Song of Everlasting Regret - Chapter 37

In the eastern part of the city stood a ruined temple that served as shelter for a group of beggars.

That day, the beggars enjoyed meat for the first time in ages, all because a young beggar among them—nicknamed Ground Rat—had found a half-dead young man.

Ground Rat had discovered him inside the city with a mule beside him, so she used the animal to carry him back.

The beggars had received very few alms in recent days and were starving. Their eyes shone green at the sight of anything valuable. They would pluck the feathers from a passing goose, so how could they possibly leave this stranger untouched?

Ground Rat understood their nature well.

She had already searched him and found not a single coin, only a sword. She pawned the weapon, used the money to summon a physician and purchase medicine, then placed the few remaining pieces of silver inside the torn pouch against her chest.

When the other beggars found nothing worth taking from the young man, they turned their attention to the mule.

They slaughtered it, roasted the meat, and gathered around to feast heartily.

Ground Rat dragged the injured person onto her own straw mat and rolled up his trouser leg.

A bloody hole pierced his knee.

She applied medicine to the wound.

The unconscious person trembled all over, probably from pain.

A beggar with grease covering his mouth glanced over.

“Hey, this boy’s skin is awfully white. Tender as a woman’s.”

The other beggars raised their heads.

At the sight of the exposed leg, saliva nearly dripped from their mouths.

They had not touched a woman for many years. Even if this was a boy, the sight made their hearts itch.

Ground Rat hurriedly lowered the trouser leg.

She dissolved the physician’s medicine in water and lifted it toward the injured person’s lips.

Unexpectedly, his eyes flew open, and he seized her wrist.

The “young man” Ground Rat had rescued was Yu Jingqiu, disguised in men’s clothing.

Yu Jingqiu had drifted in and out of consciousness for a long time. Sensing someone beside her, she suddenly awakened in alarm.

Ground Rat cried out.

Yu Jingqiu’s grip made her wrist ache terribly.

“I-I was only trying to give you medicine…”

Yu Jingqiu abruptly released her and fainted again.

Ground Rat stared at her.

“…”

She breathed a sigh of relief, supported Yu Jingqiu, and managed to feed her most of the bowl.

When darkness fell, a fire was lit inside the ruined temple.

Having eaten their fill, the beggars crowded together like stray dogs and gradually drifted toward sleep.

Yu Jingqiu awakened again.

Ground Rat was squatting beside her. Her eyes lit up.

“You’re awake!”

Yu Jingqiu was about to speak when Ground Rat raised a finger to her lips and glanced back at the other beggars.

“Make your voice sound rough. Don’t let them know you’re a woman, or they’ll eat you alive.”

Yu Jingqiu studied the young beggar before her.

Ground Rat was filthy from head to toe and as thin as a pole. Her ragged, oversized clothes hung from her body like a cloak.

Her short hair stuck out in every direction.

Her face was sweet and pitiful, especially her round, lively eyes, which looked perpetually damp.

She appeared to be eleven or twelve years old.

After sleeping for so long, Yu Jingqiu’s voice was hoarse.

“Who are you? Where is this?”

“My name is Ground Rat. This is a ruined temple outside the eastern side of the city. I saw that you were hurt, so I brought you back…”

Seeing Yu Jingqiu’s gaze search her surroundings, Ground Rat added, “Your sword—I pawned it.”

Yu Jingqiu turned back and stared at her blankly.

Ground Rat hurriedly removed the remaining silver from the torn pouch against her chest and held it out.

She said nervously, “Your injuries looked serious. I-I didn’t steal your money. Most of it was spent on the physician and medicine.

“And your mule…”

Ground Rat glanced at the beggars crowded together nearby. Their snores were gradually rising.

She lowered her voice.

“This place belongs to them. Anyone who wants to stay and occupy a patch of ground must first pay an entrance fee.

“You didn’t have any money, so they killed your mule and ate it.”

Yu Jingqiu remained silent for a long while.

She did not accept the silver.

Instead, she said, “Thank you.”

Ground Rat had been a beggar for as long as she could remember.

Everyone who looked at her did so with contempt.

The beggars in the same den fought until their heads bled over a few mouthfuls of food or several copper coins. None of them cared about manners. They were all rough and vulgar.

