章節 18: Chapter 17 - [Steel?]
With his iron staff grasped tightly in one hand, his new robes fastened over his body, and his new leather bag over his shoulder, Shao walked to the Patriarch's home with Chu Peijing walking beside him. Shao's grip on the staff was much more firm and confident after several days of training. It would be much easier for him to launch an initial attack when he held the staff in such a way.
"Did Shen Jian tell you the source of the danger?" Shao asked casually as he and Chu Peijing walked through the village square.
"Not exactly," Chu Peijing said, still not willing to look directly at Shao for long. "He just said that there was something a few li to the west of the village."
"How would he know that?" Shao muttered under his breath at a volume Chu Peijing couldn't hear.
It took Shao a moment to recall that one "li" was equal to 1,500 "cun," which was frequently used to measure the length of a fish. Shao was about six cun tall, Chu Peijing was about five cun tall, and a decently-sized trout would be two cun from end to end.
Looking around, Shao noticed that an atmosphere of fear had settled over the village. Like all secrets in Bluecrest, news of the threat to the village spread quickly. They all probably knew that there was some threat close to the town and that the threat was significant enough that two cultivators were working together to stop it.
"What was that?" Chu Peijing tilted her head in confusion when she couldn't hear Shao's muttered statement.
"Nothing. Shen Jian told me he plans to leave today, thank the gods. Once he and I are done with this little field trip and he finally leaves the village, there's something I have to tell you. Do you think… um… can you talk tomorrow?" Shao's words got stuck in his throat as he imagined the prospect of asking Chu Peijing out on a date.
"Of course," she said, smiling. "I'll just be working at the fish market tomorrow."
The thought of seeing Chu Peijing wearing her apron and working diligently at the fish market filled Shao's stomach with a strange fluttering feeling.
"Well, uh, see you then," Shao said, infusing his words with an awkward significance.
Chu Peijing's cheeks colored slightly as she quickly bowed her head and said, "Okay."
At a speed that was not completely necessary, she walked back in the direction of the Chu family home, leaving Shao standing awkwardly in front of the front doors of the Patriarch's home. Shao couldn't stop himself from smiling like an idiot as he reached toward the doorknob. His hand halted a hair's breadth away from the knob, as he spotted a flash of green at the edge of his vision.
Shao turned his head and saw Shen Jian casually leaning against the wall of the Patriarch's home. He couldn't have been more than three cun away, and the cultivator's demeanor implied that he had been standing there for quite a while.
"Another cultivator trick?" Shao asked in an attempt to cover his surprise. "I didn't know you could use ki to make yourself invisible." Though he tried to hide it, Shao was very impressed by this act of subterfuge.
"I didn't want to interrupt your moment with the girl," Shen Jian said with an impish smile on his face that seemed ill-fitting on a man of his age. "More importantly, that wasn't true invisibility. I was just exuding an aura that made it hard for mortals and low-level cultivators to look at me."
Shen Jian's casual mention of Chu Peijing set Shao's teeth on edge. "That sounds like invisibility to me. Now tell me, why did you call me out? What's this 'threat to the village' you mentioned?"
"Right to business, then. There's a mobile concentration of ki about an hour walk to the west." Shen Jian pointed his finger off to one side. Shao looked in the direction he was pointing but didn't see anything of note. "Based on its size, it's probably a powerful divine beast at the ZhouJi level. A divine beast like this would have absolutely no problem wiping out a village of mortals."
"ZhouJI? What level is that?"
Shen Jian sighed. "I already told you this. A ZhouJi is a cultivator of the second realm. ZhouJi can concentrate and manipulate ki, unlike LianQi like you, but they don't have the level of control that a JinDan like me has. A JinDan's control of ki is automatic, whereas a ZhouJi must manually strengthen his body with ki."
"So it's stronger than me but weaker than you. Why is it here? No divine beast has come this close to Bluecrest Village in hundreds of years."
"Well," Shen Jian scratched the back of his neck in a false show of discomfort, "divine beasts are typically drawn to powerful concentrations of ki. That's why most divine beasts and yaoguai on this island bunch up near Shigong Temple and the three cultivator clans. It was probably drawn here by my presence."
"It sounds like you'll have no difficulty killing the beast yourself if it's a whole realm below you. Why do you need me to come?"
"This divine beast provides a great opportunity for a lesson. We would be fools to not make use of this opportunity. Now, come on. We have a beast to kill." As Shen Jian said these words, that familiar malevolent smile appeared on his face. He was plotting something, and Shao didn't like it.
The two cultivators walked down the dirt road out of town, eventually passing by the village forge. Gongsun Bolin was busy hammering a red-hot length of pig iron when they passed. The village blacksmith quickly dropped the unfinished tool in a basin of water and rose to his feet. He retrieved a small bundle from nearby and approached the two men with the bundle clasped firmly in his hands.
"Lin Shao, honorable Shen Jian, I heard a rumor that a threat to Bluecrest is near. Considering this, I figured it would be better for me to give Lin Shao this gift ahead of schedule." Gongsun Bolin unwrapped the bundle in his hands, revealing a finely crafted knife sheathed within an exquisite leather scabbard. The blacksmith bowed his head and held the dagger out for Shao to take.
Shao took the dagger with a respectful bow of his own and drew the dagger out of its sheath just far enough to see the blade. With the blade thus revealed, Shao noticed that the metal contained therein was a much brighter color than he had expected. The blade held within Shao's hand gleamed like a polished gemstone, unlike the other blades that lined the walls of the forge.
The blade caught Shen Jian's attention, causing the older cultivator to stare at the dagger with rapt attention. "Is that steel?" Shen Jian asked, his surprise palpable. "I never would have expected a mortal smith to know how to work with steel."
"Thank you for this gift, Gongsun Bolin." Shao bowed his head before turning to Shen Jian and asking, "What's steel?"
"It's a material that's used in making weapons, and it's much stronger than iron. Who taught you how to make this?" Shen Jian directed this question to the blacksmith.
"It's an old clan secret," Gongsun Bolin said proudly. "The process is difficult. I worked for three days straight, and I was only able to make enough steel for that one dagger."
"You really didn't have to go through so much trouble for me," Shao said sheepishly.
With a smile, Gongsun Bolin said, "I am happy to spend any amount of time making a weapon that can be used to truly protect this village. Even if this blade is only used in a single fight, making it was my honor."
"Thank you," Shao said, bowing to the blacksmith.
The two men turned to continue on their path toward the divine beast, but their journey was once more forestalled by an utterance by the blacksmith. "I must say one thing, Lin Shao. You represent the hope and security of this village. You are the only one that can protect us. If there's anything I can do to help you, I will do all that I can."
These words filled Shao with a powerful feeling of anxiety, but he was able to control his expression. It felt as if a crushing weight had just been placed on his shoulders. Shao realized there was no response he could give that would be sufficient for such a statement, so he simply bowed deeply to the blacksmith and continued on his path toward the divine beast.
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票