Data-Driven Daoist

“Instruction manual?” Fang Zhao barked as if he’d heard the most ridiculous thing.

“A manual with instructions,” the cat said. “On how to use the ring. Did you read it?”

「Can I read the instruction manual too?」 Fei Rui asked. He had shrunk back to puppy size and nestled himself in Yu Han’s lap.

So the crab understands the cat? Definitely Qi speak.

“There was no such thing!” Fang Zhao roared with indignation.

“There was.”

“Wasn’t!”

“There was,” the cat said. “Didn’t you read it?”

“I’m telling you there wasn’t!” Fang Zhao tried to get up, but the cat pressed down with her paw. That small limb seemed to be able to hold down even an elephant, let alone Fang Zhao.

“Then why did you wear the ring?” the cat asked. “Why did you wear a magical artefact without reading the instruction manual?”

“She has a point,” Yu Han said. Reminds me of that one time I installed a cracked Photoshop. I had to sanitise that laptop.

“I-I don’t—you shut up!” Fang Zhao said. The heat left his voice and his tone turned pathetic. “It’s a ring. Just a dumb ring. You were in the ring. You were sucking my True Qi dry. You could have chosen not to, but you did!”

“I was asleep,” the cat said. “It’s written in the manual. In exchange for guidance, the wearer of the ring will give 1,100,000 True Qi—” The calico cat stopped. Her feline eyes peered at Fang Zhao, then at the other three, including the crab. “You’re not from my sect. Which sect are you from?”

“Demon, get off of me!” Fang Zhao roared.

“I’m not a demon. Which sect?”

“The Stormy Reef Sect, lady cultivator,” Yu Han answered.

“Which kingdom?”

“The Great Xia Dynasty.”

“Which continent?”

“I don’t know.” Yu Han really didn’t.

“Oh, I know!” Huang Niuniu said. “Song Yinuo told me before. The Celestial Horizon Continent.”

“The plane?”

“I-I don’t know,” Huang Niuniu said.

The cat tapped Fang Zhao’s forehead. “The plane? The realm? The world? They’re the same thing. Realm, not like Hidden Realms or Cultivation Realms. Realms like planes.”

Tap tap.

“Get. Off!” Fang Zhao said through gritted teeth.

“Why didn’t you read the instruction manual?” she said. “Who does that? What if it was a cursed ring?”

“You’re a cursed ring! Your whole family is a cursed ring!”

“What if there was a demon soul in the ring that replaced you?”

“You’re the damn demon soul, so shut the—”

“What if you died?”

Fang Zhao shut his mouth.

The cat slinked away. She jumped on a broken speleothem, then another, until she was on a large boulder. Fang Zhao immediately jumped up and retreated to Yu Han’s location.

“What era is this? What year?” she asked.

“Year 99,903 of the Heavenly Regression Calendar,” Huang Niuniu answered again. “Day 7 of the 10th Month.”

Fang Zhao grumbled. He looked confused, like Flat-Earther given irrefutable proof that the Earth was round. He could not accept it, but neither could he say why.

“Why are you so hostile?” the cat asked.

“You ruined my life,” Fang Zhao said.

“No, I didn’t,” the cat denied.

“Then what about the psychic spell?” Fang Zhao demanded. “When Brother Yu first noticed the curse of the ring, every one of us but him was charmed by your insidious spell.”

“There was no such thing.”

“There was. Ask Brother Li and Sister Huang. They were under its effects too.” Fang Zhao laughed. “Pretend more, you demonic beast, and your words lose truth.”

“Then I didn’t put it,” the cat said. “Someone else could have. There’s no such spell now.”

“How can we trust you?” Fang Zhao said.

“Why not?” the cat asked.

“Over my dead body, you cursed calico.”

“I am not a calico.” The cat’s eyes darted around. Her voice sounded hurt. The animosity Fang Zhao was so openly displaying was certainly direct. “I am Mistress Miao.”

“…You’re a cat,” Fang Zhao said.

Is this gaslighting? Yu Han wondered.

“No, I’m not,” the cat said. “I can’t guide you. You’re not part of my sect. Troublesome. Where did you get my ring?”

Stolen from NovelFire, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“Take it.” Fang Zhao held his hand with the golden ring up. “Take this cursed thing. I don’t need it, nor your guidance.”

