The young man with a clean face and dressed in cotton clothing held up the very half of the ga console that Li Qi had once discarded!
Then, to his further astonishnt, another burly man from the Lizhuang Gang erged from the crowd, pulling out the other half of the console.
"What the hell! My place was robbed?!"
These people had gone into his house and stolen his ga console. Although it was broken and he only found half of it, it still held sentintal value to him, so he kept it safely stored at ho.
Had the Lizhuang Gang taken advantage of the river ceremony to steal the console when no one was around?
What secret did his ga console hold? How could they have found both halves—one from his house and the other he had lost?
Were they courting disaster? If caught stealing, especially sothing as useless as a broken ga console, the punishnt would be severe.
In this world, constables were not to be trifled with. They possessed extraordinary abilities—flying, divining, tracking—and were highly skilled. Even thieves who dared to challenge them had to be on par with legendary figures like Bai Zhan Tang.
For re pullers to attempt such theft would surely end in their capture and being made examples of.
Li Qi had always kept his ti-traveling a closely guarded secret, but now... sothing seed off.
He remained silent, eyes fixed on the young man.
Holding the reassembled ga console aloft, the young man addressed the crowd:
"Do you know why I ca here and offered a reward, promising to teach you a sorcery technique in exchange for retrieving this strange object?" he said, holding up the ga console.
The burly n below shook their heads, including the leader of the Lizhuang Gang standing beside him.
The young man's expression took on a hint of superiority as he saw their confusion.
"So pursue the Dao of Heaven, mastering natural forces, controlling elents like earth, fire, water, and wind. With a flick of the wrist, they can summon storms or turn soil into steel. Knowing the secrets of the universe, they foresee gains and losses, avoiding calamities and disasters."
"So pursue the path of Humanism, uniting the will of the masses to shape the destiny of the world. They crush countless armies in their wake, ascend to thrones, and enjoy the offerings of the land. They establish nations and forge divine dynasties, channeling the collective strength of humanity for their own purpose. Among the kingdoms of the world, all are expressions of Humanism."
"And then there are those who follow the Dao of Reason, seeking the principles behind objects and chanisms, using these principles for warfare, crafting weapons and machinery, building fortresses and high walls. By discerning patterns and uncovering truths, they achieve clarity over all things."
He spoke confidently, but noticing the bewildered looks on the faces of the burly n, his pride quickly deflated.
"Ah, forget it. You lot are as dumb as pigs and dogs; naturally, you wouldn't understand the grand significance of this."
Regaining his composure, he raised the ga console again. "But even though you're as mindless as livestock, I won't deceive you. This is an object born of a different path among the various Daos, known as the 'Outer Path'."
"Among the paths, the Dao of Heaven reigns supre, governing all others. However, there exists a path that refuses to submit to the Dao of Heaven, its origins unknown. The Dao of Reason cannot comprehend its laws, hence it is nad the Outer Path."
"Over three years ago, while in the mountains, I divined an anomaly. But the Outer Path is mysterious and unpredictable, making it difficult to trace through divination."
"So, I spent two and a half years conducting a great ritual before finally pinpointing the Lizhuang Gang. The ritual indicated that you could retrieve an object of the Outer Path for , which is why I descended the mountain and enlisted your help."
"This explains why you've been searching the mountains for months and failed to secure the first shift at the river ceremony. Your efforts were focused on finding this item for . I didn't tell you earlier to prevent any leaks."
As the young man explained to the Lizhuang mbers, Li Qi listened in disbelief.
The Lizhuang Gang's failure to secure the first shift was orchestrated by this person?
The Outer Path? Wasn't that essentially referring to ti travelers? Had this person divined his existence? Oh no, wasn't he in grave danger?
Wait, calm down. He ntioned that the Outer Path was unpredictable and hard to track via divination. So, he only sensed the presence of an Outer Path object but didn't know exactly what it was.
Even just divining the ga console took him two and a half years of rituals to narrow down to the Lizhuang Gang. Whatever this ritual was, it must have been a monuntal effort.
So, it seed his identity as a ti traveler hadn't been exposed yet.
Leaving aside that for now, he needed to gather more information. The ga console was just a piece of junk, useful only as an Outer Path artifact. Its motherboard was broken; it couldn't do much else. But the sorcery technique promised to the Lizhuang Gang could disrupt the balance between the three puller factions in the city.
This was his first real glimpse into the world beyond the lowest strata of society.
The concept of the Dao was entirely new to him. In the three years since becoming a puller, his understanding of this world had been severely limited, confined to the lowest social echelons where even eating vegetables required careful consideration, let alone at, which was reserved for rewards.
He didn't want to spend his life as a puller.
However, Li Qi's thoughts were interrupted as the young man continued explaining why he sought out the Lizhuang Gang. With a pleased expression, he put away the ga console.
