At odds with the world

Su Mo held the little girl's hand without a word and led her back to the pleasure boat.

The little girl had not used an umbrella earlier either, and she was now soaked through. Su Mo dried her hair and said calmly, "You're soaked. Go wash up inside... and change your clothes."

There was a separate room in the boat's cabin, with a bathing tub and heated water, so she would not be cold while bathing.

The little girl looked at Su Mo's expression, at a loss, and called out worriedly, "Young master..."

Su Mo looked at her worried little face, stroked her tangled hair, and smiled. "I'm fine. Go on. Once you're done, we'll eat."

"Mm..." Uneasy and frightened, the little girl glanced back three times with every step. She had never seen Su Mo like this. He had always worn a smile, easygoing and calm. Now, although he still wore a smile, she felt that something was hurting him terribly inside, making that smile seem forced.

Watching her, Su Mo waved with a smile and said, "Go on. Surely you don't need me to help you bathe?"

"Mm..." The little girl gave it some serious thought, then nodded. "All right!"

Su Mo could not help laughing. He put on a fierce expression. "Go on... or I'll strip you bare and spank you."

The little girl stuck out her tongue and went into the room, giggling.

Once she was inside, the smile gradually faded from Su Mo's face.

Su Mo quietly took off his wet clothes and dried himself. The damp wind blew against him, and he could not suppress a shiver.

He gazed at the torrential rain outside the cabin. The gloomy sky was beginning to darken, and as the chill swept over him, his spirits gradually sank.

Two living, breathing people had just died on that street!

Human lives really were worth no more than grass...

Could he accept it?

No, he could not... Su Mo came back to himself and changed into dry clothes.

Su Mo took out paper and a brush and sat at the table. Drawing on memories from his previous life, he began to sketch, but this time, he was not creating calligraphy or paintings.

Stroke by stroke, he seemed to pour everything pent up inside him onto the paper.

He drew something simple on one sheet, examined it, and set it aside, weighing it down with an arrowhead that gleamed darkly. Then he took out another blank sheet and continued drawing.

He went on, sheet after sheet, occasionally stopping to think before continuing.

He tossed the failed drawings to one side and weighed down the successful ones on the other.

After bathing and changing into clean clothes, the little girl came out. Seeing Su Mo drawing, she approached to take a look.

She could not quite understand what he was drawing.

"Young master, what are you drawing?" she asked in her childish voice.

Su Mo turned back and smiled. Fresh from her bath, the little girl carried a faint, natural fragrance that gradually soothed him.

"I'm drawing a weapon. It can let an ordinary person strike with power comparable to a Foundation Establishment expert!" Su Mo hid nothing and answered truthfully.

"Does a weapon like that exist?" the little girl asked in confusion.

Su Mo nodded, seeming both lost in thought and absorbed in recollection. "Yes. There are even weapons that let ordinary people unleash enough power to destroy heaven and earth. I just can't make those."

"Why are you drawing this, young master?" the little girl asked worriedly, watching his calm face.

Su Mo set down his brush and paper, stroked her head, and smiled. "Don't worry. I just want us to have a way to defend ourselves. Your young master wants to keep protecting you!"

"Mm-hmm!" The little girl nodded, but the worry on her face barely faded. She had seen... the dark arrowhead lying beside Su Mo's work... the arrowhead that had saved them countless times.

"This is the last sheet. Once I finish, we'll eat." Su Mo picked up his brush and paper again and continued drawing.

"All right." The little girl went behind Su Mo and began tidying his long hair. Even now, he still did not know how to tie it up.

She took out a wooden comb and combed through his long hair. Suddenly, she seemed to notice something and exclaimed, "Young master, you have a white hair!"

Su Mo paused, then shook his head. "Just pull it out!"

The little girl obediently plucked out the white hair and continued tying his hair up. Her way of styling it, however, made him look rather delicate.

Just as she finished tying his hair, Su Mo completed the final drawing and let out a deep breath.

"It's almost dark!" Looking at the dimming sky outside the boat, the little girl got up and lit the candles.

"Yes, it's almost dark." Su Mo also looked outside... some people would see tomorrow's dawn, while others would never even see this night.

"Let's eat!" Su Mo went to the dining table and took out the pile of food they had bought that day.

The little girl immediately brightened, bounded over to her seat, and began eating the delicious food they had bought.

"This braised chicken leg is so good!" She took a bite and spoke to Su Mo with a contented look.

Thinking of how she had once had to fight stray dogs for food while wandering alone, then looking at her life now... she felt utterly content.

Though she remembered little of her wandering days, as if she could not recall how she had begun wandering, and could remember nothing at all from before that.

Su Mo ate a little too. Watching the little girl's beaming face, he gradually felt his heart soften.

