Forging Iron Armor

Gao Yiye got out of bed at first light.

In the past, she never had to think about what to do when she woke up. She simply grabbed her bamboo basket and went out to hunt for wild greens, tree bark, and grass roots, keeping herself frantically busy from dawn to dusk. But now that they had food bestowed by the Heavenly Deity, the first thing she did each morning was consider what she should do that day.

The village no longer lacked water. She might as well wash her face first.

She was a born beauty. Before, the dirt and grime, coupled with malnutrition that left her sallow and scrawny, had concealed her natural loveliness. But several days of eating her fill, with meat to boot, had restored a good deal of her vitality. Once she washed her little face clean, it was clear that her cheeks had grown fuller and regained their color. She looked entirely different from before.

The only blemish on this otherwise perfect picture was her rather shabby clothing. However clean she washed it, it still dragged her appearance down.

After washing her face, she had no idea what to do.

She slowly pushed open her door and stepped outside...

She had barely taken two steps when a huge hand passed through the clouds and slowly descended before her.

Gao Yiye knew the Heavenly Deity was about to begin handing out today's food.

What would he give the villagers today? Rice? Flour? Vegetables? Meat? Salt?

It was none of those. What the Heavenly Deity placed before her was an enormous lump of iron.

Li Daoxuan stripped the battered sheet iron off a wooden clothes hanger, obtaining a rectangular piece ten centimeters long, five centimeters wide, and one millimeter thick. Yet when he placed that tiny "sheet of iron" before Gao Yiye, it became a gigantic iron plate over seven zhang long (twenty meters), over three zhang wide (ten meters), and six cun thick (twenty centimeters).

Gao Yiye was a little bewildered. "Heavenly Deity, are you giving us an iron plate to eat today? I probably can't bite through this..."

Li Daoxuan did not know whether to laugh or cry. Your first thought was to eat it? He chided her with a laugh. "All you think about is eating. This iron is for making armor."

Gao Yiye grew curious. "Oh? Making iron armor?"

Li Daoxuan said, "Gather the villagers and have them take a look at this iron. I remember there's a blacksmith in the village. I think his name was..."

Gao Yiye quickly answered, "Gao Yiyi."

Li Daoxuan said, "Oh, right, Gao Yiyi. Have the villagers work under Gao Yiyi's direction to make a simple, fitted suit of iron armor for each able-bodied young man in the village."

Gao Yiye acknowledged his instructions and hurried to @everyone.

Before long, all the villagers had gathered around.

Looking at the gigantic iron plate on the ground, Gao Chuwu was the first to speak. "What a thick iron plate. Does the Heavenly Deity want us to eat this?"

He opened his mouth in a grin, revealing a row of slightly yellow teeth. "I probably can't bite through it."

Imitating Li Daoxuan's tone, Gao Yiye chided him with a laugh. "All you think about is eating. The Heavenly Deity gave us this iron plate to make armor."

Gao Chuwu said, "Huh? Iron armor?"

A middle-aged man squeezed out of the crowd. It was Gao Yiyi, the blacksmith. Making kitchen knives and the like for the villagers was usually within his abilities, but he had truly never made anything as complicated as iron armor. He circled the gigantic plate twice and gestured at it with his hands. "Such a huge piece of iron must be worth a fortune. We have to melt it down before we can forge it into anything else, but it's far too big. I don't have a furnace large enough to melt it."

Li Daoxuan immediately reached both hands into the Scenery Box. The one-millimeter-thick sheet iron was soft enough for him to bend at will. He twisted it left, then right, and bent it hard. Snap! The sheet broke apart. He bent it again, then kept going. Snap, snap, snap, snap! He broke the sheet into dozens of little fragments.

The villagers watched as invisible giant hands picked up the enormous iron plate. It twisted and warped in midair, then broke with a snap. It continued twisting, warping, and snapping apart. After several repetitions, the gigantic plate from a moment ago had become dozens of chunks of scrap iron.

In their eyes, that was an iron plate a full six cun thick (twenty centimeters). Watching it twist and snap apart right before them was a truly staggering sight, brimming with divine might.

The villagers began dropping to their knees again.

Gao Yiye hurriedly called out, "The Heavenly Deity told you not to waste time kneeling. Get up and work!"

With startled cries, the villagers hastily scrambled to their feet.

"Let's get to work!"

"Carry these chunks of iron to Gao Yiyi's house and pile them beside the furnace."

"We need to get him more firewood and charcoal."

"Say, why did the Heavenly Deity suddenly tell us to make iron armor?"

As they carried the iron, the villagers quietly discussed it.

Li Daoxuan heard them discussing how to move the iron, how to make the armor, and what it was for, but not a single person mentioned that "privately possessing armor is a grave crime of treason." Clearly, these villagers truly knew nothing about the world beyond their village. They were utterly ignorant of the law.

He said gravely, "Gao Yiye, tell everyone that making iron armor is to protect yourselves. Do you remember when the bandits stormed the village last time?"

Of course, Gao Yiye would never forget that incident.

Remembering her mother, who had died horribly beneath the bandits' blades, her expression darkened.

Li Daoxuan said, "The days ahead will grow more dangerous with each passing day. Food alone won't guarantee your survival. You also need to arm yourselves."

Gao Yiye repeated his words to all the villagers, leaving nothing out.

The village chief was the first to understand. "The Heavenly Deity means that bandits will attack the village again."

The women in the village grew frightened. "Then what are we going to do?"

The men, however, immediately understood what they needed to do. "Hasn't the Heavenly Deity already told us what to do? Make armor! Every able-bodied young man in our village gets a suit of iron armor. We also have the blades we seized from the bandits. With blades in our hands and iron armor on our bodies, and now that we have full bellies and strength, what's there to fear from those bandits?"

"So that's what he meant!" The women understood.

And so everyone had something to do again that day: gather firewood. Everyone capable of working went out to collect it, then brought it back and piled it all at Gao Yiyi's house. Others brought over their homemade charcoal as well, heaping it into his house all at once.

The poor little furnace at Gao Yiyi's house burned fiercely. Several young men helped move the large chunks of iron into it to melt them down, then watched as Gao Yiyi swung his hammer with clumsy technique, hammering away with a clang and a clatter.

"Uncle Yiyi, how do you forge iron armor?"

"I don't know how to make the complicated kinds, but I can make Two-Panel Armor."

"Two-Panel Armor?"

"One iron plate over the chest and another over the back. Thread ropes through the two plates and hang them on your body. It blocks attacks from the front and from behind. That's called Two-Panel Armor."

"Then why not make an iron barrel and wear that?"

"With an iron barrel around your body, how would you swing your blade?"

The group chattered around the furnace.

Listening to their discussion, Li Daoxuan could not help frowning. Gao Family Village's technical skills are still far too poor. Even with the materials, they can't make proper iron armor. I need to find a way to improve their skills.

No, improving their skills takes time. Distant water can't quench an immediate thirst. I'd be better off finding a way to bring in skilled people from outside the village.

At that thought, Li Daoxuan recalled that Secretary with his affected way of speaking. San Shier-that man might prove useful.