Chương 17: Shi Zhang's Past
After Shi Zhang accepted Shi Li as his disciple, he commanded Shi Li to head home and have a good rest since tomorrow morning they would start their session. Shi Li followed his master's commands and bowed respectfully before heading home, leaving Shi Xingwan and Shi Zhang alone.
"You're still as doubtful as ever," Shi Xingwan couldn't help but chuckle, "Though that's not a bad thing at all."
"I can't help it," Shi Zhang shrugged his shoulders, "It's just a habit I've gotten accustomed to ever since that happened."
Shi Xingwan frowned after hearing Shi Zhang say something regarding his past. Even though Shi Zhang didn't really go in-depth into what it was, the heavens [1] would explain to the masses [2] what happened in Shi Zhang's past.
Back in his youth, Shi Zhang was a cultivator renowned for being skilled in forging and sword arts. Due to this, he was given the moniker of 'Slaughterer of the Forge.'
Though the moniker implied something else, to everyone who knew him, they felt that it definitely fit Shi Zhang's characteristics. One day, while he was searching for a precious material needed to make his cherished blade, he encountered a woman that was being chased by a group of bandits. The woman was filled with bruises and wounds so being a man that followed the gentleman's code, he stepped in and defeated the group in front of the woman's eyes.
To Shi Zhang, it was as easy as drinking water since the bandits were of the Martial Adept stage while Shi Zhang was already at the peak of the Martial Elite stage.
After beating all of the bandits into submission, Shi Zhang carried the girl back to the clan and nursed her back to her peak condition.
Day by day, he would be by the woman's side, talking about their lives as he witnessed the woman's journey to full recovery. Every single day, he could feel that the woman in front of him was becoming more beautiful as they continued to chat, it was also then that he knew that he fell in love with her.
Fortunately for him, the woman was also in love with him. After she recovered back to full health, she left the Shi clan, leaving a promise to Shi Zhang that she would come back someday.
Shi Zhang put that promise to heart and waited as he continued to forge weapons and cultivate. It was around three months later after their fated encounter that he would meet her again.
But this time, something was different. It was not Shi Zhang that was different, but the woman.
The woman looked at Shi Zhang like a piece of scum and said, "Since you've nursed me back to health back then, I'll reduce the constraints of the contract I'm giving you." The woman then threw Shi Zhang the contract in her hands. Shi Zhang grabbed it and skimmed over it, only to become seething with anger.
The contract he held was a soul contract, a high level contract that could not be defied by the one who signed it.
"So? Do you accept the terms?" The woman released her aura all of a sudden, surprisingly suppressing Shi Zhang until he fell to his knees. This also gave him a big shock since back then, he noticed that the woman wasn't even at the Martial Adept stage. But now, here she was, at a cultivation realm he would only hope to reach.
Shi Zhang gritted his teeth as he replied, "Though I appreciate the thought, I'd have to deny."
"Oh? Why is that? Aren't the terms beneficial for you?" The woman's eyebrows raised up as she didn't expect that the man in front of him would reject her offer.
Ever since she came back to her clan, she became the idol of many people, even becoming the dream wife of multiple men. But here she was, asking a lowly cultivator like Shi Zhang to accept her contract. Although Shi Zhang was at a low cultivation realm, he was still her benefactor so she had to consider his emotions as well.
"If that's the case, I shall leave then." Seeing that Shi Zhang was adamant in his decision, the woman turned around as she dropped a chunk of metal a few meters away from Shi Zhang.
"Take this. Though it has been a while since we've talked, you told me you were searching for Red Star Steel. Think of this as my farewell gift."
"Anyways...see you."
Afterwards, Shi Zhang looked at the metal the woman dropped and sighed. The woman was kind and amicable back then, but she turned into an arrogant and haughty person within a span of three months.
At that moment, something within Shi Zhang cracked. It was as if he realized something. After that incident, he became less outgoing and tended to only work at the forge, neglecting his sword arts.
But even so, he would always take a few minutes of his time to look at the Red Star Steel he obtained, remembering the slightly bittersweet memory in his life.
...
"Ever since then, you didn't give anyone your full trust that easily right?" Shi Xingwan asked. "That's why you always let them go through a test first to see if they would betray you or use you for other purposes."
Shi Zhang gave a bitter smile and said, "I can't help it. It's the only way I can trust people now."
"Until I find out what happened to her, I won't give anyone my full trust ever."
...
The next day, afternoon.
Shi clan, Shi Zhang's smithy.
Shi Li walked towards his master's smithy wearing a white robe. Once he arrived, he saw that his master wasn't here yet so he looked around.
He checked the hammer and anvil his master used, lifting it up in the air and feeling its weight... except for the anvil since that was too heavy for him.
He then looked at the furnace that was currently dyeing the place a light orange. He was quite surprised that the furnace was still burning up till now since he knew that furnaces needed a lot of fuel.
After a while of looking around, Shi Li heard footsteps that got closer and closer to the smithy. Knowing who it was, Shi Li went to the front of the smithy and waited.
...
Shi Zhang only arrived at his smithy during this hour since according what he told Shi Li yesterday, he had to do something. What he did this morning was retraining his rusty sword arts since he now had a disciple. Although he would only teach that disciple how to forge, incorporating sword techniques in forging wasn't unheard of.
"Oh, if it isn't Shi Li," Shi Zhang was slightly surprised seeing that Shi Li was early. "Now that you're here, let's start with the basics of forging."
Shi Zhang moved inside the smithy and sat on the chair beside the anvil. He then looked towards Shi Li and said, "The first rule in forging is that one should have enough strength in molding the materials into what you imagine to be."
"That's why...I want you to run."
________
[1] The author
[2] You, the readers lol
SUY NGHĨ CỦA NGƯỜI SÁNG TẠO 
TrueDawn
TrueDawn What Shi Zhang wants Shi Li to do is just like that one song. Anyways, Shi Zhang's past will become important in the future.
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