Wholeheartedly - Part Two
On the day the sword was to be retrieved, the blacksmith's shop didn't emit its usual warmth. Looking inside from the doorway, there wasn't a single ray of light in the forge. Li Letian, naked, was drinking alone in the dimly lit room, seemingly having waited for Wang Boyu for a long time.
"You seem to be in a good mood today," Wang Boyu greeted him happily. "I haven't seen Master Meng lately."
“Master said that inspiration is more abundant at night.” Li Letian tilted his head back and took a sip, then tapped the longsword beside him with his finger. The brand-new longsword clashed with his fingernail, producing a clanging sound.
The two men exchanged a smile.
Li Letian grabbed the wine jug next to his buttocks and tossed it to Wang Boyu, saying, "Use this for now. I'll get you a good one later; come pick it up in a month."
Wang Boyu took the wine, placed it on the table beside him, and said, "I have important matters to attend to today, so I won't drink any more wine."
Li Letian waved his hand and said, "You're really boring."
“Your arm muscles are really beautiful,” Wang Boyu smiled, then changed the subject, “They would look great if you held a sword.”
"Is a swordsman who uses his own sword really that interesting?" Li Letian asked, slightly tipsy, his voice trembling.
“Of course,” Wang Boyu said, “Look, which is more interesting, a blacksmith who can forge a sword or a swordsman who can forge a sword?”
Li Letian lowered his head and chuckled wistfully, "Then the great hero is still the most interesting."
Wang Boyu took out the Spirit Gathering Cauldron from his bundle and tossed it far away.
"What is this?" Li Letian's face was already flushed.
"I'll use it as collateral," Wang Boyu said. "This precious cauldron absorbs the spiritual energy of heaven and earth; it's a great treasure for martial arts practice."
"Don't try to provoke me. I don't have a master, so what martial arts would I learn?" Li Letian muttered. "I'm different from the young masters and ladies. I'm just a blacksmith who worries about making a living every day."
"If I don't come back, this cauldron is yours. Good things shouldn't go to waste in my hands."
Li Letian looked towards the door, the world in his eyes seeming both a blurry dream and a dark reality. Wang Boyu was backlit, and Li Letian looked at the outline of his body, marveling at his imposing and heroic appearance.
The light split into countless beams, shining in from the edges of Wang Boyu's body, like tens of thousands of swords gleaming behind him, ready to strike.
“But I quite like this cauldron, so I’ll keep it.” Li Letian put the Spirit Gathering Cauldron aside and said, “If you don’t come back in a month, I’ll sell it to a rich young lady.”
“Then I will definitely do my best to get back.” Wang Boyu laughed loudly. “At that time, if you want to learn martial arts, you can become my disciple.”
Li Letian threw the longsword over, and the first image in his mind was of the pink sword tassel swaying and gently tapping against the horse's back. The horse gradually moved further and further away, and slowly the pink sword tassel disappeared from sight. Immediately afterwards, the image of Wang Boyu, covered in blood and kneeling on the ground, appeared. Li Letian saw it clearly, as if he were standing right beside him.
He said, "Why don't you become a blacksmith who can forge swords? I can teach you."
Looking towards the doorway again, Wang Boyu was no longer there. Sunlight streamed down, falling brightly on Li Letian.
~
Sword Forging City is truly a city that never sleeps at night. Tens of thousands of blacksmith shops remain bustling even in the dead of night, the clanging and banging of metal striking metal sounding like a giant array of bells playing. The firelight illuminates the entire night sky above Sword Forging City.
Amidst the tremendous roar, there was a faint sound of metal snapping. It came from Meng Jizhen's shop.
The shop door was ajar as usual. Meng Jizhen looked at the battered longsword on the shelf, then at the brand-new broken sword in his hand, now only half intact. Perhaps because of the fire, his face, etched with age spots and wrinkles, had a striking red tinge.
