Unrivaled Spear Demon
73 Intertwined Branches (2)
There are many forges.
Beyond the ones attached to government offices, military camps, naval bases, counties, prefectures, and towns, there are the forges tucked away at every turn in rural markets, and those belonging to the estates of influential families.
The forge where Son Gang and Son Hwa lived was one of those countless many.
However, it was fortunate for Chui that Son Gang was a master smith with a reputation that carried weight throughout this mountain region.
Son Gang was a man who would not craft even a simple farming tool with anything less than his full effort, and because of this, the warehouse was always stocked with high-quality iron, and the forge was equipped with excellent tools.
Chui sat before the meal Son Hwa had prepared and spoke.
"Are the tools for refining ready?"
"Everything is prepared."
Son Gang pointed to the large furnace in the corner of the forge.
There was plenty of firewood and coal.
The chimney, designed to vent smoke through the ceiling, had been newly plastered and was sturdy.
Bellows made of wild boar hide were neatly arranged beside the furnace. Next to them, a cylindrical anvil and long, sturdy hammers were visible.
Beyond that, there were ten buckets of cold water drawn from the well. A whetstone with a surface worn hollow in the center stood ready.
Son Gang said, "I will handle the heavy hammer myself. Hwa, you are good at gauging the heat, so stand by and work the bellows."
"Yes, leave it to me, Father."
Son Hwa answered spiritedly. Yet, instead of looking at her father, who was the one giving the order, she seemed mesmerized by Chui sitting before her.
Clatter-
Regardless, Chui ate his meal.
Millet rice in an earthenware bowl, red pepper paste, grilled unknown small fish, and a few types of seasoned greens. The meal for Son Gang and Son Hwa was identical.
However, there was one difference in Chui’s meal.
As he stirred the rice, he found a large egg hidden beneath the grains.
Noticing this, Son Gang chuckled at his daughter.
"My Son Hwa, you've grown up so much. To think you'd look after another man before your own father..."
"Oh, Father, really. It's, it's not that... It's just that the guest looked so exhausted... I wanted him to recover his strength quickly..."
Son Hwa, her face as red as if she had stepped into the furnace, waved her hands in denial.
Just then, footsteps were heard beyond the sliding door.
Creeeak-
The Butcher of the Yangtze.
Having returned from the brink of life and death, she appeared with a pallid complexion.
"The one who needs to recover her strength is me, isn't it?"
The Butcher of the Yangtze snatched the egg from atop Chui’s rice bowl and swallowed it without even chewing.
Son Hwa wore a look of disappointment, but the woman didn't care, smacking her lips.
"Not even a hint of gratitude for the liver. Are the tools ready?"
"They are. Get to work."
"So impatient."
She grimaced, then spat a mouthful of blood and a few teeth onto the floor.
"Follow me. Hammer, bellows."
Son Gang and Son Hwa, singled out by the Butcher of the Yangtze, froze stiff.
* * *
The walls of the forge were hung with more hoes, sickles, cutters, hammers, mattocks, pitchforks, staples, door rings, and hinges than with weapons like swords or arrows.
Only when half of the stacked firewood had burned away in the furnace did the Butcher of the Yangtze finally pick up a hammer.
"My father was the world's greatest master of sword casting."
The Butcher of the Yangtze wiped away sweat as she peered into the cauldron.
On the scorching iron plate, molten metal was boiling with a low, rumbling sound.
"One day, a powerful man heard of my father’s reputation and made a request. He offered a thousand gold pieces to forge the greatest sword under heaven."
The Ink Bamboo Staff of the Staff Fiend Gu Gang-ryong glowed crimson inside the furnace.
"My father refused the man's request time and again. The man, his pride wounded, threatened him. He said if he didn't forge the sword, he would slaughter our entire family. He said he would do the same if the quality of the sword did not meet his standards."
The Plum Blossom Sword of the Death Plum Blossom O Ja-un was also gradually turning as red as a plum blossom.
"My father agonized for days on end. Could he forge the greatest sword in the world? And even if he did, could he satisfy a man obsessed with blades?"
The Butcher of the Yangtze continued, sweat dripping from her brow.
"That was when my mother said that molten iron in which a person had melted would be imbued with a spirit..."
The white-hot iron met iron.
"With those final words, my mother threw herself into the cauldron. My father was so shocked he couldn't even stop her."
Under the relentless blows of the hammer, the metal was slowly, bit by bit, changing its form.
"My father finally picked up the hammer. He used the molten iron that had absorbed my mother to forge a single sword. That blade was, without a doubt, the greatest sword under heaven."
The Butcher of the Yangtze grafted the tip of the Ink Bamboo Staff and the tip of the Plum Blossom Sword together, pouring in various melted metals.
"But the powerful man didn't reward my father; instead, he murdered him. He was afraid my father might forge another such masterpiece."
Inside the forge, only the sound of the hammer striking and the firewood burning filled the air.
"After that, overcome with grief at losing my mother and father, my only brother left home. He swore he would kill the powerful man and avenge them."
Snap-
The firewood split, and a new flame roared up, heating the cauldron even further.
"I still have no news of my brother. I don't know if he's dead or alive. In the first place, only my parents, my brother, and I knew who the enemy was, so I couldn't even make inquiries."
