Chapter 28: Forging Swords

  The wind whispered and heard with joy: "Then you can help me forge a sword!"

  After finishing speaking, Zhang Tiejiang didn't move or respond. The wind looked at him in confusion, only to see Zhang Tiejiang staring back at him with the same confusion. Just as he was about to speak, Zhang Tiejiang opened his mouth: "Sir, we're just a small business here!"

  The wind whispered to Zhang Tiejiang's excessive humility: "No, I think your business is very good, people come and go, one after another!"

  "Business is good but you have to pay for it!" Zhang Tiejiang exclaimed with a shocked expression.

  The wind nodded in agreement and said: "I see that every guest who comes here pays money!"

  Zhang Tiejiang said with a mixture of laughter and tears: "I'm not talking about someone else, but you, sir!"

  The wind was blowing gently when he suddenly realized: "You're talking about me? You want to get paid before you've even finished making the thing?"

  "Sir, according to the rules, you are supposed to pay a deposit!"

  "Is that so? Then just say it straight out, how much money?"

  "The material is yours, the deposit is not high, just 2 taels of silver!"

  The wind was blowing gently, and Liu Ruoxue gave herself a total of ten taels of silver. The cost of the carriage ride was calculated in copper coins, so she still had more than nine taels left. She had never spent money before and didn't know if two taels were a lot or a little. Seeing that it was enough, she handed it over without hesitation. She also asked, "How much will it cost when it's done?"

  "Total is 5 taels, sir, just pay another 3 taels and that will be fine!"

  "Oh..." The wind whistled as he turned his head to look around at the people, who were all staring at him like he was a fool. He wondered if he had been cheated, so he pulled aside a fellow player and asked: "Hey, how much does it cost to play a round of sword fighting?"

  "A deposit of 50%, pay another 50% when picking up goods, total 100%!"

  The wind was blowing fiercely, and upon hearing this, Zhang Tiejiang's anger flared up like a raging fire. He rushed back to grab Zhang Tiejiang and asked: "Why do others only need 1 liang for a sword, but I need 5 liang? The material alone is worth 2 liang, and you say it's your own material, with a high deposit!"

  "They're just ordinary knives and swords," Zhang Tiejiang said calmly, "but this one of yours is different. As the saying goes, 'you get what you pay for.' Once we've refined it, not only will it be worth its value, but it'll be even more valuable than that!"

  A single remark made him nod repeatedly, but he still felt somewhat unfulfilled. In his imagination: a master swordsmith would be overjoyed to see this rare and excellent material, and would spare no expense, even begging with tears in their eyes for the chance to forge it. After enduring countless hardships, the master would sacrifice everything, using their own blood as an offering, until finally, a divine sword is born, shaking heaven and earth, making ghosts wail and gods howl. And the master would also exhaust themselves to death, with a satisfied smile still on their face... that's when it starts to have some flavor. But now, not only do they want money, but they also want more than others, leaving him to lament that nowadays everyone is so pragmatic, and his precious sword is tainted by such vulgarity.

  Finally, he didn't forget to ask Zhang Tiejiang when he could come and pick up the goods. Zhang Tiejiang said with great confidence: "Don't worry, sir, I will do my best, but this material is not ordinary, it's hard to make a good product without some time!" After a moment of thought, he said: "One hour later, you can come and get it!"

  The wind was blowing gently, and he said to himself that it was so fast, and he could still call for more time. He hurriedly said, "Then I'll trouble you, Master! I'll come again in an hour!"

  Zhang Tiejiang patted his chest and reminded Feng Xiao-xiao: "Don't forget to bring money!"

  After leaving Zhang Tiejiang, the wind swirled around in the capital city for a few rounds, feeling no different from Xiangyang except that it was slightly larger. He walked into a teahouse by the roadside with an air of confidence, since he had money on him. He recalled how in Xiangyang, every time he went to a teahouse, it was always through connections, and he never dared to order tea for himself.