“I can’t. You gave me 1,100,000 True Qi. The ring is bonded to you,” the cat said. “I am bonded to you. I’ll repay my debt another way. Troublesome. Where did you find it?”

The cat looked at Yu Han. “Where did he find it?”

This cat seems a bit dumb but also smart, Yu Han wouldn’t underestimate it just because of that. But she hadn’t treated them with malice. She seemed just as shocked to find the ring on Fang Zhao. Moreover, it didn’t seem like she was lying when she spoke of the instruction manual. I can’t trust her. But this back and forth isn’t going anywhere. She doesn’t seem malicious, at least. We’re alive. They would be in trouble if the cat was an experienced actor. But then again, She’s definitely a hidden grandpa!

Or grandma. Or grandcat.

Whatever the case, a seemingly powerful being was sleeping in a ring. She indirectly caused Fang Zhao, this protagonist template, to lose his standing with his clan, fiancée, and his cultivation progress.

In some stories, these ghosts were evil. In others, they were benevolent.

Yu Han took his chances and explained what Fang Zhao had told him before.

“Brother Yu, stop,” Fang Zhao said. “Don’t trust this demonic being.”

“I won’t trust her,” Yu Han said. “But if she wanted us dead, we would already be. I’m trusting my judgement here, not her.”

Fang Zhao protested, but Yu Han ignored the boy and proceeded to explain how Fang Zhao lost his clan and fiancée because of the apparent crippling caused by the ring. Then he talked about the mind stuff they had encountered previously, when Li Yao, Huang Niuniu, and Fang Zhao were hypnotised to ignore the ring—even becoming violent.

“I didn’t use any Psychic Arts,” the cat said. She turned to Fang Zhao. “There isn’t any Psychic Formation of that kind on the ring either. Why did you wear a magical artefact without reading the instructions?”

Fang Zhao remained silent.

“Why? Who does that? It’s so risky,” Mistress Miao asked. Her feline eyes quivered. “Were you tricked? Where’s the person who sold you the ring?”

“I don’t know,” Fang Zhao said. He was still glaring at Mistress Miao, but the rage in his voice had left. It sounded hollow.

Or he was just hiding it better.

“Do you have enemies?” Mistress Miao said. “Is someone targeting you?” After a pause, the cat confessed, “I have enemies. I was betrayed by my—…I almost died and had to recover in the Ancestral Fang Ring. They wouldn’t find it. Maybe someone else found the ring first, knew of the mechanism, and put it on you?”

That makes sense. Fang Zhao does come from a great clan. Yu Han thought for a bit and spoke, “If the instruction manual mentioned the True Qi draining effect of the ring, the person who found it first might have read it. They chose not to put this Ancestral Fang Ring on, despite the promised rewards. Fang Zhao, did you buy the ring yourself? Did someone else gift it to you?”

“I—” Fang Zhao appeared distressed. “I found it in a cultivator’s marketplace in the Divine Xia Capital. It looked quite nice. I remember we had gone there as a group. My friends, my fiancée, and some of our cousins too. My fiancée at the time had a similar tiger-engraved ring—wait, I remember! There was more than one!” Fang Zhao said. “We had bought around twenty, one for all of us. My fiancée’s cousin had handed them out. I know for a fact that the others in the group faced no trouble cultivating. It’s only me!”

Fang Zhao stopped, the switch clicking. “That traitorous, no-good—”

“Let’s not jump to conclusions,” Yu Han said. “This cousin and the shopkeeper are the primary suspects.”

“Zirong Peihou. Zirong Peihou!” Fang Zhao started brooding again.

“Why would anyone target you?” Yu Han asked. “The Psychic Art—was it a spell effect? It was strong enough to blindside your great clan’s higher-ups.”

“Not only that, we requested help from the August Light Immortal Sword Sect too,” Fang Zhao said. “They couldn’t find the cause. Neither did the Great Xia Dynasty’s Imperial Preceptor, who was the imperial clan’s doctor and once the national teacher. The Divine Court’s ghosts and gods were also useless. On second thought, how the hell would Zirong Peihou get his hands on something so powerful?”

“Someone did,” Yu Han said. “And somehow you got the ring. Why?”

