Guo Jing was still talking with the three children.
Huang Rong walked slowly out of the ruined temple.
She reached into her robes and pulled out a signal arrow.
With a flick of a fire striker, the fuse lit up with a pinpoint of red light.
The next instant.
Whoosh—!
A sharp whistle soared into the sky.
Immediately after.
Bang!
A brilliant burst of crimson fire exploded in the sky above Jiaxing City.
The flash of light could be seen from far away.
Inside the ruined temple, Yang Guo looked up, feeling a bit amused by the novelty.
He used to only know that the Beggar Sect was well-informed, but today he was seeing it with his own eyes.
Though they were beggars, there was no denying they had their own intelligence network.
If someone farted in the east of the city, the west side might know what it smelled like a moment later.
With this organizational capability, no wonder they could become the number one sect under the heavens.
Huang Rong quickly walked back inside and patted her cuffs:
"Guo'er."
"I have already issued a sect order."
"Once the people from the Jiaxing branch see it..."
"...they will come over shortly to pick up these two little brothers."
Yang Guo rubbed his sore, aching arms, his eyes darting slyly, and blurted out:
"Aunt Guo, since we're on the subject, could you make my two brothers elders directly?"
"One step to the top, so we save the trouble later."
Guo Jing froze in surprise as he listened from the side. Far from being angry, he squatted down instead, his face brimming with a warm smile:
"Guo'er."
"Elders of the Beggar Sect are all people who have performed merits in the sect for many years, possessing both seniority and prestige."
"We can't just appoint them casually."
Standing to the side, Huang Rong found it quite amusing.
This child had just been wearing a face full of sorrow over parting moments ago.
And the next second he was already trying to secure positions for his brothers.
If Guo Fu ever dared to make such an absurd request...
...Guo Jing would have long since turned dark-faced, slammed the table, and barked, "Stop this nonsense!"
Yet when it came to Yang Guo, Hero Guo's patience was softer than spring waters, and even his voice was hushed.
He was even explaining it sentence by sentence.
Anyone who didn't know better would think this child was his own son.
Yang Guo didn't give up, however:
"Uncle Guo."
"Don't people say it's good to enjoy the shade under a big tree?"
"We have this connection after all."
"Can't we go through the back door?"
Just as Guo Jing was about to speak...
...Yang Guo added another line:
"It doesn't need to be too big either."
"Just a little elder will do."
Guo Jing: "?"
Were elders divided into big and little?
Huang Rong burst out laughing upon hearing this. Far from finding Yang Guo annoying...
...she felt the boy possessed a streetwise air, revealing an unpretentious cleverness.
Huang Rong said with a smile:
"Guo'er."
"You certainly don't treat us as strangers."
Yang Guo held out his hands and said:
"I've lived in a ruined temple for so many years."
"If I treated everything like a stranger..."
"...wouldn't I have starved to death long ago?"
Huang Rong smiled and shook her head, walking over to the straw mat and saying:
"Guo'er, it's not that your Aunt Guo is stingy."
"Though our Beggar Sect is a den of beggars, it's not a fatuous and corrupt official Yamen."
"The thing we taboo most is going through the back door and breaking the rules."
Huang Rong held up a finger and gestured slightly:
"Sect disciples rely entirely on the cloth bags sewn onto their clothes to determine their rank and status; one bag is the lowest, and nine bags is the highest."
"Even Elder Lu Youjiao, whose name shakes the jianghu, fought for most of his life to earn a torn coat with nine bags."
"New disciples without a speck of achievement naturally must start from the very bottom."
"In the future, only by delivering messages, aiding in disasters, or slaying enemies to gain merits can they add bags level by level."
"Rising to eight bags already makes one a person of immense standing in the sect."
"Reaching nine bags makes one an elder who governs with hands folded."
Huang Rong shifted her tone slightly and comforted them with a smile:
"However, these two little brothers possess pure and kind dispositions. If they practice martial arts and perform their duties well from now on, there is great hope for them to earn three cloth bags within a year."
Squatting behind them, Little Shitou felt his head spinning.
He hurriedly reached out and tightly grabbed the corner of Yang Guo's clothes, swallowing hard as he anxiously urged:
"Yang Guo! Three bags! Three bags is enough!"
"Three cloth bags can hold eight or ten meat buns!"
"If I really became a nine-bag elder and had nine cloth bags hanging on me every day, wouldn't my waist snap?!"
"Three bags is fine! At most, three bags for me!"
Pfft hahaha!
A burst of laughter instantly erupted inside the ruined temple, and even the normally stern Guo Jing laughed until tears came to his eyes.
...
After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.
From the wild grass outside the temple came a steady and dense sound of footsteps.
Leading them was an old beggar over sixty years of age, with greying hair and a slightly hunched back, though his coarse patched clothes were washed spotlessly clean.
Most eye-catching of all were eight small coarse-hemp cloth bags hanging neatly across his chest!
Behind him closely followed several disciples, some four-bag and some five-bag.
The moment they entered the ruined temple, they lifted their front hems and bowed with cupped hands:
"Li Sanwang of the Jiaxing branch greets the Sect Chief! Greetings, Hero Guo!"
