After Wu Heng left with two members of the Black Tiger Gang, everyone in the courtyard wore a look of worry.
"Shopkeeper Li, we can't give them the money. Sun Li can't possibly be that plague god's nephew; those people are clearly using Sun Li's matter to extort us."
Li Tie stared silently at the token embedded on the ground, as the blacksmith masters in the shop were ordinary people. Even though years of forging had given them quite a bit of muscle, making them stronger than average folks.
Yet they still couldn't compare with true martial artists, and Wu Heng was merely a hall master of the Black Tiger Gang. Not to mention the other hall masters, there was an even stronger gang leader above him.
Li Tie also hadn't forgotten that the Black Tiger Gang was the largest gang in Qingshui Town, with over fifty people under its command, backed by officials from Qingyun County Town.
Thinking about this, Li Tie sighed softly and then addressed everyone.
"There's no need to worry. Let's all return to forging for now. I'll think about this matter carefully over the next two days."
The crowd wanted to say more but couldn't come up with any ideas for the time being, so they returned to the forge filled with anger to continue working.
Back in the forging room, Su Mu couldn't help but feel a bit guilty. Although he knew clearly that even without Sun Li's matter, the Black Tiger Gang would find another excuse to show up, the matter still had something to do with him.
Furthermore, Zhou Mountain, the master who taught Su Mu the forging art, couldn't let Wu Heng's assault on him today go unchecked.
But at present, Su Mu was still too weak to help in any way. He knew he couldn't act recklessly; he could only keep today's events in mind.
Thus, Su Mu, like the other blacksmith masters, vented all his anger through forging, and that afternoon, the sound of hammering in the forging room was exceptionally loud.
On the forging platform, a piece of iron was hammered thousands of times daily over the past ten plus days by Su Mu, driving out the speckled impurities from the black iron ore, gradually revealing a metallic luster, transforming step by step through repeated tempering into steel.
"I can start the next step."
Su Mu's eyes narrowed slightly, and hammer after hammer shaped the iron into long strips, forging the primary embryo of a long saber from this iron piece. Once the roughly formed blade was forged, he began shaping it with tools like a shaving knife.
Even though it was his first time hammering out blade soldiers himself, Su Mu had memorized the forging art taught by Zhou Mountain over the past six months and had seen the forging process of Zhou Mountain and other veteran blacksmiths.
Just one afternoon later, the refined iron took a preliminary shape, resembling the general form of a long saber.
Next came opening the blood groove, quenching, polishing, clay covering the blade with fire, tempering, and a series of other steps.
Three days later, Wu Heng swaggered into the shop, taking a bundle of silver from Shopkeeper Li's hands, and Li Tie, looking weary after Wu Heng's departure, tried to lift his spirits.
"It's over now... Don't worry, the Black Tiger Gang won't come again. Just treat this matter as forgotten. We've received a lot of orders recently, so please bear with it for a while, and afterward, I'll give everyone a break."
"Let's all disperse and go back to forging."
During lunch break, in a corner of the courtyard, Li Xiaohu whispered to Su Mu, "Su Mu, let me tell you, those Black Tiger Gang people are bastards. This is plain robbery. If it were me, I'd fight them to the end, or just open a shop elsewhere."
"You know the old bun shop in town, right? Though his buns are quite expensive, the old man there is a good person, often helping out orphans without support. But just yesterday, the old man claimed to have broken a leg; I suspect the Black Tiger Gang is involved..."
"And there's a hotel on the east side of town..."
Su Mu quietly ate the buns in his hand, listening and grasping ten words in essence: Kindness invites exploitation, disaster lasts a thousand years.
"Su Mu, Su Mu, are you even listening?"
Su Mu snapped back, "Ah, Brother Li, I was listening."
Li Xiaohu noticed Su Mu's distracted expression and assumed Su Mu hadn't been listening, mildly annoyed, got up, "Humph, not talking to you anymore. Anyway, those bastards won't die well."
"Here, these two buns are for you, I can't eat them anymore."
Su Mu glanced at the buns stuffed into his hand, grabbed one, and brought it to his mouth, extending his empty left hand with an invisible power flowing through his palm.
This power was gradually growing stronger, now enough for Su Mu to unleash three full-force punches. The process of nourishing this force couldn't be rushed, much like how freezing three feet of ice takes time.
Quickly eating the two buns in several bites, Su Mu swiftly stood up, if there were anyone around, they'd certainly be amazed; Su Mu's movements just now resembled those of a fierce tiger.
"I'm done eating, let's go back to forging."
For Su Mu, forging was also cultivation. With each passing day, Su Mu could feel himself improving, and this continual growth offered him reassurance.
