0048, Taking a Loss in Tears

The duty manager called the police. About ten minutes later, officers from the police station responsible for Binjiang University Town arrived.

The investigation was being handled by a middle-aged officer surnamed Liu. A young auxiliary officer surnamed Li followed behind him.

When the two arrived at the garbage processing plant and saw the row of dead rats, they both stared in surprise.

There were more than twenty rats, all pierced with nails. No matter how you looked at it, something seemed off.

"Boss, this... Killing rats isn't illegal. Why'd they call us out in the middle of the night?" the young auxiliary officer muttered quietly.

"Xiao Li, you don't understand!"

"Killing rats isn't illegal, but deliberately releasing rats infected with plague is a serious crime."

Officer Liu crouched to examine them. He immediately realized this might be a significant case, so he brought his trainee around the plant to make inquiries and conduct a preliminary investigation.

A few minutes later, staff in white coats from the disease prevention station arrived. They packed up all the rats and took them back for testing.

After two hours of waiting, the test results finally came in, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

None of the rats tested positive for plague or any other infectious disease. It had all been a false alarm.

"As long as it isn't plague!"

"With this many targeted releases, if the rats had been carrying a virus, it could have spread pretty far." Officer Liu received the test results at the police station and breathed a sigh of relief too.

They were good at dealing with criminals, but when it came to infectious diseases and viruses, they were truly helpless.

After all, everyone had their own specialty. Preventing contagion and treating illness weren't their responsibility.

"Boss, since it isn't plague, are we still going to open a case?" Xiao Li asked from beside him.

"Of course we are! Why wouldn't we?"

"Haven't I told you to look at things from every angle? Look at the nails in these rats. You can tell at a glance they weren't fired from a nail gun."

"They hit with enough force to pierce a rat. I'd guess it was either a homemade crossbow or an air gun made specifically to shoot nails." Officer Liu gave his trainee another lecture.

Several nearby universities offered majors in mechanical processing and manufacturing. He figured some college student had probably made one of these prohibited devices for fun.

After all, weapons with killing power, like crossbows and air guns, were regulated in China. Like sharpened darts, they were strictly forbidden to keep or use privately. Anyone caught with one...

"Got it, boss! I'll pull the surveillance footage and compare it against potential suspects right away!" Hearing that this was a serious case, Xiao Li perked up and worked through the night comparing the SkyNet surveillance footage to find the suspect.

Early the next morning, Chen Jue's eyes opened on their own a little after five.

He found himself waking up earlier and earlier lately, his body clock becoming more and more regular. Almost precisely ten minutes before sunrise, his mind would begin to emerge from deep sleep.

After washing up and putting on his jacket, he slowly climbed the stairs to the rooftop of the talent apartment building.

The sky on the horizon was just beginning to lighten. The sun hadn't fully risen yet, so Chen Jue warmed up on the rooftop.

After about three or four minutes, he spotted the sun's outline along the edge of the city skyline.

The fiery red sunlight shone straight into his eyes. Chen Jue closed them and began doing the Eye Health Exercises.

"At sunrise, the sun's rays strike at a lower angle. When they pass through the atmosphere, they scatter, and the blue light scatters more, so what the human eye sees is mostly orange-red light."

"Also, getting outside early to be exposed to sunlight at a low angle can help regulate your circadian rhythm more effectively." As he did the exercises, Chen Jue recalled the information he'd gathered online over the past few days.

Over the years he'd spent working with risk-control data, Chen Jue had developed a rather unusual habit.

Whenever something came his way, he would try to analyze and study what had caused it.

Take the idea that red light could promote the activity and growth of retinal mitochondria, thereby improving eyesight. As soon as Chen Jue learned about it, he went online and gathered a large number of research papers.

For example, why was sunlight orange-red only at sunrise and sunset?

Why did prolonged exposure to sunrise light help regulate the body's biological rhythms, also known as the body clock?

There was scientific research to back up the answers to these questions. He could find authoritative papers online. They weren't wild guesses Chen Jue had made based on his Attribute Panel.

"The ancient Song of Hitting the Earth says, 'Work at sunrise and rest at sunset.'"

