"Very good. It seemed that even without anyone guiding you in the future, you might still have a chance to complete the introductory stage of Inner Power... Very good."
"Exactly!" Youji nodded. "I knew it, I was born to be a Vagrant! And with your guidance too, Master..."
Xiang Shan shook his head and asked a seemingly unrelated question. "Kid, does your mother know you came here?"
Youji became indignant at the mention of it. "My mom's the one with the problem! She keeps telling me to stay away from you... saying Vagrants are all bad people..."
"There, you see?" Xiang Shan shrugged. "Actually, there's nothing particularly wrong with what your mother said. For someone personally, becoming a Vagrant might not be a very good choice. If there were another way, who would really want to become a Vagrant?"
Youji looked awkward. "Master, why are you taking Mom's side? Aren't we on the same side? We're the Vagrants!"
"No. Before you're mature enough to make your own decisions, your mother is the one on your side. I'm on the 'other side.'" Xiang Shan waved a hand. "So, Youji, our fate as master and disciple may end here. I'll pass on the core 'Way' to you, but as for the remaining 'Methods,' you'll have to look for them online yourself."
From Leif's memories, Xiang Shan had learned of the rumor that "top experts uploaded their martial arts manuals online." What he taught Youji was all the most fundamental "wisdom." These things formed the basis of all computer technology. With them mastered and enough experience accumulated, one could even recreate an Inner Power system from scratch.
And if I teach this kid "Ten Thousand Paths, No Trace" from the Three Dragon-Slaying Techniques, then he won't have to worry about lacking chances to acquire martial arts manuals.
Xiang Shan thought so.
Youji's expression changed. "Master, did I do something wrong? Are you driving me away?"
Xiang Shan shook his head. "Why would I drive you away? I just can't keep teaching you."
Youji immediately understood. "You're leaving?"
"You really are a smart kid." Xiang Shan nodded. "That's right. Once your town regains Civilization Protection and no more thugs come looking for trouble, I'll leave."
"To do what?"
"That guy called Enoch, and that Z Organization." Standing atop the garbage mountain, Xiang Shan looked into the distance. "Tch. Maybe some other villains too. In short, there are still quite a few things to do..."
Youji was captivated by the "adventure" Xiang Shan had planned. "Master, take me with you too! The two of us, master and disciple..."
"Kid, how old are you this year?"
"Twelve. I can already live independently!"
"By this era's standards..." Xiang Shan muttered, then said, "But you still can't choose your own life. Youji, you need to understand that once you take the Vagrant's path, there's no turning back. Under the current rules, once you lose Civilization Protection, you can never regain it..."
"I don't care!" the child shouted. "Look at my mom, Master! Civilization Protection has protected her until she doesn't even have a prosthetic body that can move freely. And my older brother and sister! Protection hasn't given them anything good either! I..."
"Yes." Xiang Shan nodded. "I think so too. I told you before that laws can actually be good things; it's just that some people use them to do evil. Used properly, laws can protect many ordinary people. But there are tyrants who use that power to harm the people—and this era is worse than even the worst laws. Dyson Principles? Pah!"
"In that case..."
"But the Dyson Principles do indeed lean toward 'protecting the lives and property of ordinary people.' Perhaps, in many people's minds, being ordinary is safer than being a Vagrant. Maybe that isn't wrong. But fighting with that mindset is a form of self-torment. If you want to become a Vagrant, you must do it without regret."
Youji grew anxious. "I definitely won't regret it! Becoming a Vagrant, becoming the sword of the weak..."
"But that's my choice, not yours." Xiang Shan continued, "Many people make choices on a momentary impulse, but those choices may not be something their future selves can bear. You're too young and have experienced too little. If I give you that choice now, you may make the wrong one—what if you don't want to be a Vagrant in the future?"
Youji stomped his foot. "I won't regret it!"
Xiang Shan tightened the reverse-jointed legs of his prosthetic body and lowered himself, placing both hands on Youji's shoulders. "Wait until you're eighteen... no, sixteen, before saying that. I've given you a 'chance to choose.' I hope that when the time comes, you'll make a choice you truly won't regret. Besides, what I'm going to do is far too dangerous. I don't know whether ordinary Vagrants have plans like mine, but I don't think you're necessarily suited for it..."
Youji looked deeply disappointed. He struggled to ask, "There's no way at all?"
