“Master… do, do you want to know where they heard that song?”
Lu Li turned toward the timid voice, his gaze falling upon a shadow in the corner of a wall not far behind him.
A thin, small figure huddled there, dressed in tattered clothes covered in filth, almost blending into the gloomy corner.
It was a Little Beggar, looking to be no more than ten years old.
His messy hair was plastered to his forehead, revealing a pair of eyes that appeared exceptionally large due to his thinness.
At this moment, he was looking at him with a mix of fear and testing curiosity.
For some reason, the moment he saw this Little Beggar, Lu Li’s heart felt as though it had been lightly struck by something.
That frail frame and the way he hid in the shadows inexplicably reminded him of a scene from long ago in his Former Life, in that Game, when he first encountered his Second Disciple, Gong Shangyu.
Back then, Gong Shangyu had looked just like this—a lonely, helpless, and pitiful Little Beggar cowering in the corner of a ruined temple, her eyes filled with wariness and a sense of alienation from the world.
In a moment of soft-heartedness, he had brought her back to Duanqing Peak, never imagining that he was beginning a “fateful entanglement”…
As his thoughts drifted, the stubborn and obsessive pink eyes of the Gong Shangyu in his memories seemed to overlap for a moment with the exquisite, smiling pink eyes of his current Second Disciple, Shang Baiyu.
“Hiss, how strange…”
An inexplicable sense of oddity flashed through Lu Li’s mind.
“Why do I suddenly think of that Rebellious Disciple Gong Shangyu when I see this Little Beggar? And why am I even linking her to Bai Yu? Is it because they are both the Second Disciple? Or… because they both have pink hair?”
Lu Li shook his head, trying to dispel this absurd association.
Gong Shangyu was the Rebellious Disciple from the Game’s plot, while Shang Baiyu was the living Male Disciple standing before him—clever, but relatively well-behaved.
How could there be a connection between the two?
It must be that he was unsettled by this bizarre Dream Phenomenon and had started overthinking.
Seeing that Lu Li remained silent for a long time and was only staring at him with shifting expressions, the Little Beggar couldn’t help but feel nervous.
He asked again cautiously, “Master… Master? Do you… do you want to know where they heard the nursery rhyme they were just singing?”
Lu Li snapped back to reality, reining in his scattered thoughts.
He gave the Little Beggar the most gentle smile possible, trying to dispel the boy’s fear.
“Little friend, how did you know I am a Master?”
Seeing Lu Li’s kind attitude, the Little Beggar grew a bit bolder.
He wiped his nose with the back of his hand and said with a hint of pride, “I saw you buying candy just now. The way you took out the money—you didn’t even look at how much silver it was before tossing it to the vendor. Someone who doesn’t care about money like that is either one of those spendthrift playboy young masters in the city, or… a high and mighty Master.”
The Little Beggar paused, carefully sizing up Lu Li’s clothing and temperament before continuing his analysis.
“I know basically all the famous playboys in the city. They all have this… ugh, look of looking down on people. You don’t have that. And you dress simply, not all flashy like they do. So, you must be a Master!”
Lu Li was amused by this logical analysis; he hadn’t expected a Little Beggar to possess such powers of observation.
He nodded with a smile.
“You are quite a clever child. Indeed, I am a Cultivator. Now tell me, do you know the origin of that ‘Red Moon’ nursery rhyme?”
The Little Beggar nodded vigorously, a trace of craftiness appearing on his dirty little face.
He held out a grimy hand and rubbed his thumb and forefinger together in the classic gesture for money.
“Master, if you want to know… you have to give me one string of coins! Just one string of copper coins, and I’ll tell you!”
Looking at his “little adult” act, Lu Li found it interesting.
He reached into his Storage Pouch and pulled out a Silver Banknote with a denomination of fifty taels.
Holding it out to the Little Beggar, he said gently, “There is no need for just one string of coins. If you tell me the truth, this Silver Banknote is yours.”
However, to Lu Li’s surprise, the Little Beggar did not react with wild joy upon seeing the Silver Banknote.
Instead, he reacted as if he were looking at a hot potato, waving his hands repeatedly with a face full of disdain and wariness.
“No, no, no! Master, don’t try to trick me with that!”
The Little Beggar shook his head like a rattle.
“I’m a beggar! If you give me a Silver Banknote, where would I go to exchange it? Those snobs at the money exchange shops would see me like this and, forget exchanging it, they’d probably turn me over to the government as a thief who stole a Silver Banknote!”
The Little Beggar paused and added, “And not just Silver Banknotes—don’t give me silver or gold either. Those things are too eye-catching. If a Little Beggar like me carries them around, I’ll either attract thieves or invite trouble. I might even lose my life! I’m not greedy. Just give me one string of copper coins. It’s practical, I can buy many days’ worth of full meals with it, and that’s enough!”
Hearing this, Lu Li was momentarily stunned, then he laughed in spite of himself.
He hadn’t considered that perspective.
Looking at the ragged but clear-headed Little Beggar who understood the hardships of the world so well, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of admiration and curiosity.
“Who taught you all this?”
Lu Li withdrew the Silver Banknote and asked with great interest.
“With such insight, you don’t seem like an ordinary Little Beggar.”
