"Hey! Boss, walk slowly." "Yes! We can't keep up too fast." Sakura and Matsu used the sword that was originally used for attack as a crutch, and their limping footsteps barely followed Mei, who was walking fast ahead.
"Who said you went beyond your means to compete with Sally? He just made you stand up after lying in bed for six or seven days, which is already showing mercy to you. It also made Sally want to find a reason to hide from her sister-in-law, so that you two can recover well. If you trouble others like this, you won't feel embarrassed. I will help you blush."
"Don't say it again." "Yes! Who knew Sally was playing with us like that too."
"Stupid guy, I knew I would have thrown you two to Wolf as food on the first day."
"Stop making a fuss." "By the way! How much longer do you have to walk? Let's rest!" "Yes, yes! Let's rest."
"It has been four days since I left Sally's village, and I haven't reached 'Village Chief Village' yet. Who do you think should be blamed?"
"Blame me me, okay. Rest up, boss." "Yeah! Blame him, that's good. But rest up together." "Hey! Song! You said who came up with that idea to practice with Sally." "You're also enthusiastic about it, don't say it as if it's all my fault." "You..."
"Stop making noise, there seems to be a village ahead. I don't know if it's' Village Chief Village '?"
"Whether it's true or not, just go in and you'll know." "Yes! Let's go, it's more practical."
Mei looked at the two people who were running up because they could rest well, shook her head and sighed before catching up.
Mei Xiaoran to the village gate, only to find that the two people who had taken a step earlier were actually standing still at the door. "What's wrong? You two..." I think the same reason caused Mei to stand still and daydream like the first two.
"Welcome!" "Sir! Here are the best weapons from all over the continent. Let's take a look inside." "This knife is too expensive, how about it be cheaper?" "Have you finished the things inside? The guests are waiting for them." The noisy sound made this place like a market, not like a village. ". Travelers come and go in various outfits, including attendants, knights, ninjas, warriors, and even archers and wizards. Apart from the bidding of customers and staff in the store, the loudest sound is the sound of hammering at the back of each store.
"Are you looking for weapons, young man? We have various famous swords displayed in our store, including 'Demon Knife Murakami', 'Murakami Rain Knife', 'Shiyu Knife', and 'Secret Sword Unknown Fire', all of which are rare and exquisite!" A waiter standing at the store door greeted Mei.
Mei looked at the shop where the assistant was located, and there were piles of swords and knives on the table at the entrance, each of the same type of weapon arranged in its own pile. "Are you saying that all these swords and knives are 'Murashi' and 'Murashi'?"
"That's right! Little brother, if you're not satisfied, we have a lot of weapons in our store. In addition to swords, there are also hand swords, cross darts, sickles, axes, and so on. You still want to forge your own specialized weapons, but it will take a long time because they are customized works that we produce on site that fully match your body shape, palm, and expertise." The shop assistant proficiently introduced the characteristics of our store, but the voices from each store were similar in content.
Mei shook her head after listening. "I just wanted to ask you to help me recast a sword."
"Little brother, the price difference between recasting and casting new products is not much. Why don't you check if there's anything you like on the table? If you're not satisfied, I'll go get some of the store's treasures for you to see." The waiter then turned around and wanted to walk into the store to bring out more weapons. Mei took off the burden on her back, took out the fragments of the 'Stone Sword', and handed them to the waiter. "Could you please help me see if this sword can be recast before discussing anything else?"
At first, there was a puzzled expression, but the next moment, a professional smile piled up all over the face. "No problem, young man, please wait a moment. I wonder if you want to go for a walk or wait in the store first?"
"Let's just stay here and rest for a while." "Yes, yes! It's not troublesome, is it?" Sakura and Matsuda both wished for a chance to sit down, of course they wouldn't miss it.
"No problem, please sit down. I'll hand over the things to my master," the waiter said, turning around and carrying the package and fragments inside.
Mei and two people who could no longer stand sat down, watching the various people coming and going in the village. This kind of scene doesn't seem like a small village at all, it's a question whether even an ordinary city can have such a lively scene. It can be seen that there are really many people who come to admire the name, and I think there should be two skills in casting.
There were many people standing in front of each store, some to find the right sword for themselves, some to buy some weapons in Murakami Village, and then go to other places to earn a small sum of money. Of course, there are also people who want to fish in troubled waters to see if they can steal a sword, but the craftsmen and shop assistants here are pretty good... "Get out! Let me see you again in the future, I promise you'll leave without a foot." It seems that people who can work here have a certain level of skill, otherwise ordinary people wouldn't kick the knight out.
Looking closely at the warmth and coldness of the human world, Mei's gaze was blocked by the man rushing past in the next moment. The shop assistant ran out of the shop, climbed up the watchtower in the village, and struck the iron clock.
