The old things I repaired have become fine

Chapter 642 Extermination of the Clan, Destruction of the Kiln!!!
Bad news, the porcelain tower is broken.

The good news is that it wasn't completely broken, or rather, none of the parts that Shen Le painstakingly repaired were broken.

However, the porcelain powder that Mr. Zhao's men had applied to hold the porcelain tower fragments together had all mysteriously disappeared. It was unknown whether it had been burned to ashes or absorbed into the porcelain tower's body.

In short, Shen Le watched through the fire pit as the porcelain pagoda fragments floated down one by one, and judging from their appearance, they were still the same ones he had personally repaired. He breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, he took two steps back and turned to look at Mr. Zhao:
So, what's the next step?
Open the kiln door, remove all the porcelain tower fragments, and then try to restore it again?

Should I activate the vortex and go in?

"I'll do it, I'll do it." Mr. Zhao smiled helplessly, and with a flick of his finger, the kiln door opened automatically.

A wave of heat rushed towards him, and Shen Le squinted and tried to look inside. He could only see a large number of bottles, jars, bowls, and plates scattered around the furnace.

Looking closer, the bottle's mouth is crooked, the jar's body is twisted, the glaze on the bowl's rim has uneven lengths, and the glaze on the dish has strange colors and distorted shapes...

When I first went in, everything was fine! It was a group of porcelain pieces with beautiful shapes and normal colors, the kind that wouldn't be criticized if placed on a supermarket shelf!
"Sigh, sometimes that's just how it is. If the fever isn't done properly, the bones become soft and the muscles weaken, and the person becomes paralyzed. It's okay, it's okay. Once they recover, we can pick them up and re-fever them."

Mr. Zhao gave a casual explanation, it was unclear whether he was referring to firing porcelain or training his low-level porcelain demons. In any case, with a wave of his hand, another group of low-level porcelain demons rushed into the kiln, retrieved their companions, and carried them out of the kiln.

After several rounds of clearing out all the jars and pots, a new group of porcelain spirits, shaking the bottoms of bottles and bowls, swirled in. Group by group, they carried out the porcelain tower fragments and placed them in front of Shen Le:
One by one, the beautiful vases, plum vases, water droppers, porcelain pillows, and porcelain inkstones were covered in black ash from rolling around in the furnace, a sight that was too painful to look at.

But these little guys would bring over a fragment, bow to Shen Le, and then sway and spin around as they went inward.

After a short pause, another group of little guys came over, collectively put down the porcelain tower fragments, bowed to Shen Le, showed off the bottle opening or the bottom of the bowl, and then wobbled away.

Even though Shen Le had a lot of doubts about Mr. Zhao's restoration (firing) abilities, he couldn't bring himself to get angry when he saw these well-behaved and adorable little guys:
"Sigh, thank you for your hard work." He touched this, touched that, then focused his attention on the fragments that had been sent out. His fingertips touched them, and his mental energy extended upwards; it felt alright.

After being fired, the spirituality within these porcelain pagoda fragments was indeed slightly higher than when he first arrived at the park.

Shen Le first squatted on the ground, feeling for the fragments, then sat cross-legged, pressing down on a fragment with one hand. Finally, he painstakingly pieced together the base of the porcelain tower, then tried his best to pile the other fragments into the base.

Only then did he place his hands on the base of the tower, close his eyes, and regulate his breathing. A surge of heat flowed into the base, then slowly rotated along all the fragments. One circle, two circles, and finally, every single fragment began to tremble gently.
"Om..."

The sound of the porcelain shard vibrating was very peculiar. It was almost completely inaudible to the ear, and the vibration at the edge of the fragment was not visible to the naked eye;
However, after Shen Le immersed himself in the meditative environment, he clearly heard the sound of the porcelain tower. To be precise, he heard a very peculiar sound, a sound that should never have been heard here:

The wind howled. This wind was different from the wind that had just been poured into the porcelain kiln and ignited the flames, and it was different from the gentle north wind that Shen Le had been used to hearing since childhood, even when it was cold in Jiangnan.

