After riding the tricycle for most of the afternoon, Zhang Tie got home when night had completely fallen. On the ride back from Mother Theresa's, he had already felt his legs going weak, and his pace had slowed considerably. It had taken him much longer to get home. Still, Zhang Tie felt happy. Being able to help others truly filled him with happiness from the heart—especially when he saw the innocent, unfeigned smiles on those poor children's faces when they saw him. To be honest, Zhang Tie felt deeply satisfied. The things he had brought might not have been worth much, and some people might not even have thought them worth a glance. Zhang Tie didn't think what he and his family had done was particularly great or noble, either. They had only felt sorry to pour away the rice broth, and his family couldn't keep much of it anyway. If it could be put to use, then they might as well put it to use—especially if it meant doing a good deed. It was an ordinary little thing, even a trivial one, but Zhang Tie still felt satisfied and happy.
Black Flame City had a lively nightlife. As soon as darkness fell, certain places full of bright lights and revelry began to bustle. But none of that had anything to do with Zhang Tie tonight. He whistled all the way home on his tricycle.
When he got home, the little shop had already closed for the night, and the front door was locked from the outside. Zhang Tie unlocked it, pushed the door open, and wheeled the tricycle inside. The tricycle his father had modified was ugly, but it had one advantage: the added rear wheel and the cargo basket in the middle could both be folded up and removed, so it didn't take up too much space when stored at home.
His parents had gone out again. They were probably at a friend's house playing cards or at church. Those were their only hobbies, and as their son, Zhang Tie had nothing to say about it.
After putting the tricycle away and washing his hands, Zhang Tie took the small half-sack of seeds Mother Theresa had given him and went into the kitchen. The familiar smell of beef drew a rumble from his stomach, and his mouth began to flood with saliva.
His mother had left dinner warming in the pot. It was simple: the main dish tonight was beef stew with potatoes.
At noon, Zhang Tie had been reluctant to eat the little bit of beef left over from the can his older brother had brought the day before. He had asked his mother to save it so they could eat it together when his father got home that evening. That night, his mother had stewed it with potatoes into a big pot of thick soup. Thanks to her deft hands, that small half-bowl of beef had become a whole bowl of delicious food.
Looking at the "beef stew with potatoes" and counting the few pieces of beef in the bowl, Zhang Tie realized his parents hadn't eaten any of the leftover beef at all. They had only drunk some of the broth and eaten a few potatoes, saving all the beef for him.
With feelings he couldn't quite put into words, Zhang Tie silently polished off all the food. Even he hadn't noticed that his appetite had been gradually growing over the past two days.
After dinner, he cleaned up the house. Judging from his usual experience, his parents wouldn't be back for at least another two or three hours. That was more than enough time to get something done. Thinking of the bare patch of land inside the Castle of Black Iron and the corn and potatoes he had planted there, Zhang Tie hurried into action.
Zhang Tie felt a little neurotic himself. When he had come home, he clearly remembered locking the front door from the inside, but now he went to check it again before he felt reassured. He mocked himself as he thought, Is this what it feels like when an insignificant nobody wins the lottery? You keep thinking someone will discover where you hid the ticket.
So what if I'm an insignificant nobody? I'm a bona fide nobody right now. Who cares if people laugh at me?
His resolve hardening, Zhang Tie moved even faster. He found two iron pails in the back courtyard, the kind used for carrying water, and ran to the well. In no time, he had filled both pails. Carrying them, he hurried to the small bathroom in the back courtyard.
The bathroom in Zhang Tie's home was just over two or three square meters. It was always kept very clean, and a bathtub took up half the space. The wooden tub stood about half a person's height. It wasn't finely made, but it was sturdy, and its thick coat of lacquer was smooth and glossy. It had been the first gift his older brother had given their parents after receiving his salary and allowances in the army.
With a splash, Zhang Tie poured the two pails of water into the bathtub. The water came just high enough to cover the bottom of his feet. After emptying them, he ran back to the well, drew two more pails, and carried them into the bathroom.
He repeated this eight or nine times, spending more than ten minutes before he finally filled the bathtub. If his mother had been there, she would have heated water for him to bathe in. Every time he insisted on acting like a man and using cold water like his older brother, she nagged him. But he wasn't actually going to bathe now, so he didn't need to put on an act. He set the last two pails of water beside the tub, went back to the kitchen, picked up the small half-sack of seeds Mother Theresa had given him, and returned to the bathroom. Zhang Tie felt a slight discomfort in his stomach and intestines after exercising so hard right after dinner, but who cared about that now?
Back in the bathroom, he shut the door from the inside again. He tucked the little sack of seeds under his right arm, picked up a full pail in each hand, stood still, and took two deep breaths to settle himself. Then he closed his eyes and "searched" for that mysterious "archway"...