  Slowly sipping tea. Now the real time is already in the wee hours, but inside the game it's still bustling with people, and the teahouse is almost fully seated. People are engaged in lively discussions, chatting about this and that. Feng Xiao Xiao thinks to herself that on TV, places like teahouses and restaurants always have storytellers or singers performing, if they had one or two here, it would be even more lively.

  At this moment, someone suddenly shouted loudly, "Bai Xiaosheng is here!" The crowd immediately fell silent.

  The wind was blowing gently, and just as everyone was wondering who the hundred-year-old sage was, a storyteller-like person wearing a long shirt and holding a paper fan walked up to the floor with a smile, looked around in a circle, and walked straight towards the windy one.

  The wind was blowing gently, and I thought to myself, "It's not going to happen, is it? I was just thinking about the storyteller, and then one appeared out of nowhere." And when I saw him walking straight towards me, I was even more surprised. The man walked a few steps over and sat down across from me, but he didn't seem to have any intention of acknowledging me. It wasn't until then that I felt at ease: "So he's just here for the seat, huh?" I thought to myself, wondering if this person might be the Bai Xiaosheng they were talking about.

  At this time, someone around had already shouted: "Bai Xiaosheng, is there any news from the rivers and lakes recently?"

  The person sitting opposite the windy window smiled and replied: "It's been calm and peaceful recently, what news could there be?"

  "Has your military strategy changed at all?" someone else shouted out.

  Bai Xiaosheng also smiled and shook his head.

  The wind was blowing gently, and he had not paid much attention to it before. When he heard the sound of a sword, he immediately became spirited and went forward to ask: "Are you Bai Xiaosheng? What is this 'Bingqi Pu' they're talking about?"

  Bai Xiaosheng looked at the windy and said, "You can tell from my name, I'm imitating the Bai Xiaosheng in Gu Long's novel. I've also made a ranking for our game's weapons!"

  "Really? What kind of troops?"

  "There are many, I have a post on the official forum, you can take a look when you're free!"

  Feng Xiao Xiao was now very interested in the weapons, and immediately quit the game to go onto the official forums. The top posts were a few forum usage guides, as well as Bai Xiao Sheng's post "Jiang Hu Arsenal".

  Open it up, and the Urgent Rain Sword is at the top of the list. The second place is naturally the Seven Extremes Whirlwind Sword. Further down the list are the Splashing Wind Knife, Washing Jade Sword, Lotus Flower Sword, Seven Tricks Fan, Coiling Dragon Spear... Among them, swords are the most numerous. At the very bottom is the author's note: Those that made it onto the list are all rare weapons, but some individuals who possess rare weapons have levels that are too low and cannot yet bring out the weapon's power, so they did not make it onto the list. Finally, there are some expressions of gratitude towards the players who provided information. Scrolling down a few more posts, most of them express admiration.

  I quit the equipment list, thinking that it's not easy to come to this forum, so I'll take a look at what other interesting posts there are. After searching for a while, I found that Wanjitong has quite a few posts on the forum, including "My Thoughts on Game Operation Adjustment", "Have You Added Weight?", and "Which is More Important, Weapons or Martial Arts?". After reading them, I'm even more confused than before. The conclusion of the article on martial arts is that both are important, depending on personal preference. Nonsense! The article on weight thinks that not mentioning weight makes the account trash. Still nonsense! The article on game operation adjustment is even more nonsense, as Fengxiaoxiao thinks the title should be changed to "Game Operation Adjustment" because the content is all about how the officials adjust the game, without any personal opinions from the author.

  Also flipped through a few posts, and saw someone claiming to be the Qingyi person who defeated Yijian Chongtian. I was very excited at that time, but later found out that there were hundreds of similar posts, all saying they were the Qingyi person.

  So bored, I spent two hours browsing the forum, reading countless nonsense posts. Finally, with great excitement, I logged in again. It was already late at night, and there were fewer people in the game. After paying for my tea, I rushed to Zhang's Blacksmith Shop. From afar, it seemed like the sign of Zhang's Blacksmith Shop was swaying in the wind, beckoning me over.