Floating Immortal Order

Chapter 29: This Little Beggar Has Guts?

Chapter 29: This Little Beggar Has Guts?

Anyang

The early morning skies were a vague, dark indigo. Although the main gates were still closed at this hour, there was a sizable stream of people going in and out of the side gate.

The empty-handed pedestrians were lightly questioned before being permitted to enter, while the horse carriages carrying commodities couldn’t avoid having to pay service to the guards, who took advantage of the citizens at every possible opportunity.

If one stood atop the city gate and looked over the wide moat into the distance, it was possible to see countless early-rising peasants working in the vast fields. There was a son of a rich family who got up early to let out the birds, young martial artists doing their morning exercise, and traveling merchants with their heads lowered as they hastened upon their journeys. The whole world seemed to be lively as each person, whether it was the martial artists or the peasants, the merchants or the laymen, went about the tasks that they thought they should be doing, day in, day out, year after year.

The brisk morning air gave way to a chilling wind that nipped at the body, forcing the guards protecting the gate to wrap their uniforms tighter around themselves. A guard wearing silver armor who looked to be the leader let out a cold, misty breath as he watched a carriage make its way over the drawbridge. He moved forward to question them per routine procedure. But when he drew closer, he saw that among the riders that were dressed like bodyguards, there was a person who was at the late Houtian stage, openly emitting Astral Qi. His gaze was majestic and intense like a hawk.

When the silver-armored guard saw the person’s appearance clearly, he jumped in fright before immediately changing his expression. He saluted with a fawning smile. “Commander Wang… I saw from afar that it was Commander, so I especially came out to welcome you,” he said in an ingratiating manner before turning around and shouting, “Hurry up and make way!”

This person was none other than the Commander of the Wang Clan of the Anyang Region.

Commander Wang hardly spared him a glance. He just turned around to glance at the person in the carriage behind him. When he saw that there wasn’t any reaction, he said with a cold snort, “Next time, make sure your smile is even wider.” He then urged his horse forward, leading the way into the city. The bodyguards at his sides all wore proud expressions, completely ignoring the city guards as they rode on either side of the carriage as they entered the city.

“What did Wang Yueguo bring all these men for? The clothes of the people under him all looked newly changed, and his expression looked unnatural. Should we report it to the commander-in-chief?” the silver-armored soldier, who was the butt of such a cold rebuke, said to his comrade beside him, spitting on the ground with a bitter expression.

“Don’t meddle in other people’s business. You must really not want to live anymore. Commander Wang is on the verge of becoming a half-step Xiantian. He holds great authority over the regional city’s guard corps, and is an important person in the line of the Wang Clan. Even though the commander-in-chief told us in private to pay attention to any abnormal developments, it’s better for us little pawns to not get involved in the struggle between the clans and the branch families.”

“Hmph, just you wait until this lil’ daddy makes it to half-step Xiantian so I can embarrass this guy!”

“Stop daydreaming, Wang Yueguo’d give you one slap and you’d be crushed into a paste, hahaha.”

“The future is long… who knows, maybe I’ll reach half-step Xiantian one day.”

“You two better hurry up and go patrolling right this minute! What are you two whispering amongst yourselves about?!” A high-ranking officer in black armor walked over with a displeased expression, interrupting their fantasies.

“Yes, Boss!”

Anyang City was a flourishing city in the Eastern Qin Province, only second to the Provincial capital. It was also the place where the Dao Palace of the Eastern Qin Province was located.

However, no matter how flourishing a place was, or how magnificent of a golden age it was in, it was never short of a certain type of person. Within the massive gates, there were several beggars crouched in a corner. Among them was a middle-aged beggar with messy hair and a dirty face, wearing tattered, threadbare clothes. Parts of his skin were purple, and it was clear this beggar had suffered much misery.

