Chapter 65

Beggar King

In the garden, beyond the pavilion, flowers bloomed in abundance.

A small bird flew onto the branch of the most splendidly blooming flower and began to sing in a beautiful voice.

"Chirp chirp cheep"

As the bird's chirping continued for a moment, another bird flew in, and the two began to rub their heads together affectionately.

A very lovely pair of birds.

They hopped around on the branch, chasing each other and picking through each other's feathers, showing a very tender scene.

However, this scene did not last long.

-Swoosh

-Splat

A stone flew from somewhere, hitting the branch where the two birds were perched with a loud noise, and the startled pair flew away immediately.

In the now silent garden, a sigh and a sound of disapproval could be heard.

"Tsk... Sigh..."

But soon, a rustling sound began to come from somewhere, and a pair of squirrels appeared, rolling around on the lawn and starting to play.

Just as Tang Yingying was about to pick up a stone from the ground, seeing the affectionate pair of squirrels, Shibi's voice calling her could be heard as she ran into the garden, and the startled squirrels disappeared in a flash.

Shibi, who had run in, panted and said,

"Huff huff... Miss, it's time for the meal."

Tang Yingying glanced at Shibi once, then turned her head to look at the flowers again before answering in a listless voice.

"Not really in the mood..."

"Miss, are you not feeling well? Is your appetite off lately? You should eat well. Should I ask the kitchen to prepare something else? Is there anything you want to eat?"

"No, I just want to rest a bit..."

Shibi was taken aback by Tang Yingying's listless voice and asked in a worried tone, but Tang Yingying simply replied that she wanted to rest in her room and headed straight for her room.

She just felt listless and annoyed.

She just wanted to sleep for a long time.

Entering her room with a listless gait, Tang Yingying threw herself onto the bed.

She buried her face in the quilt.

After returning from the wedding of her close friend Zhuge Qing, Tang Yingying somehow felt drained.

A few days ago, she had been lost in thought while learning martial arts from her grandfather and accidentally pricked her finger with a sword, getting scolded by her grandfather for the first time in her life.

It was fortunate that the sword was not poisoned, or it could have been a major incident...

'Why am I like this...'

She asked herself as if she didn't know the reason, but Tang Yingying knew.

She knew why she was like this.

She just didn't want to admit it.

Twisting her body, Tang Yingying rubbed her face against the quilt for a while, then as if something had come to her mind, she began to feel around inside the bed and pulled out an object from a hidden spot.

In Tang Yingying's hand was a cloth bag.

The bag was stained with oil in various places.

Carefully opening the bag, Tang Yingying saw several pieces of fried dough.

She carefully took out a broken piece of fried dough and held it in her hand.

If she had given it to her, it would have been nice to carry it with her, but the clueless Gagga left something that would disappear after eating it as a gift.

She had given Gagga a poisoned needle, symbolizing herself as a poisonous butterfly, hoping Gagga would think of her when she saw the butterfly, but fried dough...

She felt a wave of disappointment, but there was nothing she could do.

Gagga was a clueless fool.

She was definitely clueless, as she didn't even know about Qing's wedding.

Seeing this, Qing was worried, but after the wedding, Qing seemed to have changed and was taking good care of her, so she left it as a doubt.

She wasn't that clueless, but perhaps she was blind when it came to matters of the heart?

She felt very disappointed.

No, thinking about it, it was fortunate that Gagga was a clueless fool.

If her feelings had been discovered, it would have been even more difficult.

Holding the fried dough in her hand, Tang Yingying's heart became even more confused.

She couldn't bear the fact that she liked a man and that this man had become Qing's partner.

It felt very uncomfortable, as if she was coveting or taking something from her sister.

Tang Yingying slowly put the piece of fried dough in her mouth.

As the fried dough began to dissolve in her mouth, a faint sweetness started to spread on her tongue.

Feeling the sweet taste on her tongue, she tried to slowly recall the sweet moments with Gagga, but...

'But were there any sweet moments?'

Upon reflection, she had some doubts.

***

"Are you okay?"

"Does this look okay to you?"

In a quiet forest path on the outskirts of Tokyo.

A worried man's voice could be heard.

However, the worried man's question was met with a sharp reply like a wasp's sting.

Choppalang pouted and retorted to Geelun's worried question.

This sharp reply was due to the clear bite marks on Choppalang's arms and legs.

The two had left the Zhuge family, feeling a bit regretful, and went to check if any of the chicken they had given to the dogs was left.

It seemed that the Zhuge family, being the Zhuge family, had well-fed their puppies, and a well-cooked chicken was left untouched in the dog bowl.

The moment they confirmed the chicken in the dog bowl, they looked at each other and read each other's intentions in their eyes.

The two quickly moved to take the chicken.

After secretly exchanging signals, they decided that Geelun would distract the servants, and Choppalang would take the cooked chicken from the top of the dog bowl.

However, a problem arose during the process of taking the chicken.

The Zhuge family's puppies were so fierce that they suddenly pounced on Choppalang when he touched the chicken, biting him several times.

Geelun also got bitten a few times while trying to help, but since the bites were on his waist, there were no visible marks.