"A simple line of verse sums up the body's biological rhythm. I wonder if the Qi practitioners from before the Qin dynasty could live longer and healthier lives than people today." Chen Jue mused as he continued the eye exercises.

About half an hour later, the panel appeared again with a notification.

[Ding~]

[You completed a standard red-light treatment and eye massage. Your eyesight improved slightly.]

[Constitution +0.01]

[Ding~]

[Skill proficiency reached 100%. Skill level increased.]

[Eye Health Exercises Lv2 (500/500) → Lv3 (1/2000)]

[Your understanding of this eye-care massage technique has deepened. You have gained a more thorough understanding of the blood vessels, acupoints, and muscle contours around the eyes. The massage's effects will improve steadily.]

"Level up!"

An unfamiliar muscle memory flowed into the fingers massaging his eye sockets. Chen Jue found that pressing the acupoints around his eyes felt even more comfortable than before.

He slowly opened his eyes. The scenery around him seemed to glow with soothing blue and green halos.

He blinked and waited for his vision to settle. Then the world seemed to grow clearer before his eyes.

Chen Jue glanced around. Of all the improvements he'd made through his recent training, the improvement in his eyesight excited him the most.

If he kept massaging his eyes like this, he'd probably be able to ditch his glasses completely before long.

He put his glasses back on and took another look. Sure enough, everything was clearer than before. But he couldn't help feeling a little dissatisfied with the square frames he'd worn for several years. "I think my prescription's gotten a little weaker again."

"I probably can't wear these glasses much longer. Wearing them too long could make me dizzy."

That was a normal result of wearing glasses with the wrong prescription. Usually, you had to go to an optical shop and get a suitable pair as soon as possible.

But since he'd gotten up so early, the nearby commercial street hadn't opened yet. Chen Jue could only put off getting new glasses for the time being.

After doing the eye exercises, he'd gained 0.01 Constitution. It was only a little past six in the morning.

Most office workers were still curled up under their blankets, sleeping in.

Chen Jue, however, was already on his way to the park for the next part of his planned training.

"I've still got plenty of time before I need to be at the office at eight-thirty."

"I can train for about two more hours."

Chen Jue did the math in his head. That was the advantage of getting up early: you got to make better use of your time than people who slept in.

When he arrived at the park, he didn't go to the lakeside to practice Taiji. Instead, he went to the Taiji class he'd spotted earlier.

Since Chen Jue had already maxed out the Twelve Taiji Forms, following the panel's instructions meant he had to learn more Taiji routines if he wanted to continue studying the art in depth.

Online tutorials only went so far. Learning through a screen couldn't compare to having someone demonstrate and correct the movements in person. That was why Chen Jue had considered signing up for lessons.

He looked around the park and discovered that the class started quite early. Before six, a group of elderly men and women were already following along.

There were a few middle-aged people in the group too, but not a single young person like Chen Jue.

Young people nowadays were under a lot of pressure. They were either working or staying up late to have fun. Few could get up at six to go for a morning run, let alone sign up for an early Taiji class.

He went over and spoke with the instructor leading the class, explaining why he was there.

When he learned that Chen Jue, a young man, wanted to sign up, Teacher Zhao, who had a kind and gentle face, was very welcoming.

He first explained the origins of his Taiji. He practiced the Wudang Thirty-Three Forms, passed down from Wudang. They were a secret Taiji tradition from the Quanzhen Longmen Sect, unlike the common styles taught everywhere.

Money alone wasn't enough to learn them. You had to become a Daoist first.

Teacher Zhao Jianguo was a lay practitioner. He hadn't become a monk, but in his younger days he'd learned these Thirty-Three Forms at Wudang.

Of course, you could still learn without becoming a Daoist.

But the lessons covered the 24 Forms and 48 Forms published for the public by the General Administration of Sport of China, as well as Wudang's Thirteen Taiji Forms. These were all very common routines, filmed over and over online, so there were no restrictions on teaching them.

As for tuition, students could pay by the month, quarter, or year. As long as there wasn't a typhoon or a heavy downpour, he'd bring the class to this park to train.

Chen Jue thought it over and signed up for a month.