"Dang! Dang! Dang! Dang!" The loud voice spread to every corner of the village, and the originally noisy crowd stopped. The once rhythmic and rhythmic sound of forging iron also subsided. So everyone looked up at the person ringing the bell.
"Sanzi, did your stove catch fire? The emergency bell rang so hard." All the shop masters walked out, equipped with standard left handed pliers and right handed sledgehammer. Some were wearing headscarves, while others were topless. But the same thing is that their physique is very sturdy.
Known as the ' San Zi ', the guy climbed down the watchtower. "Master, if my master has something to attend to, please come over for a moment."
"What's going on? If it's a trivial matter, let's see if we can work together to peel off the skin of your 'second uncle'." The foundry who spoke put a hammer on his shoulder and said rudely. But the footsteps continued to move towards the shop where Mei and others were located, and other craftsmen also followed suit.
Mei looked at the "San Zi" who was running over and panting heavily. "Little brother, Master, please come in too."
Although Mei had many doubts in his heart, he still stood up and followed everyone to the forge. There was a man with white hair sitting in the shop, his bare upper body creating an inexplicable sense of coordination with the blazing fire in front of him. The flames reflected on the tangled muscles on his body, but his gaze was only fixed on the fragments in his hand.
All the craftsmen dared not speak up at such a scene, only the man standing quietly behind them waiting for his next move. For a long time, the white haired man's eyes lit up as he picked up the weapon that was left with only the steps to make the handle. The blade cut across his scalp, and the falling hair, along with fragments, was thrown into the furnace. "'Black Brother ', do me a favor, the fire is not strong enough."
"Oh!" The foundry who was named handed over the tools in his hand to the people around him, and walked to the blower next to the melting furnace, pulling and pushing to start blowing air into the furnace. The fire is getting bigger and the temperature next to it is also getting higher and higher, and all those who are used to living by the fireplace are sweating rare sweat. The Rong furnace was also turned red by the booming fire, but the fragments inside remained unchanged. The silver color is at most blurred by hot air, and Mei believes that taking out the fragments now is probably the same as when she was in Garden City, where she can touch them directly.
"Second Uncle, we can't burn it anymore. If the fire continues to burn, your stove will be in danger!" said a young looking foundry behind us. The two people standing by the Rong furnace who heard the words could only stop in disappointment, their eyes still not moving away from the thing that knocked them down. "Damn it, what kind of ghost fragment is this?"
"What's wrong with 'Xiao Er' and 'Ah Hei'? You look like you're going to mourn." "Ah! Elder." The two people next to Rong Furnace looked at an old man walking in with a cane, their expression like a defeated dog.
The white haired man, known as the 'Second Uncle', seemed to recall something. "Sanzi, who is the guest who brought this guy here?"
"Master, it was this young man who commissioned us to recast this sword," said San Zi as he looked at Mei. Mei also felt a bit uneasy because everyone present was looking at her.
"Can you explain the origin of this sword, young man?" the old man asked softly as he looked at the young man beside him. Mei also explained the back and forth of the sword in the stone clearly. "... It wasn't until a while ago that I unexpectedly found a fragment of this sword, and my teacher asked me to come out and recast this weapon that could be a 'sword in a stone'."
"And there's also this origin..." "Can this really be a 'sword within a stone'?" "But we can't remake it." After listening to Mei's explanation, everyone around us began their own discussions. Only the old man closes his eyes and thinks about problems that only he knows.
When the old man opened his eyes, it was as if a captivating light shone into the eyes of everyone present. Everyone quieted down and waited for the old man's instructions. "Turn on the big stove." The simple three words completely changed the atmosphere. Originally a market setting, now it feels like being on the front line of a battlefield, with everyone focused on the same goal.
"Sanzi, who is that old gentleman?" Song curiously asked Sanzi, who was walking beside him. You can tell from the words that Matsudaira dare not ignore the old man in front of him. Not to mention disrespect towards this old man, it may be in exchange for more than ten hammers and pliers around him greeting him. "Elder 'Shifu' is the most experienced foundry in the village. The famous sword 'Shiyu Blade', ranked E in the 'Treasure Encyclopedia', was forged by the elder and his brothers in the past. The furnace we are going to now is the Rong Furnace made by famous swords such as the 'Demon Blade Village Zheng', 'Village Rain Blade', and 'Shiyu Blade' from the past."
"Isn't the names of those knives the same pile as those displayed at the entrance of your store?" Sanzi looked at Sakura who was questioning for a moment, then secretly approached Sakura and whispered, "Actually, those can only be considered mass-produced weapons that imitate famous knives. Compared to real famous knives, they are still a long way off. However, compared to the weapons sold outside, the weapons we make are still much better. Ah! The big stove is here."
