Tian Yuan War Chronicles: The Path of Artifacts to Ascension – Chapter 8

Ch 8: Mad Pursuit

“Woof! Woof! Woof!”

“Ah!”, the sound of a hunting dog coming from not far away startled the Old Beggar from his sleep. With no time to delay, he grabbed the firewood knife and the shortened hunting spear beside him and got up to flee deeper into the forest.

“Too unlucky!”, the Old Beggar lamented in his heart, thinking back on the days of fear and trepidation over the past year.

The Old Beggar was originally an ordinary beggar living in the Divine Capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty. When he was young, his family was a well-to-do family in the Divine Capital.

It was only later that an accident happened. His father, who ran a small business, died of illness, and his mother remarried. He lived with his elderly grandfather and grandmother.

Because his father was ill, in order to treat his father, the family’s savings were not only spent, but also owed a lot of debt.

In order to repay the debt, the elderly grandfather and grandmother had no choice but to go from street to street to do some small business, and they also died of overwork after a few years.

Since then, he, who was young, completely lost his support. Originally, the family’s debts had been basically paid off, and he, who was in his teens, could still have some income by renting out the empty house.

But since ancient times, the hemp rope always breaks at the thinnest point, and misfortune specializes in finding the hard-working. Seeing that there was only a little kid left in his family, his mother and her current husband actually took possession of his family’s ancestral house on the grounds of taking him over to raise him.

Then endless suffering came. He, who had only helped his grandparents sell some groceries before, became a small servant in his so-called stepfather’s family.

Not only was he unable to eat enough, but he also had to do heavy physical work every day, and he would be beaten and scolded by his stepfather’s family if he was slightly disobedient.

He couldn’t bear it anymore, so he cried to his mother, but his mother didn’t care about his situation, and told him to be a little stronger as a man.

Because of his concern for his mother, he still gritted his teeth and lived such a life for a few years, but because he was not able to eat enough for a long time, he was as thin as a child.

After an inexplicable beating, he finally felt cold. Taking advantage of the dark night, he, who was sleeping in the stable, said goodbye to his old partner ━ an old horse ━ and left home.

From then on, he wandered the streets of the Divine Capital, begging for some leftovers to make a living.

But he actually liked this kind of life very much. He was very thin and couldn’t eat much. He could eat his fill in just a while a day.

Then he found a hidden place to sleep soundly. After a while, he found that his tattered pants were actually a bit shorter! He grew taller!

That day, he burst into tears, and fell asleep after crying. When he woke up, he knew that this was his destiny.

After wandering the streets for a few years, he knew more about the life of a beggar and met a group of people.

Only then did he realize that beggars were also a very rich and colorful group. Most people, like him, were just simply begging for food.

Some people are more like failed street performers, exchanging some change and food through street performances. Some people will beg while working.

A small number of people steal things while begging for food, and some even form gangs, kill people, rob, and abduct women and children.

Some people steal other people’s children, cripple them, and blind them to help them beg, while they live like rich people.

After knowing these things, he was startled, and he was more careful when he was on the street, and would stay away from those who were in groups and had gangs.

After being on the streets for a long time, he has not only traveled all over the corners of the Imperial City Divine Capital, but he has also gained some experience, knowing how to judge people and serve dishes, how to win sympathy, and even know where to hide from the wind and rain.

Because his family conditions were good when he was a child, he had studied and was literate. He even worked as a fortune teller for a period of time, and he actually got some money.

Sometimes, when he was unlucky, he would steal some food from some people’s homes, which made him develop the habit of petty theft, but he really didn’t steal anything valuable.

Last year during the New Year, someone set off fireworks in the city. He was full and went to join in the fun, but at the moment when the fireworks exploded, a carriage horse was startled.

The carriage was running wildly on the road, and the crowd was frightened and fled in all directions. He quickly climbed onto the roof of a small house, and waited until the chaotic crowd dispersed before he came down.

He didn’t take a few steps when he suddenly found a rather delicate sachet buried in the rubble on the side of the road, only revealing a corner, covered in dust.

It should have been lost by someone in the crowd just now. He quickly picked up the thing and packed it up, and returned to the place where he usually stayed.

