Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
The next morning, Liu Guanfeng was called by the White Tiger. He quickly arrived at the White Tiger's side, where he saw the White Tiger holding two Qimei Staffs. Upon seeing Liu Guanfeng approach, the White Tiger tossed one of the staffs to him.
"Disciple, pay attention. The techniques of the spear mainly consist of basic movements such as slashing, stabbing, and thrusting. All spear techniques evolve from these fundamentals. I will now demonstrate the first form of the Heavenly Gang Spear Technique; watch closely."
With a loud shout, the White Tiger exclaimed, "Heavenly Gang Descends," and began to swing the Qimei Staff in his hand. Once the wind from the staff settled, the White Tiger returned to his original position. "How was that? Did you understand?"
Liu Guanfeng scratched his head. "Second Master, you were too fast; I didn't catch it."
"Alright, I'll do it slower. You follow along with me."
"Okay, Master." After saying this, Liu Guanfeng practiced alongside the White Tiger for an entire morning on that single movement. Finally, the White Tiger nodded. "Not bad; you've already grasped it at level five. That's enough for today; you can go to Baldy now."
With that, the White Tiger turned and left the clearing. After lunch, Liu Guanfeng stepped out of his room and saw Bao Rui and several attendants standing at the door. As soon as they spotted Liu Guanfeng, they quickly surrounded him. Bao Rui looked at Liu Guanfeng and said, "Third Brother, could you ask your Four Masters if they could teach us a few things too?"
Liu Guanfeng scratched his head again. "I'll ask them."
Saying this, Liu Guanfeng led several people to Xuanwu's door and knocked. "Come in."
Liu Guanfeng entered Xuanwu's room with four attendants. The room was very simple, containing a table, four chairs, and a bed. At that moment, Xuanwu was sitting on the bed practicing his techniques. Upon seeing Liu Guanfeng and the others enter, he stopped and stood up. "What’s going on? Is it time? Are you ready to learn blacksmithing with me?"
Liu Guanfeng nodded. "Yes, Xuanwu Master, but my attendants also want to learn with me; is that alright?"
Xuanwu looked at Liu Guanfeng's companions behind him. "Do you all want to learn blacksmithing too?"
They all nodded in unison. "Yes."
"Alright, you all come with me," Xuanwu said, stepping out of the door first. Liu Guanfeng and a few others followed closely behind.
Xuanwu led the group of young boys deep into the forest. After about twenty minutes, he stopped by a deep pool. Next to the pool, Liu Guanfeng noticed a huge furnace and an iron rack with hammers of various sizes resting on it.
However, Xuanwu did not let the boys start forging right away. Instead, he handed each of them a basket and a pickaxe, then pointed to a mountain across from them. "If you go straight ahead, you'll find a cave with iron ore inside. Each of you should bring back a basket of iron ore."
Liu Guanfeng and the others exchanged puzzled glances: Is this what learning to forge is about?
Seeing that the boys were not moving, Xuanwu's expression darkened. "What are you waiting for? Without iron ore, how can you learn to forge? Hurry up." With that, he turned away from the children.
With no other choice, Liu Guanfeng and the others shouldered their baskets and picked up their pickaxes as they headed toward the mountain.
After about ten minutes of walking, they arrived at a cave entrance. Liu Guanfeng led the way inside and found it dark and damp. He touched the wall and said, "This should be it; let's start mining."
The boys had never done such hard labor before. Although they were stronger than most kids their age, they were still only ten years old. After swinging their pickaxes a few times, they were already panting heavily.
Copper Bull was the first to complain: "Third Brother, didn't you say you wanted to learn forging from your master? Why are we mining instead?"
Liu Guanfeng looked at Iron Bull, who was sitting on the ground: "You see, there are only me, you, Copper Bull, Bao Rui, Dai, Liu Uncle, and my Four Masters in this valley. If we want to learn forging, where will we get the materials? We have to do it ourselves! So stop complaining; this is just the first step in learning to forge. Besides, my two masters have said that my strength is insufficient if I want to learn martial arts. Don't you think mining is one of the best ways to build arm strength?"
Iron Bull thought for a moment: "Well... Third Brother does have a point."
Copper Bull walked over and slapped Iron Bull on the back of his head: "You realize Third Brother is right now? Since you know that, why are you still resting? Get back to work!"
Having been hit by his brother, Iron Bull dared not show any anger and could only pick up his pickaxe again to continue mining. After more than an hour of work, the boys finally filled their baskets. However, once they were full, a new problem arose. Each basket weighed over one hundred fifty pounds. Liu Guanfeng, Copper Bull, and Iron Bull could barely manage to carry them on their shoulders, but Bao Rui and Dai were not very strong, making one hundred fifty pounds far too heavy for them.