Approximately in the center of the village, there is a house that can be considered the largest in the village. Although the long chimney is not straight into the clouds, the effort spent on the construction project at the beginning makes everyone who sees it feel respected. Entering the room, the air had already brought a suffocating feeling to everyone, and stuffiness was probably the only adjective. There is no decoration, the entire environment consists of a large melting furnace, six blowers, a water pool, a base for people to forge iron, and a large hammer that may take two strong men to lift.
"Open the furnace." "Oh!" Two blacksmiths followed the order of Elder Shifu and walked to the furnace. The skilled action of pulling the bolt to open the furnace will open the long closed furnace mouth. The stove is filled with white charcoal, and a stream of heat fills the entire space as soon as the stove is opened.
"Air supply." "Oh!" The six people left the location close to the door and came to the six blowers. The consistent movement of pulling and pushing pushed a large amount of air into the furnace, and the originally white charcoal gradually turned red under the encouragement of the wind. The scorching air caused the temperature to rise again.
"Add fire." "Oh!" A large cart of charcoal pushed in outside the door, and was fed into the furnace by two casters. The stove with new fuel suddenly became fiery, and all the charcoal burned up as soon as it was shoveled into the furnace. The flames emerging from the furnace indicate that the temperature inside the furnace is not something that can be felt from outside.
Elder Shifu picked up two matching fragments and slowly walked to the stove. The others looked worried, but before the elder spoke, no one dared to speak up to stop them. The elder broke down his cane into two pieces, picked up the fragments, and handed them to the stove. Red flames wreak havoc around any object in the stove, while silver fragments remain unchanged in such a fire. After the elder took out the fragments, he directly touched them with his hands. In everyone's experience, there should be a burning sound of "hiss~" at this point, but in fact, the expected situation did not occur.
Elder Shifu quietly caressed the fragments in his hand, while six foundry workers on the side were still vigorously blowing the wind into the furnace. The escalating fire even planned to spread outwards, and the sleeves of the elders standing in front of the stove were curled up by the scorching fire. It was only a matter of time before they were directly burned onto the elders.
The fire burned mercilessly, even affecting the sparse hair and beard of the elder at that time. The elder slowly placed the fragments aside and rolled up the sleeve of his right arm, revealing the muscles that didn't look like an elderly person. Returning to his hand, the fragments were swiped onto his arm, blood stained and shrouded in debris. Finally, several casters moved forward, but were all stopped by the hands that threw the fragments into the furnace.
Ten or so pairs of eyes stared at the fragments inside the furnace, gradually turning red. The six people I saw on the side were using the blower to its limit, but the fragments seemed to only turn red. Elder Shifu was holding a broken cane and burning it together in the stove. The cane had already burned to the point where the Elder was holding it, turning red. Even the part where the Elder was holding the cane emitted a burst of white smoke and a burning smell. It was only then that the Elder was stopped by the foundry who rushed forward and pulled the fragments onto the ground outside the stove. The fragments quickly returned to their original state, but the elder's hand was already burned.
A few people were left behind to shut down the furnace again, while others followed the elder to the usual gathering place for villagers in the village. The other tourists who were still staying in the village looked at the dozen or so craftsmen gathered under the shade of the trees, all sitting in front of an old man, and a woman was wrapping his wounds.
Mei and the three others have also packed up the fragments and gathered together under the shade of this tree, all waiting for the elder to speak. "Young man, it seems that 'Murakami Village' can't help you anymore." The elder still closed his eyes, and Mei knew that in such a situation, he didn't need to say anything more to respond. He was still waiting.
"Elder, can't we remake this sword?" The youngest San Zi broke the silence. Of course, many people thought he was not qualified to speak at this time and stared at him, but the elder's answer made many people's eyes converge a bit. "No! There's still a way, but that's not something we can do anymore."
