The Beggar’s Staff of Lao Ba Chapter 15.1

Chapter Fifteen

Part 1

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“Ah Heng, come in quick, come in quick! The roast chicken’s ready!” Old Wen called out from the dilapidated temple. Ah Heng felt that terrifying force vanish instantly. His back was drenched in sweat. That was close—it seemed he’d inadvertently dodged the most terrifying danger of his life.

 

Er Gouzi tore into the plump, white roast chicken, sprinkling salt over it as he pulled apart the meat. “Hoo-hoo—Wow, it smells so good!”

 

Gouzi plucked two drumsticks and placed them in Lao Wentou’s and Ah Heng’s bowls. Ah Heng promptly returned one drumstick to Er Gouzi’s bowl.

 

Old Wen hesitated, then finally blurted out, “Ah Heng, I see you haven’t eaten anything. Are you planning to ascend to heaven? You’ll starve to death.”

 

Ah Heng was different from them. Old Wen had known this since the day after finding him. When Ah Heng ate, it was merely for show.

 

“Aren’t you hungry?” Er Gou asked anxiously. “Even if you absorb spiritual energy, you must get hungry, right?”

 

Doggie and the others were well aware of Ah Heng’s peculiarity, but they never brought it up.

 

Ah Heng replied, “Eating doesn’t fill me, and skipping a bite doesn’t make me hungry. Don’t waste food—eat more yourselves.” Seeing that Doggie and Old Wen had long discovered his secret, he stopped hiding it and simply accepted it openly.

 

Doggie and Old Wen still tore off a chicken wing and placed it in Ah Heng’s bowl: “You can at least taste it. Try it.” Ah Heng took a bite. Compared to the cold, hard steamed buns, this mountain chicken truly tasted like a delicacy.

 

Inside the dilapidated temple, three ragged beggars huddled around the fire, tearing at the roasted chicken. Outside, the two cultivators’ shouting had ceased at some point. Ah Heng hadn’t heard how their argument ended, but it didn’t concern him anyway. As Old Wen Tou had said, they were just three little beggars—matters of immortals weren’t their place to speak on.

 

After the two cultivators finished their quarrel, the world fell silent once more. The days that followed were quiet yet strained. Gouzi and Old Wen would hobble into Xiaoyan Town to beg for food, while Ah Heng wandered slowly through the mountains and forests, gathering herbs and sustenance.

 

Xiaoyan Town suffered under the spiritual pressure exerted by the cultivators, as if struck by a catastrophe. Old Wen and Gouzi found less and less food to beg for. Sometimes Gouzi returned with footprints on his buttocks from being kicked.

 

However, Ah Heng’s returns often brought them surprises—sometimes sweet wild berries, other times a bloody, half-eaten wild animal. As for why it was only half, Ah Heng explained that he found the prey in an abandoned hunter’s trap, but it had already been half-eaten by wild beasts. Still, any meat was better than none.

 

 

 

 

Old Wen held a cracked bowl filled with brown medicinal broth. “Ah Heng, why have you been staring at me lately, making me drink this medicine? I don’t want to drink it.”

 

Ah Heng smiled. “Bitter medicine cures illness. These herbs nourish your foundation and strengthen your essence. Drink more.” Old Wen had begged for years, his body riddled with hidden injuries. Ah Heng toiled in the mountains gathering herbs, hoping to extend Old Wen’s life.

 

Er Gouzi roasted a deer leg: “Ah Heng, this venison is delicious! Next time I’ll guard the traps. If another deer falls in, we must act fast—then we’ll get a whole carcass!”

 

Old Wen chuckled: “If you go near, your scent would scare the deer away long before you reach them.” Ah Heng smiled: “I’ll check again tomorrow. Hopefully we’ll have some game.”

 

The dark cloud over Old Wen’s face grew heavier. It might be within days now, Ah Heng thought with deep worry. He spent longer and longer hours wandering the woods these days. The few rare herbs he found, he gave all to Old Wen. Yet none of it could heal him. At best, it delayed his departure, easing his suffering.

 

The next day, Ah Heng returned to the tree hollow where the leopard resided. Why “return”? Well, it was like this…

 

The leopard roared in fury: “Have you no shame?! I finally managed to snatch a wild deer, and you took half of it! It wasn’t even enough to fill my teeth!”

 

Ah Heng stared at the immobilized leopard, his expression unscrupulous: Since it barely filled your teeth anyway, why not let us have our fill? Have you thought it through? Will you come with me?”

 

Ah Heng hadn’t given up on making the leopard his disciple. Though, as a beggar, what good would a disciple be? Begging together?

 

The leopard stiffened his neck. “Pah! With your character, you want to be my master? Dream on! And what kind of witchcraft did you use? Why won’t my leg heal?!”

 

Ah Heng picked up two wild chickens from the ground with a smile. He tossed the leaner one to the leopard: “They say it takes a hundred days to heal broken bones and tendons. How long has it been since you got hurt? You need to take it slow and recover properly.”

 

The leopard was furious: “Get lost! Get lost! Get lost!”

 

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