"Mr. Tang, having traversed the vast Burial of the Immortals Desert from the Great Jin Empire, is clearly not an ordinary person. However, regardless of your status in Jin or who your enemies might be, remember that this is Yue! At least within my Yan's Merchant Association, I, Yan Zi, will ensure your safety. Whether you choose to stay or leave is entirely up to you," Yan Zi said calmly, her hand moving away from the sword sheath.
"Miss, your righteousness is admirable. I..."
Tang jian solemnly raised his hand in a gesture of respect, intending to say more, but before he could speak, the little bell by his side pouted and said.
"How cavalier you are! My mistress used one of the Morning Dew Pills left by her mother to save you; otherwise, do you think you would still be standing here talking? Walking in and acting as if nothing happened is truly ungrateful!"
"Morning Dew Pill? Miss Yan used such a precious medicine on me! Though I cannot repay you now, I will remember this great kindness," Tang jian's expression slightly changed as he spoke.
"When my mother was alive, she vowed to never ignore those in peril if it was within her power to help. I am merely following her last wish. Now, your injuries are not fully healed, so please go and rest. Little Bell, show our guest out," Yan Zi waved her hand, indicating it was time for him to leave.
"This way, Mr. Tang," Little Bell reluctantly walked to the tent entrance, lifting the curtain as she spoke.
"I won't disturb Miss Yan further. Farewell," seeing this, Tang jian did not say more, bowing slightly before turning and leaving.
Exiting the tent, Tang jian glanced at the hot sun in the sky, exhaled deeply, and then started walking along the path he came, heading towards the carriage.
However, halfway there, he was drawn by a scene not far away.
On an open space before another tent ahead, there were two or three dozen fully armed knights forming a large circle. All their gazes were focused, with a hint of tension in their expressions.
Even the two men who had carried him earlier were among them, not daring to breathe like everyone else, as if watching something extraordinary.
Tang jian hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward. Instead of entering the circle of knights, he found a dead tree stump a few yards away, stood on it, and peered inside.
In the center of the circle, a middle-aged man dressed in a light brown robe sat majestically on a black wooden box. Across his legs lay a snow-white long sword, over three feet in length.
The man had sword-like eyebrows, starry eyes, and a high nose bridge. His dark green hair was slightly curly, not tied up in a topknot but casually bound behind his head with a leather hairband. A strand of hair hung loosely in front of his forehead, slightly obstructive to his vision.
At this moment, he was pressing down on the pommel and grip of the sword with one hand, while the other was enveloped in a faint blue light. His fingers gripped a bronze short blade embedded with a crimson crystal, tracing something on the long sword's body. His expression was extremely focused, as if he had isolated himself from the surrounding world, concentrating all his vitality and spirit on the movement of his hand.
Due to the obstruction of the crowd, Tang jian couldn't see what the man was tracing, but he vaguely sensed the fluctuation of considerable magical power emanating from him.
The circle of knights surrounding him were all burly men, yet at this moment, they were all extremely tense, not daring to breathe heavily, lest they disturb the middle-aged man.
Tang jian's eyebrows slightly lifted. Seeing that everyone's attention was on the middle-aged man, he simply jumped off the tree stump and boldly walked to the front of the crowd, leaning his head in to peek inside.
Upon looking, he discovered that what the middle-aged man was tracing was a long string of red looped runes, ancient and obscure.
As the runes on the long sword gradually appeared, the crimson crystal embedded in the man's bronze short blade began to dim.
Suddenly, the middle-aged man's eyebrows imperceptibly furrowed.
Immediately after, his hand with the bronze short blade slightly hesitated. A rune was not yet fully traced when the crimson crystal embedded in the short blade suddenly flashed red, and with a "bang," it exploded.
A moderate amount of air pressure rippled from the center of the explosion, causing the snow-white long sword to buzz and vibrate. The remnants of the small red runes on it slightly shone, emanating waves of heat.
It was obvious that the middle-aged man had failed in tracing the last few runes.
Even so, the knights around couldn't help but exclaim in amazement, all gazing at the long sword in the middle-aged man's hand with fervent eyes.
"The material used to forge this sword is too ordinary. It can only be awakened into the lowest tier of magical sword at most. It's a pity for this piece of Fire Element Stone..." The middle-aged man looked at the exploded crystal on his bronze short blade and shook his head.
After speaking, he stood up, shook his robe, and handed the low-tier magical sword to someone in front of him.
