Chapter 2581: The Unbearable Forgetfulness
Ten minutes later, Xu Huo and the others arrived at a hotel on the other side of the city. Judging by the city's building layout, this hotel was almost outside the city limits. It was probably a place with few guests on normal days, so the staff were quite happy to see someone checking in late at night. They warmly led them to their rooms and even offered them a midnight snack along with breakfast for the next day.
The You sisters kept an eye on the local government announcements, but after a whole night passed, the government hadn't released any further information about the Cultural Street area. Moreover, there were no concentrated reports of missing persons or deaths on the Message Collection Terminal. So they concluded that this was likely a targeted Instance, with its scope limited to the vicinity of Cultural Street.
Xu Huo wasn't entirely reassured. He told the Painting Woman and the others not to go near Cultural Street anymore. Since transportation was so convenient, they could even go to a neighboring city during the day for fun. He, on the other hand, would follow the original plan and visit the writer Jing Shi.
After two in-depth conversations, Jing Shi offered to introduce him to that Clockwork Master. It wasn't for him to become an apprentice, but rather to let him observe the master's process of making clocks.
"Things can resonate with each other. Sometimes, I call this bursting resonance 'inspiration,'" Jing Shi said. "Thirty years ago, I was just a small-time writer making a living by writing bizarre stories. By a very fortunate chance, I witnessed an Artificer polishing a prop clock. In that instant, it was as if some force had touched my mind, sparking countless ideas that were completely different from anything before. That was also the turning point in my life."
She looked at Xu Huo. "I hope you can have such good luck too."
Xu Huo naturally wouldn't refuse. He expressed his gratitude solemnly. When Jing Shi learned that he wouldn't be leaving for a few days, she simply invited him to stay at her place. That way, once she got in touch with her grandson's teacher, she could take him over anytime.
Xu Huo honestly said that he still had a few friends staying at the hotel and that it would be too much of an imposition to intrude on her, so he politely declined.
Jing Shi didn't insist, but said he was welcome to come over and chat anytime.
Xu Huo left after lunch. He found a quiet place and began searching the Message Collection Terminal for the Artificer rankings in this district.
However, the search results disappointed him. According to some organizations, the Artificer ranking wasn't very reliable. Some Artificers were famous in name only. In contrast, the Clockwork Master ranking was more authoritative and had received recognition from all sectors of society.
The ranking was publicly visible, and many online platforms had dedicated discussion forums. Unsurprisingly, Xu Huo saw an account named "Number One Under Heaven" furiously trashing this ranking across multiple platforms. This account even pulled out each Clockwork Master on the list for commentary, not only attacking their professional skills but also digging up their scandals—things like having a family in every city, or threatening association members into agreeing to shameless demands in exchange for orders and rankings.
In short, according to "Number One Under Heaven," almost every member of the Clockwork Association on the ranking was no good. The key point was that many of these scandals were backed up with evidence. When people dug deeper, they seemed to be true. So even though this account's words were harsh, it still had quite a few followers.
Seeing those pieces of dirt and the verbal battles with fans of the Clockwork Masters, Xu Huo immediately pictured an old man with sparse white hair, staying up late staring at his terminal and cursing people out.
No need to guess—this old man was definitely Old Mr. Xi. No wonder his shop kept getting shut down as a habit. He was active both online and offline. Although he didn't go to extremes, his harsh words were enough to make people unhappy and find fault with him.
However, the "Number One Under Heaven" account didn't mention his own grudge with the Clockwork Association.
But someone did dig up his identity and vaguely mentioned a lawsuit from over twenty years ago that was never made public.
The plaintiff was Old Mr. Xi. He was suing the Clockwork Association and its former president for stealing the achievements of his teacher. What those achievements were wasn't mentioned.
Old Mr. Xi's teacher wasn't a famous person. Not only was he not on the ranking, but he wasn't even well-known in the city where he lived. His only shining point was teaching Old Mr. Xi, his disciple. Over twenty years ago, Old Mr. Xi was already very famous, ranking high on both the Clockwork Master and Artificer rankings. Many people from other districts came specifically to ask him to craft props.
"Old Mr. Xi probably wanted to use his own fame to wrestle with the Clockwork Association and seek justice for his recently deceased teacher. But the result wasn't ideal. After losing the lawsuit, he angrily withdrew from both the Clockwork Association and the Artificer Association, declaring that until the day the clouds parted and the sun shone through, he would never craft any props for the government or any association again."
The truth was, the world kept turning without anyone. The Clockwork Association and the Artificer Association initially invited him back a few times, but seeing how stubborn he was, they had to give up. Outsiders couldn't place orders through the association, and even when they came to him directly, he refused to accept. Over time, fewer and fewer people sought him out.
Many who didn't know the inside story thought he had retired due to old age. In reality, he ran a shop alone, living off his past savings. Life was manageable—after all, he had once been a famous Artificer who contributed to Zone 001, and with his advanced age, the government provided him with some welfare.
But like his teacher, he had been forgotten.
Not defeated or framed, but forgotten as an insignificant existence.
When the enemy you've identified doesn't regard you at all, that kind of contempt makes people angry and lose their composure.
Even when Old Mr. Xi was at the height of his fame, he had a bad temper, but he could still maintain basic politeness. Not like now, cursing heaven and earth on the Message Collection Terminal.
But even if someone exposed his past, what good did it do? At most, it earned a detached sigh from outsiders.
Just as he finished reading about some of Old Mr. Xi's life events, a phone call came in like a debt collector. The little old man's face appeared in the projection, urging him impatiently: "Have you made up your mind or not? What kind of prop do you want? I'm free and have nothing to do right now. In a few days, I might not have this time."
"Do you have the materials?" Xu Huo said. "All the customers who walk into your shop get cursed away. Do you even have the money to buy materials?"
The little old man said angrily, "Who do you think you're looking down on? Any one of my props would have people fighting over it. You think I'm worried about not having money for materials?"
But he added a caveat: "We agreed before—it's a high-level prop. Don't be too picky."
Xu Huo smiled. "I can provide the materials for making the prop myself. You've participated in making Super Devices before, haven't you? Making an A-grade prop for me shouldn't be a problem, right?"
The little old man thought for a moment. "You've helped me twice. Making you an A-grade is fine, but I don't use just any materials. Don't bring out anything too shabby and embarrass yourself."
Xu Huo placed a few Subclass Stones on the table.