A thousand enlightenments in one night, starting from being a menial apprentice.

Duan Rong looked at the lame man, chuckled twice, and said, "For years, I've been traveling around, and now that I've arrived in this area, I'm suddenly filled with joy. I really want to settle down here."

"Brother, may I ask your name?" Duan Rong asked, bowing to the lame man.

Seeing that Duan Rong's response was quite accommodating, the lame man replied, "My brothers all flatter me and call me Boss Yang. And what is your name, brother?"

Duan Rong said, "My name is Jiang Qingyu. I'd like to work under Boss Yang and earn a living."

The lame man said, "It's fine. Brother Jiang, please release our brother first."

As the lame man spoke, he glanced at the fair-skinned beggar who was being sat on in a split by Duan Rong.

Duan Rong laughed, "This is like the flood washing away the Dragon King's temple..." As he spoke, he got up and helped the fair-skinned beggar to his feet. Then, with a quick grab and lift, a snap was heard, and the fair-skinned beggar's dislocated arm was set back in place.

Then, Duan Rong patted the fair-skinned beggar on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Sorry for the offense!"

The fair-skinned beggar wiped the sweat from his forehead, glanced at Duan Rong with fear in his eyes, and said, "It's alright..." As he spoke, the fair-skinned beggar ran behind the lame man.

Seeing the fair-skinned beggar leave, the lame man took a few steps closer and laughed, "Brother Jiang, we've become friends through a fight..."

At this moment, the lame man was only four or five steps away from Duan Rong, and he had a harmless smile on his face. But halfway through his sentence, he suddenly leaped up and slapped Duan Rong's chest with one hand.

This change was quite unexpected. But Duan Rong's eyes remained completely calm. The lame man was a seasoned veteran, and Duan Rong's reaction had already surprised him.

Duan Rong dodged the cripple's unexpected attack by sidestepping. The cripple's palm struck empty air, and he pressed his left hand against the wall of the alley while his right hand slashed at Duan Rong's temple with a knife-like motion.

The two attacks, one after the other, were swift and fluid, like flowing water.

Just as he turned to the side, the palm strike came down, and Duan Rong had no choice but to spread his hands to block it!

When the lame man saw Duan Rong raise his hand to block him, he immediately withdrew his palm, flipped his hand, and pulled out a three-inch-long dagger from his sleeve. With a flash of cold light, he stabbed it towards Duan Rong's lower abdomen.

The alley was narrow, and from the beginning, Duan Rong had been using martial arts at the second level of the Inner Breath Realm, so he couldn't raise his level arbitrarily.

The cripple's three consecutive attacks were quite ruthless. Seeing the dagger piercing towards his abdomen, Duan Rong had no choice but to spit a mouthful of phlegm into the cripple's eyes, and almost simultaneously dodged the dagger's thrust to the side.

"Clap!"

A glob of phlegm landed squarely on the neck and eye, causing the lame man's hand to pause. Duan Rong immediately jumped away from the corner where the lame man had forced him.

Duan Rong looked at the dagger in the cripple's hand and secretly thought how close he had come to disaster. If it weren't for the thick phlegm in the man's mouth, even if he had dodged the first attack, he would have been hit by the dagger's rapid thrusts.

The lame man disgustedly wiped the thick phlegm from his eyes, looked at Duan Rong with a vicious gaze, and said, "Kid, even if we are beggars, this trick of yours is too despicable, isn't it?"

Duan Rong said, "What do you mean by 'despicable'? You shameless old man, you first agreed to join me, then approached me with a smile, and then suddenly attacked me with that rooster-like act, almost scratching my stomach. And you still have the nerve to call me despicable!?"

The lame man's face twitched. Even he, an old rogue, found Duan Rong's veiled and vulgar words somewhat unbearable to hear.

The lame man said, "Brother Jiang, I'm not hiring here for the time being. Why don't you look somewhere else?"

"Let's go!" the lame man said, then waved his hand and led the beggars away from the other end of the alley.

After a brief exchange, the lame man realized that Duan Rong was at the second level of the Inner Breath Realm, and was on par with him. Only then could he gain the upper hand, but it was only because of his sudden three consecutive attacks. If they were to fight again, he might not be able to defeat Duan Rong.

Duan Rong watched the lame man limp away and couldn't help but chuckle to himself, muttering, "This guy is quite interesting."

After the lame man left, Duan Rong remained sitting by himself in the corner of the alley. After that, until dusk, no one bothered him anymore.

The western part of Xidu Prefecture was inhabited by small, humble families. Not far from the western city gate stood a dilapidated temple, its corner crumbling.

Several years ago, the temple was struck by lightning during a rainy day and caught fire. The fire burned down to one corner and collapsed before being extinguished by the increasingly heavy rain.

The people of Yongzhou were superstitious and believed that the temple struck by lightning was an ominous sign, suggesting that it must have been haunted by evil spirits that had angered the gods. Therefore, the collapsed temple was left unrepaired and allowed to decay further.

Later, this dilapidated temple became the place where the lame man and his beggars rested at night.