"Stay on the boat and eat. I'm going out for a while. If you're sleepy, go to bed. Don't wait for me." Su Mo wiped his mouth, picked up the drawings beside him, and spoke to her with a smile.

The little girl immediately stopped eating and looked at him. "It's almost dark. Are you going to listen to songs again, young master? But it's raining today. The Riverboat Pavilion probably won't be open..."

Su Mo shook his head and gave the drawings in his hand a shake. "I'm going to find a smithy and have these things made."

"Then take an umbrella, young master!" the little girl said obediently. She knew Su Mo had things he wanted to do, and all she needed to do was support him. In this world... the only people they could rely on were each other, master and servant-or perhaps brother and sister.

At the bow, he put on a straw rain cape and a bamboo hat.

"I'll wear these!" Su Mo turned and smiled at the little girl, then walked out into the rainy night.

The little girl put down her chicken leg and did not eat again for a long time.

At the smithy, the young blacksmith looked out at the heavy rain and said worriedly to the old blacksmith, "This rain will probably last several days. We won't have any business for a while!"

The old blacksmith lay on a reclining chair to one side, drinking, utterly unconcerned.

"If there's business, there's business. If there isn't, we won't starve anytime soon!"

The young blacksmith nodded, watching the pattering rain outside. "It's just that this rain gets on my nerves. It's depressing."

"You need a calm mind... how can you forge iron properly like this?" the old blacksmith lectured.

The young blacksmith pursed his lips and was about to speak when a customer came through the door.

The customer wore a bamboo hat and a straw rain cape, hiding his face.

The young blacksmith went to greet him and asked respectfully, "Would you like to buy some tools, sir?"

The customer took out a sheet of paper and handed it to him, asking in a hoarse voice, "Can you make this according to the drawing?"

The young blacksmith paused, took the drawing, and examined it. After saying, "One moment," he handed it to the old blacksmith.

The old blacksmith glanced at the drawing, immediately sat up, and began studying it closely.

After only a short while, the old blacksmith stood and approached the customer. "What material would you like this made from?"

"Black iron," the customer said flatly.

"Of course I can make it..." The old blacksmith nodded, but then added hesitantly, "Only..."

"Only what?" the customer asked.

"If I'm not mistaken, you want a heavy bow made..." The old blacksmith looked at Su Mo and continued, "But... if it's made of black iron, who could possibly draw it?"

"You needn't worry about that. All that matters is that you can make it!" The customer seemed relieved, then asked, "Do you know how to make it?"

"Naturally, by forging multiple layers of black iron together," the old blacksmith said confidently.

The customer nodded and asked another question. "Do you have a bowstring that can withstand its draw weight?"

The old blacksmith considered for a moment. "An ordinary bowstring certainly couldn't withstand the draw weight of this heavy bow. We would have to use mithril wire or mystic beast tendon."

"Do you have any?"

The old blacksmith nodded. "As luck would have it, I have a leftover length of mystic beast tendon from another customer. It should be enough."

"Good! Then I'll leave it to you!" The customer nodded. "How much silver?"

The old blacksmith thought for a moment, then steeled himself. "Fifty taels."

Fifty taels was actually a fair price, but he feared the customer would find it expensive. After all, fifty taels was no small sum. Yet the customer merely nodded and tossed over a bag of silver.

"That's half. I'll pay the rest when I collect it." Leaving the silver and drawing behind, the customer turned to leave.

"When will you collect it?" the old blacksmith called after him.

"Tomorrow at noon."

The customer walked into the rainy night and soon vanished.

The young blacksmith came over, looked at the silver and the drawing, and said, "What a mysterious customer. What's the point of making this heavy bow? No one can draw it!"

The old blacksmith smacked him on the head. "Quiet. Ask fewer questions and do more work!"

The old blacksmith glanced at the holes marked on the bow's body in the drawing and sighed.

"I'm afraid this drawing is only one part of the device."

After leaving the smithy, Su Mo visited several others in turn, dividing the remaining drawings among them to have the parts made. The other parts did not cost much. Only the bow's body and bowstring were expensive, which he understood. Mystic beast tendon was not easy to obtain...

He entrusted every component to a different shop.

The wind and rain continued unabated as Su Mo returned to that street...

To the place where the woman had knelt and let out her long, desolate cry...

No trace remained on the ground. Only the wind blowing through the rain... was as cold as ever.

Su Mo stood silently, his figure desolate and lonely, as though he could not fit into this world.

Not far away, the Riverboat Pavilion, which should have been ablaze with lights, was indeed closed tonight. Its lights were sparse, and no songs rang out...

That night was especially quiet...

That night, Su Mo stood on a street in the Capital City for half the night...