It was somewhat like the howling north wind in the desert, sweeping up sand and pounding rocks, but without as much noise, only much more biting. Shen Le listened breathlessly for a while, then suddenly felt a chill:
Amidst the wind, the sound of iron hooves breaking through the snow and shattering the thin ice could be heard, along with the sharp, clanging sound of swords being drawn!
what happened?
Is this the memory of this porcelain tower?
—But why are the memories of the Porcelain Tower only sounds, and not images? Even if I couldn't be there in person, at least let me see them!

"Mr. Shen! — Mr. Shen!"

He was in a hurry when someone shoved him on the shoulder, abruptly pulling him out of his meditative state. The wind and snow, the iron hooves, the swords—all vanished without a trace in an instant.

Shen Le opened his eyes and saw Mr. Zhao squatting in front of him, one hand just removed from his shoulder, his face full of anxiety. Shen Le followed Mr. Zhao's gaze and looked down, immediately hissing.
In just a short moment of meditation, a thin layer of ice had accumulated on his arms, wrists, and even the backs of his hands!

Shen Le subconsciously moved his arm, and there was a soft "crackling" sound on his arm, as if a thin shell was being detached from his skin;
He reached out and wiped his hand again, prying off a piece of translucent ice shell. His fingertips felt cold and damp; after a moment, the ice shell melted on his hand, turning into transparent water droplets that seeped between his fingers.
"What happened to you just now?" Mr. Zhao asked anxiously.

“I saw you sitting here in meditation, and suddenly, you started to feel cold all over. I was really afraid you would leave—”

"Going astray in cultivation." The porcelain demon tried hard to swallow the last three words, but Shen Le already understood.

Logically speaking, there shouldn't be any snow in this secret realm, at the entrance of a kiln that has just been fired up, let alone ice and snow covering one's body.

To the porcelain demon, Shen Le's appearance did indeed seem like he had suddenly encountered a mishap while practicing his internal energy!

Those were distinguished guests who came to visit him. Something went wrong in his core secret realm on his territory. How was he going to explain this to Shen Le's relatives and friends, and to the Special Affairs Bureau?

Unfortunately, Shen Le is a human, and his method of circulating his internal energy, his internal energy pathways, and even the foundation of his cultivation are completely unrelated to the porcelain demon.

Aside from pacing around frantically, Mr. Zhao could only carefully nudge him awake, hoping that Shen Le would wake up normally, rather than have his internal energy suddenly become disordered and fall into a deeper crisis from such a slight nudge.

Thank goodness, Shen Le woke up normally; there was no major problem. Mr. Zhao let out a long sigh, irritably yanked at his clothes, threw the dazzling multi-colored robe to his subordinate, and said anxiously:

"Are you alright? Do you need to rest for a bit? -- I have a few elixirs here, for humans..."

"I'm fine..." Shen Le finally let out a long breath. He lifted his hands off the base of the porcelain tower, propped himself up, and stood up, moving his shoulders and legs:

“Just now, I heard the sound of this porcelain tower…it might be a part of its past.” He looked down at the porcelain tower, his gaze tracing each of its fragments, the various porcelain sculptures within its structure:
"I think it might want to tell me something, tell me its story. Unfortunately..."

"Oh dear, I'm so sorry, I disturbed you." A slight glint of light flickered across Mr. Zhao's fair face, making his cheeks appear to blush slightly.
"So... shall we find a quieter place to start over? To my place? Or, to a place outside the secret realm, a place where we can directly resonate with heaven and earth?"

Shen Le was indifferent. However, before he could release the clay figurines from Zhong Xiaomei's body to help him carry the fragments, a group of little creatures tumbled over at his feet.

Just like before when they carried the porcelain tower out of the kiln, they carried away small fragments, such as a porcelain inkstone, a porcelain bowl, or a water dropper.
For larger pieces, like a porcelain sword, a gracefully curved blue-and-white porcelain vase would spin twice before settling down at the tip. Immediately afterwards, four famille rose porcelain dishes would spin rapidly, two at a time clamping the hilt, then two at a time clamping the blade, applying force with a "thump-thump-thump" motion to push the porcelain sword into the vase, the hilt fitting perfectly into the vase's opening—

"rise!!!"

