Chosen: Beyond Fate

“No matter what,” Ye Xian said as she turned to Ji Jue, accidentally interrupting Duan Mu, “You acted on your own and caused a huge mess. You started the fight. As your teacher, I can’t just let this slide, at least for the Association’s sake. Don’t even think about getting involved in any other work. Starting today, you’re going to the Recycling and Processing Department.”

Under everyone’s shocked gazes, Ye Xian declared decisively, “Don’t come back until you have processed four batches.”

The atmosphere in the room grew heavy again, so tense that someone was heard audibly gulping.

Everyone stared at Ye Xian, their horror giving way to confusion and disbelief. The other victims, who had been ready to keep wailing, immediately shut their mouths when they heard this. Not a single person dared make another sound.

Ji Jue looked utterly confused. “What’s the Recycling Department?”

Professor Ye glanced at Ji Jue coldly. “The sealing of Spring City is a matter of great importance. Over the years, the craftsmen of the Security Bureau and the Association have worked together to produce a batch of isolation facilities to supply the ongoing consumption.

“After these facilities are used, in order to prevent these alchemical works that have absorbed aberrant contamination from circulating outside and causing destruction, they must be recovered and dismantled by craftsmen. The Recycling Department is the place responsible for handling this work. Now do you understand?”

For a Chosen One, working for long periods in a place filled with aberrant contamination was practically the same as an ordinary person spending every day in a high-radiation environment. They were risking their lives.

Besides, while they were called isolation facilities, the way these alchemical works actually isolated anything was by absorbing the aberration contamination leaking out of Spring City into themselves.

To ensure that they could operate stably for long periods of time, almost all of them had been painstakingly created by craftsmen using the highest-grade materials. And precisely because of that, the contamination contained within them was likely even more terrifying than the contamination found in the environment inside Spring City.

Even with the strictest protective measures in place, and even with the help of the Dissociation Technique, dealing with four full batches would still cost someone half their life. If anything went wrong and they got contaminated, they would probably be going straight to the ICU.

Such a brutal and ruthless punishment made even Master Duan, who had just stepped forward to play peacemaker, feel a chill run down his spine. Everyone else was also horrified at Ye Xian’s decision.

What the hell? This was her student, not some random kid she had picked up off the street. If he really were some worthless apprentice made from scraps, why would she keep him by her side? And how could he have taken down more than a dozen people as easily as chopping vegetables? Why was she handling his punishment like he was her sworn enemy?

After more than ten or twenty years, everyone had thought Ye Xian had finally started mellowing up and controlling her temper. But as it turned out, this crazy woman was still genuinely ruthless. She was ruthless to others, ruthless to herself, and even more damn ruthless to her students.

And yet, after hearing his punishment and realizing what the consequences were, Ji Jue did not say a single word in protest. He merely nodded and said calmly, “I understand.”

He looked completely unfazed, as if this didn’t rattle him at all. Unfortunately, the slight twitch in his face and the tremor he could not quite keep out of his voice gave him away. Some of the people who had been demanding harsh punishment began to feel a little sorry for him.

But Ye Xian did not give them any chance to speak up. She simply turned back and asked, “Well, everyone? Are you satisfied with how I handled this?”

Several times, Master Duan looked as if he wanted to say something, only to stop himself. In the end, he could only shake his head. “There’s really no need to be so harsh...”

Ye Xian sneered.

“Then what should I do? Scold him a couple of times, make a big show of raising the rod, then set it down gently? I can’t do that. If other apprentices can do it, then my apprentice can do it too. I don’t need you all sticking your noses where they don’t belong just to show off how kind-hearted you are. Now, I’ve dealt with Ji Jue!” With her hands clasped behind her back, she glanced coldly at the awkward-looking craftsmen and added, “As for what happens next, that will depend on all of you!”

What happens next? What, do they think that we’d just leave it at that? Dream on!

Ji Jue, the one who had supposedly only fought back after being pushed too far, had nearly been condemned to a death sentence by his own teacher. What about the bullies? What, were they going to give themselves a slap on the wrist and call it even?

