Chapter 41: Searching The Mountain
The main craftsman, who was hammering an iron blank, stopped his movements. Dressed similarly to Chen Shun’an, in black clothes and a mask, his build and age were indistinguishable.
The main craftsman looked at Chen Shun’an and said in a deep voice,
“Requirements, time, do you have blueprints?”
“Yes!”
Chen Shun’an, having been prepared, pulled out a piece of rough paper from his embrace, on which a crude design was sketched with charcoal.
These were a pair of thousand-layer sole hundred-patch shoes, with steel mechanisms embedded within, each concealing four thin blades resembling daggers.
And according to Chen Shun’an’s notes, these thin blades could be retracted or extended. When retracted, they could be hidden in the sole’s interlayer; when extended, they would function like blood-dripping devices, ideally capable of rotating and being shot out.
To balance both concealment and lethality, the appearance of the hundred-patch shoes could neither be ostentatious nor shabby.
Ideally, they could also be poisoned, easily disassembled and replaced, and suitable for wear in all four seasons…
Chen Shun’an named them ‘Python Fang Boots’.
Compared to weapons like swords, spears, and hammers, the most suitable for Chen Shun’an were precisely these custom-made ‘bespoke’ weapons!
They could fully utilize Chen Shun’an’s terrifying movement technique.
The main craftsman looked at the blueprint for a long time, then said faintly,
“Your weapon is a bit strange. Your requirements are many.”
Chen Shun’an frowned and said,
“You can’t make them.”
The main craftsman shook his head and said, “I’ll need more money.”
Chen Shun’an immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
Things that could be solved with money were not problems.
The main craftsman’s gaze swept over Chen Shun’an’s feet and he said,
“How much more can you pay?”
The main craftsman was inquiring about Chen Shun’an’s strength, the intended usage environment of the Python Fang Boots, and the quality of raw materials required, to avoid the shoes bursting with just one step.
Chen Shun’an said decisively,
“Whatever you can add, add it!”
The main craftsman understood and nodded, saying,
“Then these are high-grade precious weapons, one hundred and forty taels of silver. You can pick them up in seven days. Fifty percent upfront, no credit, no refunds.”
Chen Shun’an grunted, his heart bleeding.
San Dezi’s mid-tier sharp blade was only thirty taels of silver.
Normal high-grade precious weapons were only seventy to eighty taels.
His ‘Python Fang Boots’ were worth two high-grade precious weapons!
Chen Shun’an gave a few more instructions, tore up the blueprint, paid the deposit, took the token, and then turned to walk out of the blacksmith shop, heading along the Sancha River towards the outskirts of the Ghost Market.
The sky was dim, with wisps of ghostfire.
Just as Chen Shun’an had left.
Not far away, under a large tree on the riverbank, three figures emerged.
One of the figures, with a decent lightness skill, held their breath and landed silently, then pursued Chen Shun’an.
The remaining two entered the blacksmith shop, cupped their hands towards the main craftsman, and said with a smile,
“Master Zhu, is that Sun Shi a tough guy? Can we fight him?”
The main craftsman shook his head and said, “He’s a passing Sea Monster. You can’t deal with him.”
The three were speaking in martial world slang, underworld jargon.
‘Sun Shi’ referred to a man, while a young girl was called ‘Dou Huazi’.
“‘Is that Sun Shi a tough guy? Can we fight him?’ meant to ask if that man was difficult to deal with and if a fight was possible.”
They also referred to tigers as ‘Sea Monsters’ – troublesome and difficult to handle, not to be provoked, indicating at least a mid-to-late stage second-rate strength.
Upon hearing the main craftsman’s words, the two men’s expressions changed slightly, and they immediately dispersed without informing the person pursuing Chen Shun’an.
In reality, their failure to keep up was considered notification.
This was also one of the unspoken rules.
If the team wasn’t complete, one couldn’t initiate a fight.
…
“Huh? Why did they retreat?”
