https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-186-Cultivating-the-Purple-Qi-Ascending-Dragon-Scripture/13030982/
Chapter 187: Master Blacksmith
Chapter 187: Master Blacksmith
2017-09-25
Members of the Flame Battalion rarely formed fixed teams, and when assigned to siege missions, the team size typically ranged from fifty to a hundred people.
The Flame Battalion squad that Lu Haikong had previously dispatched consisted of ten men, a seemingly excessive number for the simple task of delivering a dagger. This demonstrated the importance Lu Haikong placed on this dagger and, by extension, the person who would receive it.
The squad headed in the direction of Youzhou, but they didn't reach the city itself. Instead, they stopped about twenty kilometers away from the mountain camp.
Lu Haikong had been to this location before with the intention of gathering refugees. Indeed, this was the place where thousands of ghost-like refugees resided.
The area was relatively hidden, and the Flame Battalion had to exert considerable effort to locate it.
The squad members didn't approach the refugee camp. Instead, they stopped several hundred meters away, where they placed the dagger and a letter inside a wooden box under a large boulder. Then, they carved a mark on a nearby tree trunk with a diameter of about one meter, indicating the direction of the mountain camp. After completing this task, the Flame Battalion considered their mission accomplished and returned to the camp.
Long after the Flame Battalion left, as night fell, a filthy and disheveled man emerged from the refugee camp.
He approached the tree, caressing the trunk. When he touched the mark, his entire body trembled, and his eyes shone with delight.
He rushed to the boulder in a few quick steps and dug into the loose soil with his hands, uncovering the buried wooden box.
As he opened the box and saw the dagger and the envelope inside, he instinctively reached for the letter. But upon seeing his own filthy hands, he abruptly withdrew his hand.
He tore a piece of cloth from his tattered clothes and carefully wiped the dirt from his hands, ensuring they were clean before picking up the letter and reading it.
The letter's content was straightforward: it briefly explained the dagger's purpose, wished him well, and advised him to take care. It concluded with a promise to await his return.
As the man finished reading the letter, the moonlight illuminated his face, revealing none other than Ma Pian.
However, under the moonlight, Ma Pian's face appeared colder and more ferocious than ever, with a hint of madness. This was his expression after calming down from reading Lu Haikong's letter, making it hard to imagine what Ma Pian had endured during the past month.
Facing the moonlight, Ma Pian knelt on one knee and whispered hoarsely, "My Lord, it's almost done. Give me one more month, and Ma Pian will definitely forge a..."
His voice trailed off in the night breeze, and only he heard the last few words.
After speaking, Ma Pian stood up, hesitantly looking at the letter in his hand. He didn't want to carry his lord's letter on his filthy person.
After some deliberation, Ma Pian put away the dagger but reburied the letter in the wooden box under the boulder.
Having done all this, Ma Pian, with the dagger in hand, returned to the refugee camp.
...
Back at the mountain camp, Lu Haikong finally met the old man who had specifically requested to see him.
When Lu Haikong saw the old man, he was pleasantly surprised. In the Three Kingdoms era, there weren't many generals who remained capable in their old age, and those few were renowned.
Judging by the man's age, he could only be Huang Zhong or Yan Yan.
"That's not right. We used two recruitment edicts, one for a special talent and the other for a scholar. Why is there no mention of a warrior?" Lu Haikong wondered aloud.
"Respected sir, may I ask your surname?" he inquired, his curiosity piqued.
"What old man? You're calling me old, you little rascal! I'm just a blacksmith you invited. You know I'm just a simple blacksmith, and yet you address me as 'old sir'? You're a cheeky one!" The old man's eyes widened, his voice booming with no hint of frailty.
"A blacksmith?" Lu Haikong was taken aback, but instinctively cast a Detection Technique on the old man.
Name: Gongsun Chui
Attributes: ???
Occupation: Blacksmith (Master Level)
Skills: Blacksmithing (Master Level), Forging (Master Level), Tempering (Master Level)
???
Upon seeing Gongsun Chui's attributes, Lu Haikong felt a bit dizzy. Had the heavens been raining pies for the past few days? How else could he have been hit by another pie today?
"So, it's Master Gongsun Chui," Lu Haikong said, his eyes gleaming. He had been worried about not having a master blacksmith in the Blacksmith Camp, but now, with the arrival of a master, he couldn't help but feel delighted.
However, Lu Haikong's joy was short-lived. Gongsun Chui glared at him, "You cheeky lad, just now you spied on me again, didn't you?"
(One 6, one 9, one book, one bar, one error-free version!)
Lu Haikong's smile froze. This was the first time his Detection Technique had been discovered, indicating that the Gongsun Chui before him was no ordinary man.
Since he had been found out, Lu Haikong was candid and readily admitted his actions and apologized.
The old man didn't hold a grudge. Instead, he began negotiating his wages. "Never mind, never mind. I'm here to work. If you can pay, then you're the boss, and whatever you say goes."
Hearing this, Lu Haikong had a bad feeling. He reluctantly asked, "How are the wages for a master calculated?"
Gongsun Chui gestured with his hand, "Five hundred gold!"
Lu Haikong breathed a sigh of relief. It was just five hundred gold, a bit expensive, but one master blacksmith was worth five Mountain Bandit Guards. For a wealthy man like Lu Haikong, it was a mere trifle. He was about to agree with a wave of his hand.
But then the old man added, "Per day!"
Lu Haikong's outstretched hand froze. He felt an uncontrollable urge to kill someone!
Five hundred gold per day meant over a hundred thousand gold per year. The old man was treating him like a fool!
Noticing Lu Haikong's darkening expression, the old man realized his mistake. "Oh no, I walked into a den of bandits! This guy is the boss, and I'm demanding a fortune. He might kill me!"
In reality, the old man was overthinking it. Lu Haikong wasn't that ruthless, but five hundred gold per day was indeed too expensive.
Lu Haikong understood. The old man was like the special Data NPC in his mountain camp, and the price was probably non-negotiable. However, Lu Haikong desperately needed a master blacksmith, so he quickly devised a plan...
(End of Chapter)
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