Data-Driven Daoist

Yu Han exited his hut and followed the crowd. Li Yao and the rest took Xiao Zhuzi to his hut and laid him down on the kang bed. Yu Han watched from outside the door.

“Flip him over!” Li Yao said. They did.

Xiao Zhuzi’s back had five deep bruises, oozing with blood. It was as though he had been whipped with a serrated steel wire.

“I-It’s fine, Brother Li. T-This much is nothing,” Xiao Zhuzi said through gritted teeth.

Yu Han took in a breath. If it was him, he’d have either passed out or died from the pain. He did not have much pain tolerance.

“You shut up,” Li Yao said. He took out a clay vial and uncapped it, smearing a thick, green concoction on Xiao Zhuzi’s back. “Hold him down!”

Four others held down Xiao Zhuzi’s limbs. The tall kid cried out.

“Can handle flogging, but can’t handle a little sting?” Li Yao said, then smeared the green medicine on the next bruise. More screams followed.

“Brother Li, the bandages.” A recruit Yu Han didn’t know brought some gauze.

“Nice work,” Li Yao said. The treatment continued. After about half an hour, Li Yao had finished wrapping the wounds in the gauze.“Rest, you bastard,” he swore. “Crazy son of a…”

“Hehe. It’s my tribulation,” Xiao Zhuzi stammered through wheezes.

“Shut up. Close your eyes or I’ll knock you out,” Li Yao said. “Give him some space. I’ll keep watch.”

“Brother Li is the best to me.”

“Don’t act cute. It’s gross.”

“Hehe.”

Yu Han watched, and a strange feeling welled up inside of him.

Am I jealous?

In his previous world, this would be called friendship. Johan didn’t have even one close friend.

“Take care, Xiao Zhuzi,” said the kid who had almost drowned himself. What was his name again? Li Weidong.

“That’s a man, that Little Bamboo. Don’t let those shitty nobles tell you what you can or can’t do,” Hu Feng, the farmer’s son, guffawed. “Did you see how that fatty was screaming? While you, brother, begged the Law Enforcers to flog you more.”

“You’re too loud!” Li Yao pushed the others out of the hut. It was cramped, with six people barely fitting—four of whom had held Xiao Zhuzi down, with Li Yao applying the medicine, and Xiao Zhuzi being the final one on the bed.

Everyone left, admiration in their voice.

“Didn’t Xiao Zhuzi get injured in the first place because he stood up for the kid Brother Li calls tubs?” one voice spoke.

“That’s him, right?” Another pointed at Yu Han. He really was too noticeable with his size. “The Sect Senior Brother gave him a package a while ago.”

“Ah, I know that. The Elder entrusted him with a delivery. Do you think he’ll get rewarded?”

They gossiped right in front of his face.

These jerks. Yu Han grumbled. They probably didn’t mean harm, but he didn’t like it. He entered the hut.

“Yo,” Li Yao said. “This kid passed his tribulation, apparently. You don’t have to feel bad.”

“I don’t,” Yu Han said.

“You should!” Li Yao slapped his shoulders.

Yu Han rolled his eyes.

Xiao Zhuzi was breathing lightly. Every few seconds he would groan. The gauze bandages were already damp with dark blood.

“If you didn’t speak out for me, this wouldn’t have happened,” Yu Han said.

Xiao Zhuzi opened his eyes. “Ain’t no bother, brother. Them nobles think we are easy to bully. No more.” There was defiance in his pained eyes. “Never again.”

“Aye, well spoken,” Li Yao praised.

“Can’t tell you ‘bout my tribulation. But I passed it. Hah, I passed. I’m alive, and I’m gonna be so strong those noble bitches will lick my beggar feet.”

“That’s the spirit,” Li Yao said. “But quit yapping. You coughed out blood!”

“Ha!”

Yu Han didn’t have that backbone. He could be stubborn, but to willingly ask for pain to pass a tribulation? He was nowhere near that desperate.

I passed my tribulation on a fluke. No, not a fluke. He’d killed that dog with wits when he should have died. When his family had died. It was skill. A form of power.

