Farewell

This unexpected windfall would give me more breathing room while learning martial arts, but it had crossed Hou Yong's taboo. There would surely be backlash!

Under normal circumstances, Hou Yong would learn of this in two days, on the day Tribute Money was due. If Tan San went to report me, he would find out even sooner.

Zhuang Jin silently pondered, Tan San's wrist was stabbed by me, and he took a blow to the leg as well. After I left, he would definitely tend to his wounds first. Even if he wanted to report me, it would most likely be tomorrow. Besides, Hou Yong usually visited the Half-Veiled Gate at night. Tan San might not even be able to find him, and if he did, disturbing Hou Yong's pleasure would only bring trouble upon himself.

In other words, Hou Yong would learn I robbed those Beggars of their Tribute Money no earlier than tomorrow. Knowing Hou Yong, even after he learned of it, he likely would not move against me right away. He would settle everything together in two days, when he collected Tribute Money. A man as conceited as Hou Yong would never think a little beggar could escape his grasp, so there was no need to hurry. It would also give him time to fatten me up a little more.

So at least tonight should be safe. But to avoid long nights breeding dreams, I'll change my appearance after seeing Little Stone!

Turning these matters over in his mind, Zhuang Jin made his way to a secluded corner of an alley south of the city. He stopped and called out twice toward the front, "Little Stone." At once, a rustling sounded. First, a head cautiously poked out and looked around, then someone stepped into view.

His hair was a tangled mess, many strands filthy and stuck together. His clothes were ragged, and through the large holes, patches of grimy black skin could be seen. At the sight of Zhuang Jin, delight appeared on his face. He waved and called, "Little Mute, hurry over and see what good stuff I got!"

This was the Little Stone Zhuang Jin had spoken of, the little beggar who partnered with him.

—Beggars lived off the heavens. If they begged more, they ate more; if they begged less, they ate less. If they got no money or food, they went hungry. One meal full, the next starving. To deal with that, they formed partnerships and supported one another: if I begged a lot today and you got nothing, I shared some with you; if I got nothing tomorrow and you did, you shared some with me.

Of course, after Zhuang Jin had crossed over and taken over this body, he had quickly developed his own set of begging methods. He had proven that even begging could be different if one had knowledge and was willing to study it. From then on, he no longer went hungry and could even save a little money against hard times, so he no longer needed a partner.

But in the memories of the previous owner of this body, Little Stone was the only beggar who had ever helped him. He had once given the previous owner half a corn bun. Having inherited this body's Karma, Zhuang Jin still partnered with Little Stone now largely to support him, repaying the kindness of that half corn bun.

As he spoke, Little Stone trotted over like he was presenting a treasure. Inside an oil-paper packet were scattered bits of chicken—head, neck, rump, and the like.

Zhuang Jin's gaze passed over the oil-paper packet and settled on Little Stone's face. Two fresh wounds marked it, likely earned while fighting over this food. He sighed inwardly but said nothing. Compared to the distance Zhuang Jin feigned, Little Stone was truly the sort to stick his neck out and charge straight ahead. Even if Zhuang Jin said something, he would not listen.

"Looks like we both had a good day. I got something nice too." As he spoke, he took out two White Flour Buns.

For ordinary beggars, White Flour Buns were already fine food. On normal days, even corn buns counted as good fare; more often than not, they got food that had gone sour.

Little Stone's scraps of meat and Zhuang Jin's two White Flour Buns made for a feast when put together, as good as New Year's.

"Wait a moment!"

Little Stone suddenly remembered something. He ran off, then returned shortly afterward with a small jar. "The day before yesterday, I saw a Drunkard who was wasted. I took this from beside him. He even tried to chase me, but after just two steps, he fell flat on his backside..."

He spoke with animated delight, then added, "I've never had wine before. Don't know what it tastes like. Let's try some today."

The two of them squatted down in a relatively clean spot by the wall. They found two Broken Bowls, each chipped away by nearly half and edged with sharp corners, and poured the wine.

Zhuang Jin shared his buns with Little Stone, while Little Stone stuffed the best-looking, untouched Chicken Neck from the oil-paper packet into Zhuang Jin's hands.

Now that the two were partners, Zhuang Jin was more often the one helping Little Stone. But Little Stone did not want to take advantage of him for nothing. Sometimes, when Little Stone had begged a lot, even if he saw that Zhuang Jin had gotten food too, he would still forcibly share some with him, repaying Zhuang Jin for supporting him when he himself had come back empty-handed.

That was why the two had been able to remain partners until now—if Little Stone had truly been cold-hearted, Zhuang Jin would have repaid him once or twice at most. After all, half a corn bun for the previous owner was not some earth-shaking kindness.

Zhuang Jin did not refuse. He accepted the Chicken Neck. It was cold, naturally, and its fragrance had faded, but the faint clean scent of grease still reached him, making saliva flood wildly into his mouth. His body's instincts urged him to eat. As he sucked and gnawed at the Chicken Neck, a charred fragrance instantly blossomed across his taste buds, and every pore in his body seemed to stretch open in that comfort.

