Chapter 1 Earth Temple

The rain was pouring down from the heaven, then all of a sudden, a sharp lightning pierced through the sky, which was like a huge chain caught on fire and then vanished. Right in a second, an earsplitting thunder came from the sky, roaring and shaking the vast land.

After figuring out what was happening before him, Yang Ning made his choice that he was going to take the lash.

If things could be worked out by fist, then why bothered the brain?

It really pissed him off to see that a bunch of young adults were taking their rages on a ragged man, who was only able to shrink into himself so as to withstand those fierce punches and kicks.

Yang Ning was never against fights, as a matter of fact, he enjoyed punching out his rivals, however, he’d never enjoyed bullying the weak with the strong. And he would never stop thinking about what he could do to take care of those who had pissed him off.

“Stop it!” Yang Ning let out a roar, trying to make a preemptive strike and scare them off.

Yet, the roar was somewhat faint and feeble instead of loud and strong.

Fortunately, that roar of disapproval – not that earth-shattering though, did stop the crowd and draw their attention back to him.

It wasn’t until then did Yang Ning find out that these bullies were in no better shape than the guy who got bullied. They all looked messy and shabby like beggars.

“Er… Ermine!” A mop-headed young lad recognized Yang Ning and rose staggering to his feet, with an unexpected look on his face.

Yang Ning felt a little bit piece of unease crossing his body, yet he was too focused on the current situation to worry about that. He then said in a cold voice, “A man should always fight one-on-one. What’s the point of winning an unequal fight?”

The mop-head walked slowly towards Yang Ning while sizing him up, then he let out a quirky smile, saying, “You’re still alive?” He stopped in front of Yang Ning, reached out his hand and trying to pat him on the shoulder.

Yang Ning saw that the other party reached a hand out, he subconsciously protruded a hand and grabbed his wrist. Before he realized, Yang Ning moved and tied his hand behind his back. Then he pressed his arm, and there was a sound of crack. The scream of that mop-head man instantly sounded.

He was the best at this kind of empty-handed fighting. It really took no effort to remove one arm of the other party.

The mop-head man screamed, with his arm down, and he pressed against his shoulder with the other hand. He sweat a lot on his forehead, and his face became pale.

Several other guys looked at each other, and the two beggars were holding a stick respectively and approached Yang Ning.

Yang Ning smiled slightly and glanced down on the ground. There was really a wooden stick next to his feet, so he picked it up and held it in his hand.

With a loud roar, the two men waved the sticks and struck Yang Ning from the two sides.

Yang Ning sneered, and struck with the wooden stick in his hand like lightning. In his years of special training in the military, one of the subjects was to use everything as a weapon. The momentum of these two men was fierce, but in Yang Ning’s eyes, it was nothing. If he were not somewhat exhausted, he could beat them easily with bare hands.

At this moment, he had a wooden stick in his hand. Therefore, of course there was no reason for him to be in the disadvantage.

With two clicks, the wooden stick swayed, and Yang Ning stepped sideways. He punched on the face of a person with his right fist, and kicked back like a scorpion between the other man’s legs. The two men both screamed in pain. One locked his legs and fell down, while the other man dropped off his stick and raised his hand to cover his bleeding nose.

Yang Ning shook his head. His opponents were really not challenging, which made him feel almost no sense of achievement.

Yang Ning looked up to the front, and there was still a man holding a wooden stick, looking at him dumbly.

Yang Ning raised his arm and pointed at him with the stick, he said to the last man, “Come on, it’s your turn!”

His body used to be stiffened and exhausted, but after some exercise, he was actually more comfortable.

The man looked at his companions, shaking the hand that was holding the stick. He suddenly dropped the stick on the ground, barely smiling, “Ermine, I… I won’t fight with you…”

“Ermine?” Yang Ning was surprised, since it was the second time that he had heard this name, “What Ermine?” And he couldn’t help but move forward with the wooden stick.

The man was shocked and saw that Yang Ning was still pointing at him, he immediately said with pity, “Ermine, this… this is not my idea. I… I am forced…” Then he raised his hand and pointed to the mop-head man whose arm was broken by Yang Ning before, “It’s… It’s Monkey. It’s Monkey’s idea…”

Yang Ning glanced at the mop-head man, he frowned and realized something. He lowered his head and glanced at himself. His face suddenly changed.

He felt strange before when he saw these people’s clothes were rotten, but at this moment he found that his clothes were even worse than theirs. He was in rags and his dirty and stained skin was exposed.

He looked around. It was a very dim place surrounded by mottled walls, and there was a bonfire on the side. A crackling sound came from above his head. Yang Ning looked up and saw that the roof was covered with thatch and there were a lot of cracks. Many places were leaking raindrops.

Oh my god!

Yang Ning was sure that he was dreaming, but this dream seemed too real.

“Ermine, you… you are alive again?” A surprise voice sounded. The guy who was besieged by those people looked up, and his swollen face could not conceal his surprise.

