Chapter 191

Jeok Wigang grinned at Listening-Eye Beggar’s words.

“I know. I’ll be fine, so let’s go in.”

“No, I...”

I’m the one who won’t be fine.

The words rose all the way to Listening-Eye Beggar’s throat, but he swallowed them.

Haaah.

Fine.

Do whatever you want.

The man said he knew formations, so surely he could find his own way back out if anything went wrong.

“Fine. Let’s go. Come on.”

Listening-Eye Beggar finally gave up and led Jeok Wigang inside.

The Beggars’ Union disciples watched the two of them disappear with blank expressions, clearly wondering whether this was really all right.

Once inside the formation, Listening-Eye Beggar hurried ahead.

Since things had already come to this, he might as well make Jeok Wigang suffer a little.

The man might know formations, but that didn’t mean this one would be easy to unravel.

If he hurried, he could reach the Union Chief first and warn him before Jeok Wigang managed to get through.

Listening-Eye Beggar quickened his pace.

“The formation was laid out pretty well, but there are a few sloppy spots.”

“Gah!”

The voice beside him made Listening-Eye Beggar nearly jump out of his skin.

He whipped around.

Jeok Wigang was strolling along beside him as calmly as ever.

“Y-You... How in the world...?”

“I told you. I know a little about formations.”

You said you only picked it up by watching other people!

The retort made it all the way to his throat, but he forced it back down.

“I-Is that so? Impressive.”

He had been hoping to give Jeok Wigang a hard time.

Disappointed, Listening-Eye Beggar continued through the formation.

Once they passed the first formation, an enormous gate came into view, along with a large signboard.

Beggars’ Union.

This was the true headquarters of the Beggars’ Union.

The buildings were old, but each possessed a weathered elegance of its own, stretching endlessly into the distance.

Jeok Wigang had expected the Beggars’ Union to operate out of shabby structures on the verge of collapse.

He had been wrong.

The headquarters possessed a scale worthy of one of the Nine Sects and One Gang.

Beggars dressed in the union’s symbolic Hundred-Patch Robes could be seen everywhere.

And none of the beggars here were ordinary members.

The lowest-ranked among them were three-knot disciples, while most were four- or five-knot disciples.

The core strength of the Beggars’ Union was gathered here.

Word had apparently spread that Listening-Eye Beggar had brought a stranger into headquarters, because everyone they passed watched Jeok Wigang with guarded eyes.

Under those wary gazes, the pair made their way toward the center of the compound.

There, stern-faced beggars stood in two long rows with their hands clasped behind their backs.

The instant Listening-Eye Beggar saw them, he hurriedly gave a martial salute and bowed.

“Seven-knot disciple Listening-Eye Beggar greets the Union Chief!”

The old man who received his greeting had a warm, gentle face.

His eyes were so narrow that it was difficult to tell whether they were open or closed, and his snow-white hair hung all the way to his waist, lending him an almost mysterious air.

Unlike the other members of the Beggars’ Union, he wore outright rags, yet somehow even those gave him an air of aged dignity.

“You’ve returned.”

“Yes, Union Chief. Forgive me. I brought a guest here without permission...”

“Hohoho. Nonsense. You did well to bring him.”

“What?”

Leaving the startled Listening-Eye Beggar behind, the old man looked toward Jeok Wigang.

“Welcome, Young Master Jeok Wigang.”

“You know who I am?”

“Is that important? What matters is that fate has brought us together like this.”

Hong Cheongong.

The All-Knowing Sage.

It was a title given to him because there was supposedly nothing beneath heaven he did not know.

“When I read the heavenly signs, they told me an honored guest would come to our Beggars’ Union today. I have been waiting. It seems that guest was you, Young Master Jeok. Welcome.”

Did he truly know everything?

Jeok Wigang asked immediately.

“Do you know about White Horse Heaven?”

Hong Cheongong smiled.

“There is no need to rush. Come inside first.”

Did he know?

Or didn’t he?

His expression gave away nothing.

