War Trophies: Azure Wolf
What? Spirit Artifact!
The other fellow disciples all turned their heads in disapproval.
Senior Brother Lu Gang has been blacksmithing since he was a child, and he has made several Spirit Weapon. So when someone travels thousands of miles to find a sharp blade, he would definitely not mistake him.
The eldest disciple actually gifted me a Spirit Artifact! That's incredibly generous!
Spirit Weapon are rare and highly sought-after items.
To bring a weapon to life, you can't just take any good piece of flesh from Great Demon; it must be a part with unique life-giving abilities, like the Crimson Fire Bird.
Even the worst Spirit Artifact made of inferior materials can fetch at least a hundred gold coins or a thousand Sterling Silver just for its ability to grow and be repaired. A slightly better one would fetch four or five times that amount, with no upper limit!
Yang Dongxiong stroked his beard and laughed, "That's right, it is Spirit Artifact. It was a trophy your senior brother obtained after capturing a commander on the battlefield. In their words, it's called Skarbaha, and in our words, it's called the Azure Wolf."
Your senior brother said in his reply that there was no use for this dagger if he kept it, so he gave it to you as a gift.
The spoils of war from capturing the commander-in-chief alive!
That's too domineering.
No wonder this knife looks different from ordinary daggers, and has a more nomadic style.
Liang Qu was deeply shocked.
It's true that timing Tathagata everything.
The eldest brother's promotion is probably related to the commander who was captured alive.
"Wouldn't Junior Brother Liang then have two Spirit Artifact?"
Xu Zishuai began to doubt his life. He still didn't have a single Spirit Artifact, while his youngest junior brother had two.
How could anyone not be envious and jealous? He was practically grinding his teeth to dust.
Of all the fellow disciples, only the eldest, Second Senior Brother, and the fifth junior sister possessed Spirit Artifact.
The third senior brother's Spirit Artifact broke half a year ago and has not been repaired since due to incompatibility of the materials. Otherwise, the battle with Huang Zejun would not have lasted so long.
Liang Qu carefully presented the dagger.
The dagger is long and slender, with a six-inch blade and a slightly upturned tip. The end of the handle is also curved, in the opposite direction to the upturned tip, and has dark gold patterns on it. At the very end, a wolf's head is carved. It is quite comfortable to hold in the hand.
He gently pressed his index finger against it, making a shallow white cut. Any deeper and it would have drawn blood. The defense of First Level Martial Artist was rendered useless; it was incredibly sharp.
This dagger couldn't possibly have been made with Liang Qu's blood, so it's not as Wishful to wield as Fubo's, but it's definitely usable and far superior to ordinary weapons.
"Thank you, Master, Senior Brother!"
Liang Qu took out a leather scabbard from the box, inserted the dagger into the scabbard, hung it on his waist, and solemnly thanked him.
Yang Dongxiong stroked his beard and laughed heartily, waving his hand. "Enough talk, let's eat! We've traveled so long and haven't had dinner yet! I had them slaughter a cow and two sheep this afternoon, just for something fresh!"
The group followed Yang Dongxiong to another hall.
A huge square table sits in the middle of the hall, and through the latticed window to the side, you can see the courtyard full of green plants and faintly smell a unique fragrance.
I don't know what kind of flower it is, but its scent is so strong even in the dead of winter.
The enormous Black Fang lay in the yard, surrounded by several smaller dogs, each gnawing on a few huge cow bones. Their fur was glossy and smooth; they were all fine dogs.
Martial Master families don't have many rules; they mainly act spontaneously. After greeting everyone, Master Yang asked them to sit down.
With ample preparation time, today's dishes are much better than yesterday's, with various kinds of large pieces of meat filling the square table.
The Master's Wife pulled the Fifth Senior Sister to sit together, and the dishes in front of them were more exquisite.
Steamed Yellow Croaker, quail eggs, steamed cheese with sugar, stir-fried goji berry sprouts with oil and salt, and steamed meat cut into small pieces.
