by The Red Fox
12 - Firewall (2)
After Jiang Lian took over the code, Lin Xun found himself with some free time.
His field was algorithms, which, to put it plainly, meant the logic behind programs. For any project, you first needed an algorithm, then you implemented it with code to create a functional program. Hence the saying: "Algorithms are the soul of a program."
And since it was the soul, inspiration was required.
Lin Xun currently had no inspiration.
He set aside the draft paper, crossed out the half-finished flowchart, and shut himself in his room to meditate on "spiritual Qi."
He couldn’t sense any spiritual Qi either.
Just as he was feeling lost, Yuanxiao sent him a WeChat message.
"Fellow Daoist, when are you arriving at the Dharma Discussion Conference?"
Lin Xun replied, "The day before it starts."
"Fellow Daoist, when we spar then, please go easy on me. I’m not an adult yet."
Lin Xun told the truth, "I don’t know Cultivation."
Yuanxiao: "I don’t believe you. You’re lying."
Lin Xun: "You’ll see when the time comes."
Yuanxiao: "I don’t believe it. I’m going to ask my master for a protective talisman."
Yuanxiao: "By the way, Fellow Daoist, what weapon do you use?"
Lin Xun: "A keyboard."
Yuanxiao: "..."
Lin Xun laughed at the screen.
Teasing kids was quite fun.
He switched to the "Loving Family" group chat and saw the seniors once again demonstrating the essence of humanity by copying and pasting praises for Bihai Xianzi’s newly invented elixir formula. He sighed.
He couldn’t write algorithms, and he didn’t know Cultivation either. He left a string of "Ahhhhhhhhh!" under Dong Jun’s Weibo post, then took out his tablet to read a mathematics paper.
Halfway through, there was a knock on the door.
Lin Xun said, "Come in."
It was Jiang Lian who entered, carrying his laptop. He said to Lin Xun, "Sorry to bother you, but there’s something I don’t understand."
Lin Xun put down his tablet. "What is it?"
Jiang Lian sat down across from him, keeping his head down as if avoiding eye contact.
This seemed to be a typical trait of some programmers—they weren’t very good at extensive social interaction.
Jiang Lian pointed out the module to him.
Lin Xun took a few sheets of draft paper and began explaining, "This is an improved algorithm I made… The idea is somewhat similar to a genetic algorithm, but the key lies in the selection mechanism."
Jiang Lian: "Mm."
Lin Xun started drawing a flowchart for him. Generally speaking, once you had a clear flowchart, programming would follow naturally.
It took about half an hour for him to clarify the principles and write down the main steps on paper.
Jiang Lian took the paper. "Let me take a look."
Lin Xun: "Sure."
Jiang Lian buried his head in the paper, occasionally making a few marks with his pen, looking very serious.
Feeling reassured by his reliability, Lin Xun lowered his head to continue reading the paper but suddenly froze.
While observing Jiang Lian’s actions, he had naturally focused his attention on him, and a program interface appeared—but there was something inside it!
Lin Xun frowned.
He actually… couldn’t immediately tell what kind of program this was.
After all, while he hadn’t written an enormous amount of code, he had read a vast quantity of it. It was just C language—how could there be a code structure he wasn’t familiar with?
He lowered his head, pretending to look at his tablet while secretly reading the code. Although he still wasn’t entirely clear, a function named "breed" instinctively made him feel uneasy.
He opened WeChat and sent a message to Wang Anquan: "Anquan, take a look at this code."
Then, he quickly typed on the keyboard and sent over a few phrases he had just noted down.
Almost as soon as he hit send, Jiang Lian across from him looked up, pushed a draft paper toward him, and circled a part of the diagram: "What's supposed to go here?"
Lin Xun took the pen from his hand, opened his mouth to answer, but the screen lit up.
He glanced over and saw a reply from Wang Anquan on WeChat: It's a virus. Where did you get it?
A virus?
...
Lin Xun's pupils dilated sharply, his heart skipped a beat, and he looked at Jiang Lian.
In the next moment, Jiang Lian grabbed his wrist with a backhand grip!
Lin Xun instinctively tried to break free, but Jiang Lian's fingers felt like iron clamps—impossible to shake off!
This was definitely not the strength of a normal person!
A piercing mechanical voice rang out: "Emergency task triggered. Task name: First Trial of Skill. Task objective: Subdue the ill-intentioned Jiang Lian. Task rewards: Chaos Treasure Box x1, Spiritual Power 10, Primary Weapon x1."
Lin Xun: "..."
However, there was no time to think. In the next second, Jiang Lian suddenly stood up, yanked Lin Xun's wrist toward himself, and swung his other hand with a whistling sound, aiming to grab Lin Xun's shoulder!
Lin Xun's heart raced, but his body instinctively shifted sideways, dodging the attack.
At that moment, he realized his movements were incredibly swift.
In the blink of an eye, he lifted his leg and kicked Jiang Lian below the knee!
