Data-Driven Daoist

There was a note on the table. Yu Han picked it up and read it under the dim moonlight emanating from the window.

You may restart your shifts tomorrow. Wait until the 28th day of the ninth month before going to the Hidden Realm.

-Wen Liujie.

Today was the 15th day of the ninth month. Day 134 since he’d arrived in this world. Two weeks away. Is there a reason?

He carried the bag out of the main compound.

“Why did he use such a big chest for only eight vials?” Li Yao asked.

“We don’t know the size of the vials. Maybe they’re as big as jugs?” Fang Zhao said.

“You wish,” Li Yao replied. “There’s a standard size for this sort of stuff.”

“Maybe it’s cushioning or some kind of protective measure,” Fang Zhao said. “Should I…?” He gestured at his storage ring.

“Not here,” Yu Han cautioned. His eyes darted around as he spoke quietly. “Let’s see what Feral Spot has for us first. If Elder Chang sees us leaving without the chest, he’ll have questions.” “I was asking if I should hold on to the vials separately,” Fang Zhao said. “We can carry back the empty chest.”

Yu Han looked the red-eyed boy over. Fang Zhao’s gaze was unflinching.

Stop doubting people. You’re not Johan anymore. You’re more than him.

“That’s a good idea,” Yu Han said. “We shouldn’t risk detection, though. This place should be safe as is.”

Fang Zhao nodded.

They went behind the main compound and into the courtyard, which was not small. One side faced the main gate of the Night Alchemists’ Yard. The “yard” was there, with the storage and donkey sheds. Another faced the mountains. The hot spring was located there.

About a hundred metres behind the main compound was an area encircled by a wooden palisade. Yu Han pointed his token at the palisade. Click. A handle appeared, and Yu Han pulled the makeshift door open.

Inside, there stretched a field of night soil mixed with the remains of monsters, waste from alchemical processes, and other manners of spiritual remnants. Here and there, beast skulls and fragmented cores glinted under the moonlight.

The earth gave off a faint, sweet-metallic scent, like ozone after rain. Steam wisped up in places where the soil was freshly turned.

“Oof, this smell.” Li Yao covered his nose. “Almost as bad as Cow Girl’s cooking.”

“Then next time you can eat this,” Huang Niuniu said.

“It’s a joke!” Li Yao pleaded.

A hiss attracted their attention, and they followed the sound. Stone walkways were constructed between the waste fields for ease of movement. Yet the walkway felt warm underfoot, almost pulsating. There was an eerie lack of crickets, as if the bugs avoided the area entirely, leaving it in stark silence compared to the surrounding wilderness. ṘἁƝ𝘰𝐁Ěs

On the other end of the walkway was the pit. It was literally a pit; a big hole dug in the ground. Feral Spot was rolling around as if in a spa. As it moved, the night soil shifted, clumps of it falling into the hole from the field surrounding it. It hissed in their direction. The two spots on its forehead oddly resembled eyes.

“Is it male or female?” Yu Han asked. “Do worms have sexes? Wait, how is it hissing?”

“Senior Feral Spot is a boy,” Huang Niuniu said. The hemp bag slung over her shoulder rustled. She put it down and opened it up.

The crab—Fei Rui—scuttled out and waved at Feral Spot.

「I can get bigger than that worm. Yu Han, do you want to see me get bigger than that worm?」

“Do you like your name, or do you want another?” Yu Han asked.

Feral Spot stilled in the compost pit, then slithered through the soil until his head was hovering above the crab.

「Fei Rui is fine,」 the crab said. 「I don’t know if I’ll ever remember my other name, even though I think I want to know. Hey, Yu Han, how come I was in the lagoon for so long?」

“I don’t know,” Yu Han said.

「How come I was in the lagoon for so long?」

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

Feral Spot hissed.

“You guys can speak to each other?” Yu Han asked, eyes wide. But then again, both were Spirit Beasts. It wouldn’t be weird.

「Big smelly worm doesn’t know seaspeak. But it says mudspeak is better than seaspeak. Not mudspeak… Qi speak? What’s Qi?」 The crab turned an eyestalk to Yu Han. 「Yu Han. It changed.」

“What did?”

「The sparkly thingy in front of me. It says my name in seaspeak. Can you teach it to the other two-legged ones? Then I can talk with them!」

Yu Han pulled up the accord panel.

Active Accords: 1

Name: Fei Rui (***)

Type: Spirit Beast

Species: Cerebrant Collector Crab

Level: 10

Arts: 4

Traits: 2

So the past name remained, but obscured? Maybe it was like the Yu Han (Johan) that appeared in his own profile.

Fei Rui clicked his pincers at the worm. The worm hissed and wiggled. They were clearly communicating. Qi Speak? With Qi?

If Feral Spot could communicate with Fei Rui, why didn’t he speak to them directly? He could probably speak with Elder Chang just fine. It was a goofy Spirit Beast, sure, but it was in the Foundation Building Realm.

Yu Han would have to be careful if he wanted to probe. The others must have thought the same—they kept a respectful distance as Feral Spot and Fei Rui talked.

「—And then the moon flew away and the brighter moon appeared. The sun? Is it called the sun? No, not that one. The other one that’s red and blue and green and… My two-legged one is called Yu Han. Do you have a two-legged one? Does poop taste good?」

What the hell are they talking about? Yu Han sighed, exasperated.

