The Kings of Rags, The Shadows of the Street
The Beggar’s Sect stands as both the most ridiculed and the most enduring of the Eight Great Sects. Where others build temples, halls, and fortresses, the Beggars build nothing — and thus, nothing can be torn down. Dynasties have tried to crush them, rival sects have scorned them, yet the Beggars remain, ever-present in the alleys and gutters of every city. Their legacy is not carved in stone, but whispered in taverns, sung in drunken songs, and etched into the memory of the common folk.
They are kings not of palaces, but of rags. Shadows not of mountains, but of streets. Theirs is a legacy of survival — and survival is the deepest strength of all.
Among commoners, the Beggar’s Sect is beloved. They are seen as protectors of the poor, thieves who steal from nobles to feed the hungry, and tricksters who mock tyranny. Folk tales often cast Beggar Chiefs as heroes who outwit corrupt officials or humble arrogant sect leaders. Children play “Dog Beating Staff” games in alleys, mimicking the sect’s most famous art.
Yet fear lingers, too. The people whisper that if angered, the Beggars can stir riots, burn granaries, or disappear enemies into their warrens. Thus, they are remembered as both protectors and troublemakers — dangerous friends, dangerous enemies.
Shaolin: Respect their devotion to the people, yet dismiss them as undisciplined. Rivalries flare when Beggars turn to theft.
Wudang: View them as chaotic and lacking refinement, but secretly admire their resilience.
Emei: Sympathize with their compassion, but scorn their drunken disorder.
Tangmen: Eternal enemies — Beggars expose their plots and steal their poisons. Tangmen sneer at them as rats, while Beggars mock them as snakes too proud to hide.
Wanderer’s Valley: A twisted kinship exists — both thrive in chaos, but Wanderers see themselves as wolves, while Beggars embrace brotherhood.
Royal Guards: Mortal foes. To the Guards, the Beggars are spies and rebels; to the Beggars, the Guards are tyrants. Their clashes are legendary in palace streets.
Scholar’s Academy: Often allies. The Scholars provide wisdom; the Beggars provide eyes and ears. Yet the Scholars tire of their chaos, and the Beggars laugh at the Academy’s pride.
Rivals may mock their rags, but all fear their unseen power.
Dynasties have always held an uneasy relationship with the Beggars:
The Song: Remembered them as allies who exposed corrupt officials.
The Yuan: Hunted them as rebels and thieves.
The Ming: Relied on their spy networks, often secretly employing Beggar Chiefs.
The Qing: Tried to exterminate them, yet failed — for beggars cannot be uprooted from the streets.
Thus, dynasties remember them not as sect or army, but as inevitability.
The Bowl of Justice Strike: Hong Qigong shattered a magistrate’s skull with a clay bowl, proving that even rags could defy thrones.
The Dog Beating Duels: Beggar Chiefs used the Dog Beating Staff Technique to defeat Warlords, Royal Guard commanders, and once even a Shaolin abbot, hurling them across arenas to the roar of the crowd.
The Riots of Crimson Alley: When Royal Guards tried to burn a beggar camp, thousands of beggars rose in fury, overwhelming the crimson cloaks with sheer numbers and hidden blades.
The Laughing Escape: A group of Beggars once tricked Tangmen assassins by pretending to be drunkards too feeble to fight. When the assassins struck, the Beggars rose, staffs flying, leaving only corpses in the alley.
These stories remind Murim that the Beggars may be mocked, but never underestimated.
In the present era, the Beggar’s Sect remains the largest and most widespread of all sects. They are everywhere: in capitals, villages, markets, temples, and battlefields. They do not march as armies, yet their power lies in invisibility — a beggar may be a spy, a master, or a chief in disguise.
Murim councils cannot ignore them, for they speak with the voice of the people. Dynasties cannot crush them, for beggars exist wherever there is hunger. Rival sects cannot defeat them, for they are countless, resilient, and unpredictable.
Their creed endures: “In rags, we are kings.”
Summary:
The legacy of the Beggar’s Sect is survival turned into power. Loved by the people, hated by dynasties, mocked by rivals, yet feared by all, they are the kings of the streets. Their legends — from the Bowl of Justice to the Dog Beating Staff — echo as proof that even the lowest can topple the mighty. In the current age, they remain everywhere and nowhere, the eternal reminder that power does not lie only in temples or thrones, but in the hands of those who endure.