Chapter 1

A new teacher has arrived at White Horse Academy, and everyone in the ten villages and eight shops knows about it.

The people at Tongfu Inn are even more familiar with this, as the teacher lives right across from the inn, renting a small, private courtyard.

The courtyard belongs to a friend of Mr. Zhu from White Horse Academy. It’s not large, but it’s exquisite, with a jujube tree that is lush and leafy. Lying in the shade of the tree on a summer day is quite pleasant.

It was only early March, but Li Zhong was already lying in a rocking chair under the jujube tree, creaking back and forth.

"Can it get any more comfortable?"

Li Zhong exuded joy from head to toe, sinking deeply into the rocking chair.

He hadn’t been in this world for long, but Li Zhong had already put Earth Star out of his mind.

On Earth Star, he was an orphan, working part-time while studying. After graduating from university, he didn’t dare to date, and the high housing prices made him feel hopeless. Life was just about surviving.

But here, he had taken over the body of a young scholar killed by bandits, was saved by the town’s constable, and after recovering, became a teacher at the academy, teaching a bunch of little brats.

He went to the academy to teach every day and did as he pleased after school. In just over ten days, Li Zhong had completely relaxed.

Of course, if he didn’t know that this world was somewhat chaotic, he would be even happier.

Li Zhong took a nap and woke up to a sky tinged with a faint red. He got up, tidied himself, and walked out, entering the inn across the street.

As soon as he entered, Mr. Tong greeted him warmly: "Mr. Li, please come in and sit down." He turned to the kitchen and shouted, "Big Mouth, bring the food quickly."

"Mr. Tong, no need to be so formal," Li Zhong thanked him and bowed to the people around him, "Everyone, good evening."

"Good, good, good," came a chorus of casual responses.

Everyone sat down, and Mr. Tong asked with a smile, "Mr. Li, how was Xiao Bei at the academy today? Did she misbehave? Don’t worry, if she’s not well-behaved, I’ll beat her."

"Auntie, what are you saying!" Xiao Bei pouted, unhappy.

Li Zhong laughed and said, "Mr. Tong, don’t worry, Xiao Bei was very well-behaved at the academy and studied very diligently."

"Her? Studying diligently?" Xiao Guo shook his head, disbelieving.

"Gu, Fu, Rong!" Xiao Bei huffed angrily.

"Good, good, good, studying diligently, working hard," Xiao Guo said dismissively.

"I come here every day for meals. If Xiao Bei has any problems, I’ll let you know first."

Li Zhong paid one tael of silver to Mr. Tong every month and ate at the inn for breakfast and dinner.

"Thank you, Mr. Li. Xiao Bei, quickly serve the tea," Mr. Tong smiled and gestured to Xiao Bei.

Xiao Bei reluctantly poured the tea and glared at Li Zhong.

Li Zhong, sensing the tension, changed the subject, "Why isn’t Xiao Mi here today? Where did he go?"

"Mr. Li, you don’t know yet. Xiao Mi went to the Beggar Gang’s assembly," Bai Zhantang said.

"Beggar Gang’s assembly? It’s not a festival or an important day, what’s going on?" Li Zhong asked curiously.

Old Bai leaned forward and lowered his voice, and the others fell silent to listen, "The Northern Beggar Gang’s leader, Wang Jian Tong, is not well. It’s said he won’t last much longer."

"Really? But he killed an elder of the Sun Moon Cult not long ago," Xiao Guo was puzzled.

"That’s right," Old Bai slapped the table, "It was because of the battle with the Sun Moon Cult elder that his old injuries flared up, and now he’s in a bad state!"

"How could a person on the Heavenly List have old injuries?" Li Zhong asked again.

"Mr. Li, you must be a bookworm. You don’t know that at last year’s Junshan Assembly, which happens every ten years, Wang Jian Tong fought the Southern Beggar Gang’s leader, Hong Qigong, and lost badly. He was severely injured and left with a lingering illness," Old Bai described it vividly, capturing everyone’s attention.

In this world, several countries coexist. In the north, there’s the Jin Kingdom, in Liaodong, there’s the Liao Kingdom, in the west, there are Tubo and Western Xia, and in the south, there’s Dali. The Central Plains are divided into two parts: the north is the Tang Dynasty, also known as Northern Tang, and the south is the Ming Dynasty, also known as Southern Ming.

