Five days ago, late at night.
Imperial court official Huang Zhongtian stood with his hands clasped behind his back, observing the glow of the blast furnace, with several disciples standing behind him, holding their breath.
After a long while, Huang Zhongtian said, "If this batch of swords fails me again, you can pack your bags and go back to your hometown!"
The disciples exchanged glances, and the youngest and most favored disciple dared to speak up, "Master, it is said that the sword in the imperial collection, the Gongbu Sword, is forged from ancient divine iron, such iron is rare and cannot be sought, no wonder our swords cannot match it, this can only be said to be —"
"Silence!" Huang Zhongtian angrily shouted, cutting off the disciple.
Indeed, this was a pain that would never heal in his heart. Each famous sword came from extraordinary, once-in-a-thousand-years divine iron. Even with his skills praised throughout the world, without such a piece of divine iron, he could not forge a sword that would be passed down through the ages, and his name would be forgotten after his death.
How could he, with his extraordinary talent, spend his life obscurity?
And what made him most angry was the rival from the north, the Liao state's chief craftsman, Woguer, whose fame had recently soared, almost rivalling his own.
He absolutely could not let Woguer, that barbarian, forge a legendary weapon that would make the forger's name immortal before he did.
With this thought, Huang Zhongtian turned back and asked, "Has there been any recent movement from the north?"
The disciples all shook their heads.
But before their heads had finished shaking, a disciple came running and called out, "Master, the latest news from the north is that that barbarian suddenly took a large group of people and went south in separate directions to look for someone called Shi Qingquan!"
Huang Zhongtian paused for a moment, then suddenly realized, "That damned barbarian, he could think of that too! We must act quickly, strike first, and find Shi Qingquan before they do!"
The disciples followed behind him in a hurry, rushing down the small hill. The youngest disciple asked in confusion, "Master, is Shi Qingquan the famous 'Stone Madman'? What does that barbarian want with him?"
Huang Zhongtian choked with anger, his face turning red and his neck swelling, "You bunch of iron-pounding fools! I don't have the patience to explain to you!"
Huang Zhongtian gathered all his disciples, including the seventeen disciples from various sects and bodyguards who were staying at the Huang residence waiting to request weapons from him, and they all set off together to find Shi Qingquan. Naturally, their first choice was the Bishi Villa, closest to the Kaifeng Prefecture.
Upon arriving at the Bishi Villa, it was already past noon. A green-clad old servant came to the door, looking at their group with swords and daggers, his face showing a mix of disgust and fear, he pointed to the hall and said, "My master doesn't know when he will return, there are already a group of guests waiting for him there, you can also go and wait there. The mountain is simple, and only I, an old and useless man, am left to guard this mansion, I cannot entertain you all, please bring your own tea and food." With that, he hurriedly retreated back into his small gatehouse.
Hearing that someone was already waiting for Shi Qingquan, Huang Zhongtian's expression changed. He signaled his companions and disciples to be cautious and slowly entered the hall.
Indeed, there were about twenty or thirty guests sitting in the hall. The sky was overcast, and with no candles lit, the dim light made it hard to see the faces of those people. However, the bearded, muscular man sitting in the guest of honor's seat immediately called out, "Huang Zhongtian!" upon seeing them enter.
Huang Zhongtian instinctively stared at him, and a sudden thought flashed through his mind: "Woguer!"
There was a moment of stiffness on both sides. Huang Zhongtian's younger, more spirited disciples from prestigious schools were the first to react, shouting, "What are we waiting for, let's cut down these Liao dogs first!"
Before Huang Zhongtian could give the order, they had already drawn their swords and daggers and attacked the other side.
In an instant, the hall was filled with flying tables, chairs, and projectiles, Huang Zhongtian retreated quickly, his back against the wall, searching for Woguer's whereabouts.
Woguer was also pressed against the wall, slashing at a bodyguard who had rushed up to him, and through the chaos of the crowd, he locked eyes with Huang Zhongtian, holding up his sword for a long time.
It was a blade forged by Woguer himself, the deer knife, shining with a faint cyan light in the dim hall.
Huang Zhongtian also raised the autumn water sword he had personally forged.
The two of them were bound to have a battle.
