The Old Beggar

"I'm no master. My lord, you must have mistaken me for someone else. I'm just an old beggar..."

The old beggar lounged on the ground, leaning against a wall with one leg crossed over the other. He looked utterly at ease as he watched Chen Cuo and chuckled.

"Please, guide me!" Chen Cuo clasped his hands, ignoring the denial. You speak far too clearly, you laughed twice in one day, and you knocked three times to arrange a meeting. Never mind that you called me 'my lord' the moment we met. If you're just an ordinary beggar, I'll eat my hat!

Besides, if he was wrong, he would only lose a little face. If he was right, this was a genuine opportunity.

The old beggar smiled and tapped the chipped bowl before him. "This old beggar sleeps on the street and waits for charity. What brings you here in the middle of the night, my lord? Have you come to give me something too?"

Chen Cuo replied, "You're joking, Master. You arranged to meet me here at this hour."

"Hahaha!" The beggar burst out laughing, then pointed at Chen Cuo. "I thought fine houses raised refined folk. Why does a man of your standing spout such nonsense? Are you picking on an old beggar? Talking in riddles just to avoid buying me a meal?"

Chen Cuo froze. Then, watching the old beggar laugh and pat his hollow stomach, he had a sudden flash of insight. Perhaps the Clarity Pill was taking effect.

He clasped his hands. "It's a cold night, and you've little to eat. Since you're hungry, Master, why not come into my residence? I'll have food and wine prepared for you."

The old beggar brightened. "Now that's a wealthy household! You'd even let a beggar like me through your doors? Lead the way!"

Chen Cuo nodded and led the old beggar inside, then called Chen Hai over and told him to make the arrangements at once.

Before long, the main hall of the Marquis's Residence was ablaze with light.

A broad round table was covered with an array of dishes, and more kept arriving to be set before the old beggar.

With his robe hanging open over a lean, muscular torso, the old beggar tore into chicken legs and great hunks of meat. Every so often he wiped his fingers on himself, smearing grease and grime across his beard, his body, and his ragged clothes.

At the doorway, Chen Hai directed the maids serving the food. He shot the old beggar a look of distaste, then glanced at Chen Cuo seated beside him, utterly baffled.

He truly could not understand why his lord had brought such an unpresentable beggar home in the middle of the night and roused the entire Marquis's Residence just to entertain him.

Could this be a test of our loyalty? His lordship did have someone look for a beggar earlier today. Perhaps there's a reason for this. Ah, it's the middle of the night, and I'm exhausted. In the past, if his lordship had behaved this way, I could have reported it to the old madam. Even Cui Ju might have talked him out of it. But now... Hm?

Chen Hai had been grumbling to himself, but he suddenly paused and scanned the crowd for a familiar figure. He found nothing.

I haven't seen Cui Ju for a while. Has she accepted her lot and stopped pestering his lordship?

Before he could think further, a servant came to ask for instructions, and a commotion broke out in the rear courtyard. Chen Hai hurried off to deal with it. Once he was busy again, he forgot the thought entirely.

When he had eaten and drunk his fill, the old beggar patted his swollen belly and belched. He nodded to Chen Cuo with a broad smile. "The food at the Marquis's Residence really is something else. Delicious! Delicious!"

"I'm glad you enjoyed it. If you like it, you're welcome to stay and eat here every day." Chen Cuo did not mind. Chen Hai had hinted earlier that seating a beggar at the table overturned the proper order of things. But Chen Cuo had come from another world and cared little for such rules. Besides, he needed the old beggar's help. This was no time to quibble over details.

If something might help, he would use it.

But the old beggar shook his head. "That won't do. If I ate the food at the Marquis's Residence every day, I'm afraid it would shorten my life. I'm better off living as I used to."

Something stirred in Chen Cuo's mind. With a wave, he sent Chen Hai and the others away, refusing even to let the guards remain. Their duties prevented them from going far, so they finally settled on standing outside the doors.

Once everyone had gone, Chen Cuo shut the doors and windows and asked again, "Master, you seem to be hinting at something. Please enlighten me!"

The old beggar gulped down some tea and picked at his teeth. "This old beggar doesn't know what you mean. Why do you keep asking me questions, my lord? Did that meal come with strings attached? I've no money to pay you and can't do any work. I'm afraid you've made a bad bargain!"

Chen Cuo drew a deep breath. Doubt began to creep in.

