CLS-Chapter 238

Chapter 238

“A beggar?”

Jang-il looked at Wei Yan-ho with a surprised expression.

In his mind, among all the people at Mount Hua, Wei Yan-ho was the one he was least likely to encounter here. Yet here he was, meeting that very Wei Yan-ho at this inn at the foot of the mountain.

Wei Yan-ho looked up and down at Jang-il, who was sitting at the table, and clicked his tongue.

“Did you come here to beg for alms?”

“No!”

Jang-il shouted indignantly.

While there’s nothing wrong with a beggar begging for alms, when Wei Yan-ho said it, it somehow felt like an insult. Those half-closed eyes and that smirking mouth were really getting on his nerves.

“I have money to buy food sometimes too!”

“Just like how I walk to the outhouse once in a while.”

“…Are they similar?”

No, they don’t seem similar at all, do they?

Jang-il was at a loss for words. Having encountered Wei Yan-ho so unexpectedly, he couldn’t figure out what to ask first.

“What brings you here?”

But Wei Yan-ho asked casually, as if this situation wasn’t strange at all.

“I have someone to meet.”

“Must be another beggar.”

Veins bulged on Jang-il’s forehead.

“Yes! A beggar! What’s wrong with a beggar meeting another beggar? What’s wrong with that!”

“Well, there’s nothing strange about a beggar meeting another beggar, but it is a bit odd for beggars to meet at an inn. Shouldn’t beggars be meeting somewhere like the back courtyard over there?”

“If a beggar has money, he’s a customer too!”

“You must have a lot of money. And here I thought you couldn’t even beg properly.”

“Gaah!“

Jang-il, on the verge of having a fit, desperately suppressed his anger.

‘If I act up, I’ll get beaten.’

Not Wei Yan-ho—him.

The Wei Yan-ho he’d observed so far was a complete bastard who would provoke people’s anger and then mercilessly beat down anyone who dared to attack him. If he rushed at Wei Yan-ho now, Wei Yan-ho would calmly send him flying all the way back up to Mount Hua while muttering something detestable like ‘Has that beggar gone crazy? Why is he suddenly acting like that?’

‘Bear with it.’

Knowingly inviting anger is not the way of a gentleman. Didn’t Confucius himself say that one should avoid anger?

“What kind of beggar thinks so much?”

Crash.

The teacup he was holding shattered.

“Huff, huff…“

Taking deep breaths to calm his racing heart, Jang-il asked in a sullen voice.

“What about you? What brings you here?”

“I’m not a beggar, so I came here to buy a meal.”

“Grr.“

Beggar to the end! Beggar!

It was quite a talent to be able to make a beggar angry by calling him a beggar.

‘Even bad luck has its limits.’

The probability of encountering Wei Yan-ho outside his room would be less than the probability of being struck by lightning while walking down the street and surviving unscathed. To think he’d have to endure such hellish odds and even end up eating a meal together.

‘What sin did I commit in my past life?’

“Who is this person?”

The beggar sitting across from him glanced at Wei Yan-ho and asked. Being a Beggar’s Sect member who dealt with information, he had the admirable beggar instinct of never being able to resist his curiosity.

“Wei Yan-ho.”

“Ah! That guy?”

Wei Yan-ho’s eyebrows twitched.

Just from hearing those three syllables of his name, wasn’t there a reaction showing he knew him very well?

‘This is bad…’

While Master said that fame and incidents should be as big as possible, Wei Yan-ho had the philosophy that living opposite to Master’s words would bring no inconvenience to life. In other words, having people react with “Ah, that famous person” just from hearing his name was a red flag among red flags.

‘It’s the Beggar’s Sect, after all.’

They’d be different from ordinary people.

Wei Yan-ho didn’t know that his name was currently spreading across the Central Plains faster than a thousand-li horse due to the incidents he’d caused while sparring.

If he’d known, he wouldn’t have acted that way.

“Anyway, why are two beggars sitting here eating a meal? Doesn’t this inn manage its water properly?”

“That’s not the case, sir.”

A server rushed over like lightning and quickly replied.

The moment he turned his head, Wei Yan-ho could feel the server quickly scanning him from head to toe.

“Oh my, sir. I’m sorry.”

The server approached Wei Yan-ho’s ear and whispered.

“I apologize. However, we can’t treat Beggar’s Sect members the same as ordinary beggars, can we? Please understand.”

“A beggar’s still a beggar! If it’s a beggar who uses martial arts, isn’t it still a beggar?”

“Grrrr.“

Jang-il scratched his head vigorously.

“Hey! You’re dropping dandruff! Go outside to scratch!”

“Grrrrrrr!“

Chosam had completely lost his composure.

Wasn’t Branch Head Jang-il famous within the Beggar’s Sect for his fiery temper? Yet seeing that very Jang-il unable to make a proper excuse and being caught like a mouse made him wonder if this was really happening.

‘So that person is Wei Yan-ho.’

The person currently causing the biggest stir in the intelligence community was precisely Wei Yan-ho. Since his first appearance at the assembly, wherever he went, turmoil followed, and no place he visited remained intact.

He was even the maverick who blew up Luoyang’s city gate and started doing business in front of the Orthodox Alliance.

‘They said his personality was extremely peculiar.’

Those words fit perfectly.

While his name hadn’t spread much among ordinary martial artists yet, many predicted that after this tournament, his name would resound throughout the land.

“Stop tormenting him. You said you were hungry.”

“Ah, right.”

Wei Yan-ho nodded and went to sit at a spot far away from Jang-il.

“…Why are you sitting so far away?”

“Want to hear why?”

“No, I don’t want to hear it.”