At dusk, Su Mu sealed the furnace fire and walked out of the forge. He first went to the pharmacy to buy three doses of Body-Strengthening Soup, tucking them into his clothing, feeling the pang of spending yet another three taels of silver. The Body-Strengthening Soup was a great thing.
"But it's too expensive..."
Afterward, Su Mu proceeded to the market to buy three pounds of pork, carrying it in his hand as he walked towards the west of the town.
Under the big lacquer tree at the alley entrance, a group of children played jump-rope. One of them glanced down the alley, muttering hesitantly, "Don't you guys think that person walked so fast just now?"
"No way, you must've seen it wrong."
"Really?"
Su Mu carried three pounds of pork to a humble courtyard, which was Zhou Mountain's home in town. Li Xiaohu had once mentioned that Zhou Mountain had a wife and daughter in his early years, but they all died from an illness, and since then, Zhou Mountain had lived alone, never remarrying.
Upon hearing the knock on the door, footsteps soon echoed from inside, "Who's there?"
Crunch.
The old wooden door creaked loudly as it opened.
"Master Zhou, I came to see you."
"You've got a kind heart, young man."
Seeing it was Su Mu, Zhou Mountain's face showed relief, but his expression turned stern upon noticing the pork in Su Mu's hand, "Take this meat back with you."
"Master Zhou..."
"If you don't take it back, don't bother coming into my yard."
Su Mu wanted to say more but was cut off directly by Zhou Mountain, so he didn't bring up the matter of the pork again and asked about his injuries as he entered the yard.
"Master Zhou, how are your injuries?"
"What's the big deal? I'm a strong man, after all. That palm strike was nothing. I prepared some medicine soup these days and after drinking it, I'm almost recovered."
As he spoke, Zhou Mountain rolled up his shirt, and Su Mu stared intently, finding the injuries indeed mostly healed.
Afterwards, Zhou Mountain inquired about Su Mu's weapon forging over the past few days. As they chatted, the sky gradually darkened, and Su Mu attempted once more to offer the pork.
Zhou Mountain glanced at the sky, "It's late today. Why don't you stay the night? I'll let you taste my cooking."
"Alright, I'll go buy some wine then. Tonight, we can use the meat with the wine."
Su Mu agreed immediately, having heard from Shopkeeper Li that Zhou Mountain enjoyed a little drink.
"That's fine, but don't buy too much, just half a pound is enough. We have work at the shop tomorrow."
That evening, Zhou Mountain cooked all the pork Su Mu brought, while Su Mu poured a bowl of wine for Zhou Mountain. Seeing Su Mu not pour himself any, Zhou Mountain snatched the jug and poured him half a bowl as well.
"Come on, a real man can handle a bit of wine, as long as you don't drink like Sun Li."
The two clinked their bowls together, and Zhou Mountain tilted his head back for a big gulp, while Su Mu followed suit. The next moment, Su Mu felt a fiery burn in his mouth, coughed several times, and his breathing became heavier.
Zhou Mountain burst into laughter at the sight, "You can't handle the drink, just drink slowly."
After eating the wine and meat, a drunken Zhou Mountain slept on the long bench. Seeing Zhou Mountain sleep soundly, Su Mu began practicing Five Animals Qigong in the courtyard.
After some time, Zhou Mountain groggily sat up, spotting Su Mu practicing in the courtyard. Seeing Su Mu deeply engrossed, he didn't say anything.
Zhou Mountain watched for a while and gradually became captivated. Su Mu's body moved fluidly, his techniques mesmerizing, sometimes transforming into a tiger, then a deer, a monkey, a bird, or a crane—each vividly lifelike and dynamic.
"What a marvelous technique!"
Caught in his awe, Zhou Mountain couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.
Su Mu was startled, realizing Zhou Mountain had awoken without his notice, having been too absorbed in his practice.
"Hic... It's good to practice regularly, it strengthens the body... you stay here..." Zhou Mountain hiccupped drunkenly, trying to finish his sentence as he stood and staggered towards the house.
Su Mu wanted to help him but was shrugged off by Zhou Mountain, "Don't help me, I'm not drunk..."
Soon, a sound of rummaging echoed from inside the house, and shortly, Zhou Mountain returned to give Su Mu a piece of parchment.
"Master Zhou, what is this?"
"Hic, it's a family prescription. I've been drinking this medicine lately, and it's much better than what's sold in the town pharmacies... You should try preparing some batches according to this prescription..."
Having handed over the parchment, Zhou Mountain, with his hiccups, headed into the house to sleep soundly.
Su Mu snapped back to reality, swallowed his saliva, and hesitated before opening the parchment.
The bright moonlight revealed five large words on the parchment.
Three-in-One Body-Strengthening Soup.
...