In a dilapidated opera house not far from the Ghost Market.
Chen Shun’an muttered a few words and emerged from behind a screen.
He had sensed he was being followed as soon as he left the Ghost Market.
Chen Mou had thought he’d encountered a novice from the martial world, someone who could pull off a ‘black eat black’ scheme and make a quick fortune.
After all, that’s how the storybooks wrote it.
Who would have thought that person would decisively retreat after following for only a short while, disappearing back into the Ghost Market.
It made Chen Shun’an almost admire the person’s swift decisiveness.
So Chen Shun’an silently put away the flying knife he held.
People who operated in the Ghost Market these days were all cunning and sly, deceitful and treacherous.
As for those who weren’t clever… they were already dead.
“Did that main craftsman leak my information?”
Chen Shun’an realized.
There was no point talking about professional ethics or basic human decency.
Once you were operating in the Ghost Market, you were no longer human.
Chen Shun’an simply silently noted this debt.
After all, he wasn’t human either.
…
After changing back into his clothes, Chen Shun’an, as usual, went to the fish market to look for bargains and bought three catfish, calling them his “good grandchildren”.
Then he went to find Golden Needle Li to analyze the medicinal properties of a moldy deer antler.
As Chen Shun’an had predicted, the deer antler was mixed with an extremely trace amount of aconitine.
While not a fatal dose that would kill on contact with blood, if Chen Shun’an had taken it while recovering from illness, it would have most likely caused various complications, leading to his death, and the poison would have been extremely difficult to detect!
Chen Shun’an remembered that this deer antler seemed to have been given by a young water carrier from a certain well, who was quite talkative and always gossiped about others.
He was also quite close to Ah Hua.
“Are some people too impatient…”
Chen Shun’an understood something and sighed.
It was still early, with an hour left until he had to report for duty.
Chen Shun’an decided to wander around for a while.
Passing by the entrance of an alley, many tomb robbers were squatting on the ground, with various faded and old books and bamboo slips laid out before them.
It was unclear from which graves they had been dug up.
“How much for this Acupoint Breaking Finger?”
Chen Shun’an stopped in front of one of them, used the sole of his shoe to extinguish his tobacco pouch, and casually flipped through the contents.
This martial art could break acupoints and sever meridians, specifically countering Qi and Blood Seeds, making it a mid-tier martial art at best. However, many of its techniques were missing, leaving only three moves.
Furthermore, without an instructor, one had to study it oneself or pay martial arts masters from the Martial Arts Hall for explanations.
The risk was immense.
“Sixty taels of silver,” the man replied without looking up.
Chen Shun’an immediately put the cultivation method down and turned to another vendor.
Selling an unknown and incomplete finger technique for sixty taels of silver was treating him like a pig to be slaughtered.
The man made no attempt to retain him, silently rearranging the Acupoint Breaking Finger, waiting for the next fool.
After browsing around, Chen Shun’an found that these tomb robbers were all in league, each trying to cheat more than the last.
Some even sold ‘Yin Yang Copies’.
A good upper-tier cultivation method would be sold with the first half by one person and the second half by another; to practice it, one had to buy both parts.
The price, naturally, would skyrocket!
Truly digging for money from a coffin, a dead man’s grasp!
Out of necessity, Chen Shun’an went to several Martial Arts Halls that specialized in upper-body martial arts, hoping to formally apprentice and find a suitable finger or palm technique.
As a result, when Chen Shun’an arrived, the gatekeeper thought he was there to register his grandson for martial arts training.
Upon hearing that he himself wanted to learn, they would either turn their heads away and outright refuse, or demand exorbitant fees for martial arts training.
Moreover, to obtain true inheritance, one had to start from the lowest rung, paying for tea ceremony, money for winter and summer clothing, winter gifts, summer gifts…
After ten years of hardship, they would teach you a couple of moves.
All the bad habits of the Sacred Dynasty’s officialdom were present; these Martial Arts Halls had learned them all to perfection!
