The beggar was very disheveled, but Xiao Yuhan showed no disrespect. Observing others from subtle details requires keen eyesight, and from the beggar's breathing, he could tell that this person was a cultivator. Any cultivator who wanted to survive would not have fallen to the level of a beggar. Xiao Yuhan knew that this beggar was not so simple, so he immediately ordered two more jars of wine.
A moment later, Bai Yao helped the beggar upstairs. As soon as they reached the top, she said somewhat uneasily, "I'm sorry... Senior... Brother, Yao'er has caused you trouble!"
Xiao Yuhan remained expressionless, his attention entirely focused on the beggar. He murmured softly, "It's alright. I told you, you're in charge of whatever happens this time. Your master will help you sort out any trouble!"
The beggar didn't act like an outsider at all. Without even glancing at Xiao Yuhan, he sat down and started eating. Then he picked up the wine pot, sniffed it, and laughed, "Good wine! Thank you, young lady, and thank you, sir. I'm just a beggar with no particular hobbies, I just wanted a drink..."
Xiao Yuhan sat back down. There was still some time before the show started, so he became interested in chatting with the beggar.
"If you like to drink, then drink more. I have plenty of wine here!" Xiao Yuhan's gaze remained fixed on the beggar, feeling that he was familiar but unable to place where he had seen him before.
The beggar picked up the wine jug and poured it straight into his mouth, finishing the entire jug in one gulp. He then put down the jug and laughed, "Sir, you are truly generous! Then I will not stand on ceremony. This wine is indeed the true taste of life, and ordinary people do not know its wonder!"
"Oh? What's so wonderful about it?"
The beggar, his eyes glazed with drunkenness, lay sprawled on the couch, laughing heartily: "In my drunken stupor, I know not where I am. I am playing with fairy maidens in the Jade Pool, dancing before them in seven-colored silk robes, while jade maidens offer Bodhi seeds on trays."
Xiao Yuhan frowned, thinking that this person was really arrogant. To play with the fairy maidens in the Jade Pool and have the seven fairies dance for him was such a foolish dream. He suddenly doubted whether he had misjudged the person. Perhaps this person was just a drunkard?
"Your Excellency is truly speaking arrogantly. People say that one's character is revealed by their drinking habits, and this is a clear indication of that."
The beggar laughed heartily, "Sir, you said that one's character is reflected in one's drinking habits. I thought that only applied to people, not to the wine itself. The word 'wine' can be interpreted as the sweetness, bitterness, and spiciness of the taste when it goes down the throat, or as the vicissitudes of life."
At this point, the beggar sat up straight, rested his elbows on his knees, and stared intently at Xiao Yuhan, his eyes now more profound, no longer displaying the drunken, dazed look he had before. "With your cultivation level, you're not even as good a person as I am, a beggar!"
"Oh?" Xiao Yuhan was now certain that this person was extraordinary, and immediately asked, "How do you know?"
"Your eyes are empty, as if you have great skills but don't know where to go or what to do. You're not even as good as a beggar. At least I love wine, I'm obsessed with it. A glass of fine wine is the meaning of my life. Do you have that?"
Xiao Yuhan was taken aback. Why did this sound so much like what his senior brother had said before? Could it be that he really couldn't find his own mission? He glanced at Bai Yao absentmindedly, lost in thought.
The beggar smiled slightly, "It seems it will be soon."
Xiao Yuhan had no intention of being led astray by a beggar, and based on his previous observations, he had already guessed the man's identity. "You're probably not only fond of wine, but also of killing, aren't you?"
The beggar didn't take it seriously. He lowered his head and sniffed the wine in the jar in his hand, looking quite pleased. He said casually, "I believe that there must be a reason for killing someone. So, everyone who dies by my hand must have a reason to die. Moreover, there are three types of people I don't kill: gentlemen, saints, and those who invite me to drink."
Xiao Yuhan snorted and said with a helpless smile, "Have I fallen into the den of the demonic sect? Sword Demon Han Xiong, I've heard that you are a person who kills innocent people indiscriminately."
"Even the renowned Demon-Slaying Sword Immortal has heard of my name? What a pity... I pawned my sword and exchanged it for wine three years ago, otherwise I could have tested whether you are all talk and no action today."
Xiao Yuhan remained expressionless and said softly, "No sword is acceptable!"
Before he finished speaking, the beggar attacked without warning, pointing a finger an inch from Xiao Yuhan's brow. "Can my sword wound Master Xiao?"
"One dead and one injured, that's the most we can say," Xiao Yuhan said, his expression unchanged.
The beggar asked if he could be hurt. Xiao Yuhan's answer contained one possibility: he could be hurt, but there was also the possibility of death. The beggar understood Xiao Yuhan's meaning and could only helplessly gulp down a mouthful of wine. "What bad luck! I've ended up begging for wine from you. Will I be able to leave here alive today?"
Xiao Yuhan looked at him without saying a word.
Bai Yao was completely bewildered by the contest between the two. The little girl blinked, seemingly understanding that the beggar in front of her was no ordinary person. However, his finger strike had not produced any spiritual energy fluctuations, so she didn't understand why her master and the beggar had already decided the winner. Now it seemed that her master had the upper hand. So she looked at the beggar and murmured, "Why not? Master would never bully the weak. You can leave safely."
The beggar looked at Bai Yao, then at Xiao Yuhan, and then laughed, "If this girl weren't so pure and innocent, I would have thought he was deliberately mocking me."
Xiao Yuhan seemed to understand something, then said, "You should thank her. She said that if you can live, I will not harm you today!"
Bai Yao smiled slightly: "Thank you, Master... oh no, thank you, Brother!"
The beggar stretched, then picked up his drink again. "Then I can drink without worry..."
Xiao Yuhan scoffed, "Why have you come here today?"
The beggar slumped back down, saying weakly, "I've been here for half a month. Can you just consider me here begging for wine?"
Seeing his expression, Xiao Yuhan thought he was unwilling to say more. She remembered that the original work mentioned the two Kunlun masters. The elder brother, Han Ying, was the previous leader of the Kunlun Immortal Sect. The younger brother, Han Xiong, betrayed the Kunlun Immortal Sect in his early years and wandered the martial world for many years. He became an elder of the Demon Sect and was known as the Sword Demon. He was addicted to alcohol, unpredictable, and loved killing.
Xiao Yuhan had just seen the tattoo belonging to the Kunlun Immortal Sect on his arm, which was mostly covered by his tattered clothes, so he immediately guessed the beggar's identity.
On this trip, Xiao Yuhan felt somewhat uneasy. The current sect leader of the Demonic Sect was drinking not far away, while the Sword Demon Han Xiong was drinking in front of him. He knew that if these people were not after the Azure Water Pearl, then they had some other purpose. Thinking about it carefully, even at its peak, the Demonic Sect could only be compared with the Heavenly Sword Sect. The Sword Demon in front of him was probably still one step away from entering the Void Returning Realm. As for the Demonic Sect's young master Yang Yunsui in the distance, he was not worth mentioning. Perhaps Bai Yao's current strength was not much worse than his.
With this in mind, Xiao Yuhan was no longer so worried and decided to treat it as a training exercise for his disciple.
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