The stone axe was not necessarily all that sharp, but the moment it struck the trunk, it was like gasoline meeting fire, exploding in an instant. She had already put considerable strength into the blow, yet it somehow boosted that force another notch.
That felt good...
So good...
Or perhaps the word was...
Amazing!
It felt unexpectedly amazing because it had exceeded her expectations.
An old hand like Qiu Shuyu knew what to expect when she swung an axe, yet the result of that chop far surpassed what she had imagined...
That sort of pleasant surprise could easily go to someone's head!
That was also why Luo Liuzi had been so full of energy, chopping away without stopping.
Tian Man watched enviously and rubbed his hands. "Let me try!"
Qiu Shuyu did not give it to him. Instead, she said, "Let's get the tree onto the truck first."
That chop had packed a serious punch and landed in just the right spot, bringing down the already tottering tree.
Tian Man was itching to try it, but Qiu Shuyu was right. The tree was down, so they had to get it onto the truck before looking for another suitable tree...
No rush, no rush...
The axe was right here. It wasn't going anywhere. He could give it a proper try on the next tree.
Tian Man called out, "Mu, stop resting. Get up and work!"
Liu Mu: "..." His expression grew even uglier.
The four of them worked together, putting in a great deal of effort before finally securing the tree to the truck...
There was no way they could lift it aboard. The tree weighed at least a ton; how could anyone budge it? They could only attach ropes to the back of the truck and slowly drag it back.
Of course, this was only possible because the tree in front of them was not too tall. If it had been one of those trees outside, ten or twenty meters tall, cutting it down would have been pointless. Without suitable tools to cut it into sections, the truck could not drag it back at all.
That was why they had to venture deep into the tree farm to find trees of a suitable diameter that were not too tall.
Once they had dealt with this tree, Tian Man did not bother resting. Full of enthusiasm, he said, "Come on, let's keep going!"
As the "captain," he naturally took on the job of finding timber. Eager to try that miraculous little axe sooner, he searched with all his might and soon found the next target.
"This one!"
He looked at Qiu Shuyu, his Adam's apple bobbing. "Xiao Qiu, that axe... could I try it?"
Qiu Shuyu hesitated, but in the end, she could hardly refuse, so she handed him the little axe. After taking it, Tian Man gave Qiu Shuyu his iron axe. "Use mine for now!"
With that, he took the lead and swung the axe down.
A tingling sensation reached straight into his heart.
It was not from the recoil, but from how exceptionally smooth it felt.
This axe... this axe...
It was fantastic!
Without another word, Tian Man started chopping away, thunk after thunk.
Luo Liuzi stood nearby, grinning. "Works great, doesn't it? Feels natural, right? I've never used Lao Mu's 'divine axe,' but I honestly think this is about as good as a 'divine axe' could get!"
Tian Man called out, "It's great, absolutely great! Xiao Qiu, where did you get this axe... I'll go buy one too..."
Crack...
Snap!
Tian Man froze.
So did Luo Liuzi.
Qiu Shuyu: "..."
This time, it was not the tree that had fallen, but the precious little axe that had cracked.
Tian Man's forehead was covered in sweat, not just from exertion, but even more from fright. "Um... Xiao Qiu... I..."
He was done for, done for. He had broken her "divine axe"!
Was Qiu Shuyu going to fight him to the death?!
Chapter 22
Tian Man held up the stone axe in a daze. An extremely obvious crack had appeared in the stone portion at the front, running right through the axe head.
Without a doubt, one more chop would split the axe in two.
Qiu Shuyu took the stone axe, her eyes full of distress.
She had only used it once. All she had registered was how well it worked and how natural it felt; she had not even had a chance to savor it...
Luo Liuzi looked even more devastated than she did. "Aaaah, little axe, precious little axe, how could you... how could such a beauty die so young!" A lack of education was truly a frightening thing. He knew one idiom and used it anywhere.
Tian Man grew even more embarrassed. Fortunately, he was willing to take responsibility and hurriedly added, "How much was it? I'll pay you back. Or tell me where you bought it. I'll buy two and give you a new one!"
Hearing that, Luo Liuzi stopped wailing and looked eagerly at Qiu Shuyu, waiting for her to name a place or a person so they could hurry off and get one.
Liu Mu watched coldly from the side, muttering inwardly, How good could a stone axe possibly be? Besides, so what if it works well? The quality is awful. It breaks as soon as you use it. It's worthless...
Despite grumbling to himself, he had his ears pricked up, waiting for Qiu Shuyu to speak as well.
He planned to sneak off and buy one himself to try.
He simply did not believe it could be that good. Luo Liuzi and Tian Man were both ignorant bumpkins.
"No need to pay me back," Qiu Shuyu said in a muffled voice.
As she spoke, she tucked the cracked little axe into her belt.
Throwing it away was out of the question. After all, Xiaozhu had worked hard to make it. Perhaps it could still be repaired once she brought it back...
Could a "craftsman" repair tools?
Probably. Both used Force, and repairing it would surely consume a little less than making it again.
Tian Man grew anxious at that. "I have to. I absolutely have to pay you back."
Qiu Shuyu looked at him. "Axes are meant to be used. Even if Luo Liu and you hadn't used it, I would have. It might still have cracked by now."
She treasured every axe, but she would not put one away on a high shelf.
A tool's value lay in being put to good use.
Earlier, she had underestimated the stone axe and thought she would slow their tree-cutting progress, so when Luo Liuzi suggested swapping axes, she had agreed without much hesitation.
Luo Liuzi had been happy to slack off, while she had been willing to put in more effort.
Since she had agreed to swap axes, and later nodded and handed it over when Tian Man wanted to try it...
She could not blame anyone else for the little axe cracking.
There was even less need for anyone to compensate her.
That was all perfectly reasonable, but what Tian Man and Luo Liuzi most wanted to know right now was-