Chapter 89: Chapter 83: The First Craftsman, Auspicious Workshop

Zheng Xiu indeed had ulterior motives for letting Feng Bei stay the night.

He was after Feng Bei’s permanent Ghostly Realm.

With Feng Bei around, Zheng Xiu’s Incarnation was like a tadpole in the ocean, free to roam the house without obstruction.

「The sun climbed high, and a new day dawned.」

To Zheng Xiu’s surprise, Feng Bei had actually stayed obediently at the Zheng Residence for the night and hadn’t caused him any more trouble.

Early in the morning, Qing Shisan had summoned the legendary "Ten Great Skillful Hands."

Zheng Xiu could name most of the Ten Great Skillful Hands—these were all master craftsmen he had poached from other places in his previous run, each a specialist in their own right, be it building houses, laying bricks, plastering walls, or forging iron.

Every one of these craftsmen had a simple, rustic appearance, showing no hint of any extraordinary air. And yet, they were all capable people who had glimpsed the Path.

The man known as the number one Craftsman in the Imperial City, the one who had truly stepped onto the [Skillful Hands] Path, was a forty-six-year-old artisan named Yan Jiji.

Yan Jiji, who was approaching old Age, was short in stature, but his arms were thick and powerful. His developed muscles bulged, and his skin, from years of hard labor, was stained a smoky bronze, giving the illusion of a statue standing in his place.

Yan Jiji was of Birth to a family of builders; his ancestors had all made their living in construction.

Nearly half of the buildings in this Imperial City had been built by his forefathers, one hammer and one nail at a time.

It was said that Yan Jiji’s grandfather died in a collapse while constructing the Wei Imperial Mausoleum.

Yan Jiji’s father, in turn, had participated in the construction of the Imperial Palace.

When it came to Yan Jiji’s generation, he had been poached by the Zheng Family ten years ago for a high salary. Now, he ran the "Lucky Iron Shop," and under the Zheng Family’s generosity, the Yan Family had cast off its years of poverty and become well-off.

Yan Jiji’s entire family was grateful for the recognition Zheng Xiu had shown him back then. Now, upon hearing that Master Zheng wanted to build a dungeon in his home—such an important construction project—Yan Jiji dropped the order he was working on without a second thought and rushed to the Zheng Residence to give it his all.

He was confident that with his Ability, he could create a super-dungeon even more luxurious than Heaven-Gazing Prison.

"Ahem, Uncle Yan..."

Zheng Xiu appeared in his capacity as the young master. Having managed, with great difficulty, to change "Old Yan" to "Uncle Yan," he overheard Yan Jiji, eyes gleaming, telling Qing Shisan about the grand prison in his mind and speaking of his "lofty ambitions." Zheng Xiu finally couldn’t help but step forward and interject, "Father’s meaning is that as long as it *looks* like a dungeon, that’s good enough. There’s no need for it to be too extravagant or luxurious."

"No need... for extravagant... or luxurious?"

The young master’s words echoed in the empty cavern. For a moment, there was dead silence. Everyone stopped what they were doing.

It was as if they were hearing about some other family’s Master Zheng.

"Old Qing, come over here a second."

The still air began to move again.

CLINK CLANK.

Yan Jiji pulled Qing Shisan aside. "The young master... he doesn’t understand the master’s temperament, does he? The master has always demanded using the most money to do the most sensational things. He wishes he could shock the whole world. Why would he demand we *not* be extravagant this time? Could it be..." Yan Jiji lowered his voice conspiratorially, "he doesn’t understand the master’s ’rules’?"

Qing Shisan gave a wry smile. "Old Yan, to be honest, even I’m not sure how many times the young master has actually met the master."

Yan Jiji clicked his tongue. "I keep feelin’ like he’s talkin’ about some other master. But then I think, there ain’t no other Master Zheng in the city, is there?"

"No need to doubt," Qing Shisan said, clapping Yan Jiji on the shoulder with a chuckle. "The young master is young and doesn’t know any better. Just do it your way. The master entrusted this line of work to you when he was young. With your skills, you definitely won’t disappoint him."

"Hehe, don’t you worry. Since it’s a job for the master himself, I, Old Yan, can’t be holdin’ back. I’ll give it my all!"

Qing Shisan made a fist in encouragement. "Let’s do it!"

"Let’s do it!"

The front of the Zheng Residence was very lively today.

In broad daylight, the Night Guard didn’t dare to wear their black uniforms and perch on rooftops like idiots, alarming the common folk.

Instead, they took on various identities, lurking nearby and observing in secret.

They discovered that early this morning, a large number of Wandering porters with carts were hauling heavy construction materials to the Zheng Residence.

After some light inquiry, they heard that the Zheng Family wanted to build a wine cellar in their home.

For the Richest Person, spending money recklessly on a whim seemed to be the most normal thing in the world.

But Zheng Xiu was currently in prison. Could those few family members really use the Zheng Clan’s assets so freely?

Many people were observing and speculating from the shadows.

It was impossible to hide the transportation of construction materials from the surrounding spies.

Zheng Xiu knew this himself.

"Building a wine cellar" was a very ideal excuse.

「Underground.」

Zheng Xiu watched quietly from the entrance of the secret passage.