Including this one, that makes it the eighth. Meng Jizhen still couldn't understand where things went wrong. He had strived for perfection in every step of the sword-making process, but his sword-making was only ever getting infinitely closer to the sword left by Han Yizhi. That last little gap was like an insurmountable chasm, one he could never cross.
Meng Jizhen was filled with unease. He nervously looked at the long sword on the table, sensing that this ninth sword would also break.
“If this sword is completed, it will be the perfect sword.” Meng Jizhen stared at the ninth longsword, thinking, then picked up the wine jug beside him and took a big gulp. “If it doesn’t work, the next sword will definitely be perfect.”
The wine that leaked from his mouth flowed down his gray beard and onto his chest, but Meng Jizhen was completely unaware. He simply nodded as if to affirm himself, then wearily walked to the side and sat down with his back to his longsword. He wanted to calm himself down first.
With a creak, someone pushed the door open and came in.
"We don't sell swords at night," Meng Jizhen said impatiently. "Come back during the day to buy a sword."
As the footsteps drew closer to Meng Jizhen, the man recklessly said, "This sword looks quite nice."
Meng Jizhen sighed and was about to turn around when she heard a sharp, resounding bang.
The man had white hair but a youthful face, carrying three longswords on his back and holding another in his hand. The longsword in the boy's hand was broken in half; it was the ninth sword forged by Meng Jizhen.
Meng Jizhen was somewhat disappointed and angry. He stood up from the bench and shouted, "Who told you to touch those things like that?"
The boy ignored him, focusing intently on examining the broken sword in his hand, and commented to himself, "The hammering technique of Shigulin produces top-notch quality and texture, but it's still lacking something."
Meng Jizhen's eyebrows twitched, and she asked in surprise, "Who exactly are you?"
The boy pondered for a moment, then looked at Meng Jizhen as if waking from a dream, and said, "Young man, do you know where the difference lies?"
Meng Jizhen was stunned by the boy's straightforward gaze and couldn't answer for a moment.
The boy's eyes were unusually bright. He stared intently into Meng Jizhen's slightly cloudy eyes, gripping the side of the sword blade with the hilt facing down.
Meng Jizhen felt her breath being pulled by the boy, and she stared intently at the broken sword in the boy's hand.
With a slight exertion of force, blood flowed down the blade. The boy switched hands, lowering his center of gravity. After a breath, he once again raised the bloodied, broken sword high and slashed at the longsword on the shelf.
A violent burst of sparks erupted from the boy, spinning upwards to the roof. A sharp buzzing sound followed, standing out even amidst the massive sonic boom of the "chime bells."
As the sparks faded, Meng Jizhen saw that the two swords were tightly interlocked.
The longsword that had embarrassed the entire Sword Forging City and kept Meng Jizhen awake at night had, for the first time in a long time, developed a chip.
"It's broken now." The boy was a little disappointed, then muttered angrily to himself, "That little bastard tricked me into making a wasted trip again."
At this moment, countless questions flashed through Meng Jizhen's mind. But when he opened his mouth, he couldn't utter a single word, and could only watch the boy's back disappear into the distance.
The broken sword clattered to the ground and shattered into pieces.
~
As the starlight faded, a brief tranquility descended upon Sword Forging City. The craftsmen, who had been forging all night, succumbed to sleepiness and drifted off to dreamland. The sun rose from the calm sea, and a new day began.
Li Letian walked out of the house, his belt fastened. The fire in the sword furnace seemed to be burning brighter than usual today.
"Didn't Master forbid us from using such a large fire?" Li Letian didn't think much of it and just muttered as he shook his head.
Li Letian stopped, staring at the firelight, and let out a long yawn. He then caught the tears that had welled up in his eyes with his fingers, carefully examining the yellow flames emanating from the sword furnace through the teardrops. After a while, he finally wiped away the tears with both hands, still feeling a bit unsatisfied.
Using the firelight, Li Letian walked unsteadily toward the shop's door.
"We're not doing business today." An old voice suddenly stopped Li Letian, who was just about to open the door.
