Like a credit card bill, an old classmate asking for a loan, or a company dissolving and freezing social security benefits...
A bolt from the blue always struck without warning.
"Hm?" Wen Wen looked up.
"Huh?!" Tong Hua gasped in shock.
"Ummm..." That was Ye Chun, hesitating to speak.
"Ah?" Xiao An looked bewildered.
"Oho..." murmured the old spectator enjoying the drama.
"..." That was Tong Shan, completely unsure how to react.
In this silence laden with far too many complicated layers of meaning, all eyes converged on Ji Jue—shock, suspicion, curiosity...
He suddenly realized a universal truth:
Sometimes, a person could be perfectly fine one second, and dead the next.
Or at least, only a single breath away from death.
Subconsciously, he wanted to argue, *There is no basement in my house!* But before the words could leave his mouth, cold sweat broke out. Wait, no—his house actually did have one...
For a moment, trembling with cold fury, he could only offer a futile explanation: "There's no one in the basement!"
All eyes turned back to Guigong.
Guigong merely shuddered slightly, and the scorch marks and quicksilver residue across its surface vanished. Although a dignified matrix relic had suffered a setback from an ambush, it was hardly going to end up in the gutter. It was simply in the wrong and couldn't fight back, making it look a bit disheveled, that was all.
At this moment, its voice sounded earnest and deeply concerned: "It's fine if you want to fool others, brother, but don't lie to yourself..."
"When the hell did I lie to you?!"
Ji Jue was so furious he almost cried.
Especially when the gazes turning back toward him grew noticeably dangerous.
"Kid, let me double-check something..."
Wen Wen set down her wine glass with a faint, mocking smile. "We haven't seen each other in only a week. You haven't fallen so far as to lock up little girls, have you?"
"Adults aren't allowed either," Ye Chun chimed in "solemnly."
Ji Jue glared at her instantly. *Just wait until I turn things around in the future—I'm locking you in the basement and feeding you cucumber-flavored potato chips and Pepsi every single day!*
Xiao An glanced around in confusion, opening and closing his mouth. After mumbling for a long time, his face turned beet red as he spoke up for his idol: "Brother Ji Jue, I... I believe you had your reasons."
"Yeah, right, exactly." Tong Hua nodded vigorously, seizing the chance to kick him while he was down. "As everyone knows, artisans are always strapped for cash, so straying off the straight and narrow is inevitable. Maybe it's just a kidnapping that we accidentally stumbled across. Everyone, don't worry, Ji Jue will take care of it."
*Tsk, you naturally wicked Aether brat, I'll take care of you with my own two hands right now!*
Although Lao Zhang hadn't said a word, the pile of mandarin orange peels in front of him had practically grown into a mountain—no telling how much food he could have scarfed down just feasting on Ji Jue's drama. Left with no choice, Ji Jue turned a pleading gaze toward his only reliable big brother, Tong... only to see that the Plant had already pinned his official ID badge to his chest, gloating:
"Does what happens next count as on-duty hours?"
He was ready to make an arrest at a moment's notice!
From atop the chandelier, Gloria poked her head out curiously. "What does 'locking up little girls' mean?"
"Well, it means shutting a little girl away, not letting her go outside, and not letting her watch TV," Ye Chun explained with a beaming smile. "Just like Xiao Jiu, being kept by your big brother..."
*Freeloader, shut your mouth!*
Clenched. His fists were hard and clenched.
In grief and indignation, Ji Jue turned his head and glared at the surveillance camera in the corner.
The red light blinked in utter silence.
The workshop spirit was watching with great amusement, relishing the spectacle of her user falling into distress and teetering on the brink of social ruin.
Until Ji Jue sighed helplessly.
Waving toward it, he called out, "Isis, aren't you going to come out and greet them?"
The ceiling parted, and streams of quicksilver transformed into a screen. A hazy starlight emerged, taking the shape of a blurred female silhouette.
Like a noble lady meeting guests, she bent slightly at the waist in a curtsy, lifting her skirts.
"My sincere apologies for disturbing your celebration due to pest control duties," she said slowly. "However, limited by workshop conditions, it is inconvenient for me to appear in person, so I ask for your forgiveness. Furthermore, I request that the uninvited Mr. Non-Combustible Trash from earlier refrain from triggering the security alarm again."
"Whoa!"
A shocked cry erupted. Tong Hua stared wide-eyed for a long moment. "Such advanced artificial intelligence!"
Wen Wen was worldly and experienced, after all; a single glance was enough to understand. Having enjoyed the entertainment to the full, she patted Ji Jue's shoulder. "Not bad. You've already got the workshop framework up and running so quickly?"
"The level of completion is so high... But why are the female characteristics so pronounced?"
Although a certain freeloader senior sister was completely immune to Embers, she was well-traveled and well-fed in life. Seeing Isis now, she understood the sheer difficulty and complexity involved better than anyone else, instantly seizing on the blind spot.
Ye Chun's gaze lingered back and forth between Ji Jue and Isis for a moment before she arrived at swift comprehension. "A bit perverted, sure, but considering it's you, that's par for the course."
