throat like a beast, "Unless I die!"
"Do you really think I'm not capable of killing you?" Ye Qing roared angrily.
"Then kill me!" Li Qiang bellowed and lunged at Ye Qing again.
Annoyed, Ye Qing grabbed his neck as Li Qiang charged, pinning him to the ground. He raised his other hand and landed several punches on the back of Li Qiang's head, stunning him to the point where he had no strength to resist or struggle.
Ye Qing pressed down on Li Qiang's neck, picked up a rock nearby, and shouted, "Li Qiang, I'll give you one more chance, will you listen to advice or not!"
Li Qiang's forehead was split open, blood trickling into his eyes, making his expression even more ferocious. He fixed his gaze on Ye Qing and gritted his teeth, "Impossible!"
Ye Qing's gaze turned icy as he raised the rock in his hand, ready to smash it down. Just then, a muffled voice came from the distance: "Brother... brother..."
Ye Qing and Li Qiang both shuddered and turned to look, only to see the idiot walking over from the side. His toy was already discarded, and his steps were faltering; it was unclear what had happened to him. He looked at the two people on this side, and whether he understood the situation or not, he just extended one hand and kept shouting the word 'brother.'
Ye Qing and Li Qiang exchanged a glance; from Li Qiang's eyes, Ye Qing could clearly see a hint of panic. This man, as wild and stubborn as a beast, this man who would give up his life rather than make a promise, actually had someone he cared about.
The idiot slowly made his way over, but his steps grew more and more unsteady. Halfway there, he finally collapsed to the ground. Li Qiang visibly shuddered, turned his head to Ye Qing, and a plea flashed across his face.
The rock in Ye Qing's hand was already raised high; just one smash, and Li Qiang's life would be over. However, he didn't do it; instead, he took a step back and released Li Qiang.
Li Qiang hurriedly ran over and helped the idiot up from the ground. The idiot's eyes were already becoming blurry, and foam continuously bubbled from his mouth, making him seem in great discomfort.
"Bro, what's wrong with you? Bro, what's wrong with you?" Li Qiang's voice trembled. In his life, apart from this idiot, he no longer had any relatives to care for.
The idiot could no longer speak. After watching for a while, Ye Qing suddenly bent down and grabbed the idiot's right hand.
Li Qiang was startled and instinctively wanted to resist. However, after staring at Ye Qing for a while, he eventually withdrew his hand, nervously asking, "What's wrong with him?"
Ye Qing checked the idiot's pulse for a moment, then frowned slightly and said solemnly, "He must have been poisoned!"
Li Qiang's face changed as he urgently asked, "Poisoned? How could he be poisoned? Who would poison him?"
Ye Qing didn't respond but helped the idiot up and looked around for a moment before suddenly pointing to the idiot's right leg, saying, "Look!"
Li Qiang bent down and saw that some of the idiot's right pant leg had been torn off, revealing his leg. There were four small holes near his ankle joint, and a clear liquid was continuously oozing out of these holes, showing no signs of bleeding.
"What is this?" Li Qiang asked in surprise.
"He must have been bitten by a snake!" Ye Qing looked around and said solemnly, "There are many Siberian pit vipers in these mountains, small in size but extremely venomous. If bitten, one could die within two hours without medical treatment!"
Of course, Li Qiang had heard of Siberian pit vipers, and his face went pale upon hearing this. He asked urgently, "Then... what should we do?"
Ye Qing looked around and rummaged through the nearby bushes for a while, pulling out a small, low-growing seedling. Ye Qing split the seedling into two, handing one half to Li Qiang and keeping the other half in his hand.
"Feed it to him; it can temporarily counteract the poison," Ye Qing said as he picked up a stone from the ground and crushed the other half of the seedling.
When the small green herb was crushed, it oozed some green sap. Ye Qing applied this sap to the idiot's wound, which gradually stopped the clear liquid from flowing out.
Li Qiang obediently chewed up the little sprigs and fed them to the idiot's mouth, washing down the herbs with water into the idiot's stomach.
After everything was done, Li Qiang finally exhaled in relief, looked at Ye Qing, and asked, "Will this detoxify him?"
"It won't!" Ye Qing shook his head and said, "This herb can only temporarily stop the spread of the poison. To treat the poison, you must go to a hospital and get the serum. However, you can rest assured, our county hospital is well stocked with this serum and you can get it anytime."
"To the hospital?" Li Qiang's face shifted, he was now Jiuchuan County's most wanted criminal, and he was reluctant to even enter the town. Going to the hospital would be even more likely to get caught by the police. Moreover, given his current state, he would have no strength to escape once he was in the hospital.
Ye Qing said in a deep voice, "Without the hospital, I'm afraid he won't last long!"
Li Qiang was silent for a while before suddenly gritting his teeth and saying, "Let's go!"
With that, Li Qiang bent down to carry the idiot on his back. However, he was seriously injured; after a few steps, his body stumbled, and he fell forward to the ground. Li Qiang didn't even groan, just picked up the idiot and continued walking down the mountain.
Seeing Li Qiang like this, Ye Qing's opinion of him changed somewhat.
"Wait!" Ye Qing suddenly called out.