CHAPTER TEN

The coachman pulling the white carriage got down from where he was and went over to the unadorned carriage. Looking at the unadorned carriage in an undisguised disgust, he looked at the horse, what type of a horse is this? So ordinary looking, and the coachman, he looks like a beggar.

"Do you know who you just insulted?" the adorned carriage coachman asked. He was dressed in a tight fitting clothe that cling to his body; while the other coachman was dressed in loose clothe that look like cheap materials.

The unadorned carriage coachman looked at the man, he look well kept, it must be an influential man that owns the coach, hmm, he huff under his breathe, I drive the majesty where does this man come from.

The adorned carriage coachman thought that the man was ignoring him, not bothering to waste his breathe on him again, he went and ram his hand on the carriage door, with the thought that the master should pay for his servant mistake.

The onlookers and the bystanders were looking at what was going to happen next, who is the owner of the carriage? That was all that ran through the mind of everyone present. Maybe he is a foreigner, a trader that would explain why the coachman was so outspoken.

"Hey, you, what do you think you are doing?" the unadorned carriage coachman asked as he got down from his post. "What do you think you are doing?" he asked the man again, surprised by the action of the man.

The adorned carriage coachman ignored him and continued his action, making the man seem like a lunatic. The unadorned carriage coachman did nothing but shifted to the side to watch him make a fool of himself.

Shouldn't he be pleading for his master, what type of a servant is he? He must be a bad servant, the adorned coachman thought in his head as he continues to knock on the carriage door. His master might not have treated him well, he concluded.

Inside the adorned carriage, Dan stick his ear to the carriage wall to hear what was going on outside clearly. He had sent his coachman to the other carriage to see who it was that dare say such a thing.

"It looks like some people don't know who you are," Jane said. "They crossed your path, how are you going to deal with them? Seeing as your reputation is at stake," Jane said.

Dan didn't reply her, he knows he has a bad reputation in the kingdom and he had had a chance to overhear some words like 'bad apple,' 'bad omen,' whenever his name got mentioned. "Just wait and see, there is no fun in telling you what I will do to the man."

"Are you going to be letting out your frustration on him?" Jane asked. 'What an unfortunate being,' she mutters without a hint of sympathy.

Inside the unadorned carriage, the man sneezed, who dared curse me. "Someone just cursed me now," he told the beggar man.

"I know, it is probably the lady with Dan," the beggar man said nonchalantly. "I think I want to play now," he said as he opened the door, targeting the unrelenting coachman that was knocking on the carriage door by hitting him with the door straight on his face.

A cry of pain sounded from the coachman as the surrounding became quiet. The door has hit the man exactly on his face, caught him unaware as he was making his next attempt to knock on the carriage door.

The beggar man jumped down from the carriage and closed the door, looking around at the people, he walk forward with his head held high, intentionally stepping on the coachman and standing on his hand, he turned to the unadorned carriage coachman, "Who was knocking on the door, I don't seem to see anybody, was it you?" he asked.

The coachman shook his head negatively and stared at the man dumbly. He knew the beggar man was not to be underestimated, even the man inside has allowed him in while he rebuked him for his action, he must be a hidden expert, the coachman concluded.

Another groan of pain resounded from the ground as the beggar man applied some force on his hand; he looked down after some time and acted surprised. "Oh, I didn't see you there," he said to him. "Are you here to beg me to be your master? But I don't accept undisciplined disciple like you."

"Hmm," your father, the coachman said in his mind, who wants you to be my master. He kept groaning in pain, can't this man see that he is standing on my hand. Shouldn't he get off? What he will do to him once he gets off the ground, it will make him regret his action for light. "Can you get off from my hand?" he grunted out to the man. Wasn't this the insane beggar man? When did he become rich --- no! --- Where did he steal the money from to act as mighty as this? He really grew wings.

The beggar man looked down at him again and applied some pressure on his hand, "were you the one knocking on the carriage door like a baboon and disturbing me?" the beggar man asked. He had secretly probed the coachman with his qi and realized that he was a martial artist. Dan really did well, what a high standard of living; his coachman is also a martial artist. The man praised him in his heart.

The coachman that was lying on the ground couldn't tolerate this any longer; he gathered some of his internal qi and prepared to fling the beggar man off from his body. Meanwhile the beggar man had detected the change in the dormant qi and he already knows what the man wanted to do, not bad, I will just act along.

