Deliberation, Punishment, and Apology!

Hong Yuan recalled the details he had seen in movies in his previous life, added a bit of his own imagination, and his brush flew across the page.

He had never studied painting, nor did he understand sketching, but his control over his own strength had already been tempered to the finest hair's breadth.

Where the brush tip fell on the paper, it was like iron strokes and silver hooks, force penetrating through the back of the sheet without the slightest bleeding of ink.

With a few sweeps of the brush, in no time at all, an outline drawing of the "Life-Taking Throat-Locking Spear" sprang vividly onto the paper.

"Old sir, please have a look!"

Hong Yuan flicked his hand casually, and the drawing drifted down into Ou Zhenyun's palm. The latter took it, frowning as he focused on it carefully.

After a long while, Ou Zhenyun let out a breath and said with a smile:

"With the craftsmanship of Hundred Refinement Workshop, forging this spear would not be difficult. It is only that this spear must be able to split into two sections, connect at any time, and not loosen or break in battle. The fine details in between still need some consideration."

The original version of Hong Xiguan's "Life-Taking Throat-Locking Spear" could actually be split into three sections, but Hong Yuan felt two sections were more suitable.

The whole spear was seven chi and two cun long, roughly two meters twenty. Once split apart, each piece would be a short staff or short spear just over a meter long, making it convenient to carry as well.

"How long would it take?"

Hong Yuan asked.

If it took too much time, he might as well buy one outright. Never mind anything else in Black Iron Town, all kinds of weapons were available in abundance.

"That depends on how high Young Master Hong's requirements for this spear are. Thirty refinements, fifty refinements, a hundred refinements... Forging weapons is the same as practicing martial arts. It requires hardness and softness in harmony, hard yet unbroken, supple yet sturdy!"

Hong Yuan nodded. In other words, it needed both hardness and toughness.

"A hundred refinements is naturally best, but it also takes the most time. It would take three months at the very least. If it is thirty refinements, one month will suffice."

Ou Zhenyun said with a smile.

Hong Yuan thought for a moment, then said in contemplation:

"Your esteemed town is famous throughout the world for Cloud Pattern Iron. I hear this iron ore is both hard and tough. If it were used to forge the weapon, could some time be saved?"

"This..."

A flicker of hesitation flashed through Ou Zhenyun's eyes, but after he glanced again at the white-clothed youth opposite him, he made up his mind and said solemnly:

"Cloud Pattern Iron is no ordinary thing. If this material is used for forging, nine refinements and nine quenches can surpass a hundred refinements of common iron. It is only that this material is quite rare. Even in our Black Iron Town, there is not much in stock, so it is extremely precious."

In truth, this was not a matter of whether it was expensive or not, but that there was demand and no supply.

In Black Iron Town, when the Ou and Xu families fired up their furnaces to forge Cloud Pattern Iron weapons, they often used them to befriend the powerful and wealthy clans. They seldom flowed into the hands of unaffiliated wanderers.

They would be even less likely to sell them to ordinary jianghu people.

But Ou Zhenyun saw in the youth before him a rare commodity worth hoarding.

At such an age, he already possessed such astonishing force that he had actually pinched deep finger marks into the blade of a refined steel saber with his bare fingers.

Ou Zhenyun did not know whether a subtle-realm grandmaster could do such a thing, but he knew several martial artists at the second level of form transformation, who had "hardness and softness in harmony," and he knew they could not.

This youth was still far from growing to his peak. Give him a few more years, ten years, and by then, just how profound would his martial arts be?

He might truly become a figure capable of founding a sect and establishing a school.

Drawing close in advance and investing in such a great figure was also their Black Iron Town's way of survival.

Even if the other party did not have enough silver, Ou Zhenyun would give it to him outright.

"How much will it cost? How long will it take?"

Hong Yuan asked directly.

"For the material alone, it would be around two hundred taels. But since Young Master Hong is in a hurry, this old man will have to invite that Brother Xu of mine to help as well. Add in the other craftsmen and workers, and eight or nine hundred taels will be necessary. In that case, it can be forged within fifteen days."

Eight or nine hundred taels for one long spear!

Placed in the jianghu, even if such a weapon could not be called a divine weapon or sharp treasure, it would still be a precious weapon.

Hong Yuan's brows furrowed slightly.

Afraid the other party might misunderstand and think he was trying to swindle money, Ou Zhenyun hurriedly said:

"This old man is absolutely not exaggerating. I dare to guarantee it with the decades of reputation of Hundred Refinement Workshop. If Young Master Hong..."

Hong Yuan waved his hand and smiled. "Old sir is overthinking it. I only feel that the time is still a little long."