Seeing that face, Yang Ning suddenly felt dizzy. At this moment, there were many scenes in his head. The pictures were interlaced, and the face in front of him was actually so clear.

What happened? Where was this place?

The man in front of him seemed to be forty to fifty years old. His figure was slim and his shirt was open, his shriveled chest exposed. He was so boney that his ribs were clearly visible.

The environment around him was extremely unfamiliar. Yang Ning looked at his hands, and the wooden stick fell off.

The hands…were obviously not his own hands. Although the hands were also callous, just like his own hands, there were obviously much smaller than his own hands.

Shocked, Yang Ning touched his face with his hands. He was very familiar with the shape of his face, but this was obviously not his own face. This face was much thinner than his, and the edge of his face was not clear, which was completely different from his original shaped and even clean-cut face.

Yang Ning couldn’t help but soften his legs and sat down on the ground all of a sudden, and his head was dazed.

The elder who was beaten saw Yang Ning acting in this way, he was so worried, “Ermine, you… What’s wrong with you?”

Yang Ning suddenly raised his head and waved his hand at the man he didn’t beat up. The man hesitated for a while, but finally approached to him uneasily.

“My name is Ermine?” Yang Ning asked, staring at the man.

The man nodded immediately.

“Where is this place?” Yang Ning asked the second question.

The man hurriedly said, “This is the Earth Temple in the west of the city.”

“The Earth Temple?” Yang Ning couldn’t help glancing around, thinking that the Master of Earth was really aggrieved, “Why am I here? You said the west of the city… Which city is this?”

“Huize county seat!” The man immediately said, “The Huaishui River is more than 100 li to the north. Er… Ermine, don’t… don’t you remember? You came to the city half a year ago, but later Boss Fang recruited you into the Beggar Sect. Now you are also a disciple of the Beggar Sect.”

“Wait a minute!” Yang Ning said, “Beggar Sect? What do you mean?” After looking at the clothes of several people, his heart was depressed, “You mean, are you all beggars?”

“You too.” The man kindly reminded him, “We are all disciples of the Beggar Sect.” He asked with courage and a trace of sympathy in his eyes, “Ermine, do you… do you forget it all because of the illness?”

“The Beggar Sect? Ermine? Huize county seat?” Yang Ning raised his hand and pinched his arm, feeling very painful, then he looked even more dignified. He understood something, “Damn it. Did I… Did I travel through time and space?”

“Travel through time and space?” The man asked humbly, “What does it mean?”

Yang Ning said angrily, “Don’t mind what it means. I ask you, that…!” He pointed at the guy who pressed against his shoulder and hummed, saying, “Is that Monkey? What idea did he come up with?”

“Well…!” The man glanced at Monkey, and thought about the strength of both sides secretly in his heart, and then said, “Monkey thought that you were about to die and he forced Old Bark to get out of the Earth Temple. Ermine… This, I didn’t agree with this. But if I hadn’t promised him, he would have got me out of here.”

“Old Bark?” Yang Ning looked at the old beggar. Many scenes appeared again in his mind, among which there was the picture of the old beggar feeding him. He got up and held up the scarred Old Bark, and his voice was much gentler, “Are… are you Old Bark? Have you been taking care of me?”

The eyes of Old Bark were full of joy, and he reached out to touch Yang Ning. Yang Ning was very uncomfortable with an old beggar touching his body. But he knew that this was the concern of the other party, so he couldn’t refuse. He only felt that the hands of Old Bark were shaking and his tone was full of concern, “Ermine, everything will be fine, as long as you wake up. There is divine justice after all!”

Yang Ning didn’t care whether there was divine justice or not, but only cared what kind of living environment he was in.

“You all thought that I was going to die, so you drove this poor old man out of this shelter when there were lightnings, thunder, wind and rain?” Yang Ning thought that he was right about attacking. Seeing Old Bark with his swollen face, his voice was cold, “You all come here and apologize to Old Bark. If he forgives you, I will let this thing go. Otherwise…”

“They don’t have to. Just… forget it…” Old Bark said hurriedly.

Yang Ning ignored him and pointed at Monkey whose arm was broken by him, “You, come here…”

Monkey’s arm was broken and it was unbearably painful. At this time, he saw Yang Ning staring at him coldly and he didn’t dare to resist. He moved to the front of Old Bark, lowering his head, “Old Bark, I… I was wrong. You…”

“What?” Yang Ning said coldly, “What are you saying? I can’t hear it clearly.”

“Old Bark, it was me who was being ungrateful. It was… It was my fault. You are so… You are so generous. Please forgive me this time…” After these words, Monkey had already sweat on his forehead.

Monkey had opened his mouth, and the others no longer hesitated and came over one after another, “Old Bark, we… we were stupid before, so please don’t mind it. In the future… In the future, we will never dare to treat you like this again…”

Old Bark was used to being bullied by others. At this time, when he saw so many people kneeling down and apologizing to him, he was at a loss for a moment, and he could only say, “Get up. It… It doesn’t matter…”