The coachman relax his body and acted docile, ready to go in for the kill once the man lowers his guard against him, the beggar man didn't disappoint him and seem to look tired. Now is the time, the coachman gathered his strength, he raised his body off from the ground and pivoted up, shaking the beggar man, the beggar man fly off to the side and stay low lying on the ground.

The onlookers were surprised by this and conversation started, "he is a martial artist, oh God, he really hide it so deep," someone said. "Is the beggar man still alive? He has not yet risen from his position," another man pointed out. "Must the coachman use such brute force, that amount of force can kill," another man said.

The unadorned coachman covered his mouth as he gasps in surprise, "this man is really shameless, what should I do?" he had seen the man as he change his direction before he fell. If I don't go to him, I will be named irresponsible and if I go, I will tag the same as him. What should I do? The coachman finally made up his mind and went over to the beggar man.

"Hey, shameless beggar man acting. Are you alright?" the coachman whispered in the beggar man left ear as he bent over him. The beggar man groan, "get off me and act as I will instruct you," the coachman shifted closer to hear what he wanted to say.

The adorned carriage coachman was coming over to them when he saw that the man was still crumpled on the ground, "you shouldn't bite more than you can chew," he said, but he received no response.

The unadorned carriage coachman stood up with fury in his eyes as he looked at the man, running towards him, he caught hold of collar, "what have you done to him?" he shake the man violently as he asked in a loud voice. "Do something, why are you standing still?"

For a moment, the adorned carriage coachman was shocked, have I killed the man, the words rang in his head, he was a little bit frightened, he shouldn't be dead, right? I didn't use that much of my strength.

It was right for the man to panic, in the kingdom, killing was an offense and it was punishable by dead. Will he lose his life because of this beggar man, no!—that isn't right. He looked at the crumpled figure that was still on the ground, move, just move, he urge in his mind. A slap hit his face and he was brought back to the present, the crazy man was still attacking him and asking him questions.

Inside the adorned carriage, Dan and Jane frowned their face at the strange turn of event, what was happening was unplanned for, in fact, it was uncalled call, where did the beggar man came from. What was he looking for at the kingdom gate, isn't the street enough for him or has he being given too much freedom that he had finally gone insane.

The man inside the unadorned carriage couldn't help but to face palm himself, of course, he should have known what this man would do, acting shameless and acting dead, as if …

The lady peeped from her carriage window to take a look at what was happening at the kingdom gate. Isn't that …? She laughed quietly and softly. Dan's coachman doesn't know what has hit him. Well, I love this, but what is he doing here?

"Who is that beggar man?" Nicholas couldn't help himself from asking the question that was nagging on his mind. Nobody was moving forward to help, was the man really a no-body in the kingdom?

"That is the shameless beggar man that always has his way whenever he wants to collect money," Tobias said in despised. He was still bearing grudge against the beggar man and he has some nasty experience with the beggar man.

He had been a victim, not once or twice but thrice. He had been on his way back after his shift ended and happened to see the beggar man sitting at his regular spot. He had taken pity on him and dropped a penny in the man empty bowl, but the man hadn't showed any gratitude. He had asked the man why he was ungrateful but he only received one answer, 'if he doesn't know how to play cheese, he shouldn't disturb him,' he had become angry at his word and in his anger, he had sat down and betted with the old man with all the money he had on him.

He had pride himself in being a good chess player and had had underestimated the man, he was beaten fair and square before he could blink or think. The second and third time went like that, until he learnt his lesson and never went to the beggar man. He was sure the beggar man was always up to mischief and the coachman just happened to be his plaything or – victim, according to his observation, Dan wasn't going to risk coming down from his carriage and exposing his plan just to rescue a mere coachman.

"Oh, I should avoid him then," said Nicholas after giving it some thought, then he asked, "between him and 'the bad omen' who is more dangerous?"

"The beggar man," Arthur replied.

"He is a green snake lying in wait for a prey while the bad omen doesn't have such, he is quite open and all is move can be predicted. But, the beggar man … well – you see that … that is an example," Tobias said.

"He twitches!" Carlos suddenly said, he had been paying attention to the beggar man.

"Who,"

"The beggar man, he is showing sign of life," Carlos said.

"I knew it," Tobias said as if he had won the jackpot.

At the moment Carlos noticed that the beggar man twitched, the bystanders noticed as well including the adorned carriage coachman. He shook the man holding his collar to the side.

