'What is that?'
Chung Myung shook his head to clear his mind, only to find something shiny in front of him.
'Huh?'
At the same time, the sound of metal clicking could be heard.
"Tsk Tsk Tsk. He's still so young. How did he end up as a beggar?"
Clink.
Clink.
Coins started flying towards Chung Myung.
"It looks like he's been beaten pretty badly; looks like he'll die soon."
"Such a terrible world. What a pitiful kid."
'What?'
What was happening…
'Ah.'
'That's right, I'm a beggar, aren't I? I forgot for a second.'
To everyone else, Chung Myung looked like a beggar. No, he was a beggar in his own eyes too. He was a young child who hadn't reached adulthood yet. He was so severely beaten that his eyes were puffy and blue while blood clotted his open wounds…
And such a beggar was lying flat on the street.
"Ugh. He can't survive without our help."
"I can't just watch a child suffer like that without help. What sort of person would do such a thing?"
A raggedy young beggar, with underdeveloped limbs and covered in dust, seemed to be dying.
No, it didn't merely look like he was dying; Chung Myung was really dying.
How else could such a perfect beggar scene be witnessed from him?
Coin kept flying into view, one after another.
"Tsk. Tsk."
"No matter how I look at him, he's just a beggar. How did he get here?"
It seemed like the world still had kindness in it.
People were clicking their tongues as they passed by Chung Myung before tossing a few coins in his direction. Looking at the coins that came pouring in, Chung Myung couldn't restrain the tears in his eyes.
"Oh my! He's crying. Poor thing, it sure is pitiful."
"Go and buy yourself some noodles with that money."
The warmth was too much. However, the reason why Chung Myung was shedding tears wasn't due to the kindness he received.
'A disciple of the Great Mount Hua Sect has been reduced to begging!'
How did he fall so low?
Until just a few days ago, he was the greatest swordsman in the world. He risked his life and went to battle Chun Ma, who was about to usher in a new era of chaos. Before that, he was the most elegant swordsman that roamed the world.
But now, he was here begging. The world was finding new ways to wound him!
'I have some pride too!'
If he accepted the money, then he would truly turn into a beggar. What a beggar he would be, a noble swordsman of the great Mount Hua who earned his living clutching the ankles of others. As if he would actually pick up the money! It was a truly impossible task for Chung Myung.
Chung Myung had a warrior's pride. He would never give up. Even when there was a blade about to slit his throat, he refused to bend or break!
Chung Myung raised his head while clenching his teeth and shouted!
"Thank you so much! You will be blessed, sir!"
His pride was long dead.
He had to live.
"Kyaaaa~!"
Chung Myung patted his bulging belly. He looked weird, like a tadpole with a slim body that held no charm and a convex belly.
"Self~ esteem~ went to~ drain~ with the food. Better to live as a beggar~ than die!"
Due to his small stature, he couldn't eat much.
Just three dumplings were enough to make his stomach bulge out. He still had three coins left up his sleeve.
Coins that he would have never picked up in his past life looked like treasures in this new life.
'I never would have thought that money was so important.'
Chung Myung remembered the words of his Sahyung, who would always hold his head in agony on the last day of each month.
– Warriors need to be obsessed with wealth!
If possible, Chung Myung wanted to go back to those days and ease his Sahyung's suffering!
'My stomach is actually full.'
A young beggar was mouthing his complaints off to a ghost.
Chung Myung had to keep himself from crying when he thought of his hard-working, money-obsessed, Sahyung's final moments in the battle with .
'Anyway.'
"First, I need to live."
Chung Myung scratched his head.
He left without a plan, and he had no idea how to get to Shaanxi.
'I underestimated how far away 2,000 miles is.'
Chung Myung began to reflect on his actions. All of his plans revolved around the abilities of his previous body. Even though he knew that his body and the circumstances had changed, it wasn't an easy task to adapt to his new body overnight.
In the past, he would've reached Shaanxi in half a day. He would have even stopped for a cold drink at an inn beneath Mount Hua, but now, heading to Mount Hua with his deprived body was a risky venture.
Even if Chung Myung could defeat any mountain bandits or beasts, there was no way he could overcome hunger.
His mind felt burdened as he realized that the journey, he expected to be easy, turned into an epic journey that could cost him the life he had just regained.
'But I can't just beg my way to Shaanxi.'
Chung Myung scratched his head, feeling lost.
"I need to find a way, but I need to understand what I need to find a way!"
He wasn't aware of it when he first awoke, but a hundred years had passed since his era. It was no exaggeration to say that Chung Myung had no idea how the current world worked. But… how should he go about finding out?
"Hey!"
An average person would take more than two months to get to Shaanxi. It wouldn't be too strange to believe that, with Chung Myung's frail body, it could take up to half a year to reach Mount Hua.
"Hey!"
It was horrifying and frustrating for Chung Myung, who desperately wanted to see Mount Hua's condition with his own eyes. He had to find a way, but right now, not a single thing came to his mind…
"Hey, you bastard! You deaf or something?"
"Huh?"
Chung Myung turned his head.
'What now?'
He heard everything clearly, but he didn't think that someone would be calling for him. There was no reason why anyone would talk to a beggar.
Three beggars were glaring down at him with ugly faces.
'They look like beggars.'
His current life seemed to be intertwined with beggars in many ways.
"Me?"
"You? Who else could I be calling? What the hell is wrong with you!?"