This time, the process seemed easier. After several experiments over the past two days, Zhang Tie had discovered that if he focused his consciousness on a spot just inside the midpoint between his eyebrows, he could clearly "see" the "archway." That "archway"—the entrance to the Castle of Black Iron—was actually directly in front of the space between his eyebrows.
Zhang Tie had no idea how it worked. So what? As long as it did the job, who would waste their energy trying to figure it out...
See—lock on—enter—
Carrying two pails of water, with the small half-sack of seeds tucked under his arm, Zhang Tie vanished from the cramped bathroom.
Feeling the air around him change, Zhang Tie opened his eyes and found himself inside the Castle of Black Iron, just as expected.
The same boundless expanse of land surrounded him, with the one conspicuous Manjusaka Karma Myriad Fruit Tree standing in its midst. And, of course, there was the line that made Zhang Tie's humble vanity swell:
--Welcome, handsome and mighty Fortress Master, to the Castle of Black Iron!
Seeing those words instantly put a spring in Zhang Tie's step. His stomach no longer hurt, his intestines no longer cramped, his legs no longer trembled; he wouldn't have to get up in the middle of the night, and his body wasn't short on calcium anymore. Ahem... ahem...
"I'm the master here... ah..." Feeling his vanity swell, the green-as-spring Zhang Tie let out a shout with all his might. If he had yelled like that outside, he would have brought the neighborhood's security officer running. Here, though, he couldn't even hear an echo.
He had never shouted like that outside before. After letting out his feelings, Zhang Tie suddenly felt clear-headed and refreshed. Huh, strange. His heart felt inexplicably lighter.
So Zhang Tie decided to yell once more...
"I'm the master of this world... ah..."
He felt a little better. One more time...
"I'll make sure Mom and Dad can eat beef every day from now on... ah..."
He felt better again...
"Teacher Daina, I love you... ah..."
One more...
"I'm going to be rich... ah..."
And another...
"All you big-butted, big-breasted beauties, your dream man is right here... ah..."
After howling like a ghost for a while, Zhang Tie truly felt much lighter inside. It felt great. He didn't know if anyone else had ever tried it, but he suddenly realized this might be a good way to vent his emotions and stress.
After venting and feeling much more at ease, Zhang Tie dropped the sack of seeds from under his arm, picked up the two pails, and walked toward the patch where he had planted his corn and potatoes. He felt the soil in the Castle of Black Iron should be well suited to growing plants, and it seemed moist enough, but he still felt he was missing something if he didn't water the seeds after planting them. As far as he could tell, it never rained here. Who knew if that mattered? Maybe seeds that should have sprouted would rot in the soil just because he had been too lazy to water them.
When he reached the two plots where he had planted corn and potatoes, Zhang Tie set down one pail and used the other to water the rows of corn that had yet to sprout. One pail was enough to wet less than a quarter of the cornfield. He brought over the other pail and managed to water half of it. Then he picked up both pails again and focused his consciousness on the spot between his eyebrows...
See—lock on—exit—
The next moment, Zhang Tie was back in the cramped bathroom. His feet hadn't shifted even an inch. He opened the drain at the bottom of the bathtub and refilled the two iron pails in his hands. Then he stood still again and closed his eyes.
See—lock on—enter—
After doing this five times in a row, Zhang Tie stood in front of the steel rod he had planted as a marker inside the Castle of Black Iron, panting as he looked at the two plots of corn and potatoes he had thoroughly watered. He felt very satisfied, but his head was beginning to ache. It felt as though something inside his brain had been drained away. He had been so busy watering that he hadn't noticed it before. Now he did. Zhang Tie tried focusing his attention between his eyebrows again, and soon "saw" the mysterious "archway." Unlike before, this time the "archway" was unstable, flickering in and out of sight. When Zhang Tie finally managed to seize hold of it with his consciousness and issue the command "exit," something unexpected happened...
Without warning, Zhang Tie felt a sudden heaviness inside his head. He grew dizzy, as if he were falling from a great height into a bottomless tunnel of darkness. His body lost its balance, and he dropped heavily onto his backside. Only after a long while did Zhang Tie open his eyes, his face pale as he came around...
What was happening? Why had this happened? Zhang Tie was suddenly seized with panic.
The words that appeared before him answered his question.
--The system has detected that the handsome and mighty Fortress Master's spiritual energy is severely depleted. It is recommended that the handsome and mighty Fortress Master rest or meditate inside the Castle of Black Iron before leaving. System notice: Frequent entry into and exit from the Castle of Black Iron in a short period consumes a great deal of spiritual energy. When your spiritual energy is insufficient, please avoid frequent entry and exit unless necessary, to prevent damage to your spiritual energy...