The Greenwater Beggar was right in front of him.

He Jiaqing panicked for a brief moment, then quickly calmed down.

The button on his chest was still vibrating. The connection hadn't been cut, so he was confident that he could escape. He just had to make sure he did it without getting hit by the Greenwater Beggar's abilities.

"Senior... have I offended you in some way?" He Jiaqing asked.

"No," the Greenwater Beggar replied with a pleasant smile. "Just that a friend of mine is rather curious about you. He has a few questions to ask you. What Daoist Path do you follow? What's your cultivation level? You also went to his territory and caused trouble for no reason. So tell me... What exactly were you trying to do?"

He Jiaqing froze for a moment, then replied respectfully, "Senior, I can certainly tell you my Daoist Path and cultivation level. But as for causing trouble in your friend's territory... I am very confused."

The Greenwater Beggar raised his brows. "If you say you are confused, then you're not being sincere."

As he spoke, a festering sore under the corner of his eye burst open and a thin line of green pus slowly trickled down his cheek.

He Jiaqing's eyelid twitched. He knew the Greenwater Beggar was about to make a move. "Senior, I know the rules of Greenwater Bay. By rights, you can only show yourself outside once a year. Are you sure it's worth wasting such a rare chance on me?"

"There's clearly some misunderstanding between us. Until things are clarified, how about this... you pretend you never saw me, and I'll pretend I never met you. We will act as if you never showed yourself at all. Would that be acceptable?"

The Greenwater Beggar frowned slightly, then relaxed. "You have got quite a tongue, kid. You even know where my weakness lies. Too bad you have miscalculated. I will tell you the truth. I didn't show up outside because I never left my home. This is my home!"

He Jiaqing's eyes widened in surprise. "Senior, you are not saying all of Greenwater Bay is your home, are you? That might fool me, but it won't fool the rules."

The Greenwater Beggar's smile didn't change in the slightest. "I will say it again. This is my home."

Hearing that, He Jiaqing flicked a glance at the passersby from the corner of his eye.

At that moment, He Jiaqing looked every bit the well-dressed, refined gentleman, yet his path was blocked by a beggar covered in festering sores.

The beggar looked brazen, while the gentleman was exceedingly humble. It was such an odd little scene, but not a single passerby stopped and stared.

Every passerby treated them as though they were invisible. Those who were walking kept walking, those who were chatting kept chatting, as if the two of them simply weren't there at all.

He Jiaqing understood at once. The Greenwater Beggar hadn't gone out to find him... it was He Jiaqing who had stepped into the Greenwater Beggar's home.

The Greenwater Beggar's home existed in a realm of space ordinary people simply couldn't see. He hadn't broken the rules of Greenwater Bay at all. What He Jiaqing couldn't understand was how he had ended up stepping into the beggar's home in the first place.

By sheer accident? Impossible. The odds of such a coincidence were negligible.

The truth was simple. The Greenwater Beggar had used some trick to lure He Jiaqing into his home. This meant one thing... he had been waiting for him all along, fully prepared.

However, that raised another question. How had the Greenwater Beggar tracked his movements?

His thoughts raced, and the first name that came to mind was Lu Maoxian. He had seen him at the cinema.

How did Lu Maoxian even know I was in Puluo Province?

Then it clicked.

Xiao Zhenggong must have passed the information along. What is the relationship between Xiao Zhenggong, Lu Maoxian... and the Greenwater Beggar?

That was still unclear. For now, none of that mattered. What mattered was this. How was he going to escape the Greenwater Beggar?

"Senior, it was my fault for intruding into your residence. Please allow me to apologize first," He Jiaqing said, bowing deeply.

At the very moment he bowed, his right hand shot forward, aiming straight for the Greenwater Beggar.

The move was so fast it blurred, even the beggar couldn't clearly make out its path.

However, the Greenwater Beggar was far too experienced to be caught off guard. He was prepared as he moved first and slipped to the side, avoiding the strike.

"A Parting Across Ten Thousand Miles. At your age, you have actually reached the ninth level of a Wanderlust Cultivator."

The Greenwater Beggar smiled. He had guessed right. He Jiaqing had been about to use that exact ability One Parting Across Ten Thousand Miles.

All that He Jiaqing needed to do was to push the Greenwater Beggar. As long as he could do that, he could escape.

The first move missed. Without stopping, He Jiaqing swept his arm sideways, trying again to touch the Greenwater Beggar again.

The sores on the Greenwater Beggar's body burst open, and the pus thinned into a drifting mist that spread outward.

"You dare touch me? Not afraid of getting infected?" the Greenwater Beggar laughed. "You have got some nerve!"

