"Mr. Qi, shouldn't you tell your teacher?"
"My teacher is a Long-lived Species. A hundred years or so is but a speck in her life. In her long life, I am merely an insignificant passerby. Moreover... she doesn't like to be disturbed."
...
Clarice's face showed no surprise. That was exactly what Mr. Qi would say.
Even on the verge of death, he was unwilling to disturb his teacher.
Perhaps to Mr. Qi's teacher, he truly was an insignificant passerby.
But to himself, his teacher was the most important person in his life.
Living in seclusion in the mountains, never marrying, without children, most of what he did was related to his teacher.
Regularly cleaning his teacher's home, trimming the path leading to it, year after year tending to the Plum Grove and brewing fine wine to send to his teacher.
Other than that, he never disturbed her.
All of this indicated that the weight his teacher held in his heart surpassed everything else.
If even news of his death was considered a disturbance, wasn't that a form of cruelty?
Was it too heartless?
Clarice couldn't help but wonder.
"Is there anything you haven't finished... I can help, Mr. Qi."
"...There's a bottle of medicine in the hidden pocket of my white coat. Please pour out four pills and give them to me. Thank you."
Clarice looked at the white coat hanging not far away. When she went to retrieve the medicine, she found a small plum blossom embroidered inside the hidden pocket.
She was silent for a few seconds, then took out the medicine bottle from the hidden pocket, returned to the bedside, carefully poured out four pills, and fed them to Qi Zhimu.
The medicine took effect quickly.
In less than two minutes, Qi Zhimu regained his youth under Clarice's gaze.
However, he let out a helpless smile.
Before, it didn't even take half a minute... Looking at the incredibly familiar Mr. Qi, Clarice couldn't stop her tears.
She couldn't suppress the urge and threw herself into his arms, crying loudly.
Qi Zhimu raised his hand, wanting to gently hug her back, but his arm ultimately stopped in mid-air, then silently fell.
At this point, how could he not see the girl's feelings?
If he couldn't give any promises or a future, it was better to choose never to start from the beginning.
If a dandelion seed never falls into the soil, it won't take root and sprout, eventually drifting away with the wind.
Qi Zhimu remained motionless, letting Clarice's tears soak his clothes.
Sadness was the girl's right and freedom; he had no right to stop it.
Qi Zhimu turned his head to look out the window.
It started snowing again, quite heavily.
He checked the time again, only to realize he had been unconscious for nearly a day.
After an unknown amount of time, Clarice gradually stopped crying, holding Qi Zhimu in silence.
"I'll take you home later. Ms. Durand will be worried if you don't return overnight," Qi Zhimu said gently.
"...Mother has already returned to her hometown..."
"I see."
"Mr. Qi, let me stay with you until the end. Please, don't refuse me."
Because... this is the only thing I can hope for... The girl dared not lift her face, afraid to see eyes that spelled refusal, and even more afraid to hear those subtle words.
"...Okay." Qi Zhimu only replied with a soft word... [Remaining Lifespan: 1 day 02 hours 24 minutes 41 seconds]
Inside the folded space, a humanoid machine quietly floated in front of Qi Zhimu's assembly area.
His ten fingers rapidly operated on the control panel, his afterimages almost blurring into one, preparing to finalize the last program.
He implanted a backup of part of his digitized Remembrance into the core and set an inviolable meta-directive.
Clarice stood by, silently watching all of this.
She knew the purpose of this machine and knew it wasn't bought from the company.
Light flowed within the assembly area, and the machine's surface rapidly generated tissue as if bones were growing flesh, quickly transforming into Qi Zhimu's likeness.
Qi Zhimu stopped, his fingertip hovering above the confirmation key.
"Mr. Qi... can you change its appearance?" Clarice suddenly asked.
Even if it was Mr. Qi's creation, she didn't want to see another identical face.
"Using someone else's data isn't good; it would infringe on portrait rights. Using my own is the most convenient and risk-free."
Qi Zhimu, for once, made a small joke. He reached out and pinched the automaton's skin; the texture was almost indistinguishable from a real person's.
However, that face was blank and expressionless, its gaze dull, showing no emotion whatsoever.
Qi Zhimu didn't need it to have emotions.
It only needed to faithfully execute the meta-directive.
Should the language module be deleted or kept? He couldn't help but hesitate.
Clarice secretly sighed, no longer speaking.
The next second, she saw a past phantom again.
It was the process of Qi Zhimu creating this mechanical automaton.
In that instant, she deeply understood her mother's words—
[Life is a winding labyrinth; besides Remembrance, we have nothing.]
Then, she recalled Qi Zhimu's interpretation of that sentence, and the cruel short story he told.
She remembered... the answer she received when she asked Mr. Qi if he was willing to remember her.
—He said: Naturally willing, and without needing a reason.
Now, she also wanted to remember Mr. Qi, to remember everything about him.
Likewise, without needing a reason.
Clarice understood everything.
If even she forgot Mr. Qi, then he would truly be completely dead.
Every time she thought of him, he would live again through her, as if he had never died.
"Cycle self-check complete. Let's begin."
Qi Zhimu lightly pressed the confirmation key, his voice pulling Clarice's thoughts back.
He had still kept the language module.
The automaton's eyes gradually lit up with a faint glow.
It slowly rotated its neck and moved its limbs. Its movements were initially somewhat stiff, lacking any natural human feel.
However, as time passed, its movements became increasingly fluid and natural.
All of the pre-set simple actions passed the inspection perfectly.
A steady synthetic voice sounded, gradually approaching Qi Zhimu's timbre during the process.
"Meta-directive confirmed, protocol complete. Please specify the first test content."
Qi Zhimu nodded slightly, transferring the automaton from the assembly area to the ground, pulling Clarice back a few steps.
"Within three seconds, completely mimic my behavior pattern."
The automaton's gaze closely followed Qi Zhimu.
The next moment, its posture, movements, and even the habitual slight curve of its fingertips were identical to Qi Zhimu's.
If not for the still expressionless face, it would be almost impossible to distinguish the two.
Qi Zhimu issued the second test command: "Switch to attack mode. Target: virtual target ahead."
As his voice fell, several targets instantly popped up within the folded space.
The automaton's figure moved abruptly, its right arm lashing out like a whip, bringing forth a sharp gust of wind.
Each strike during its continuous dashes shattered the bullseye, its movements crisp, precise, and elegant.
Qi Zhimu stared intently at the data screen, various indicators rapidly fluctuating.
The attack mode's action logic was stable, and its reaction time was better than preset, meeting the requirements in many aspects.
An automaton without highly autonomous intelligence naturally couldn't lack self-preservation capabilities.
"Next, it's time to test energy attack methods. We can't do it here, so follow me."
Qi Zhimu turned, and the other 'him' faithfully followed.
Clarice also silently followed.
On the quiet, vast snowy field, the automaton fired an energy cannon, blasting a fifty-meter diameter area into a deep pit, and the earth trembled slightly.
Qi Zhimu was very satisfied with such destructive power.
It was enough to deal with ordinary thieves.
After all, its original purpose was not for killing.
"It's cold, let's go back."
"Mr. Qi... there's one day left, right...?" Clarice's mood was extremely low.
Qi Zhimu paused, then chuckled softly.
"Yes."