Rush Order

Just as Aignu had experienced moments before. For a student of Ji Jue's caliber—a piece of unpolished jade—certain things simply didn't need to be spelled out. You gave him an opening, and he knew what you meant. You pointed in a direction, and he grasped the key point immediately. You revealed the slightest hint, and he could trace the vine straight to the melon at the core. Take right now, for instance. Ji Jue's arrival in Mid-Continent as the representative of Haichao Armaments was no secret at all. As his teacher, how could Ye Xian not know? At the same time, as his teacher—how could Ye Xian not know what kind of scoundrel Ji Jue was? The moment she opened her mouth and asked, "Are you in Mid-Continent?", Ji Jue, as her student, understood what she meant right away. —*Is this whole damn mess in the White Nation your doing?* ... Ji Jue fell silent. Subconsciously turning up Little Niuma's air conditioning, he wiped away a bead of sweat and nodded obediently. His answer was just as blunt: "Yes." And so, it was the other end's turn to fall silent. After a long, long time, there came only a regretful sigh that seemed to ask: *Why didn't I just put you out of your misery sooner?* *You little bastard, you really know how to stir up trouble!* *And stir it up on a massive scale!* The White Nation had truly drawn the short straw. How many days had it been? A month? Their "peace and quiet" hadn't lasted more than a few days, and this little dog of a disciple was already about to blow it sky-high. Several times, Ye Xian started to say something, only to swallow the words back down. In the end, she never spoke them. Would saying anything help? Not a damn bit! Better to save herself the headache. Thus, Ye Xian's question became very simple: "You haven't done anything to disgrace the school's reputation, have you?" Wiping his sweat, Ji Jue caught her drift immediately. After all, when it came to craftsmen, those in the know knew. When they really got to work, never mind bringing shame to the school—they would find every conceivable way to dishonor their ancestors without blinking. Besides, the concentration of sheer lunacy in their lineage was absurdly high. From Tianlu to Kanemoto to Ye Xian, and now down to Ji Jue, not a single one of them was an easy lamp to keep lit. So the criterion for whether something brought shame to the school wasn't what was actually done, but rather—whether anyone caught you. To this, Ji Jue replied decisively without a moment's hesitation: "None!" He hadn't left a single trace or loose thread. There was absolutely nothing that could implicate him, let alone drag his lineage into it. Whatever else he might lack, when it came to illicit operations and covering his tracks, he was an absolute master! On that front, Ji Jue could offer a 120-percent guarantee. After all, when wandering the wider world, he prided himself on the supreme virtue of being a student: when you get into trouble, never name your master—a speed of holy disassociation so swift even Tianlu would applaud! "Good." Ye Xian understood. That spared her the trouble of wiping her student's ass, and it also spared him a few sessions of spiritus offense and defense classes. No, better add those back later after all. For no particular reason other than her hands were itching for a beating. Just as Ji Jue was wiping his sweat, his heart in his throat as he waited for his teacher's verdict, he heard instructions come from the other end: "Since you're already at it, do a little errand for me while you're there. Save me some trouble." "Yes, ma'am!" Ji Jue let out an immediate breath of relief, perking up. "Through fire and water, Teacher!" "No need for fire or water. When the master has trouble, the disciple serves her 'time.' There's an order I don't have time to take. Since you're so dreadfully 'idle,' why not put your mind toward proper work and do what a craftsman is supposed to do?" Before her voice had even faded, Ji Jue's phone buzzed. A message from Ye Chun appeared on the screen. As her student, Ji Jue's workshop and Ye Xian's Chaosheng utilized the exact same spiritus authentication protocols and workflow. Everything was standardized to the same specifications, allowing almost any project or task to be transferred and handed off with zero friction. What had just been sent over was an order and verification; the client's location was right here