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Update 64: The Mad Beggar III  Swear that you'll never bother Miss Ba again, and I'll let you go! Of course! I swear I'll never come back here in my life, if I ever come back... may I be struck by lightning! Me too, me too! Very well. Get out of here! At least Miss Ba has seen that man's true nature. I should go back to Aunt Hui and report. Auntie Hui, I've already taken care of Miss Ba's affair. I see why you were worried, that dainty young man was actually scheming against her. Miss Ba has seen through his tricks, although she is still a bit distressed... please leave her alone for a while. Now that Siwang has done Auntie Hui a favour, he can now ask for Su Qingrui's vase back.   Master Su? Don't be ridiculous, he can barely think straight, how can he ask for anything? I wonder if Auntie Hui recognizes this key? Ah, I do recognize it. It is a token handed down by each successive head of the Su family. I've never seen it leave Master Su's side, how come you have it now? Master Su asked me to show it to you, as proof of his trust. Alright, take the vase, I don't know what you want with it and I'm not going to ask any more questions. Just, please don't let Master Su down again. I promise you that won't happen.  Hey, the Philanthropist's Hall is the other way, dumbass. Maybe big brother wants some new clothes? Well, he certainly shouldn't be buying them from here. Remember the fisherman's outfit? What fisherman's outfit? Oh right, you've never seen it. It didn't come with a shirt, see? He was clearly scammed. I liked the fisherman's outfit... Stop criticizing my fashion sense and come in. I've got a sixth sense about these things. Oh no, Miss Hua... how could she have disappeared? What's the matter, Mr Ba? Who's disappeared? Oh, you see, I had a contract with Miss Hua Qingyuan to provide me with new patterns of cloth. She's an extraordinary weaver, her work is good enough to be sent to the capital. But I've lost touch with her, and I don't know how long my business can survive with no new patterns. It's not like I'll run out of cloth, there's no shortage of weavers here. But what keeps the Flowing Cloud Chamber afloat in Dayan Town is our variety of patterns and styles, which is not inferior even to the shops in the capital. If this goes on, the day I have to resort to selling old goods, will be the day I go out of business! Alas! If somebody were to help me find Miss Hua, I would be happy to pay them a big reward. Big reward? Big reward! How can he keep getting away with this stuff? Could it be? That Qinggong sutra he looted from the White Horse Residence, Immortal Fairy Thirsts for Wealth? drat, since when did he have good stuff like that? Pass it to me! Do you have any idea where she could be? Well, it is sometimes said that a great deal of craftsmanship has been lost since ancient times due to war. Our cloth today is nowhere as good as it used to be. Miss Hua was very keen on recreating the ancient techniques of weaving, and her last messenger mentioned that she intended to spend a period of time studying them. Ugh, who knew that her study would take so long? I'm going to go out of business! Back in the Philanthropist's Hall, Siwang places all four vases in the correct position and triggers some strange flooring.  Arrgh! Big brother! You alright down there? Yeah, I'm fine. Better than fine, really, there's some good stuff down here. This seems like an impractical way of entering your personal treasury. Who knows? Maybe it was the Su ancestor's idea of a practical joke. What do you see in there? Some vases, some gold and silver, some books... oh, and one rear end in a top hat.  How did you even get in here? Oh you know, there's always the proper way to go about these things, and then there's my way. That wall over there rotates, by the way. You think Su Qingrui brought in those vases by dropping them from the ceiling? Fair enough.  Wow, you found your way in here too! Haha, Brother Gui is quite fast, I just discovered this mechanism too. Allow me to look for what I want, and I'll let you have this Golden Scale Garment. Congratulations! It is said to have been one of the treasures buried with the Bailing Emperor of the Kaiming Dynasty. Hhmmm... then what you're looking for must be even more valuable than this. Yes, it must be in this treasure trove somewhere... Do you need help, Brother Li? Found it! This letter! Brother Li, why this letter in particular? Why not just go for the treasure? Hmm... this seal here seems to be quite unique... Yes, it is the seal of the Anshun Escort Gang, which was established decades ago. Brother Gui, do you wish to hear the history of this treasure? Well, sure. It is said that these treasures are the burial relics of a general of the ancient Ming dynasty, hidden in his tomb just outside our borders today. A dozen years ago, some uncivilized savages dug the tomb up and discovered these treasures, leading to numerous battles and attempts to seize them by force. Sounds like a bloody affair. Gold and silver aside, the most important treasure of the lot is the Ancient Enlightened King's City Map, which shows the location of a secret treasure. The Anshun Escort Gang was commissioned by General Lan to guard and escort the treasure to the capital. The Anshun officer in charge... was my father. Alright, but what does this have to do with the letter? This? This is evidence! As the treasure escort was making it's way back to the capital, it encountered bandits and the entire force was wiped out. Huh? Then your father... Indeed, bandits who marched in lockstep, and who blocked the road with an extremely clever tripwire mechanism. Not bandits at all, I should say! Rather, the military! What? You mean, it was all a plot by General Yu's predecessor, General Lan? Then