Ch28 - The poor and the proud

Translator’s Note: The author’s self-proclaimed “dogblood flashbacks” go from Ch28-31. Word of warning: the Ming Kong in this story really is first-tier scum and has very little redeeming qualities. Things will get heavy from here on, so prepare yourself before you read! You may get angry, hahaha.

Ming Kong had just recovered his wits and reached out when Shen You withdrew his hands. He only ended up touching the silver ingot briefly, which rolled into his lap while his arm hung awkwardly in the air.

Xie Zhiwei was sure Shen You didn’t look down on others—he just liked cleanliness, so it was an instinctive reaction. Ming Kong was so filthy he didn’t even look human anymore, to say nothing of the grime encrusted so thickly on his hands that it would flake on contact. He dug out the ingot from his lap and murmured, “Many thanks.”

This money was nothing but a drop in Shen You’s wallet, but to Ming Kong it meant a long-time food expense. The two of them originally came from completely different worlds. At the very least, neither of them imagined that they would stand together one day.

Shen You nodded and turned to leave. But the man he’d beat up spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva and rose to his feet, howling. “Hold it! Got the guts to tell me your origins? Laozi will bring men to raid your house clean!”

Shen You didn’t turn back, but stopped—not because of the man, but because of the wooden-faced, black-robed figure heading towards him from the opposite direction.

“Senior brother,” he said.

Xie Zhiwei looked over. Yo, this fellow Nie Ting still had airs back then. He’s got a height of 1.9m and radiates an aura 5.6m meters wide, no wonder Ming Kong fears him so much.

Shen You’s expression was cool, but he consciously restrained his presence before Nie Ting to fade into the background. The latter swept his gaze over him and remarked, “Stirring up trouble as soon as you’re out and about.”

Shen You lowered his eyes without a word. The two of them had known each other for so long that Nie Ting understood Shen You’s sullen personality very well. His words might be gruff, but there was no reproach. He stepped forward and his expression truly turned cold. “Who said they were going to raid a house?”

He was tall and had been sect leader for many years, his presence best described in four words: overwhelming might and dominance.

Even the hubbub of the crowd quieted down at his voice. The bully was cowed as well, eyes wide at he stared. After a moment, he retorted with his mouth covered, “It was me, so what?!” Because Nie Ting was a full head taller, he had to use all the bravado in his body to speak up.

Nie Ting raised his eyelids to look at him before dropping his gaze again. “Ashen Cloud Mountain. Feel free to raid anytime.”

Back then, Ashen Cloud Sword Sect’s reputation was still powerful and even on par with Yujing Sect. Even Ming Kong in his corner couldn’t help muttering, “Ashen Cloud Mountain…” After the realization sank in, his eyes were filled with intense yearning and inferiority. Xie Zhiwei could guessed that he thirsted for the chance to stand with the likes of Nie Ting and Shen You in their world. But the richer the ideal, the more skeletal reality became. How could he feel anything but lowly?

Nie Ting was an imposing man at his peak, so his sentence naturally caused people to speculate. Someone studied his face closely before exclaiming, “So it’s Sect Leader Nie of Ashen Cloud Sword Sect!”

Immediately, another one reacted. “No wonder he looks so familiar. I have a relative’s neighbor’s son who went to cultivate at Ashen Cloud Sword Sect. I followed him once and chanced to glimpse him.”

“Not bad, not bad. Who else in the world is more suited to black robes that Sect Leader Nie?”

The bully choked on the blood and spit in his mouth and coughed furiously until the mess was dripping down his neck. When he realized who he was messing with, he sank to the ground. “Ashen…Ashen Cloud Sword Sect…”

Shen You stood quietly on the side, but the corners of his lips had quirked up.

As more exclamations of surprise spread through the crowd, Nie Ting muttered a noncommittal “Mm” before turning to Shen You. “Still not leaving?”

He didn’t wait for a reply before turning to walk away. Shen You withdrew his expression and quickly followed.

The two out-of-place figures quickly vanished from the marketplace. Soon enough, the crowd that stopped to watch the ruckus scattered as well. Ming Kong kept staring in the direction where Nie Ting and Shen You had left. A long time passed before he looked down and rubbed the placed where he’d stored the silver in his robes. He looked up dazed for a bit longer before sighing, rising to his feet, and heading towards a small lane hidden behind the corner of a wall.

Ten steps in, the lane became the narrow space between two houses where the eaves overlapped. It made a perfect cover for the sun and rain. Still Ming Kong kept darting glances back, afraid of being tailed while carrying money with him.

Someone abruptly tackled him and cried, “Boss! Are you okay?!”

Leaving aside Ming Kong, even Xie Zhiwei was startled. When he calmed down to look, he saw another ragamuffin about ten years old, his voice young and tender. Ming Kong shoved him aside and said with some relief, “It’s fine.”

The little urchin stuck out his tongue. “Boss, I was scared to earth. I almost ran out to beat that bastard up.”

Ming Kong looked at him and snickered. “Like hells I believe that. You’d only get beat up yourself.”

The urchin glanced at him and wheedled, “Boss, are we rich now?” His stomach grumbled a few times right after that.

Ming Kong didn’t reply as he slowly took out the silver ingot. The urchin’s eyes immediately stared at it.

Ming Kong gripped the silver and looked up to meet his eyes, “Ah-Er, this is a very important item to me. That immortal from Ashen Cloud Sword Sect personally placed it into my hands. If it was anyone else, they wouldn’t want to spend it, either.”

