If the Beggars Union’s Leader were to be taken out of the equation, No Shin is clearly the fastest man in the Beggars Union. It wasn’t easy catching up to him.

Even more so, considering the fact that I was running with the weight of a grown man on my back.

Regardless, time passed.

No Shin, who was messing around for a while, goes silent and the leader remains silent as well. With the silence, I am able to focus on my footwork.

After some more time passed, I could feel the weight of the leader gradually increasing. This reminds me of Master Baek Wei’s technique.

‘Hmm?’

Master Baek Wei also adjusted his body weight while running. Just how the hell were they managing to change their weight?

It should be impossible for normal people, but since he is a warrior, I end up correlating their ability with their internal qi. Because I am carrying the leader on my back, I have no choice but to maintain a bent posture.

When he was light, I could leap far with not much difficulty. But now, I feel that my steps are heavier and so I need to utilize my internal qi to cushion my steps. I have no choice but to utilize the martial arts technique I learned with Master Baek Wei.

After a while the leader says,

“Now that you’ve gotten used to my weight, the things I am about to teach you now will not be easy on your body. Run till you are exhausted and engrave it into your body. It doesn’t matter if you get exhausted. If your body remembers, next time, it will be easier for you.”

“I understand.”

To be honest, when the Beggar’s Union Leader was at his heaviest, it felt like I was carrying a block of iron on my back. In order to withstand it, I had no choice but to infuse qi into my legs.

He was so heavy that I was drenched in sweat. But I find myself holding myself back from speaking out because of how serious both No Shin and the leader were. That is how I was able to run continuously for more than 2 hours while withstanding the weight of this large lump of iron on my back.

Because No Shin was swift, I had to run at full speed. I was already tired and, before I knew it, another 2 hours had passed. The sun was beginning to set now.

‘This is nuts.’

At this point, I don’t even care where we’re headed. Come to think of it, I often find myself in situations where I’m running without an end goal in sight.

Because the true goal of this journey is to train myself, I am ready to run through the night. As long as I am practicing my footwork and deepening my understanding.

I continue to run until the sun sets and it is completely dark out. We are running through the night when the leader asks,

“Not hungry?”

“I am alright.”

“You are fine, but we are hungry. Let us have something now.”

No Shin answers from ahead,

“Yes, master. Should we get some noodles?”

“Let’s do that.”

After a while, No Shin stops near a well-lit street that was still bustling with activity. Finally, the leader gets off my back.

I try to remain strong, but I stumble as I feel the relief of the pressure that had been weighing down my body. The leader catches my arm.

“… so stubborn. You held up well though.”

I nod as I catch my breath. No Shin approaches as he says,

“Sect Leader’s stamina and internal qi is well above average. When it comes to endurance and speed, he is unmatched. Any other achievements?”

The leader looks at me and nods.

“Looks like you have realized something.”

No Shin comes to me and pats me on the shoulder.

“You did well. It isn’t easy to run like that with master on your back. Your forehead is still frowning. Increasing one’s body weight isn’t limited to the scope of just footwork. It is needed for both attacking and defending. This itself can be used as a self-defense technique or a method to take an enemy down with a simple action. How do you think this is possible?”

Taking a second to reflect on his words, I say,

“By using a combination of internal and external qi?”

No Shin looks at me and nods.

“Right. In Kangho, there are many people who consider the two as individual elements. And these are the people that also mistakenly think of themselves as warriors. Of course, there are many warriors who can closely use the two. But that isn’t all that there is to it. When one’s internal and external qi are perfectly synchronized inside one’s body like the Sun and Moon, you can create an explosive force way beyond one’s comprehension. This is not a shallow martial arts at all. However, there are limits to what others can teach you. Remember that feeling well.”

“I confirm.”

“You are sweating.”

I look at No Shin while feeling the heat radiating off my face. Come to think of it, there isn’t a single drop of sweat on his face. After wiping my face off I say,

“It is because the weather is hot.”

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

“It isn’t hot at all. Only Sect Leader is hot. Hahaha.”

Followed by leader and me, No Shin leads the way down. Since I am with the beggars, I take the liberty of recommending something.

“Let us have something delicious.”

No Shin laughs and says,

“Did you would get treated by a beggar?”

Thinking it was funny, the leader laughs too.

I wanted to eat something fancy, but what we arrived at was a shabby noodle house. I raise my hand to order, but No Shin pushes my hand down.

“What is there to order but noodles? There is no alcohol here.”

“Aha.”

As if on cue, a man comes to place an enormous bowl of noodles in front of us. Without saying anything, he smiles and heads for the kitchen. Judging by those forearms, he was a strong individual.

No Shin says,

“Master, please eat.”

“Yes.”

