Chapter 428 - 428 White Impermanence
Li Lianshan had only stepped out to use the restroom, how did things turn out like this when he returned?
The few people by the door hastily helped him up, Ye Qing quickly ran over and asked, "What happened?"
Li Lianshan, clutching his wound with one hand, gritted his teeth and said, "Damn it, I was ambushed by a guy while in the restroom. I was caught off guard and he stabbed me with a knife!"
Li Lianshan's henchmen immediately started shouting, clamoring to go out and find that person. Ye Qing, however, stopped everyone and said with a stern voice, "You all stay here, I'll go out and take a look!"
"Big Brother, I'll go with you!" Yue Peng grabbed a wine bottle and ran over.
"All of you sit down!" Ye Qing said sternly, "Protect Li well, don't fall for a trick to lure the tiger away from the mountain!"
After speaking, Ye Qing pushed the door and went out, convincing those inside not to dare run out again. If they all left, wouldn't that make Li Lianshan vulnerable?
Ye Qing ran out of the room, outside in the corridor the noise continued, with several waiters standing near the restroom discussing what had just happened.
Ye Qing rushed over, grabbed one of the waiters, and asked, "Did you see the person just now?"
The waiter was startled and tried to back away in panic. Ye Qing directly took out a few banknotes from his pocket and handed them to him, asking, "Where did that person go?"
"He jumped out the window!" The waiter replied crisply this time. It was true that money could make the devil push the millstone.
Ye Qing ran into the restroom, and sure enough, the rear window was open. This was the second floor, with a lawn below, so it would not have been difficult to jump down. Looking around, Ye Qing spotted a man striding away towards an alley in the distance. Needless to say, this had to be the same person who had ambushed Li Lianshan.
Ye Qing immediately jumped out of the window and briskly pursued the man into the alley. It was dark in the alley, but there was only one path, so there was no fear of following the wrong route. After running a few dozen meters in the alley, Ye Qing suddenly felt that something was not quite right and immediately stopped.
The alley was very dark, only illuminated by the moonlight which allowed one to barely discern the outlines of objects around. Next to Ye Qing were several garbage bins that had been left out for who knows how long, along with some assorted goods piled around.
Ye Qing stared at the pile of goods for a while, then frowned slightly as he took steps towards it. When he was less than two meters away from the pile, his expression suddenly changed, and he quickly took a large step backward.
At the same time Ye Qing stepped back, several spots of cold light suddenly flew out from behind the pile of goods, chasing after him. The speed was extremely fast, relentlessly pursuing Ye Qing.
Ye Qing retreated several steps and was not able to dodge the cold lights. With a wall directly behind him, Ye Qing suddenly let out a shout and grabbed one of the garbage bins beside him, placing it squarely in front of himself.
With several clanging noises, a few objects fell to the ground. Taking advantage of the moonlight, he saw that they were several sharp four-pointed stars, about the size of walnuts, their pointed edges gleaming with cold light. With the speed of these four-pointed stars, if they had hit someone, they would certainly have caused injury!
Ye Qing furrowed his brow; with his ability, he could also throw these four-pointed stars to injure others. But to throw so many at once and still aim at the target, that he could not do. The person lurking in the dark seemed to be quite skilled!
"Who's there?" Ye Qing called out sternly.
"Clap, clap, clap..." In the darkness, the sound of someone clapping echoed, then from behind the pile of goods, a man of medium build walked out slowly.
In the moonlight, Ye Qing could only make out the man's vague features. He was young, with an ordinary appearance, but his eyes were chillingly cold, giving off an unsettling feeling.
The man looked at Ye Qing with a faint smile and said, "To be able to dodge my Life-Ending Spike, that thirty million was indeed not spent in vain!"
Ye Qing's brow deepened; he had a good idea of this man's identity by now. Thirty million – that was the money Yang Shitao paid for his life at the tea house. That is to say, this man was the assassin sent by the tea house.
"Assassin from the tea house!" Ye Qing looked at the man coldly and said in a deep voice, "I've not had the pleasure!"
The man said, "White Impermanence!"
"White Impermanence?" Ye Qing was somewhat surprised. That could hardly be considered a real name.
What he didn't know was that White Impermanence was just a nickname. This White Impermanence was the Ghost-faced Judge's top disciple. In recent years, many big deals at the tea house had been handled by him personally. As long as he made a move, it would surely be smooth. Over time, based on his master's name, people gave him the nickname White Impermanence, which also attested to his strong capabilities.
White Impermanence ignored Ye Qing's surprise, looking him up and down while clicking his tongue in praise, "You really do have some skill, it wasn't in vain that I specifically came back to Shenchuan City and waited for you for so many days. No wonder Li Tianlu, that piece of trash, died at your hands—he really didn't die unjustly!"
The way White Impermanence spoke seemed like he was elevating Ye Qing, but also like he was mocking Li Tianlu. Anyway, no matter how you looked at it, his strange and eerie voice had a spine-chilling effect on anyone who heard him.