"Master?" Li Letian then noticed that Meng Jizhen had been sitting in the room the whole time. "Why haven't you rested yet?"
Meng Jizhen sat in the firelight, the light casting his hunched figure onto the wall behind him, making him look like a shrimp.
Li Letian looked intently at Meng Jizhen's face and felt that he seemed to have aged a lot overnight.
“Le Tian,” Meng Jizhen’s tone was gentler than usual as he asked, “How does your master treat you?”
“My master has treated me very well,” Li Letian replied, regaining his composure. “I have always regarded my master as my own father.”
“I know you don’t want to be a blacksmith,” Meng Jizhen said. “I’ve also come to terms with it and will no longer restrict you.”
"Master, did I do something wrong?" Li Letian asked, somewhat flustered.
Meng Jizhen beckoned him to sit down and asked calmly, "Have you memorized all the forging techniques I taught you?"
"I've got it."
“Stand tall,” Meng Jizhen said. “A real man stands tall and upright. He should never be timid or shrink back.”
"Yes." Li Letian immediately straightened his back and sat up properly.
Meng Jizhen nodded in satisfaction and said, "You must remember that this hammer technique comes from a sect called Shigulin. You must pass it down in the future."
"Yes." Li Letian couldn't hide his surprise. He woke up one morning to find himself suddenly a member of a sect or faction.
Li Letian asked hesitantly, "Master, I've heard many tales of the martial world, but I don't know which sect this Stone Drum Forest you're talking about belongs to?"
“Our sect has long since withdrawn from the conflicts of the martial world, so we must not publicize it,” Meng Jizhen cautioned. “It might bring trouble upon ourselves.”
"Understood, Master."
As the firelight flickered, Meng Jizhen's eyes became clouded as he searched his mind for distant memories.
“If you want to be a great hero, then go ahead. But remember, never use the hammer technique I taught you.” Meng Jizhen said with some sadness, “Our enemy is a formidable figure.”
"Your disciple will remember this," Li Letian replied earnestly.
Meng Jizhen sighed and said, "I didn't want to tell you these things, but I'm worried that if you leave the martial world, you might get yourself killed."
"I understand, disciple."
“I cannot transfer the true energy of Shigu Forest to you,” Meng Jizhen said seriously. “If you want to stand out in the martial arts world, you can only rely on your own destiny.”
"Master," Li Letian said anxiously, "why have you been trying to get rid of me all day? Did I do something wrong?"
Meng Jizhen shook her head and raised her hand to the side.
Following the direction, Li Letian saw scattered fragments and a chipped longsword.
"You succeeded?" Li Letian exclaimed. He even forgot about his own affairs and turned his head to say happily, "That's great! In that case, it won't be long before Sword Forging City can rival Sword Escaping Mountain again."
Meng Jizhen shook her head again and said, "It's not that I succeeded, but that you need to succeed."
Li Letian was completely confused by Meng Jizhen's words. He glanced at the broken sword on the ground, which he had not forged himself.
“That’s not the sword I made, Master,” Li Letian said.
“I have indeed grasped the essence of sword forging, and I am ready.” Meng Jizhen looked at Li Letian and said seriously, “But ultimately, this sword needs you to complete it.”
Meng Jizhen paused for a moment, then asked firmly, "Can you promise your master that you will definitely finish this sword?"
"I will do my best in anything I can do," Li Letian nodded. Although he didn't understand why, Li Letian made up his mind that he must complete this world-shaking sword.
Meng Jizhen took the hammer from the table and handed it to Li Letian, saying, "It's up to you now."
A surge of true energy descended from the sky, firmly fixing Li Letian to the bench. Meng Jizhen rose and walked step by step toward the sword furnace.
Li Letian's expression slowly changed from doubt to panic. Veins bulged on his forehead and neck, and his chin trembled incessantly, but his limbs were as if he were trapped in a dream and could not move.
It was a terrible dream, a nightmare unlike any I've ever experienced in my life.
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