The elder took a sip of tea from the side of his body with his wrapped hand and thought for a moment before continuing, saying, "In the history of Eastern casting, there are records that have been passed down, except for 'Murakami Village', all other skilled craftsmen have passed away for a long time. However, there is also a tribe whose secret casting method has produced many good weapons. These weapons are considered top-notch in the 'Treasure Encyclopedia' by the world, but in terms of their characteristics and sharpness, they are not inferior to the A grade divine sword 'Grass Shaving Sword' or the same grade A holy sword 'Stone Sword', but they are not inferior at all. The reason for this is that they have a clear name for the creator, unlike most weapons of level A that are in an unknown state by the creator and are commonly referred to as" weapons left by the gods ". Their names are" Red Maru of the Fashui Palace, "" Mysterious Crow of the Palace, "" Yijing of the Ship Sea Palace, "" Maiko of the Great Spirit Palace, "" Sanlang of the Bird House, "" Pineworm of the Snake Light Palace, "" Jing of the Ilubo Palace, "and finally" Swastika Maru of the Great Spirit Palace. "
"Elder! The 'Fire Clan Warriors' have not disappeared for a long time." The elder nodded slightly as he looked at the man speaking and continued his words. "Wrong, buried in the truth of history is a reality that most people cannot accept. Two thousand years ago, the Fire Clan unified various tribes in the East. In the war against the Ghost Clan, the Fire Clan successfully defeated them with eight brave warriors led by those eight weapons. This is the truth that most people understand, but the difference is what happens next. The rumors outside are that the remaining Fire Clan used their entire lives to seal the Ghost Clan's remaining sins in a corner of the world."
"Yes! Elder, isn't that the truth?" The elder shook his head and sighed as if he had been listening to things for decades in his self righteous tone. No, although the facts are not far apart. At the end of the war, no one wanted to continue fighting this war. Originally, it was just to resist the other's invasion, but in the end, it evolved into a necessity to exterminate the other. After realizing the seriousness of the situation, the elders of the two tribes decided to reconcile to stop this meaningless war. However, the ferocity and combat effectiveness of the Ghost tribe did not reassure other ethnic groups who supported the Huo tribe at that time. The Huo tribe decided to soften the Ghost tribe with their own efforts. The Huo tribe and the Ghost tribe engaged in a great fusion, intermarrying, having children, and settling down, using agricultural and animal husbandry technologies. They, who were already self-sufficient, combined with The bloodline, which has calmed down in temperament, has not been heard of the Ghost Clan harming humanity again for two thousand years. In fact, in a way, it can be explained as "the remaining Fire Clan used their entire lives to seal the Ghost Clan in a corner of the world in order to seal its remaining sins."
"Elder, is this related to us forging swords?" Song tried his best to ask in a gentle tone to avoid making people feel impolite. But it was already impolite to ask the question at the same time. Fortunately, everyone saw him as a guest without much reaction, and the elder also answered indifferently. "It's a big deal. The names of the eight weapons are the names of the craftsmen who cast them back then, as well as the names of the eight Fire Clan warriors who have been passed down for over two thousand years. The craftsmen of such divine weapons are the users, and there must be some unknown reasons and secret methods. Today, the 'Stone Sword' cannot be remade in the village, and the only way is probably to seek the secret method of the Fire Clan's original sword casting. If it still cannot be cast, then the method of recasting the 'Stone Sword' is no longer a heavenly secret that our generation can know." As he finished speaking, the elder picked up the tea cup and took a sip. Closing his eyes again seemed to tell others that he had said too much and done too much today, and he was already tired.
Uncle Foundry looked at the anxious expression on Mei San's face and smiled, helping them ask the question they most wanted to ask now. "Excuse me, Elder. Where did the Fire Clan settle down now?" The Elder closed his eyes and took a sip of tea before finally answering. "The East, the former habitat of the ghost tribe, is known as the 'Great Jiangshan'."
The three people who knew the location were eager to go, but they just stood up and silently bowed to everyone present before turning and leaving. Others continue to sit in their original positions, wandering in legends belonging to the East.
"Wait a moment." San Zi caught up with Mei and his entourage. "What's up?"
"I think what the elder said about the East is the true East. Walking from the village to the East will pass by a cliff, and walking south along the cliff for a while will lead to a suspension bridge that can be crossed. The Great Jiangshan should be at the point where it has crossed the cliff." Mei smiled and patted Sanzi's back as she gasped for breath as she spoke these words. "Thank you!"
"We have to apologize if we didn't help."
Waving her hand, Mei embarked on his journey once again.
"Boss, even they can't remake the 'Sword in the Stone'. Can we really succeed in the territory of the Fire Clan and Ghost Clan?" "Yes, yes, what if it doesn't work?"
"Don't ask again, a road test is better than a dead end. Besides, we've already come here. Do you have to walk back to the village for a few tens of days, and come here for another few tens of days to try your luck when you're in a good mood in the future?"
"Forget it!" "... Shh! It's strange." "Shh! What's so strange? You're the weirdest one here, stupid Sakura." As Matsuzaki planned to continue cursing, he also noticed something was wrong around him. The birds and animals in the forest are clearly showing signs of disturbance, and the smell of danger comes from the wind.
"Scatter!" Under Mei's command, the three of them leaped forward in one direction, with perfect coordination and timing. Behind them came a heavy blow and a murderous aura. As he turned around, a familiar figure caught his eye.
"Jia Lu!"