Entering

Wu Pifu fell asleep curled up in a ball.

This was also one of the nourishing methods in the Tiger Demon Art, called the Tiger Den Stance.

The Tiger Demon Art was actually a variant of Xingyi Quan. Its form was like a tiger, its intent like a demon. But that was the key to circulating the art; during nourishment and training, it mainly imitated the Tiger Form, while also drawing upon the tiger's ferocity and strength.

The Tiger Den Stance looked like an awful sleeping posture. If an ordinary person slept like that, they would either end up with numb, stiff limbs or wake up with a crick in their neck. In any case, it would never be comfortable, and it would harm the body. But when Wu Pifu used it, he secretly circulated his qi and blood, sensing and controlling them through minute manipulation. He advanced further beyond hidden force, accumulating progress bit by bit toward the level of transformed force.

National Arts required intent. To go from overt force to hidden force, one had to possess that intent.

With martial arts from other countries, whether Xingyi, Bagua, Taiji, or the like, comprehending that layer of intent felt somewhat dependent on luck. One either honed it through life-and-death trials, sought it among the myriad things of the world, found it through devotion to one's country and family, concern for all living beings, or even the trivial details of daily life. This intent would accompany a National Arts practitioner for life. Once that intent was damaged, their strength would decline, and their qi and blood might even surge backward, causing sudden death.

But the Tiger Demon Art took a different path. Entry was extraordinarily difficult, and eight or nine out of ten practitioners died violently. Yet once one understood how to keep a spark of spiritual awareness awake amid countless distracting and demonic thoughts, that intent was achieved. One had entered the hall, and going from overt force to hidden force became as natural as water flowing downhill.

Wu Pifu slept for a full ten hours. After getting up and stretching, he felt utterly refreshed.

He had been busy nonstop before this. He had either been struggling to survive in the Dream World, fighting yakshas, returning to treat and awaken people, or facing aberrations and parasites. He had had absolutely no spare time to sort through his gains carefully, let alone rest.

After those ten hours of sleep, Wu Pifu felt as though he had been reborn. His joints crackled loudly all over as he slowly began with the Tiger Claw Stance, Tiger Leap Stance, and Tiger Tail Stance. After performing several forms, he felt inexhaustible power in his arms and legs, every inch of his body brimming with comfort. Unable to hold it back, he threw his head back and roared. His voice was like thunder, and like a tiger's howl.

Only after a long while did Wu Pifu withdraw his stance and slowly circulate his qi and blood until he returned to normal.

He had comprehended the true intent of the Tiger Demon Art.

Suppression!

Suppress distracting thoughts, demonic thoughts, and evil thoughts.

A single spark of spiritual awareness remained awake. That awareness was himself, while the countless negative, distracting, and demonic thoughts were the world.

Its form was like a tiger, its intent like a demon. His true self suppressed both tiger and demon alike!

Only then had he obtained the true intent of the Tiger Demon Art and gained the foundation to continue advancing.

When Wu Pifu came back to himself, he saw Yamadai and Xu Shilan quietly watching him from not far away. Only when he looked toward them did the two smile. Xu Shilan then walked over with a notebook in hand and said, "Yesterday, you mentioned several major categories of strangeness: aberration, contamination, erosion, and parasitism. We know aberration is purely physical changes to the body and consciousness, but what are the characteristics and differences of contamination, erosion, and parasitism?"

Recalling the information he had received from his predecessors, Wu Pifu answered casually, "Contamination is like the Pink Snake we encountered before. Its mere existence alters the surrounding environment, causing all living and nonliving things within that environment to assimilate toward it."

Xu Shilan asked seriously, "Radiation? Microorganisms? It can't be some kind of intelligent nanotech system, can it?"

Wu Pifu spread his hands. "Sorry, I don't know exactly what it is either. I only knew of the Pink Snake because my predecessors mentioned it often. It was the closest to our region, and we happened to encounter an awakened person parasitized by it. Otherwise, I wouldn't have encountered even a single contaminated existence."

Xu Shilan nodded as she wrote. "Contamination gradually changes the surrounding environment and living beings. Is that an acceptable way to record it? Then what is erosion?"

Wu Pifu said, "Curses... You've seen Ju-On, right?"

Yamadai and Xu Shilan both shook their heads.

Wu Pifu covered his head. "Right. You're both from several centuries in the future... It's roughly like a kind of intangible curse effect. At first, it isn't obvious, or the signs are extremely faint. But over time, the erosion effect turns into all kinds of horrors, even reversing cause and effect. For example, the erosion might become an invincible evil ghost. After killing you, it sends your body back to the day you first suffered the erosion, making you eat it and become infected, thus forming a kind of time loop. Anyway, I haven't encountered erosion either, but it has no concrete main body. It's something like a curse."

Wu Pifu had expected them not to understand, but after he finished speaking, both their expressions changed and their faces became grave.

"Memes."

The two spoke the word in unison.

But they seemed to have some taboo, or perhaps simply did not want to discuss it further. Xu Shilan continued asking, "We have aberration, contamination, and erosion. Then what about parasitism?"

Wu Pifu continued reciting the information from his memories. "Parasitism means that, before you realize it, the horror attaches itself to you. Then it draws nourishment from you and eventually drains you completely."

The two understood that quite easily. Xu Shilan wrote as she said, "Something like a microbial infection?"

