Chapter 19 Chapter 19

"Those are all old stories. When the craftsman clan fell into decline, your grandfather wasn't even born yet." Master Wen's voice was filled with vicissitudes of life. "If it weren't for..."

He paused, as if he didn't want to say it, but when he thought about how he had been dead for a hundred years, he felt that it would be okay to say it.

"If it weren't for the scum in the family who coveted fame and power, sold out the ancestral secrets and techniques, and even colluded with the imperial court to kill all the elders of the clan, the two families wouldn't have fallen apart in an instant."

After all, Gu Xuanyou had stayed in the capital for ten years and was very familiar with the affairs of the noble families.

He blurted out: "Forging Star Division."

——A government office in Shangjing City that specializes in manufacturing top-notch weapons for the powerful and wealthy.

Master Wen raised his eyebrows and gritted his teeth, "This thing still exists?! A bunch of unrepentant lackeys."

Speaking of the Star Forging Division, there is no need for Gu Xuanyou to explain too much, as Ling Suye also has some understanding of it.

After all, he was a colleague of the 'Du'e Division' that he once joined. Even... if the Ling family had not been wiped out, when he returned home to visit his relatives, he could choose a weapon that suits him from the inventory of the Forging Star Division.

Seeing that Gu Xuanyou and Ling Suye had fallen silent, Master Wen angrily slammed his fist on the floor and said, "Tell me, what's the name of the leader of that group?"

Boss?

Are you talking about the director of the Star Forging Department who holds a very high position?

Gu Xuanyou was in a dilemma. He only knew that the director was over a hundred years old, rarely showed up in public, and was a guest of honor of the saint.

Ling Suye only heard: "The head of the Star Forging Division is Wen Lingxia, who is approximately 119 years old this year."

This is the record of Duaisi.

"Bang——"

There was a hole in the floor next to Master Wen's hand.

Clods of earth flew everywhere, dust filled the air, Gu Xuanyou spun around and subconsciously protected Ling Suye under him.

The young man is twenty-one years old this year and has grown into a mature man. His slender arms and flexible waist cover Ling Suye. The hair on his temples hangs down and tickles the tip of Ling Suye's nose.

Ling Suye tilted his head slightly.

Gu Xuanyou was startled, realizing that his actions were rather intimate. His breathing became chaotic, and he hurriedly stood up, not daring to glance at Ling Suye.

Fortunately, Master Wen was immersed in the anger brought about by the name 'Wen Lingxia' and did not pay attention to this side.

After a long pause, he spoke in sorrow, "My good son, my good son! Just because he was jealous of his brother inheriting the family inheritance, he betrayed the family secrets to the imperial court! He has been extremely talented since he was young, and I had high hopes for him. I even went so far as to exchange secret manuals with the Shi family to satisfy him! I never expected that just because I wanted to pass the position of clan leader to his brother, he would become so furious that he even threatened to kill the entire clan! If I had known this would happen, I should have drowned him when he was born!"

Gu Xuanyou and Ling Suye were both greatly shocked.

I didn’t expect that behind the glorious Director of the Star Forging Department, Wen Lingxia, there was such a past.

Master Wen seemed to be recalling a very painful past, and he scratched his hair with both hands: "It's all my fault. I raised this bastard, which led to the destruction of the Wen family and the extermination of the Shi family! If I hadn't carefully trained him, he wouldn't have acquired such superb skills, and he wouldn't have been favored by the Martial Emperor... None of this would have happened..."

Gu Xuanyou asked, "Master, did Wen Lingxia kill someone just to secure the position of clan leader?"

"What else?!" Master Craftsman Wen said gruffly, "He's my biological son. All the family resources are at his disposal. I can even exchange them for the Shi family's secret techniques. But the position of clan leader—of course, it's more appropriate for my eldest son to inherit! He's kind and steady, never arrogant or impatient. He doesn't harbor the slightest jealousy when he sees his brother's extraordinary talent. If the two of them can be kind and respectful to each other, with one managing the family business while the other delves into the techniques, our clan of craftsmen will surely flourish!"

"Wen Lingxia has changed. He's changed since he left Mobei and traveled throughout the Great Zhou. He's become greedy for power and ambitious, and no longer dedicates himself to the study of his craft." Master Wen slowly calmed down. He took a deep breath and said, "Since that bastard is still alive, then Gu Xuanyou, you must study hard with me. I will pass on to you all the skills I've cultivated over the past century. You're a member of the Shi family, so this is my small compensation for implicated them. I know this won't be enough to atone for the sins of my Wen family, but a hundred years from now, I'll be able to meet the descendants of the Shi family and pass on the true memory of a true master craftsman. This will ease the burden on my heart a little."

Gu Xuanyou opened his mouth, his voice as gentle as jade, like a drop of water falling into a lake: "Master, to be honest, I have never seen my biological father since I was a child, and my mother passed away when I was seven years old. Therefore, I don't know my bloodline. This time, we met, and you are willing to accept me as your disciple. I... your disciple is extremely grateful."

Master Wen looked at Gu Xuanyou deeply, as if he was looking through him at an old friend.

The tall man slowly stood up and walked towards the backyard: "Come with me, I will teach you from the beginning."

Gu Xuanyou followed him, but Ling Suye stood where he was and did not follow.

At this moment, Master Wen, the clinker, stopped and turned around: "Give me the spirit stone, boy. I will use it to teach him."

Gu Xuanyou opened his mouth to stop him, but Ling Suye had already thrown the spirit stone out.