in Tacheng. Regarding the specific requirements, Ye Xian's assessment was Class-A. For Ji Jue, it was a slight challenge, but nothing unmanageable. Price: None. No pay. Pro bono. Which was only natural. Given the relationship between Ji Jue and Ye Xian, should a student really charge his teacher for doing some work? That would be turning heaven and earth upside down; completely uncalled for. The only inconvenient part was that it was a rush order. But Ji Jue's current projects were all progressing steadily, so he wasn't afraid of urgent work. He would treat it like homework, an easy side task. "Understood, Teacher, leave it to me!" Ji Jue gave a resolute guarantee: "Whatever the client wants, I promise to get it done beautifully for you!" "Let's hope so." Ye Xian hung up. Ten minutes later, Ji Jue saw the client who had placed the order outside his workshop door. Instinctively, his vision went black. Only then did he realize that this matter probably wasn't going to end beautifully at all— "Aiyoh, Mr. Ji, you're finally back?" The client rubbed his hands together, his face crinkling with wrinkles into an old chrysanthemum of a smile. "With Mr. Ji back, the order is placed! With Mr. Ji back, the job is as good as done! I'll have to trouble you this time around—" "Get lost, I'm busy!" Ji Jue instinctively went to slam the door shut, only for a foot to forcefully wedge itself into the crack, jamming it. Right after, the client's weathered face squeezed through the gap, grinning wide enough to flash two large gold teeth. "Don't be like that, Mr. Ji! As the saying goes, 'When the Golden Wind meets the Jade Dew, all earthly joys pale in comparison.' If you won't honor the friendship forged over our exchanges in alchemy, at least cherish the wonderful times we spent together—" "Sorry, I never once found doing alchemy wonderful!" Ji Jue raised his foot and kicked with all his might to shove the bastard out, but the man didn't budge an inch. It was as if he had taken root in the earth, completely impossible to swat away or shake off! Just looking at that old face and that iconic hat made Ji Jue feel more dread than facing a hundred thousand wolves! Who could it be? Who else could it possibly be?! None other than that old codger of Tale Alchemy from the Dream of Huangliang, Bao Dachai! No, rather, a core member of Nirvana, a former registered Master of the Association, and one of the world's top-ranking terrorists—Fan Qian! His dog-skin-plaster-tier clinginess was on full display again. He actually managed to squeeze his way inside, latching onto Ji Jue so tightly that Ji Jue couldn't shake him off. Furious, Ji Jue barked, "Why haven't you dropped dead yet, you old bastard?!" Fan Qian cackled wickedly. "If I die, who's going to report you to the Association?!" "Go ahead and report me! See who believes you! Want me to dial the Absolute Sentence squad for you? Let's see who dies first, you or me!" "Care to bet on whether I go find Kanemoto and tell him where you are?" The old codger grinned. "Word is that venerable Grandmaster was minding his own business recently when a whole pile of scapegoat pots suddenly fell onto his head. He's grown terribly interested in a certain junior colleague, you see~" Ji Jue's vision went dark with rage. *Damn you, Nirvana, stop sticking to me!* In the end, though, he still opened the door and let them in. There was no helping it. Even if Ji Jue didn't care about old ties, this was an order assigned by his teacher. Could he really refuse to take it? Now he finally understood what she meant by "the disciple serves her time." It really was hard time! Especially because he hadn't come alone. While the old codger was pestering him relentlessly, a white-haired older woman with her hands clasped behind her back and a cigar between her lips had already strolled through his entire workshop as if window-shopping. She offered a calm critique: "As a front, it certainly looks convincing enough." "Watch your tongue!" Ji Jue rolled his eyes. "This is real! What makes you say it's fake?" "Is it possible that what you're playing with now is just what your teacher got bored of years ago?" The cigar-smoking woman reached back to produce an ashtray she brought along, flicked her ashes, and sighed with wonder. "To think that after only a few years, that former apprentice has already grown to such a degree." "Ah, excuse me, but..." Ji Jue