Data-Driven Daoist

“Why is that here?” Yu Han asked, a possibility rearing its head in his mind as Fei Rui continued chattering.

「And this is the third tooth bit from the Dreamtide Leviathan—which one?」 Fei Rui stopped mid-explanation, tilting his body and looking up at Yu Han with one exposed eye.

“The parchment,” Yu Han said.

「That one?」 Fei Rui pointed at the object. He clicked his bigger claw, and the parchment was suddenly between his pincers. 「This one?」

“How did you do that?” Yu Han fell into a squat near the crab and stared at it with wide eyes.

「Do what?」 Fei Rui asked. He shook his claw again, and the parchment teleported back to the rimstone dam. 「This?」 Another shake, and it was pinched in his claw. 「This?」

“That,” Yu Han said. “You can teleport objects?”

「Just this.」 Fei Rui scratched his shell. 「Why do I know what teleporting is? Oh right! Grandpa could do it—who’s Grandpa?」

“I always thought you had a storage space like Fang Zhao’s ring,” Yu Han said. “But it’s actually your crabscape.”

「My what?」 “Crabscape. Like, my white space is called a dreamscape. And you’re a crab, so crabscape.”

「Why not humanscape?」

“I don’t know.” Yu Han shrugged. “Do you want me to call mine human dreamscape and yours crab dreamscape?”

「Crabscape is okay, Yu Han. I like it, since I am crab. What do you call the place outside of our dreamscape?」

“Just reality.”

Fei Rui tip-tapped to the rimstone dam. 「I can’t bring out more things to ‘just reality.’ Only this dried dragon-skin parchment. And the bubble pearls! For other things, Grandpa said I have to set up a ritual and offer sacrifices to the Dao.」

Yu Han filed all that away in his mind. This crab knew stuff intrinsic to the reality of this strange new world. The problem was, Fei Rui didn’t know what he knew.

“You can bring the pearls out?” Yu Han asked. “Why haven’t you done it until now?”

Fei Rui checked the speleothems like an architect inspecting the foundation of his designs. He traced a claw over a web of coralstone wall, then plugged a loose stone into a stalactite that dripped water from a hole.

「I don’t know,」 he said. 「Do you?」

Yu Han didn’t. “It’s good that you didn’t. If you lost a pearl with your memories in reality and a cultivator found it, they might want to find out what’s going on.”

「If it’s good, then it’s good!」 Fei Rui left the clearing through the tunnel they had used to enter.

“This whole cave system—is it a representation of your mind?” Yu Han asked.

「I don’t know.」 Fei Rui skittered through the stone outgrowths nimbly. 「This tunnel and, um, let me count.」 He tapped seven of his legs one by one. 「Six others are mine. But then one tunnel leads to a place where, if I go, I will be forever doomed. Grandpa said so.」

“… That’s heavy. Why will you be doomed?”

「Because others will find me.」 They stopped. Fei Rui pointed at a squarish tunnel hidden behind a portion of the cave almost covered with speleothems. 「That’s the one. The Tunnel of Doom!」

“Did Grandpa name it the ’tunnel of doom?’” Yu Han asked.

「The Tunnel of Doom!」 Fei Rui emphasised. 「Doom!」

“Sure, buddy.” Yu Han smiled.

「I did. Oh, right. Grandpa said if I was smart and didn’t get lost, then I wouldn’t be doomed, but others will. He said I’ll have to go there sooner or later if I want to be stronger.」 ŖἁΝՕＢƐ𝐬

Suddenly, a cold wind flowed from the squarish entrance, sending shivers down Yu Han’s neck.

He heard waves. It was a soothing sound, the sound of the ocean. And it sang so softly, as if to beckon them. He wanted to see what was there.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Yu Han took a step back, gulping.

「Do you wanna go?」 Fei Rui asked.

“Hell no!” Yu Han turned around. “Can we block it?”

「Nope. I can, but I won’t. I’ll have to go there if I want to crack my Tribulation.」 Fei Rui paused, using his claws to shield his front as if to cover his mouth. 「Oops.」

The longer they stayed there, the stronger the sound of the waves got.

“I think I’m done,” Yu Han said. “I’ll head back to my dreamscape.”

「Wait, Yu Han!」 Fei Rui caught the fabric of his pants with his smaller claw. 「Can you wait? Please? Please? We can go to my pond room, and I’ll make the bubble pearls and hit them. Then we can go back. Please?」

Yu Han couldn’t say no to those eyes. After they arrived at the pond, by the end of the main tunnel, Fei Rui went about blowing pearls into existence.

On the way, Yu Han had noted the locations of the six other tunnels. One had Fei Rui’s stash. Yu Han would explore the others in due time—except the Tunnel of Doom.