The ugly beggar standing in front of Chung Myung spat on the floor.
"I don't know what hole you crawled out from, but who gave you permission to beg here?"
Was permission needed to beg?
"You're still a child, so I'll spare your life. Take out everything you have, including the money you have hidden in your sleeve, and leave this place."
The remainder of Chung Myung's limited funds were stashed in his sleeves and in his hands…
Chung Myung looked down at his hand. They were the leftovers, the cold dumplings.
"… you people have no conscience. You bastards!"
Take this away? This little bit of food too? What was he supposed to eat!?
"You beggar!"
Whoa, a beggar was cursing at another beggar for being a beggar. It felt like he was spitting on his own face.
"Wait a minute."
Chung Myung carefully placed the dumplings to the side.
He then stood up, stretched his hand forward a couple times, took a step ahead, then one step behind, and repeated that several times.
The beggars, who were watching the strange scene, rolled their eyes.
"What are you doing now?"
"Ah. Wait just a moment. I'll be done soon."
After stretching his arms and legs a couple more times, Chung Myung got up.
"It's not entirely perfect, but this should be enough."
After his odd routine, Chung Myung had managed to get a sense of distance and understand the length of his reach. Even with his short limbs, he managed to adapt.
So!
"You guys are about to be very upset; I have a grudge against beggars."
"… What?"
"Don't you understand what I'm saying? Well, that's just how the world is. It's messed up. Don't be too pissed off; just accept it and move on."
"What is this bastard talking about!?"
Chung Myung cracked his neck.
"Ah. By the way, I can't hit very hard because my body is weak. So, you're going to get hit a whole lot to make up for it."
"This crazy…"
At that moment, Chung Myung lunged ahead and punched the face of the beggar standing at the front.
Ack!
A proper step. A fully extended fist that gathered strength through the gentle rotation of the waist utilising strongly grounded legs.
Chung Myung's fist slammed right into the beggar's face, and the sound was like slamming a bamboo stick against a wall.
Thud!
The beggar who got hit with the unexpected blow silently collapsed on the spot.
Seeing that, Chung Myung smiled.
"You!"
Puck!
He kicked another beggar.
"I am Plum Blossom Sword Saint of the Great Mount Hua! You bastards!"
At that moment, all his accumulated resentment after reincarnation exploded.
"… esteemed sir."
"Does a beggar look like an esteemed sir?"
"Great beggar…?"
"Should I hit you again?"
The beggars, who had their asses handed to them, whined.
'Where did this monster come from?'
'It hurts so much that I could die.'
A couple hits were all it took for Chung Myung to subdue these beggars. It was shocking that a child knocked out three grown adults, and it was clearly a disastrous result for the three of them.
'It's going to take some time to get used to this body.'
It didn't take much to subdue them. But if he had been in his previous body, he would have turned them into rice cakes with just one finger.
But now, he had to kick, run, roll and even punch to subdue the beggars. One of them kept getting up after every hit, so Chung Myung had to slap him 38 times.
'That Jong Pal…Cho Pal? …Whatever it was, that bastard should also be taught like this.'
Just thinking about him made Chung Myung gnash his teeth.
If only he had known how short his new limbs were in advance! If only he had the stamina to get up after being beaten, he could have beaten Pal Cho.
He was in a hurry to get back to Mount Hua, so he couldn't even take revenge. One day, however, one day he would definitely catch that beggar and teach him a lesson.
"Men."
"Yes!"
The three beggars jumped up. Sweat trickled down their face. All three of them looked at Chung Myung.
'No matter how I see it, he looks like a beggar who couldn't even lift a bag of rice.'
'This makes no sense!'
Totally incomprehensible.
Small, weak, and thin.
On the surface, he looked weak and frail; no one expected that he could fight so fiercely. So, when they got close, they ended up seeing stars. Their fists never even touched Chung Myung's clothes.
Chung Myung wasn't very fast or strong, so why did they lose to him?
"Hey!"
"Yes!"
"Please give your orders! Esteemed sir! No, esteemed beggar! Ah, no!"
What's the point in understanding? It takes time to convince someone but beating them is quick. The only important thing was that the young beggar's punches hurt like hell.
Chung Myung glanced at the beggars and opened his mouth.
"I am just asking; do you know how to reach Shaanxi quickly?"
The beggars looked at each other and smiled. Chung Myung began to feel like there was some hope when he saw their expressions.
"Hahaha. You are asking something obvious."
"Oh? Really?"
"If we knew something like that, why would we be begging? At least ask something worthwhile."
"…"
Chung Myung looked at the beggars and sighed deeply.
These guys weren't wrong. At the very least, it was his mistake to seek a path from a beggar.
"Enough. Go away."
"Thank you!"
"Be strong!"
The beggars bowed their heads and turned around, ready to run away. No, they tried to run away.
"Hold it."
At that moment, Chung Myung's words froze them in place.
"Yes?"
"It is fine to flee but take out everything in your hands and pockets and leave them here."
"…"
"You came up behind me while I was eating, so one coin… no, ten coins. Trust me, it is better than getting hit again."
Realising how sincere he sounded, the beggars relinquished the coins in their pockets and quickly escaped.
"Ugh, you."
"Yes?"
"Take off everything aside from your underwear before I take them off for you."
"…"
It was a horrific scene where a beggar was being robbed in daylight.