Chapter 17: The Unexpected
After chatting for a while longer, Li Qi and A’Du waited until the two merchant caravans ahead had set out and walked a fair distance, then followed behind them.
During this time, A’Du did indeed teach Li Qi a method to stimulate his qi and unleash greater vigor.
It was a very short chant, only sixteen characters long:
“Radiant are the Seven Luminaries, brilliant above;
Bold is the warrior, mighty and proud!”
Though brief, the chant contained several tonal shifts. Singing it was no simple matter. It required varied vocal inflections and precise breath control. Despite its brevity, Li Qi spent a full hour learning it, repeating, attempting, training before he could barely sing it through.
Still, he wasn’t discouraged. He could clearly see his progress reflected in his progress bar, and if anything was off, the bar would regress.
With this feedback, he quickly grasped the essentials and made rapid strides.
Before long, the progress bar filled completely.
The moment it did, though he had only just clumsily grasped the chant, Li Qi felt as though he suddenly comprehended its full essence!
It confirmed once more, whenever a progress bar reached completion, he wouldn’t remain a novice, he’d instantly become proficient.
This didn’t let him instantly learn a new skill, but once he’d learned it, he’d immediately master it, skipping the slow grind of practice.
As for the chant itself, when Li Qi sang it in full, he distinctly felt the blood in his body surge and accelerate!
It was as though a fire ignited in his chest, rushing through his organs, almost bursting forth from his throat.
His face flushed red, his entire body’s temperature rose, and even his limbs felt lighter. The frost-stiffened feet from the winter chill quickly warmed up. His whole body felt as if it had just finished a five-kilometer run on a track.
And yet there was none of the usual fatigue, only boiling blood and surging heat.
A truly marvelous sensation.
He could even feel waves of hot air rising from his forehead, dispelling the cold around him.
“This… really is quite effective,” Li Qi muttered, surprised, as he felt the warmth radiating from himself and looked at A’Du.
A’Du, on the other hand, was even more surprised.
“Brother Li, you really are gifted. I remember I spent two or three hours learning this. Some blockheads had to practice an entire day! But you, you picked it up in no time and sang it so well!” A’Du looked him up and down, as though doubting how anyone could learn the chant so quickly and perform it so perfectly.
“Maybe I really am just smart,” Li Qi replied with a grin.
A’Du merely looked surprised for a moment, then returned to his explanation: “This chant stirs the Three Innate Treasures, energizing essence, qi, and spirit. It ignites yang energy like a flame, driving off mountain spirits and wild fiends. No one knows exactly where it came from. But don’t use it too often, it’s very draining. Out in the wilderness, with no inns or villages in sight, running out of strength is more dangerous than any spirit. One slip of the foot and you might be done for.”
As they walked, A’Du continued explaining.
The chant could be sustained, sing it repeatedly and it would continue to stimulate the body. But once the chant stopped, its effect faded immediately. Very convenient.
According to A’Du, back when he traveled with caravans, even when they encountered mountain monsters, as long as ten or so people gathered and loudly sang this chant, most such creatures would retreat.
Chatting as they walked, they had already traveled for more than an hour. The sky was growing dark.
Earlier, Li Qi had found it odd that A’Du insisted on waiting until dusk to set out, instead of traveling by day and resting at night.
A’Du had explained: “The creature nearing spirituality is said to be a wild dog. Most likely it follows a diurnal rhythm, active at dawn, resting at dusk. Traveling during the day makes it easier to run into it. At night, if we’re lucky, we might slip past while it sleeps. See those two caravans? They also spent all day drinking tea and only set out at dusk.”
That made sense and in fact, the two caravans had indeed done the same.
Understanding the reason, Li Qi couldn’t help but admire the merchants’ information network and hard-earned experience. If he’d followed his own instinct to travel by day and rest at night, he might very well have run right into that supposedly dog-like creature.
Not even a true monster yet, just on the verge of becoming one. But even that was formidable. For a mortal like Li Qi, certainly formidable.
He waited for the effects of the chant to fade. Since he’d only sung it once, all he felt was his blood boiling. No bodily fatigue, thankfully.
They continued walking and talking as twilight deepened.
Their path grew narrower. They had already walked twenty to thirty li. Ahead was mountainous terrain, with only narrow, winding paths and frequent climbs dangerous even by day, let alone at night. One misstep could mean a fatal fall.
Fortunately, A’Du had come well-prepared. Unlike Li Qi, who carried only a bundle with money and rations, A’Du had real wilderness experience. He swiftly retrieved a torch from his pack basket, doused it in lamp oil, and struck flint to light it, ensuring they didn’t stumble through the dark.
Li Qi felt a bit embarrassed. He’d fled in haste after killing people. No one from the Water-Horse Gang had experience in long-distance travel, so he’d brought nothing useful. If not for A’Du, this journey really would’ve been precarious.
But luck had been on his side. Traveling with A’Du, they complemented each other well.
After all, if trouble did arise, he was likely the better fighter.
That said, it’d be best if no fighting happened at all.
The two of them continued into the mountains. The moon was dark, the wind cold, but the torchlight lit their way. Aside from some pesky moths, their journey was uneventful.
Until, halfway up the mountain trail, both of them simultaneously stiffened, ears twitching. They looked ahead.
A group of ten or so merchants stood in the distance.
It was none other than the caravan they had seen at the tea stall, the very one where a man had stood up and threatened Li Qi.
The torch blazed brightly, illuminating the scene. The merchants each held a machete, striking them together in rhythm while chanting strange syllables aloud.
The clanging of blades echoed like clashing swords on a battlefield. Amid their shouts, the night rang with the sound of war as if they were locked in combat, though the enemy remained unseen, hidden in the darkness.
Li Qi watched, wide-eyed, stunned. It seemed every group in this world had their own tricks. The Water-Horse Gang had its wave-force martial art and these merchants were no exception.
He could clearly see a progress bar hovering above them: “Protective Barrier: 25%”.
It appeared they really had encountered something and were relying on the martial cadence of their machete chorus to ward it off.
As Li Qi continued to observe, a sudden cold gust swept past, sending a chill down his spine.
(Chapter End)