No one had ever thanked her before.

It was entirely unprecedented.

The young beggar became so embarrassed and delighted that her whole body seemed to burn and burst with heat.

Warmth spread across her back, her fine hairs stood on end, and sweat appeared upon her skin.

She grinned foolishly at Yu Jingqiu.

That night, Yu Jingqiu regulated her breathing and examined her condition.

Her internal injuries were not severe, but the arrow wound in her leg was grave.

As the saying went, an injury to the tendons or bones required a hundred days to heal.

Without some means of transportation, she could never walk the hundreds of li back to the sect.

Early the following morning, Ground Rat arrived carrying two handfuls of yellow mud and stared intently at Yu Jingqiu’s face.

Yu Jingqiu asked, “What are you doing?”

Ground Rat jerked her chin toward the other beggars.

“You need to smear this over your face. They think you’re pale and handsome. I’m afraid they won’t care whether you’re a man or woman before trying to eat you.”

As she spoke, two thin beggars approached with their chests exposed and skin stretched tightly over their ribs.

Pretending to speak with Ground Rat, they began chatting with Yu Jingqiu, their malicious gazes constantly sliding toward her face.

The longer they looked, the more attractive they found her.

Her aloof, refined bearing whenever her eyes shifted made their hearts itch.

Unable to restrain themselves, they reached out.

Two dark hands extended from either side, intending to stroke her cheeks.

Yu Jingqiu moved like lightning.

She pressed two fingers together and struck an acupoint on the left man’s wrist. At the same time, she bent her elbow and drove it into the crook of the other man’s arm.

The two beggars saw only a blur.

One felt excruciating pain in his wrist, as though the joint had broken.

The other felt his entire arm turn numb and powerless.

Their terrified cries startled the other beggars, who all turned to look.

Realizing the person before them was not easy to provoke, the two men scrambled away, rolling and crawling across the ground.

Ground Rat had watched Yu Jingqiu defeat them without even shifting from where she sat.

Her eyes shone brightly as she waved her hands through the air.

“You’re amazing! You went swish, swish, and knocked them both down!”

Yu Jingqiu said, “Those were merely superficial techniques.”

Ground Rat murmured to herself, “Merely superficial techniques, yet they’re already so powerful…”

After that, she became even more attentive toward Yu Jingqiu.

During the day, she went outside and used the remaining money from pawning the sword to purchase food.

Having witnessed Yu Jingqiu’s abilities, none of the beggars dared steal it from her.

Several days later, the medicine Ground Rat had been applying to Yu Jingqiu’s wound ran out. The silver was also exhausted, so she had no choice but to return to begging for food.

After several days, the burning pain in Yu Jingqiu’s leg had lessened considerably.

As long as she did not attempt to move quickly, she could walk with some stability.

She therefore accompanied Ground Rat outside.

They passed through several alleys before reaching a crowded area.

Ground Rat found a place and sat directly upon the ground.

She shifted aside to make room for Yu Jingqiu.

“This is a good spot. If we don’t occupy it, another beggar will take it.”

The moment she finished speaking, a passerby tossed two copper coins in front of Yu Jingqiu.

Yu Jingqiu called after him.

“Sir, you dropped something.”

The man turned around and looked at her as though he had witnessed something extraordinary.

Finding it amusing, he walked away.

The two copper coins remained upon the ground.

Yu Jingqiu did not even glance at them.

Ground Rat asked in confusion, “Don’t you want them?”

Yu Jingqiu said nothing.

Ground Rat wiped the coins clean and held them in her hand.

Yet they seemed to burn her palm.

Throwing them away felt wasteful, but keeping them made her feel somehow shorter, as though she had lost something.

It was as though she had been bewitched.

An old beggar had raised her, and she had survived by begging since childhood.

This was the first time receiving copper coins had made her feel as though a stone had settled upon her heart.

Yu Jingqiu asked Ground Rat to show her the road to a brokerage house.

She possessed no money.

The only valuable item she still carried was half a jade pendant.

She needed silver to redeem her sword and pay for the journey back to the sect.

By nightfall, Yu Jingqiu returned to the ruined temple carrying two packages of food.

Ground Rat sat upon the threshold, anxiously watching the darkening sky.

The moment she saw Yu Jingqiu, she stood.