It was already dark, and a cold wind was howling outside. Yongzhou was different from Qingzhou; it was windy and dusty, and the temperature difference between day and night was large, making it quite cold at night.

A dim oil lamp was lit in the dilapidated temple.

The beggars brought back some firewood, lit it with dry grass, and began to cook.

It's getting cold, so even the beggars need a hot meal at night.

The method is actually very simple: they just put all the things they wanted during the day into an iron pot, cook them together, and make sure it's piping hot. This dish also has a name: beggar's rice.

In ordinary households in Yongzhou, this is something that people eat occasionally, and the taste is actually quite good.

These beggars are all lazy, otherwise they wouldn't have become beggars. The task of starting a fire and cooking is done by the three of them in turns.

As their leader, the lame man naturally didn't need to do anything. He was already leaning against the shrine, sitting on a wooden stake, dozing with his eyes closed, just waiting to be eaten.

Before long, the beggar's meal was ready. The fair-skinned beggar who had been made to split apart by Duan Rong earlier that day ladled out a bowl and brought it to the lame man, saying with a forced smile, "Boss, the rice is ready. Eat it while it's hot."

The lame man opened his eyes, pulled his hand out of his sleeve, and took the full bowl of beggar's rice, which contained a lion's head meatball.

The lame man chuckled and said, "Everyone, let's start eating."

The beggars agreed and began to fill their bowls with rice. Then, the sound of slurping and splashing soup echoed from the dilapidated temple.

While the beggars were eating, a figure suddenly walked in from the entrance of the dilapidated temple.

The beggars turned their heads and saw, in the firelight, that it was none other than Duan Rong, the man they had clashed with earlier that day.

The sounds of smashing and pouring soup in the dilapidated temple ceased. The beggars stared blankly at Duan Rong, but none of them uttered a word. If it were any other person, these beggars would have already started shouting and cursing, but they had all witnessed Duan Rong's actions during the day, and even Yang Tou'er hadn't fared well against Duan Rong. At this moment, none of them dared to step forward recklessly.

The lame man sat there, holding a bowl, looking at Duan Rong with amusement, and said, "What's wrong, Brother Jiang? You haven't left yet?"

Duan Rong said, "I was frightened by your dagger in the alley during the day, and my leg isn't quite right. I'm planning to rest here for a few days."

The lame man couldn't help but chuckle. He thought the kid was not only quite skilled, but also had a rather interesting way of speaking.

Duan Rong said, "It's a bit cold. Could you give me a bowl of hot food to warm me up?"

"It's an emergency, no problem." The lame man turned his head and said, "White Dog, give him a bowl."

Upon hearing this, the fair-skinned beggar, who had been pinned down in the alley by Duan Rong, stood up.

Duan Rong glanced at him and couldn't help but smile, thinking to himself: So this guy's name is White Dog. That's a fitting name.

The fair-skinned beggar served Duan Rong rice, and even scooped out some thicker gravy for him. People from all walks of life tend to admire the strong, and even when oppressed, they usually show respect in the face of absolute power.

The fair-skinned beggar handed Duan Rong a bowl of steaming beggar's rice. Duan Rong took it, squatted down by the door, and began to eat.

Inside the dilapidated temple, the sounds of cooking rice began again. After Duan Rong finished eating, he put down his bowl and chopsticks, wiped his mouth, stood up, and, using the dim light, surveyed the ruined temple before turning and leaving without a word.

The lame man didn't react much to Duan Rong's departure. Although Duan Rong was skilled and interesting, the saying "two tigers cannot share one mountain" applied, and he wouldn't keep Duan Rong around. Such a troublemaker would only make him harder to manage. Besides, he wasn't without missions; if he were just a beggar waiting to die, that would be one thing.

After finishing their meal, the group of beggars washed the pots and pans and then went to find a place to sleep.

The lame man spread some dry straw next to the shrine, and placed a tattered pillow on it; that was his bed.

In Xidu Prefecture, a curfew begins at the end of Hai hour (9-11 PM).

The entire western capital was quiet, except for the faint sounds of music and laughter emanating from brothels and entertainment venues.

Inside the dilapidated temple, the sounds of snoring, burping, and farting filled the air, while the oil lamp on the shrine emitted a faint glow.

Just then, more than a dozen flickering lights suddenly appeared, like a swarm of fireflies that had suddenly darted into the dilapidated temple.

The moment those points of light appeared, they drew streaks of cold light that pierced the foreheads of each beggar.

Only the lame man sleeping beside the shrine was spared the fireflies entering his brow.

At this moment, Duan Rong walked in slowly from outside. In the quiet night, his footsteps sounded very clear.

The lame man was, after all, a martial artist. As Duan Rong approached the door, he bowed slightly, waiting for him to come in. By the dim light, he recognized Duan Rong.

The lame man said, "What? It's cold outside, isn't it? It's windy at night too. If you can't stand it, find a place to sleep here. There's some dry straw in that corner."

The lame man muttered something and then went back to sleep.

Duan Rong took a few steps closer and stood in the center of the dilapidated temple. He looked at the cripple sleeping beside the shrine and suddenly shouted coldly, "Yang Ruoshui! Get up!"

