Walking the Ten Thousand Daos

Chapter 3: Progress

The fair-skinned youth in cotton clothes held aloft something shockingly familiar, it was half of Li Qi’s old game console!

What stunned him even more was what followed, another brawny man from the Strong-Force Gang stepped forward and pulled out the other half from his chest pocket!

What the hell?! My house got robbed!?

They went into his home and stole his game console?

Sure, the thing was broken, he had found only half of it to begin with but it had always been a personal keepsake, something he’d kept hidden at home.

And these bastards had taken advantage of River Opening Day, knowing the Wave-Breaking Gang’s quarters would be empty and sent someone to steal it!?

Did the game console hold some hidden secret? How had they found the missing half… and stolen the one he still had?

Were they trying to get themselves killed?! The thing wasn’t just useless, it was dangerous. If reported to the authorities, they could be heavily punished.

The constables in this world weren’t just symbolic, they could fly, vanish, track by divination. Their skills were terrifying. Anyone who went toe-to-toe with them had to be a master thief, at least on par with legends like Bai Zhantang¹.

And these were just haulers? Stealing? They’d be made examples of in no time.

Li Qi had always kept his transmigration a strict secret. But now… something felt off.

He remained silent, but his eyes were locked on the young man.

The youth raised the reassembled console, glancing around as he spoke:

“Do you know why I’ve come here? Why I offered a reward, even a cultivation art, just to have you retrieve this strange object for me?”

All the burly men shook their heads, including the leader of the Strong-Force Gang standing beside him.

Seeing this, the young man’s face showed a hint of superiority.

“We who walk the path of the Dao follow different roads,” he began proudly.

“Some pursue the Way of Heaven, commanding the forces of nature. They summon wind and rain with a flick, solidify earth into steel with a wave, peer into fate to avoid disaster. No calamity can touch them.”

“Others walk the Way of Humanity, gathering the will of the masses, wielding the fate of nations. They trample armies with a word, sit atop thrones, worshiped as god-kings, drawing strength from the people to rule kingdoms.”

“And some walk the Way of Reason, seeking the laws governing all things, using those principles for their own ends, to craft weapons and mechanical constructs for offense, to build strongholds and towering fortresses for defense, to distinguish patterns, and to perceive the truth. This is called ‘comprehending the principles of all things,’ it is the act of discerning the myriad things through understanding their underlying logic.”

He spoke eloquently, pridefully.

But just as he was about to continue, he noticed the surrounding brutes looking utterly lost, blank stares, clueless expressions.

His smugness instantly vanished. His face fell, and he sighed.

“Sigh. Forget it. Swine like you wouldn’t grasp the grand design.”

Regaining composure, he lifted the console again.

“Still, even if you brutes only understand brute force, I won’t deceive you. This object comes from a separate Dao, known as the Outer Dao.”

“In the myriad paths beneath Heaven, the Heavenly Dao reigns supreme. Yet there exists a path that refuses Heaven’s rule, whose origin is unknown, and whose principles cannot be grasped by logic. That path… is called the Outer Dao.”

“Over three years ago, in the mountains, I sensed a disturbance through divination. But Outer Dao objects are bizarre beyond measure, divination alone couldn’t pinpoint their whereabouts.”

“So I spent two and a half years conducting a grand ritual. Only then did I receive an omen pointing to your Strong-Force Gang. That’s why I descended the mountain, requesting your help to find it.”

“That’s the reason you’ve spent the past few months scouring the mountains and why you weren’t granted a position in the River Opening. Your efforts were all directed toward retrieving this item. I didn’t tell you before out of fear you might leak the secret.”

He explained earnestly to the gang.

On the other side, Li Qi listened, dumbstruck.

So the Strong-Force Gang didn’t get a River Opening slot because of this guy?

Outer Dao? That’s… that’s literally transmigration, isn’t it?

Did this guy divine my existence!? Holy hell, am I in danger now?!

Wait, calm down.

He’d just said, “Outer Dao objects are strange and unpredictable. Divination cannot easily track them.”

