Li Qinghua stood at the bottom of the library steps, studying the building like it might be a trap.

  The structure offended her. Sharp angles, no sense of flow or harmony. In a proper building, the entrance would face south, the proportions would follow feng shui principles. This thing squatted on its corner like a box someone had dropped and never bothered to pick up.

  Traditional silk jacket, gray hair in a bun, an old walking stick clutched in both hands. She looked like she'd stepped out of a photograph from fifty years ago and hadn't bothered to update her wardrobe since.

  "So just to be clear," Henry whispered. "We're teaching a sixty-year-old Chinese lady how to use the internet."

  "To look at a martial arts forum," Daniel added.

  "Do you think she'll be okay? I mean, the internet isn't exactly..." Henry searched for the right word. "Polite."

  Daniel thought about some of the arguments he'd skimmed past. ShaolinOrBust calling everyone idiots. Flame wars about whether qi was real. People accusing each other of being fake accounts.

  "She should be okay?"

  It came out as a question.

  A young woman hurried past them up the steps, nearly clipping Li Qinghua with an oversized backpack. Didn't apologize. Didn't even notice.

  Li Qinghua watched her disappear through the glass doors.

  "Americans," she muttered.

  She poked the concrete steps with her walking stick, testing for weak spots that weren't there.

  "This is where you learned?" she asked in Cantonese. "This building?"

  "Yeah. Public computers with internet access. Anyone can use them."

  She looked at the building one more time. Nodded to herself. Started up the steps.

  Inside, Daniel led her past the front desk, past the stacks of books she barely glanced at, to the row of computer terminals against the back wall. He chose one in the corner, away from the other patrons. Pulled out a chair for her.

  The machine hummed to life. Windows 95 loading screen casting pale blue light across her face. She watched the progress bar crawl across the screen with the expression of someone witnessing either a miracle or an abomination.

  "Remarkable," she murmured.

  Daniel opened Netscape Navigator. The browser loaded. He typed in the forum address. The page rendered line by line, text appearing in chunks as the modem struggled with the connection.

  "This is a forum," Daniel explained. "People discuss martial arts from all over the world. Anyone can post. Anyone can read."

  Thread titles filled the screen:

  Bagua Circle Walking - Footwork Principles - 89 replies

  Crossing Rivers on a Reed (Lightness Skill) - 134 replies

  Iron Palm Training Methods - Debate Thread - 267 replies

  Li Qinghua leaned forward. "So many discussions." She pointed at the second thread. "They are discussing Bodhidharma's lightness skill? The founder of Shaolin martial arts?"

  She tapped her finger.

  "The story goes that he crossed the Yangtze River standing on a single reed. Before him, Shaolin was just an ordinary monastery with no martial arts."

  She clicked the thread. The mouse felt awkward in her hand, like she was holding a small animal she didn't quite trust.

  She read silently. Her expression shifted as she scrolled. Curious at first. Then confused. Then frustrated, her brow furrowing deeper with each post.

  "How do you know which of these people actually know anything?" She gestured at the screen. "This one claims their teacher walked up a seventy-degree incline. This one says it's all leg strength and physics. This one talks about manipulating gravity itself." She looked at Daniel. "Who is correct? Who is lying? Who is simply confused?"

  "You don't know," Daniel said. "That's the thing. No one really knows who's right."

  Henry chimed in. "Yeah, that's what we've been trying to figure out."

  She read more. Her posture shifted slightly, a reluctant nod of acknowledgment.

  Then she clicked to another thread.

  Iron Palm in 30 Days - My Training Log

  Li Qinghua's eyes widened.

  "This person will cripple himself. One thousand strikes every day on iron sand?" She stared at the screen. "Does he think his hands are made of steel?"

  The replies were all encouraging. Dozens of posts praising the dedication, offering tips, sharing their own training logs.

  She scrolled down to the most recent update.

  From:

  Day 14 update: Hands are pretty sore but that's normal right? The calluses are forming nicely. Bumped it up to 1,500 strikes today to speed up progress.

  Some bruising but nothing serious. Pain is just weakness leaving the body.