"If your mother agrees." Xiang Shan shrugged.
It was as though a bucket of cold water had been poured over Youji. He knew his mother would never agree.
He felt terribly bored.
"Master..." Youji scratched his head. "I really don't understand. Why can't you take me with you? Two people are stronger than one, aren't they? The key point..."
"The key point is that what I'm going to do is extremely dangerous. I won't take you along to do that kind of thing."
Xiang Shan was bound to fight.
After two battles and the rest that followed, he had completely confirmed that "battle" was the only way to awaken his memories—his head was filled with techniques and experience related to "battle." Only in battle would his past self awaken.
He had to fight.
Precisely because of that, Xiang Shan did not intend to take Youji with him. He had realized that his past self had been strong, but he did not know exactly how strong. He did not know in which battle he might make a mistake.
But Xiang Shan had no other choice.
Xiang Shan had lost all his memories. He had no past. He did not know who he was, did not know whether he still had family or friends alive, did not know who his enemies were, and did not know where he ought to go.
And this world, as it was now, was like hell to him, with bloodshed and violence everywhere.
The only thing he could do was kill his way out with martial arts, carving a path through slaughter.
His targets were every villain in this chaotic age.
The Greenwood Road, and those oppressors who called themselves nobles.
Of course, that also included the "Father of All Machines," who claimed not to be a god yet possessed the status of one.
He was still weak, but that was fine. He only needed to kill them in order.
It did not matter that he had nothing. He could seize prosthetic bodies from his enemies, seize martial arts from his enemies, seize resources from his enemies.
As long as he did not die along the way, if he killed them one by one, then one day he would reach the Father of All Machines and cut down that tyrant with his blade.
That was what martial arts had been created for.
Xiang Shan did not intend to consider the odds of success. He did not intend to live in any way other than this.
Only then could he recover his memories.
Only then would this life have value.
But he should not expose Youji to such danger as well. Part of the reason he had accepted him as a disciple was to repay a kindness. If he "tricked" him onto this path, then how would he be any different from bandits?
As for an "assistant"... he was not some socially anxious person incapable of making friends. As long as he lived, he would meet all kinds of people. Sooner or later, he would have a chance to find a second assistant.
Youji finally understood that Xiang Shan would never take him on the road, no matter what.
The boy was furious. "Master, didn't you forget everything? Why do you have to do this? You don't even remember why you became a Vagrant in the first place, do you? You only have half a brain left! You say I'm not ready and I don't understand... Do you understand?"
"You have a point. I truly don't remember why I had to become a Vagrant." Xiang Shan nodded. "But I know it must have been for something very important. I decided long ago that even if I only had 'half a brain' left, I would keep resisting... I don't know what exactly I had to resist either. But it doesn't matter if I don't understand now. My past self definitely understood, and had already made that decision."
"I hadn't realized it before, but after reading the memories of four people, I seem to understand gradually. There's one huge difference between me and everyone else." He pointed to his temple. "Do you know why I forgot everything about myself, yet still remembered how to use martial arts?"
Youji curled his lip. "Isn't it just because too much time passed?"
"'Too much time passed' is only why I temporarily forgot even my martial arts." Xiang Shan sighed. "A human brain is limited, after all... I stored all my ordinary memories, the memories that could be put on a hard drive, on a hard drive. The purpose was to free up space in my Biological Brain to remember martial arts, remember techniques, and form neural pathways adapted for combat."
"Those martial artists stored knowledge on hard drives and experience in their brains, but I did the opposite. I would rather forget who I was than forget the foundations of these martial arts. Perhaps my past self had prepared for this long ago. As long as my Biological Brain remained and I could still think, I could resist."
Youji was stunned. "Why?"
"There is no hacking technology yet capable of altering data inside a Biological Brain. The human Biological Brain differs enormously from computers in mathematical terms."
Youji found it hard to accept. "Was doing that easy?"
"I don't know whether it's easy now." Xiang Shan shook his head. "In the era I knew, it was quite difficult. First, you had to use a computer to completely record your neural activity and shape the memories. Then you had to inject a certain enzyme into specific regions of the brain. That enzyme could reverse a neuron's life cycle and make neurons regress to their original state—equivalent to resetting part of your brain. If enough was injected, you could even forget every skill, leaving only a brain returned to an infant's state..."