That knight was already overjoyed, but there was still some fear in his eyes. He carefully received the magical sword with both hands, repeatedly saying, "Thank you, Master Chen, thank you, Master Chen..."
The middle-aged man didn't say anything. He walked out of the crowd through a gap automatically made by everyone and left gracefully.
After he left, the knights immediately surrounded the sword bearer in the center, all clamoring to see the newly forged low-tier magical sword. The sword's owner, like his wife being ogled, loudly exclaimed that they could only look but not touch.
Watching all this, Tang jian's face revealed a thoughtful expression. He quietly left the crowd.
...
Nighttime.
Inside a round, arched tent near the center of the camp, a blazing fire in a raised basin illuminated the surroundings, casting everything in a bright glow.
Tang Jian sat on the edge of a simple bed, holding a thin twig in his hand, slowly writing something on the ground before him.
Under the firelight, shadows danced across his cheeks, but his expression was identical to that of Master Chen during the day.
After a moment, Tang Jian stopped his movements, tossed the twig aside, leaned slightly backward, and sat up straight.
On the ground, there appeared a line of runes identical to those inscribed on Master Chen's long sword.
Only these runes were slightly longer, appearing more complete.
However, since no magical power was infused, there was no trace of spiritual energy emanating from them.
"Just an ordinary steel sword, yet it can be inscribed to become a fire-attribute magical sword, even if it's only the lowest grade. It seems this person is indeed a legitimate swordsmith. But for a mere merchant troop to have recruited a swordsmith, it appears that this Yan family is no ordinary clan," Tang Jian muttered, staring at the runes on the ground.
After a while, he lifted his foot and kicked the ground several times, blurring the runes he had inscribed until they were unrecognizable, then he leaned back onto the bed, hands folded behind his head, and slowly closed his eyes.
...
It was unknown how much time had passed when Tang Jian suddenly opened his eyes wide, sat up gasping for breath.
His skin had an unusual reddish tint, and a severe burning pain came from the tip of his left index finger, instantly bringing him from a somewhat hazy consciousness to full awareness.
In fact, his sleep had not been peaceful; his mind was filled with recurring memories of being pursued and killed, trapped in deadly situations several times, unable to awaken, causing him immense suffering.
He slowly turned his body, planted his feet on the ground, raised his hand to rub his cheeks, and the sleepiness vanished.
The fire basin in the tent had extinguished at some point, and the surroundings were pitch black, with only a faint white moonlight streaming in through the gap in the tent flap, falling obliquely at his feet.
As he was about to stand up, he suddenly heard a series of light,细碎 footsteps outside the tent, immediately followed by something blocking the moonlight at his feet.
Tang Jian instinctively darted to the large wooden box piled up beside the bed, concealing himself.
Almost in the next instant, a gleaming blade suddenly probed in through the tent flap, gently sweeping aside, and a figure rolled out, directly approaching his bed, gripping a dagger in reverse and stabbing fiercely into the bed.
The series of actions flowed smoothly and seamlessly.
However, the instant this figure struck the bedboard, they immediately realized the problem, cursed inwardly, and attempted to withdraw toward the tent exit.
Tang Jian would not give him the chance; his figure had already leaped out from the side, and with one punch, he struck toward the back of the assailant's neck.
The man heard the wind behind his head and was startled, but it was too late to turn around; he could only thrust the dagger backward without looking.
Tang Jian gritted his teeth, and instead of withdrawing his punch, he added more force and slammed it down, using his other hand to press down on the dagger stabbing towards his abdomen.
This concealment and emergence, this slam and press, were timed perfectly.
He successfully grabbed the assassin's dagger and landed his punch on the man's neck.
There was a crisp "crack."
The man's neck instantly bent forward, and his head hung backward as if under execution.
Seeing this, Tang Jian relaxed his jaw, exhaling a long breath, but his cheeks twitched in pain.
His injuries were not fully healed, and such vigorous movements were like tearing his wounds again and again; the pain was imaginable.
Without a word, Tang Jian dragged the body to the tent entrance and slightly lifted a corner of the flap.
He examined the man under the moonlight and found that the fabric of his night-black clothes was woven from Shu hemp, a specialty of the north of the Yue country. When he examined the man's dagger, he found it was also of Yue make.
"It seems they weren't specifically pursuing me. Then..." Tang Jian frowned and pondered.
"Enemy attack... Stand guard..."
"Daredevil intruder..."
"Quick!"
As he finished speaking, a chaotic shouting of killing immediately erupted outside the tent.