why are these things in the Su House treasury? Those disguised soldiers underestimated the Anshun Escort Gang. They wiped each other out, and failed in their mission to secure the treasure. That same year, General Lan was impeached by the Imperial Minister for unspecified crimes, and died under arrest. No one from his family survived the purge. Brother Li, are you suggesting that General Lan coveted the treasure for himself? That he disguised his troops as bandits, and took to highway robbery? Hmph. I couldn't be sure before, but here is the evidence. This letter is addressed to General Lan, and details the planned route of the treasure convoy after crossing the border. It seems that a traitor sent information to plan an ambush. In the end, no matter how twisting a route he took, my father was bound to be intercepted by General Lan... Is that why Brother Li targeted the Philanthropist's Hall? Did you suspect a connection?  Arrgh! Adulterous man, adulterous woman, how dare you plot to harm people! You bastards, receive my stick! Qingrui, hang in there! These small fry are no match for me! Is there something going on outside? Oh no, it sounds like Brother Su! Eh. Brother Su can take care of himself. I'm much more interested in Brother Gold and Brother Silver over here. Hahaha! Well then, Brother Gui, I'll go check it out. Please don't take too long, I would hate for Brother Su to get hurt! Oh my! A jade sword! Too bad jade is a terrible material for swords. Yushu, darling, be a dear and look through that bookshelf for interesting sutras, would you? I knew you would say that. Look. This is a protagonist's sutra if I ever saw one.  Mixed Basics Kung Fu: "The secret of the best internal power in the world. Mixed Basics Kung Fu is an unconventional way of training qi from the outside in, which focuses on using the palm and palm techniques to train internal power. Although slow to start, once it is completed, this profound inner energy will not only increase the power of the Mixed Element Palm, but also transform it into the power of your body. Destroy all and pull down the immortal." Very nice. Now, let's scram before we draw too much heat. What about Su Qingrui? What about him? It sounds like he has Li Tan and that old beggar Esibo to keep him alive. Unless we literally trip over him or something, I don't see how it's any of our problem. Whoops.  Gui Siwang! Brother Su! You promised to kill the bastard Jing Tairan for me! You didn't mention he had so many fighters on his side!  Hey, you over there. I don't know how or why you got mixed up into this, but I don't really care. What do you want? If it's money, you can have it from my husband. If it's something else... well, just open your mouth and ask. How else would I know what you desire? - Oh? Very good, I think we can work together! - Well, what I want is your husband's life! Normally I would pause for a vote here, but it would be rather out of character for Siwang to betray everyone here, and I do want to show off a bit of the evil route, so I'll just take a little trip into the Non-Canon Zone.  (Anyway, the treasure is already in my hands, why not just turn my back on them?) To be honest, I don't care if this Su fella lives or dies, but he could have some useful information for us. It seems he has some connection with the Pretty Dream Pavilion, why don't you leave him to me? Sold! A clever man for a fool, a strong man for an invalid, what a great deal! Gui Siwang! This is not the right way! drat it, I thought you were a good guy! Brother, help me! Come quickly!  Don't panic, little sister! These villains deserve to die, I'll teach them a lesson for you! Hey hey hey, am I an ornament or what? You want to make deals with this villain in front of me? Cut the crap, bring it on! Esibo is actually very tanky and weathers Yan Yushu's swordplay just fine. Too bad the same can't be said of our newest ex-party member, Qi Xiaoer. It hurts... Brother, am I... am I going to die? Don't! Just hang in there, I'll take you back to the Diancang Sect, alright? Eh? Silly girl, what's wrong? It's just a light wound, don't scare me like that! Li Tan...? Why are there... three of you? Brother... I'm sorry, I'm afraid I won't be able to join you on the way back... Sister? Little sister! You said it yourself, you're going to catch me, aren't you, silly girl? You haven't caught me yet, you can't... Li Tan... you've saved me many times... I've never said thank you. Actually, I... Ahhhh!! Sister!! No, it can't be... how could it be? Don't be silly, open your eyes and smile... aren't you always angry? Why are you ignoring me? Look like they've lost their mind with grief. Better take the chance and kill them now. It's a pity that Su Qingrui never gave up the location of the treasury in the end. Ah well, at worst we can always have the whole place torn down. We'll find it in the end. Well, but now is not the time to consider such matters. Excuse me, young warrior Gui. I may have used a little too much force against this Su Qingrui. By now, our envoy should have already reached the Pretty Dream Pavilion, and seized control. Please go there and tell them you are a friend of Jing Tairan. With all the money that I contribute to the organization, our envoy should be happy to accomodate you and give you all the information you need. And what organization might that be? You can eat well here if you don't ask too many questions. Take this money and just go straight there!  Hey! No outsiders allowed, keep out! I'm a friend of Master Jing... you know, the rich one! ... Alright, go on in.  Lan Fuyi! What? This woman is the envoy Jing Tairan was talking about? How is she still alive?For reference, we haven't seen Lan Fuyi since Update 1, when she no-sold Uncle Kongjin's Thunderbolt Bombs and he blew up the cave instead to trap them both inside. RIP, Uncle Kong.  