Yu Han opened the pouch and took out ten Spirit Stones. “Take it.”

“Stop that. I ain’t do it for money,” Xiao Zhuzi said.

“I know. But it can buy you some medicine,” Yu Han said. “If you refuse, I won’t be able to sleep.”

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“Y-You had to crush some balls for that money,” Xiao Zhuzi said. “Heh, that noble Wu kid. I admire you, brother.”

“I said enough talking!” Li Yao snatched the coin-sized hexagonal crystals from Yu Han’s hand. “If Tubs is giving it, then you take it. Why so much nonsense?”

“Okay, okay. I’ll buy us wine.” With that, Xiao Zhuzi closed his eyes. “Keep it for me, Brother Li. Find me a pouch.”

Li Yao and Yu Han exited the hut.

“Do you know how much a Spirit Stone is worth?” Li Yao asked. “You gave him ten. Don’t regret it later, tubs.”

“Rude.” Yu Han hastened his pace. “I bought him off. That’s it.”

“There you go again. In the past, you were kind without blushing or playing it off.”

“Fuck off!”

This annoying brat! Just a gangster, playing some kinda big brother. Yu Han grumbled.

“Yeah, yeah. See you tomorrow. I’ll keep an eye out for Little Bamboo.”

“Li Yao. Come to my hut tomorrow morning,” Yu Han said.

Li Yao backed away. “I ain’t swing that way.”

“You…” Yu Han gaped. This fucker! “Fine, be a little—”

“I’ll pick up breakfast from the canteen on the way.” With that, the scar-faced brat was gone.

“I hope he trips on poop,” Yu Han muttered.

He went back to his hut.

Oh, shit. I forgot to hide these. The two books lay face up on the bed. If someone had come in and seen them, that would suck royally.

At least he had remembered to close the doors. The window was only open a crack, but that was still careless. Yu Han locked them from inside, then collapsed on the bed. It creaked because of his weight. Even the bed was fat-shaming him.

“Shut up.”

He closed his eyes. Just a while ago, he was feeling refreshed from his nap. But now he was tired.

In Deep Sleep, Yu Han echoed the Verdant Blade Sect Elder.

Grasping Moon Hidden Realm. Is it the same one mentioned in the books or not?

He echoed the library. He first materialized the manuals written in Common Script.

Bronze Crane Leg.

He unrolled the scroll. The material felt both real and illusory in his hand. The words blurred, but only slightly. He could still read them, as if he was reading with an eyeglass of the wrong power.

The diagrams were trickier. Some were very detailed, with thin, sharp lines, and annotations written in tiny letters.

Yu Han squinted. Ever so slightly, the diagrams focused. But not enough.

He read the scroll. The prerequisite for this Martial Art was to hold the horse stance for six hours, and have enough flexibility to do the splits.

Ugh.

He materialized the next one. And the next.

He then echoed a book written in the unknown script. The writing looked real enough, even though he understood nothing.

Next, and next.

Then the booklet.

It only had fifteen thin pages, bound by what looked to be a dried tendon. The cover was some kind of leather. He flipped through it. There were no diagrams; only densely packed text.

Father had thought it was a poem. Elder Brother had thought it was a diary by some barbarian or foreigner.

Yu Han dismissed the booklet and materialized the halberd. In the Echoing Dreamscape, it didn’t have the same weight. It felt as if it should be heavy, an illusion of weight. But when Yu Han swung it, it would fly like a stick.

He tried to imitate the forms in the “Ox Tail 72 Sweeping Forms.”

“Leg here. Arm, like this?” He dragged the halberd on the ground, then twisted his torso while holding the pole. It swung overhead with high momentum.

“Fuck!”

The halberd ricocheted off the white floor and bounced up. He was supposed to connect the swing into another swing from the opposite direction and end it with a hooking motion. But he’d lost control.

Yu Han tried again. Then again.

Just get the form right! Everything else can be left for later.

In the white space, the solitary fatty continued training until his mind went blank and he slipped into real sleep.