The Butcher of the Yangtze let out a long sigh, cooling the iron.
"I was young then and knew nothing. It was my master, who raised me, who told me this truth."
Eventually, she turned to look at Chui, who was sitting nearby.
"My master must have known. That his own time was running out. Perhaps that is why he sent me out of the mountain stronghold? So I wouldn't die a dog's death in the struggle for the Fleet Master's seat..."
It seemed there was such a backstory to why the Butcher of the Yangtze had been chasing Chui.
However, Chui’s voice was cold enough to dampen even the flames.
"I have no interest in the political squabbles of river pirates."
"Yes, you're right. You must think, 'What kind of emotional appeal is this from people who only suck the blood of the innocent?'"
The Butcher of the Yangtze nodded at Chui’s response.
"I don't know if you'll believe me, but the Yangtze River Pirate Fleets weren't originally the vicious group they are now."
"..."
"At least, that was the case when my master held the seat of Fleet Master. We were like righteous bandits—stealing tributes from corrupt officials to distribute to the starving, and acting as protectors for poor fishermen."
"..."
"But everything changed after my master fell ill. My older martial brothers, Sa and Chu, tried to uphold my master's will, but... the brothers below them were the problem."
She finished speaking and looked back at the father-daughter pair, Son Gang and Son Hwa.
"I am sorry to you both as well. For the trouble caused by the gangs trying to defect to the Yangtze River Pirate Fleets."
"Not at all. We're alive and well, so it's fine."
Son Gang chuckled as he hammered. Son Hwa also nodded while working the bellows.
The Butcher of the Yangtze’s gaze returned to the furnace.
"That is why I can never forgive him. The older brother, In, who targeted the Fleet Master's seat by exploiting my master's absence. I intend to make him pay for the sin of corrupting the very purpose of the Yangtze River Pirate Fleets. I will, without fail."
There was one more reason she felt such rage toward the Butcher of the Rat.
"And my master has not yet revealed the identity of my enemy to me. He told me he would tell me once I had trained further and grown stronger in both body and mind. If that man, In—no, the Butcher of the Rat—truly assassinated my master... I will never be able to know the identity of my enemy for as long as I live."
The Butcher of the Yangtze’s voice surged with heat, like boiling molten metal.
However.
"You talk too much. Just do your work properly."
Chui showed no particular interest in her words. He merely offered a few criticisms here and there.
The Butcher of the Yangtze was irritated by Chui’s constant dismissal of her.
"Hey. Are you going to keep telling me what to do? In a forge, the blacksmith is the master."
"If you fail, you die. That is the only reason I have kept you alive."
"Don't pressure me. Melting is easy enough, but setting it is much harder. If I feel burdened, my fingertips might tremble, and the result could be poor."
At her words, Chui promptly shut his mouth.
As if to assert her own value, she began to lament how difficult the task she was performing truly was.
"Have you ever seen an intertwined branch in the mountains?"
Intertwined branches.
It refers to two trees that sprouted in different places but grew to touch and fuse into a single tree.
Chui nodded.
"I believe I have seen it a few times."
"How many ordinary trees were there around the intertwined branches you saw?"
"..."
"That is exactly what I am trying to create now. Do you understand? How slim the chances of success are?"
When Chui remained silent, the Butcher of the Yangtze turned her head with a triumphant expression.
Soon, she approached the cauldron, from which thick steam was rising.
Snip-
The Butcher of the Yangtze’s already short hair became even shorter.
Rustle...
She cut her own hair and shook it into the cauldron.
Then, she bit her thumb and let a drop of blood fall in as well.
Bubble, bubble, bubble, bubble...
The boiling inside the cauldron became even more violent.
Black steam with a pungent odor filled the entire forge, and in the midst of it, a red glow like plum blossoms began to spread slowly.
Afterward, the Butcher of the Yangtze made the father-daughter pair, Son Gang and Son Hwa, leave the forge. And eventually, she chased Chui out as well.
Son Gang looked back at the forge, from which the sound of hammering could be heard.
"The master smith's skill is truly worthy of being called divine. Every technique she used was something I had never seen in my entire life."
"..."
Hearing Son Gang’s words, Chui decided to place a little more trust in the Butcher of the Yangtze.
The three of them waited for several more days.
Inside the forge, the sound of hammering rang out incessantly.
During that time, Chui climbed the mountain to catch roe deer and wild boar, Son Gang butchered them, and Son Hwa boiled the meat into soup.
The Butcher of the Yangtze inside the forge only opened the door when she came to retrieve the meals left for her. Outside of those moments, no one could catch a glimpse of what was happening within.
About three weeks passed in this manner.
Creeeak...
The door to the forge opened.
The Butcher of the Yangtze’s complexion looked even worse than when she had first arrived.
"Come in."
She gestured with a pale hand. She looked like a ghost beckoning a companion to join her on the journey to the afterlife.
"I made it just as you ordered. See for yourself."
Hearing the Butcher of the Yangtze, Chui rose from the wooden porch.
Before long, the staff and blade, now fused into a new form, came into view.
"......!"
It was exactly the same appearance as the one that had earned Chui the title of Changwi, the Spear Demon, in his past life.
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