The urchin called Ah-Er gulped before shaking his head with difficulty. “Then…then we won’t spend it. We…we can go begging some more.”

Beneath the hot sun, both boys were covered in a sour stink. Ming Kong saw a bit of mud staining the silver and tried to wipe it off, but his dirty hands only made the smear more conspicuous. He suddenly laughed and rapped Ah-Er on the head. “But I’m nobody and I can’t let this money rot in my hands just to starve. You wait here, I’ll go buy some food right now.”

Ah-Er didn’t understand. “Boss, didn’t you say it’s very important to you? You’re not gonna keep it?”

Ming Kong was already heading for the exit, his tone careless. “Nope. If I keep this silver, I won’t be able to keep other things.”

Ah-Er was confused as he stared after the retreating back. “Boss…what else does he want to keep?”

Xie Zhiwei stood unmoving while the scene shifted to match Ming Kong’s footsteps. He recalled the version of the story that Ming Kong had told him before. There was no bully, no Nie Ting, no awful stink or even this hot, scorching summer. Instead, it was only the pure encounter of a passerby and a beggar in the snow.

If that story was true, it’d certainly be poetically beautiful. But the real memory was completely different. There was probably nothing genuine about Ming Kong at all. Xie Zhiwei really didn’t know what to say to him.

—

Although Ming Kong had ten taels’ worth of silver, he was very stingy and only bought a few mantou before heading to a clothes shop next door. Under the shopkeeper’s contemptuous gaze, he selected a set of the cheapest clothing. Because of their price, they were cheaply made and the dullest shade of gray. But he still carefully wiped his hands until they weren’t so dirty before folding up the robes and hiding them in some grass beneath a tree.

These were probably the most expensive clothes Ming Kong had owned in his life. Of course, only relative to that year.

Ah-Er was equally pleased by the mantou. The two of them sat down and devoured the lot like wolves as if mantou was tastier than meat.

“The white buns are real ‘ummy,” Ah-Er slurred as he chewed, “Boss, wou’dn’t it be grea’ if we could eat ’em for the rest of ou’ lives?”

“Eat for the rest of our lives…” Ming Kong paused while chewing, then swallowed hard and continued to munch his bun.

Xie Zhiwei couldn’t resist a yawn as he watched the scene, bored.

Soon, the surroundings shifted again. Since it was the hero controlling the illusion, he called he shots. Nie Ting, Mu He, and himself were basically audience members in three separate booths watching the same movie. Perhaps Mu He felt it was boring too and decided to fast forward.

Now it was night. Ming Kong sat up from his bed of straw. Next to him Ah-Er was still snoring away, but Ming Kong’s eyes were bright with no signs of sleepiness. He remained sitting for awhile before looking up to see a crescent moon hanging in the sky, nearly eclipsed by the light of the stars around it. From his waist he felt out some objects and carefully set them by Ah-Er’s hand. Then he gave a long sigh and slowly rose to his feet, his movements so small that Ah-Er still didn’t notice by the time he made it out of the lane.

He went to the tree where he’d hid his clothes and scanned the surroundings before exhaling. Hugging the clothes to his chest, he ran out of the city by the light of the stars without a single look back.

The scene shifted again. This time an unkempt Ming Kong was licking his parched lips while staring at the large mountain before him with delight in his eyes. Xie Zhiwei looked too and realized it was Ashen Cloud Mountain. This bro’s got some perseverance.

Even revenge seekers wouldn’t be so persistent as to beg their entire way like Ming Kong did until he reached Ashen Cloud Sword Sect.

Ming Kong looked around and followed the sound of water to a stream. He caught sight of his grimy reflection and began to undress. At last, Xie Zhiwei thought, he can finally use his new clothes.

Obviously Mu He was getting impatient, because he skipped past this scene too. Next they reached a scene where Ashen Cloud Sword Sect was accepting disciples. Ming Kong stood in the crowd with his inconspicuous gray robes and his hair tied up with twine, looking clean at last. Although it couldn’t compare to his later style as a sect elder, he was already a completely different person from the beggar of the past.

Shen You never remembered the dust and grime of the lower world, so he naturally didn’t recognize Ming Kong now. He was currently standing next to Nie Ting and expressionlessly observing the hordes of people coming to enter their sect, giving him a natural air of superiority.

Ming Kong had actually made up a somewhat decent backstory for himself. He said his parents were both dead and his family had fallen on hard times, but he’d always admired Ashen Cloud Sword Sect. Thus, he sold the last of his family possessions and came here to seek a master. He was quite restrained and didn’t glance at his benefactor even though the man was nearby.

Xie Zhiwei felt that people like him were the most frightening ones of all. They acted like a grandson at the start just so they could be grandpa by the end. The reason he held back from staring at Shen You then was so he could possess him utterly in the future.

Later results proved both observations true.

Ming Kong’s ordinary backstory, combined with all his efforts to maintain a loyal and filial image, made him finally acceptable enough to be taken in as a disciple by a sect elder. His teacher wasn’t particularly high-ranked or well-cultivated and only looked after the sect’s miscellaneous chores. His disciples ended up running around performing duties for the sect as a whole. While others complained, Ming Kong saw this as a good opportunity because he could use the excuse of working to go freely all around the sect.

Naturally, such places also included Shen You’s personal residence.