That meant he only divined the existence of such an object, not its specifics.

Even just detecting the console had required a two-and-a-half-year ritual to finally narrow things down to the Strong-Force Gang.

Li Qi didn’t know exactly what that ritual entailed, but anything that took over two years clearly wasn’t easy.

In that case, his identity as a transmigrator probably wasn’t exposed.

At least, not yet.

More importantly, he needed to hear what came next.

He knew the game console was worthless, a piece of junk. The motherboard was toast. Aside from its “Outer Dao” nature, it was just a collector’s item.

But the art this young man offered the Strong-Force Gang in return, that might very well shake the power balance between the city’s three major hauler factions. He needed to find out more.

And… this was the first time he’d witnessed a world beyond the absolute bottom.

This “Way of the Dao,” he’d never even heard of it before. In the three years since transmigrating, he’d lived as a hauler, struggling to survive, barely affording vegetables, meat only came through reward.

He didn’t want to live like this forever.

But while Li Qi was processing all this, no one paid him any mind.

The young man, having finished his long-winded speech, cheerfully put away the console.

“Ahem. We who follow the Way of Sorcery cannot betray our hearts. Mine is pure and honest, so I won’t lie to you. That’s why I revealed my purpose and won’t withhold your reward.”

“This technique is your reward.”

With a light wave, a purple light flared in his hand.

The moment Li Qi saw that purple glow, his mind exploded.

It was like a sledgehammer struck his skull. Stars filled his vision, nausea surged violently, and his legs gave out, he collapsed from his hiding spot into full view!

Crap!

Cold sweat broke out across his back. Though his head throbbed like it was boiling, he forced himself to look up and tried to stand.

But then, he saw it.

Every other hauler was also clutching their heads, wailing in pain, some even writhing on the ground. And the young man had already turned around, heading back indoors.

No one… noticed him!

Opportunity!

Even as pain blurred his vision and drenched him in sweat, Li Qi gritted his teeth, staggered to his feet, and forced his numbed body to run toward the alley.

But just before leaving, he looked back one last time.

In that single glance, the Strong-Force Gang’s leader, still rolling in pain on the ground locked eyes with Li Qi.

“There’s someone here!” he roared, struggling to raise his voice through the agony.

Terror and dread surged through Li Qi’s body, overwhelming all coherent thought. Only one instinct remained:

Run! Run or you won’t make it out alive!

He staggered to his feet and took off in a blind dash, crashing into people as he went. Several pedestrians cursed after him, enraged.

One burly man he collided with retaliated on instinct, slamming a heavy fist into Li Qi’s face. He was knocked to the ground, half his face swelling on the spot.

But Li Qi didn’t even flinch. Crawling forward, eyes vacant, he murmured hoarsely, “Run… must run…”

The man raised a fist again but paused when he saw the dazed look in Li Qi’s eyes. Disgust replaced anger.

“Peh, turns out you’re just a lunatic. I won’t bother arguing with the likes of you.”

He gave him a dismissive kick and walked away.

Li Qi didn’t feel it at all.

Because he couldn’t feel his body anymore.

It was like iron hooks had been jammed into his ears and nostrils, gouging out his brain inch by inch.

An indescribable pain crushed his mind, reducing all thought to that single instinct: Escape.

Stumbling, crawling, he eventually dragged himself all the way back to the riverside.

The second river team hadn’t set off yet, the Wave-Breaking Gang was still present.

Li Qi barely made it to them before collapsing, rolling twice on the ground.

“Brother Li?!” someone cried out, spotting him first.

“He’s hurt! Go call Sixth Uncle!” another hauler shouted.

Finally back among allies, Li Qi let out a sigh of relief. The instant he relaxed, dizziness overwhelmed him, and he blacked out.

Darkness swallowed everything.

His body felt pinned by a mountain of stone, immobile, suffocating.

Suddenly, streams of code and data flashed across his vision.

He had studied some programming once. This looked vaguely like a memory load…

Why… am I seeing code?

A sliver of consciousness questioned the surreal sight.