With many countries, the martial world is also chaotic. There are numerous famous sects like the Quanzhen Sect, Wudang Sect, Sun Moon Cult, Ming Sect, Huashan Sect, and Emei Sect, as well as powerful families like the Ouyang family of White Camel Mountain, the Murong family of Gusu, and the Duan family of Dali.

Among them, the Shaolin Temple and the Beggar Gang are divided into northern and southern branches.

There are two Beggar Gangs, but only one Beggar Stick. Therefore, the northern and southern Beggar Gangs agreed decades ago to hold a leader’s duel every ten years on Junshan Island. The winner would hold the Beggar Stick for ten years, and then they would duel again to determine the next leader.

Originally, the Junshan Assembly was an internal matter for the Beggar Gang, but since the northern and southern Beggar Gangs are among the top sects in Northern Tang and Southern Ming, it has become a major event in the entire martial world, extremely grand.

Last year, Wang Jian Tong lost the duel and was severely injured. No one expected him to not recover and to be on the brink of death.

Li Dazui patted Old Bai, "Old Bai, if Wang Jian Tong dies, who will be the next leader?"

Xiao Guo nudged him, "Watch your words, call him Wang Leader! Be careful, or the Beggar Gang might hear and teach you a lesson."

"Whatever," Li Dazui turned his head dismissively, "They’re all at the assembly, who can teach me a lesson? Old Bai, hurry up and tell us."

Old Bai thought for a moment, "I think it’s likely to be the Northern Beggar Gang’s deputy leader, Ma Dayuan."

"No way! Qiao Feng is at the height of his fame, a senior of the Beggar Gang, young, and highly skilled. I think it might be him," Xiao Guo disagreed.

"I also think it’s him. Qiao Feng was even selected as one of the top ten influential figures of the year last year," Mr. Tong and Xiao Guo high-fived, showing their agreement.

Old Bai shook his head, "You don’t understand. For a major sect like the Beggar Gang, during leadership transitions, they usually choose someone with high moral standing and rich experience. Although Qiao Feng is at the height of his fame, he still lacks the depth."

"Where does he lack depth? Qiao Feng’s master is the Venerable Xuanku of Northern Shaolin!" Xiao Guo said angrily.

"You see, that’s the issue. Would the Beggar Gang let a Shaolin disciple be their leader?" Old Bai smiled smugly, looking at the speechless Xiao Guo, and picked up his chopsticks. But he froze when he saw the empty plates on the table.

It wasn’t a mess, but rather a clean plate action.

Li Zhong put down his chopsticks, burped, and smiled apologetically, "Everyone, enjoy your meal. I’ll be going now."

He turned to Li Dazui and said, "Next time, you can add some eggs to the tomato and egg stir-fry." Then he got up and left.

The rest of the table was left in shock.

"Old Bai, it’s all your fault! We didn’t even get to eat dinner!"

Then came a chorus of punches and slaps.

Old Bai defended himself frantically, "It’s not my fault! It’s Mr. Li who started it. Why did you listen?"

"Enough!"

Mr. Tong slapped the table, "Big Mouth, make two more dishes. Xiao Guo, clear the table... Oh my god, Mr. Li is going to eat us into poverty. It’s been half a month, and we haven’t had a proper dinner once..."

"Auntie, I’m hungry..."

"Good Xiao Bei, just hold on a bit longer. The food will be ready soon." Mr. Tong hugged Xiao Bei and whispered comfortingly.

After they finished eating and were cleaning up, Mr. Tong suddenly slapped the table, "Everyone, come here!"

"What’s up?" They all gathered around.

"I’m announcing that from now on, no talking or storytelling during dinner at Tongfu Inn! Especially you, Old Bai!"

"What’s with me?" Old Bai saw everyone looking at him, "You have to make Mr. Li stop talking."

"I can’t control him," Mr. Tong’s tone softened, then hardened, "But I can control you! From now on, when Mr. Li says anything, we’ll pretend we didn’t hear it. No one is to respond! Whoever violates this rule won’t get their monthly pay!"

Old Bai opened his mouth to speak, but she quickly added, "Except for anything about Xiao Bei!"

"Understood!"

...