The three of us dig into our noodles with our chopsticks. The soup was surprisingly refreshing. The noodles were 3x larger than the typical serving size and the soup was so clear that it held no taste. It tasted like boredom. Plain noodles dipped in tea. At least, there was a clean after taste. When I go to a noodle restaurant, I usually eat two or three full bowls, but here I was full after just one.

The three of us drink the broth and put our bowls down.

When I take out my pouch, No Shin gets up and heads for the kitchen. He speaks to the man and after a few laughs, the man from the kitchen looks out and says,

“Leader, be careful.”

“Yes.”

The owner looks at me and nods.

“Come again.”

I envision the noodles again and I say,

“I will come.”

I walk out with No Shin.

“A person of the Beggar’s Union?”

“No. Just a man who turned his back on Kangho.”

“Is he famous?”

No Shin asks the leader,

“Was he famous?”

The leader nods.

“Once upon a time he was. But now nobody is looking for him. Ultimately, he’s living the life he wanted. Let’s leave it at that. I feel like his noodles get tastier each time. How was it Sect Leader?”

“This is my first time having such noodles.”

“In what way?”

“Usually, you add something to make it taste better, but these noodles were devoid of any flavor. It tasted like noodles made by a retired warrior.”

“I see that you enjoyed it.”

We begin walking over a crowded bridge. Suddenly, half the crowd begins pointing towards the bridge.

Everyone looks at the beggar, begging on the bridge. No Shin tells the leader,

“I will take a look around and then return.”

“Go ahead.”

I take a seat next to the leader and tell No Shin,

“Have a safe trip.”

Sitting on the bridge with him, I feel the spirit of the beggars as the leader, and I shift our gaze over the crowd.

I have nothing to do so I just watch the crowd. It was a long-needed break. No one here recognized the famous Beggar’s Union Leader.

Watching the people, the leader says,

“Sect Leader, I will tell you about how the Beggar’s Union began.”

“Yes.”

“It is quite an old story. There are different variations of this story out there, but at its essence, they are all the same. A long time ago, there were beggars who lived by begging. They were so sick that no matter how much people tried to help them, they continued to be hungry and sick.”

“Hmm.”

“One day, a man who had helped the beggars several times thought the situation was strange. As a result, he followed them to see where they were heading. He realized that these beggars were giving the aid that they had received to someone else. It wasn’t a sick individual, but one who was profiting off of these beggars. The Kangho warrior who discovered this eventually beat the one exploiting them in an effort to protect them. This guy became the leader. There are no rules or sects. The Beggar’s Union was born because of one man who showed interest in beggars. There is a famous saying by the first leader.”

“What is it?”

“The wickedness of man abounds even in the weak. The guy he killed was an ordinary human who didn’t know martial arts, but he was sucking dry the people who were weaker. The first leader wasn’t a beggar but a man trying to help them. When he looked around, he saw that it wasn’t just one or two beggars that were suffering.

“I see.”

“A man who entered the world of beggars. In some places, people who learned martial arts were using beggars as slaves. In other places, normal people would beg after throwing away their leftovers. It was a time of discontent, so the leader went around beating people to death. During all of this, he gained a disciple, then the disciple gained another disciple which ended up creating a union.”

Watching people cross the bridge, the leader says,

“What happens in our world is happening here. I think that the Low-Down Sect isn’t much different from our Beggars Union. That is why I was interested when you said you wanted to defeat the Demonic Cult.”

It was then I understood why he called out to me. He then asks,

“Sect Leader, how long have we been seated here?”

“Around 30 minutes.”

“There are no enemies amongst the crowd. Usually when I sit on a bridge, people give me their change. Then why is everyone ignoring us now?”

It was only then that I remembered the existence of the Beggars Union coming into the county and how I felt nothing.

Then, the reason why we aren’t being paid is because of me.

“Because of my killing intent?”

The Beggar’s Union Leader nods.

“Seems like it, your killing intent, those eyes… people will be afraid to make an enemy out of you.”

“Is this something related to martial arts?”

“It is both a martial arts and a way to pray. You need to erase your presence to get coins. It is different from releasing qi. Since you have been running all day and need rest, why not beg?”

The leader invites me to beg.

“I will try it.”

The leader gets up and walks to the other railing and looks at me.

I laugh and I pretend to be a beggar to the best of my ability. But even though people passed by no one came. On the other hand, the leader began to get coins sitting on the other side. People were giving coins or dumplings to eat.

Each time, the leader smiled at them.

“…”

I give up begging and stare at him. How can a man a part of the Three Disasters beg like this to get money?

How can he sit on this bridge without any presence? Why are people not even noticing him?

With a mischievous smile he looks at me,

“Zaha.”

“Yes.”

“Isn’t it tough?”

I smile as I answer,

“It sure is.”