The meat in front of Liang Qu and the others was much more rustic. Each large piece of cut meat required them to open their mouths as wide as possible to fit it in. The meat was a deep reddish-brown color, drizzled with soy sauce, and was served in a basin.
The large piece of meat could be easily torn apart with a single poke of chopsticks; it was tender, fragrant, and steaming hot. I wondered how the chef had managed to make it.
After a busy day, Liang Qu was starving and started eating with everyone.
"When the Ghost Mother Sect was at its most rampant, I was only a teenager and had little contact with it. Later, when I joined the army, I was fighting against the barbarians. The only information I could find was that it was established by the Great Qian Demon Empress and her Imperial Prince, and that it had a group of veteran generals supporting it."
That Demon Empress queen is incredibly powerful; she's said to be Perfected Elephant Grandmaster. If that's true, she might still be alive by now.
Still not dead? Liang Qu almost bit his tongue.
Everyone listened attentively; these were stories they had never heard before.
History isn't taught systematically in schools; many things are hard to learn without actively seeking them out.
"At first, the Ghost Mother Sect was indeed making a great fuss, but Da Shun was locked in a stalemate with the barbarians in the north and had no time to spare. Children could be heard singing nursery rhymes composed by the Water Blessing Sect throughout most of the Jianghuai region."
After the great victory at the Battle of the Flowing Gold Sea, which annihilated the barbarian army of 200,000, Duke Xu was finally free to turn his troops around and swept through the enemy lines, driving the Ghost Mother Sect into the marshes.
Unfortunately Jianghuai region is too vast and has numerous islands, making it difficult to find them once inside. If this continues, it will be counterproductive and may even provoke a counterattack from the barbarians. Therefore, we can only leave them to eke out a living in the marshes.
I never imagined that after so many years, they would make a comeback. Perhaps it's not just our Ping Yang Town; there are other places with hidden traps. I wonder what the situation is like."
Yang Dongxiong felt slightly worried, and even the food in his hands lost its flavor.
Ping Yang Town is not the only large town near the Jianghuai Marshlands region; there are many others.
If they were also coveted by the Ghost Mother Sect, I wonder if they could escape unscathed like Ping Yang Town? "Just eat properly, why think so much and ruin your mood?" Xu Shi put a large piece of meat into Master Yang's bowl. "You're such an old man, Magistrate Peng isn't worried, why are you?"
"Haha, that's true, that's true. Anyway, with me here, Ping Yang Town will definitely be fine."
Yang Dongxiong smiled nonchalantly.
If he were twenty years younger, he definitely would have intervened, but he wasn't.
Taking on a few decent apprentices in my hometown to help them spread their influence is enough. I can't manage or have the ability to manage any more than that.
After dinner, I rinsed my mouth with tea, and a servant brought me a warm stove.
The fire was blazing, the red embers flashing brightly. When you poked it with a fire hook, tiny sparks floated up, chasing away the harsh winter.
The group sat together chatting, mostly recounting events that had happened on their respective sides, and occasionally bursting into laughter.
By 9 PM, the night was deep, and everyone began to feel sleepy, their enthusiasm for conversation waning.
As they were about to leave, Xu Shi had her servants bring over a lot of clothes, two sets for each person according to size, plus a sachet.
Liang Qu reached out and took the two sets of clothes, one dark-colored with scattered floral patterns and the other light-colored with printed patterns, both with arrow-shaped sleeves.
The sachet smells wonderful, with a faint medicinal scent, slightly sweet, and a rich woody aroma. It's not cloying at all, and smells like living in a log cabin in a lush forest, bathed in sunlight.
"Another year has passed in the blink of an eye. The day after tomorrow is New Year's Eve's Eve. I don't have much to give you, but since you're all here, as always, I'll give each of you two sets of clothes and a sachet!"
"Thank you, Master's Wife."