Chosen: Beyond Fate

“As a scout or lookout, it’s actually quite useful. And if you run into traps or mechanisms occasionally, you can use it to test the way ahead.” Professor Ye handed the bell over. “It also happens to be good practice for your Spirit Morph.”

“I wanna try! Let me try it out!” Ji Jue’s eyes were practically sparkling. The moment he took the bell, he started shaking it enthusiastically. As spirit matter flowed through it, tiny specks of light started gathering.

The consumption of spirit matter was extremely low. The results were not perfect, but it was better than nothing. Very quickly, a sludge-like monster appeared atop the table, writhing wildly while constantly emitting loud popping noises.

In the end, it exploded on its own.

Professor Ye was silent for a long while before nodding. “It seems remarkably effective as a method of distracting the enemy.”

Ji Jue wiped away sweat and laughed awkwardly. He didn’t dare admit that he had intended to make a little rabbit.

The principles and operation of Spirit Morph were completely different from Physical Morph, so he needed some time to adapt. After only two or three attempts, he had already grasped the trick. Soon, a vividly lifelike spirit creature appeared on the table.

Sixteen long, slender legs gleamed with a metallic silver sheen, while the many differently sized eyes on its head sent chills down one’s spine. Thanks to Ji Jue’s “exquisite” mastery of bionics and biology, a spider-like creature crawled back and forth across the table. Under Ji Jue’s control, it climbed onto the ceiling and began chasing Gloria around to play.

After waiting all that time only to see Ji Jue create... that, even Professor Ye was left speechless. Faced with Ji Jue’s eager, praise-seeking gaze, she fell silent for a long while before sighing. “From an engineering perspective, insectoid designs really are the optimal solution.”

“Mhm, that’s exactly what I think too!” Ji Jue grinned foolishly, shamelessly agreeing.

Ye Chun sighed. “What Auntie means is that your sense of aesthetics is probably beyond saving for the rest of your life. Can't our workshop offer a course on art and aesthetics or something? Otherwise, sooner or later, you’re going to become a stain on your educational legacy.”

Ji Jue exploded in embarrassment and anger. “What kind of nonsense is that?! How could you possibly understand the brilliance of my heaven-defying talent and peerless craftsmanship?!”

Ye Chun sighed and didn’t elaborate. She casually brushed her chest as though dusting it off, then lifted her chin proudly, displaying the badge she wasn’t even wearing. Ji Jue’s back, which had only been straightened for less than a week, bent over once more, yielding before his senior.

Ye Chun snorted and sat down arrogantly. “Go cut some fruit for me! And cook a couple extra dishes later. You’re not allowed at the table today for dinner!”

Ji Jue obediently lowered his head, wiping away imaginary tears as he prepared to head toward the kitchen, when Professor Ye said, “That won’t be necessary today.”

Ji Jue poked his head back out. “Huh? Are we eating out?”

“No. You don’t need to cook today.” Professor Ye waved her hand. “I adjusted the schedule. We’ve temporarily wrapped things up in the workshop, and we actually have a rare few days of downtime. So I may as well give you a vacation.”

“Huh?”

“Considering that you’ll probably be so busy in the near future your brain might hemorrhage, you should take this chance to rest properly.” Professor Ye picked up the newspaper without even raising her head. “You’re on vacation.”

Ji Jue stared in disbelief. At a time like this? A vacation? Rest? No way!

He had only just started grasping the basics of spirit manipulation. This was exactly the time to work hard and push forward. Why would he take a vacation now?! Was she serious?!

Considering that Professor Ye’s decisions never left any room for negotiation, Ji Jue didn’t even try to stubbornly stay behind. In the end, he could only force himself to ask, “How... long is the vacation?”

“It’s hard to say.” After pondering for a moment, Professor Ye finally replied, “If it’s short, maybe two or three days. If it’s longer, perhaps a week. There’s also some work I need to prepare for during this period. So if you don’t have anything important to do, don’t come around unless you want to get in the way.”