studied her appearance, unable to place her. "Who might you be?" "You probably don't remember me; things were quite chaotic back then, after all." The woman gave a faint smile. "A grand spectacle where the Edge of Revolution slayed a Sage—it's only natural if you didn't notice every detail." And just like that, Ji Jue went numb all over again. Completely and utterly. At this point, how could he not know who had walked in behind Fan Qian? A marquee figure of Nirvana who had made a fleeting appearance back during the Quicksilver Border Realm incident before vanishing, the terrorist with the highest bounty in the entire mortal world today, the legendary assassin who had personally put the Imperial Emperor into the ICU not long ago—[White Owl]! Ji Jue sighed, utterly helpless. He genuinely didn't even want to speak. Heaven have mercy, he was a legitimate craftsman! How had his workshop inexplicably turned into a den of the mortal world's most dangerous fugitives? "Out with it, what do you want?" Pouring himself a cup of water, he said coldly, "Don't bother trying to play the friend card. This is just a task from my teacher. Once it's done, get out of here immediately." "See? What did I tell you?" Chewing on dried fruit from who-knew-where, Fan Qian cackled aloud. "No matter how stubborn this kid's mouth is, his hands just can't help reaching toward Nirvana! He's a natural-born fit for us!" White Owl offered a gentle smile, soothingly saying, "Don't be nervous. It's just a routine weapon customization. In the past, your teacher was the one who maintained my gear. Unfortunately, after she left over the years, my spares have run thin. I set out in a hurry this time and didn't bring any, so I have to scramble at the last minute and trouble you, Chaosheng's star pupil." *That's exactly why I'm nervous!* Ji Jue was thoroughly done with life. He rolled his eyes—who knew what kind of atrocities the weapon he crafted would be used for? If Fan Qian got himself blown to bits later and the weapon uncovered at the scene happened to have "Handcrafted by Ji Jue" etched onto it, wouldn't he be framed into joining Nirvana without even knowing why? *Mmm, thinking about it that way, while it'd be a bit of a loss, wouldn't it also count as a good riddance for him?* He stretched out an open hand toward White Owl. "The spec sheet. Hand it over." "There's no spec sheet, and it's not that complicated," White Owl replied with a smile. "I want an Imperial Model B87 rifle. Standard bolt assembly, ashwood grips, no scope, fitted with a standard bipod—" She reeled off a list of requirements like rattling off names from a menu. Ji Jue listened, dumbfounded. Indeed, it wasn't complicated. In fact, it was simpler than what most clients asked for. Looking at the configuration alone, one could tell this senior lady was a master of the craft. Just imagining handling it, one could feel how silky smooth it would be! The entire setup was beyond reproach; Ji Jue couldn't find a single area to optimize. The crux of the matter, however, was... "Just this?" Ji Jue frowned. For such basic requirements, she had come to him? Couldn't she just buy one? Even if she couldn't buy one, there was a Master standing right beside her! Where was Fan Qian? Speak up! *You bastard, have you slacked off to this extent?* Ji Jue shot a glare at the old codger cracking melon seeds, demanding crossly, "Can't you even do a job this simple?" Fan Qian shrugged, utterly unbothered. "Tale Alchemy always has its weak spots, especially in this area." Still smiling, White Owl exhaled a wisp of blue smoke and said slowly, "Because my standards are a bit higher, and Fan Qian simply cannot meet them." "What other requirements could there possibly be?" Ji Jue was amused. For an eighty-year-old classic bolt-action rifle, if you wanted it inlaid with gold and jade or glowing in rainbow hues, there were plenty of ways. "Precision." White Owl smiled. "I want absolute precision." "There is no absolute." Ji Jue was indifferent, instinctively repelled by such purely amateur demands. "There is no 'absolute' in alchemy, nor has anyone ever been able to define just how precise 'absolute precision' is." "Which is precisely why your teacher sent us to find you." White Owl looked at him, eyes brimming with anticipation. "How precise can you make it?" Ji Jue fell silent. This was the one question he could not answer. He didn't know.