Despite Jeok Wigang’s words, Listening-Eye Beggar continued struggling to move.
He even drew upon his inner qi, but his body refused to budge.
And this was supposed to be sorcery?
“R-Release me at once!”
“I will when we’re done talking.”
“What in the world do you even want to talk about?!”
“First, let’s clear up the misunderstanding. Silencing you permanently? You’ve gotten completely the wrong idea.”
“You’re saying that isn’t your intention?”
“If I wanted to silence you permanently, do you really think I’d be standing here talking to you? You’d already be dead.”
“You must want information from me!”
“I already have more than enough intelligence. I don’t particularly need the Beggars’ Union’s network.”
Listening-Eye Beggar bristled before he could stop himself.
“What? You don’t need the Beggars’ Union’s intelligence network? If you’re saying that because you trust the Thousand Flowers Sect, you’re gravely mistaken. The strongest intelligence organization in the Central Plains is the Beggars’ Union.”
Jeok Wigang grinned.
“I never said I trusted the Thousand Flowers Sect’s intelligence network.”
“You think I don’t know you’ve joined forces with the Thousand Flowers Sect?”
“We have. But apparently you still don’t know we’ve joined forces with the Lower Gate as well.”
“What?”
Listening-Eye Beggar’s pupils trembled.
Not merely the Thousand Flowers Sect, but the Lower Gate too?
Why?
He was dying to know.
Seeing the violent curiosity in his eyes, Jeok Wigang chuckled.
“I was going to tell you how I ended up joining forces with the Lower Gate and the Thousand Flowers Sect, but... I suppose it can’t be helped. I’ll just let you go.”
“Hm?”
“Sorry for the inconvenience.”
With that, Jeok Wigang turned around and started walking back the way he had come.
Listening-Eye Beggar realized he could move again.
But rather than relief at being released, he was overwhelmed by curiosity over how the Lower Gate and the Thousand Flowers Sect had ended up allied with the True Martial Merchant Company.
“H-Hold on!”
He called after Jeok Wigang.
Jeok Wigang did not stop.
“H-Hey! I-I’ll talk!”
Still no answer.
Watching Jeok Wigang continue farther away, Listening-Eye Beggar began to grow desperate.
Eventually, he hurried after him.
“Didn’t you say you wanted to talk earlier? Well, I’ve changed my mind. I’m willing to talk now, so let’s have that conversation.”
Without slowing his steps, Jeok Wigang replied,
“I’ve lost interest. To be honest, now that I have the Lower Gate and the Thousand Flowers Sect, I’m not even sure I need the Beggars’ Union.”
“That’s only because you don’t understand! No matter how hard the Lower Gate and Thousand Flowers Sect try, they can’t surpass the Beggars’ Union’s intelligence network.”
“Come now. From what I hear, the Beggars’ Union isn’t what it used to be.”
“Who said that?! Who?!”
Listening-Eye Beggar flared up.
By now he had drawn right alongside Jeok Wigang and was practically lecturing him.
“Ask me anything! I’ll show you the greatness of the Beggars’ Union!”
“In that case, I’m looking for someone. Can you find him for me?”
“The Lower Gate hasn’t found him yet, I take it?”
Jeok Wigang nodded.
Listening-Eye Beggar raised his chin proudly.
“See? Those bastards are all talk. When it comes down to it, they can’t get anything done properly. Just tell me what you need! I’ll find him immediately.”
“He probably opened a small martial arts school somewhere, though I’m not certain. In any case, if there’s a school whose graduates are unusually outstanding compared to others, or where students improve exceptionally quickly, could you narrow down the possibilities for me?”
“No distinctive physical features or anything like that?”
“He probably disguised himself, so he would have concealed all of those.”
“He must have some habits at least.”
“Habits...”
Jeok Wigang thought for a moment.
“Ah. More of a distinguishing trait than a habit. He can use every kind of weapon. At master level, too.”
“Then we should look for martial arts schools that teach multiple weapons.”
“The Lower Gate already searched all of them and found nothing.”
“Hmph! I’ll show you just how capable the Beggars’ Union is.”
“Good. If you find him, I’ll have that conversation with you.”
“Hm?”