"Come back here," the unadorned carriage coachman said to the man, but the man didn't answer him as he went to the crumpled figure. "What is he doing?" the unadorned carriage coachman asked himself as he stood by the side, watching the beggar man; he realized that the man had opened his eye and he saw him wink to him. "This man…" the coachman muttered under his breath, well, the plan is still on. He followed after the man and arrived by the beggar man as he helped him from his lying position. "Are you alright?"

The beggar man shook his head and acted like he was dizzy. "What just happened, Ken?" the old beggar man asked.

The unadorned carriage coachman was taken aback, how did he know my name? Did he hit head so hard when he felt on the ground or was he now calling name out randomly.

"Well, you are a tough meat," the adorned carriage coachman said arrogantly as he finally arrived beside them. He looked down at the pair, "I think you've lived for long that your soul can't be taken by the heavens," he addressed the old beggar man.

"Pat," the beggar man suddenly voiced out as he touches Ken shoulder, "where are we?"

The adorned carriage coachman was taken aback, who is this beggar man? Has he really knock his head hard when he fell on the ground, he couldn't be sprouting nonsense now since his name was Pat and that was what he said.

Dan called out to him from his carriage, "come back, he is only a beggar man," Ken and the beggar man watched as the coachman walked back to the white carriage.

"Stop --" Ken shouted at the man. "Where do you think you are going?"

The beggar man stood up with vigor and rushed as he blocks the man path. "Don't you know how to apologize?" he asked. "You block the way and you pick a fight with my coachman when he voiced out his opinion and you almost killed me…" the beggar man said as he broke into fake sob but there was no tears running from his eye.

The adorned carriage coachman couldn't continue looking at him and passed him his handkerchief. "Use it, I don't want it back." The beggar man collected it and dropped it on the floor as he matched on it. "You …" the coachman said in disbelief. That was an expensive handkerchief and he, he – he …, the coachman burst out in anger. Taking hold of the beggar man by the collar, he pushed him against his post, "how dare you?" he said out in anger.

"I am an old man that has been accused wrongly," the beggar man said as if he was the one wronged.

"Yes, yes, he is saying the truth. My master has been accused wrongly ever since we've arrived here," Ken butts in. he struggled with the man as he tried to free his master from the man grip, but it was futile as the man pushed him away and he fell on his buttock. "Oh my precious buttock," Ken lamented as he cried on the ground.

The onlookers became surprised, he was fighting so vigorously and now he is crying like a baby. To others, there was no word to qualify his action, other than lazy, loud-mouthed and so on. But to Ken that was on the ground, there was a reason why he was crying. He had painfully hit his buttocks on the ground but that wasn't painful, what was painful was the bun he had kept at his back pocket; the bun was precious to him. He was planning on eating it on the way back to keep him occupied but …

The two men looked at him (the beggar man and the coachman), they resumed their fight afterward. The beggar man looked as if he was on the losing end as his punch was avoided by the man while the man punch landed on his body. The beggar man was struggling as he moved towards the horse. Suddenly, he faked his move and the hit the rump of the horse thereby setting it in motion, the other horses followed after the horse.

Dan suddenly felt the carriage moving, surprised that he hadn't instructed his coachman to move yet; the horses broke into gallop and speed off into the forest as they lack control. Dan and Jane were thrown about inside the moving carriage. The coachman eyeballs became bigger at the sight of this, he looked at the beggar man in disbelief; it took him five seconds to realize what was going on. He left them there as he went to chase after the carriage.

What a hilarious sight, an uncontrolled horse pulling a carriage and a man chasing after it. The onlookers' attention was drawn to this and they failed to realize that the unadorned carriage had left with the beggar man.

After the obstruction had been cleared, Tobias got down from beside Arthur and put on his uniform, "well, come on everybody, you don't want part two of this," he said as he grabs the attention of the guards around. The place became bustling as people were rushing to get check so that they could leave the place on time.

Carlos slapped the rump of the horse and they set off into the kingdom. Anywhere Nicholas looked at was blurred as the horses were galloping at a neck breaking speed to the palace, they seem excited as Nicholas could see that Carlos wasn't hitting them, he was only holding the rein.

Those animals most have missed their stable. Although no one was talking, it can be clearly seen that they were happy to be back to the kingdom. Their mission ends when they get to the palace.