"Cough, cough. We who walk the path of the Dao of Witchcraft must not act against our true hearts. My heart is pure, good, and honest, and thus I have no desire to conceal anything from you. Therefore, I shall openly disclose the reasons for enlisting your aid, and I will not withhold the rightful reward that is due to you."
"The sorcery technique is your reward." The young man waved his hand, and a purple light coalesced within it.
Upon seeing the purple light, Li Qi felt a thunderous roar in his head! It was as if a hamr had struck him, causing stars to flash before his eyes. A wave of nausea hit him, and his legs gave way, sending him crashing to the ground from his hiding spot.
Crap!
Terrified, he struggled to lift his head despite the intense pain.
Looking around, he saw that the burly n were similarly writhing on the ground, clutching their heads and rolling in agony. anwhile, the young man turned to leave.
No one noticed him!
Opportunity!
Despite the excruciating pain and dizziness, he forced himself to stand and stagger towards safety.
Before leaving, he glanced back and locked eyes with the Lizhuang Gang leader, who was also on the ground.
"Soone!" the leader roared in agony.
Fear and danger overwheld Li Qi, and his only thought was to run.
Staggering and stumbling, he ran wildly, knocking over several people along the way, earning curses from passersby.
One burly man punched him, sending him sprawling, his face swelling up.
But Li Qi barely registered it, crawling on the ground, eyes vacant, muttering, "Run... run..."
Seeing this, the burly man spat in disgust. "Tch, just a madman. Not worth my ti," and walked away.
Li Qi barely felt anything anymore.
His brain felt like it was being scraped out by hooks through his ears and nose—an unimaginable pain that obliterated his senses. All he could think about was escaping.
Finally reaching the riverside, he collapsed near where the Paibo Gang mbers were still working the second shift.
"Brother Li?!" soone exclaid upon spotting him.
"Brother Li is hurt! Quick, get Uncle Six," a puller shouted.
Relieved to be among his own, Li Qi passed out from exhaustion and pain.
Darkness enveloped him.
His body felt weighed down by a massive stone, unable to move.
Suddenly, streams of data appeared before his eyes.
Having so programming knowledge, he vaguely recognized this as mory loading.
Why was he seeing data streams?
Dazed, his weak consciousness wondered briefly before the data flashed past and vanished.
A series of error ssages followed, filling his vision with red until a giant "ERROR" dominated his mind.
"Guh—ah!" he scread in agony.
Then everything stopped, and he jolted awake, drenched in sweat, as if just erging from water.
"Brother Li is awake! Water, get so water!" a puller called out.
"Water? at soup, bring at soup!" Uncle Six corrected, hitting the speaker lightly.
"Yes, yes, at soup! Bring it over!" the puller hurriedly responded.
A bowl of at soup was passed quickly through eager hands and placed before Li Qi, who was too shaken to hold it steadily.
Uncle Six stepped in, feeding him the soup, which revived his strength sowhat.
Seeing him recover, Uncle Six shooed the others away. "Stop crowding, go guard the second shift. We'll need to take over soon."
They dispersed as instructed, leaving Li Qi and Uncle Six alone in a nearby shelter used by fishern.
"What happened? Why are you like this?" Uncle Six asked anxiously.
Li Qi looked terrified, his face swollen, covered in dirt, as if he had rolled back.
Though Li Qi was of unknown origin, he was steady and intelligent, possessing strong reasoning skills and remarkable talent. Within two years, he mastered the Paibo Technique, surpassing many older pullers.
Yet, how could soone so capable be reduced to this state?
Li Qi didn't answer imdiately. Instead, his gaze fell on the river ceremony site.
Underneath the large ceremonial boat, an oddly designed box appeared, displaying:
"River Ceremony Progress: 46%"
Alongside it was a progress bar indicating the sa.
He looked at another puller drinking soup, whose status read:
"Eating Progress: 84%"
The bar filled rapidly to 100%, matching the mont the puller finished the soup. Then it changed to:
"Resting Progress: 1%"
"Little Li? Li Qi?" Uncle Six's concerned face appeared before him.
Above Uncle Six's head, a similar progress bar read:
"Observing Emotions Progress: 21%"
It displayed exactly what Uncle Six was doing!
"Little Li?" Uncle Six called louder.
"Huh!" Li Qi snapped back, suppressing his confusion for now.
"What happened? Did you encounter sothing dangerous? Are you hurt?" Uncle Six asked urgently.
"No, nothing. I'm fine," Li Qi replied, shaking his head and looking around. "How long was I out? Did anyone follow?"
"You were unconscious for less than a quarter of an hour, and no one followed. Did the Lizhuang Gang find you?"
"Yes, I saw them consorting with a high-level practitioner who promised to teach them a new sorcery technique!" Li Qi explained.
Sorcery!
At this word, Uncle Six's face paled instantly.
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