Master of Kaidan
Chapter 206 Internet Celebrity Beggar

Chapter 206: Chapter 206 Internet Celebrity Beggar

This Weibo post wasn’t very long, just a photo accompanied by a string of lovestruck heart icons, and the comments below varied greatly.

Some swooned, some criticized beauty filters, and others debated whether the photo was edited...

Liu Qi initially planned to see if anyone had dug up the address, but when he saw people accusing the photo of being photoshopped, he noticed a detail he had previously overlooked—

The handsome uncle in the photo had a stone stool under his quilt!

Although the photoshopper crowd took this as evidence of photo editing, Liu Qi knew very well that this could be just a random tool the expert had brought over to hold down the quilt.

After all, what’s so strange about an expert who could pop a squat for an hour with a flick of the wrist moving a stone stool?

Quickly scrolling through the comments, Liu Qi’s eyes suddenly lit up because he saw an address—

[Isn’t this the overpass next to Shrimp Gully Bay dock? I remember there’s a square nearby where a bunch of old men and women dance every day, so noisy...]

Liu Qi immediately took out his phone, opened the navigation app, began typing in Shrimp Gully Bay, and continued scrolling through Weibo, indeed seeing a bunch of check-in posts along with numerous photos.

He casually clicked on a few, the images showing the uncle leisurely reclining against an oversized red orca pillow, one foot on the stone stool, casually fiddling with two dice that looked like crystals, completely indifferent to the pointing fingers of the surrounding crowd.

Although he looked like a beggar who couldn’t care less if scalded by boiling water, in Liu Qi’s eyes at that moment, he clearly had the aura of an expert to the extreme.

"What to do, should I bring a couple bottles of wine and ask to be his disciple? But would that seem like trying to stir up attention, causing the master’s displeasure? Or should I wait until the evening when there’s nobody around? No! There are still lots of people in Shangshu at night. In the morning! Right, I should go first thing in the morning! Experts all start their martial exercises at the crack of dawn!"

Liu Qi’s "CPU" ran at full speed, feeling more attentive to this scenario than when he plotted his novels. Ideas were listed and then dismissed; scenarios that seemed mundane in his stories suddenly felt unreasonable, and he seemed to have found the reason for his own failures.

However, the current Liu Qi had no time to ponder over why his stories flopped. After a moment of contemplation, he finally stood up, legs still trembling, and made his way toward Shrimp Gully Bay dock.

He wasn’t planning to immediately jump out and ask for apprenticeship, but at the very least, he had to confirm if the master was indeed there.

...

Feng Xue leaned on the pillow, unconcerned about the photos being taken around him, his whole mind and spirit invested in the "dice" in his hands, gradually imbuing that pure smidgen of "Identity" with his own hue.

The process was dull and protracted, but it also served as an excellent method for cultivating his mental state. Although there was no data panel, as he fell into a deeper state of "Meditation," he could vividly recognize his concentration and determination growing.

Life in Shangshu might move at a slower pace, but people still had to go to work. The crowd gathered around the overpass quickly dispersed, leaving only a very few still watching and taking snapshots.

But the term "snapshot" doesn’t seem quite right here; with the aid of "unrestrained fashion," Feng Xue’s current state could be described as photogenic to the extreme. Photos from any angle—whether from behind, the side, the front, high-angle, low-angle, or even just the crown of the head—all exuded an overflow of temperament.

It wasn’t the current trend of androgynous aesthetics, nor did it involve any retouching or adornment. If captured by a high-resolution digital camera, one could even spot the faint flaws on Feng Xue’s face, but these imperfections didn’t detract from his temperament; instead, they sketched out an even more three-dimensional texture of a life well-traveled.

It’s no wonder that many people online say this is staged, after all, such a photogenic model is something that even the most seasoned professional photographers might not come across in their entire lifetime.

And with the rise of self-media, professionals in new media industries flocked like sharks smelling blood; some tabloid editors snapped a few pictures and hurried off, clearly the type whose publications start with one picture and make up the rest of the content. The remainder, obviously, still expressed some desire to communicate.

Liu Qi, hidden among the onlookers, watched as the big shot, seemingly oblivious to the crowd, was lost in his own world, as if the two dice in his palm were everything in the world.

"Could this be the legendary ’undistracted focus’?" Liu Qi couldn’t help but think of the concept of "mental state" mentioned in many martial arts novels, becoming even more excited. Then he saw a beautiful woman with a badge hanging on her chest approaching the big shot, apparently intending to strike up a conversation...

...

A journalist dressed to the nines found an angle that looked good on camera, and only after receiving a signal from the photographer did she start to speak.

"Sir, I’m a reporter from Daily Shangshu, may I ask if you are experiencing any difficulties?"

Hearing the female reporter’s question, Feng Xue slowly reduced the concentration of his consciousness, pausing his dyeing work before finally turning his head as if engaging in a casual conversation.

"I’m not facing any difficulties, and I’m not a beggar, I’m just traveling."

With that, Feng Xue slightly adjusted his posture to more closely resemble sitting rather than lying down.

"Traveling?" The reporter had not expected this word from him, but Feng Xue replied matter-of-factly,

"Traveling far from home, alone, exploring the great landscapes, experiencing the various aspects of life—is that so strange?"

"But you don’t seem to be..."

"Seem to be poor, right?" Feng Xue revealed a calm smile, but under the camera lens, it appeared to carry a kind of strange magic power—

"Some people go on group tours, checking in is enough to say they’ve ’been there’; some people travel by car, enjoy themselves for a few days, and leave satisfied. I prefer to measure the earth with my feet. This has nothing to do with wealth, only with my mood."

"Beggars will be beggars, what’s with the act!" The reporter wasn’t embarrassed by this response and even found it highly topical, but the surrounding onlookers didn’t see it that way; there were various comments, some admiring and, of course, others filled with vitriol.

Liu Qi, however, knew the big shot’s true capability and didn’t share their sentiment. Instead, he thought of the legendary "worldly cultivation."

Enduring the vicissitudes of the mortal world, understanding its myriad states—this was simply too much like a martial arts novel, too much like the demeanor of an expert. It was far more impressive than those with deep-seated vendettas, hunted by their enemies, forced to live incognito on the streets!

But then Liu Qi noticed a problem—

The big shot was traveling...

If he wanted to learn martial arts, wouldn’t he only have a few days’ opportunity?

If he missed it, once the big shot left Shangshu, wouldn’t that mean he’d have no chance at all?!