"..."
Ji Jue's fists clenched tight again. Forcing a smile, he didn't say a word.
Instead, he simply let a corner of the manuscript he had just finished in his pocket peek out—*The Twin-Form Blade: An Integration and Utilization of the Swarm and White Stag*.
*Just wait to die, you academic slacker!*
*Watch me blast you into dust tomorrow with the invincible Ex-Wife and Stepmother!*
"What's your name? Isis?" Tong Hua had already sidled up, striking up a lively conversation. "How old are you? Wait, does artificial intelligence even have an age? What do you do? An all-purpose butler?"
Isis's tone was gentle. "By human metrics, I was born into the real world about half a month ago. Thank you for your concern, Miss Tong. My current duties are managing the workshop and attending to chores for my user."
"Whoa! You know who I am?" Tong Hua gasped.
"Aside from prior records, all of today's visitors have been documented in the visitor archives, including detailed information on you, Miss Tong."
"You even know that?"
Delighted, Tong Hua grew even more enthusiastic. Casting a glance at Ji Jue, she began poaching right to his face: "Do you want to come work for me? My family is super rich, and I pay very high wages—all the spiritus you could ever want every month!"
"Thank you for the invitation, but that depends on Mister's wishes."
That warm, considerate demeanor showed not a trace of her vicious, cold-blooded private self. Even her tone was unprecedentedly gentle, leaving Ji Jue opening and closing his mouth several times in disbelief: *Where on earth did she learn this ability to put on two completely different faces in public and private?*
Without revealing a shred of her dark nature, she was practically like a virtual idol, effortlessly winning the goodwill and admiration of everyone present with her sweet voice and projection.
Except for Guigong, who had nearly been obliterated the second it poked its head out...
"Something's off, brother. The completion level of your workshop spirit is absurdly high!"
Guigong, who had just kicked Ji Jue to the edge of the cliff, rolled over as if nothing had happened and whispered, "Where did you get her?"
Normally, workshop intelligences were endowed by their creators with humanoid behaviors, but most were peaceful and stable. Even an intelligence like Guigong, born from an artisan's dark side, would at most talk trash or act brooding and smug for a bit.
Yet Isis's architecture was unlike any of her peers; she resembled a black box, making it impossible to infer her internal structure and sequences through outward behavior.
In particular, that completely undisguised ferocity and aggression were simply far too extreme.
That was a textbook sign of losing control.
No, maybe there hadn't been any limits or frameworks from the very start, leaving her to grow wild—and in the end, she just happened to take the form of a workshop spirit.
Yet everything beyond that was far too abundant—so much so that it was uncontrollable.
And what was even more bizarre was that the two of them actually seemed to get along quite harmoniously?!
As an "older brother," Guigong could only offer a tactful warning: "You'd better be careful..."
"What do you mean, 'be careful'?"
Ji Jue shot a glare at the culprit. "She's my partner."
"Hoh, then you're in for a miserable time later!"
Gleeful at another's misfortune, Guigong was just about to mock this arrogant artisan who didn't know the heights of heaven or the depths of the earth, when it noticed...
A chilling gaze directed its way from nearby.
Surrounded by the guests, the workshop spirit's projection raised a hand, tucked back her illusory long hair, and cast a half-smiling glance in its direction.
Instantly, Guigong was struck dumb.
Seeing the pair of lovebirds acting all sweet and cozy, anything it said would be useless anyway.
Muttering nonsense like "you'll die a terrible death" and "surrounded by troublesome broads," it scurried off in a flash...
And after her brief appearance, Isis politely took her leave and vanished.
The party continued, spirits running high.
With the constitution of Celestial Chosen, no amount of ordinary alcohol could do more than heighten the mood; the genuinely lively atmosphere came from the relaxation and candor of close companions sitting together.
Even Tong Shan unbuttoned his collar and rolled up his sleeves.
Amidst laughter and conversation, he looked at Ji Jue. "What do you plan to do next? Any intentions?"
He had been coveting Ji Jue for a very long time.
"Whenever I approached you before, you kept making excuses that you were just an apprentice. But now you're the top artisan of this session—surely you can't claim a lack of talent anymore?" he asked. "Do you want to join the Security Bureau?"
There really weren't many reliable people in the Security Bureau.
To be precise, keeping up daily operations was more than fine, but if an emergency cropped up, people who could make decisive moves, take responsibility, and inspire true confidence were far too scarce.
Talent capable of taking charge of an entire sector was always a rarity.
If not for Ye Xian, Tong Shan would have thrown all shame to the wind and used every trick in the book to get Ji Jue to sign a contract.
Tie him to the ship first, ask questions later.
Just as Ji Xue had said: if you didn't grab hold of fine jade the moment you saw it, someone else would snatch it away.
"I'll pass," Ji Jue shook his head. It wasn't that he looked down on an almost unlimited budget and supplies, but working for the Security Bureau always involved having one's hands tied and walking on eggshells. Besides, the atmosphere among Haizhou's higher-ups had grown dreadfully eerie lately, and he had no desire to wade into those muddy waters.