“Uh...”

Before Ji Jue could protest, his vision blurred. The next moment, he was sitting on Horsey's seat in the garage. The pocket watch, bell, and toolbox all dropped from the ceiling into his arms.

He had been kicked straight out of the workshop with one foot. Even after walking all the way to the street, he still hadn’t fully processed it.

A vacation? What even was a vacation? Only people useless to Ember got vacations! When had a pillar of alchemy and elite talent of Ember like himself ever taken time off?

Now that he was on vacation, what was he supposed to do?

As the rain drizzled around him, he spaced out. It suddenly hit him that it had been a long time since he’d even had a “vacation.” Back in the day, breaks just meant scrambling for part-time jobs to save money, or grinding harder than his classmates. These days, he spent every waking moment in the workshop competing against Ye Chun. Now that someone had suddenly told him to “take a vacation,” he genuinely had no idea what to do.

He scratched his head. Maybe he could go to the North Mount District to hang out with An Ran? But the moment he recalled the trauma An Ran’s sister left on him, he hesitated. Besides, the entire Security Bureau seemed impossibly busy these past few days. Going there would probably only create more trouble for them.

By the time he snapped out of his thoughts, he realized he had unconsciously wandered all the way to the marketplace near Mrs. Lu’s home.

The drizzle continued, and the market was just as noisy as ever. Beneath the enormous rain shelter of the marketplace, middle-aged women in raincoats moved through the crowds with practiced ease, skillfully weaving through the narrow aisles. Every now and then, they would squat down to inspect vegetables and meat before haggling with the vendors.

The layout was so familiar. In the past, whenever Ji Jue managed to save up a little money and had some to spare, he would come here, buy a huge pile of groceries, then haul them over to Mrs. Lu’s place to freeload a meal. Mrs. Lu never cared whether he showed up empty-handed or not. As long as he came, there would always be a bowl of rice waiting for him at the table, usually piled with the most meat and the freshest fish.

And then, while Mrs. Lu wasn’t paying attention, he would secretly pass the meat over to Lu Ling, the third child, and then the youngest child before turning around to steal meat right out of Lu Feng’s bowl.

The dinner table would immediately become lively. Unlike his home, which was always cold and silent, that house was forever lit by warm yellow light, with the soup pot perpetually steaming with heat. It felt almost too beautiful to be real, like a dream.

After all this time, the moment someone mentioned a vacation, Ji Jue unconsciously found his way back here once more. With a mix of nostalgia and emotion, he stopped hesitating, got off the vehicle, and rolled up his sleeves. It had been a while since he last visited. No way he could show up empty-handed.

The third child had just entered middle school, while the youngest was still in elementary school. Both were growing fast. As for the second, Lu Ling, she had just started university and was as thin as a reed. Everyone needed a proper boost to their nutrition.

Ji Jue immediately bought five jin of pork ribs, along with several jin of cauliflower, winged beans, tofu, romaine lettuce, and other commonly eaten vegetables. Just as he was squatting beside the fishmonger’s stall, carefully selecting fish, he heard someone call out to him incredulously.

“Ji Jue?” The youngest child, wearing an old raincoat, poked his head out from the crowd while tugging on the person behind him. “See? I told you it’s Ji Jue! You said I was seeing things!”

Ji Jue turned around and saw Lu Ling standing among the crowd, her hair damp after removing her hood, while the youngest child bounced around noisily beside her.

Ji Jue blinked in surprise. “Buying groceries? What a coincidence.”

“What do you mean ‘what a coincidence’? There’s only one market near our house.” Lu Ling sighed and skillfully took the groceries Ji Jue had already bought from his hands. “Every time you bring food over, the family ends up eating leftovers for days. Cauliflower again? Lu Feng already bought several jin of it two days ago. Our little sister’s practically on the verge of tears from eating so much. And why didn’t you buy potatoes?”

“Huh? We need potatoes?” Ji Jue asked.