In the beggar’s hands was a bamboo flute. It was clean and a deep jade green in color, forming a stark contrast with his dirty, sullied appearance. The middle-aged beggar played the flute with his grimy lips, and every time he finished playing a song, he would bow down until his head almost touched the floor, pleading the passerby for their goodwill.

By the side of this middle-aged beggar was another beggar of a slight build, who was only 10 or so years of age. Although this beggar’s body and face were just as filthy, his eyes were big and contained traces of cleverness that weren’t characteristic of the usual malnourished and sickly appearance of a little beggar. After all, the other beggars couldn’t eat their fill like him.

This little beggar knew how to talk, begging for money in a clever and lovable way. Usually, people fancied what he said and tossed her a few coppers. In this way, this little beggar actually managed to earn more than the middle-aged beggar’s method of showing off his skills. Some occasionally even gave loose pieces of silver to the little beggar, making it so he wouldn’t have to worry about food or drink for quite a few days.

The middle-aged beggar finished playing a song. A few people passing by tossed some copper coins, and the middle-aged beggar praised and thanked them obsequiously as he picked the coppers from the grimy, wet ground. As his eyes were pinned to the ground, scanning for the coins, a pair of clean, black shoes appeared in his vision, stopping before him. The design of these shoes was simple, but the materials used in their make were expensive.

The middle-aged beggar attempted to straighten his crooked back as he looked up with difficulty. Standing before him was a youth with a slender figure, wearing a black Daoist robe, his crow black hair tied up behind his head. Although the middle-aged beggar couldn’t see his face clearly, he felt slightly favorably towards this person.

After all, these monks and Daoists were the types who were most willing to give donations in response to begging, and each time they would give a lot. They could be considered to be quite the generous folk.

However, the youth in the Daoist robe wasn’t looking at him, but the clever little beggar, and his eyes looked to be deep in thought.

This youth was none other than Xu Disheng. He was only 15 years old, still considered extremely young. But with the Daoist robe he was wearing, along with his black hair, handsome facial features, and the black brilliance hidden in his tranquil and calm eyes, it made others see him as more of a young man.

At first, he was attracted over here by the middle-aged beggar only because of the cyan jade colored bamboo flute he was playing. But now, he felt something particular about the little beggar by his side. Xu Disheng was a step away from reaching the Cleansed Meridians stage, so his five senses were extremely acute. Any kind of feeling or intuition he got wouldn’t just be a mere coincidence.

The little beggar was young, without any trace of having cultivated Martial Techniques, and it was clear that he hadn’t had his Dao Channels measured even once throughout growing up. So why did this little beggar give him such a particular feeling?

That little beggar was quick-witted, and he looked at Xu Disheng with his big eyes. “Excellent and unrivaled Daoist, you’re so handsome. I can tell just from a glance that you have great fortune and are an amazingly accomplished individual in the ways of the Dao and the world. Would you be so kind as to spare this little one a few silvers so I can go to the temple and pray for your longevity and wellbeing…”

Xu Disheng was holding back his laughter, immediately noticing how amusing this little beggar was. His mood had been lifted by him somewhat. “If I really had great fortune, I would linger on in this mortal life once again.” He lightly shook his head, then turned and was about to walk away into the stream of people.

“If you had skills that reach the heavens but couldn’t bear the loneliness of being all by oneself, in the end, wouldn’t it still be better to return to this mundane world to simply appreciate life?” The little beggar said with a grin, exposing a mouth full of spotlessly white teeth. It was clear that he had always regularly used some animal fur or rough product to clean his teeth.

Although the little beggar just spouted a bunch of nonsense, Xu Disheng stopped in his tracks and turned his head. “What is the most important thing to you?” he asked.

The little beggar looked at Xu Disheng with bright eyes, trying to figure out his intentions. “Since I was young, I didn’t have a family. All I had was my older sister as we relied upon each other for survival. It was always my dream to be able to live with my family. Every time I dream about my parents and wake up, I can laugh and smile. Daoist, please spare me a bit of money so I can eat my fill and go to sleep so I can see my parents again.”