Wu Pifu shook his head. "No. It refers to everything, material and immaterial. For example, a parasitic horror can inhabit your shadow, your voice, even your memories. And what it extracts is not merely flesh and blood. I heard from my predecessors that someone was once drained by a parasitic type until even the concept of their existence vanished. Then the predecessors forgot who that person was and what they had done. The only thing they still remembered was that a parasitic horror had killed someone among them who did not exist."

The two stood frozen for a moment, then both felt a chill rise from the depths of their hearts.

Xu Shilan still wanted to ask more, but Wu Pifu shook his head. "Let's stop here for now. We need to enter the Dream World immediately."

Both nodded, though Xu Shilan still asked, "Why such a rush?"

Wu Pifu led the two toward the Stasis Pod room as he said, "This is also a lesson learned through experience. You're probably hungry now too, right? So am I, and I'm starving. One of my predecessors' predecessors once learned a painful lesson: they went hungry for several days before having no choice but to enter the Dream World. The moment they entered, they were attacked. It wasn't anything strange, a monster, or a horror, but even an ordinary person's attack was almost impossible to resist when they were starving and had no strength left. So we must enter while we still have our strength and prepare for the Dream World's unknown dangers."

The two understood. They followed Wu Pifu to the Stasis Pod room and watched him lie down in one of the empty pods. He gestured for them to lie down as well. Once they did, Wu Pifu said, "Main Brain, activate downward Dream World penetration. Team mode."

The Main Brain's voice rang out across their retinas and inside their minds as well.

"Activating downward Dream World penetration. Do you agree to form a team? Do you wish to begin penetration?"

All three confirmed at once. In the next instant, they vanished from the Stasis Pods together.

"Red cloaks, Red Lanterns, support the Qing and destroy the foreign devils—we possess divine powers!"

"Divine arts protect our bodies! Blades and bullets cannot harm us!"

"The White Sheep descends into the world, and heavenly principle cycles without end. True Emptiness Homeland, Unborn Mother, grant me divine powers to deliver all living beings."

April 3, 1900. Outside Xuanhua Prefecture, Qing Court.

In the Dream World of Baseline Reality 0.9, the Main Brain informed maintenance personnel of the time and location when they entered the Dream World. This was something worlds below Baseline Reality 0.9 did not possess.

Wu Pifu and the other two stood beside the main road outside Xuanhua Prefecture, watching with a group of gaunt villagers as a procession of women in red clothing and trousers entered the city carrying red lanterns and shouting slogans.

"1900? The Red Lantern Society?"

Wu Pifu stroked his chin as he carefully searched his memories.

After practicing National Arts, not only had his body grown stronger, but his mind had become clearer as well. He could easily recall many memories from the past.

"April 3... There are still three months until the Eight-Nation Alliance captures Tianjin on July 14. Then this should be exactly the honeymoon period between Empress Dowager Cixi and the Boxer Movement."

Wu Pifu was not a professional historian, but these were things he had learned from his middle and high school history textbooks.

In 1900, the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded China. They first broke through Tianjin on July 14, then captured Beijing on August 14. This forced Empress Dowager Cixi to flee west, and the Eight-Nation Alliance burned the Old Summer Palace...

Wu Pifu still remembered all that information. He also knew about the Boxer Movement and its branch, the Red Lantern Society. Before the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded China, these militia organizations had been valued by Empress Dowager Cixi. They were semi-officially recognized civilian groups, considered a force capable of resisting the foreign powers. But after the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded China, Cixi completely changed her initial attitude. Fearful of the foreigners' overwhelming strength, she issued orders to join forces with them to suppress the Boxer Movement and the Red Lantern Society.

Before that, however, the Boxer Movement and the Red Lantern Society had been free to move and act throughout Zhili. Of course, there might also have been historical deviations—peculiarities unique to this world.

Grrr.

Wu Pifu's stomach growled. He rubbed it and stopped watching the Red Lantern Society's procession. Turning to Yamadai and Xu Shilan, he said, "Come on. Let's go into the city and eat."

Neither had any objection.

They were too far removed from this era. Unlike Wu Pifu, who had studied this period in school, Yamadai had been born, raised, and survived on battlefields. He was a veteran. He was familiar with weaponry, combat, and some knowledge related to weapons and Biochemical Beasts, but if asked about history... he probably only knew about East Great and West Great, where the Third War had erupted.

As for Xu Shilan, she probably knew of this era, but it was eight or nine hundred years before her time. Moreover, the Fourth World War had broken out during her era, so she probably had not studied the history of this period either.

Neither was familiar with this Dream World, so they could only follow Wu Pifu's lead.

As they headed toward the prefectural city, Yamadai asked, "We don't have any money. How are we going to eat?"

Xu Shilan added, "Or should we make money first? What are this world's characteristics? What is the fastest way to earn money?"

Yamadai looked at the surrounding crowd, then at the walls of the ancient city. He took a deep breath. "I smell war. Since there's war, the most profitable jobs are either arms dealers or mercenaries. Let's become mercenaries."

But Wu Pifu shook his head. He led them toward the city gate, his eyes glancing toward somewhere within the crowd.

Several people who were clearly not villagers were staring at Yamadai with hatred in their eyes. Two of them had long arms and long legs. Though they deliberately hunched over, they were visibly a head taller than the scrawny villagers. There was spirit in their eyes, and calluses on their palms...

Martial artists.

"No need to worry. Money..."

"Will come to us on its own."