He had asked again and again, yet the old beggar had offered nothing but evasions. Was he really just a fraud after a free meal?

Then how could he explain the beggar smiling at him and Ink Crane, or moving so nimbly that no one could catch him?

And what had the three knocks on the wall and his vigil in the alley at midnight been about?

For a moment, Chen Cuo's thoughts tangled, and he no longer knew what to believe.

Seeing this, the old beggar picked up a wine jug and took a swig. Then he smacked his lips, pointed behind Chen Cuo, and cried, "Look out! A ghost!"

Chen Cuo jolted, his face instantly turning pale. But instead of turning around, he gritted his teeth and forced himself to stay calm. His expression hardened. Bracing himself with both hands, he lunged at the old beggar rather than retreating!

A strange light flashed in the old beggar's eyes. He raised a hand, pointed at Chen Cuo, and spoke a single word.

"Freeze!"

The word fell, and Chen Cuo's whole body went rigid. He could not move!

He hung in mid-lunge, suspended in the air as if someone had pressed pause!

"Well, well!" The old beggar lowered his hand and wiped it on his clothes, marveling at the sight. "Marquis of Linru County, you kept your head even then. It would be one thing if you had cultivation, but you're flesh and blood like anyone else. You knew danger was upon you, yet you held fast to your resolve. Remarkable! With a will like that, you might truly have the makings of a cultivator."

By now, Chen Cuo was no longer frightened. Still frozen mid-lunge, he discovered he could move his mouth. "So you really are an extraordinary master wandering among ordinary folk!"

The old beggar laughed. "I'm not wandering among ordinary folk for amusement. But you, my lord—you've sought me out several times. Are you trying to steal your younger sister's opportunity?"

"You're joking, Master. If that opportunity belongs to my sister, no one can take it from her. How could I? As for why you appeared before me and waited outside my residence at midnight, I understand perfectly well!"

The old beggar stared, taken aback. He looked Chen Cuo up and down, then shook his head. "How strange. You see things clearly now. It's as though you've become another person."

"When your life is under threat, your thoughts tend to clear. Please save me, Master. Teach me something I can use to protect myself. If you have no technique to teach, lend me a treasure or two. Failing that, stay at my residence for a few days. If that evil ghost comes, help me kill it. I'll hold a feast for you every day afterward—fresh soup at every meal, chicken and mutton every day!"

The old beggar shook his head and smiled. "Do you think techniques and magical treasures are stones you can pick up off the street? Never mind that I'm only a beggar and have none. Even if I did, why would I give them to you instead of keeping them myself? As for staying here..." He picked up a slice of mutton, swallowed it, and gave Chen Cuo a sidelong glance. "You want me to work as your guard?"

Chen Cuo was about to speak again, but the old beggar raised a hand to stop him.

"Very well. You fed me, so I ought to repay you somehow. In all my years of begging, no household has been as generous as yours."

Chen Cuo was delighted. "Will you teach me a technique, Master, or...?"

"Learning the Immortal Sect's techniques without first becoming a disciple and receiving its teachings is forbidden. Even imperial relatives would be held accountable. A dynasty lasts two or three hundred years at most, but the Immortal Sect... What year did Primordial Master Guangcheng live in again?"

The old beggar picked up his cup and drank. Then he scratched his head, pondering. "Forget it. The point is, the Immortal Sect has endured for ages. Let me tell you: during the Calamity of the Supreme Clarity a dozen or so years ago, some people stole books from the sect's collection. A few of their souls have yet to dissipate. They're still wailing in the Netherworld, and I reckon they'll go on wailing another seventy or eighty years before they finally vanish. If this old beggar taught you an Immortal Sect technique, would you really dare learn it?"

Chen Cuo nearly answered, "I would," on the spot. But that seemed too eager. Should he hesitate and say a few more words first? All the while, he committed the words Calamity of the Supreme Clarity to memory. It sounded important; he would have to find a chance to ask about it.

After all, the old man had revealed a great deal in that one speech. And you claim you're no master!

To his surprise, the old beggar suddenly leaned in with a grin. "You don't dare learn it? Good, good! Then I'll teach you anyway!"

"Master? Mm!" Chen Cuo's heart lurched. He was about to speak, but the old beggar's greasy hand was already pressed against his chest and belly. The old man pushed, and a tremendous force erupted there, driving Chen Cuo's words straight back down his throat!