As he spoke, he took a stack of silver notes from his robes. Without even counting them carefully, he casually placed them on the counter. "The silver notes here should be enough. If there is any extra, consider it payment for the hard work of the master craftsmen."

Ou Zhenyun's eyelid twitched. His eyes were seasoned, and with a single sweep, he knew that stack of silver notes was at least two thousand taels. He could not help smiling bitterly in his heart.

Of course. How could a figure like this lack money?

Hong Yuan had spent quite a bit along the way, but he had met even more kindhearted people. Thus, the more than five thousand taels of support he had initially obtained from Huang Mansion had not only failed to decrease, it was instead showing a trend of growing more and more.

"Please, Mr. Ou, forge this weapon for Hong as quickly as possible!"

Hong Yuan cupped his hands and spoke in farewell.

"Young Master Hong, why not come to this old man's residence for a chat, and allow me to show a little of the hospitality of a host?"

Ou Zhenyun hurriedly urged him to stay.

Hong Yuan waved behind him, and his voice came drifting back:

"No, Hong would still like to wander around the city for a while. Later, if there's free time, it won't be too late to come bother you again."

As he spoke, he had already left the main hall of Hundred Refinement Workshop, brushing past a fair-faced young gentleman. The scent of wine and rouge still lingered on the other man.

Inside the hall, Ou Zhenyun did not even look at the stack of banknotes. He waved at the middle-aged shopkeeper and merely gave a faint order: "Enter it in the accounts!"

Then he immediately picked up the blueprint and hurried away.

The fair-faced young gentleman entered, saw Ou Zhenyun's figure, and quickly called out in greeting, "Uncle!"

But Ou Zhenyun either did not hear him or had no mind to pay him any attention; in the blink of an eye, his figure vanished from sight.

"Why ignore me?"

The fair-faced young gentleman muttered, then looked toward the middle-aged shopkeeper who was gathering up the banknotes. His eyes lit up.

"Eh! What a big deal!"

He took a few quick steps over and grinned cheekily at the middle-aged shopkeeper. "Uncle, looks like some big business came knocking. Lend me a few to spend."

As he spoke, he reached for the banknotes.

With a smack, the middle-aged shopkeeper produced a ruler from who knew where and struck the fair-faced young gentleman across the back of the hand, making him howl in pain at once and complain nonstop.

The middle-aged shopkeeper looked at him and could only sigh helplessly.

Though Black Iron Town had been founded by a group of craftsmen, whose status had originally been lowly, more than a hundred years had passed. With such a vast family business, the clans that had risen here had long since shaken themselves and transformed into one of the powerful houses.

After growing used to the lavish life of powerful clans, there were naturally many descendants who could not endure the hardship of forging.

Among them, those with ambition would still go into business, join the army, or take part in clan affairs, but there were also plenty of idle, wastrel sons.

The fair-faced young gentleman before him came from the Xu Family. On ordinary days, he ate, drank, whored, and gambled, never doing a single proper thing.

"Uncle, there must be one or two thousand taels in notes here, right? Who's this generous?" The fair-faced young gentleman had taken a ruler strike, but after crying out a few times, he still clung to the middle-aged shopkeeper, asking this and that.

The middle-aged shopkeeper was pestered by him until he was endlessly annoyed, so he could only give a brief explanation, though he did not mention the matter of Hong Yuan pinching marks into the steel blade with five fingers.

"Just to forge one spear, he took out more than two thousand taels. This... a major customer!"

The fair-faced young gentleman's eyes turned, and he said with a grin, "Uncle, you keep busy. I'm going to find someone else to drink with."

With that, he had already slipped out the door like a wisp of smoke.

The middle-aged shopkeeper sighed and shook his head.

The discussion with Ou Zhenyun had not taken much time.

Hong Yuan walked along the main street of Black Iron Town, feeling the gentle evening breeze. The sky had dimmed slightly, and lamps had already been lit everywhere.

Perhaps because there were many jianghu people and traveling merchants in the city, though night was soon to fall, compared with daytime the flow of people on the streets had lessened somewhat, yet the liveliness and clamor were even greater.

There was even a night market street, extremely noisy and crowded inside.

Since Hong Yuan was in no hurry to return to the restaurant, he simply strolled through the night market street. Before he knew it, he had actually walked to a place of flowers red and willows green.

Hm?

Hong Yuan looked into the building. A flock of coquettish women were swaying and laughing inside, and a dense scent of rouge and powder rushed into his face. Several girls even saw Hong Yuan and waved to call him over.

Something was wrong!

Hong Yuan felt that this was extremely abnormal. How could an upright gentleman like him have somehow wandered to a place like this?

It had to be Fatty Huang's ghost making trouble!

Damn it. Back then, he should not have killed him so easily. It had been a bit too quick.