The Little Beggar immediately puffed out his thin chest, pride showing on his face as he patted his chest with a dirty finger.
“Of course! I am the cleverest and most capable scout under the leader of our Beggars’ Gang!”
“Beggars’ Gang? Leader?”
Lu Li’s heart stirred as a buried memory was touched.
In the plot of the Game from his Former Life, it was exactly in the Imperial Capital of Jin where he had picked up his Second Disciple, Gong Shangyu.
Furthermore, Gong Shangyu and the companions around her had formed a small group of beggars called the Beggars’ Gang.
As Lu Li thought of this, an idea involuntarily surfaced.
He looked at the Little Beggar and, with a trace of expectation he didn’t even notice himself, he asked tentatively, “Is your leader a little girl with pink hair?”
When he asked this question, Lu Li’s heart rate quickened slightly.
He both hoped for an affirmative answer to confirm a suspicion and secretly feared actually finding that “Yandere Rebellious Disciple” who caused him such headaches.
When the Little Beggar heard the words “pink hair,” his body stiffened imperceptibly.
A flash of panic crossed his large eyes, but he immediately shook his head violently.
His voice rose slightly, carrying a rushed quality that suggested he was eager to deny it.
“No! Of course not! Our leader is a man! A big uncle with black hair! He’s definitely not some little girl with pink hair!”
He answered quickly and urgently, his eyes darting away, not daring to meet Lu Li’s gaze.
Lu Li, however, did not notice his abnormality and quickly questioned the Little Beggar again.
“Then, in your Beggars’ Gang, is there a little girl with pink hair?”
Hearing this, the Little Beggar shook his head decisively.
“No.”
At those words, the small spark of hope in the depths of Lu Li’s heart was extinguished as if doused by a bucket of cold water.
What followed was an indescribable sense of disappointment, but immediately after that came a wave of strange relief.
“It’s better that I can’t find her…”
He comforted himself mentally.
“If that Rebellious Disciple Gong Shangyu really returned to my sect, with her obsessive and crazy personality, I’m afraid my future days would never know peace… I might even be drugged by her while I’m sleeping one day… It’s better this way. Although Bai Yu is a bit mischievous sometimes, at least he is a normal Male Disciple…”
Forcing down the complex emotions in his heart, Lu Li stopped asking about the “pink-haired leader.”
As requested, he took out a heavy string of copper coins from his Storage Pouch and handed it to the Little Beggar.
“Here, this is one string of coins. Now, can you tell me the origin of that nursery rhyme?”
Seeing the bright yellow copper coins, the Little Beggar’s eyes instantly lit up.
He took them carefully, weighing them in his hands and counting them meticulously.
After confirming the amount was correct, a satisfied smile appeared on his face.
He carefully tucked the coins into the most secure spot inside his clothes, then looked up at Lu Li.
“Master, the first time I heard that strange song was from the manager of Zhang’s Sweet Water Shop in the west of the city.”
He pointed in a direction.
“It was probably… a night half a year ago? I was too hungry to sleep and was wandering the streets looking for food. When I passed the back alley of Zhang’s Sweet Water Shop, I heard the manager sitting alone in the Inner Courtyard, repeatedly humming this tune. The lyrics were about a Red Moon falling down and such. It sounded quite creepy.”
The Little Beggar paused, a look of confusion appearing on his face as well.
“I didn’t pay much attention at the time. I just thought the manager couldn’t sleep and was humming to himself. But the strange thing is, starting the very next day after that night, the song was like it had grown wings. All the children in the city, and even some adults, started singing it! It was as if… as if everyone had agreed to learn it together!”
Hmm?
The manager of a sweet water shop?
Lu Li’s brow furrowed tightly.
Could the owner of a sweet water shop be the source of this bizarre Dream Phenomenon?
Or… was he just one of the earlier “infected” or “spreaders”?
The clue seemed specific, yet it was like a pebble thrown into a lake; it only created a ripple while the depths of the lake remained shrouded in mist.
“What happened to the manager of Zhang’s Sweet Water Shop later? Have you seen him since?”
Lu Li pressed.
The Little Beggar scratched his messy hair, trying hard to remember, then shook his head.
“Later… I don’t think I paid much special attention. The sweet water shop is still open, and the manager seems to still be there. It’s just that I feel… he lacks energy? I can’t really say for sure.”
The trail seemed to go cold here, or rather, it pointed toward a seemingly ordinary Jiedian that might hide key information.
“Thank you, little friend.”
Lu Li thanked the Little Beggar gently.
In his heart, he had already marked “Zhang’s Sweet Water Shop” as a primary target for investigation.
Having received his money, the Little Beggar’s wish was fulfilled.
He gave Lu Li a simple smile and then, like a nimble little mouse, he ducked into a nearby alley and vanished.
Lu Li stood in place, looking toward the direction where the Little Beggar had disappeared, then looked at the bag of candy in his hand that he hadn’t given away yet.
Finally, he gave a soft sigh and put the candy away.
He looked toward the west of the city, his gaze becoming firm and sharp.
Regardless, he finally had a clear lead.
Next, he would go to that Zhang’s Sweet Water Shop to see what was going on.
He wanted to see exactly what kind of secret was hidden behind this bizarre “Red Moon” nursery rhyme!