“The rest of you, return to your duties. I have something to discuss privately with Young Master Jeok Wigang.”

At Hong Cheongong’s order, the other elders nodded in understanding.

Seeing that Listening-Eye Beggar had not moved, Hong Cheongong addressed him as well.

“You may go too. Thank you for bringing such an honored guest all the way here.”

“N-No, it was nothing.”

In truth, he had practically been forced to bring Jeok Wigang here.

Yet Hong Cheongong seemed to know that already.

As expected.

Feeling considerably more at ease, Listening-Eye Beggar finally left.

“Come. Follow me.”

******

Hong Cheongong invited Jeok Wigang into the Union Chief’s quarters.

When Jeok Wigang looked around with open curiosity, Hong Cheongong gave an embarrassed laugh.

“What is there to see in a den of beggars that has you looking around so much?”

“There’s plenty.”

“Hohoho. Then I’m glad. I ought to offer you dinner... though all we have is food the children brought back from begging. Is that all right?”

Jeok Wigang grinned.

“That’s fine.”

“Hohoho. Very well. You there.”

“Yes!”

“We will be eating with our guest. Tell them to put some care into the meal.”

“Yes!”

“And bring alcohol.”

“Understood.”

After giving the order, Hong Cheongong gestured for Jeok Wigang to sit.

“Sit wherever you like. We’re beggars, so we don’t exactly keep chairs around.”

“All right.”

Without the slightest hesitation, Jeok Wigang settled down as comfortably as if he were in his own home.

Hong Cheongong smiled at the sight.

After sitting down himself, he spoke.

“You asked whether I knew about White Horse Heaven.”

“That’s right. Do you?”

“The Four Divine Demons. They belong to White Horse Heaven.”

Jeok Wigang’s expression shifted in genuine surprise.

This was a first.

It was the first time he had met someone who knew of White Horse Heaven.

And the first time he had met someone who knew that the Four Divine Demons were connected to it.

“Why so surprised? A man who commands the Four Divine Demons should not look so startled.”

Jeok Wigang looked even more surprised.

Hong Cheongong laughed at his expression.

“Don’t look at me like that.”

Then he pointed toward the sky.

“It is all written in the heavenly signs.”

“Then do you know how many people from White Horse Heaven are in the Central Plains?”

Hong Cheongong shook his head.

“That much I cannot tell. Interpreting the heavenly signs is far from easy. I would have to search for those whose signs resemble those of the Four Divine Demons, and how many people live in the Central Plains? It would be no simple task. I only managed to identify the Four Divine Demons because they were already so famous.”

“How did you learn about White Horse Heaven itself?”

In response, Hong Cheongong produced something.

It was a small cubic box, slightly larger than his palm.

Faint patterns of the Taiji and the trigrams of Heaven and Earth were raised across its surface.

Click—

When he opened the box, three overlapping circular disks could be seen inside, engraved with the Eight Trigrams and astronomical constellations.

“Hohoho. Fascinating, isn’t it? This is called the Eight-Aspects Heavenly Mechanism Box. As its name suggests, it is a device that helps one read the heavenly signs.”

Hong Cheongong rotated the disks and aligned something within them.

Light shimmered from the box.

Then glowing words appeared in the air.

WHITE HORSE HEAVEN SHALL DESCEND AND OVERWHELM THE WORLD.

THE FOUR DIVINE DEMONS SHALL FIRST DESCEND UPON THE MARTIAL WORLD.

Hong Cheongong looked at the wavering letters.

“The heavenly signs say White Horse Heaven will engulf the world. Then they say the Four Divine Demons will first descend upon the martial world. What do you suppose that means? Considering what the Four Divine Demons once did to the martial world, the answer seems obvious enough. White Horse Heaven signifies the destruction of the martial world.”

The letters gradually faded.

Then new words appeared.

A HERO OF THE JEOK CLAN SHALL DESCEND AND SAVE THE CENTRAL PLAINS.

“It says someone of the Jeok clan will appear and save the Central Plains. At first, I believed the Heavenly Martial Emperor was the hero destined to save us. And in truth, the Heavenly Martial Emperor did once save the Central Plains from the Four Divine Demons.”