***

+2 True Qi.

Cultivation Art Learnt -> Calm Before the Storm Breathing Technique

Name: Yu Han (Johan)

Level: 1

True Qi: 5 (+2)/200

Pure Qi: 7 /110

Primordial Qi: 5

Lifeforce: 51 (+26)/648

Fortitude 8 -> 9

[Spirit Origin: 7.80 -> 8.00]

Arts:

[Deep Sleep]

Type: Bloodline

Grade: Mortal Level 1

Mastery: Initial Step Level 1

True Qi: 110 (+3)/200

[Echoing Dreamscape]

Type: Auxiliary

Grade: Mortal Level 9

Mastery: Initial Step Level 3

True Qi: 57 (+7)/400

[Calm Before the Storm Breathing Technique]

Type: Cultivation

Grade: Mortal Level 5

Mastery: Initial Step Level 1

True Qi: 3 (+3)/200

A new art? It was the breathing technique the Elder with the pelican had taught them.

Can… anything be an Art? Or are there specific restrictions?

Yu Han stared at the stat gain with confusion too. What did he do? Was it the training? Did he have some kind of epiphany?

He shook his head. He would dive into that later. Right now, he had an appointment with Li Yao.

He brushed his teeth with a branch, salt, and coal. He then went to the well, drew a bucket of water, and walked to the outhouse. The ground was muddy. It had rained again last night.

The recruits came out one by one. Some were practicing their techniques in the yard, while others chatted in groups. Yu Han finished his business and thoroughly washed his hands with soap, ignoring the stink eyes from the nobles.

He walked back to his hut.

Li Yao was waiting there.

“Morning.”

“Is that dumpling?” Yu Han’s stomach rumbled. Man, was he starving.

“Only veggies, though,” Li Yao said. “Meat for lunch.”

“Oh.” With a peg less enthusiasm, Yu Han took a bowl and went inside. There wasn’t a mat, so no place to rub the mud off.

He sat down on the bed, then tossed one dumpling into his mouth. They were fried, and the juices leaked out. Even though there was no meat, it tasted pretty good. As he ate, a strange warmth settled in his stomach.

“They call this spirit food,” Li Yao said with his mouth full. “We recruits apparently get it for free during our stay at the Rookie Village.”

“What happens after?”

“Who knows.” Li Yao gulped down the food. “The Senior Sister said Elder Scribe would let us know when everyone arrives.” Li Yao swallowed. “So why did you call me?”

Yu Han looked into Li Yao’s eyes. For one minute. Then two.

“What?” Li Yao’s grin cracked. “Look, tubs, I really am not into—”

“Shut up.”

Yu Han shook his head. I hope I don’t regret this. A connection of goodwill, no matter how small… Yu Han would nurture it. He didn’t want to live like Johan. At least, not fully.

“How well can you read?” Yu Han asked.

“Well enough. Don’t underestimate us gang folks. We had to count money daily.”

Yu Han washed his hands with a pitcher of rainwater from outside. He then took out two books, placing them on the bed.

“These are…” Li Yao picked one up. “Rookie Cheat Sheet. Young Ji’s Cultivation Contemplations? Where did you get these?”

“Doesn’t matter. I’ll let you read them. But you have to keep it secret. Not even Xiao Zhuzi and the others can know!”

Li Yao gulped, nodding like his neck was broken.

“I ain’t a fool.”

“I really hope so,” Yu Han said.

Li Yao started reading the “Cultivation Contemplations,” while Yu Han picked up the “Cheat Sheet.”

A few minutes later.

“Tubs?” Li Yao said. “What’s this mean?”

“Let me see.” Yu Han said. “That means ‘the river of blood flows in streams.’”

“Nice. Thanks.”

A minute later: “Tubs, this part is hard.”

“Coarse grains of qi are like rice.”

And again. “Tubs. Why is this red flower of the asshole spelled weird?”

“That’s the red torso acupoint!”

“Tubs!”

“Ugh.” Yu Han regretted his decision already.