56
The thief led us through the bustling Chang'an and came to a blacksmith's shop at a street corner. I and Xi Le walked into the shop, but there was no one inside, and the door was slightly ajar. I turned around to ask the little rascal who brought us here, only to find that he had disappeared. It can be seen that everyone is afraid of this place. You think, if a place, every night you can hear the sound of hammering, but no one is seen, and it's still in a bustling area, that's really eerie.
I carefully stroked the crafted weapons, with workmanship that was unmatched in the world. I called out for half a day, but no one responded. Suddenly, Xi Le said, "That's easy," and she picked up one of the most expensive-looking weapons - I couldn't even call out its name - and pulled me along as we walked out. Indeed, after just a few steps, a secret door on the wall opened. An old man slowly emerged from the secret door.
The old man said: You've come.
I said: Do you really know everything? Do you know we're coming?
The old man said: I don't know. But I've fought with a sword, you've touched it, and I can feel it.
I said: Oh, I've touched many swords. May I ask which one are you wielding?
The old man said: The sword was originally called Sword King, but its name was changed later.
I said: Jian Wang, I really haven't heard of it, what has it changed into?
The old man said: Later, it is said that a single word was called, either "Ling" or "Xing", I don't remember clearly.
I and Xi Le were both shocked, thinking this was the person Master said we should find.
I said: Right, I have indeed held that sword before, and it is still mine now.
The old man said: Haha, I'm quite familiar with the owner of that sword.
I said: You mean soulless.
The old man burst out laughing and said: What's this "No Not" business? That's a name you people came up with. His real name is Yang Zhenggang.
I and Xile laughed at each other and said: No way, this name is too ordinary.
The old man said: I don't have a name yet, just call me old man.
He was called Wu Ling by everyone, but why?
The old man said: It's probably because everyone thinks Yang Zhenggang doesn't sound like a great hero's name.
I asked: Where is this person now?
Old man said: Don't be impatient. Speak slowly. You can get this sword, it's not an ordinary person, say, why are you looking for me?
I said: Oh, nothing much, I've long admired you and there are legends about you, so I came to take a look.
The old man said: What legend do I have?
I said: You only play video games at night.
The old man said: My eyes are not good, I'm afraid of light.
I said: You see, people say they've only heard the sound of your sword, but never seen you in person.
The old man said: Of course, you see I just came out of the back door, I usually play inside, how can people see me, haha.
Xile said: Old man, you must be joking. You hang this excellent sword outside, but nobody comes to buy it. There must be a story behind it.
The old man said: No, it's just that my weapons are too expensive.
I said: You must be joking. I see you're so profound—
The old man burst out laughing and said, "What's so great about me? I especially love to have fun. If my eyes weren't too bad, I would've gone out already. A few years ago, I even went to play with the Shaolin monks! I said a little kid was copying me, but in the end, I lost. They wanted to make an example of me, so I took one look and didn't think it was fun anymore, then ran away."
Xile and I both exclaimed in surprise: That person was actually you.
The old man exclaimed: That person was actually you.
I hastily waved my hands with Xi Le and said, "That person is not me, that person is not me. That person is my senior brother. At that time, he especially liked to do things by himself and was ignorant. Please don't mind, seniors."
The old man said: How can I put it in my heart? If I put everything in my heart, how can I live so long?
I said: Yes, come to think of it, I haven't seen Master Brother for a long time either. However, Master was very angry about that matter and said you were offended. Fortunately, your martial arts skills are high, and on the day of the demonstration, you summoned the wind and sand, and then disappeared.
The old man said: I'm not good at martial arts, I just made many years of weapons, those handcuffs and shackles are all improved by me. When I came, I prepared a key that can open everything, and was thinking about how to open it when the sandstorm suddenly came, so I slipped away.
I said: You're joking, senior.
The old man pointed at Xile and said: Is this your daughter?
I said: Yes, we came together.
The old man said: Aren't you from the temple?
I said: This thing is too complicated to talk about. Let's find a place to sit and talk together.
The old man said: Wait till night falls, wait till night falls. Come, I'll give you a try with this weapon.
I said: I didn't bring much money.
The old man burst out laughing and said: "Foolish child, I'm selling it at such a high price because I don't want to sell it. Let's see if you can afford it."
As he spoke, the old man took out a strangely shaped object and handed it over to me.
I said: This, senior, my master didn't teach me how to use a sword.
The old man said: What? Are you using the axe to chop firewood?
I looked at Xi Le and was afraid she would blurt out that it was indeed prepared for chopping firewood.
The old man said: "But the spirit is nothing, you see."
She pulled open a cabinet.
More than twenty spirits.
The old man said: You see, they are actually the same. If you want, I can give you ten.
Xile said: That's great, no need to spend money to redeem the sword back.
The old man was shocked: What? You pawned the sword?
I hastily said: No, no, it's not true. It's just that there are too many people chasing and killing us along the way, so I left it in a pawnshop. Anyway, no one would think that the sword that everyone is fighting for would be left in a pawnshop.
I was about to say: but looking at today's situation, it seems that there is no need to redeem it.
The old man said, there are many many, I've done many many things, it's just that I don't want to give them to others. How do you feel using them?
I said: Very good, very fast. Very good, everyone rushed to want.
The old man said: Come on, you try a few strokes with this one I gave you.
I said: Senior, I'm really sorry. I won't hold back, but your sword can't hurt me anyway.
Old man said: Really? Oh, you're practicing Tongren Dafa, haha, no problem, if...
You've practiced the Copper Man technique, an ordinary sword might not work, but my way of doing things is that cutting down ordinary people is like slicing tofu. You've practiced it before, there's a bit of a difference. It's just like cutting old tofu.
I said: No.
The old man said: What's wrong with you? Come on, I'll tie you up. Do you dare try it?
I said: I didn't mean it that way. I have some other minor skills.
The old man said: Speak.
I said: I will receive the hidden weapon.
The old man said: How can you describe yourself like a street performer's animal? Oh, you know how to receive hidden weapons, so can you jump through the fire hoop?
I said: That's not what I meant. Let's have a competition.
The old man said: Young people are young people, they haven't spoken a few words and want to compare.
I said: Otherwise I really can't make it clear.
The old man said: "Alright then, I'm afraid of hurting you, I'll use a wooden one instead. You're really making things difficult for me at my age."
The old man slowly took out a wooden sword from the house, I took a sneak peek and found that this sword might be even sharper than the iron-made one in the town. The sharpness of a sword sometimes doesn't depend on its material, but whether it's intact or not. And this wooden sword was too intact.
Xile seems to have never cared about losing a fight, maybe because I've never lost before. Oh wait, I did lose once, that time against Wanyong and his underhanded tactics. But despite that, Xile still managed to get a bottle of fake priceless antidote water on his own. Perhaps Xile thought that this time, he could win the fight and get all the weapons in the house, then he would definitely sell them cheaply and exchange for a new house.