He had a pretty good idea what kind of words would come out. Jang-il swallowed his tears of blood.

‘They said Beggar’s Sect members don’t get disrespected anywhere they go.’

The face of the King Beggar, who used to boast loudly, came to mind. He was extremely curious about what words would come out if he brought Wei Yan-ho in front of that King Beggar.

‘I’d get to see the King Beggar pass out.’

But that would create a vacuum in the Beggar’s Sect, so Jang-il newly resolved to prevent Wei Yan-ho and the King Beggar from meeting. Already struggling with age lately, if the King Beggar met Wei Yan-ho and his blood pressure shot up, he might really go far away.

Jang-il stealthily kept watch on Wei Yan-ho.

“Little Beggar?”

“Just a moment.”

Jang-il looked at Wei Yan-ho with an anxious expression.

‘Damn it, I just can’t take my eyes off him.’

Just when he thought Wei Yan-ho had been sticking close to Jin Ye-ran lately, now he was coming to eat with Lee Seol-hwa too.

“Why! Why is that!”

“Pardon?”

“Don’t you think it’s strange too?”

Chosam flinched at Jang-il’s intensity, staring at him with strange fervor in his eyes as if he’d devour him.

‘Did this guy eat the wrong alms?’

Why is he suddenly acting like this?

“What do you mean?”

“No matter how crazy the world has become, the fact that two beauties are clinging to that guy is something wrong, don’t you think? Hm?”

“…Pardon?”

“Let’s say his face is honestly somewhat decent! But if that decent face has eye boogers stuck all over it, shouldn’t there be some correction? And what’s left of that guy besides his decent face?”

“He’s not a beggar.”

When Wei Yan-ho spoke smoothly, Jang-il’s blood pressure shot straight up.

“Grrrrr!“

Watching the trembling Jang-il, Wei Yan-ho clicked his tongue.

“A beggar taking interest in women!”

“Beggars can get married too.”

“Sure, sure, I’ll cheer you on.”

“I’d rather you just curse at me, you damn bastard!”

Why does that guy have to come eat here and turn people’s insides upside down like this?

“If you’ve said everything you wanted to say, why don’t you leave?”

“I was here first!”

“Well, is that important? What’s important is that people are making disgusted faces.”

Jang-il no longer had the strength to retort. He knew that the more he engaged, the more his dignity would be shaved away and his blood pressure would rise, yet he kept engaging anyway.

“But what’s this really about?”

“What would you do knowing about it?”

“Still, wouldn’t I be more useful than a beggar?”

Jang-il hung his head low.

Right, I am a beggar… Where would there be a human more useless than me?

“Those moving toward the tournament grounds have been detected.”

“They must be coming to watch.”

“There are signs of organized movement.”

“They probably reserved group seats.”

“…”

Why did I ask?

Why did I ask, you damn bastard!

“And is it okay to tell me such things?”

“…Didn’t you say you wanted to know?”

“Even if you want to know, you should distinguish between what to say and what not to say. With someone like that sitting there as a Little Beggar, the Beggar’s Sect really is pitiful, pitiful.”

Sometimes even beggars have days they want to cry.

Since his days as a young beggar, when he got his bowl smashed while begging and got beaten until dust came out on a rainy day, this was the first time his tear ducts had been this stimulated.

Jang-il turned his head to comfort his sorrow.

I won’t have a conversation, a conversation! If I keep my mouth firmly shut from now on, that curious bastard will surely get worked up first and start asking questions sweetly.

Then I’ll tell half the story and not tell the rest, making him die of frustration! I will…

“The food’s here!”

But Wei Yan-ho cleanly cut off his interest in Jang-il.

Jang-il had been waiting, thinking Wei Yan-ho would ask something, but when Wei Yan-ho started licking his lips at the sight of the arriving dishes, Jang-il couldn’t help but open his mouth.

“Aren’t you more curious?”

“About what?”

“About who those people coming are. Things like that.”

“Could you turn your head that way? This is precious food.”

“I can’t even look at it?”

“It wears out. Close your eyes.”

That bastard…

If you curse just because you want to curse, that’s not human but beast. No wait, beasts can’t curse, can they? Wouldn’t me cursing right here be proof that I’m human?

“…Little Beggar, please calm down.”

“Just give me a glass of water.”

“Here it is.”

Wei Yan-ho clicked his tongue watching Jang-il gulp down water.

“Tsk tsk, when will you become human.”

A beggar coming to an inn to eat…

It’s the end times, the end times. Even if a beggar is a beggar, even if he pays for his food, he should eat outside.

Wei Yan-ho shook his head and turned around. Before his eyes, a generous spread of dishes was laid out.

“Meat!”

His stomach was proving right now that humans can’t live on grass alone.

What? Aren’t Shaolin and Wudang incredibly strong even eating only grass? That’s why he got beaten up by Master, who wouldn’t pick up chopsticks unless there was meat for all three meals.

Humans, by all rights, must eat meat to have strength!

Wei Yan-ho picked up his chopsticks without hesitation.

“I’ll eat well.”

As Wei Yan-ho’s gaze turned to the food, Lee Seol-hwa spoke first.

“Yes, please eat a lot.”

Wei Yan-ho smiled brightly.

“The food looks expensive, I wonder if it’s okay to eat it.”

“It’s just putting one more set of chopsticks on food we already ordered, no big deal.”

Jang-il’s ears perked up.

“Then can I put one more spoon there too?”

“If you don’t want your bowl smashed, get away from here. This spreads.”

“…Son of a bitch.”

Not even glancing at the dejected Jang-il, Wei Yan-ho picked up his chopsticks.

“I’ll eat well.”

Wei Yan-ho began shoving food into his mouth without restraint.