Yu Jingqiu entered the temple and sat in her usual place before handing both packages to her.

They were neatly wrapped.

One was covered in lotus leaves and contained a roasted chicken. The other was wrapped in paper and held pastries.

Ground Rat’s face lit up.

She reached out, then abruptly stopped and wiped her hands against her clothes.

She seized one chicken leg and tore it off, then handed the rest to Yu Jingqiu.

“You eat it,” Yu Jingqiu said. “I have already eaten.”

Only then did Ground Rat bite into the chicken.

Her eyes narrowed happily into two crescents.

Yu Jingqiu took out several pieces of broken silver and offered them to her.

“I found work today. I will leave tomorrow.”

The silver in her hand was an advance payment for the job. If she completed it successfully, she would be able to redeem her sword and afford the journey home.

Ground Rat’s mouth drooped.

“You’re leaving?”

“Mm. Take this silver.”

Ground Rat turned away.

“I don’t want your money.”

“Then what do you want?”

Yu Jingqiu remembered the young beggar’s kindness in saving and caring for her.

Before leaving, she hoped to repay her as much as possible.

Ground Rat turned around again, pressed her lips together, and hesitated.

“I-I want to learn martial arts. Even those superficial techniques would be enough. Take me as your disciple.”

Yu Jingqiu froze.

“Why do you want to learn martial arts?”

“If I know martial arts, other people won’t be able to bully me.”

Yu Jingqiu thought of Lou Jing, who had been falsely accused, and Lang Ye, who had died.

Even with formidable martial arts, they had still been unable to escape the cruelty of others.

She lowered her eyes and smiled bitterly.

Ground Rat asked, “Are you unwilling?”

“It is not that I am unwilling. I have only just crossed the threshold myself and remain a student.”

“I don’t need to become very powerful. I only need to defeat those beggars.”

“I am presently trapped within schemes and conspiracies. Forget my reputation—even my life may not be preserved.

“You will gain nothing by taking me as your master.”

“As long as I don’t go hungry, I’m not afraid of anything.”

Seeing her determination, Yu Jingqiu considered the matter for a moment.

“Very well. But my sect has many rules and demands strict discipline.

“If you become my disciple, you must obey those rules. Should you violate them, you will be punished accordingly.”

Ground Rat was quick-witted.

She immediately bowed before Yu Jingqiu.

She often sneaked into teahouses to listen to storytellers recount romantic tales of the martial world, so her bow was surprisingly proper.

“Master above, please accept this disciple’s bow.”

“Rise.”

Yu Jingqiu sighed softly.

Her sect did not interfere greatly when disciples accepted students.

The young beggar had saved her life, which could be considered fate.

Since she wished to become Yu Jingqiu’s disciple, accepting her would serve as repayment.

Should something happen to Yu Jingqiu, Yun Yao and Di Hou could raise and teach the child in her place.

“What is your proper name?”

Ground Rat shook her head.

“I don’t have one. The old beggar who raised me said I was born with a lowly fate, just like a rat in the gutter.

“So he called me Ground Rat. He said a name like that would make me easier to keep alive.”

“All people are equal. No one is born with a lowly fate.”

Yu Jingqiu gazed at her.

“Master will give you a name.

“Though the body may toil, endure hardship and strive to excel.

“You shall be called Meng Kuzhuo.”

“Meng Kuzhuo?”

Ground Rat repeated the name several times.

The more she said it, the more she liked it.

“Today, I not only gained a master—I gained a name too!”

Ever since the old beggar died, she had been completely alone.

Now that she had a master, it felt as though she had obtained the rarest treasure beneath heaven.

She shouted so loudly that she awakened all the sleeping beggars inside the ruined temple.

Seeing her joy, Yu Jingqiu’s gloomy and despondent heart found a small measure of comfort.

“Kuzhuo, tomorrow Master must escort a shipment. I do not yet know how far the journey will be, but it will probably take some time.

“When Master returns, I will redeem my sword and then make a trip back to the sect to handle some personal matters.

“Only after those matters are settled can I bring you there.

“Until then, you must remain here and wait for Master.”

“Master won’t abandon me, will you?”

“I will not.”

Ground Rat looked obediently at her.

“Then I’ll wait here for Master to return.”