For the past two years, the little beggar had wandered an endless road with the old beggar. It seed the old vagrant had a destination in mind, for the two of them eventually reached Tao City.
The little beggar had always been puzzled. Logically, a beggar eager to see the world and make sothing of himself would aim for a large city like South City. The old beggar’s aspirations, however, seed quite limited. He didn’t share the young one’s ambitions.
He himself was determined to beg in South City.
"Old Hua, how old am I this year?"
"Eleven years and two months."
"So when are you going to die?"
The old beggar was silent.
Sitting not far away, Su Bei almost spat out his drink upon hearing the familiar words. He gently patted his chest under the puzzled gazes of the two won and chuckled, "It’s nothing, just sothing stuck in my throat while drinking..."
Ji Nanjue shot him a skeptical look, while Li Zijun watched with a curious frown.
Old Hua didn’t seem startled by the little beggar’s sudden, shocking question. Conversations like this had been a daily routine for years, and he had grown accustod to them. He responded with impatience, "It’s still a long way off."
The little beggar pursed his lips. Lately, he’d been eagerly awaiting the old beggar’s demise so he could inherit the old man’s treasure ring, which could supposedly hold anything. But this old fellow just kept burping and farting, with death seemingly far away.
His eyes darted about, then he asked with a serious expression, "So when do you plan to teach arithtic?"
Old Hua was already pulling the little beggar by the hand as they entered the inn’s lobby. He surveyed the room, his gaze pausing montarily on Su Bei’s table, but he didn’t linger. He addressed the little beggar, "Why is a little beggar like you always thinking about that? Just master your sleight of hand and a good sob story, and you’ll have all the money you need. What do you need with blasted arithtic?"
The little beggar winced from the tight grip of Old Hua’s hand and pulled away resentfully. "You said you’d teach the numbers after three hundred and sixty-five once you were dead!"
Old Hua was montarily speechless, his face turning ashen. This damn kid rembered every word he’d said in anger and was now bringing them up quite justifiably.
In the Twenty-One Provinces, the calendar had always divided the year into three hundred and sixty-five days. So, every day, the little beggar hoped for more. It had taken considerable effort to learn the numbers up to three hundred and sixty-five, but Old Hua still refused to teach him what ca after.
Over ti, however, the little beggar had stopped being anxious. Having walked many roads over the years, his heart was always filled with delight. He believed in the saying, "Read ten thousand books and travel ten thousand miles." He thought of himself as halfway to being a scholar, but he still needed to learn the numbers beyond three hundred and sixty-five to complete his education.
"Old Hua?"
Old Hua had already found a table and sat down. A yellow dog lay under the table, wagging its tail and looking up at the little beggar.
"Hmm?" Old Hua responded.
"Tonight, I’ll take you to Red Pavilion to relax! We can check out the beauties!"
A smile tugged at the corners of Old Hua’s mouth. He roughly rubbed the boy’s head, his eyes squinting into slits as he chuckled, "Oh? Feeling generous enough to spend the money you made selling fake dicine made from cow dung to treat your old man Hua?"
"HEH HEH HEH."
Su Bei watched this scene unfold, his mind filled with a myriad of thoughts. When he first realized he had traversed to this world, he had longed for the martial arts and Immortal affairs he had dreamt about on Blue Star. But as decades passed, he found his affection for it waning. The cultivation world of the Three Teachings and Nine Schools was not the martial world he knew. Furthermore, with the Eastern Country enjoying years of peace and stability, there were no sensational tales of life-or-death struggles. He had occasionally entered so-called secret realms, but most of the things inside were of little use to him. In the end, it was probably because he started from such a high position that he couldn’t feel the thrill of gradually becoming stronger.
Now, looking at the little beggar, it was like seeing a shadow of another self. It was as if in a dream, another version of him had followed that mad old man, walked these sa roads, and spoken these sa words. The diverse world of practitioners operating beneath the Three Teachings and Nine Schools felt more like the martial world he had once yearned for: Sects of all kinds, chivalrous heroes and Immortals, demonic fiends and unorthodox practitioners—a diverse assortnt of people and a vast array of events.
As he pondered, Ji Nanjue seed to sense sothing. She gently covered Su Bei’s hand with hers and smiled tenderly at him.
Su Bei was touched in that mont. Ji Baoer truly understood him.
Just as he was engrossed in her tenderness, he suddenly felt his hand lifted and then sharply bitten by her pearly teeth.
"HISS!" Su Bei drew in a sharp breath.
"That’s your punishnt. You’ll serve my al," Ji Nanjue said, withdrawing his hand from her lips. Two glistening threads of saliva trailed from her mouth, then fell.
Su Bei resigned himself to the task. He delicately picked up a piece of beef and said gently, "Ji Baoer, open wide, ah..."
Li Zijun chuckled softly at the scene before her.
Su Bei lifted Nan Ji into his arms, then gently laid her almost weightless form onto his lap. He straightened her cascading black hair and t her gaze. Only then did her beautiful eyes once again fill with a soft, tender emotion. She took the initiative to wrap her arms around his waist and leaned her head on his lap. Su Bei held her tightly in his embrace, and they remained in silence for a long ti.
After a while, Ji Nanjue slowly sat up, straddling Su Bei’s legs. Her hands rested on his shoulders, and she inquired,
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