“Easy to answer,” Mistress Miao said, now lying atop the boulder lazily. “His talent grade is—oh. A vow. Troublesome.”

“You shut your mouth,” Fang Zhao snarled.

“Why?” Mistress Miao said.

“Because I said so.”

“Why?”

“Just listen—”

“Why?”

“Okay, stop,” Yu Han held his hand up. “Let’s assume it’s because of your talent. Why not just kill you? Why go through all this effort to halt your growth?”

“Maybe they’ll have a use for him in the future?” Li Yao suggested. “Maybe outright killing him would attract too much attention? Or maybe it wasn’t about his talents at all. Maybe it’s to humiliate their Trueforge Fang Clan. Or the target is his clan, not him. Or his parents.”

“It could all be the case. They don’t have to be mutually exclusive,” Yu Han said. He turned to Fang Zhao. “Any ideas?”

“My mother’s clan…”

“Are they super secret and secretly super powerful?” Yu Han asked. “A hidden powerhouse the likes of which this realm has never seen?” Maybe from an upper realm. Or an upper, upper realm?

“Brother Yu, this is no time to joke around.” Fang Zhao sounded annoyed.

“Sorry,” Yu Han apologised.

“They are a secretive clan, that part is true,” Fang Zhao said. “Even after she married into the Fang Clan, never once did she share her origins. Father doesn’t know either. Or claims not to. She never shared her surname with us. Just… her cultivation prowess was second only to my grandfather, the patriarch. The Divine Xia Emperor seemed to have an inkling. He was suspiciously respectful towards her. Yet his cultivation was far above hers. Father and Grandfather suspected that Mother had an even greater background. And once—only once—did she share something with me.” Fang Zhao held up his stone storage ring. “It’s an heirloom of her master’s. Originally meant for her. But she couldn’t use it to its full potential. Maybe one day, with my talent grade, I’d have a chance.”

Definitely a super strong secret clan or sect or just master, Yu Han wondered. Or something else. Who knows.

Mistress Miao hopped down from the boulder and padded her way to Fang Zhao.

“The grade of this ring,” she purred. “Your vow stops me from speaking. Its grade is even higher than the Ascended Grade Ancestral Fang Ring.”

“What grade is that?” Yu Han asked.

“Mortal, Elite, Earth, Royal, Imperial,” Fang Zhao said. “My clan’s highest-ranking treasure is of the Imperial Grade. Demonic cat, what grade is the Ascended Grade?”

“I don’t want to tell you,” the cat said.

“You—”

“You don’t like me, so I don’t like you.” Mistress Miao sauntered off. She stopped below the cenote’s throat. “But my level is tied to yours. Your vow is tying me. Your talent is effectively Refined now, since most of your True Qi will be mine for the taking.”

“You’re still leeching off me!” Fang Zhao said with indignation.

“It was written in the manual,” Mistress Miao said. “Until Nascent Soul, we’re stuck. After, there is some leeway. If you die, I’ll fall into slumber again. So until then, I’ll try my best to protect you.”

“If we believe you, and your level is tied to me, then what can a level 1 demonic cat even do?” Fang Zhao sneered. “This is nothing but weaselling your way out of repayment. Repayment of a debt I never agreed to.”

“It’s not repayment, just courtesy. And you’re right. What I can do at level 1 is limited, but I have means far beyond what your sect can offer. Actually, leave this sect. We’ll journey to mine, and when you join, I’ll share all of my knowledge.” She cocked her head their way.

“I refuse!” Fang Zhao said.

“How troublesome. Do you like these people?” the cat asked. She pointed a paw at the other humans and one crab.

“The debt I owe them, their wisdom, and the precious treasures I unfairly took—like the Underspore Lanterns, Potions, and the Body-Tempering Elixirs—I’ll repay even if it costs me my life,” Fang Zhao declared. “They’re my friends.”

Even Yu Han felt his face heating up at such a bold declaration. Damnit. Are you a xianxia protagonist or a shounen one?

“So you do,” Mistress Miao said. “Wisp girl, you’re called Huang Niuniu?”

Huang Niuniu nodded.

“I’ll help your friends out too, if I can. Until you no longer think of them as friends. For soon you will leave them behind in both level and fate,” Mistress Miao yawned. “There are seven cultivators in this bog who want to sell Huang Niuniu to another sect.”