“How are you supposed to stew pork ribs without potatoes?” Lu Ling sighed and nudged her brother aside. “I’ll handle it. It’s not really sea bass season lately. Ma’am, stop weighing that one, we don’t want it, your fish is practically on its last breath already. Ji Jue, let’s switch to crabs instead.”

“Eh? Oh, okay.” Ji Jue obediently stepped aside and watched Lu Ling bustle around buying everything they needed.

“We’re out of star anise and Sichuan peppercorns at home. Go buy some from the southeast side, but don’t get too much. Also grab vinegar and some salt too,” Lu Ling said.

“I wanna eat meat! Meat meat meat!” the youngest child shouted excitedly.

“Eating is all you think about. Look how chubby you’ve gotten already.” Lu Ling irritably pinched the youngest child’s cheek. “You go with Ji Jue to buy the rest of the stuff. Remember, buy it from Mrs. Cheng’s shop, got it? And get more soy sauce this time. We’re going through it pretty fast lately.”

“Okay, okay!” the youngest child puffed out his chest proudly. The moment he climbed into Ji Jue’s arms, he expertly wrapped his arms around his neck. “Ji Jue, I want popsicles!”

“With the weather like this, you want popsicles?” Ji Jue pondered. “How about sausages instead? I will buy you lots of sausages, and I’ll get some for our little sister too.”

The youngest child’s eyes lit up. “She doesn’t even eat sausages. You can just give them all to me!”

Ji Jue smiled warmly. “Then I’ll also buy you two more math workbooks. Lu Ling told me you only scored a little over sixty points on your math test this week. You made Feng so mad he nearly broke down. If you’re bad at math, just practice more!”

For a moment, the youngest child froze, and his eyes shifted around. Without the slightest warning, he burst into loud wailing on the spot. Unfortunately, he was still too young to understand that crying had absolutely no impact on the amount of homework he received. Watching him cry only made workaholics like Ji Jue even more excited.

While Ji Jue was at it, he also bought the kid a whole quarter’s worth of math classes on the Education King app. No matter how poor he was, he wouldn’t skimp on education, let alone now when he actually had money. He’d happily pay for the whole household’s workbooks and practice papers.

Just as he was wondering whether he should buy some courses for Lu Ling too, Ji Jue came back carrying bags upon bags of stuff. The three of them all had their hands full, each hand loaded with bulging packages. It was still raining outside, and Lu Ling suggested taking the bus back, but Ji Jue led them over to Horsey.

For a moment, the two stared silently at the once-again completely transformed scooter.

“Ji Jue, did our scooter somehow... change again?” Lu Ling asked.

Ji Jue turned around. “What’s wrong with it? It’s the same scooter as before!”

Lu Ling really wanted to cough up a mouthful of blood onto his face just to wash his eyes properly. Are you serious?

Back then, even when the scooter had gained an extra wheel, she could barely still recognize it. At least it still looked like a scooter. But now... what the hell had it turned into?!

Horsey twisted around excitedly, beeping away. Its four wheels wriggled back and forth on the ground, spraying water everywhere.

Yup, four wheels. If the original Horsey had merely been one of those common farm triwheeler with a cargo bed you could see anywhere on the street, then after surviving the battle at the villa and gorging itself on all kinds of supplements, Horsey had evolved once more.

Not only had the cargo bed’s capacity increased dramatically, there was now an extra row of seats behind the driver’s seat. In the blink of an eye, the little three-wheeler had turned into a pickup truck.

And yet, its transformation wasn’t exactly complete. At first glance, it looked like some illegally modified tricycle being used as an unlicensed cargo vehicle, the kind that could cram an entire kindergarten’s worth of children. It didn’t even have a license plate!

With her worldview thoroughly shattered, Lu Ling was dazed for quite a while before turning back to ask, “Wouldn’t the traffic police fine you if they caught you driving this?”

Ji Jue patted her shoulder and gave her a mysterious smile. “Relax, they won’t. The traffic police can’t catch up to it.”