Master and Disciple

"Very good. It looks like even without anyone to guide you in the future, you'll 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 knight-errant! And with your guidance, Master..."

Xiang Shan shook his head and asked a seemingly unrelated question. "Kid, does your mother know you came here?"

At the mention of this, Youji became indignant. "She's the one with the problem! She keeps telling me to stay away from you... saying that knight-errants are all bad people..."

"See?" Xiang Shan shrugged. "Actually, your mother isn't entirely wrong. For a person themselves, becoming a knight-errant may not be a very good choice. If they had any other option, who would really want to become one?"

Youji looked conflicted. "Master, why are you taking my mom's side? Aren't we on the same side? We're knight-errants!"

"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 bond as master and disciple may end here. I'll pass on the core 'Way' to you. As for the remaining 'methods,' you'll have to find them online yourself."

From Leif's memories, Xiang Shan had learned of the rumor that "top experts uploaded their techniques online." What he gave Youji was the most fundamental "wisdom." These things formed the basis of all computer technology. Once one had mastered them and gained enough experience, one could even recreate an Inner Power technique from scratch.

If I also teach this kid Ten Thousand Paths, No Trace from the Three Dragon-Slaying Techniques, then he won't have to worry about finding techniques, will he?

That was what Xiang Shan thought.

Youji's expression changed. "Master, did I do something wrong? Are you sending me away?"

Xiang Shan shook his head. "Why would I send you away? I just can't keep teaching you."

Youji immediately understood. "You're leaving?"

"You're 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 named Enoch, and that Z Organization." Xiang Shan stood atop the garbage mountain and gazed into the distance. "Tch. There may be some other bad people too. In any case, there's still quite a lot to do..."

Youji was enthralled by the "adventure" Xiang Shan had planned. "Master, take me with you! 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, before continuing, "But you still can't choose your own life. Youji, you need to understand that there is no turning back on the path of a knight-errant. Under the current rules, once you lose Civilization Protection, you can never regain it..."

"I don't care!" the child shouted. "Look at my mother, Master! Civilization Protection has protected her so thoroughly that she doesn't even have a freely movable prosthetic body anymore. And my older brother and sister! Protection hasn't given them anything good either! I..."

"Yes." Xiang Shan nodded. "I think so too. I said before that laws can actually be good things; it's just that some people use them to do bad things. Used well, laws can protect many ordinary people. But tyrants use that power to harm the people—and this era is worse than even the worst laws. Dyson Principles? Pah!"

"If that's the 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 knight-errant. Maybe there's nothing wrong with thinking that way. But going into battle with that mindset is a form of self-torment. If you want to become a knight-errant, you have to do it with no regrets."

Youji grew anxious. "I definitely won't regret it! Becoming a knight-errant, becoming the sword of the weak..."

"But that is my choice, not yours." Xiang Shan continued, "Many people make choices in a moment of impulse, but those choices may not be something their future selves can bear. You're too young and too inexperienced. If I give you the choice now, you may make the wrong one—what if you don't want to be a knight-errant in the future?"

Youji stomped his foot. "I won't regret it!"

Xiang Shan tightened the reverse joints in his legs, lowered himself, and placed both hands on Youji's shoulders. "When you're eighteen... no, sixteen, it won't be too late to say 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 intend to do is too dangerous. I don't know whether ordinary knight-errants have plans like mine, but I don't think you're necessarily suited for it..."

Youji looked deeply disappointed. He struggled to ask, "No matter what, you won't?"

"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 found it utterly boring.

"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 important thing..."

"The important thing is that what I intend to do is extremely dangerous. I won't take you to do that kind of thing."

Xiang Shan was bound to fight.

After two battles and the recovery afterward, he had fully confirmed that "battle" was the one sure method of awakening his memories—his mind 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 very strong, but he did not know exactly how strong. He did not know in which battle he might slip up.

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, whether any family or friends were still alive, who his enemies were, or where he should go.

And this world was like hell to him, filled everywhere with bloodshed and violence.

The only thing he could do was carve his way out with martial arts, killing a path for himself.

His targets were every evildoer in this chaotic age.

Greenwood Road, and those oppressors who called themselves nobles.

And of course, that so-called Father of All Machines, who claimed not to be a god yet held the status of one.

He was still weak now, but that was all right. He only needed to kill them in order.

It did not matter that he had nothing. He would 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.

Martial arts had been created to be used this way.

Xiang Shan had no intention of considering the odds of success. He did not intend to live in any way other than this.

Only this way could he recover his memories.

And only this way would this life have value.

But he should not expose Youji to such danger as well. Part of the reason he had taken the boy as his disciple was to repay a debt. If he "tricked" him onto this path, how would he be any different from bandits?

As for an "assistant"... it was not as though he were some socially anxious person incapable of making friends. As long as he lived, he would meet all kinds of people. He would eventually have a chance to find a second assistant.

Youji finally understood that Xiang Shan would not take him along 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 knight-errant in the first place, do you? You only have half a head left! You say I haven't prepared myself, that I don't understand... Do you understand?"

"You have a point. I truly don't remember why I had to become a knight-errant." Xiang Shan nodded. "But I know it must have been for something very important. Long ago, I decided that even if I had only 'half a head' left, I would continue resisting... I don't know what exactly I had to resist. But it doesn't matter if I don't understand now. My past self must have understood, and must already have made the decision."

"I hadn't realized it before, but after reading the memories of four people, I seem to have gradually understood. There is one major difference between me and everyone else." He pointed to his temple. "Do you know why I forgot myself completely, yet still remember how to use martial arts?"

Youji curled his lip. "Isn't it just because too much time has passed?"

"'Too much time has passed' is only why I temporarily forgot even my martial arts." Xiang Shan sighed. "A person's brain is limited, after all... I stored all my ordinary memories, the ones that could be put onto 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 suited to martial arts."

"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. My past self may have prepared for this long ago. As long as my biological brain remained and could still think, I could resist."

Youji was stunned. "Why?"

"There is still no hacking technique capable of altering data within a biological brain. The human biological brain differs enormously from a computer in mathematical terms."

Youji found it hard to accept. "Is doing that easy?"

"I don't know whether it's easy to do 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 own neural activity and construct memories. Then you had to inject a certain enzyme into specific regions of the brain. That enzyme could reverse the life cycle of neurons, returning them to their primitive state—essentially resetting part of your brain. If you injected enough, you could even forget every skill, leaving only a brain reverted to an infantile state..."