The mist didn't spread all that fast. Under normal circumstances, He Jiaqing could have avoided it easily.

But here... he had nowhere to run.

He couldn't leave the Greenwater Beggar's home, and the mist would spread sooner or later, seeping into every corner. If even a single drop of pus touched him, it might cost him his life.

The outcome already seemed decided. The Greenwater Beggar was simply weighing his options now, whether to kill He Jiaqing on the spot or keep him alive a little longer and ask a few questions first.

Suddenly, He Jiaqing shouted loudly, "Forever parted by life and death!"

As his words fell, an invisible barrier sprang up between them, stopping the creeping mist in its tracks. The Greenwater Beggar's smile vanished.

"Binding Edict?" The Greenwater Beggar stared at He Jiaqing, shock flashing across his face. "What level of Literary Cultivation are you?"

He Jiaqing had just used the Literary Cultivator ability Binding Edict. The Greenwater Beggar had died once before, so his existence was fundamentally different from He Jiaqing's. By separating life and death, He Jiaqing turned that difference into a barrier, using it to block the mist.

A Literary Cultivator's abilities depended heavily on their cultivation level. When used against someone of much higher cultivation level, their effects were often limited.

Yet He Jiaqing's ability worked well. The mist was completely blocked, which meant his level as a Literary Cultivator was not lower than his level as a Wanderlust Cultivator.

Taking the opportunity, He Jiaqing bowed once more. "Senior, I have long admired you. I have wanted to pay my respects for quite some time. Perhaps... we could speak calmly for a moment?"

"Sure. Let's open things up and speak frankly!" the Greenwater Beggar replied with a cough, then spat out a mouthful of thick phlegm.

The phlegm struck the barrier and stuck. Green smoke hissed up as it began to eat through, burning a hole.

As the pus mist drifted closer, He Jiaqing wanted to use Binding Edict again, but he didn't dare open his mouth.

A strange scent lingered in the air. The pus wasn't the only danger. The Greenwater Beggar had already released other pathogens as well.

He Jiaqing had likely already been infected. If he opened his mouth and inhaled even more of that foul air, he might drop dead on the spot.

The situation had reached a critical point. There was no time to hesitate. He Jiaqing dismissed the barrier himself and pulled a pocket watch from his coat.

He snapped the case open. The three hands began to spin wildly, faster and faster, until a vortex formed over the dial, absorbing the surrounding mist and pathogens.

The Green Beggar laughed. "What a fine artifact. Let's see how much you can absorb!"

Pus continued to gush from his body. In moments, the pocket watch reached its limit.

Seizing the moment, He Jiaqing lunged forward and reached out for the Greenwater Beggar again.

The Greenwater Beggar frowned. "You still dare to touch me?"

The pus spread rapidly across the Greenwater Beggar's body, covering him almost completely. And yet, He Jiaqing found one spot without any pus.

A tiny gap along the edge of his clothing. No bigger than a sesame seed.

Seeing He Jiaqing closing in, the Greenwater Beggar flicked the pus from his body outward, sending it flying like a rain of foul droplets.

He Jiaqing's fingers moved with precise control, slipping past every drop without a single touch. Then, with the edge of his fingernail, he tapped that tiny gap.

In that brief instant of contact, He Jiaqing's body snapped backward and vanished in the blink of an eye.

A Parting Across Ten Thousand Miles worked!

The Greenwater Beggar was forced back as well, but only two steps. He resisted the ability and forced it back, stopping himself from being sent flying.

However, He Jiaqing was already gone. The ability ignored all obstacles.

The Greenwater Beggar stood there in silence for a long while. Then he muttered to himself, "To let him escape in my own home... what a remarkable youngster.

"A level-nine Wanderlust Cultivator, and at least a level-nine Literary Cultivator. At his age... how could he possibly have reached such a level?

"Is this the power of the Arcane Crimson Lotus? Is he really level nine in both paths? And if so... why did he dare to touch me?"

The Greenwater Beggar lowered his gaze to his tattered clothes and stared at them for a moment, as if the answer were written there.

"Could it be the Art of the Empty Hand?" he murmured. "If it really is... then it all makes sense.

"Should I tell that old bastard about this? For now, I will wait and see. I will only tell him that he's ninth level in two cultivation paths just to scare him a bit."

The Greenwater Beggar sat in his home, watching the passersby on the street.

He wanted to go out and beg, to find a place as simple and honest as Blue Poplar Village. As long as he did not receive alms three times, he would be free to go out and do as he pleased.

He could find a place to eat, drink, and enjoy himself or he could beat up a land deity nearby and seize some territory.