Even after dying, he still dared turn into a vengeful spirit to bewitch him. He truly should have minced Fatty Huang finely into meat sauce.

Hong Yuan glanced into the building and saw only a group of vulgar rouge and common powder. He snorted coldly and strode away without the slightest reluctance.

As he walked, Hong Yuan turned his head to look. A figure stood before a vendor's stall, appearing to be chatting with the stallholder. It was precisely that fair-faced young gentleman from Hundred Refinement Workshop who had brushed past him.

Hong Yuan gave a light laugh.

He had discovered this person long ago.

Not long after he left Hundred Refinement Workshop, this person had quietly followed after him, trailing him for an entire street.

At this moment, Hong Yuan simply watched him quietly. The fair-faced young gentleman looked slightly unnatural. After exchanging a few words with the stallholder, he turned, hurried a few steps, and ducked into an alley.

As soon as the man entered the alley, he quickly broke into a jog. Before long, he emerged onto another street and hurried toward a patrol squad.

It was nearly night. This squad of guards wore light armor and had steel blades at their waists. Ten men were divided into three groups of three, three, and four, patrolling back and forth along the street.

The fair-faced young gentleman ran toward a guard who looked like a minor leader. Under that minor leader's surprised gaze, he pulled him aside and said in a low voice, "Cousin, little brother here has a big money-making deal. Are you in?"

The minor leader was a cold, stern-looking young man, his expression indifferent. "Let's hear it."

The fair-faced young gentleman's face was excited. He spoke of what had happened in Hundred Refinement Workshop, but did not notice the minor leader's gaze growing colder and colder. He continued recounting in high spirits, "Cousin, that brat casually took out two thousand taels. Hiss! If we tie him up, don't you think we'll strike it rich?"

"Yeah!"

"Cousin, you think so too? Then when do we make our move?" the fair-faced young gentleman urged. "We have to be quick, or that brat might run. When I was following him just now, it seemed like he noticed me?"

"All right. We'll do it now."

Hearing this, the fair-faced young gentleman's face filled with delight, but all of a sudden, he saw a large hand swing over and slap him viciously across the face, knocking him to the ground. His head spun, his vision swelled, and half his face rapidly turned red and swollen.

He cried out in pain, stars bursting before his eyes, and only came back to himself after a long while. "Cousin, why did you hit me?"

Ignoring the astonished stares of the pedestrians on the street, the guard captain dragged the fair-faced young master into a corner and said viciously, "Hitting you is letting you off lightly. I wish I could beat you to death!"

"On ordinary days, you eat, drink, whore, and gamble, and I can't even be bothered to manage you, because no matter how much you spend, you'll always come back in the end."

"But I never imagined you'd be stupid to this degree. Have you spent so long sprawled on women's bellies that you shot your brains out?"

"Someone who can casually take out two thousand taels... how long has it been since Hundred Refinement Workshop took on a single person's business? Even Uncle came out personally to receive him, and you still dared to entertain crooked thoughts about someone like that?"

The captain was beside himself with rage and kicked the fair-faced young master a few more times. Two guards walked over and asked in low voices, "Captain, this is...?"

"It's nothing. I'm teaching a fool a lesson!" The captain drew in a breath, his gaze cold as he stared at the trembling fair-faced young master, and said in a deep voice, "Drag this fool to the river over there and let him sober up..."

The two guards acknowledged the order and were just about to step forward when they suddenly heard a short, sharp whistle. Immediately after, amid a crisp crack, the fair-faced young master on the ground let out a heart-rending scream. All the teeth in his mouth had been shattered by a flying stone from who knew where, and blood sprayed wildly.

Hiss, hiss!

Two more sounds of wind split the air, ringing out almost at the same time as the sound of bones cracking.

The fair-faced young master, still struggling and crying out in pain, had his right hand and right leg twist violently. His right palm was nearly pierced through, beaten into a bloody pulp, and the kneecap of his right leg had already shattered. Flesh and blood splashed out, smearing all over the captain's face.

Clang, clang. Two stones struck the wall, then fell to the ground.

On a roof ridge in the distance, Hong Yuan's figure sank into the shadows. Tossing a small stone in his hand, he watched those guards' faces change dramatically as they drew their steel blades one after another and looked around on guard. Then, unhurried, he leaped down from the rooftop.

"I only crippled an unfilial descendant. Surely they won't play that old trick of sending the elders after the juniors get beaten, right? One has to believe in the survival wisdom of great clans."

Hong Yuan strode toward the inn where he was staying.

With his eyes and ears, even if the fair-faced young master really did have elders behind him who could not swallow this insult and gathered men to besiege him, he would notice from far away.