Master Wen weighed the spirit stone, looked at Ling Suye, thought for a moment, and continued walking towards the backyard with Gu Xuanyou.

Their voices came through clearly——

"Do you know what the first thing to do as a craftsman is? It's 'discernment'. Discerning the quality of a piece of material, and what kind of item it's suitable for, all depends on your eyes. Three years ago, I saw that kid. His eyes were so bright that they seemed to contain stars. I wanted to take him in as my last disciple, but his stubborn father wouldn't agree, insisting that 'energy is limited, and biting off more than you can chew.' What happened now? That kid's supreme cultivation is gone?"

Gu Xuanyou was so stunned that he didn't know how to move.

He was so shocked that his voice wavered: "Master, have you practiced before?"

He always thought that his master was a doctor.

Until recently, during a trip to Chuzhou, he thought his master was the kind of person who had been blinded since childhood and trained to be "Mr. Stone".

But now, Master Wen told him that his master had practiced before and even had a peak level of cultivation???

"Master Wen, I will personally tell him about my affairs in the future." Ling Suye's voice sounded.

The words that were about to come out of Master Wen's mouth were blocked by Ling Suye's words. He shrugged his shoulders at Gu Xuanyou, meaning "Look, apprentice, it's not that I don't tell you."

Perhaps because Gu Xuanyou looked too pale, Master Wen interrupted. "Hey, there must be a reason he didn't let me tell you. Three years ago, his father asked me to make him a weapon. I thought I'd be able to pick it up soon, but three years have already passed. His cultivation is gone, and so are his eyes... But luckily you guys came. If I died in a few years, the craftsmanship legacy would have truly declined."

Ling Suye Mosuo held a bow and arrow in his hand, his lips tightened, and he said nothing.

·

Before noon, Master Wen brought Gu Xuanyou back to the front hall again, this time with two cups of tea in his hands.

"Drop your blood into it, and you won't need the red thread when you come back tomorrow. Otherwise, if the red thread is cut, there will be no way back."

Ling Suye felt that the blood dripped from Master Wen was like a positioning point, which would make it convenient for them to travel back and forth between the ancient city of Loulan and the city of Loulan.

After dripping the blood, Master Wen suddenly raised his foot and stomped hard on the ground. Ling Suye felt as if the earth was shaking.

He tried his best to stand firm, but he was like a lone boat in the huge waves, swept away by the salty smell of water vapor and could only be tossed back and forth with the waves.

He only felt a huge wave rushing towards him, as if it was going to drown him. He subconsciously held his breath. The next moment, his feet were firmly standing on the ground, and the tip of his nose smelled the earthy smell of yellow sand.

There was a heavy feeling in his hand; it was the longbow forged for him by Master Wen.

"I'm back." Gu Xuanyou said softly.

He put his arm around Ling Suye's shoulders, and the two of them jumped back to the inn.

At this moment, a slender figure slowly disappeared.

As Yunniang splashed water on her face, she muttered to herself, "I worried for nothing. It seems Old Man Wen didn't make things difficult for them."

She walked towards her own Treasure Pavilion, her voice tinged with surprise, "Old Man Wen has been wanting a lasting disciple for years. Originally, he was optimistic about Ling Suye, but Ling Suye is blind now... Could it be that the good-looking boy next to him also has a talent for blacksmithing?"

"Hey, hey, hey, why should I care about these things? I'm almost suffocating myself guarding the secrets of the ancient city all day long, so I don't have the energy to care about the trivial matters of irrelevant people. Anyway, as long as Old Man Wen doesn't make things difficult for Ling Suye, it's fine." She returned to Jubao Pavilion, closed the door, and the entire ancient city of Loulan returned to deathly silence again.

·

Neither Ling Suye nor Gu Xuanyou noticed the presence of Yunniang, the owner of Jubao Pavilion. After they returned to the inn, Gu Xuanyou quietly closed the window and poured a cup of tea for Ling Suye.

This was an attitude of wanting to have a long talk with him.

But Ling Suye didn't want to explain his identity and background: "Rest, we have to go to the ancient city tomorrow night."

Gu Xuanyou pursed his lips. Just as he was about to take a step forward stubbornly, he stopped himself.

He thought to himself that he had no right to explore his master's past.

He doesn't have the qualifications either.

Even though he felt very regretful and sad about the past that Master Wen had outlined in just a few words, he wished he could have known his master a few years earlier so that he could stand in front of him and shield him from all the wind, frost, rain and snow, just like he had in the past three years.

As dawn broke, the window frame and the oil paper were clearly black and white. Long breathing sounds could be heard from Gu Xuanyou, but Ling Suye had not fallen asleep yet.

Whenever he thought of what happened three years ago, he would not be able to sleep well all night.

The same is true now.

After a long time, Ling Suye felt something poking at him from under his body. He touched it with his fingertips and found that it was the brocade bag that Yunniang had thrown to him at last.

"After all, I have come out of the ancient city alive, so it doesn't matter if I open it." Ling Suye thought, and his bony fingertips reached into the brocade bag, but what he touched was a piece of wood carving.

To be precise, it is a piece of wood with words carved on it.

He rubbed the wood with his fingertips, and words took shape in his mind one by one.

[A master craftsman, one who has reached the pinnacle of skill, can shape the tendons and veins, and circulate the Dantian.]

Ling Suye immediately sat up from the bed.

His eyes widened unconsciously and he held his breath: What does this mean?

Can a skilled craftsman save his body with broken tendons and destroyed cultivation?

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