Never mind what others would think later. Right now, Master Duan, who had been pushed forward to act as the peacemaker, would be the first to hold them accountable.

But they could not kill them, and no one really wanted to beat them too badly either. So what were they supposed to do?

As everyone exchanged looks, they all turned toward the middle-aged craftsman who had been angrily denouncing Ji Jue just moments ago, as well as the female apprentice in his arms. She had closed her eyes, pretending to be dead.

You two started this whole thing. You go first!

The craftsman’s face twitched. Several times he wanted to speak, but under all those gazes, he ultimately lowered his head helplessly. Looking at his terrified student, he gritted his teeth and forced the words out.

“You started the trouble, slandered a master, and caused such a huge mess. From today onward...”

Just as he was about to continue, a voice came from not far away. It was Ji Jue’s. Seemingly emotional, he told the man, “Professor, that bracelet of hers looks pretty nice.”

Ye Xian glanced at him as if she understood what he meant. Then she nodded regretfully and said, “Yes. It does look pretty nice.”

The craftsman’s eyes lit up, and inspiration struck him. He threw the student in his arms onto the floor, then, ignoring her struggles, yanked the bracelet straight off her wrist. He bent over and hurried over, forcing a smile despite everyone’s astonished looks. “It’s only a small gift, nothing worth mentioning. Please consider it compensation for the offense you suffered earlier, Mr. Ji.”

“Huh?” Ji Jue looked shocked, his eyes widening. “Is that really all right?”

“It is, of course.” The craftsman’s face twisted as if his heart was bleeding, but he still smiled tensely and stuffed the bracelet into Ji Jue’s pocket.

Ji Jue sighed and waved his hand, as if trying to refuse. “Oh, come on, that’s not what I meant.”

“I know, I know. It’s just a small token of apology!”

“Oh↑! Hmmm↓... Really↑[1]?” Ji Jue made a token attempt to refuse, but in the end, under the craftsman’s intense insistence, he was “forced” to accept the Blessed Creation as an apology. All he could do was sigh softly. “Well, all right then. You’re too kind.”

Seeing that Ji Jue was willing to let the matter go, the craftsman no longer had the luxury of feeling heartbroken over the whole deal. He grabbed his student by the hair and rushed straight to the infirmary. If he delayed any longer, he was afraid he might beat her to death on the way there.

After that, everything naturally fell into place.

Ji Jue said, “That ring looks pretty decent too.”

Ye Xian nodded. “Indeed.”

“The gloves are nothing special, but there are two of them, so I guess they’ll do.”

“Then we’ll make do with them. The earrings are decent, though. Add another material of the same grade, and that should be about right.”

“This one doesn’t seem quite good enough.”

“Then...”

“Wait!” The craftsman’s face twisted as he gritted his teeth. Left with no other choice, he yanked the bangle off his wrist and presented it with both hands.

Ye Xian ignored him completely, as if she couldn’t even see him. Only when he turned and offered it to Ji Jue did she finally acknowledge it.

Ji Jue reluctantly opened his second pocket with a sigh, signaling for the craftsman to stuff it in.

Mind you, he had not asked for this.

And just like that, as all the masters bore witness, what had started as a brutal punishment turned into officially sanctioned extortion. After those ignorant fools took their beating, they still had to strip off their valuable items as they sobbed. Only after paying their ransom did they get carried onto stretchers, their cries weak and breathless, as if they were barely clinging to life.

The worst part was that Ye Xian was as sharp-eyed as a hawk. Ordinary stuff could not fool her at all. Every price she named landed almost exactly at the upper limit of what those craftsmen could accept.

Better to take the loss and be done with it. If they tried to wriggle out of it, she would only make it hurt even more.

1. The author literally included the arrows in the raw text “哎↑哎呀↓哎↑” to show the shifts in Ji Jue’s tone as he says the words. I thought it was funny, so I wanted to preserve that effect in the English version too. ☜