Back under the Duanshan Bridge where he stayed, he opened the sachet, and there was only a small book, a small jade bottle, and five warm jade stones.

He felt that he was going to make a fortune. People say that gold has a price but jade is priceless, and his heart suddenly became hot.

Outsiders think he is a little Old Man, but he is only in his thirties. It is only because the life in those years was really hard that his hair was a little gray early.

These years, he has been exposed to the wind and dew on the streets, and his skin is very dark and wrinkled. He is also unwilling to clean himself up. His face is dirty and his beard is already very long.

Usually, in order to beg for food, he always hunches his body, and outsiders think he is a little Old Man, so it is easier to beg for money.

But once these jade stones are exchanged for gold and silver, he can completely return to a normal life, do a little business like his father, marry a wife and have children to continue his family’s incense.

Imagining the future in his heart, he suffered from insomnia that night.

But he, who is used to the bitterness of life, knows that a common man is innocent, but he is guilty of possessing a treasure. He dare not rashly take his jade stone out to sell it. He wants to test the waters first!

He thought about it in his heart. The little book was called Qi Guiding Technique. It should be used for Taoist Health Preservation. Although it is quite exquisite, it should not be worth much money and is not worth selling.

Jade bottles and jade stones are too precious, and he would feel very distressed if he couldn’t sell them for a good price.

In the end, he set his sights on the sachet. The sachet was not an ordinary product at first glance, and the main body was made of silk.

A lot of patterns were sewn on it with gold and silver threads, and there was actually a Great Zhou Royal Family badge in the middle, which was also woven with gold threads. Several small gems were also inlaid around the badge, sparkling.

A Lan character was sewn on a corner of the sachet with red thread, which should be the name of the owner of this sachet. He sniffed closer and smelled a fragrance powder, so the owner should be a noble Woman or Young Miss.

Although the Royal Family badge shows that this thing belongs to the Royal Family, there are Royal Family children all over the Divine Capital, and things with the Royal Family badge are not so rare, so he is not too worried.

That night, he took out the things in the sachet and put them all close to his body. He wrapped the sachet in a roll of cleaner cloth and prepared to take it out for pawn the next day.

The next day, he got up early and took a bath under the Duanshan Bridge to clean himself up. He put on a “picked up” half-new clothes, and he looked at himself in the water and felt very strange.

This is the best! After tidying up everything, he set off to a pawn shop far away from his usual range of activities.

When he arrived at the pawn shop, he took out the wrapped sachet and handed it to the Shopkeeper.

The Shopkeeper didn’t even raise his head, opened the cloth, and carefully checked the sachet.

“Two taels!”, the Shopkeeper said indifferently.

“What? No way! Give it back to me!”, he was angry and took back his sachet.

He went to several other pawn shops, but the highest price was only three taels and five coins, so he had no choice but to accept this price.

When he walked back with the three taels of silver in his arms, his steps became a little frivolous. This feeling was too unreal.

He was afraid that he would wake up accidentally and find that it was just a dream.

He turned around seven times and eight times and returned to the Duanshan Bridge where he stayed. He found a small box from under a pile of sundries and opened it ━ there were two strings of copper coins and a few pieces of broken silver, totaling about three coins of silver.

When he put the three taels of silver, jade bottle, and jade stone in his arms into the box, he suddenly felt a strong sense of insecurity.

What if these treasures are discovered by others? What if someone finds out about my whereabouts? What if the original owner of the sachet comes looking for me?

In the next few days, he never left the Duanshan Bridge again, and did not dare to go out to beg for food, and kept guarding the small box.

Finally, three days later, he ran out of the dry food he had saved, and after holding on for two more days, he was so hungry that he couldn’t stand it anymore.

Only then did he put the jade bottle, jade stone, and all the silver in his chest, hide the wooden box back under the sundries, put on the original tattered begging clothes, rubbed some ash on his face, messed up his hair, and went out to beg for food.

But before he had walked two miles, he saw a wanted warrant on the city wall that made his soul fly away.