Upon hearing this, the lame man's heart tightened, and he suddenly jumped up, already gripping a dagger in his hand. He looked at Duan Rong's face warily and said coldly, "What Yang Ruoshui!? Who are you?"

Yang Ruoshui was naturally the lame man's real name, but he hadn't used it for many years, and within the Xidu Prefecture, it was even more of a secret.

Duan Rong looked at the limp man, whose whole body was tense, but remained calm and collected. With a flick of his wrist, he grasped a token in his hand.

In the dim light, all that could be seen was a wedge-shaped token that was entirely black.

The lame man's expression changed again upon seeing the token. He stared intently at it, but the dim light made it difficult to see clearly.

Duan Rong noticed his expression and said, "Catch it." Then he threw the token directly to the lame man.

The lame man took the token, carefully examined the patterns and inscriptions, and after confirming that the token was genuine, he looked up at Duan Rong with astonishment in his eyes.

Upon seeing the lame man's gaze, Duan Rong directly uttered a coded message.

Upon hearing this, the lame man's eyes lit up, but he suddenly looked around and did not respond to Duan Rong's coded message.

Duan Rong knew that the lame man was afraid it would be inconvenient to talk here, since all the beggars were here.

Duan Rong saw his concerns and said, "Speak frankly, they are already unconscious. They can't hear a single word we say."

Upon hearing this, the lame man's heart tightened. Only then did he notice that the snoring, burping, and farting sounds that had been coming and going in the dilapidated temple seemed to have stopped for quite some time.

He looked at Duan Rong with even greater awe, and then received Duan Rong's coded message.

The two exchanged six coded messages back and forth.

With the token and code word in hand, the lame man had no further doubts about Duan Rong's identity.

He limped to a spot not far from Duan Rong, knelt down, held the token in both hands, and respectfully said, "Your subordinate Yang Ruoshui pays respects to Your Excellency."

Duan Rong accepted the token and said, "Mr. Yang, please get up."

The lame man said, "I was unaware of your identity during the day and have offended you greatly. I hope you will forgive me."

As the lame man spoke, he kowtowed to the ground with a thud.

Duan Rong reached out to support him, saying, "Don't worry about what happened during the day. I did this on purpose because I wanted to test you."

"Get up," Duan Rong said, helping the lame man to his feet.

Duan Rong had said this, and then personally helped him up. If the lame man didn't get up, he would seem to be taking advantage of his age. With Duan Rong's help, the lame man stood up, clasped his hands in a fist and bowed, saying, "Thank you for your leniency, sir!"

"Mr. Yang, besides you, what other strongholds and spies are there in Xidu Prefecture?" Duan Rong didn't waste any words. After confirming each other's identities, he got straight to the point and asked about the matter.

The dilapidated temple was already remote, and with the curfew in Xidu Prefecture, the surroundings were pitch black and deathly silent. Moreover, Duan Rong's divine sense had enveloped the area, and no one dared to approach. The other beggars inside the temple had also entered a state of spiritual illusion, so it was quite safe for him to discuss this confidential matter with Yang Ruoshui.

“This…” Yang Ruoshui seemed a little hesitant, glancing at the door.

Duan Rong said, "This place is safe, and there is no one around, so you may speak freely."

Upon hearing this, Yang Ruoshui looked at Duan Rong. For some reason, he felt a deep sense of trust in Duan Rong's words. He then said, "Besides the information I usually gather through these beggars, there are two other strongholds in Xidu Prefecture. To be precise, there is one stronghold and one spy."

Duan Rong said, "To be specific..."

“Yes,” Yang Ruoshui said, “one of the strongholds is Cunmu Hall.”

"What does this Cunmutang do?" Duan Rong's eyes flickered. He had overheard some conversations in the neighborhood today, but no one had mentioned this place. It was clear that Cunmutang was not well-known among ordinary people.

Yang Ruoshui said, "This Cunmutang is a workshop that makes wood carvings, stone carvings, as well as various complex crafts such as gilding and painting. The owner of Cunmutang is named Wang Xun, and he is one of our people."

Duan Rong nodded and said, "You said there's another spy?"

Yang Ruoshui said, "One of the spies is the guest monk of Yongning Temple."

"The guest monk of Yongning Temple?!" Duan Rong was startled. He had already learned from the idle chatter in the city that Yongning Temple was the largest temple in Xidu Prefecture.

It's easy to imagine the immense importance of temples in Yongzhou. To be the guest monk of the largest temple in Xidu Prefecture was truly no small feat.

Duan Rong asked, "Was he originally one of ours, or did he join us later?" Duan Rong asked this because the level of loyalty in these two cases is completely different.

Yang Ruoshui said, "They were originally one of ours."

Duan Rong's eyes were deep, and he asked, "Then the one who has ties with the sect is this guest monk from Yongning Temple?"

Yang Ruoshui said, "My lord, that's not the case. The one with ties to the sect is Cunmu Hall."

Duan Rong's heart skipped a beat, as if a cold wind had blown down his neck, sending a chill through him. The outcome was completely contrary to his expectations. (End of Chapter)