The Spirit of Youth

After a brief pause, Zhou Heng nodded.

It was supposed to be a dinner invitation, but it wasn't anything fancy or luxurious.

The two arrived at the noodle stall at the street corner, the one Qin Wangchuan frequented.

Uncle Lu saw him from afar and greeted him with a smile, "Wangchuan is here."

"I must say, your new name is actually quite catchy."

Qin Wangchuan nodded. "It's fine as long as it sounds good."

While scooping noodles, Uncle Lu casually asked, "Is the bellows installed yet?"

"It's installed. Uncle Zhang helped me install it."

"Have you started taking jobs?"

"Not yet."

"Okay, let me know when you start." He put the noodles into the pot and rambled on, "Before, I had to go to the next town to make some iron tools, it was such a hassle."

"If you could answer that, it would save me so much trouble."

The noodles were served with a few more pieces of meat than usual.

Qin Wangchuan glanced at it, said "Uncle Lu," and then lowered his head to eat his noodles.

During this time, Zhou Heng remained silent, and Qin Wangchuan did not speak either.

The two ate their food separately across the wooden table, the only sounds being the slurping of noodles and the occasional soft tapping of chopsticks against the rim of the bowl.

It wasn't until the two finished eating, paid the bill, and were walking back that Zhou Heng finally spoke.

Why did you choose to become a blacksmith?

Qin Wangchuan turned his head and glanced at him. "What's the problem?"

"Of course there's a problem!"

Zhou Heng's chest heaved violently, then he forced himself to calm down, but his voice still carried an uncontrollable urgency, "I lost to you, I'm not as good as you, I admit it."

But you—

"You have great talent. If you practice martial arts, you'll definitely make a name for yourself in the future."

"I don't understand why you chose to become a blacksmith, a job with no future!"

At this point, Qin Wangchuan looked at him in surprise.

The youthful spirit erupted at this moment, but this spirit wasn't because he felt slighted, but because he felt sorry for him.

Qin Wangchuan's opinion of Zhou Heng changed somewhat in that instant.

However... upon closer inspection, Zhou Heng's face was slightly flushed, and his anger seemed genuine, yet there was absolutely no reason for it.

Unless--

"That's not what you really meant, is it?"

Upon hearing these words that exposed his true feelings, Zhou Heng's expression froze for a moment before turning pained.

He took a deep breath and looked at Qin Wangchuan, trying to appear calm.

"That's what I wanted to say, but it's more than that. It's not quite right to put it that way, but Qin Wangchuan —about your father. Don't you want revenge?!"

The conversation got a bit incoherent towards the end.

Qin Wangchuan knew that he had been holding it in for too long, and once he started talking, he couldn't stop.

The words were stuck in my throat, and when they finally came out, I no longer cared about the order or the measure.

Just as I guessed.

Zhou Heng was by no means a pushover; his coming to dissuade him was not for his own future.

Rather, it's because--

Qin Rang was not alone when he died.

There were three people traveling together, one of whom was Zhou Heng's father.

Qin Wangchuan looked into his eyes.

"You're training so hard because you want revenge."

Zhou Heng didn't speak, but his clenched fist answered for him.

"You're clearly stronger than me." He gritted his teeth, forcing the words out of his throat, "You clearly have that talent, so why don't you take revenge? Your father is dead too! How can you act like nothing happened?"

Zhou Heng's chest heaved violently, and his eyes reddened.

"My father is gone. I've trained for so many years, dreaming of finding those beasts. But what about you? You're learning blacksmithing, you're living your life, you've forgotten about this—that's not right!"

"How could you forget?"

Qin Wangchuan didn't speak, he just looked at him.

Zhou Heng turned his face away, not wanting him to see his reddened eyes.

"They cut my father's head off and hung it on a tree," Zhou Heng continued, his voice suddenly lowering as if squeezed from deep within his throat. "I want revenge, I dream about it."

"But it's too slow... By the time I become strong enough to take revenge, those people will still be dead or alive."

"I want to cut off their heads with my own hands and hang them on the tree!"

As he spoke, he turned his head, suddenly raised his hand, and slapped himself across the face.

Smack

The crisp sound was particularly jarring in the quiet alley.

"It was wrong of me to bully you before." Another slap. "I deserve to die."

Smack

"But on this matter—"

Zhou Heng raised his head, his eyes red-rimmed, staring intently at Qin Wangchuan. "We are the same."

"So forget about being a blacksmith, become Martial Practitioner, and let's take revenge together!"

He wanted to slap him again.

Qin Wangchuan raised his hand and grabbed the wrist that was dangling in mid-air.

A scrutinizing gaze fell upon the boy before him.

His face bore handprints, his eyes were bloodshot, and his chest heaved violently.

His words were rough, scalding, and unadorned.

Yet every word he uttered was filled with resentment and hatred.

Too pure.

What a pure and innocent boy.

'If we just leave him like this, he might die.'

Qin Wangchuan released his grip, remaining silent for a long time.

Jiang Zhuo had said some things about Qin Rang's death.

The group that attacked them was a band of mountain bandits who often roamed the area and called themselves Broken Tiger Stronghold.

Although they were called mountain bandits, they were far more ferocious than ordinary mountain bandits.

Everyone in the stronghold is Martial Practitioner, and there are quite a few Cultivator as well.

He came and went like the wind, and his methods were ruthless. The surrounding towns all turned pale at the mention of his name.

Nobody knows exactly who did it.

Even if they knew, given that group's tendency to retaliate tenfold, killing one of them would inevitably provoke them to come out in full force.

The whole town will suffer in the end.

This is why the martial arts school did nothing after the person passed away.

It's not that I don't want to, it's that I can't afford to offend them.

Qin Wangchuan looked at him, mentally reviewing the man's appearance.

To apologize, he was willing to slap himself.

This is not something a boy would do.

The man standing here, talking about revenge, is now a man.

This man was still too young; he hadn't even learned how to live, yet he was already thinking about how to die.

'It would be such a waste for him to die like this.'

Qin Wangchuan pondered, and an idea already formed in his mind.

Or rather, that's always been his idea.

Leave it to me.

Zhou Heng didn't react. "What?"

"Leave the revenge to me."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Heng was furious.

He took a sudden step forward, his face almost touching Qin Wangchuan's, his hands trembling violently as if he were about to grab Qin Wangchuan's collar at any moment.

"I'll leave it to you?!"

Zhou Heng's voice was forced out through clenched teeth, "Who do you think you are? What do you consider yourself to be!"

After shouting that sentence...

His chest heaved violently a few times, as if something had exploded inside him, then slowly cooled down.

He took a half step back, and the rage on his face faded.

Instead, there was an inexplicable disappointment.

"Forget it, I shouldn't have contacted you."

Zhou Heng's voice suddenly calmed down, "Just be a good blacksmith."

"Pretend I wasn't here today."

After saying that, he turned and left.

They walked quickly, as if they didn't want to linger for even a moment longer.

The twilight at the alley entrance was already quite deep. Zhou Heng took a few steps before being swallowed up by the darkness, leaving only the sound of his footsteps growing fainter and fainter until finally nothing could be heard at all.

Qin Wangchuan lowered his eyes and remained silent.