Madam Lan! There's a message from Jing Tairan, he said he killed the madman by mistake! Without him, we've lost the trail, we'll never find out what happened back then! What? Killed by mistake? drat, do you people think I'm easy to take advantage of? Enough talk! Taste the power of my martial arts!   Help! Lan Fuyi! Don't you have any feelings? You, too, were once a sister of this pavilion! Feelings? Yes, I suppose I should slap you around a little too, for old time's sake. (Crap! I don't know what's going on, but if she kills Fan Xiangdie, I'll lose whatever information she has on the Book of Heaven!) I'll have to help her out! Stop! Well, look. If it isn't a disrespectful brat. Don't interrupt adults when they're talking, kid. Look, brothers, the other women ran. We'll have to chase them down later. Simply intolerable! Brothers, form the Flying Dart Formation! Lan Fuyi is just as overpowered as she was in the tutorial and takes off half of Siwang's health in a few blows. Luckily, she will retreat when all the other NoMercy House assassins are killed. Take me... back to my room... Miss Xiangdie...? Miss Xiangdie! Hmm... I wonder how Fan Xiangdie's injuries are. Should I do something about her? It's hard to tell. If she knew I was involved in Su Qingrui's death, she might turn the whole Pretty Dream Pavilion against me, and I would never be able to get any information out of her. Perhaps it would be for the best if she never woke up again.  Ooooh... without sister, what will the Pretty Dream Pavilion do...? What's the point of crying, all of you? Stop it, you're making Miss Xiangdie look ridiculous... she wouldn't want you to be like this... just let her rest in peace... Young warrior. Forgive us for not getting up, we are still injured from the attack. (Well, it seems that Miss Xiangdie is dead. The good news is that no one will ask about Su Qingrui's death now, but on the other hand, who am I to ask about the fragments of the Book of Heaven now? Tch!) Before she died, Miss Xiangdie told me that young master Gui is a great benefactor of the Pretty Dream Pavilion, and that I should share everything I know with you. And also, well, there is this thing, which Miss Xiangdie got from Granny Situ. I don't quite understand what it is, but perhaps young master Gui might know? (This... this is the Cunning Rabbit fragment as described by Nan Xian!)So in exchange for cutting off Li Tan's quest, Siwang can get the reward for this quest chain early, and all he has to do is to backstab some party members. He would never actually stoop to that level, of course. There will be at least one other, more thematic opportunity to backstab Li Tan later.  Anyway, back in reality, Siwang declines Dong Chunlian's offer. Well, what I want is your husband's life! Hahaha! I can't believe it, it's not just this old grandpa, but you actually have other helpers! It's no big deal, just a few more people to kill. Let's do it, boys. Chunlian! You...! By the way, boy, do you need money? Don't embarrass me with your stupid pills! Wow, that's a lot of money... huh? Ow, my hand... I can't open it! Hey, you think I'm just a money spinner? I've got my own moves, now your fists are like cotton wool, it's like you're scratching my itches for me when you hit me!Despite his boasts, Jing Tairan's Plague of Gold simply disallows Siwang and co. from using items in battle. Jing Tairan is also very high level, and I think the intent is for Esibo to help tank his attacks, but Siwang manages to dismantle everyone in two turns.  Husband? Noooo! Oooh... no way... husband, you can't die... if you leave me, what should I do...? Chunlian, I... You? Su Qingrui! Even if you kill him, you will never have me! Chunlian, I don't understand. I fulfilled your every request. I brought you mountains of silver and gold. Have you never had in mind how well I've treated you? How well you've treated me? Ha! Ha! Ha! Hilarious! You don't even remember my real name! Have you forgotten Dong Yuehua? Back then, you went on a hunting expedition with those pigs and dogs you called friends. My parents were obsessed with the Su family's wealth, and sold me to you, despite the fact that I was already married to my cousin. You were already married? Then, why...? Why did I climb into your bed? You idiot, how did you think your friends treated your pretty maids? What else could I do? I hate you, I hate my cruel parents, and I hate God for letting this happen to me! What rubbish! I can't listen to this anymore! Ignorant woman, it was your parents that sold you here, not Qingrui who forced you to sign the deed of sale with a knife. Chunlian, I swear to you, I had no idea. I even brought your cousin here and treated him well... I was being sincere when I... Alright, alright, that's enough drama for now. There will be people investigating the commotion soon, how should we deal with the situation? When it comes to women, it's better to make the decision quickly! Well, Brother Su? I... You know, I thought I'd be enjoying the situation more, but this is just... sad. Yes, it often is.  Brother Su, for this woman, I think...Please vote: A - She is also a pitiful person, so let her go. B - This woman has no remorse, so let's just kill her!
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Apr 19, 2024 17:09
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A. Let her leave in peace.
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Apr 19, 2024 20:07
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B Leave her in pieces
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Apr 27, 2024 02:52
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A. Send her off.
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Apr 27, 2024 04:04
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