Outside, a hundred metres away, the iron hammer continued to strike the red-hot iron block with a steady rhythm. What had once been an unremarkable piece of black iron now began to take shape.
Sweat poured down the man's body, drying and then reappearing in a relentless cycle. He concentrated on hammering the iron and refining the tool, strike after strike, seriously and intently. With each blow of the hammer, a spark flew from the red-hot iron.
Looking at the iron that was beginning to take shape, he clamped it and dipped it into the water. The red-hot iron touched the water and immediately emitted a hissing sound, and the water began to bubble.
He stopped to rest for a moment, wiped the sweat from his face, looked toward the house, and thought for a moment. It had been five days, and he was still a little worried, so he walked back to see how Yueniang was doing.