In truth, how could a force that had grown from a group of migrating artisan households, completely occupied a town, and risen into a powerful clan truly be made up of fools?

At the very least, there were not that many fools among those in power.

In less than the time it took an incense stick to burn, someone knocked on the door outside Hong Yuan's private room.

A steady voice rang out. "Young Master Hong, this old man is Ou Zhenyun. I have brought my old friend Xu Jingren here to pay you a visit."

"The door isn't locked. Mister Ou, please come in."

Outside the door to the private room stood three people. Aside from Ou Zhenyun, there was also a bronze-skinned, strongly built man of roughly the same age as him. He was none other than the helmsman of the Xu Family, Xu Jingren!

Behind the two of them, a charming and beautiful young woman stood with her head lowered, holding an exquisite wooden box in both hands, a trace of unease in her expression.

Ou Zhenyun and Xu Jingren exchanged a glance, both revealing a bitter smile.

Ou Zhenyun's attitude toward such a young man as Hong Yuan could be called extremely solicitous, all because he wanted to win him over and establish a favor.

After he returned to his residence, invited Xu Jingren over, and showed that steel blade to his old friend, Xu Jingren was shaken and astonished, but he also agreed with Ou Zhenyun's thinking.

Neither of them had expected an unworthy descendant to appear in the clan. Fortunately, no great disaster had been brewed!

As for that wastrel, the fact that the two of them had not beaten him to death was already on account of his being half-crippled.

Although Hong Yuan had not shown himself, the two of them could both guess it was he who had acted. They had no intention of pretending to be deaf and mute, feigning ignorance. After a hurried discussion, they came to apologize.

Pushing open the door, the two of them saw Hong Yuan standing before the window with his hands clasped behind his back, enjoying the night scenery inside the town.

Xu Jingren bowed. "Young Master Hong, this old man is Xu Jingren. A rebellious descendant of my clan disturbed Young Master Hong. This old man has specially come to beg forgiveness."

Hong Yuan turned around and smiled. "Mister Xu, you exaggerate."

He did not reach out to help the other man up.

Today, it was only because he possessed good skills that he had been able to vent his anger.

Xu Jingren gave a bitter smile, took the wooden box from the beautiful young woman behind him, and offered it up with both hands. "This is this old man's apology gift. I ask Young Master to accept it."

Hong Yuan did not sense any danger, but he did not take it either, only smiling as he looked at the other party.

Xu Jingren had no choice but to open it himself, and inside the box was a thick stack of silver notes.

With one glance, Hong Yuan spotted his own portion among them. The other party's apology gift was probably two or three thousand taels as well.

This apology gift could be called extremely generous!

"Mister Ou, Mister Xu, gentlemen, the silver I handed over has no principle of being taken back. Please return. This matter ends here. I only hope the two of you can forge my weapon as quickly as possible!"

Hong Yuan said.

"Young Master Hong, please rest assured. Forging weapons is the craft by which we make our living. Even if the two of us go without sleep or rest, we will forge that Life-Taking Throat-Locking Spear for Young Master as soon as possible!"

Ou Zhenyun said in a deep voice.

"Old sir, that is going too far. If the two of you tire yourselves into illness, it would instead become my fault." Hong Yuan smiled.

Seeing that Hong Yuan truly had no intention of accepting the gift, and that there was no anger on his face either, Xu Jingren drew in a breath, pushed the beautiful young woman forward, and said with a smile, "Young Master Hong's magnanimity is extraordinary. This Xu admires you. This is this old man's niece, named Xu Qingjing, eighteen years of age. During the days the weapon is being forged, Young Master has no one by your side to look after you. Why not let her serve Young Master?"

Before Xu Qingjing entered the room, her heart had still been extremely uneasy. She had also seen the miserable state of that frivolous wastrel, and the other party could be considered of her elder brother's generation.

Although they were not close, seeing him in such a wretched state made the image of a fierce, evil fiend surface in her mind. Thinking of the clan head making her serve such a vicious man, she could not help feeling terrified.

But as soon as she came in and saw the young man opposite her, with just one glance, her pretty face immediately flushed red. She lowered her head and did not dare look again, only her eyes were watery and bright.

Hong Yuan glanced at the young woman and saw that she was indeed as beautiful as a flower and the moon. He smiled. "How could such a beauty do work serving others? I am merely a wandering man of the jianghu, and ordinarily I have no habit of being waited on..."

Fine wine and beautiful women—naturally, Hong Yuan liked them too.

But right now, he was not afraid of others launching a sudden siege. What he feared was some scheme or trick, like poison. Before his own physical constitution had reached the point of being truly inhuman, Hong Yuan did not dare be that reckless!

"Enough! Gentlemen, please go back. If you continue being this courteous, I, Hong, will instead get angry."