Silently lamenting how truly gifted people and dragons abounded in my great Sacred Dynasty.
Chen Shun’an then visited several jewelry shops, rouge shops, and pawnshops for shoes and hats, wanting to pick out a suitable birthday gift for the old lady.
The old lady was celebrating her eightieth birthday this year, which coincided with the Wang Ling Palace’s festival, her birthday on the twenty-fourth of June, so it was certainly going to be a grand and lively affair.
Chen Shun’an also wanted to win the old lady’s favor, ease the conflict between the two families, and by extension, obtain the follow-up cultivation methods and true cultivation manual for Ròufēi Xiān, so he could not be careless in preparing the birthday gift.
The gift had to be something that touched her heart.
Although the Zhang family had declined, they were still descendants of the prominent Zhang family of Tongzhou. A thin camel is still larger than a horse; the old lady likely wouldn’t be impressed by ordinary gold and silver jewelry.
The old lady also had no hobbies like raising birds or watching operas, she was simply a cheerful old woman doting on her grandchildren.
This caused Chen Shun’an to worry. After browsing, he was unsatisfied and had to leave dejectedly.
In the end,
Chen Shun’an bought twelve Gold Coin Darts at the polishing factory.
They resembled large coins, with sharpened edges, the rims as thin as paper. Both their lethality and concealability were significantly superior to his previous Willow Leaf Flying Knives.
Of course, they also required greater wrist strength and skill from the user.
Dragon Elephant Bone Quenching Pills, medicinal bath packets, red ginseng, polygonatum…
Chen Shun’an spared no expense on the necessary purchases, waving his hand and procuring everything.
Just a simple outing cost Chen Shun’an over a hundred taels of silver.
Chen Shun’an felt both heartache and joy.
Seeing that everything was procured, Chen Shun’an sat down at a wonton stall and ate two bowls of shredded chicken wontons.
After eating, Chen Shun’an leisurely hailed a mule cart and headed towards Weihang Street.
However, not long after passing Banye Ferry Crossing, a noisy argument could be heard from a distant intersection.
Chen Shun’an leaned out to get a better look.
He saw a group of men in tight-fitting black clothes at the mountain road’s fork. They had goose-quill knives at their waists and large bows on their backs, standing like iron towers and blocking the intersection.
They had even set up fences and roadblocks, completely blocking the fork in the road.
And that mountain road led towards…
Rice Barn Mountain.
Many commoners and teams of vehicles were gathered in front of these men in tight-fitting clothes, shouting in anger but helpless.
“These Pounding House people are too overbearing, even blocking the road! Do they think they’re officials?”
“Keep your voice down. I heard Wanlong Pounding House’s rice barn was burned down! The Pounding House is scouring the mountains for people, and they’ve searched tens of miles around Rice Barn Mountain. Don’t cross their path!”
“What? Such a big incident, why didn’t they report it to the officials?”
“How would I know? Maybe they’re not clean themselves. Perhaps they’re child-snatchers, doing dirty business like kidnapping and exploitation!”
The Pounding House’s reaction is rather extreme…
Is it because of that batch of Hibiscus Paste Fire?
Or… the matchbox?
Chen Shun’an narrowed his eyes, looked for a moment, then sat back in the mule cart.
Anyway, Water Station, Landlord Zhao, and Instructor Lin were up there handling things, what was he afraid of?
Even if they eventually found the mysterious expert who stole the treasure, what did that have to do with Chen Shun’an?
The mule cart moved forward again, quickly getting onto the official road from the mountain path, the wheels rumbling as it headed towards the county town.
Suddenly, Chen Shun’an slapped his forehead, as if remembering something,
“Almost forgot to sacrifice my good looks. I need to go home first. I must diligently cultivate daily and not forget.”
Book recommendation~ A Xuanhuan novel set in the Republic of China era, an upgrade pleasure text with a strong sense of immersion. Reading this book reminds me of when I used to pull rubber in Sijiu City.