He could spread a minor plague somewhere and eliminate the old and weak or he could unleash a major plague and throw an entire domain into chaos.

He could even bring complete peace to all of Greenwater Bay. As long as no one was alive in tho place, it would truly be peaceful.

Should I really do that?

"Will that youngster come looking for me again?" the Green Beggar said with a faint smile. "No harm in waiting. Let's see if he can even survive first."

***

Relying on the hook's location marker, He Jiaqing flew deep into the mountains and forests, landing beside Wan Jinxian.

Seeing him, Wan Jinxian hurried over. "Jiaqing, what happened? I heard you fighting someone just now. Who was it?"

He Jiaqing let out a sigh. "You might be shocked if I tell you. That person was... hic—"

Halfway through his sentence, he hiccupped.

It was not a full-belly burp, but the kind of hiccup that would not stop. In medical terms, it was called diaphragmatic spasm.

He Jiaqing kept hiccupping nonstop. After watching for a moment, Wan Jinxian realized something was wrong.

This was an illness, and a severe one.

Without saying more, he prepared to use a Disease Cultivator ability to suck the source of the illness out.

He Jiaqing waved his hand. "You can't... don't... absolutely don't!"

He knew exactly how severe his condition was. Each hiccup shifted his organs. His insides would be torn into pieces within a hundred of these hiccups.

Could he stop the hiccups? If it were that easy, it would not have been something done by the Green Beggar. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

He Jiaqing looked at his left hand, then at his right. After a moment of thought, he chose the left.

He rolled up his sleeve and shouted at his left hand, "Shift the flower, graft the wood!"

This was not Binding Edict. This was Spoken Word Manifestation.

After a moment, He Jiaqing stopped hiccupping. His left hand began to twitch violently.

He had transferred the illness from his diaphragm to his left hand.

Wan Jinxian said, "I can see the root of the illness. Leave it to me."

He Jiaqing stopped him. "I told you! You can't. This is a disease that your founding cultivator gave me. If you absorb it, you will die."

"Founding cultivator... you mean..." Wan Jinxian's muttered as his face twitched. He did not dare to say the name.

He continued saying, "Jiaqing, we have to get rid of this disease root quickly, or your hand will be..."

Before he could finish, He Jiaqing pulled out a blade and cut off his left hand.

Wan Jinxian's eyes bulged as he stared at the wound with blood spraying out in violent bursts.

He Jiaqing frowned. "Stop staring and help me stop the bleeding!"

Wan Jinxian immediately began bandaging him. "Jiaqing, why go this far? We could have tried another way!"

"Another way?" He Jiaqing let out a bitter smile and said nothing more.

He had pills, he had artifacts, and he knew of methods that could slowly neutralize the disease. However, all of that required time and the Green Beggar never gave anyone time.

His hand would tremble. Then, his arm would tremble. Then, his entire body would tremble.

After a few minutes of shaking, his entire body would break into many small pieces.

He Jiaqing flicked out a flame and burned his severed left hand to ashes.

Old Wan smacked his lips over and over. "What are you doing now? Why did you burn it? You should have kept the hand. We could have found a way to reattach it later."

He Jiaqing shook his head. "It can't be reattached. This hand is done for. I need to go back to the Outer Provinces immediately. Zhou changhong exposed me."

Old Wan asked, "Then what about your hand?"

He Jiaqing let out a sigh. "I will try my luck at the Three-Headed Fork. Maybe I can grow a new one. I don't have enough time and there's no better option."

Wan Jinxian looked troubled. "Jiaqing, don't rush back to the Outer Provinces just yet. Take care of your injuries first. Those bastards wouldn't dare lay a finger on you."

He Jiaqing shook his head. "I am not worried about the people in the Outer Provinces. I am worried that someone from my family might leak the news."

***

In the He Family residence, He Haiqin sat in the room without saying a word.

When He Yuxiu heard that He Haiqin had not eaten for nearly a day, she was terrified. For a Gourmandism Cultivator, going a day without food had very serious consequences.

"Brother, what's wrong? If something's bothering you, tell me."

He Haiqin appeared to be in a daze. He stared blankly at her and said weakly, "Sis, someone said Jiaqing has returned to Puluo Province."

He Yuxiu was stunned. "Brother, what are you talking about? Isn't Jiaqing lying in a hospital in the Outer Provinces?"

"Exactly. Everyone says he's lying in that hospital. Yet my own son has returned to Puluo Province, and I don't even know about it. Can you believe that?"

Author's Note:

PS: Can you actually grow a hand in the Three-Headed Fork? I always thought that was a place in which only heads could be grown.