The ear-piercing sound of metal snapping together exploded from the point of contact, like someone dragging a long mark on a stone slab with an iron nail.
The serrations and the blade were intertwined, and the powerful downward slash of the heavy sword was firmly blocked by the closely spaced, intersecting teeth.
Wang Batian suddenly lowered his arms, his Fourth Rank Middle Stage true qi pressing down along the blade, trying to crush the obstacle.
However, the saw did not break.
Pu Yunshan's right foot was firmly planted on the floor, his left arm was raised horizontally, and the line between his shoulder and elbow was taut, like an iron bolt embedded in the wall, unmovingly supporting the full force of the heavy knife.
The shock traveled from the saw to the handle, causing Wang Batian's hand to go numb. He was forced to slide back half a step, leaving two white marks on the wooden floor with the soles of his boots.
Pu Yunshan put the saw away, not even glancing at him.
He simply bent down and reached out to touch the edge of the table.
The mark left by the blade wasn't deep, but it had already scraped away a line of the varnish layer, revealing the light yellow wood fibers underneath.
"These grain patterns," Pu Yunshan frowned, his fingertips slowly tracing the scratches, muttering, "Hainan rosewood, old material, at least thirty years old. This cut has ruined the patina."
He straightened up and finally turned his gaze to Wang Batian's face.
Why are you chopping the table? Did it do something to you?
Wang Batian stood rooted to the spot, gripping his knife, his mind buzzing.
From the age of fourteen when he first drew his sword and drew blood until today, he has fought against all sorts of strange and unusual weapons.
He was attacked with spears, iron whips, copper hammers, grappling hooks, and even a madman once fought him with a hoe.
But no one ever took his knife from him with a saw.
"Who are you?" Wang Batian's voice was twice as deep as before.
Pu Yunshan glanced at him, switched the saw to his right hand, picked it up and examined the teeth against the light.
Two of his teeth were knocked askew by the heavy blow; he flicked them with his thumb and clicked his tongue in distress.
"Building houses in the south of the city," he replied without looking up, then stepped aside to walk past Wang Batian, placed the saw on the empty table next to him, took out a piece of fine sandpaper from his apron pocket, and began to straighten the warped saw teeth.
Wang Batian was stunned.
It wasn't because they were intimidated by Pu Yunshan's martial arts skills.
While it was indeed absurd that his opponent caught his full-force attack, what was even more absurd was his attitude.
No, brother, didn't we just have a little spar?
Doesn't that count?
Shouldn't you take me seriously and show me some respect?
Wang Batian was completely dumbfounded.
From beginning to end, the carpenter didn't announce his name or make any show of fighting; he simply blocked the table that the carpenter was going to chop because he thought it was too expensive.
After blocking it, the first thing the other party cared about was the patina on the table, and the second thing was the chipped teeth on their saw.
As for him, the one wielding the knife, he was probably ranked after the saw teeth and before the sawdust in the other party's priority list.
The feeling of being ignored is more painful than being defeated.
Meng Jiuning stood behind, her hand gripping the bamboo hat so tightly it was deformed.
Her gaze shifted from Wang Batian to Pu Yunshan, then from Pu Yunshan to the elegant seat with the bamboo curtain hanging down, her heart beating faster and faster.
At the city gate, the guards acted according to the rules and refused to accept bribes.
On the table, there's an exorbitantly priced candy.
Before them, a construction worker wearing a short jacket and apron casually blocked Fourth Rank martial artist's all-out strike with a wooden saw.
These images overlapped in her mind frame by frame, and with each frame, her judgment of the city and the "sickly and cunning" young prince within it jumped forward.
She fled all the way from Dali to Jiannan, and along the way she saw no fewer than ten cities, but none of them could compare to the one before her.
It's not just about prosperity, but more importantly, about order.
After straightening the saw teeth, Pu Yunshan wiped his hands with a coarse cloth, picked up the Xuan paper that had been scattered by the wind from the knife on the table, stacked it neatly, glanced at the numbers on the paper, and his lips twitched.
"Two thousand six hundred and nineteen strings of cash?" He put the paper back on the table, dusted the sawdust off his hands, and said, "Who's so generous?"
Wang Batian's lips trembled slightly.
Pu Yunshan then looked him over properly for two seconds, scanning him from head to toe.
The dark outer robe was decent enough, but the cuffs were already frayed, the boots were covered in mud from the mountain road that hadn't been cleaned off, and the animal hide straps wrapped around the heavy sword sheath were loose and limp, unlike the work of a proper blacksmith.
It seems that the distinguished guest the prince mentioned, who had come from afar, was this fellow.
"From outside?" Pu Yunshan asked.
Wang Batian gripped his knife without replying.
Pu Yunshan didn't mind and turned to walk to the kitchen to deliver the saw. He stopped a step as he passed Su Yao, lowered his voice and said something. Su Yao nodded.
The whole process was clean and efficient, as natural as when he was handing over tools, submitting work orders, and greeting supervisors on the construction site, without any of the tension or wariness one would expect after a friendly exchange.
Wang Batian stood there, knife in hand, drawing the attention of the surrounding tea drinkers once again.
Meng Jiuning walked to his side and spoke softly.
Sheathe your sword.
Then she bowed to everyone with her hands clasped in greeting.
"Please forgive me, everyone. My brother has disturbed you all. I will not refrain from offering any compensation. Please do not escalate the matter. In fact, he has his reasons."
He... had suffered a traumatic experience...
"What? Your Highness... Young Master, I..."
"Shut up!"
Su Yao glanced at Gu Moran.
"That's fine, just pay the full price. If it happens again, we'll have to take it to the authorities."
When Wang Batian sheathed his knife, his fingers were still trembling slightly. His blood surged up but was forced back down. The true energy in his meridians churned and couldn't find an outlet, causing a throbbing pain in his temples.
Meng Jiuning didn't look at him again.
Their attention had completely shifted to the private room.
The silhouette of the person behind the bamboo curtain was quietly imprinted on it, holding a teacup in one hand and resting the other on the armrest of the armchair, occasionally moving his fingers as if tapping out some rhythm.
She frantically sorted through all the fragmented information in her mind from the time she entered the city until now.
The city gate guards did not accept gold or silver, but strictly enforced fines according to regulations—this meant that military orders reached the very grassroots level, relying not on individual loyalty but on the operation of the system. It would take at least a year to train such soldiers.
The crystals on the table were clean and clear, with no off-taste. She had seen frosting sugar from the Western Regions in the inner treasury of the Dali royal city, but it was not as good as this. The fact that Prince Yi sold it as a street tea snack showed that the production was stable and that it was not just an occasional batch made to show off.
The worker who had just taken the saw was dressed in short cloth clothes and covered in sawdust. Judging from his clothes and demeanor, he was a craftsman who did manual labor. However, the strength and stability of his internal force when he took the saw were at least at the Fourth Rank.
You should know that Fourth Rank expert could serve as the commander of the Imperial Guard in Dali, but here in Yi Prefecture, he's only fit to build houses?
Yi Prefecture is truly a land where hidden talents abound!