Choppalang said in a frustrated and worried voice,

"Clearly, the Zhuge family teaches martial arts even to their puppies."

"Are you saying that because you got bitten by a dog? Crazy guy, what kind of dog talk is that?"

"No. Dodging the cudgel is understandable. I swung the cudgel to catch the dog, but how did they dodge so well..."

"Does every dog you hit with a cudgel dodge? Anyway, didn't you manage to get the chicken?"

"What good is chicken if I die! If bitten by a mad dog, you die, right? Am I going to die?"

While rubbing the bite marks, Choppalang asked in a worried voice, but the response was Geelun's excited voice.

"Eating the chicken will make you better, so don't worry."

"What are you talking about? I can't even eat a piece because I ate so much gang earlier..."

Choppalang was even more frustrated because, although they had stolen the chicken out of greed, their stomachs were fine, but due to Liu Qingyun's constant gang, they were so full that they couldn't taste the chicken they had bled to obtain.

As the two clutched their stomachs and wobbled toward the headquarters, an old man's voice suddenly began to be heard from somewhere.

"I smell chicken..."

A voice that sounded familiar, a person they should never meet.

His voice was being heard.

Hearing the voice he never wanted to hear, Choppalang frowned and looked around, and Geelun also frowned and cautiously called out.

"Ba, Beggar King?"

However, the response was not an answer but the sound of a cudgel striking.

-Smack! Smack!

"Ouch, I'm dying!"

"Kyaah! Why are you swinging the cudgel at us without any reason?!"

Choppalang clutched his head and rolled on the mountain path, and Geelun also clutched his head and fell to his knees.

"You brats, do you know where I've been?!"

"No, where have you been? What's going on?!"

-Smack

"Ouch, my head! Talk, talk!"

-Smack

"Kyaah!"

Hearing that the Beggar King was very angry, Geelun tried to explain while covering his head.

"No, no! Beggar King, we didn't go to beg. We went to confirm something."

-Smack

-Smack

"Ouch! Just listen to the story!"

"Why do you keep hitting me?!"

Geelun tried to explain, but he didn't know why he was being hit.

Geelun's explanation was cut off as the Beggar King smiled and replied.

"You should have given it up!"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

-Smack

"Kyaah!"

Without answering Choppalang's question, a strong blow immediately landed on his head, and Choppalang, feeling as if a hole had been punched through his head, rolled on the mountain path again. Geelun's urgent voice could be heard in his ear.

[Hand over the chicken quickly! You'll get a hole in your head, you fool!]

Choppalang hurriedly took out the chicken from his clothes and offered it, and the cudgel finally stopped.

-Smack

Geelun licked the soft, cooked chicken leg and asked in a nasty voice.

"So, you didn't go to beg, but to confirm something about the chef Shilong who's in Tokyo? I heard he served a special dish for the poison master's birthday, right?"

-Smack

Geelun continued, as the Beggar King licked his lips and asked.

"Yes, I heard he's a former chef and has injured the palates of dozens of experts, so I went to confirm his skills. I wanted to see his martial arts and cooking skills firsthand. He seemed to be a very skilled cook. His knife skills were impressive, and he might be a sword expert who has reached the realm of a half-step immortal..."

"Ah, so you didn't go to beg, but to confirm the skills of the chef Shilong?"

"Yes, that's right."

-Smack

"Kyaah!"

Geelun's head was about to explode from an unexpected cudgel strike, and the Beggar King's voice of disbelief could be heard.

"So, only the two of you went to such a gathering?"

"Kyaah... Yes?"

"If that's the case, it's a chance to eat at the Seven Great Families, regardless of the rules. You two went there just to eat the food made by the chef Shilong, didn't you?... Anyway, these days, people lack manners..."

Seeing that the Beggar King was even angrier than before, Geelun stammered and tried to explain.

"No, it wasn't like that. We went to confirm..."

"And what a ridiculous thing. What were you confirming, the taste of the food? If you wanted to confirm his martial arts, did you check his pulse or observe his techniques?"

Geelun couldn't answer and had to keep his mouth shut.

Initially, they went more to eat the food than to confirm anything, and they did only roughly observe his martial arts.

"From the looks of it, you just watched him cook and ate the food, didn't you?"

After saying this, the Beggar King seemed to be thinking about something, then struck his palm with the cudgel and said.

-Smack

"Ahem... If you didn't confirm anything, I'll have to go myself, won't I?"

"No, we did confirm, but..."

-Smack

"Kyaah! Where, where are you going?"

"Where else? Since you two didn't confirm anything, I need to check Shilong's skills, don't I?"

The Beggar King said with a lecherous smile and a voice full of personal interest, and Geelun quickly replied.

"Going to beg at the same place for two days in a row is against the rules of the Beggar Sect..."

"Ah! So what you did today was begging?"

"No, that's not what I meant!"

-Smack

-Splat

"Kyaah! Ouch, I'm dying!"

"Kyaah!"

The two beggars' cries, which sounded like dogs being beaten, began to echo through the forest path, and their hearts were filled with injustice.

It was too unfair to be beaten like this after only eating grass and water.

Moreover, it was ridiculous that the Beggar King always talked about the rules but didn't seem to follow them himself.