He added Zhao Jianguo on WeChat, transferred him 1,000 yuan in tuition, and joined the group.

"Let's see what your Taiji foundation is like first."

Zhao Jianguo asked Chen Jue a few questions. When he heard Chen Jue had practiced the simplified Twelve Forms, he stepped aside and asked him to perform a round.

Chen Jue nodded, took his stance, and performed the complete, maxed-out Twelve Taiji Forms.

The moment Zhao Jianguo saw him, his eyes nearly popped out of his head!

His movements were relaxed and practiced, his posture light and graceful, with a hint of an expert's bearing. There was no way this was the stance of a beginner!

"Chen, are you sure you've only been practicing for a short time?" Zhao Jianguo asked curiously.

He'd noticed that Chen Jue's Twelve Forms were flawless. Every movement was so precise it could have come straight from a textbook.

Even as the instructor, he wasn't sure he could perform the routines that precisely.

"Just over a week, if I'm counting right." Chen Jue nodded.

"Just over a week? You're incredibly talented!"

Zhao Jianguo exclaimed in amazement, then thought for a moment. "How about this? You've already got these Twelve Forms down very well. The only thing you're missing is stance training."

"I'll teach you all the movements I can. Once you've practiced them for a few days, I'll gradually teach you the thirteen accompanying Wudang Taiji Stance Techniques."

"Mastering the stances can greatly improve your physical fitness!"

Hearing how many different Taiji routines there were to learn, Chen Jue felt his 1,000 yuan had been well spent.

Besides, when he'd practiced the Twelve Forms with the old people in his neighborhood, nobody had taught him any stance techniques. He didn't know whether they were as miraculous as people online claimed, but he was somewhat curious.

Following Zhao Jianguo, he started with the General Administration of Sport of China's 24 Forms, then moved on to the 48 Forms and Wudang's Thirteen Taiji Forms, which had been made available to the public.

Perhaps because he already had a foundation from practicing the simplified Twelve Taiji Forms, once he understood one method, he understood them all. Chen Jue spent only two hours learning the movements and making them his own. He even activated all of them as panel skills and gained 0.01 free attribute points.

Just then, the panel displayed a new notification:

[Ding~]

[Detected four skills with highly overlapping movement patterns.]

[Combine [Twelve Taiji Forms], [Twenty-Four Taiji Forms], [Forty-Eight Taiji Forms], and [Wudang Thirteen Taiji Forms] into one skill?]

[This combination will cost 0.20 free attribute points.]

"That's a huge cost!"

"How long will it take me to save that much?"

Seeing the panel's combination prompt gave Chen Jue a headache.

It had taken him a whole week to save up enough free attribute points to combine Stone Skipping and Darts.

Combining four Taiji routines would probably take ten days or even half a month.

"Forget it. I'll take it slow."

"If I can combine them, great. If not, I'll just max them all out first."

"It'll just make the list a bit longer. It won't stop me from using them." Chen Jue grumbled to himself.

Chen Jue glanced at the time. It was eight-thirty, so he said goodbye to Zhao Jianguo and left the park.

After he left, Zhao Jianguo, who'd been struggling to contain his shock, couldn't help taking a deep breath as he watched Chen Jue walk away. He muttered, "A genius!"

During their two hours of one-on-one instruction, Zhao Jianguo had already realized just how outrageous this young man's learning ability and memory were!

He only had to demonstrate a movement once before Chen Jue could grasp it after a couple of tries. He could even correct his own mistakes.

Zhao Jianguo had taught Taiji in this park for over ten years and had instructed at least a thousand students. Not one had learned as quickly or as well as Chen Jue!

"Other students need several months to learn the routines. No wonder he only signed up for one month of regular lessons!"

"At this rate, he'll learn everything I know in less than a week!"

Thinking of that, Zhao Jianguo's face twitched. He suddenly felt he'd charged far too little for the 1,000 yuan tuition. He'd taken a crushing loss.

First update~

A fish bone got stuck in my throat during dinner, and it bothered me for a long time, so the update was delayed.

The nearby clinic couldn't get it out. It doesn't hurt now, so I'm planning to go to the hospital tomorrow.