The wanted warrant showed what he looked like when he went to pawn the sachet a few days ago. The wanted warrant said that he was a serious criminal who stole important Royal Family property.

His strangeness attracted the attention of the Yamen Runner present, who wanted to stop him and ask him questions. He was so frightened that he ran away immediately, and the Yamen Runner failed to catch up with him.

He fled back to the Duanshan Bridge, found the small wooden box containing the copper coins, set fire to his foothold, and fled the Divine Capital without looking back.

He had never left the Divine Capital in his life. After leaving the jurisdiction of the Divine Capital, in order not to attract attention, he deliberately avoided large cities and hid from the crowd during the day and out at night.

Because he couldn’t beg for food, he had to make a living by stealing.

He hid like this, and finally was not caught by the government, but he still couldn’t stop being afraid when he saw his wanted warrant in smaller cities.

Moreover, the people who were chasing him seemed unwilling to give up. The person on the original wanted warrant always looked like he was going to pawn the sachet that day, but later it turned into what he looked like when he was a beggar.

Obviously, the people who were chasing him had found out his identity, and his fear was even greater. From then on, he fled all the way towards sparsely populated areas.

It is difficult to describe the hardships of having to avoid government pursuit and obtain food along the way, but he doesn’t know why he is unwilling to give up.

In his life, suffering has always accompanied him. Although he is very scared, he has never thought of giving up. He doesn’t know why.

Sometimes when he was about to be caught up by the soldiers, he would lie dormant in one place for several days without eating, drinking, or moving.

The most dangerous time, the dog tracking him had already bitten him. He kicked the beast in pain, and then rolled into a large house not far away, hiding in a tree hole in a large tree in the garden of the house.

Seeing that the soldiers behind him were about to chase in, suddenly a heavy rain washed away his scent. The beast couldn’t find its target and ran around in a hurry. He could hear it clearly in the tree hole.

He hid in that tree hole for three whole days, without eating, drinking, or moving. He kept listening to the owners of the house playing and playing outside. After feeling that he really couldn’t hold on any longer, he escaped in the dead of night.

Because he was too hungry to have any strength, he ate almost all the flowers in the garden, and only after replenishing a little strength did he climb over the wall and leave.

Finally, he came to a small city surrounded by mountains on three sides. He did not find his wanted warrant on the city wall. After observing for a period of time, he entered the city.

He stayed in this city for two months, and no one came to chase him. He felt a little relieved.

But when he saw the Yamen Runner and soldiers of the government, he still couldn’t stop being afraid. This kind of fear could overwhelm everything, so he left the small city.

Because he heard that outside the small city was an endless forest sea, he immediately made some kind of determination.

Then he spent all his silver in the city, ate a few big meals, and tasted the local mountain deer and mountain chicken.

He even cleaned himself up and spent two taels of silver to taste the Wife. He sighed in his heart ━ Wife is really good!

He originally wanted to exchange all the jade bottles and jade stones for silver, but after thinking about it, he decided to forget it. These precious things are always too eye-catching.

In the end, after the silver was spent, he met a little brother selling mountain deer, so he exchanged the book for half a pair of offal and cooked it. He had a delicious meal, and then left the small city and plunged into the nearby mountains and forests.

Only after entering the mountains and forests did he realize that life in the forest was not so easy. There were actually wild beasts in the forest here.

Forced to do so, he retreated back to the nearby villages and “found” some tools before re-entering the mountains and forests.

It was just unlucky that he was caught by a few young boys once in the middle. Fortunately, those boys did not send him to the government, but sent him to their Village Chief.

Originally, the Village Chief’s son also said that he would send him to the government, but he was so scared that he burst into tears and begged for mercy. The Old Man was indeed moved by him, so he warned and taught him a few words, and then let him go.

He thought that this was great, and he could live happily in the forest in the future. There were a lot of wild animals in this forest, and he could catch them without putting in too much effort.

If he was really unlucky, he could go to other villages and “find” something to eat and “find” some tools to use.

But what he never expected was that before he had been comfortable for a few days, he discovered soldiers and hunting dogs all over the mountains and plains. He was so frightened that his soul flew away, and he got up and fled into the deeper forest.