04 – Path

The next mission by the system was to copy the Tao Te Ching. Although the Tao Te Ching had fewer characters than the Zhuangzi, the requirement was to rewrite everything using oracle bone scripts.

For a young boy from an average working class family, getting the oracle bone version of the text was a bit tricky. It wasn't readily available in any library, so he begged his parents for a copy.

His parents glanced at each other strangely. Boys his age normally ask for money to go to PC cafes or toys. The oracle bone script version of Tao Te Ching was an odd request, but then again, Li Yun had always been obsessed with calligraphy. They agreed to search for a copy since there was no harm in getting him the manuscript.

Unfortunately, there was no real oracle bone script version of the Tao Te Ching. The oracle bone script was developed around 2000 BC. The earliest texts of Tao Te Ching were written in small seal script dated around 300 BC. Any oracle bone script version was simply a modern day reproduction based on the clerical script. The oracle bone script was also incomplete, like many language systems from antiquity, so Li Yun had to study the evolution of ancient writings all the way down to the seal script.

After a few months, the teachers were beginning to question their own sanity. A boy who was obsessed with Tao knew more about ancient writing than most elementary school teachers. Out of all the teachers, only the Chinese teachers appreciated Li Yun's new craze to study ancient Chinese writing.

"This kid is crazy," remarked the Chinese teacher. "I don't think I've seen a child write so well."

"We were learning about the First Qin Emperor, and he read a passage from a vase," the history teacher narrated. "He had even asked me if I can help him translate the bone script. That made me nervous, I can barely read the seal script."

"He could become an archeologist in the future, but he said he doesn't know what he wants to do yet. It's a shame he can't harness this unusual focus on something like math or science."

"It still pisses me off that he does calligraphy in my math class," the math teacher grumbled.

Math and science was Li Yun's poorest subject. No matter how many times his teacher drilled him about the importance of math and science, Li Yun remained uninterested.

Li Yun ignored school work for the most part and continued studying the ancient language. Once he had a good grasp of the language, Li Yun translated the clerical script into oracle bone script. Elder Pei helped him to decipher the meaning, but it was a long process.

Out of all the Taoist manuscripts, the Tao Te Ching was the most revered text. Written by Laozi, it was also the most widely read and known to theologians and philosophers. Divided into 81 chapters, the short couplets made it easy for people to memorize and quip. Each chapter explained the meaning of Tao in vague terms, making it difficult to understand its true meaning.

Li Yun considered it to be one of the earliest self-help books in humankind. There were lessons to be learned from ancient texts that Li Yun was applying to his life. The Tao Te Ching mission was long, but it wasn't tiring. The bonus mission, however, was a bit tricky.

"Why are you in a daze recently?" Bufu asked as they were walking home from school.

"I am still thinking about the bonus mission," Li Yun mumbled. He was sharing less information with his friends about his system. They were slowly growing out of believing in magic and viewed it only as a novelty. The system was simply just another one of Li Yun's crazy ideas. "It said to choose a Dao, but I'm not sure what to choose."

"What are the options?" Fatty Fang asked.

"I am not sure, but if it is related to the Taoist texts, it means to pick a direction in life," said Li Yun. "Like, if I pick the art dao, I should reach the pinnacle of art dao by painting and living by the arts."

"Art dao sounds boring," said Fatty Fang. "Is there a sword dao, evil dao, or even fighting dao!?"

"Yes, but that's tricky, I can't even beat you up, how am I supposed to get a fighting dao? And my mom would never agree to get me a sword. And the evil dao is too limited and difficult to do."

"Ah, you're right, Evil Dao sounds cool, but you will likely get arrested," said Fatty Fang. "Good Dao sounds boring though, but it's probably the easiest to do. Like save a cat?"

It was boring, but the basics of Taoism were rooted in good even if by definition there was no good or right path. The most famous evil path was shown in the Liezi "Yang Zhu" chapter, but even then it was debatable. Many scholars interpreted it as Yang Zhu's youthful folly to contrast Yang Zhu's reformation to become a true Taoist master.

Another possibility was that Taoist revisionists during the Qin and Han dynasty had removed all references to the evil path for the sake of humanity, and left the Yang Zhu chapter as a reminder that there was truly no good or evil path.

Li Yun glanced through the first passage in the Tao Te Ching. "The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao; The name that can be named is not the eternal name."

"I thought of a path," Li Yun's eyes brightened up as a thought occurred to him.

Fatty Fang and Bufu both turned to face him like a pair of twin owls. "What path?"

"It's the Li Yun's Dao." Li Yun started laughing maniacally. "I'm a f***** genius!"

Fatty Fang and Bufu stared at each other and shrugged. Li Yun was suffering from his delusions again.

"What are you going to do?" Asked Bufu.

"We are going to fulfill our mission in life," Li Yun said. "No more school! No more homework!"

Bufu and Fatty Fang also disliked school and decided to tag along. Fatty Fang would rather continue physical training, Bufu would rather work on computers, and Li Yun would rather work on the Tao Te Ching.

As they were walking, they saw a bunch of bullies stealing money from a small boy. Normally, it was something they would ignore and look away from. However, Li Yun was different that day. He had a clear path and understanding of what he had to do.

Li Yun rolled up his sleeves, ready for war.

"Li Yun, you're crazy!" Fatty Fang looked warily at the three big mean high schoolers and held tightly onto Li Yun's flailing left arm.

"We are going to get beaten up!" Bufu yelled out as he grabbed a hold of Li Yun's right arm.

Li Yun's body was shaking in fear and his heart pounded rapidly onto his chest, but he knew in his heart and soul that his path needed him to act, not to waste a moment of life.

"The way will lead us to victory!" Li Yun shook himself out of their hold and charged forward. "He who knows how to live can walk without fear. Each of you take their balls!"

Fatty Fang and Bufu were surprised at Li Yun's sudden strength and followed along to help him out. Li Yun kicked one of the bullies at their weakest points, below the belt, and then ran. Fatty Fang and Bufu did the same and sprinted off in different directions.

For his act of bravery, or foolishness, Li Yun received +1 guts for committing to a dao and completed the bonus mission. There was no good way to describe Li Yun's Dao, he simply wanted to unleash some pent-up anger on the bullies.

After a year, he completed the mission to rewrite the Tao Te Ching. His heavenly gift, +10 culture.

"Another useless gift," Li Yun thought. "And of all the random stats, why culture?"