Listening-Eye Beggar stared at Jeok Wigang.
A moment ago, Jeok Wigang had been the one pushing him to talk. Now he would only talk if Listening-Eye Beggar found the man first.
“N-No, listen here. Weren’t you the one who wanted to talk first? I was merely slow to answer because I needed a moment to think. I’ve made up my mind now. I want to talk to you. Isn’t that why I’m agreeing to your request?”
“Is that so? Even then, I’d like to see the Beggars’ Union’s intelligence network for myself first.”
“Grrr...”
“I’ll buy the drinks while we wait.”
“R-Really?”
“What kind of liquor do you like?”
“I like all liquor!”
“I’ll keep buying until your stomach bursts.”
“Hahahaha! You really are a fine man! I sincerely apologize for being suspicious of you earlier. Allow me to make amends.”
Jeok Wigang could not help laughing as Listening-Eye Beggar even gave him a formal martial salute in apology the instant alcohol entered the conversation.
For three straight days, Listening-Eye Beggar drank to his heart’s content.
He drank so much that by the end, the mere sight of alcohol was beginning to disgust him.
It felt as though his {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} entire body had turned into liquor.
Yet Jeok Wigang had been drinking alongside him the entire time and looked perfectly fine.
He had not even burned away the alcohol with inner qi.
Listening-Eye Beggar had never imagined he would come to respect someone simply for their capacity for drink.
If a God of Wine existed, surely it would be Jeok Wigang.
Although he was thoroughly drunk, Listening-Eye Beggar refused to dispel the intoxication with inner qi.
Wouldn’t that be a waste of perfectly good liquor?
You drank alcohol to get drunk.
Using inner qi to sober yourself up was sacrilege as far as Listening-Eye Beggar was concerned.
He sat there feeling as though the world were spinning when—
“Elder.”
At the sound of a voice, he pulled himself together and found Iron-Wrist Beggar, the three-knot disciple and branch master, sitting in front of him.
“Hic! Iron-Wrist Beggar. Right. What about what I asked you to investigate?”
“Yes. Here.”
Listening-Eye Beggar accepted the sheet containing the information.
“Grrr. I’m too dizzy to read this properly.”
Steam began rising from his body, and the heavy scent of liquor spread through the room.
“What a waste! Such a waste! I drank all that liquor, and now I have to burn it away like this.”
Unable to read the report otherwise, Listening-Eye Beggar had ultimately used his inner qi to purge the alcohol from his body.
Once sober, he studied the information carefully.
“Hmm. So there was no one like that currently running a martial arts school, but there is someone who used to run one before being recruited as a martial arts instructor?”
“That’s right. Apparently, this person’s specialty is handling every kind of weapon with complete freedom.”
“The Zhuge Family...”
“There’s a strong chance the Zhuge Family would recruit someone like that.”
“True. Those bastards are brilliant, but hopeless when it comes to using their bodies. It’s impressive enough that they made it into the Five Great Families with physical abilities that pathetic.”
“They may lag considerably in martial arts, but they earned recognition for their exceptional intellect.”
“Well, there’s also the Tang Family, which earned recognition through poison despite being weaker in martial arts.”
Listening-Eye Beggar looked at Iron-Wrist Beggar again.
“This needs to be certain. The honor of the Beggars’ Union is at stake.”
“It is. Because the man is inside the Zhuge Family, this is information the Lower Gate could never obtain.”
“Good!”
Listening-Eye Beggar grinned.
“Now he’ll have to look at the Beggars’ Union differently.”
“Well? Do you still think the Beggars’ Union is on the same level as those Lower Gate vermin?”
“I’ll go there and confirm it first. If it’s true, I’ll admit it.”
“No! I’m telling you, it is true! Absolutely certain. Those Lower Gate bastards can’t even get near Zhuge Family territory. Why? Because only the Beggars’ Union has access there. Why do you think the Lower Gate couldn’t get this information? Because they couldn’t get close enough. This is something only the Beggars’ Union could accomplish.”
Pride in the Beggars’ Union overflowed from his voice.
“I gave you the information, so now we talk. Right? That was the deal.”
Listening-Eye Beggar sounded almost desperate.