  Also started adding salt to the hot iron sand for extra intensity. The burning sensation should speed up the conditioning process.

  Li Qinghua's frown deepened. "Salt. He is adding salt because it burns?"

  Long pause.

  "How do I respond to this?"

  Daniel showed her the reply field. "You need an account first. Here, let me set one up for you."

  He created the account quickly. Username, password, email address borrowed from a free Geocities page.

  "Okay. You can type here." He pointed to the text box.

  She positioned her fingers over the keyboard.

  One finger. Her right index finger, hovering over the keys like a bird of prey selecting its target. She squinted at the letters, mouthing each one before striking.

  Daniel watched her stab at the keys. One letter at a time. Index finger coming down like a hammer on each keystroke.

  This is going to take forever.

  He glanced at Henry, who was biting his knuckle to keep from laughing. Shaking his head slowly.

  The librarian walked past their section, glanced over at the old Chinese woman hunting and pecking at a keyboard, and kept walking.

  Daniel checked the clock on the wall. Two minutes had passed. Li Qinghua had written maybe ten words.

  C-l-e-a-r. Backspace. Backspace. C-l-e-a-r. Another backspace.

  "Is she spelling it out loud?" Henry whispered.

  Daniel listened. Yeah. She was definitely mouthing each word before typing it. Sometimes twice.

  Five minutes later:

  From:

  This training method will cause permanent damage. One thousand strikes every day will destroy the bones in your hands.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Salt does not speed conditioning. It increases tissue damage and burns the skin. Please stop before you hurt yourself.

  Not bad. Pretty restrained, actually.

  "How do I send this?"

  "That button." Daniel pointed.

  She clicked. The page refreshed. Her reply appeared at the bottom of the thread.

  She sat back. Satisfied.

  Daniel exhaled. That went fine. He'd been worried she might get into arguments with people, start calling them idiots, cause a scene. But so far she was doing okay.

  The page refreshed again. Another reply had appeared.

  From:

  @ClearHarmony - I'm trying to do the circulation exercise correctly for a White Crane technique, but I don't understand meridians.

  The guide says I need to use Large Intestine 4 for hand techniques. But I'm looking at my chart and the large intestine should be in my lower abdomen, right? I've been trying to circulate qi there but the technique still isn't working.

  Li Qinghua leaned forward, reading carefully.

  Daniel leaned over to read too. The large intestine in his abdomen? That didn't sound right.

  She started typing. Still one finger at a time. Still painfully slow. But focused now, patient, genuinely trying to help this confused stranger.

  From:

  @WanderingTofu - Large Intestine 4 is not in your abdomen. It is on the hand, between the thumb and index finger. The Large Intestine Meridian is named for the organ system it governs, not where all the points are located.

  For hand techniques, you circulate through the hand, not your lower abdomen.

  Send. Refresh.

  From:

  @ClearHarmony - Thanks for the concern, but my hands are getting stronger every day. I can already break through thicker boards than before.

  Also started ice baths after training to speed up recovery. The cold really helps with the swelling.

  Li Qinghua shook her head slowly.

  She started typing again. Still slow, still careful, but there was an edge to it now. The keys clicked harder.

  From:

  @IronPalm44 - Ice constricts blood flow. Salt burns tissue. It does not make skin tougher. It destroys it. Stop. You are not doing it right.

  Refresh.

  From:

  @ClearHarmony - Wait, so the Large Intestine meridian goes through my HAND? But my intestines are in my abdomen. Does that mean my hand is connected to my intestines?

  Also, I've been standing on one leg for three hours a day to understand crane balance for the White Crane style. Should I practice near water since cranes live near water?

  Li Qinghua stopped typing.

  Read the post again.

  "Standing on one leg?" she said slowly. "Practicing by the water?"

  She looked at Daniel. "Why would he... what does practicing by the water have to do with White Crane techniques?"

  Daniel leaned closer, reading the post again.

  Wait, what?

  "Standing on one leg?" he muttered.

  Henry looked over Daniel's shoulder. "Is he trying to..."

  "I think he's trying to become an actual crane."

  Daniel thought back to his own posts. The guide he'd written about Tiger Claw.