Jiang Lian stiffened for a moment, his knee buckling slightly as he leaned forward—a sign he was about to fall. Instinctively, his grip on Lin Xun's wrist loosened.
Lin Xun had been waiting for this. He broke free from Jiang Lian's grasp and delivered another kick to the side of his right knee!
It wouldn't knock him down, but it would hurt and could easily cause a fracture.
Then, he retreated, his body floating as he quickly moved to the opposite corner of the room.
—After all, he had the Light Body Technique.
At that moment, he saw Jiang Lian striding toward him, his eyes seemingly devoid of light, his expression terrifying.
Lin Xun was backed against the wall. If he were cornered, it would be the end!
In the two seconds before Jiang Lian could reach him, he quickly scanned his surroundings and grabbed a Cherry keyboard from the bedside table.
It was the only somewhat lethal object he could get his hands on.
A gust of wind rushed toward him. In an instant, Jiang Lian was right in front of him!
Lin Xun swiftly used the Light Body Technique to slide to the left, but before he could move halfway, he suddenly felt his movements becoming sluggish.
He quickly realized that the virus program must have started attacking him, hindering the operation of the Light Body Technique!
But he still had the keyboard in hand.
In the next moment, instead of moving left, he exerted force and leaped upward, pushing through the sluggish pressure!
As his vision rose, the moment he saw the top of Jiang Lian's head, he slammed the sharp edge of the keyboard down onto it!
A clattering sound followed as several keycaps fell off, but it also proved the force with which the keyboard had struck Jiang Lian's skull.
Lin Xun's palms were tingling from the impact. He pursed his lips and struck again!
This time, Jiang Lian collapsed.
The Light Body Technique's effect faded, and Lin Xun dropped back to the ground, panting heavily.
He clutched the keyboard tightly, his fingers aching from the pressure.
Lin Xun didn't have many hobbies, but he did enjoy buying keyboards. He also had a peculiar preference—he felt plastic keyboards were too frivolous.
So, this keyboard—it had a metal chassis, heavy and sturdy enough that it could probably knock someone unconscious.
The knocking on the door grew frantic, and Jia Gou shouted from outside, "What's going on with you two?"
The next moment, he and Wang Anquan barged in.
"...Holy shit," Wang Anquan gasped, taking a sharp breath. "This is too much, Algorithm, what happened?"
Lin Xun had just caught his breath, his voice slightly hoarse. "Your jump rope? Bring it here."
Two months ago, Wang Anquan had bought a bunch of fitness equipment to lose weight, and the seller had thrown in two jump ropes as a freebie.
Lin Xun took them, pulled a thin blanket off the bed, wrapped Jiang Lian up entirely, and tightly bound him with the two jump ropes, turning him into a human dumpling before tying a firm knot. Only then did he let out a sigh of relief.
"Is this... murder, robbery, or kidnapping?" Wang Anquan glanced at him. "What on earth happened?"
"Hard to explain," Lin Xun said, looking at Jiang Lian lying stiffly on the floor like a corpse. Suddenly, panic set in. "Don't let him die."
—After all, this was a society governed by law.
...Zhao Jiagou felt the man's neck. "It's warm."
Wang Anquan checked his breathing. "He's alive."
"His head is bleeding," Jia Gou said. "What did you hit him with?"
Lin Xun: "The keyboard."
Jia Gou: "..."
Lin Xun explained, "He suddenly tried to attack me. I don't know why."
Wang Anquan: "And you fought back?"
Lin Xun nodded. "What do we do now? Call an ambulance?"
—He had no idea where he'd found the strength for those two strikes, as if some divine force had aided him.
Was this the result of cultivation?
Wang Anquan said, "Congratulations, Boss Lin. Our company is about to go bankrupt from a lawsuit over a brawl."
Lin Xun rubbed his temples. "No, we can't call an ambulance."
He picked up his phone, scanned through his contacts, paused for two seconds on Dong Jun's number, then scrolled down and dialed Old Man Huo.
Jiang Lian had code on him, and Lin Xun's intuition told him this wasn't simple. Based on his limited experience, code = cultivation.
The call connected, and Old Man Huo's voice came through. "Disciple, are you looking for your master? Have you grasped the spiritual energy of heaven and earth?"
Lin Xun's voice was still weak. "Master, can you come over?"
"What's the matter?"
"I... I knocked someone out. He attacked first." Lin Xun added, "This person doesn't seem ordinary, like... one of us."
"Take a picture of this person's appearance and send it to me."
Lin Xun agreed and recorded a video to send to Old Man Huo.
"Haven't seen him before, not from the Immortal Sect," Old Man Huo said. "Good disciple, don't move. Your master is on his way."
Lin Xun: "Okay, thank you, Master."
Hanging up the phone, Lin Xun met the gazes of Wang Anquan and Zhao Jiagou.
"Xun'er, tell your brother," Wang Anquan said, his expression worried and grave. "What kind of cult have you gotten into with Old Man Huo? We can't break the law."
Lin Xun: "..."