"Thunder rumbled and wind blew; wind blew and rain fell. Time to go home and bring in the laundry!"
Xu Zishuai carried a basket of iron ingots, weighed their heft, then turned and headed back against the tide of people, like a reef in flowing water. Dark clouds gathered and scattered across the horizon, lightning burgeoned, and the sky alternated between gloom and brightness.
Countless apprentices and soldiers behind him stared blankly upward. Like moths drawn to flame, they could not suppress their fear, yet still shuffled forward on stiff legs.
The young apprentice's pupils trembled, his legs shook, and he stared without blinking at the two lights colliding in the sky. He glanced back. "Master Xu! Where are you going?"
"To forge iron." Xu Zishuai lifted a corner of the curtain and turned his head.
"But, but..."
The young apprentice looked into the tent. Fierce red light streamed through the canvas. Bare-chested Lu Gang swung his hammer against a weapon, his knotted muscles flexing as clear sweat mixed with grease and ran down his body. He was utterly focused.
How strange.
Both of them were so strange.
The young apprentice pointed at the raging sky, unable to form a coherent sentence.
"Oh, a Martial Saint battle." Xu Zishuai set down the iron ingots beside the tent pole. "What is there to watch? If they lose, can you run away?"
"No."
"If they win, will they need you to go up?"
"No."
"Then why are you standing there dazed? Come help. Go work that bellows, and move faster."
Still muddleheaded, the young apprentice entered the tent. Xu Zishuai turned sideways and released the curtain. As it fell, through the narrowing triangle of space, Linjiang of Qin Prefecture rose from the ground and thrust straight into the heavens.
The soldiers in