  When I understood what a hungry tiger actually DOES, when I embodied that principle rather than copying positions from a diagram, my body naturally expressed the technique.

  Oh no.

  "I told people that the name of the technique helps you figure out how to do it," Daniel said weakly. "That you should understand the animal's nature."

  "You didn't mean literally become a bird though," Henry said.

  "I know that. But does he?"

  Li Qinghua looked between them, sensing something had shifted.

  She turned back to the screen.

  Typed her response. Still controlled, but Daniel could see the confusion in her expression. The disbelief.

  From:

  @WanderingTofu - Yes. It runs from the index finger, up the arm, to the face and nose.

  You do not need to stand on one leg. You do not need to practice near water. White Crane is a martial art style, not instructions to become a bird.

  Refresh.

  From:

  @ClearHarmony - Oh, so you're saying I need warmth for circulation? Perfect. I've been soaking my hands in boiling water after training. I can barely stand it but that means it's working.

  Li Qinghua's jaw tightened. She exhaled slowly through her nose.

  Daniel and Henry exchanged glances. This wasn't going well.

  From:

  @IronPalm44 - NO. Not scalding hot. Warm. Gentle heat. You are burning damaged tissue on top of being injured.

  The period key clicked louder than the others.

  Henry was starting to grin now.

  Daniel elbowed him. "Don't."

  Refresh.

  From:

  @ClearHarmony - The Large Intestine meridian goes to my NOSE?

  So if I have digestion problems, I should massage my nose? And if my nose is stuffed, I should... massage my finger?

  Also I tried eating fish yesterday (raw, like cranes do) to understand what they experience. Didn't feel any different. Does diet affect qi circulation?

  Li Qinghua stared at the screen.

  "He ate fish," she said. Her voice had gone flat. "He ate raw fish. To understand cranes."

  She repeated it, like saying it again would make it make sense. "Raw fish. To understand cranes."

  Her fingers hovered over the keyboard.

  Daniel put his palm to his face.

  Henry started laughing. Quietly at first, shoulders shaking.

  Li Qinghua didn't look at them. Just stared at the screen. When she started typing, her finger came down harder on each key. Deliberate. Sharp.

  From:

  @WanderingTofu - Treatment depends on the flow of qi. You cannot simply massage one point for any problem.

  Stop eating raw fish. Stop standing on one leg. You are not a crane. This is not how martial arts work.

  Refresh.

  From:

  @ClearHarmony - Oh! Are the other meridians like this too? Where does the Bladder meridian go?

  But if I don't eat fish, how can I know how naturally the Crane attacks its prey? The flapping arm movements during strikes still feel awkward. Should I be moving my arms more? Less? How do cranes actually strike?

  Li Qinghua's eye twitched.

  She typed without looking at Daniel or Henry. The keys clicked louder with each word. Deliberate. Sharp. Percussive.

  From:

  @WanderingTofu - The Bladder Meridian starts at the inner corner of the eye, goes over the head, down the back, to the little toe.

  White Crane techniques do not involve flapping your arms like a bird. Stop this immediately.

  Refresh.

  From:

  @ClearHarmony - Wait. The Bladder meridian starts at my EYE? And goes to my TOE? But my chart shows the bladder near my stomach?

  And the Large Intestine goes to my nose but not my intestines?

  None of this matches. How does any of this make sense?

  Li Qinghua stared at the screen. Her hands rested on the keyboard. She didn't type.

  Daniel watched her shoulders rise. Fall. Rise again.

  Her breathing had changed. Shorter. Sharper.

  "What chart," she said quietly, "is he looking at?"

  She clicked the reply field. Each click of the mouse more forceful than necessary.

  From:

  @WanderingTofu - What meridian chart are you using?

  Refresh.

  Daniel held his breath.

  The reply came quickly. Too quickly.

  From:

  @ClearHarmony - My 9th grade biology textbook. It has diagrams of all the organs and the circulatory system.

  Is that not right?

  Silence.

  Complete silence.

  Li Qinghua's hands went still on the keyboard.

  She read the message. Read it again.