"Those people at the teahouse trying to kill me is one thing, but why attack my brother?" Ye Qing said with a deep voice, "Even that Li Tianlu only captured my friend, without harming him. Hmph, your actions are even more despicable than Li Tianlu's!"
"Hehe..." White Impermanence chuckled lightly, saying, "Don't get me wrong, hurting your friend has nothing to do with me. I'm just taking advantage of this opportunity to wait for you here."
"It has nothing to do with you?" Ye Qing frowned and asked, "How could that be possible?"
"Why couldn't it be possible?" White Impermanence shrugged his shoulders and said, "Everyone in the world knows that I, White Impermanence, am very principled in how I do things. My target is you, so I definitely won't harm anyone else. As for your friend's situation, I can give you a piece of information for free."
"What information?" Ye Qing asked solemnly.
"It's not really anything special; you should be able to figure it out yourself," White Impermanence said, "The Southern Suburbs Dogfight Arena is about to reopen soon. At this time, if Li Lianshan was seriously injured, do you think it would affect the reopening?"
"You mean..." Ye Qing frowned and said, "Someone doesn't want our Dog Field to open!"
"You're not too dumb!" White Impermanence said with a faint smile, "If they really wanted to kill your friend, they could just go to the teahouse and smash a million or so to hire an assassin, and tonight your friend would have been carried out lying down. But instead, someone only sent this one person, non-lethally stabbing your friend with a knife, which shows they definitely didn't plan to take his life; they just wanted to stop the Dog Field from opening!"
Ye Qing furrowed his brow; White Impermanence's analysis was very to the point. Ye Qing had been too hasty earlier, so he had not considered this possibility. If this person wasn't sent by White Impermanence, then it was likely related to the matter of the Southern Suburbs Dogfight Arena. But who exactly didn't want the Southern Suburbs Dogfight Arena to open? Was it the Tianqing Gang, the Fu Bang, or was it the already fragmented Fierce Tiger Gang?
While Ye Qing was deep in thought, a flash of light suddenly streaked before his eyes. His heart skipped a beat, and he subconsciously grabbed the nearby trash can, holding it in front of himself. Clang clang bang bang! A series of sounds followed as several Life-Ending Spikes were blocked by the trash can, all falling to the ground.
If Ye Qing had reacted even a moment later, those Life-Ending Spikes would have already hit him!
"Despicable!" Ye Qing roared in anger. White Impermanence had actually launched a sneak attack while he was deep in thought, which made Ye Qing furious.
White Impermanence remained calm, as if nothing had happened, and with a shrug, he said, "I am an assassin; of course, the simplest way to kill you would mean I have achieved my goal. Despicable or not doesn't matter to me. Does an assassin need to kill people in a fair and square manner?"
Left speechless by White Impermanence's words, Ye Qing clenched his fists and said in a deep voice, "You won't be able to kill me!"
"I don't think so!" White Impermanence smiled faintly, then suddenly charged at Ye Qing, throwing a punch towards him.
Ye Qing tossed aside the trash can and raised his hand to counterattack. However, just as his hand was about to touch White Impermanence's fist, a cold smile flashed across White Impermanence's mouth. Ye Qing had a bad feeling and upon closer inspection, White Impermanence's fist was also clutching a Four-pointed Star, with its sharp ends aimed right at Ye Qing's fist.
Startled, Ye Qing quickly drew back his fist and retreated a few steps, dodging White Impermanence's strike. Had his fist connected with White Impermanence's, let alone comparing their strengths, the Life-Ending Spike alone could have crippled Ye Qing's hand. And if the Life-Ending Spike had been poisoned, Ye Qing would have been in even greater peril!
Narrowly avoiding another loss, Ye Qing instantly became more vigilant. White Impermanence talked as if he operated in the open, but in reality, he was far more underhanded than Li Tianlu. Continuously ambushing Ye Qing twice and trying to secretly use the Life-Ending Spike on him—if Ye Qing hadn't been quick enough to dodge, he would have likely fallen victim to his ploy.
After White Impermanence's strike missed, he shook his head and said, "You indeed have some skill. It seems I truly can't underestimate you!"
"My skill might not be much, but it's enough to take you down!" Ye Qing coldly shouted, ripping off his outer clothing, wrapping his fists and hands in layers as a precaution against White Impermanence's Life-Ending Spikes.
"Smart, even cautious now!" White Impermanence said with a faint smile, throwing another punch at Ye Qing, "But if your fists are wrapped up, will they still have any power when you hit someone?"
Ye Qing parried with a backhand, pushing White Impermanence's punch aside, moved forward with a step, and landed a punch on White Impermanence's shoulder.
White Impermanence's body swayed slightly, a cold smile crossing his lips, "With such little strength, you still want to fight me? Really laughable!"
As he spoke, White Impermanence charged again into the fray with Ye Qing.
Both were experts in close combat, with punches, kicks, elbow strikes, and knee hits utilizing every part of their body to the limit. Moving rapidly, they exchanged blows for less than two minutes, and both had taken several hits. Ye Qing stepped back a few paces, taking a few deep breaths as if he were at a disadvantage.