Chapter 366
Chapter 366
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 366
Chapter Title: The Trials of a Beggar
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What is it that people cannot eat?
Excrement? Animal hides? Insects?
Namgung Un could now answer that question with certainty.
That there was nothing in this world a person could not eat.
“Uweeegh.”
Once again, Namgung Un was vomiting, tears and snot streaming down his face.
He had thought the food beggars ate was, at worst, leftovers or spoiled rice.
But such things were a luxurious meal that only the more respectable beggars of the Beggars' Sect could afford.
Insects, tree roots, the hide of a dead mouse…
Ordinary beggars, to avoid starvation, would put truly ‘anything’ in their mouths.
Moreover, there was something else that beggars might call their ‘staple food.’
It was the dregs floating in the gutters.
“Uuurk.”
Namgung Un could not bring himself to swallow what was in his mouth and began to retch it all out.
Food scraps floating in the gutter.
They were closer to garbage than anything that could be called food.
But the beggars, unable to fill their hungry bellies each day, would carefully scoop out these dregs from the gutter.
Then, they would fill an empty can with it and boil it to eat.
The taste… was so horrendous that one wouldn't dare even attempt to savor it.
If he had to describe it, it was nothing but sour and bitter. To be more precise, it tasted like swallowing the bitter fluid that comes up when you vomit.
‘Horrible.’
For the first time since he was born, the word ‘horrible’ came to Namgung Un’s mind.
The tongue in his mouth vehemently refused to taste the dregs.
As they passed down his throat and into his stomach, his organs screamed in agony.
“Is it edible?”
Wiping away the tears that streamed down his face, Namgung Un replied to Bu Eun-seol.
“It’s… an incredible taste.”
“That’s a relief.”
“A taste that could make the dead leap from their graves, I think.”
Drip, drip.
He had just wiped his tears, yet fresh, clear teardrops began to cascade from his eyes like a waterfall.
“Chew until you no longer feel the urge to vomit. Get used to it.”
“Is it even possible… to get used to this taste?”
Namgung Un wiped away his tears once more.
He thought the only way to get used to this taste was to lose his sense of taste entirely.
Rustle, rustle.
But Bu Eun-seol suddenly took out strange vials from his robes and began to mix their contents.
At that, Namgung Un felt a sense of foreboding.
“Show me your teeth.”
His foreboding immediately became reality.
When Namgung Un bared his teeth, Bu Eun-seol began to slather the mixture all over his front teeth.
“Endure it.”
Bu Eun-seol said calmly.
“This will make your teeth look yellow for a while.”
“Blech.”
As the yellowish, sticky liquid clung to his teeth, the nausea he had barely suppressed erupted again.
The smell of the concoction Bu Eun-seol applied was so foul it made the dregs from the gutter seem fragrant.
An indescribably vile stench rose from it.
“Waaaaah.”
Namgung Un burst into tears.
Why couldn't he just faint at times like this? For the first time, he cursed his own resilient mind.
“Brother Bu.”
Having barely regained his composure, Namgung Un wiped his tear-streaked eyes and spoke.
“When I was young, as a severe punishment, I was starved for four days. Ever since then, I’ve always gone around saying there’s no food in the world I can’t eat.”
He shivered and shook his head.
“But I see now I could only say that because I had never eaten this.”
Namgung Un said, still staring with terror at the byproducts floating in the gourd.
“Brother Bu. They’re beggars at the main headquarters, wouldn't they at least beg for their food?”
“…”
“Why on earth do we have to eat this?”
“Beggars of the Second Knot and below always have breath that smells of the gutter. Before becoming official disciples of the Beggars' Sect, they would have eaten scraps from the gutter every day.”
Bu Eun-seol explained calmly.
“You can give up now. No one will say anything.”
‘Give up?’
For a moment, Namgung Un bit his lip.
If he couldn't overcome a trial like this, how could he ever become a great man?
“Why do you keep telling me to give up? I was just curious.”
Chomp, chomp.
