Chapter 293 - 279: Who’s With Me
Wang Xiedi and Li Chunfeng headed toward the Su Mansion, disappearing around the corner. Amid the commotion, the one-handed beggar had also vanished.
So Su Ling’er flickered out of sight, changed direction, and locked onto a new target: another beggar with a broken leg, leaning on a single crutch.
In front of a street block, the beggar fell to his knees with a THUD. His movements were well-practiced as he kowtowed to the endless stream of passersby, repeating over and over, "Have pity on me... Spare a bite to eat..."
The passersby saw how pitiful he was and would occasionally toss a few clinking copper coins his way. Whenever they did, the beggar would immediately kowtow again, mumbling his thanks.
Su Ling’er observed from a distance. She watched until night fell and the streets grew quiet, at which point the beggar propped himself up on his crutch and limped toward the remote western part of the city.
The wait was so tedious that Su Ling’er began to wonder, ’Is there really anything wrong here?’
However, during the long and tedious process of tailing the beggar, Su Ling’er finally noticed something unusual.
In the crowd, there was another beggar. He was able-bodied and, unlike the con artists she had seen earlier who actively swindled people, he always just "happened" to be on the same route as the lame beggar.
He never approached or spoke to the lame beggar, merely shuffling along slowly behind him. Sometimes he would rummage through a pile of discarded bamboo slips on the roadside; other times, he would sit at a street corner to rest. But he never strayed too far from his target.
If Su Ling’er hadn’t been keeping a close eye on the man and noticed that their routes—down to the very alleys they turned into—were identical, she might have dismissed him as just another ordinary beggar.
Once they turned into the winding, dimly lit alleys of the western district, the able-bodied "beggar" dropped his pretense. He simply followed a short distance behind the lame beggar, his expression turning cold and vigilant.
Su Ling’er held her breath and closed the distance.
Eventually, one following the other, the two men entered a dilapidated courtyard at the end of the alley, over which hung a plaque reading "Masterless Hall." Su Ling’er’s heart skipped a beat. She silently leaped onto the wall, her form melting into the shadows of the roof tiles as she peered into the courtyard.
The courtyard was brightly lit, revealing a massive gathering place for the Beggar Gang. Nearly everyone here was disabled—blind, deaf, or with missing limbs.
In the center of the courtyard, several "beggars" were ladling out congee to a line of other beggars. After depositing all the copper coins they had begged that day into a large wooden box, each beggar received a bowl of hot congee from a large, bubbling cauldron.
Su Ling’er spotted the lame beggar she had been following. He must have had a good spot today, as his earnings were substantial. The "beggar" in charge saw the hefty amount of copper coins in the wooden bowl and nodded.
He then gestured to the "beggar" serving the congee, and the lame beggar received two extra dark flour buns. Overcome with gratitude, he thanked them profusely before huddling in a corner to wolf down his food.
Su Ling’er watched the scene unfold. It seemed to be a simple, if cruel, picture of the destitute banding together for survival. It made a certain kind of logical sense.
’Am I really overthinking this? My senior brother always makes things sound so sinister... Maybe this is just a strictly managed gathering place for beggars?’
Just then, a one-armed beggar who’d had a poor day’s haul stepped up, turning in only a few copper coins. The "beggar" in charge of the congee clicked his tongue in annoyance and used his ladle to skim just a bit of thin, watery broth into his bowl. The shallow puddle was barely a mouthful.
The beggar didn’t dare say a word, retreating silently with his bowl. Su Ling’er frowned.
Next, it was the turn of a beggar named Jiang Stone. He had also infiltrated their ranks and was currently pretending to have a broken hand, his back hunched as he shuffled forward meekly.
The "beggar" serving the congee shot him a glance and impatiently rapped the large iron ladle against the rim of the pot with a loud CLANG. "What are you dawdling for, newbie!" he roared gruffly. "The money! Hurry up and hand it over!"
This scene instantly set the bullet comments in Jiang Stone’s live stream on fire.
[? WTF? What’s with the attitude? Is he collecting donations or running a protection racket?]
[Is that any way to ask for money?]
[Streamer, go off on him! That money is for your patrons! Why should you give it to him? Why hand it over at all?]
[Yeah! Take him on! Your patrons already paid! How dare he demand it? Do it right to his face! If you get beaten to death, bro, I’ll gift you two Airplanes!]
Jiang Stone’s gaze swept over the bullet comments. With a thought, he sent a reply to his screen: an emoji that said, "OK, fam, just you watch!"
The next moment, his timid, cowering demeanor vanished in an instant. He straightened his back, lifted his chin, and said, "Hey, hold on there, ’Big Bro.’ Are you getting something wrong?"
"I’ve already been reduced to begging, and you have the gall to ask *me* for money? You’re an able-bodied man, bullying us disabled folks. Have you no shame? Who the hell do you think you are?"
His words cast a deathly silence over the courtyard. All the disabled beggars stared at him as if he were a madman. Even the other beggars eating their congee froze, terrified of getting caught in the crossfire.
Su Ling’er was also stunned. ’He has a point,’ she thought, ’but saying it here is like lighting a firecracker in a powder keg.’
The jowls on the face of the "beggar" serving congee twitched, and veins bulged on his arms. He started to lunge forward but was held back by another "beggar" standing beside him, who seemed to be some kind of manager.
"Ah Biao, don’t cause trouble!" the managerial "beggar" said in a low voice. "What were Mr. Ma’s orders before he left? We’re supposed to lay low for a bit! We still haven’t figured out the deal with that new immortal sect. It’s probably not a big issue, but if you beat this guy to death right now and it stirs up trouble, are you going to take responsibility?"
Su Lingke’s pupils contracted sharply.
’Beat him to death? ...What’s going on? Mr. Ma? So this place really is crooked?’
Jiang Stone, thanks to his stream’s amplified audio, heard every word the man said. With a million "Cloud Bodyguards" backing him up, he felt even more fearless. The bullet comments were still scrolling like crazy, egging him on to continue courting death.
He immediately seized on the weakness in the man’s words.
"Ohhh—" he deliberately drew out the sound, pointing at the "beggar’s" nose and mocking him in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear. "I was wondering who this was. Turns out you’re just a good-for-nothing who’s only brave against his own people! You only know how to bully those of us with missing limbs. The moment you face someone tough, you chicken out, is that it?"
Jiang Stone turned to all the disabled beggars. "Did you all hear that?! They’re just a bunch of cowardly trash!!! I’ll be dancing on their graves one day! Any of my bros want to join in?"
However, not a single disabled beggar dared to respond. Instead, they cowered even further, their actions only highlighting how bizarre Jiang Stone’s behavior was in this place.
"You’re fucking asking to die!"
The "beggar" named Ah Biao finally snapped. He shoved his companion aside, his eyes bloodshot as he growled through gritted teeth, "Don’t worry, I won’t kill him! I know how to hold back!"
With that, he clenched his casserole-sized fists, his knuckles CRACKING, and stalked toward Jiang Stone.
And Su Ling’er silently drew her Wooden Sword...