He took a better look at the location. As usual, there were multitudes of speleothems. This place really was like an unknown coastal cave. Rays of pearly light shone down from hidden cracks in the ceiling, piercing through the wisping white mist that gathered there. The pond was on the other end of the cavernous area, hugging the wall. It was like the previous rimstone dam but far bigger and deeper, filled with water glowing a soft blue.

Droplets dripped down from the soda straws and stalactites hanging above the pond. Was that how this was formed? How long did it take—and where was this water even coming from? Fei Rui said they might share their eyesight if Yu Han drank the water. If it was coming from an external location, then why did it have that kind of effect?

The mysteries of the dreamscape grew by the day. Few answers, yet infinite questions.

Yu Han looked over to where Fei Rui was working. The crab had stacked the normal pearls to one side and would grab one, then smash it. It would gain a hint of blue, after which he would throw it into the pond.

As Yu Han scanned the stack of pearls, a strange feeling tugged at his mind. What’s going on?

He didn’t panic. Instead, he concentrated on the feeling. Was it coming from the pearls? There was a strange connection there. Each time he focused on a pearl, something would try to “lock in,” for lack of a better term. This feeling wasn’t there before. It must be the accord.

The feeling wasn’t completely unfamiliar, though. It was something he was quite familiar with, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. He contemplated some more, but no answers came.

It’s fine. Rushing won’t get me anywhere. Yu Han shook his head.

The crab was soon done. He led Yu Han out of the crabscape with a happy hop to his scuttling gait. This time though, even after they left the crabscape, the entrance didn’t close.

「I’ll have to break the accord if I want to close it,」 Fei Rui said, looking down. 「Do you want me to?」

“Of course not,” Yu Han said. You kidding me? The Johan part of him screamed at the very mention of breaking the accord. As if he would let go of a Level 10 crab!

But putting that aside, Yu Han enjoyed Fei Rui’s company. His questions were so pure, straight to the point despite the meandering vocabulary, each sentence revealing how differently he saw the world. Yu Han enjoyed conversations, but to Johan, they were a chore. Each word exchanged between humans was filled with unspoken judgement, and when Johan failed to read between the lines, it was his fault. With Fei Rui, there was none of that.

「Yay!」 the crab cheered. 「Can you make me something to play with?」

“What do you want?”

「Your stick with the sharp thing!」

Yu Han echoed his halberd. Fei Rui grew bigger. He delicately pinched the halberd handle and raised it above his head. Then, with a strange gurgle, he scuttled left and right. It looked like a strange ritual, but if it kept him busy, that was fine.

Yu Han was about to echo the person stalking Huang Niuniu when a realization hit him. The feeling when he looked at the pearls was similar to when he used Echoing Dreamscape!

“Fei Rui!” Yu Han said, stopping the crab’s play. “Pearl! Give me a pearl.”

Fei Rui shook a claw, and a pearl dropped in front of Yu Han. He picked it up, concentrating on it.

Think of what I want to Echo. Cast it into the pearl just like how I would usually cast Echoing Dreamscape into space.

For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then the pearl turned lime green.

「Whoa! Yu Han. How’d you do that?」 Fei Rui shouted.

“I don’t know,” Yu Han said.

The pearl looked almost like a marble, its colour a translucent green. Inside, a faint silhouette of the stalker.

Yu Han sat down and concentrated.

I can still recall the stalker’s details in my own mind. So the memories weren’t moved, but copied? Copy and paste. Not cut.

He echoed a few more events.

Can I do it with objects?

Yu Han looked at the halberd that Fei Rui was holding. These echoed objects lasted longer than events and scenes, though they’d still disappear after a while. The duration increased with points in Memory.

Let’s try it. He held a pearl and echoed the halberd into it. It turned lime green, and a small halberd formed inside.

A dagger, the books, food.

“What do I use these for?” Yu Han scratched his head. He didn’t have a pond of memory pearls. His memories didn’t seem to be affected from this copying and pasting yet, though he’d have to wait until he woke up to be sure.

「I know! I know!」 Fei Rui pinched one of the pearls and looked it over. He placed it on the ground, then poked it with a claw.

An echo of Li Yao practising his sword art appeared. He slashed with his right sword and stabbed with his left, and the strong moves sent a gust of wind Yu Han’s way. Each grunt and each droplet of sweat appeared far more real. This wasn’t the hazy blur of the usual echo. This was a mirror of reality! Almost exactly what he had seen, felt, heard, and smelled back when he watched Li Yao train.

“It’s Ultra HD 4K on a Super AMOLED Display…” Yu Han gasped. “With VR.”

It was actually far better than that.

Fei Rui poked the pearl again, and Li Yao disappeared. Inside, the mirage of Li Yao remained.

“It’s not one-time use,” Sweat gathered on Yu Han’s temple. “I can display holographic yet ultra-realistic video recordings now. Wait a moment—”

Fei Rui could bring the parchment out from the crabscape. He said he could bring pearls out too. Then…

“What about this one?” Yu Han stared, amazed, at the lime-green pearl and then the crab.