"For now, I'd rather focus on the workshop," he said. "I haven't planned on graduating yet—I intend to continue my studies."
The carrot—or rather, the banana—dangled by the Treatise on Xiang Swords was still hanging right in front of him; a workaholic tryhard like Ji Jue would never take his eyes off it.
Tong Shan had anticipated this and wasn't surprised at all.
Raising his beer mug with a faint smile, he said, "If you ever need anything, don't hesitate."
"Likewise."
Ji Jue smiled and clinked glasses with him.
They downed their drinks.
The raucous, cheerful drinking party lasted until two in the morning. When the chicken had finished the rice, the dog had licked clean the flour, and the fire had burned through the lock—every last supply utterly depleted, the boxes of beer and peanuts bought that afternoon completely devoured—everyone finally said their goodbyes, having enjoyed themselves to the fullest.
After Ji Jue and Ye Chun saw everyone off—spending the entire walk bickering, pulling hair, stomping on each other's feet, and twisting each other's fingers—Ji Jue strolled home alone.
Pushing open the door upon his return, he felt how quiet and lonely it was.
He couldn't help letting out a soft sigh.
Yet under the dim yellow light, the mess of empty cups and dishes had already disappeared. Even the floor was spotless; all the chaos had been cleared away.
Ji Jue was slightly stunned. "Isis?"
"I am here," her voice answered, cold and detached once more.
Ji Jue smiled. "Thank you."
"Merely part of my duties."
Ji Jue walked toward the basement. Watching everything operating in good order, he asked, "How did you feel about today?"
"Noisy, chaotic, and very bothersome."
Showing none of her previous warmth and gentleness, the workshop spirit spoke bluntly and coldly. "However, it was a rare liveliness."
"Yeah."
"And..."
Isis paused for a moment, as though musing aloud. "I didn't expect that while you barely resemble a human when revealing your true nature in private, Mister, you actually disguise yourself quite normally in front of crowds. It seems my observations of you are still insufficient and require supplementation. It would be even better if you could cooperate with an autopsy. Look at your iron bed and your scalpel right now—don't you think something is missing?"
"..."
The corner of Ji Jue's eye twitched helplessly. He always felt that one day he might wake up inside the workshop furnace.
"Spare me for now, Isis," Ji Jue sighed. "Let's call it a day on the sharp critiques."
"Very well, Mister."
The workshop spirit readily agreed, informing him, "However, I will be watching you..."
She added, "Always and forever."
"..."
*Uh oh, why does it feel like I've been marked by a female ghost...*
"Watch all you want."
Ji Jue rolled over helplessly and closed his eyes.
Isis dimmed the lights and gave her final parting words:
"Then, good night, Mister."
The door closed.
At dawn, Ji Jue opened his eyes and saw the familiar scorched marks on the iron bed: burned again by his drool while asleep.
After living this sizzling life for so long, he had actually started getting used to it.
After taking a shower, he ambled toward his teacher's workshop, picking up breakfast on the way, relaxed and cheerful.
Just as he entered the workshop's operating chamber, he saw that figure with her back turned to him.
A massive, translucent superstructure hovered in midair. Behind the sprawling silhouette of the Giant Whale, the light of blessings flickered and shifted with the operation of the spiritus circuits.
An eye turned toward Ji Jue, showing a radiance and spirit akin to a human's.
Soon, however, it closed in utter disinterest.
Only when the routine maintenance concluded did the Giant Whale sink into water-like shadows and disappear.
Ye Xian then slowly turned around.
"So early today?"
"Slept well last night."
Ji Jue smiled. "I figured I'd strike while the iron is hot, work through the parts I couldn't understand before, and I also have a paper I'd like you to look over. Do you have any instructions for me, Teacher?"
"Indeed, there is something I need to discuss with you. But before that..."
Ye Xian turned around, looking over Ji Jue's vibrant appearance. "How is your mastery of the blessing coming along?"
"I've gotten used to it lately, and I've more or less gotten the hang of regulating my body temperature. While I'm still some distance from fully digesting it, I won't spontaneously combust if I'm not paying attention."
Ye Xian nodded, then suddenly suggested, "Care to test your skills?"
Hearing this, Ji Jue subconsciously touched his face. After a few days, the bruises and swelling had completely vanished, fully healed.
As the saying goes, once the scar heals, one forgets the pain.
Ji Jue's fighting spirit reignited, just like the countless times before when he had courted death.
"Sure."
He nodded decisively without the slightest hesitation.
And then...
In a world-spinning blur, he went flying.
*Thud!*
He was embedded into the wall, wedged so deep he couldn't even peel himself out.
"Your fighting spirit is commendable, but unfortunately, your reflexes are still lacking."
Ye Xian, still standing where she had been with her hands behind her back, let out a regretful sigh. "Though that reckless disregard for your own life has improved a bit compared to before."
With that, she crooked her finger at him.
"Come," she said. "This time, I'll let you strike first."
Chapter 313