Chosen: Beyond Fate

“It’s good to see everyone getting along. Keep it up, and don’t forget your actual jobs.” Mr. Qian turned back for one last look at the two of them, then suddenly broke into a broad grin. “The hospital’s going to be rather busy for a while. Make sure you work hard.”

One by one, the stiff, uncanny figures disappeared into the corridor. Mr. Qian patted Ji Jue on the shoulder, leaving behind a lingering, cold aura. Ji Jue’s smile never faltered as he watched them leave.

“Don’t worry. As long as you don’t do anything in front of them, they won’t care,” Xie Lan said. “I think the only reason this turned into such a big deal is the damage to the ward. You’ll get written up or even expelled.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Ji Jue replied with a smile. “We should exchange notes sometime, Dr. Xie.”

“Forget it. I’m just a researcher.” Xie Lan shook his head. Impressed with what he just witnessed, he added, “To be able to make up your mind and strike so ruthlessly that fast... that’s honestly terrifying.”

Puzzled, Ji Jue looked over. “Is it? When you’re dealing with bad people, you should hit them as hard as you can, shouldn’t you? You’re not a bad person, are you?”

Xie Lan immediately shook his head. “I am not.”

“What a coincidence. Neither am I. I’m just a passerby fighting for justice.”

With that, he waved goodbye and disappeared into the darkness. Only then did the sneaky little mouse poke its head out from beneath Xie Lan’s collar. For some reason, it actually let out a sigh of relief.

“Damn. Is the Safety Bureau recruiting nothing but lunatics these days?”

“This has nothing to do with the Security Bureau,” Xie Lan said, staring into the direction Ji Jue had disappeared, slowly shaking his head. “That guy would be an anomaly even in Cliff City. Tell me, would you dare get involved in an election for the position of person-in-charge while you were still only at the Resonance Realm? Even the Lou family took a huge loss because of him. If someone told you he was a peace-loving, gentle, kind-hearted saint, would you believe it?”

He let out a cold laugh. “Just wait. The Heretic Cult picked the worst possible person to mess with. They’ve really gone and provoked a monster.”

***

“I’m back from messing around.”

Whistling to himself, Ji Jue returned to the office, casually carrying the ghost fetus by the scruff as though it were a dog. He patted its backside. Immediately, the creature obediently opened its mouth and spat out a small mountain of alchemical creations.

Most of them were crude and barely worth looking at. There were also a few Blessed Creations. Unfortunately, he had no idea where the Heretic Cult had dug them up from, and they were full of backdoors and nasty traps.

Some would cause the user to lose more than half their blood after a single use. Others would slowly infect the user with curses after repeated use. In the end, they all had to be destroyed and fed to Deus Ex Machina.

Still, it was enough to finally fill the 2 on the dial, leaving it just one step away from completion. With just one final push, Ji Jue, who already possessed a blessing, would naturally advance into the final stage of the Resonance Realm.

It was time to find a chance to expand the spirit matter cage. Otherwise, with the amount of spirit matter he was collecting now, the hastily made container would not be able to hold out much longer before bursting apart.

The Deus Ex Machina ability consumed a huge amount of spirit matter. Even with his reserves and Mr. Watch’s supply, Ji Jue still felt stretched thin. The more reserves he had that could be used in place of his own spirit matter to power other things, the better.

With so many materials and so much spirit matter...

Ji Jue rested his chin on his hand, studying the skull in front of him, thoughts drifting toward the various modern alchemy techniques taught by Professor Ye. He ought to be able to make another really big bomb now, shouldn’t he?

It had been a long time since he’d been this well off. Ever since entering the Time Ruin, he’d been under constant pressure, but now his mood had finally lightened.

Tong Hua, who was sorting records beside him, seemed distracted. She kept spacing out, looking unsettled.

Ji Jue glanced over in confusion. “What’s wrong? Did you find something else?”

“No, not yet. There’s just too much stuff in the archives. It’s a complete mess, and I need a little more time.” Tong Hua rubbed her temples and, after hesitating for a long while, finally asked, “Are you... alright?”

Ji Jue blinked in confusion. “Hmm? Me?”

A moment later, his expression turned wary. Could this be some kind of curse? Had he really failed to notice himself being cursed this whole time?

“Uh, I mean...” Tong Hua carefully chose her words as she poked her head out. “It feels like... recently you might... maybe... possibly... have become a bit... extreme?”

“Huh?” Ji Jue froze, confused. He followed her gaze toward the explosives barrel and the pile of bloodied surgical tools, and finally understood what she meant. He slapped his forehead. “Oh. Yeah, that’s true.”

After thinking for a bit, he nodded. “Using such rough methods is indeed a bit unrefined. Killing someone should be quick and clean. Don’t worry. I won’t do that anymore.”

He waved a hand in dismissal. After all, she was his teammate. He should take her mental wellbeing into consideration. This clueless young lady had barely seen any R-rated movies growing up, let alone witnessed real-life scenes drenched in blood. He would just do it behind her back next time.

A helpless sigh met his words. Maintaining eye contact, Tong Hua added, “That’s not what I meant. I don’t care about trash like those guys. People who worship aberrations and destroy the foundation of reality deserve to die, anyway. You can handle them however you want. I’m talking about you.”

