290: Chapter 236 290: Chapter 236 The Earl released his grip and the man, caught off guard, fell on his buttocks, crying out in pain as he sat on the ground, “Ouch, ouch, ouch,” and then covered his backside, feeling the real ache.
“You dare hit someone?” The older beggar, who dared only use words and not lay a hand, said, knowing he could not defeat the middle-aged man, and even less so himself.
“I’m not here to take over your spot.
I just need a place to stay for the night and I’ll leave in the morning,” he added.
After saying that, the Earl paid no more attention to the two of them.
They exchanged looks.
If, as the Earl said, he was just passing through and staying one night, not to steal their turf, and since they had no power to trouble him, they could only quietly sit in another corner and eat their leftovers.
The Earl could smell that the food in their bowls was a bit spoiled, but they could eat it without getting sick, which meant they had strong stomachs.
The Earl ignored the idlers, not giving them attention, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t on guard, watching out in case they tried a sneak attack.
While they were clashing, it had already gotten dark, and the person flying above the clouds took the opportunity to land on the roof of the Earth God Temple.
He saw the confrontation between the Earl and the two men and then saw them eating.
His eyes shifted as he came up with an idea.
He took a packet of poison from his Storage Bag and secretly sprinkled it into the leftover food the beggars were eating.
The person had laced the food with poison, hoping to kill the two men and frame the Earl with the crime.
While eating some dry food in a corner, the Earl suddenly smelled something odd in the air.
He looked towards the direction of the smell; it came from the beggars.
That particular smell of poison was too pungent, totally unlike the leftovers or the scent coming from the beggars themselves.
Though the Earl felt no fondness for the beggars, he could not stand by and watch them die.
Covering his nose, he ran out of the Earth God Temple, pushing the two men outside as he passed by them.
Just as they were eating, they were unexpectedly shoved by the Earl.
Unsteady on their feet and dropping their bowls, they spilled their leftover food and the bowls shattered on the ground with a clatter.
Once the two beggars steadied themselves and saw their food fall to the ground, their eating bowls broken, chopsticks flung far away, they stood dumbfounded for a moment before angrily yelling and chasing after the Earl.
The Earl guessed the falling object came from the rooftop, so there must be someone up there.
What kind of person would want to harm two beggars?
This couldn’t have anything to do with him, could it?
When he looked at the roof, he saw a shadow flying up into the sky, disappearing into the dark night in an instant.
The Earl knew this person was from the Cultivation World and must have high cultivation.
Considering his swift silhouette, why would such a highly cultivated person want to harm two beggars?
As the beggars came at him to strike, the Earl dodged and then told them,
“You’re really ungrateful.
Someone tried to poison you, and you don’t even realize it.
Instead, you want to hit your benefactor.
That’s too shameless.”
That’s a lie, isn’t it?
How would I not know if there was poison?
Are you just trying to stop us from eating?
You spilled all our food and even broke our bowls.
What are we supposed to do now?”
“Wu wu, and you say you were being kind?
You did that on purpose, didn’t you?
Trying to make us go hungry tonight, how pitiable we are.”
These two couldn’t land a hit, couldn’t keep up physically, and were furthermore starving.
Maybe the poison was taking effect, feeling weak and a bit in pain, but they mistook it for hunger.
Crying and shouting in such a heartbroken manner made it seem as though they’d never been so sad before, not even when their own father died.
“Hey hey hey, enough!
The food you were eating smelled so foul, how could you even stomach it?
Why would someone poison you?”
The Earl repeatedly dodged the beggars, finding their scent utterly repulsive.
“You villain, if you didn’t want us to eat, just say it.
You knocked over our food and broke our bowls.
You say someone poisoned us, but where’s the person?”
The beggars felt justified in their complaint, shaking with words of self-righteousness, unable to even hold the Dog-Beating Staff steady, swinging it wildly.
“Do you think people like you can even recognize poison?
That was a powerful being from the Cultivation World.
Do you think you could even see what they look like?”
At the Earl’s words, the old beggar’s filthy beard bristled in anger, and in a hoarse voice, he argued,
“We don’t believe it.
Would a powerful being really poison us?
Seeing how poor we are, they wouldn’t bother poisoning us, and claiming we have enemies is even less likely.
With our status, how could we possibly have enemies?
Is the enemy competing with us for food?”
The Earl wasn’t in the mood to argue.
He needed to leave this place.
After this incident, even if it meant paying for an inn, he couldn’t stay here anymore.
“Sigh, even if I tell you, you won’t understand.
I know they might not have been targeting you, just my bad luck.
I’ll compensate you for your food.
Just eat this dry food, alright?”
The two beggars joyfully eyed the dry food and buns the Earl held, salivating at the sight.
They always drooled over such buns when they saw others buying them.
This person must be kindhearted, giving them buns to eat instead of leftover food.
Such a kind person, perhaps they should let him give them a little extra?
They wanted not only food but also money, so that they wouldn’t have to starve every day.