Chapter 13 The Beggar

　　Yu Chengmu's face, like withered tree bark, tightened when he saw the name, and his body even trembled involuntarily after seeing the mark.

　　"What's wrong, old man?" Chen Hao asked, noticing. "Do you recognize this name?"

　　Yu Chengmu took a deep breath, his expression returned to normal, and said faintly, "I don't recognize it."

　　Jiang Cheng also noticed Yu Chengmu's abnormality. The latter clearly saw some clues, but he refused to say, and there was no way to force him to speak in the current situation.

　　The clues here had been collected almost completely. Staying any longer might lead to more trouble. Yu Chengmu helped Zhou Qing close his eyes, and then the group left.

　　Not far after leaving the house, they saw two villagers standing at the intersection. When the villagers saw them, they immediately trotted over, "Masters, the village chief arranged for us to wait here and take you to dinner."

　　Speaking of eating, Fatty's stomach growled rather uncooperatively.

　　Everyone followed the two villagers, turning left and right, and finally arrived at a courtyard with a wooden table placed just inside the entrance.

　　Several dishes were placed on the wooden table, mostly vegetarian dishes. Bowls and chopsticks were distributed according to the number of people. In the middle of the table was a large basin of mixed-flour steamed buns, which seemed to be the staple food.

　　Judging from the two villagers' actions of staring at the dishes on the table and constantly swallowing saliva, this meal should be top-notch in the village.

　　"Everyone... masters, please eat first, we'll go back first."

　　Just as the villagers were about to turn back, a "rustling" sound came, and after a moment, a person appeared on the wall, ragged and tattered, like a beggar.

　　The beggar was perched on the wall, his eyes shining, staring intently at the food on the table.

　　The two villagers immediately walked over and shouted at the beggar on the wall, "Go away, is this a place for you? Leave quickly, don't disturb the masters' meal."

　　They shouted several times, but it had no effect at all. This beggar was not afraid of people at all, and didn't even bother with the two villagers below. On the contrary, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Grains for everyone, grains for everyone!"

　　It was a man, judging from the voice, around 30 years old.

　　Worried about messing up the errand the village chief had given them, one of the villagers said helplessly, "How about this, you... you come with me, I'll take you to eat something good, don't disturb the masters' meal, okay?"

　　Hearing that there was something good to eat, the man perched on the wall jumped down with a smile on his face and trotted to the villager, eagerly reaching out his hand.

　　Originally, Jiang Cheng and the others thought this was just a delaying tactic by the two villagers, waiting for the man to come down, they would catch him, drag him away, or even beat him up to teach him a lesson. But unexpectedly, the villager really took out a steamed bun from his pocket.

　　A steamed bun exactly the same as the ones in the basin in front of them, and stuffed it into the man’s hand. The man took it and stuffed it into his mouth, and then left with the villager who said he would take him to eat something good.

　　"Grains for everyone, grains for everyone..."

　　The beggar man's broken gong-like shouting came from outside again.

　　"I'm really sorry, for disturbing the masters' meal." The remaining villager offered an apologetic smile.

　　"Who is this person?" Jiang Cheng asked casually, taking a bite of a steamed bun.

　　"He... he's from out of town, said to be a refugee fleeing from famine. He was crazy when he came. The village chief took pity on him and took him in." The villager replied.

　　"What does he usually do in the village?" Jiang Cheng continued to ask, taking the time to drink some soup.

　　"What can someone with a problem here do?" The villager pointed to his head, obviously saying that this beggar wasn't very bright.

　　"I see." Jiang Cheng clapped his hands, shook off the steamed bun crumbs, and stared at the villager, asking, "Then I don't understand. A beggar who came from out of town fleeing from famine, who can't help with anything, shouldn't even be getting beaten, and should be happy to have leftovers to eat. Why would you hide a steamed bun to give him? What does he deserve?"

　　"Hide..." The villager was obviously a little flustered.

　　Jiang Cheng reached out and patted the villager's slightly bulging chest. It felt soft and hard. He smiled and said, "You're hiding yours here too, right? Don't tell me, you and that brother are quite in sync."

　　Fatty also smiled sinisterly on the side, cooperating perfectly. "I wonder how the village chief will deal with you if he finds out you're hiding the food meant for us."

　　"Don't." The villager's face twitched. "Masters, I... I was just being greedy for a moment. Please don't tell the village chief." As he spoke, he quickly took out the steamed bun hidden in his chest and put it back on the table.

　　Chen Hao slowly stood up, picked up the steamed bun the villager had returned to the table, then grabbed two more from the basin, a total of three, walked over, and stuffed them into the villager's arms. "It's nothing if we have one less steamed bun. Take these... eat them. There's more if it's not enough."

　　"But there's one thing I hope you answer truthfully. Who was that beggar just now?" Chen Hao changed the subject.

　　The people who could sit here now were not ordinary players. Their eyes were sharp. Judging from the beggar's movements when he climbed over the wall just now, this person was very skilled and knew martial arts. He was definitely not an ordinary refugee.

　　"He..." The villager secretly glanced towards the door. Not finding anyone, he quickly said in a very low voice, "It's said that he's the watchman's apprentice. He came to our village with the watchman many years ago. As for whether it's true or not, I don't know."

　　Hearing that it was related to the watchman, everyone was shocked. "Was he like that when he came?"

　　"No." The villager shook his head. "He was fine when he came, but he went crazy later. As for the reason, I don't know. After all, the watchman is here, and we don't want to offend him. Besides, this person is very good at fighting. We... we can't beat him either."

　　The watchman's apprentice went crazy after coming to the village. Jiang Cheng narrowed his eyes, thinking of the words the beggar had shouted just now, and asked, "Does he often shout that sentence, that sentence..."

　　"Grains for everyone." The villager nodded, finishing Jiang Cheng's sentence. "Yes, he often shouts this sentence. At first, we didn't understand, but later someone analyzed that this person is also carrying Dao techniques. As long as we treat him kindly, the imperial court will distribute relief grain next time, and it will give our village 5 dan (approximately 500 kg) of grain per person."

　　As he said that, the villager also curled his lips, obviously thinking that this explanation was too far-fetched.

　　After asking some other questions, the villager shook his head, apparently not knowing anything else. Everyone didn't make things difficult for him and promised to keep it a secret for him, so they let him go. The villager thanked them profusely.

　　As soon as the villager left, the village chief came with the support of seven or eight people.

　　Sure enough, nothing good was happening. They were here to assign the tasks for tonight.

　　"Masters, I have to trouble you again." The village chief swallowed carefully and said with an apologetic smile, "Tonight, please go to the west side of the village. There's a Yizhuang (makeshift mortuary) there, and there are several corpses inside that need to be put into coffins."