Liu Guanfeng thought for a moment and said to Copper Bull, "Here's what we'll do: you two help support the bottom of his frame while I assist Bao Rui."
After saying this, the few boys placed the frame on their shoulders. Bao Rui and Dai also managed to lift the frame onto their shoulders with the help of the three others. However, they couldn't expect to return too quickly; it took them about ten minutes to get there, but on the way back, it surprisingly took almost half an hour.
When the boys finally arrived in front of Xuanwu, he was looking at them while pulling at the bags under his eyes. "Why did you take so long? You've been gone for almost two hours! How are you supposed to learn blacksmithing like this? Besides, carrying back just one basket of ore is hardly enough. Put these ores down and go back for another basket."
At this point, Liu Guanfeng and the other boys were placing the frame on the ground. Upon hearing that they had to make another trip, they immediately sat down and refused to get up again.
Seeing that the children were unwilling to move, Xuanwu smiled slightly. To Liu Guanfeng, this smile felt like that of a devil. Sure enough, without anyone knowing how he did it, Xuanwu grabbed empty-handed and produced a vine whip in his hand. "Crack! Crack! Crack!" Each boy received a strike.
However, since they had all consumed Iron Skin Soup, it could be said that these boys had tough skin and were not bothered by these hits. Seeing that the whip had no effect, Xuanwu frowned slightly and then smiled as he nodded. "Good kids! I wondered why you were so fearless; it turns out the boss shared the secret of Iron Skin Soup with you. Your skin is indeed thick, but don't think that means I can't do anything about you."
After saying this, Xuanwu's whip struck the boys again. This time, however, the whip glowed with a blue light. They heard five loud cracks as all the boys were hit almost simultaneously. Two seconds later, they all exclaimed "Ouch!" and jumped up from the ground, unconsciously rubbing the spots where they had been struck.
At this moment, Xuanwu tapped the whip against his shoulder a few times with a friendly smile. "So how does it feel, young masters? Is the taste of the whip pleasant?"
Iron Bull rubbed his backside and said, "I haven't been hit like that in a long time; I actually kind of miss it."
Liu Guanfeng and the others rolled their eyes in disbelief; they never expected Iron Bull to have such a preference.
Xuanwu was also surprised. "Oh? You have such a preference? Then I'll indulge you."
"Crack! Crack! Crack!"
"Ah, stop hitting me! I give up!" Iron Bull tried to plead not to be hit anymore, but before he could finish his sentence, he was struck by another lash. Liu Guanfeng and the others also suffered as collateral damage; Xuanwu was indeed one of the Four Sacred Beasts and was incredibly swift in his actions—he didn't even give them a chance to regret it. The boys dared not say anything to Xuanwu; after all, he was their master. In the end, they could only vent their frustrations on Iron Bull. So besides leading everyone else, Iron Bull ended up taking another lash and was then punched and kicked by several boys in retaliation.
The last few boys reluctantly continued toward the mine. This time, unlike before, four boys were walking in front while a figure with his head down, carrying five baskets on his back, followed behind—Iron Bull.
Liu Guanfeng was at the front, shaking his head as he walked. "This is it; this isn't learning to forge at all. It's clearly just being sent to the small coal pit. I strongly oppose the use of child labor."
Bao Rui also shook his head. "Opposition is useless."
"…"
The boys arrived at the entrance of the mine again, their faces looking particularly grim. Finally, Liu Guanfeng said, "Stop staring; let's go in and get to work." The boys lifted their heavy legs and entered the mine.
This time, it took much longer than before; nearly three hours later, they finally returned to Xuanwu's side. Seeing that they were too exhausted to stand, Xuanwu smiled even more happily. "You’re back at this time; you all look worn out. I won’t make it hard for you today; we’ll continue tomorrow." With that, he no longer paid attention and slowly walked away.
When Liu Guanfeng and the others heard "that's it for today," it felt like heavenly music to their ears. However, Xuanwu's final words, "we'll continue tomorrow," plunged them back into despair.
Once Xuanwu left, the boys sat down on the ground simultaneously. Copper Bull looked at Liu Guanfeng with a pained expression and said, "Third Brother, what is this? This is far more brutal than your previous training."
Liu Guanfeng thought for a moment and understood. After all, he had forty years of life experience now; his reactions and perspectives were certainly not something these ten-year-old children could compare to. Liu Guanfeng firmly said, "I will persevere. My parents and two older brothers are still missing; I need to become stronger as soon as possible." With that, he gritted his teeth and stood up, retracing his steps back.
Liu Guanfeng's words made the boys who had been complaining just moments ago suddenly close their mouths. They gritted their teeth and helped each other stand up, following behind Liu Guanfeng.
After the boys had walked far away, Xuanwu jumped down from a large tree not far from where they had rested. He nodded at the boys' retreating figures before slowly fading away until he disappeared into the forest.
Comment 0 Comment Count