Tao Geming wandered the cruddy streets, his face contorted into a perpetual scowl. As he came across a lone beggar, the intensity of his expression loosened slightly. The man was sat on the ground, his muddy clothes still not completely dry after the night's downpour, and his face covered by a wide straw hat.
Tao Geming, with a flick of his fingers, sent the golden tael in his pocket into the man's empty begging bowl. Its heavy weight nearly toppled the clay bowl over. As Tao Geming made to leave, he heard a gruff voice emerge from beneath the straw hat.
"That smells more like iron than gold. Just how much blood did you spill to get this, mister?"
Tao Geming stopped dead in his tracks. He turned back to the beggar.
"Never seen a picky beggar before." He spat. The beggar shook his head, the straw hat atop it angling back to reveal his bearded, broad, tired face. The two stared each other down.
"If a guy like me gets seen carrying gold, who knows what might happen?" The beggar complained.
"If you don't want it, throw it away."
Unabated, the beggar continued. "If you're in the mood to make some amends, surely someone like you could think of a better way than offloading your ill-gotten gains on strangers? Or maybe you'd like to hear a few suggestions?"
"I've got nothing to make amends for. Save your little sermon for when it might make a difference."
"When could it possibly make a bigger difference than now?" The beggar asked. "Wouldn't you say that it's people like you that turned the world into what it is now?"
"What in the blazes are you yapping about, you bum?"
"It's because you and every other fellow with a lick of strength in them proclaim themselves king that things have gotten so bad."
Tao Geming chuckled. "So you watched me fight. Just where do you find the courage to talk back after that, old bum? Had enough of your shitty life?"
The beggar continued. "Mountains of corpses cannot be used to purchase legitimacy, not even in an age as depraved as this. Keep sailing up the river of blood, and you'll eventually find yourself drowning in it."
"Ha! Who do you think you're bullshitting, beggar? If you had even a lick of strength of your own, you'd be out there fighting and killing for the good life just like all the rest of us. Listen well - there will be no retribution for anything I've done. Karma exists only in the bitter dreams of the downtrodden. I've wandered the world twice over and found not a single man that could be my match. So spare yourself the mental anguish and get those naive thoughts out of your head. The next man you mouth off to might not be so magnanimous as to let you off the hook."
"You say that, but aren't you forced to wander because you aren't welcome anywhere? So how are you better than me?"
"I go where I please and take what I want. That's what it means to be king!" Tao Geming swelled up with pride. The beggar just wrinkled his nose.
"I, too, go where I please, and for anything I need, I beg. But it seems to me that neither of us has got anything to truly call our own. People are never happy to have me around, and I'm guessing the same goes for you, too. But even so, I'd wager folks would rather have me around than you."
Tao Geming burst into laughter. "You've certainly earned that gold, beggar. If you throw your lot in as a jester, you just might joke your way into a decent life."
Tao Geming waved him off and walked away. The beggar watched him leave, a sullen look in his eye, and then covered his face with his hat.
But little did the poor man know that his nap would last hardly an hour before a long shadow hid the sun from him once more.
...
While the Golden Witch and Cui Shen explored the market stalls, Bai Guo was charged with getting them all rooms at a nearby inn. He had accomplished the task uneventfully, and took his time as he began to leave, taking in the wafting scents of roasted meats and captivating spices, the lavish decor, and even the colorful garments of the refined clientele.
"Uncle Zhong could learn a thing or two from this place..." Just as the thought crossed his mind, his heavy feet got tangled up with each other, and Bai Guo ended up plunging face-first into the floor. His hands desperately spread out for something to latch onto. He was fortunate enough to grasp a table, only to find it coming down together with him, dragging along its many contents.
The commotion caused by the falling boy and the deafening clatter of silver was overwhelmed by a frustrated scream. "Oh, for the love of...!"
Before Bai Guo had the chance to get back on his feet, he found himself getting pulled up by his clothing.
"Look at what you've done!" A young man around his age shouted at him indignantly. His attire of yellow-and-red was soiled by a sharp-smelling beverage. Right beside him, a young woman wearing an identical uniform stared at the spilled drinks and dishes in shock, her mouth covered with her hands.
"Senior martial brother!" She wailed. "Now the whole day is ruined!"
Bai Guo bowed his head low. "My apologies! I tripped."
The young man turned up his nose. "An apology isn't good enough! Do you see this? I am Hou Wencheng, the apprentice of a third rank expert!" Bai Guo lifted his head to find the martial artist pointing at some emblems emblazoned on his shoulder. He saw the symbol for "Qin", and the number one.
"I don't know what that means..." He freely admitted, to the continued shock of the young man and his female companion.
"It means I am a member of the Qin Royal Dynasty Sword School, you nincompoop! What backwater did you crawl out of that you didn't even know that? Who let you into this place?" The young man shot his cuffs. "What it means is that you're in a world of trouble if you don't recompense me for my uniform and my order immediately!"