Namgung Un began to shove the dregs into his mouth.
Not the ones boiled in the can, but the dregs floating in the gutter, eating them on the spot.
But he didn't vomit; he swallowed the food impassively.
‘I did it!’
Namgung Un finally felt a sense of elation.
He felt there was nothing he couldn't do now. All that was left was to become a perfect beggar and enter the Beggars' Sect headquarters.
“See? I’ve done it now, haven’t I?”
Namgung Un beamed.
But he did not yet realize.
That the trials to enter the headquarters were not yet over.
The Beggars' Sect Headquarters.
Unlike other sects, it was not composed of grand pavilions or buildings, but more closely resembled a village built on a wide plain.
The Beggars' Sect originally began when beggars with nothing to eat gathered to form a hamlet.
If beggars didn't stick together, they were often beaten to death while begging.
Of course, it now stood as one of the Nine Sects One Union, wielding great influence over a vast territory, but…
They still commanded the beggars from a headquarters located far from any town.
Bu Eun-seol and Namgung Un finally entered Kaifeng again.
Having eaten nothing but gutter dregs for some time, the two looked every bit the part of wretched beggars.
They were so convincing that even a fellow beggar from the sect wouldn't have recognized them.
However, Bu Eun-seol knew that Namgung Un still had a fatal flaw.
It was his aura and his gait.
Namgung Un possessed the confident air and distinctive walk common to the scions of prestigious families.
It wasn't something he had been taught, but something he had acquired naturally from being born into a noble house and growing up around great figures and famous personages.
And those things were like habits ingrained in his very body, impossible to correct in a short period.
“Do you know how to perform Bone and Muscle Separation?”
Namgung Un shook his head at Bu Eun-seol’s sudden question.
“No. Why would I learn such a vicious torture technique?”
“I see.”
As Bu Eun-seol’s gaze swept over his body, a sense of unease began to creep into Namgung Un’s mind.
“But why do you ask?”
“One’s gait and aura are like long-standing habits; they can’t be fixed in an instant.”
“Gait and aura?”
“That’s right. Masters, in particular, can deduce a great deal just from a person’s walk.”
Bu Eun-seol said calmly.
“You, especially, have the confident air and stately walk of a typical family scion. No beggar carries himself or walks like that.”
Namgung Un scratched his head with a look of dismay.
“Then what should I do? After all the trouble I’ve gone through.”
“If you can’t change your aura immediately, the best method is to laugh at random moments. Anyone can act like they’re a bit slow.”
“Heh heh.”
Namgung Un grinned foolishly and nodded.
“I’m great at this sort of thing! So, what about the walk?”
“Since your walk can’t be corrected, it would be best to use Bone and Muscle Separation to make you limp for a while.”
Thump.
Namgung Un, who had been maintaining a foolish grin, felt as if the sky had fallen.
After all this effort to act like a beggar, he now had to intentionally dislocate his muscles and bones just to create a limp?
Drip.
Namgung Un wasn't even thinking of anything sad, but tears began to fall on their own.
“Do we really have to do this?”
“When Bone and Muscle Separation is performed for the first time, it can create injuries identical to those from a beating.”
Bu Eun-seol nodded and said.
“That way, we can get into the headquarters immediately without any complicated procedures.”
Namgung Un swallowed hard.
He looked down at his own legs.
Bone and Muscle Separation. A torture technique infamous in the martial world for ages.
Even famously tight-lipped assassins, or men of iron will. Once they experienced it, they were said to immediately become chatterboxes.
He had heard the name countless times, but Namgung Un couldn’t even begin to fathom the pain it would inflict.
“You can still give up now.”
“Give up? Who said anything about giving up?”
Hearing the word ‘give up,’ Namgung Un said, almost convulsively.
“I was just a bit taken aback. Start right away!”
His confident voice seemed to announce that he was indeed a proud scion of the Namgung family.
But before he knew it, a hard piece of wood was clamped tightly between his teeth.