  "Biology textbook," she said. Her voice was very, very quiet. "He is using an English biology textbook to understand Chinese medicine."

  Her eyes went wide.

  "This is an idiot!"

  Her voice cracked through the quiet library like a gunshot.

  "I have heard of three times dumb, but never have I seen someone so stupid that even common sense avoids him!"

  Daniel and Henry started laughing. They couldn't help it.

  Three people at other terminals looked over. The librarian's head snapped up from her desk.

  Li Qinghua's fist raised off the desk. Drew back. Aimed at the monitor.

  Daniel grabbed her wrist. "That's library property."

  Her fist trembled in the air. Breathing shallow. Fast.

  Qinghua. Your temper again.

  Her brother's voice. After all these years, still clear as temple bells. The gentle disappointment that cut deeper than any rebuke.

  You cannot teach by shouting. You cannot heal by breaking.

  She froze.

  He'd said that to her once, decades ago, after she'd thrown a teacup at a person who couldn't grasp a simple principle. The cup had shattered against the wall. The person had fled. Her brother had looked at her with those calm eyes and said nothing else.

  She'd swept up the pieces herself. Never threw anything again.

  Henry had stopped laughing. His eyes were wide.

  More people looking over now. The librarian stood up from her desk, frowning.

  Daniel held Li Qinghua's wrist. Felt the tension there. The genuine urge to violence against an innocent CRT monitor.

  "Library property," he said again, quieter. "Expensive library property."

  Slowly, she lowered her hand.

  Set it on the desk.

  Long pause.

  Then she started laughing.

  Quiet at first. Then louder. The kind of laughter that came from somewhere deep, from absurdity piled on absurdity until it broke something loose.

  The other library patrons looked away, deciding this wasn't their problem.

  The librarian hesitated, then sat back down at her desk.

  Daniel let go of her wrist and exhaled.

  "Are you okay?" Henry asked.

  "I am arguing with strangers. Like a child." She sat back in the chair, wiping her eyes. "About to punch a computer. Over someone eating fish."

  Silence.

  Daniel and Henry exchanged looks.

  Henry was trying not to grin. Failing.

  "Something funny?" Li Qinghua asked, looking at him.

  "No ma'am," Henry said quickly, straightening his face.

  "Damn this." She gestured at the screen. "THIS is what you are learning from?"

  She stood abruptly.

  "When you came to my shop. When you showed me qi." She gestured at the screen with something like betrayal. "I thought you must have found a true master. Someone in hiding, preserving the old knowledge."

  She laughed. Sharp. Bitter.

  "Or maybe you had met the second coming of Bodhidharma himself. That would have explained it. How you learned all this from nothing."

  She turned to face Daniel fully.

  "That's why I didn't ask more questions at first. Who was I to tell you anything if you already knew the way?" She gestured at the screen again. "But this?"

  Her voice rose.

  "This is nothing but a bunch of idiots talking to each other. 以其昏昏使人昭昭. Being confused yourself yet trying to enlighten others. Every single one of them."

  She paced to the window. Back again.

  "How did you learn ANYTHING from this nonsense? How?" Her voice was rising again. "This idiot Tofu is standing on one leg, flapping his arms, trying to eat fish like a crane. Can't even tell a biology textbook from a meridian chart."

  A few people looked over again.

  Daniel made a "lower your voice" gesture.

  She ignored him.

  "And IronPalm is scalding his hands with salt and boiling water. Why not just cut off his hands and slap himself with the stumps!"

  "Okay," Daniel said. "Maybe we should..."

  She looked at Daniel directly. Eyes sharp. Decision made.

  "I'll show these idiots," she muttered in Cantonese, still glaring at the screen. "I'll show all of them what it should look like."

  She started toward the exit, then paused. Looked back at the computer one more time, like she wanted to make sure it knew she was leaving.

  Then she turned to Daniel.

  "Come. We're leaving." Her voice was different now. Certain. "You wanted me to teach you something? Fine. I'll teach you."

  Henry snorted. Covered it with a cough.

  Daniel stared at her. "So you are a master?"

  "No, I'm not. Shut up. Let's go."