After Wu Heng left with two members of the Black Tiger Gang, everyone in the courtyard wore worried expressions.
"Shopkeeper Li, we can't give them the money. Sun Li can't possibly be that scourge's nephew. They're obviously using Sun Li as an excuse to extort us."
Li Tie stared silently at the token embedded in the ground. The blacksmiths in the shop were all ordinary people. Even if years of forging had built up their strength and made them much stronger than average, they still couldn't compare to real Martial Artists.
What's more, Wu Heng was only a hall leader in the Black Tiger Gang. There were other hall leaders, and above them stood an even stronger gang leader.
Li Tie also hadn't forgotten that the Black Tiger Gang was the largest gang in Qingshui Town, with about fifty men under its command. Behind them, too, stood powerful patrons in Qingyun County.
Thinking of this, Li Tie let out a heavy sigh, then addressed the others.
"Don't worry yourselves. Go back to forging for now. Give me a couple of days to think this over."
The others wanted to say more, but they couldn't think of any solution either. So, full of anger, they returned to the forge to hammer iron.
Back in the forge, Su Mu couldn't help feeling guilty. He knew that even without Sun Li's troubles, the Black Tiger Gang would have found another excuse to come knocking. Still, this matter was partly connected to him.
And Zhou Shan was the master who had taught Su Mu the art of forging. He couldn't let what Wu Heng had done to Zhou Shan today go unanswered.
But Su Mu was still too weak to help with any of this. He knew better than to act rashly, so all he could do was keep today's events in his heart.
Like the other blacksmiths, Su Mu poured all his anger into his hammering. That afternoon, the clang of iron in the forge was especially deafening.
Under the thousands of blows Su Mu had delivered every day for more than ten days, the mottled impurities in the dark iron ore had been hammered away, gradually revealing its metallic sheen. After being refined again and again, the iron was slowly transforming into steel.
"I can start the next step."
Su Mu narrowed his eyes and hammered the iron into a long bar, then forged it into the rough shape of a long saber. Once he had the general form, he picked up a trimming knife and other tools to refine its shape.
Though this was his first time personally forging a blade, Su Mu had spent more than half a year memorizing the forging techniques Zhou Shan taught him, and had watched Zhou Shan and the other veteran blacksmiths at work.
By the end of the afternoon, the piece of refined iron had taken shape, its outline now resembling a long saber.
Next came cutting the blood groove, quenching, grinding and polishing, clay tempering, and reheating, along with a series of other steps.
Three days later, Wu Heng swaggered into the shop with his men and took a bundle of silver from Shopkeeper Li. After they left, Li Tie, looking haggard, forced himself to put on a brave face.
"It's over now... Don't worry, the Black Tiger Gang won't come back. Just forget this ever happened. We've got a lot of orders to fill these days, so I'll need you all to work hard a little longer. After that, I'll give everyone some time off."
"All right, break it up. Get back to forging."
At lunchtime, in a corner of the courtyard, Li Xiaohu muttered to Su Mu, "Su Mu, I'm telling you, those Black Tiger Gang thugs are bastards. They're robbing us in broad daylight. If it were up to me, I'd fight them—even if it meant moving the shop somewhere else."
"You know that old-established bun shop in town? Sure, the old man charges a fortune for his buns, but he's a good person. He's always helped orphans with nowhere else to turn. But just yesterday, he told everyone he'd broken his leg in a fall. I suspect the Black Tiger Gang did it..."
"And there's a restaurant on the east side of town..."
Su Mu silently chewed his steamed bun as he listened. Between the lines, he heard ten words: Good people get bullied, while calamities live a thousand years.
"Su Mu, Su Mu, are you even listening?"
Su Mu came back to himself. "Ah, Brother Li, I'm listening."
But Li Xiaohu noticed Su Mu's distracted expression and assumed he hadn't been paying attention. Annoyed, he got to his feet. "Hmph, I'm done talking to you. Anyway, those bastards will get what's coming to them."
"Here, take these two buns. I can't finish them."
Su Mu glanced at the buns Li Xiaohu had shoved into his hand. He raised one to his mouth, then stretched out his empty left hand. An invisible force flowed through his palm.
The force was gradually growing stronger. Now it was enough for Su Mu to throw three punches with all his might. Nurturing Force wasn't something that could be accomplished overnight; it was like freezing three feet of river—the cold didn't set in after just one day.
After wolfing down the two buns in a few bites, Su Mu sprang to his feet. If anyone had been there, they would have been taken aback. The way he rose just then had been like a tiger pouncing.
"Done eating. Back to forging."
For Su Mu, forging was also a form of cultivation. With each passing day, he could feel himself improving. The feeling of growing stronger every day was deeply reassuring.