And his eyes had already grown moist, like a misty fog.
“Kuaaargh!”
A bloodcurdling scream echoed in front of the Beggars' Sect headquarters.
Then, a skinny beggar carrying a fat beggar ran into the headquarters.
It was Bu Eun-seol and Namgung Un.
He had immediately performed the Bone and Muscle Separation on Namgung Un and then dashed straight for the headquarters.
There were many Beggars' Sect disciples around.
But no one dared to stop a beggar whose eyes had rolled back into his head and was foaming at the mouth.
“What’s going on?”
As they entered the headquarters, a middle-aged beggar who seemed to hold some rank asked Bu Eun-seol.
“We got beaten up while begging.”
At Bu Eun-seol’s words, the middle-aged beggar examined Namgung Un.
Seeing Namgung Un’s twisted leg and the numerous footprints all over his body, he clicked his tongue.
“Who dared to lay a hand on a sect disciple?”
“I don’t know. There was a flash before my eyes, and then we were just beaten senseless.”
“It seems some vicious martial artists have taken out their anger on our sect’s disciples again.”
Muttering in an angry voice, the middle-aged beggar looked at Bu Eun-seol’s and Namgung Un’s waists and clicked his tongue.
“Hmph, you don’t even have knots? No wonder you got beaten!”
The Beggars’ Sect has so many members spread across the Central Plains that it is common for them not to recognize one another.
Therefore, the sect gives its disciples knots to mark them as members and to indicate their identity and rank.
Newly initiated disciples are given one knot, marking them as One-Knot Disciples, but some of the dimmer beggars often lose them.
“Go to the Jangbangdong inside. You should be able to get some medicine there.”
“Thank you.”
Bu Eun-seol lifted Namgung Un in his arms and headed inside.
「Was it this easy?」
Namgung Un, who had recovered after collapsing and foaming at the mouth, sent a telepathic message.
「They even accept us as disciples of the sect without knots?」
「The Beggars’ Sect has a vast number of members, and Branch Leaders often recruit disciples indiscriminately from all over.」
Bu Eun-seol calmly sent his reply.
「Because of that, unless you’re a Two-Knot Disciple who formally learns martial arts, it’s hard to recognize faces.」
「That’s so sloppy. To not even be suspicious when we don’t have knots.」
「Not at all. He already ran several checks.」
Bu Eun-seol replied.
「Knots can be easily stolen from any beggar in the Central Plains. That’s why the Beggars’ Sect doesn’t even bother checking for them.」
Bu Eun-seol sent the message with an utterly serious expression.
「That beggar may have seemed to speak calmly, but he was actually checking many things. Think back on what just happened.」
Only then did Namgung Un recall the actions of the middle-aged beggar who had spoken to them.
He had carefully observed Bu Eun-seol’s running form and checked the filth on their clothes.
And while pretending to listen closely to their story, he had leaned in to smell the odor coming from their mouths.
「I see.」
He finally understood why Bu Eun-seol had made so many preparations before they entered the headquarters.
「He checked everything from our breath to our gait. To see if we were real beggars.」
「Correct. Among the sects of the righteous faction, the Beggars’ Sect is the organization that handles the most information. They may seem lax, but their security is thorough.」
Bu Eun-seol sent the message.
「That’s why no one can enter the headquarters unless they are a genuine beggar.」
Namgung Un nodded.
The Beggars' Sect, the leading intelligence organization of the righteous faction.
From the outside, it might seem like they just gather rumors and roughly deduce information.
But in reality, they had found a way to manage this vast number of people systematically and precisely.
By using their status as beggars.
「The Beggars’ Sect. A truly formidable place.」
As Namgung Un muttered, Bu Eun-seol arrived in front of a large cave on the west side of the headquarters.
It was the Jangbangdong, where injured beggars were treated.
Although it was called a ‘dong’ (cave), it was actually a proper building.
Perhaps because of the Beggars' Sect's history of living under bridges and in caves, they seemed to attach cave-related names even to perfectly fine buildings.
