Shang Cang was the 46th generation of the Shang Lineage. Ever since he was a child, he had vivid dreams that he could recall as soon as he woke up. His grandfather used to say that dreams were channels from the dantian into the spirit realm. The spirit realm was where energy and qi attained sentient life forms, granting powers to those that believed in them. The idea was fanciful and fantastic for a young boy. But like any childhood fairy tales, they were forgotten.
The dreams were simply dreams, but it was also a form of escapism. Even as Shang Cang washed the dishes, his body moved on its own as his mind wander off into a different world. He was catching up on his sleep after working his second job at the hotel. One of the hotel’s guests trashed the room and Shang Cang was left with cleaning up the aftermath.
“Cang!! We just got another complaint from the customers,” the manager Bill shouted.
Shang Cang snapped out of his hazy daydream.
“The customer said you were rude! How many times have I told you…” The manager Bill scolded Shang Cag regularly as he was the only one who didn’t talk back. The more Bill talked, the less Shang Cang was paying attention.
Shang Cang held his tongue. He didn’t want to apologize for something he didn’t commit. The customers had complained about the hair in her dinner meal after almost finishing up her meal. The hair was long, but Shang Cang didn’t think there was anyone in the staff with such long hair, and he had personally checked the food himself. The number of people who came into the restaurant to scam them wasn’t low. There were always people pretending that something was wrong with their meal. Many times there were legitimate concerns, but Shang Cang could always tell when a customer was lying.
“I said it before, if there are any complaints, just give them what they want," Manager Bill continued with his lecture. "It’s only another meal.”
“But the owner said we should only give them vouchers,” Shang Cang replied. “And she refused the voucher.”
“Of course, she would refuse, she’s an out-of-town customer!”
“No, she’s not,” Shang Cang could tell that the woman was lying through her teeth.
“How would you know? And who cares!? If she doesn’t want the voucher, you should have given her the food.”
“But it was close to closing time and there wasn’t anyone in the kitchen.”
“Just slap the food in the microwave. Most customers can’t tell the difference. Why are you making things difficult for yourself?”
Shang Cang thought back, he should have done that and then spit in her food. Damn, he was being stupid last night.
“Our restaurant rating just dropped a full star on Goggle Search!” The manager cried out as he checked his phone. “The owner is going to be upset.” Seeing Shang Cang’s dull face, the manager roared out in anger. “That’s it! I’m docking your pay.”
Shang Cang’s neck snapped up to look at Bill. “You can’t dock my pay! I’m not even making minimum wage!”
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“Why are you yelling!?” Manager Bill barked back, he didn’t expect Shang Cang, the only guy who didn’t complain about the lack of raise when the other employees did, to push back.
“I should be getting a raise!”
“You! You’re the reason the restaurant is doing poorly,” Bill spotted back. He was already scolded by the owner for not running the restaurant properly and didn’t plan to give anyone a raise. “You’re not the only one trying to scrape by!”
“Then I quit!” Shang Cang threw his shabby black uniform on the ground and walked out.
“You dumb f*****, no one is going to hire you! You’re fired!” Manager Bill screamed out as Shang Cang walked out from the back along with some racial slur.
Shang Cang walked out and immediately headed toward the hotel where he worked. But instead of heading inside, he stood by an alley across the street for a smoke. He still had three hours left before his shift.
He inhaled a cigarette to warm up his lung from the chilly early spring air and his free hand scanned through his phone to search for another job. Being a night cleaner for a hotel chain wasn’t that bad; he didn’t have to deal with people directly, only the hotel manager. However, it wasn’t enough to pay for their apartment, rent and his younger brother’s tuition.
After his father became a victim of fraud, their family had been left in ruins. His mother left them, and his father was stuck with two sons to look after. At that time, Shang Cang was fifteen and didn’t know what it was like to be poor, so he acted out a lot, hanging around with a bad crowd.
His father also fell into a state of depression and regularly abused alcohol. One evening, his father drove off the highway while drunk, leaving him disabled in a wheelchair. Shang Cang realized he only had himself to rely on. But no matter how much work he put in, there never seem to be any money left.
The cigarette shortened to the butt before Cang Shang continued on the rest of the day. After his night shift, he returned home to an apartment located in the slum. He strutted along the streets, pretending that his below-average height didn't make him appear weak. The hoodlums on the street would target him if he didn't appear tough. Once inside the apartment, he finally relaxed. He walked up the stairs to the fifth floor as the elevator was always under maintenance. The hallway on the fifth floor was quiet and the musky smell of the old brown carpet made it difficult to breathe. Shang Cang held his breath and walked to his one-bedroom unit.
Inside the living room, he could hear his father snoring from the bedroom. His little brother had already left for his high school class. He closed the curtains in the living room to shield the morning sun and crashed onto the 70s style sofa near the middle of the room. The warmth from his brother was gone, but the indentation was still there. They both shared the sofa as a bed while his father slept in the bedroom.
Tiredness quickly overtook him, and he entered a strange dream. His dreams had always been strange, but his lucidity was stronger than before and the landscape was unusually stable. He touched the rocky rainbow cliff, it was solid, and so was the dirt on the ground. There was a feeling of gravity and weight in his body, but he knew it was a dream. From his experiences, the rocky rainbow cliff had shown up before in his dreams. With some concentration, his hands could pass through the wall, confirming his suspicion. Looking ahead at the open green field in front of him, it felt like another world.
Aimlessly, Shang Cang navigated the field, walking through the tall grass. Occasionally, creatures appeared, but they ignored him as though he was a ghost. Over time, he realized some of the places his grandfather had mentioned had appeared in his dreams as landmarks. He continued his journey in his dream based on what his grandfather had told him.
“Little Shang, in order to become the true head of the Shang lineage, one must enter the trials and tribulations of ones’ soul,” his grandfather had explained. “Your father’s will is too weak, and he might not pass through the tribulation, but you still have the ability. In the Shang’s tribulation, there are three artifacts to retrieve. If you retrieve all those artifacts, the key to unlocking the power hidden in your dantian will appear.”