At dusk, Su Mu banked the fire and left the forge. First, he went to the medicine shop and bought three portions of Body Strengthening Soup, tucking them into his clothes. As he left, he felt a pang of regret. Another three taels of silver gone. Body Strengthening Soup was good stuff.
"But it's too expensive..."
After that, Su Mu went to the market, bought three jin of pork, and carried it toward the west end of town.
Beneath a huge pagoda tree at the mouth of an alley, a group of children were playing jump rope. One of them glanced toward the alley and murmured uncertainly, "Don't you think that man was walking awfully fast just now?"
"Not really. You must've been seeing things."
"Is that so?"
Su Mu carried the three jin of pork to a humble courtyard. This was Zhou Shan's home in town. Li Xiaohu had once mentioned that Zhou Shan had had a wife and daughter in his early years, but they had both died of a bad fever. After that, Zhou Shan never remarried and had lived alone ever since.
At the sound of a knock, footsteps quickly came from inside. "Who is it?"
Creak.
The old, neglected wooden door let out a groan as it opened.
"Master Zhou, I came to see how you're doing."
"You're thoughtful, kid."
Zhou Shan saw Su Mu and looked pleased. But then he noticed the pork in his hands and his face stiffened. "Take that meat back with you."
"Master Zhou..."
"If you don't take it back, you're not coming into my courtyard."
Zhou Shan cut Su Mu off before he could say anything more. Su Mu dropped the matter of the pork, then asked about his injuries once they were inside.
"Master Zhou, how are your injuries?"
"What could be wrong with me? I'm a strapping man, seven feet tall. What was one palm strike to me? I've been mixing up some medicinal broth and drinking it these past few days. I'm almost completely recovered."
As he spoke, Zhou Shan rolled up his shirt. Su Mu stared, somewhat astonished. The injuries really had healed remarkably well.
After that, Zhou Shan asked Su Mu about his progress forging weapons over the past few days. As they chatted, the sky gradually darkened. Su Mu tried again to give Zhou Shan the pork.
Zhou Shan glanced at the sky. "It's late. Why don't you stay the night? I'll let you taste my cooking."
"Sure. I'll go buy some wine, too. This meat will go perfectly with it tonight."
Su Mu agreed at once. He had learned from Shopkeeper Li that Zhou Shan liked to drink a little.
"All right, but don't buy too much. Half a jin will do. We still have to get back to work at the shop tomorrow."
That night, Zhou Shan cooked all three jin of pork Su Mu had brought. Su Mu poured him a bowl of wine. Seeing that Su Mu hadn't poured any for himself, Zhou Shan snatched the wine jar and poured him half a bowl as well.
"Come on. A grown man can handle a little wine. Just don't end up drinking yourself into a stupor like that Sun Li."
The two clinked bowls. Zhou Shan tipped his head back and gulped down a big mouthful. Su Mu copied him. The next moment, his mouth burned fiercely. He choked and coughed several times, his breathing growing heavier.
Seeing him, Zhou Shan burst out laughing. "If you can't drink, take it slow."
After the food and wine, Zhou Shan got drunk and fell asleep on a long bench. Seeing him sound asleep, Su Mu began practicing the Five Animal Frolics in the courtyard.
After some time, Zhou Shan groggily sat up on the bench and happened to see Su Mu practicing his forms in the courtyard. Seeing how absorbed Su Mu was, he stayed quiet.
Zhou Shan watched for a while and gradually became entranced. Su Mu's body moved with astonishing agility, his forms graceful to behold. One moment he became a fierce tiger; the next, a deer, ape, bird, or crane. Each form was lifelike and vivid.
"What exquisite boxing!"
Watching, completely absorbed, Zhou Shan couldn't help exclaiming.
Su Mu jumped in surprise, only then realizing that Zhou Shan had woken up at some point. He had been so engrossed in his practice that he hadn't noticed.
"Hic... Practicing your forms every day is good for you. It'll keep you strong... You, wait here..." Zhou Shan hiccupped, then got to his feet and staggered toward the house before finishing his sentence.
Su Mu tried to help him, but Zhou Shan shook him off. "Don't help me. I'm not drunk..."
Soon, a clattering rummage came from inside. Before long, Zhou Shan came back out and handed Su Mu a parchment scroll.
"Master Zhou, what's this?"
"Hic... This is a prescription passed down in my family. It's what I've been drinking these past few days. It works much better than the stuff sold by the medicine shops in town... Try having a few doses made up from this prescription..."
After handing Su Mu the parchment scroll, Zhou Shan hiccupped his way back into the house and fell into a deep sleep.
Su Mu came back to himself and swallowed. Hesitantly, he opened the parchment scroll in his hands.
Under the bright moonlight, five large characters appeared on the parchment as he unrolled it.
Three-Complete Body Strengthening Soup.
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