“What made you change your mind?”

“It says ‘descend.’ Which means the person had not yet appeared in this world.”

Hong Cheongong looked directly at Jeok Wigang.

“When I first read these signs, you did not yet exist.”

“That would make sense.”

“But... it said ‘descend.’ That was what confused me. Descend... not ‘be born,’ but ‘descend.’ Why would the heavenly signs use that word? Even now, I cannot understand it.”

Hong Cheongong repeatedly tilted his head, genuinely puzzled.

Jeok Wigang felt a stab of unease.

The heavenly signs were far too accurate.

He had not been born into this world in the ordinary sense.

He had literally fallen from the sky.

“Hohoho. Forgive me. It seems I am still too inexperienced to read the heavenly signs properly.”

“Why are you so certain they refer to me? I have a younger ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) brother too. And if you investigated me, you should also know that I’m supposedly incapable of learning martial arts.”

“The Four Divine Demons have a profound connection to you. Even I was astonished. That the Four Divine Demons would follow someone—and that someone would be you. At first, I refused to believe it. I thought I had misaligned the box. So I tried again. And again. Dozens of times. But the result was always the same. You are the master of the Four Divine Demons, and you are the one destined to save the Central Plains.”

“Did you know I would come today?”

“Not the exact date. I only knew you would arrive around this time. When I heard Listening-Eye Beggar had brought you here, I realized today was the day.”

As the two spoke, footsteps approached outside.

“Union Chief. The meal is ready.”

“Hohoho. Our food has arrived. Let us continue while we eat.”

“All right.”

There was no table.

The food was simply placed on the floor.

And there was hardly anything elaborate about it.

A mixture of various foods had been tossed together inside a gourd bowl.

Beside it sat a whole jug of the lowest-grade cloudy liquor, pale in color and with bits of sediment floating through it.

“I’m afraid all we have is cloudy rice wine.”

“It’s fine.”

Jeok Wigang grinned.

“Looks good.”

“You don’t have to force yourself...”

Jeok Wigang picked up the gourd bowl, scooped up a heaping spoonful, shoved it straight into his mouth, and chewed heartily.

“It’s good.”

Hong Cheongong smiled and began eating as well.

“Have a drink too.”

Glug—

Jeok Wigang filled a cracked bowl to the brim with cloudy wine and drained it in one go.

“Tastes good too.”

He grinned.

Hong Cheongong downed his own bowl and laughed.

“I do not think I need to know you for long to understand what sort of man you are. Hohoho.”

He had taken a genuine liking to Jeok Wigang.

******

After the meal, Hong Cheongong spoke.

“We will cooperate.”

“Hm?”

“Is that not why you came here?”

“It is. But can you really decide something like that so easily?”

“What is the problem? I have seen what sort of man you are, and your family hardly requires any explanation.”

“Even so, the Beggars’ Union would have to follow my lead. Won’t there be opposition?”

“Those fools will not oppose me. They trust me completely. To them, what I say might as well be truth itself.”

“I had heard that the Beggars’ Union’s potential was greater than at any point in its history. I suppose there was a reason for that.”

“Hohoho. You flatter me. You are the truly remarkable one. You are the first person ever to bring the intelligence forces of the Central Plains together.”

“I’m just working hard to keep my family safe.”

“How much do you know about White Horse Heaven?”

“White Horse Heaven is not a force from the Central Plains.”

“As I thought...”

“As you thought?”

“I had suspected as much, vaguely. But the idea seemed so absurd that I kept it to myself.”

“You suspected it?”

“Yes. I read the divination surrounding the Four Divine Demons, and no matter how many times I tried, their signs did not belong to this world. White Horse Heaven was the same. If it was not part of the Central Plains, then where else could it be?”

“I don’t know. I only know it comes from another dimension.”

“Hmm. That is something I had not considered. Another dimension...”

“I was surprised too.”

“Why would a force from another dimension target the Central Plains?”