Little Stone gnawed on a chicken rump, taking one small bite of rump and one small bite of bun. His eyes narrowed with bliss. Faced with such abundant food, neither spoke for a while, simply enjoying the feast.

After a long while, the two finished dividing up the scraps in the oil-paper packet. Little Stone crushed and swallowed the last chicken bone he had been using to pick his teeth, licked his fingers clean of the remaining grease, and patted his belly. Only then did he remember the wine. He took a small sip, and his eyes seemed to light up at once. "Sweet! Wine is sweet! It tastes good! Little Mute, hurry and try some too!"

He insisted that Zhuang Jin take a sip before saying, "When I have money someday, I'm going to eat big mouthfuls of meat and drink big mouthfuls of wine every day!"

Zhuang Jin took a shallow sip and praised, "Fine ambition!"

"Little Mute, what about you? What do you want to do someday?" Little Stone asked.

What do I want to do?

Zhuang Jin felt the satisfaction of fullness in his stomach. At the question, he fell silent for a moment. He remembered how, in the previous owner's memories, his mother had changed his appearance, using Grease and Glue mixed with mud to dot moles onto his face; the resolute look on her face as she sent him away. He remembered how, these past days, he had tried to avoid the areas where the previous owner's eldest uncle, Zhuang Yutang, and younger uncle, Zhuang Yuyong, moved about, living every day with the utmost caution.

He remembered, when he had first crossed into this body, starving for two days and standing before a Noodle Stall, swallowing saliva like mad. A customer at the stall had thrown a Steamed Bun he had bitten once onto the ground, said to him, "Here, eat," and then burst into laughter.

He remembered the begging of these past days. Even though he had summed up his experience and studied begging as though it were a discipline, he did not succeed every time. More often, he was met with rolled eyes and sour faces; worse still, curses and people driving him away.

He remembered passing by brothels, where Red Sleeves fluttered and women leaned against windows to gaze outside, leaving him with lingering dreams that night.

What did he want to do someday?

He wanted to stop racking his brains and treading on thin ice because of others' malice. He wanted to stop being treated like a clown for others' amusement in exchange for a mouthful of food. He wanted to stop groveling for survival—to eat whatever fine food he wanted, to sleep with whatever beautiful woman he wanted...

He was just an ordinary man, with no lofty sentiments. He only wanted strength, wanted what he desired, wanted to straighten his back and live openly and honorably as a man!

"Little Mute, what do you want to do someday?" Seeing Zhuang Jin lost in thought and receiving no answer, Little Stone asked again. That was simply his stubborn, single-minded nature.

"Me? I want to live properly as a man."

Little Stone looked up, seeming to say, That's it?

Zhuang Jin shook his head slightly, his expression complicated. "Living as a man isn't easy."

"Aren't we people?"

"What kind of people are we?" Zhuang Jin shook his head with a faint scoff. "A pack of things fighting stray dogs for food. In some people's eyes, we are nothing but weeds by the roadside, everywhere and worthless."

"What about the waiters at restaurants and inns? Are they people?" Little Stone had always envied the waiters at restaurants and inns. He envied how they could eat leftovers without fighting for them, and how sometimes they even got the meat dishes customers had left behind.

"No. In some people's eyes, they are merely tools that can speak."

"What about restaurant owners?" Little Stone named someone he considered a truly formidable figure.

"Not them either. In some people's eyes, restaurant owners and the like are only Leeks that grow back periodically and are worth maintaining a little. When they get too hungry, they pull them up by the roots." Zhuang Jin paused, then added, "Only above weeds, tools, and Leeks can one barely count as a person."

"Don't understand."

"You can think of it this way: we are all people, but some people are more people than others."

Little Stone scratched his head and thought for a while. Then he suddenly laughed. "I get it. It's like the trees by the road—some are tall, some are short. People have 'low people' and 'high people' too. We're 'low people,' and the most powerful people are 'high people.'" He paused, then added, "Someday, I'll become a 'high person.' I'll be able to eat my fill, eat meat every meal, and no one will dare hit me."

"Good. Let's both strive to become 'high people.'" Though he said so, Zhuang Jin knew well that this world lacked no "low people." They sprouted batch after batch like grass. What was scarce were "high people," people above others. And in this world of extraordinary powers, that was especially true.

But he did not voice those thoughts. It was always good to have dreams. He merely joked, "Didn't you always want a proper name? How about taking Gao as your surname? And using the 'Stone' from Little Stone for your given name—what do you think of Gao Shi?"

Little Stone took it seriously and clapped his hands with a laugh. "Good! From now on, I'll be called Gao Shi."

Little Stone... no, Gao Shi suddenly remembered something and said, "I heard the Medicine King Gang is recruiting some kind of Martial Students. They don't want money, only people over fifteen and under twenty. You can join as soon as you go, and if you do whatever they say within a month, you can join the Medicine King Gang. That's the Medicine King Gang! Once you get in, you become a big shot!"