Huang Rong gestured gently to raise them up:
"Branch Chief Li."
"No need for formalities."
Yang Guo looked at the eight bags on Li Sanwang's body.
He immediately did the math in his head.
An eight-bag disciple was already a branch chief.
Earlier, he had opened his mouth wanting to get Aniu and Little Shitou nine-bag elder posts.
To directly arrange for two little beggars who couldn't even read a handful of characters to enter the top leadership of the Beggar Sect...
...he really had some nerve dreaming that up.
Li Sanwang straightened up and said:
"Chief, you summoned your subordinate here..."
"...is there an important matter?"
Huang Rong pointed at Aniu and Little Shitou:
"These two children have shown me kindness."
"Take them back to the branch and settle them in properly."
"Be sure to select a few reliable brothers to teach them basic Beggar Sect fists and kicks to strengthen their bodies, and never let others bully them."
Li Sanwang cupped his hands forcefully and spoke with absolute resolve:
"Your subordinate understands."
"Rest assured, Chief Huang! Since they are your benefactors, they are the benefactors of our Jiaxing branch!"
"We will certainly treat them well."
Li Sanwang took another glance at Yang Guo.
Although he didn't know who this young man was...
...seeing how Hero Guo remained standing by the youth's side, his weight was naturally far from light.
Li Sanwang continued:
"Since these two little brothers are willing to join our Beggar Sect..."
"...they will be our own people from now on."
"They won't go hungry."
"And no one will be able to bully them at will."
Aniu cared most about the first sentence:
"Will we really not go hungry?"
Li Sanwang was stunned for a moment:
"Of course! You won't go hungry."
Aniu visibly heaved a sigh of relief.
Yang Guo supported his sore knees and shakily stood up from the straw mat.
Guo Jing instinctively reached out to support Yang Guo.
Yang Guo said, "Uncle Guo, I'm fine."
Yang Guo abandoned his previous cheeky demeanor.
He solemnly bowed deep and cupped his hands toward Li Sanwang.
His eyes turned red, and his voice even carried a faint tremor:
"Senior Li."
"My two brothers are slow-witted and clumsy. In the past, when grabbing food on the streets, they could only pick up rotten vegetables and spoiled fruits left behind by others."
Yang Guo gritted his teeth and continued softly:
"In the future, after they enter the sect, they will inevitably act foolishly and cause trouble."
"If they break the rules, I beg you to raise your hand leniently. Give them a few light hits with a cane so they learn their lesson, but please never drive them away..."
"They... aside from this ruined temple, have no other home left."
Standing to the side, Guo Jing looked at Yang Guo's slender yet straight back, wiping the corners of his eyes in deep gratification.
Li Sanwang was even more deeply moved; he stepped forward quickly and held up Yang Guo's arms:
"Little brother, rest assured! Once they enter our Beggar Sect, they are our own brothers!"
Aniu and Little Shitou could no longer hold back; they rushed forward and hugged Yang Guo in a tight bundle.
Aniu cried until his face was covered in tears, fiercely clutching Yang Guo's neck.
Yang Guo patted Aniu's back and cried as he said:
"Aniu, you're older than both of us and usually take care of us the most."
"In the future, when trouble strikes, don't always foolishly charge ahead. Little Shitou is gluttonous, take care of him more!"
Yang Guo turned his head and stared at Little Shitou:
"Little Shitou, you need to be a bit sharper."
"When you practice martial arts in the future, don't be stubborn, and don't push yourself into a corner."
"Don't keep kicking off the blanket when sleeping at night."
As Little Shitou listened, his nose grew sorer and sorer.
"Are you done nagging?"
Yang Guo chuckled:
"Fine, then I won't say any more."
Yet Little Shitou hugged him suddenly, holding him deathly tight.
Standing nearby, Aniu also hugged them in an instant.
The three of them.
They squeezed straight into one bunch.
Neither of them said another word.
...
In the past, if they fought over half a piece of cake, they could bicker for half a day.
They would even argue over who got to sleep against the wall.
Aniu snored.
Little Shitou ground his teeth.
And sometimes in the middle of the night, Yang Guo would kick them both awake.
Yet when the time to part truly arrived...
...all those annoying little things...
...suddenly became precious memories they couldn't bear to leave behind.
Yang Guo's nose grew sore, and in the end, unable to hold back any longer, he burst into tears.
While crying, Little Shitou stammered unclearly:
"Yang Guo, when you go to Peach Blossom Island..."
"...don't forget us."
Yang Guo slapped him hard on the shoulder:
"Nonsense."
...
Li Sanwang bid farewell to Guo Jing and Huang Rong along with his disciples, leading the two young boys out of the temple door.
Aniu and Little Shitou looked back at every step, tearfully waving to Yang Guo.
Supporting himself against the ruined mud wall, Yang Guo stared unblinkingly at their departing figures.
Until the figures grew smaller and smaller.
In the past, the three of them had huddled inside this drafty, leaky ruined temple because they had nowhere else to go.
Today, each of them finally had a clear path forward to live on.
Only when they had a path to walk for the first time did they realize—
Parting, as it turns out, is harder than going hungry.
Rate on N.U.