The crowd between them was kicked aside like tables and chairs, and the deer knife and autumn water sword finally clashed, sending out a shower of sparks.
Woguer's body looked as heavy as a bear, but his movements were as swift as a leopard, and with the deer knife in hand, he forced Huang Zhongtian to dodge and leap continuously, while Huang Zhongtian inwardly regretted using the light and agile autumn water sword against Woguer, the wild bear.
And he had indeed not anticipated Woguer's agility.
It seemed he would soon pay a heavy price for underestimating his opponent—
The heavy blow of the deer knife finally caused the blocking autumn water sword to break into two pieces.
Huang Zhongtian rolled to the side to avoid being split in two by the deer knife, leaping up and grabbing the sword of a fallen man beside him, his heart filled with regret to the point of nearly vomiting blood.
He really shouldn't have brought the most slender and beautiful autumn water sword out, but should have brought the ugliest and sturdiest Tu Gong Sword instead.
The last memory Huang Zhongtian had before passing out was Woguer's regretful sigh, "Southern barbarian, I really hate to kill such a fine opponent."
When he woke up, he saw young Lord Wen and the others.
Ma Yunlong examined his injuries. Huang Zhongtian's injuries were severe, and if it weren't for someone applying an extremely effective wound medicine, bandaging his wounds to stop the bleeding, and possibly giving him some kind of elixir, he would have already died. But why did the person who saved him not take him away, instead letting him continue to sleep among the dead bodies?
Although Huang Zhongtian felt someone treating his wounds, he could not provide any useful information.
Perhaps the person who saved him was the old servant who had already disappeared from the Bishi Villa.
Ma Yunlong sent four constables to escort Huang Zhongtian back to Kaifeng City. Before leaving, Huang Zhongtian repeatedly instructed them, "You must find Shi Qingquan before Woguer does."
Ma Yunlong couldn't help but ask, "I really don't understand, why do you two great forgers both want to find that madman Shi Qingquan."
Huang Zhongtian, wrapped so tightly that only his fingers could move, looked at Ma Yunlong with contempt, as if patiently explaining common sense to a child, "Where there is cinnabar above, there is gold below; where there is magnetite above, there is copper and gold below; where there is limestone above, there is lead and tin; where there is ocher above, there is iron. Got it?"
Ma Yunlong was stunned for a while before sighing, "Got it."
Familiar with all stones in the world, Shi Qingquan undoubtedly also knew all the world's mineral veins.
If Shi Qingquan were by his side...
For a great forger, what a wonderful prospect that would be.
Huang Zhongtian stared blankly at the night sky, muttering, "Such a simple truth, why did I have to wait for that uncivilized barbarian Woguer to remind me before I thought of it?"
He was really resentful.
The Ji siblings gave up their carriage, and Huang Zhongtian was placed in the carriage and sent back to Kaifeng Prefecture.
Watching the carriage leave, Ma Yunlong said with a headache, "I didn't expect the Liao people to get involved too. Young Marquis, do you think we should report to the Ministry of Justice and increase our forces to stop the Liao people? Woguer is recruiting Shi Qingquan to help the Liao people smelt weapons."
Young Lord Wen shook his head, "The emperor and Minister Cai would not be pleased to see us causing another dispute between the two countries."
No matter how rich Ma Yunlong's experience in handling cases was, he ultimately did not understand the ever-changing political situation at court as well as young Lord Wen, a descendant of a noble family.
Young Lord Wen looked southward, "We don't need to disturb the emperor and Minister Cai either. Chief Constable Ma, you can pursue Shi Qingquan with the authority of the Ministry of Justice, and as for Woguer, leave that to me."
They turned their horses around, ready to head south.
Before leaving, Young Lord Wen looked somewhat awkwardly at the Ji siblings. The constables escorting Huang Zhongtian had freed up a horse, so the Ji siblings had to share one ride, and they could only find another horse or a carriage at the next post station. Therefore, Ji Yaoguang sat behind his sister, and Ji Yaohua, worried he might fall off, told him to hold her waist tightly.
Ji Yaoguang, on the other hand, simply pressed his entire body against his sister's back, and the lazy, absent-minded smile on his face seemed never to change.
Young Lord Wen frowned slightly to himself, looked away, and decided not to look at Ji Yaoguang's infuriating smile anymore.