“Urgh.”
Bu Eun-seol deliberately let out a groan as he went inside.
Inside was a vast space, packed tightly with wooden cots.
And five or six Three-Knot Disciples were managing the injured.
“Looks like he took a beating. The leg muscles are badly twisted.”
The Three-Knot Disciple who approached Namgung Un examined his appearance and frowned.
‘A One-Knot Disciple. Can’t even keep track of his knot.’
Clicking his tongue inwardly, he took a medicinal balm from his robes.
“Apply this. It should ease the pain a little.”
What he offered was a cheap ointment, made from common herbs found in the forest.
It was said to be effective for bruises, but it was useless for such a severe injury. In other words, they were just giving him medicine for show.
“Can’t we lie down for a bit?”
At Bu Eun-seol’s words, the Three-Knot Disciple scowled.
“It’s the kind of injury that will heal with a few days of good rest. Lying around here won’t solve anything.”
Staying in the Jangbangdong meant you got three proper meals a day.
The Three-Knot Disciple, thinking Bu Eun-seol was after the food, waved his hand dismissively.
“Apply the medicine well, then go lie down somewhere sunny. That should help.”
The Beggars’ Sect was wealthy and well-off, but those benefits didn’t extend down to the One-Knot Disciples.
Bu Eun-seol cupped his hands as if he had no choice.
“Thank you.”
Then he carried Namgung Un outside.
After surveying the area, he sat down and made a spot for them under a large, ancient tree.
He took out the ointment they had received, carefully applied it to Namgung Un’s leg, and then observed his surroundings.
‘It’s a similar situation.’
Around the Jangbangdong, beggars who all seemed to be One-Knot Disciples were lying about, resting.
Unless you were a disciple of the Second Knot or higher who practiced martial arts, you couldn’t even lie down inside the Jangbangdong.
Though they were told to rest, One-Knot beggars couldn't just leisurely claim a spot and relax.
「How is it?」
「It really hurt at first, but I’m fine now.」
When Bu Eun-seol had used Bone and Muscle Separation to dislocate his knee and ankle joints, the pain had been truly earth-shattering.
His foaming at the mouth as he entered was not an act; it was real.
But as Bu Eun-seol applied the ointment, the pain completely subsided.
In truth, it wasn’t because of the ointment’s efficacy, but because Bu Eun-seol had reset the dislocated joints while applying it.
However, even though the joints were reset, his ankle and knee were still badly swollen, so he would have no choice but to walk with a limp for some time.
“Let’s rest here for half a day or so.”
Bu Eun-seol said this aloud on purpose, then flopped down next to Namgung Un.
In the headquarters, beggars could sprawl out and rest anywhere, and no one would say a word.
However, the reason he was lying here.
Was to make a distinct impression on the passing beggars.
No matter how many beggars there were, a new face was bound to stand out.
But by naturally blending into the scenery of the headquarters like this.
The people around them would come to think, ‘Ah, I’ve seen those guys around.’
But things in this world rarely go as planned. This was true even for Bu Eun-seol.
Thud, thud.
With the sound of footsteps, dozens of beggars were walking toward the ancient tree where Bu Eun-seol was resting.
At their head were a middle-aged beggar and a cute-looking female beggar.
As the dozens of beggars passed by, Namgung Un found himself looking their way without thinking.
‘Damn it.’
Bu Eun-seol was inwardly alarmed.
Namgung Un had the perfect appearance of a beggar, but there was one thing he still couldn’t hide.
His gaze.
When the female beggar passed, Namgung Un had looked at her with curiosity.
Halt.
At that, the middle-aged beggar looked at Namgung Un and Bu Eun-seol and stopped walking.
“…”
The middle-aged man swept his gaze over Bu Eun-seol and Namgung Un.
His internal energy seemed profound, his eyes were sharp, and they shone with wisdom.
He was Hae Pung, the Vice-Chief of the Beggars’ Sect, who had once joined hands with Bu Eun-seol.