“I don’t need to know anything else... Just tell me how you came to join forces with the Lower Gate and the Thousand Flowers Sect.”
Jeok Wigang grinned at his pleading.
“All right. I’ll tell you. The reason the Lower Gate joined forces with the True Martial Merchant Company is...”
“Yes?”
“Because they’re my subordinates.”
Listening-Eye Beggar frowned.
“Enough joking. Tell me the truth.”
“I am.”
“You’re saying you became the master of the Lower Gate?”
“Yes.”
“Hah... You really are impossible. This is the Beggars’ Union we’re talking about! The Beggars’ Union! Do you truly think we wouldn’t even know who leads the Lower Gate, the organization we watch more closely than any other? If you’re going to joke, at least make it believable.”
“Looks like the Beggars’ Union is the one behind on its information. My confidence in your intelligence network is dropping again.”
“What?”
“The new master of the Lower Gate is standing right in front of you, and you don’t even recognize him. No, you didn’t even know the leadership had changed. How is that supposed to be the strongest intelligence organization in the Central Plains?”
Listening-Eye Beggar scrutinized Jeok Wigang.
He did not look like he was joking.
Yet what he was saying was too absurd to sound serious.
“I-If that’s true, show me proof.”
“Proof...”
Jeok Wigang reached into his robe and held something out.
It was a long, narrow oval tablet made of pitch-black jade, with tiny beads of luminous pearl embedded within it.
Listening-Eye Beggar recognized it instantly.
“T-That’s... the Moon-Lamp Tablet?”
“Oh! You know it? As expected of a Beggars’ Union elder.”
Listening-Eye Beggar was in no mood for jokes.
The Moon-Lamp Tablet was the sacred token proving the identity of the true master of the Lower Gate.
“H-How do you have this?”
“I told you. I’m the master of the Lower Gate.”
“Y-You were serious?”
“Yes.”
The evidence was right in front of him, yet Listening-Eye Beggar still struggled to believe it.
One question had been answered, only for dozens more to arise in its place.
“How?”
Jeok Wigang gave him a simple answer.
“Force.”
“Hm? That can’t be right. Those Lower Gate bastards are stubborn. No matter how thoroughly you overpower them, they wouldn’t accept you as Gate Master unless they recognized you themselves.”
“If they hadn’t accepted me, it would only have meant I didn’t use enough force.”
“What?”
“In the face of overwhelming power, people have no choice but to submit.”
“You’re saying your power is that overwhelming?”
“Yes. If you really don’t believe me, I can summon the Gate Master of the Lower Gate.”
“You said you were its master. Aren’t you the Gate Master?”
“I’m the Supreme Gate Master.”
“Hm?”
“I told them I didn’t want the position, so they forcibly made me Supreme Gate Master instead and handed the Lower Gate over to me.”
They went that far?
Listening-Eye Beggar had already guessed Jeok Wigang was strong.
The ease with which he had caught up to the Drunken Eight Immortals Step alone had been extraordinary.
But just how powerful did a man have to be for the Lower Gate to hand itself over to him?
Listening-Eye Beggar could not even imagine it.
Unless Jeok Wigang possessed strength on the level of the Heavenly Martial Emperor.
Wait.
Come to think of it, wasn’t Jeok Wigang the Heavenly Martial Emperor’s grandson?
Could the Heavenly Martial Emperor have helped him from behind the scenes?
No.
The Heavenly Martial Emperor was not that kind of man.
Then did Jeok Wigang truly possess power on the Heavenly Martial Emperor’s level?
That was going too far.
There was no way.
He had a face that looked barely twenty years old, yet he had followed the Drunken Eight Immortals Step as casually as though taking a stroll.
SHIVER—
Now that Listening-Eye Beggar thought back on it, a chill crawled down his spine.
Jeok Wigang had not even looked winded.
Why am I only realizing this now?
Listening-Eye Beggar looked at him again.
“Why? Curious?”
Jeok Wigang was smiling as though he knew exactly why Listening-Eye Beggar was staring.
Without realizing it, Listening-Eye Beggar nodded.
“I’ll satisfy your curiosity. Come on.”
“Where?”
“Somewhere no one else is around.”

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