He was very curious what the Miracle Technique of Yan Jiji, the number one Craftsman to have stepped onto the [Skillful Hands] Path, would be.

He saw Yan Jiji take out nails as thick as two fingers from a bulging pouch at his waist. He then bit down on five or six of them, fanning them out in his mouth.

DING DING DING DING!

Yan Jiji hammered a total of twenty-seven nails into the space—at the four corners and in the center.

After finishing his preparations, Yan Jiji had people transport the construction materials underground.

Workers brought down materials one after another, making the underground space of the Zheng Residence feel somewhat crowded.

’I’m a bit superfluous here,’ Zheng Xiu thought.

"Curious, are we, Young Master?"

Qing Shisan looked at Zheng Xiu with a slight smile, taking a drag from his pipe.

"Am I not allowed to watch?"

Zheng Xiu retorted.

Qing Shisan chuckled. "As they say, if you’re not of the circle, don’t ask about its affairs. If it were anyone else, they certainly wouldn’t be allowed to watch."

The implication was, since you’re the young master, of course you can watch.

In that case, Zheng Xiu wasn’t going to be polite. He widened his eyes and watched.

With the preparations complete, Yan Jiji dismissed the Wandering porters, leaving only the other nine of the Great Skillful Hands.

Glancing toward Qing Shisan and the young master, Yan Jiji said nothing. He just gave a little chuckle, pinched a thick nail between two fingers, and with a flick of his wrist, let the nail drop to the ground.

A heavy iron hammer came down hard, driving the twenty-eighth nail completely into the earth.

DING~

The crisp sound was like a morning bell. Zheng Xiu secretly activated his [Spiritual Vision] and saw a ripple spread out in all directions, with the nail as its epicenter.

"A Ghostly Realm?"

Zheng Xiu was stunned. The space enclosed by the nails had actually formed a small-scale Ghostly Realm.

Yan Jiji roared, "Auspicious Workshop! Let’s get to work!"

The other Skillful Hands echoed loudly, "Let’s get to work!"

Yan Jiji gripped his hammer and struck the ground.

A cube of earth was knocked loose.

DING DING DING DING.

Cube after cube was rapidly knocked out and piled to the side. Just like that, Yan Jiji used his hammer to knock out one cube after another, digging deep into the ground.

Zheng Xiu finally understood how Yan Jiji had been able to dig such a massive cavern beneath the Zheng Residence in just two days.

"This is Old Yan’s ’Auspicious Workshop.’ Within the ’workshop’s’ range, he can construct buildings as he pleases. If the master weren’t afraid of taboos, he could even build an Imperial Palace underground, as long as you gave Old Yan enough time. Let’s go, Young Master. If we watch any longer, Old Yan might get mad."

Qing Shisan patted Zheng Xiu’s shoulder as he explained. Zheng Xiu nodded. He wasn’t one to overstep his bounds; Miracle Masters had their own rules and taboos. Being allowed a glimpse by virtue of his status as the young master didn’t mean he could watch the entire process from start to finish.

Once he accepted the premise that the Zheng Clan was on par with the likes of Ye Weiyang, Zheng Xiu found that watching his subordinates work in such an absurd manner was becoming more and more pleasing to the eye.

"Does he always work like this?"

"Of course not." Qing Shisan chuckled and shook his head. "A Miracle Technique is meant to be hidden in plain sight. Once the secrecy is gone, it’s worthless. Oh, right. When the time comes, he’ll go to Second Lady Zheng for payment himself. That’s the ’rule.’ Working like this, his asking price is steep. Ordinary people really can’t afford it."

Before they left, Yan Jiji had already dug deep into the earth at a speed even more ridiculous than a mole’s, which surprised Zheng Xiu somewhat. The ground was piled high with "earth cubes." Zheng Xiu curiously picked one up, only to see the cube slip through his fingers like sand.

Unless you were Yan Jiji, you couldn’t do a thing with these cubes he’d hammered out.

This Ability reminded Zheng Xiu of an ancient game.

The two of them walked out of the secret passage and left the main building. Second Lady Zheng was standing at the doorway, seemingly waiting for Zheng Xiu to appear.

"Well now, Young Master, the Second Lady is looking for you." Qing Pi winked at Zheng Xiu.

"You’ve come at just the right time," Second Lady Zheng said, covering her smile and not mentioning a word about how long she had been waiting. She only said it was "coincidental." "The weather is lovely today. Come for a walk with me."

Zheng Xiu was about to refuse, but Qing Pi coughed lightly and cut in, "Heh, what a coincidence. The young master was just saying he wanted to go out for a look and find some fun."

"Then let’s go out together."

Without waiting for Zheng Xiu’s reply, Second Lady Zheng took his small hand and pulled him out the door.

Before leaving, Zheng Xiu whistled a few notes at Qing Shisan.

A figure flashed across the rooftops.

Qing Shisan was strolling in the courtyard when he heard the young master’s whistle, followed immediately by other whistles in response.

Qing Shisan’s expression didn’t change in the slightest. He leisurely lit his long-stemmed pipe, took two deep drags, and closed his eyes in ecstasy as the smoke swirled around him.

After a long moment.

Qing Shisan murmured, "How could it be... so coincidental?"