“What are they saying?” Li Yao asked.

“That’s my question.”

“Wait, couldn’t you understand the crab before?”

“Yep. But only Fei Rui.”

“Who’s that?”

“That’s the crab,” Yu Han said. “He wants me to teach you all seaspeak so that he can speak with you.”

“He wants us to learn what-speak?” Li Yao shot him a confused look.

“Seaspeak.” It would be a hassle if he had to always interpret between Fei Rui and everyone else—

“Niu’er, what the hell are you doing?”

The girl patted Feral Spot with a gloved hand. A coverall glove—when did she even get that?

The worm hissed.

“I think he likes me,” she said.

“Niu’er, he’s a Foundation Building Realm Spirit Beast—” Yu Han stopped mid-sentenced and stumbled back. A ball of waste splattered where he had been standing. “You—”

The worm hissed derisively. If he was serious, there was no way Yu Han would be able to dodge an attack from a Foundation Building Realm Spirit Beast. The worm hissed again at Fei Rui.

「Yu Han. Big little worm Feral Spot wants to tell you that you three boys will get goodies. He says his daddy is a big worm and has a cave full of things, and he’ll give you three good things. I want to see the cave, but he said I can’t now—but he can bring me later. Is that okay?」

“Can Senior Feral Spot speak with us directly using this Qi Speak?” Yu Han asked. Duan Xiaolong had somehow telepathically spoken with Yu Han. Perhaps this Qi speak was the same thing.

Fei Rui rotated his body towards the worm, then towards Yu Han again.

「Big little worm Feral Spot said that he only entered Foundation Building recently, and his presence control—」

Feral Spot hissed. He tapped the soil-covered ground of the pit with his softly glowing tail.

「Essence control? Yep. His essence control is bad, and if he talks with you, your head will go boom. Wait, why?」 Fei Rui clicked at the worm. 「He says the soft thingy inside your head-shell will go boom, but maybe head-shell won’t. Is that better?」

“No, it’s not,” Yu Han deadpanned.

「Soft Niuniu can choose what she wants,」 Fei Rui clicked a pincer towards the girl. 「What do you want, Soft Niuniu?」

“Holy fuck, you’re right,” Yu Han said.

“Right about what?” Huang Niuniu tilted her head.

“The worm likes you more than he likes us,” Yu Han said. “We three don’t get to choose our rewards, but Niu’er can.”

Huang Niuniu grinned. She patted the worm’s slippery form and said, “Should I ask him to let you choose too?”

“Only Tubs?” Li Yao said.

“You go sit to the side.” Huang Niuniu scoffed.

Fei Rui scuttled up to Yu Han and tugged his pants. 「Yu Han. Yu Han! Big small worm Feral Spot says you can’t choose. He has nice things for you, but if you ruin Soft Niuniu’s chance to get an even nicer thing, he can make your soft-inside-head-thing go boom.」

“Oi!” Yu Han took a step back. The worm rolled over and hissed with mirth. Yu Han had no idea if that was a joke or not, but he’d better not risk it. “Brain,” he said to Fei Rui. “It’s called a brain. Crabs have them too, but yours is decentralised.”

「What?」

“You’re a Cerebrant Collector Crab, though. You might have some kind of brain matter in that shell of yours.” Yu Han ignored Fei Rui’s follow-up question and conveyed Feral Spot’s intentions. “Niu’er, leave it be. Just get what you want and we’ll take what he has for us.”

Li Yao and Fang Zhao affirmed too. No need to offend a Foundation Building powerhouse for nothing.

“I know what I want,” Huang Niuniu said. She scanned the three boys’ faces, then lowered her head.

“Niu’er?”

“I’ll say it later.” She came near the worm and whispered something to it.

Feral Spot lifted his head out of the pit, now almost at Huang Niuniu’s eye level. He nodded, then dove below the earth.

「Big small worm Feral Spot said to wait here. Wait, why doesn’t he have something for me? Why do you get nice things?」

“We saved him,” Yu Han said. “Apparently.”

「You saved me too. Do I have to give you nice things?」

It was strange. When Yu Han looked into Fei Rui’s eyes, the flame-like pupils embedded inside his obsidian eyestalks, he felt no sarcasm or demand. Only innocent curiosity.

“You don’t have to do anything,” Yu Han said. “I didn’t save you. And I might have selfish motivations even if I did. Not to mention, all the two-legged ones here helped me out, trying to think through your problem.”

「What’s a selfish motivation?」 Fei Rui asked. 「What should I do then?」

“A thanks would be enough.”

Fei Rui clicked, then did a little dance with his eight clickity legs.

「Thanks!」

“You’re welcome!” Huang Niuniu replied. She and the other two boys had been listening to Yu Han speak. How nice it would be if Fei Rui could talk with everyone.

“She said you’re welcome,” Yu Han told Fei Rui.

「Really? Yay!」 Fei Rui danced.

Almost an hour passed, but they waited. Chatting, complaining. Before he knew it, Yu Han had grown used to being in bad-smelling environments. Huang Niuniu was probably the same, and the scented scarves helped Li Yao and Fang Zhao push through.

Clouds covered the moon, and his skin tingled. He somehow knew it would rain soon.

The pit soil bubbled, and Feral Spot appeared again with two briefcase-sized boxes.