Chosen: Beyond Fate

By the end of this whole deal, the victims were practically fighting to hand over ransom. How ridiculous.

Off to the side, Zhou Zhong’s face turned more and more grim. When it was finally his turn, he simply let out a cold laugh. He had no intention of lowering his head. He simply waved a hand and tapped his cane against Zhou Cheng’s dislocated jaw as he lay on the floor. “How dare this ignorant idiot offend Professor Ye’s prized student? Since Ji Jue was kind enough to spare his life, there’s no need to show any mercy. Just beat him to death.”

“All right.” Ji Jue nodded and pulled out his handgun. Without the slightest hesitation, he pulled the trigger. He did not even give Zhou Zhong a chance to bargain.

When Zhou Zhong remembered that the gun chamber was still loaded with that damn Corruption Bullet he had seen with his own eyes, he could no longer keep his composure and frowned. On instinct, he reached out.

“Wait!” In his panic, he did not dare hold back. He forcefully interfered with space, freezing the air around Zhou Cheng.

Unfortunately, nothing happened. The trigger had been pulled, but there was no gunshot. No bullet flew out either.

“Hm? That’s strange. What’s going on?” Ji Jue looked baffled. He picked up the gun, brought the muzzle up in front of his eyes, and pulled the trigger several times before finally looking as if he had realized something. “Oh no. Looks like the primer got damp.”

He ejected the loaded Corruption Bullet.

Zhou Zhong let out a breath of relief. He was so relieved that he couldn’t even bring himself to care about the fact that Ji Jue had just toyed with him and made him look like a fool. Just as he was about to speak, a sudden bang rang out without warning.

A flash of muzzle fire burst out. Zhou Cheng, who had been lying on the ground playing dead, screamed as he clutched one of his legs.

Ji Jue froze and looked down at the gun in his hand. His finger clearly had not been on the trigger.

“Ah! It went off by accident!” he cried out in shock, angrily slapping the gun in his hand. “I didn’t know this piece of junk fires on a delay! It’s going to get me killed one day!”

Off to the side, Zhou Zhong could neither lose his temper nor swallow it down. His face slowly settled into the blank look of a man who had given up on life. He stared at Ji Jue for a long time before letting out a soft sigh. “What an excellent apprentice.”

“Thank you for the praise,” Ji Jue said, not backing down in the slightest. He simply nodded. “I’ll keep working hard.”

Zhou Zhong said nothing more. He pointed at his grandson, who was lying on the floor half-dead and screeching, signaling for the others to drag him up. Then he turned and left with his people.

Ji Jue watched them go and could not help but sigh. “A master really is something else. Not even a token apology, huh?”

Beside him, Ye Xian flicked her hand and tossed the Heart-Poison Arrow Zhou Zhong had left behind into Ji Jue’s arms. She told him to keep it safe. From now on, that thing belonged to Ji Jue.

And just like that, she gave the others a slight nod, then turned and left as well.

Ji Jue followed behind her all the way back to her residence. After the door was closed, he looked at Professor Ye, who had picked up her teacup with a blank expression.

“Since I stirred things up like that, will it affect your work here?” he asked, laughing awkwardly. He was slightly nervous.

Ye Xian did not seem to care at all. “It will. But that works out nicely. Saves me from having to say anything unpleasant. If I really wanted to avoid trouble, I wouldn’t have brought you here in the first place. A trivial matter like this is still well within what I can handle.”

This counted as a trivial matter?

Ji Jue felt that if he had used just a bit more force earlier, he could have practically massacred the entire Taiyi Association[1] in broad daylight. Yet in his teacher’s eyes, that still did not count as a big deal? Then what counted as a big deal? Killing a master?

Ji Jue did not get it, but he was definitely shocked.

Even so, he didn’t forget his manners. Obediently, he placed the two large bags he had been carrying on the table. After picking through them and choosing a few pieces of defensive equipment he could use for now, he turned over the rest. He would not be able to use that much anyway.

Ye Xian tossed the bags right back at him. She set down her teacup without a care. “Deal with them yourself. What, do you take my place as a junkyard? What did you learn from what happened today?”

“Uh...” Ji Jue was stumped. After thinking for a long while, he tentatively asked, “Always seize the initiative? Never tolerate provocation? Or... convince people with reason?”

Surely the lesson was not to beat everyone on sight, and if they refused to kneel, beat them until they did, right?

Ye Xian’s eyes, however, took on a contemptuous look one would give an idiot. “If reason worked, what would we need alchemy for? Don’t hold on to too many fantasies. The Association is the most realistic place there is, even more so than the Wasteland Assembly. It’s just that everyone pretends to be civilized so well that they’ve even started believing it themselves.”

Survival of the fittest and the law of the jungle were the principles of White Deer. The capable rising to the top and the accomplished taking precedence were likewise the principles of Ember. One simply displayed itself through power, while the other focused more on knowledge and talent. At their core, there was no difference at all. If you were capable, you got to call the shots. If you weren’t, you knelt and kept your mouth shut. It was that simple.

For years, Ye Xian had done whatever she wanted, and everyone found her a nightmare to deal with. Was that not simply because she was stronger than everyone else, and more thoroughly aligned with the Ember than everyone else?

For all these years, if the higher-ups within the Association had to name the person most likely to become the next grandmaster of the age, Ye Xian would absolutely be near the very top of that list. There weren’t many people who could compete with her for first place.

“The only thing you should learn is this: don’t become that kind of person. No matter how much the weak complain, they’re still just clowns. Only when you’re strong enough that no one else dares to point fingers at you will you have the right to walk your own path.” Ye Xian paused, offering a self-mocking smile. “I only learned that lesson at twenty-five. You’re better than I was.”

Ji Jue wanted to say something, but she waved a hand and cut him off. Maybe she was too lazy to listen to him humbly downplay himself or flatter her. Or maybe she simply did not care whether he wanted to argue. “All right, get lost and go do your work!”

After being Ji Jue’s teacher for this long, if Ye Xian still had not noticed that his ability grew by dismantling equipment, she might as well gouge out her own eyes and step on them for fun. There were plenty of things she simply could not be bothered to say.

He had beaten people up and taken their possessions. And as a matter of course, she had tossed this little mouse straight into a rice jar, giving him a deluxe buffet to feast on.

Ye Xian’s fists tightened. How the hell did you end up getting all these great things, kid? And he ran off so fast too! Should I call him back and give him a beating?

***

At the outpost, on the top floor of the silent office building...

In the office of Haizhou’s governor, the secretary bent down, picked up the documents the old man had accidentally dropped on the floor, and placed them back on the desk. Then he took out a handkerchief and carefully wiped the drool from the corner of the old man’s mouth.

“I thought I heard some rumbling just now,” he said. “I hope nothing happened.”

“It’s nothing... really...” Mr. Tao leaned back in his reclining chair. “It’s just... trivial stuff...”

And yet, for some reason, the corner of his mouth curved upward ever so slightly, as if he were pleased with something.

1. (Note: The author writes 太一协会 (Taiyi Assocation) here, not 太一之环 (Taiyi Ring).) ☜