The Strange Data Sheet

Around the turn of the millennium, an old Taoist priest with patched clothes went door to door, cradling a baby and humming an unfamiliar nursery rhyme as he begged for milk. Sheep’s milk, dog’s milk, cow’s milk: he’d take anything a baby could drink. He wouldn’t take it for free, either. In return, he’d give you a household-protection talisman or read your feng shui as a token of thanks! The old Taoist’s surname was Zhang, and he was already over ninety. Those who knew him called him Master Zhang. He looked only about fifty, with an unremarkable face and thick, dark hair whose texture was much like that of a young man in his teens or twenties. In his left hand he held a horsetail whisk made from horsehair, its whole length gleaming a deep black. Who knew how the old Taoist kept it in such good condition? The child in his arms was a boy the old Taoist had found by the river. Two foxes had been keeping watch beside him. After witnessing this astonishing sight, the old Taoist pondered for a moment, then decided to take the child as his successor and carry on his lineage. The child took the old Taoist’s surname, Zhang, and was named Zhang Sanjiao. He is the protagonist of this book...