"That is the Medicine King Gang's Martial Student Recruitment. If you can gather Inner Breath and open your first meridian within one month, becoming a true martial artist, you can join the Medicine King Gang. It is not a bad path. But if you fail, you have to become a Medicine King Gang herb-gathering boy and enter the Mangcang Mountains to gather herbs, facing wild snakes, insects, and savage beasts. I asked around. Few of the Medicine King Gang's herb-gathering boys live longer than half a year."

Since he wanted to seek the martial path, Zhuang Jin had naturally paid attention to related information.

Like the Shen Family, the Medicine King Gang was recruiting Martial Students as well. No—more accurately, the Medicine King Gang had begun recruiting Martial Students first, and the Shen Family had followed afterward.

Both Martial Student Recruitments had age restrictions.

The difference was this: the Shen Family charged one tael of silver to enter. If one became a martial artist within a month, one could join the Shen Family; if not, one left. The Medicine King Gang charged no silver. If one became a martial artist within a month, one could enter the Medicine King Gang; if not, one had to become a Medicine King Gang herb-gathering boy.

As for gathering Inner Breath, opening the first meridian, and becoming a true martial artist, that was all Zhuang Jin had managed to learn about martial artists after seeking information for a long time. He knew nothing more.

After hearing this, Gao Shi thought for a while before saying, "Little Mute, you said we're a bunch that fights stray dogs for food. So what are we afraid of? If we become martial artists and enter the Medicine King Gang, that's a huge profit. If not, then becoming herb-gathering boys is simply our fate. How about we go try it together tomorrow or the day after?"

Zhuang Jin shook his head. "If you've made up your mind, you can go try it. I have somewhere else to go."

The previous owner's younger uncle, Zhuang Yuyong, was in the Medicine King Gang. If Zhuang Jin went there for the Martial Student Recruitment, would that not be walking straight into the net?

Not to mention that failing the Medicine King Gang's Martial Student assessment meant being forcibly made into a herb-gathering boy. There was no way back. It was far too extreme.

Even without those two reasons, Zhuang Jin was more inclined toward the Shen Family. In the previous owner's memories, the Shen Family is the true overlord of the Prefecture City. The Medicine King Gang is merely a newly risen challenger. You can see it from their Martial Student Recruitments—the Shen Family acts with considerable breadth of spirit, while the Medicine King Gang's vision is narrower.

Perhaps the Medicine King Gang has no choice? During that turmoil several months ago, the Shen Family and the Medicine King Gang tore away all pretense. Perhaps the Medicine King Gang was blockaded by the Shen Family and faced a shortage of medicinal herbs, which was why they resorted to turning failed candidates into herb-gathering boys. From one falling leaf, one knows autumn is near. New factions like the Medicine King Gang are often full of cutthroat competition and wolfish instincts. I don't have some masochistic constitution—I'm not about to go to the Medicine King Gang and make things hard for myself, swallowing hardship for no reason.

Hearing that Zhuang Jin had somewhere else to go, Gao Shi forgot all about joining the Medicine King Gang and hurriedly asked, "Little Mute, what do you mean? You're leaving?"

"Yes. I won't beg anymore." Zhuang Jin did not say he intended to take part in the Shen Family's Martial Student Recruitment. Even though Gao Shi was his only friend among the Beggars, affairs succeeded through secrecy.

"I knew it. You were different today—not like usual. You said so much. So you're leaving." Gao Shi's voice fell low, then suddenly rose again. He picked up the jar and poured the remaining wine between them. "Little Mute, may you become a 'high person' someday!"

Zhuang Jin looked into Gao Shi's eyes. In the dim light, they gleamed with utter sincerity. He raised his Broken Bowl, clinked it against Gao Shi's, and drained it in one gulp. "And may you get your wish someday—may you have a day when you can eat big mouthfuls of meat and drink big mouthfuls of wine every day!"

Gao Shi raised his Broken Bowl and tried to drain it too, but he drank too quickly and choked, breaking into a fit of coughing. Only after Zhuang Jin patted his back for quite some time did he recover.

"It's getting late. I should go." Zhuang Jin stood.

Gao Shi rose with him and walked two steps to see him off.

"No need to escort me. We're both in the Prefecture City. Sooner or later, we'll meet again." Zhuang Jin sighed softly.

Gao Shi said nothing. He continued following silently, opened his mouth as though he wanted to say something, but in the end, nothing came out. After seeing Zhuang Jin off for quite a distance, he stopped and watched him continue onward, his figure growing farther and farther away. Suddenly, an indescribable feeling welled up in his heart. He blinked, not knowing what to do for a moment, so he could only rub his hair hard. His already messy hair instantly became a bird's nest.

Only after a long while did he lower his head, turn around, and walk back.

High above the nine heavens, a bright full moon hung in the sky. Brilliant moonlight spilled over the city like mercury poured upon the ground, while two shadows gradually traveled farther and farther apart in different directions.