The data scrolled rapidly… then disappeared.

Next came a flood of error messages.

The entire stream turned blood-red, error logs pouring into his mind until they blocked his vision entirely.

And then, one massive word:

ERROR

“Ugh… AAAHH!!”

The pain drove a scream from his lips.

Then - everything stopped.

He jolted upright, drenched in sweat, his clothes soaked through like he’d just been dragged from a river.

“Brother Li’s awake! Water! Get some water!” a hauler shouted.

“Water my ass, get the meat broth!” Sixth Uncle barked, smacking the speaker on the head. “Bring it here, quick!”

“Right, right! The meat broth!” the man stammered, correcting himself.

The bowl of soup was passed from hand to hand, each hauler swallowing back saliva as they resisted the urge to take a sip. It was soon delivered to Li Qi.

Li Qi, however, was still trembling, eyes wide with panic, unable to even grasp the bowl.

Seeing this, Sixth Uncle quickly took it, held it up, and brought it to Li Qi’s mouth.

Li Qi drank instinctively, gulping down meat and broth alike. Warmth and sustenance slowly returned to his body.

Once his color looked a little better, Sixth Uncle propped him up and waved at the others: “Quit crowding around! The stench is unbearable! Make some space, let the air in. And if you’ve got nothing better to do, go back to guarding the second river team. We’re about to be called up, don’t get distracted.”

The others, still concerned, nodded and filtered away as instructed.

Sixth Uncle helped Li Qi to a small fishing shed at the riverside, a simple rest hut for the boatmen.

“What happened to you? What the hell’s going on?” he asked urgently once they were inside.

Li Qi looked like he’d been through a war, half his face swollen, clothes caked in dirt, clearly having rolled back half the city.

Sixth Uncle knew this young man. Though his background was unknown, he was cautious, clever, and unusually articulate. In just two years, he had mastered the Wave-Breaking Force, a feat many seasoned haulers couldn’t match in ten.

Though the technique was crude and only had a single layer, reaching mastery in two years was still an extraordinary accomplishment. Sixth Uncle had never seen a more talented young man.

So how could someone like that be reduced to this state?

But Li Qi didn’t answer.

Because his entire world had changed.

He wasn’t even looking at Sixth Uncle. His eyes were fixed on the river’s opening ceremony.

Beneath the great river boat, something completely out of place had appeared, a crude, clunky interface hovered in mid-air.

It displayed a single line of Chinese characters:

“River Opening Ceremony – Progress: 46%”

Alongside the text was a progress bar, just shy of the halfway point.

He turned to look at a hauler who was drinking soup nearby.

Another floating box had appeared under the man.

“Eating – Progress: 84%”

The progress bar filled rapidly… and hit 100%.

Just as the bar filled, the hauler set down his empty bowl with a contented sigh.

The progress bar instantly changed:

“Resting – Progress: 1%”

“Little Li? Li Qi?” Sixth Uncle’s face suddenly filled his vision, frowning in concern.

Li Qi could see the same floating box over his head, identical in style.

“Reading Facial Expression – Progress: 21%”

It was showing exactly what Sixth Uncle was doing.

“Little Li?” Sixth Uncle raised his voice.

“Y-yeah!” Li Qi responded quickly, snapping out of it. He shoved down the flood of questions in his mind, choosing not to investigate the bizarre phenomenon for now.

“What happened? Did you get hurt?” Sixth Uncle pressed, relieved to hear his voice.

“No, no, I’m okay.” Li Qi stood, shaking his head. He walked to the edge of the shed, scanned the area, then asked, “How long was I out? Did anyone come after me?”

“You were out for less than a quarter hour. No one followed. Did the Strong-Force Gang spot you?”

“Yes,” Li Qi said grimly. “And I saw it, they’ve somehow roped in a powerful expert… someone who taught them a new spell technique!”

Spell technique…

At those two words, Sixth Uncle’s face turned pale.

(Chapter End)

¹ Bai Zhantang is a fictional character from the Chinese sitcom My Own Swordsman, he's known as the "Thief Sage"