Ji Jue blinked in surprise and pointed at himself, tilting his head. “Me?”

“I mean, you don’t need to push yourself so hard. And besides, you’ve got me!” She got halfway through the sentence before realizing she probably wasn't the most convincing example, and hurriedly corrected herself.

“Even if I’m not much help, there’s still Ms. Wen, Mr. Zhang, and An Ran, right? Tong Shan may always have a cold, deadpan look on his face, but when something like this happens, he’s always the first to charge in. The First Division also has a complete set of procedures for handling Time Ruin incidents. And besides, the Tong family has stood alongside Cliff City for so many years. There’s no way they’d just stay out of it and do nothing.”

She cleared her throat, put on her most serious expression, and gave him a pat on the shoulder. “There’s no need to carry this burden alone. You’ve already done enough. You don’t have to suffer like this. Cliff City is so big, it’s not going to be destroyed just because we can’t take down the Heretic Cult. Right?”

A long silence stretched between them. Ji Jue said nothing, simply staring at Tong Hua in a daze. He stared for so long that even Tong Hua started to lose her confidence. She lowered her head, sat back down in her chair, and awkwardly curled her toes, desperately trying to think of something else to say and erase this embarrassing moment from history.

“Ah, I see...” Ji Jue smiled in realization. This was the first time he had shown such a genuinely sincere smile since entering the Time Ruin. “Thank you, Tong Hua.”

He had never expected to receive such genuine concern and comfort from the clueless young lady. More than the danger or the trouble they were facing, she had been worried about him first, treating him as a truly important friend and trying to reassure him.

So moved was Ji Jue that, for at least a brief moment, he even gave up the idea of secretly finding out her weakness.

Now that Ji Jue’s voice had lost its usual teasing and sarcasm, Tong Hua became even more flustered. Keeping her head down, she deliberately changed the subject as she glared at him fiercely.

“At least you’re thankful. From now on, don’t click your tongue at me anymore. Got it?”

“Tsk...”

Tong Hua's eyes flew wide open as she exploded in outrage. “Did you just do it again?!”

“Alright, alright, I promise I’ll stop, okay?” For once, Ji Jue raised a hand in complete sincerity, making a solemn promise. After calming Tong Hua down, despite the overwhelming amount of embarrassment, he gently added, “There’s something you might have misunderstood.”

Tong Hua looked confused, so Ji Jue continued. “To be honest, I’m not as driven by a sense of duty as you think. I don’t have Ms. Wen’s sense of responsibility either, and I never really cared much about the Heretic Sect to begin with.”

He thought for a moment, shrugged slightly, and gave a self-deprecating smile. “I’m only doing this because of a personal grudge. That’s all.”

Tong Hua said nothing more. When Ji Jue smiled again, there was no warmth left in that smile at all, only a bone-deep chill.

Cliff City? He was worried about Cliff City, but only a little. Even if the sky were to collapse, Professor Ye’s workshop would still stand tall like a mountain, not losing even a single tile. Even if Ji Jue’s old house collapsed, rebuilding it would not cost much.

But anything else? Anything that didn’t revolve around him?

Feng’s company had finally gotten off the ground, and business was going surprisingly well. It had become a trusted partner for all kinds of farms and breeding facilities. Every day after installing surveillance cameras, he would come home carrying cauliflower, tomatoes, string beans, and whatever else the farmers had insisted he take.

He complained the whole way back, cursing them for paying him in produce instead of cash. Yet the next day, he would head right back as if nothing had happened.

Lu Ling was doing very well at university. Her teachers and classmates liked her, and she had even won a gold medal at the school sports meet.

Mrs. Lu smiled much more often these days, and she had started putting a lot more meat into her cooking.

The third child was a little crybaby who wasn’t very good at studying, but whenever she wrapped her arms around Ji Jue’s leg, she’d flash the sweetest smile. The youngest loved judging people based on appearances, and whenever he tried to act clever, his adorably clumsy schemes never failed to make people laugh.

They were all good people, the best kind of people in this world. People like them deserved to live peaceful, stable, and happy lives.

But then, there were always pieces of garbage, scum, vermin, parasites, people who simply could not stand seeing even the tiniest glimmer of happiness in someone else’s life. Like clowns rolling around in a cesspit, they reveled in the stench, worshiped corruption and madness, convinced they were pursuing something noble and transcendent.

If the Time Ruin really exploded in Cliff City, how many of those little specks of fragile light would be destroyed? How many more pitiful souls like Ji Jue would it create?

There were already far too many tragedies in this world. There was no need for another one.

More than once, Ji Jue had jolted awake in the dead of night, haunted by the feeling that perhaps he had already died in that fire ten years ago, and that everything since had been nothing more than the final hallucination of a dying man. The cries and screams from that nightmare had followed him for over a decade, lingering in his ears until this very moment.

And now, someone wanted to drag him, and everything he held dear, back into hell.

The Security Bureau might come down on them with overwhelming force. The Tong family might show no mercy. Perhaps countless other people, driven by justice, would rise to fight evil as well.

But none of that had anything to do with Ji Jue.

In the shattered mirror, a smiling face stared back at him, wreathed in flames. Endless resentment and towering fury rose from the fire burning in his eyes, howling in silence.

Before any of you can act, I will tear every one of you apart.