Becoming an immortal from a canal worker

For the next two days, Chen Ping lived like a madman.

The canal workers at Qingkou Wharf noticed that this young man, who usually made a fortune quietly, had suddenly become somewhat strange.

Although he still worked as hard as ever, carrying hundreds of kilograms of heavy bags every day, for some reason, he started not looking where he was going, his eyes fixed on the turbid, churning river water below the diving board.

Even when his eyes were stung red by sweat and watered by the river wind, he couldn't bear to blink.

The mnemonic Liu Laoguo taught him echoed in his mind again and again.

"Sink your breath to your dantian, and keep your eyes half-open and half-closed." "Look at the water, not its surface; look at the patterns, not the waves."

......

At noon on the first day, when the sun was at its strongest.

In a shady spot by the dock, the canal workers squatted down in twos and threes to rest, holding hard, dry black bread in their hands and swallowing it down with a bowl of cold water.

Chen Ping squatted in the corner, his eyes bloodshot, mechanically chewing the musty-smelling dry rations in his mouth.

His eyes ached as if they were being pricked by needles; it was a side effect of overusing the "Water Observation Method".

He closed his eyes to try and relieve the excruciating pain, but his ears perked up.

Not far from him, several traveling merchants who had just unloaded their goods were gathered together cursing.

These men were wearing sheepskin coats and spoke with a rough northern accent; they were clearly from the north, coming down the canal.

"What the hell is this bad luck!"

A bearded merchant slammed his water bag to the ground: "We've encountered three more checkpoints along the way! What should have been two strings of cash has been ripped off to five! If this keeps up, we can't do business anymore!"

"Alright, Lao Zhang, you're lucky to be alive."

A slightly older merchant next to him lowered his voice and looked around in a panic.

"Haven't you heard? That Prince Zhenbei from beyond the Great Wall fought a battle with the barbarians at Songshan."

"Defeat?"

"Defeat! A crushing defeat!"

The older merchant held up three fingers, trembling as he gestured:

"I heard they were ambushed and lost several thousand elite troops! Even their provisions were burned to the ground by the barbarians!"

"hiss--"

Several eavesdropping canal workers nearby gasped in shock.

Several thousand elite troops—that's countless lives lost.

"Then...then what about our side?" The bearded businessman's expression changed.

"Hmph, losing is a small matter, running out of food is a big deal."

The older merchant sighed, his eyes filled with deep worry:

"Tens of thousands of troops need to eat. The imperial court will definitely be frantically diverting grain from Jiangnan these next few days. Just wait, the government's grain requisition order will be issued soon. At that time, the rice boats on the canal will probably attract more attention than gold."

He paused, then uttered four words in a heavy tone:

"Rice prices are going to rise."

This sentence terrified the canal workers present.

"Another price increase? It only went up by two coins last month!"

"Damn it, how many kilograms of rice can you even buy with this day's wages?"

"I can't live like this anymore..."

Amidst a chorus of wails, Chen Ping slowly opened his eyes.

He swallowed the last bite of the dry, hard black bread, his brows furrowing tightly.

He didn't know who the Prince of Zhenbei was.

How many people died on the front lines has nothing to do with him now.

Even if the barbarians invade the capital tomorrow, as long as it doesn't interfere with his money-making, he won't bother to even glance at it.

But if rice prices rise, that's going to be the death knell for him.

Chen Ping silently calculated the costs in his mind.

Now, a pound of old rice costs eight coins, and a pound of refined rice costs fifteen coins.

He worked himself to the bone to earn thirty coins a day, which could only buy less than four catties of old rice.

If rice prices double...

All the sweat you shed that day will only get you half a meal.

"The world is about to descend into chaos."

Chen Ping licked the remaining crumbs off his hands.

At times like these, money is no longer just money; it becomes the confidence to save your life.

I need to find a way to make some money this time I go to Xiahe County.

At least those hundred coins must be earned back, with interest.

……

Two days passed in the blink of an eye.

During those forty-eight hours, aside from sleeping and eating, Chen Ping spent almost all his time by the river.

By the last twilight before his departure, his eyes were bloodshot, making him look somewhat frightening.

The proficiency level on the panel is like a crawling snail, slowly inching its way up.

98/100.......99/100.......

Just this last little bit more.

As darkness fell, the river wind grew increasingly biting.

Chen Ping stood on a protruding rock, enduring the excruciating pain in his eyes, forcing himself to capture the fleeting anomaly in the water.

"Look at the patterns, not the waves... The surface may be calm, but the current is swift underneath..."

He silently recited the mantra in his mind, adjusting his breathing rhythm to an extremely slow frequency.

Sudden.

It was like the pressure that had been building up for two days finally finding an outlet, or like breaking through a layer of paper.

What he had initially perceived as a seamless, simply flowing river underwent a wondrous transformation in that instant.

They appear to be "layered".

The surface waves remained turbid and churning, but beneath them, Chen Ping could clearly see a dark blue undercurrent, defying all logic and silently surging against the mainstream.

It's like a giant python lurking at the bottom of the water.

On my retina, the long-awaited text finally began to move:

[Proficiency +1]

[Skill: Water Observation Technique (Beginner)]

[Current Progress: Water Observation Method (1/500)]

[Effect: To discern hidden currents and perceive profound mysteries.]

Chen Ping abruptly closed his eyes, and two lines of clear tears slid down his cheeks.

When I opened my eyes again, the soreness had subsided, replaced by an unprecedented clarity.

He bent down, picked up a stone, and threw it towards the undercurrent flowing against his line of sight.

"Thump."

A stone falls into the water.

Instead of sinking directly to the bottom as usual, it was swept up by the undercurrent and strangely swirled on the surface of the water before drifting three feet to the left and sinking.

I see!

There were definitely undercurrents!

He gazed at the river, watching the undercurrents beneath the surface, like venomous snakes swimming and intertwining, converging into a larger current in the distance.

He used to think they were just ordinary waves.

But now it seems that once an ordinary person goes into the water and gets caught in these undercurrents, they will be swept away by them in an instant.

"Two days."

A very faint smile appeared on Chen Ping's lips.

Although it's only the beginning and I can only see the surface, it's enough for my upcoming trip to Xiahe County.

Night completely enveloped Qingkou Wharf.

On the distant river, there were still specks of lights moving about.

Those were government fast boats traveling through the night, seemingly confirming what the northern merchant had said during the day: the situation was tense, and a storm was brewing.

Chen Ping returned to the drafty shack.

He wrapped the dry rations he had saved over the past two days in oil paper and tucked them into his pocket.

Finally, he squatted down and glanced at the loose blue brick under the bed.

The distant sound of the night watchman's clapper at the hour of Chou (1-3 AM) drifted over, dull and oppressive.

Chen Ping stood up, pushed open the rickety wooden door, and his figure disappeared into the thick night.