Bai Guo, having had just give his lone gold tael to the proprietor, had nothing to give. He lowered his head again. "I don't have any money on me now, but if you just let me go fetch my master, you'll be compensated."
"A likely story!" Hou Wencheng scoffed, and continued to press. "Who's your master?"
"The Golden Witch is my master."
After a pause, he heard laughter. "You're a real riot! Oh, oh, let me guess. Your senior martial brother must be the Silver Sorcerer. And you yourself must be the Copperless Conman! Shall I wait for the Money Fairy to leave the compensation under my pillow?"
His companion giggled. The observing patrons, too, derived a chuckle out of his words.
It was only then that Bai Guo began to feel frustrated. Ridiculing him for a blunder that he had truly made was one thing, but what the disciple of the Qin was saying now could very well constitute an insult against his master.
"You don't have money, but you've got a sword. Give it to me, I can pawn it off." The young man suddenly demanded.
"This is my father's sword..."
"Mmm. Let me guess. He's the Iron Soothsayer?"
Laughter picked up again at his joke. Bai Guo raised his head, resentment on his face. The Qin disciple placed one arm behind his back and put the other one forward, waving the young man forward with just his fingers.
"Hand it over, or I'll take it myself."
As the ultimatum was declared, the inn turned silent. Anyone with any amount of martial aptitude in the room recognized that the disciple had taken up a fighting stance.
Neither of them was willing to budge on this matter. As their staredown continued, tension grew.
Finally, Bai Guo lunged forward with great alacrity.
Hou Wencheng's eyes widened, his body moving desperately to counter.
Unexpectedly, Bai Guo slipped on the drinks he himself had spilled, and ended up barreling towards his opponent's legs. Hou Wencheng's punch, aimed at where the young man's head would have been, had missed the mark entirely, and he found himself tumbling to the floor in tow with his foe.
They both tangled with the other. Back and forth they rolled, exchanging curses but hardly a single blow, each trying to wrestle back the initiative.
The scuffle soon ended in Bai Guo's favor as he secured his place at the top, his fist lifted high into the air.
But once again he had found himself being dragged about by his clothing, something pulling him by the collar of his shirt so fiercely that he was nearly suffocating.
Bai Guo heard the grumbling voice of an older man. "They'll let anyone into the Clear Essence Pavilion these days..."
Hou Wencheng, watching his opponent getting slid along the floor, shouted, "Master Kang Shi!" His female companion echoed his words, and they both bowed respectfully.
No matter how much he struggled, Bai Guo could not get free, the man's fingers like a steel vice. Soon, they were right by the entrance. They briefly halted by the closed door, though Bai Guo suspected that this was not quite the end of the road for him. As the man opened it, to the young man's surprise, his transit was halted completely.
"Oh my!" The man dragging him along exclaimed. Bai Guo contorted his body - Hou Wencheng's master still refused to let go of his collar - and peered past his sleeves.
"Master!" Bai Guo was greatly relieved to see the peerlessly tall figure of the Golden Witch tilting over to peek through the doorway.
"Would you, perhaps, care to explain what you're doing to my disciple?" She asked.
The man chuckled. "Your disciple? Your disciple has caused a great deal of trouble, and I was just about to toss him out."
"Really? What did he do?"
"He spilled my disciple's food and, when pressed for compensation, started a fight with him." The man explained.
"Did he win?" Her next question caught him off-guard. He laughed.
"Of course not! As if some country bumpkin could beat a member of the Royal School."
"So are you, perhaps, cleaning up after your disciple?"
Kang Shi found this question far less amusing than the last. There were several implications contained within, all of them insulting to his reputation and dignity.
He forced out a smile. "Why don't we stop disrupting the guests here and continue this conversation outside? You call yourself a martial artist, don't you? While we're at it, if you would be so kind, how about giving me some pointers? What was your esteemed name again...?"
The Golden Witch turned away, suddenly speaking to someone out of sight. "What does that phrase mean? To give some pointers?"
"...It means he wants to fight you." Cui Shen's glum voice came from the side.
Bai Guo, still stuck on the floor, sweated profusely.
"That's fine, then." The blonde woman replied lightly, stepping away. As her grandiose figure ceased looming over the entrance, the other master followed, and the three disciples as well as most of the patrons came rushing out to watch the show.
The townspeople seemed to immediately recognize the situation for what it was, steering clear of the two martial artists. Foot traffic had immediately grown sparse.
Kang Shi's long dark hair had begun to gray around his temples, but the man's complexion was healthy and ruddy, only a scant few thin wrinkles around his forehead. Bai Guo's eyes were drawn to the number three emblazoned on his shoulder. Kang Shi crossed his arms behind his back as he stared down his amber eyed foe from a few meters away.
"Well?" He broke the thick silence. "Shall I make the first move?" He sarcastically added, "Care to grace us with your renowned name before we begin?"
"Go ahead." She replied. Kang Shi felt a pang of frustration prod at his heart as the woman repeatedly refused to name herself.
The distance between them was gone in the space of a single breath. The observers gasped at his dexterity.
...