With a crisp, cheerful cry, the porcelain vase spun around, mouth facing upwards, and stood upright. It spun again and again, rolling and tumbling, before joining the transport team and hurrying away…

"Ah this..."

Shen Le felt his brow twitching violently. Mr. Zhao, observing his expression, couldn't help but ask:

"Mr. Shen, are you feeling unwell? Or—should I call two servants over to carry you out?"

As they were talking, a large vat rolled over from the other side. Judging by its size, the rock that Sima Guang was holding probably wouldn't be easy to break.
When Yue Fei's mother was carrying him as an infant to escape a flood, if there had been this large vat, Yue Fei's father could probably have gone in with him and wouldn't have drowned outside.

Shen Le's brows twitched twice more; she really wanted to ask Mr. Zhao:

What you mean by "calling the servants to carry me" is to make me sit in the vat and roll all the way there?
However, the other party meant well, truly well. Shen Le could not sense a trace of malice from Mr. Zhao's expression and tone, nor from the joyful frolicking of those low-level porcelain demons.

He could only sigh:
"I was just wondering... why are all these little porcelain spirits of yours just rolling around? Can't they grow arms and legs? Even if they want to stay in their original form, can't they at least conjure up some human-shaped porcelain spirits?"

Even animal forms would be better! Cats and dogs could carry things in their mouths, horses, cows, and donkeys could carry them on their backs, or even a small cart could be used to pull goods around. That would be better than this tumbling, rolling mess!

Someone as carefree as him, who's used to dealing with spirits, is fine, but if a timid person suddenly came over, they might be scared out of their wits!

Even for him, most of the spirits around him who help with the work are in human form! Whether it's a silk skirt or a clay figurine, having a human form makes the work so much easier!

"I want it too!"

Mr. Zhao let out a long sigh and accompanied Shen Le as they slowly walked out. As they walked, he pointed out their surroundings:
"I also hope that there will be more children like me who can cultivate into human form to stay by my side. But among these little ones, those with intelligence are mostly tools, and few are human."

He reached out and drew a large circle:
"Even if a porcelain figurine is managed to be fired into a human shape, it is extremely difficult to awaken its intelligence. If it does awaken even a little intelligence, it is like an idiot, not even as good as these little guys rolling around on the ground!"

Shen Le couldn't figure this out. He guessed that for the porcelain spirits to gain sentience, they would either need to be immersed in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and the essence of the sun and moon for many years—a period that could be measured in hundreds or thousands of years;

Alternatively, draw upon the profound thoughts and efforts that humans poured into designing, manufacturing, and using it.

Mr. Zhao established the secret site in Jingdezhen and demanded that the surrounding kiln owners pay tribute to him, drawing power from the park. Most likely, he is taking this latter path.

However, the number of porcelain figurines and puppets made by humans, even including porcelain Buddha statues, is still too small, and the number of human thoughts they can attract is far too few...

"Ah... okay..."

Shen Le could only give a dry reply and follow the group out, unable to offer any other response.

Only after leaving the kiln and reaching the courtyard where they had initially observed the porcelain tower did the porcelain spirits, under Mr. Zhao's instructions, begin to piece the tower back together, brushing porcelain powder onto the broken edges and roughly gluing them back together.
"Do you think this will work?" Having already failed once, Mr. Zhao no longer made any promises, such as "Watch me, it will definitely be fine when it's cooked." He just asked Shen Le with some trepidation.

Shen Le bowed slightly in thanks, then sat cross-legged once more in front of the tower's base, placing her hands on the tower.
"Give it your all this time... Hold on a little longer... Show me your story... At least give me some direction, let me know how to fix you..."

Shen Le murmured softly, trying to communicate with the porcelain tower, regardless of whether the still incomplete porcelain tower could provide any feedback.

After reciting it several times, he lowered his eyes and entered a meditative state again, channeling heat into the porcelain tower and even mobilizing the power within the copper sheet:
Soon, the sounds of wind and snow, horses' hooves, and swords being drawn echoed once more. This time, however, Shen Le sensed something more:

Snowflakes covered my body, slowly melting and dampening the cold.

The firewood was burning in the kiln, and the smoke rising up had a pungent smell;

When the horses' hooves trod through the snow, the wind carried the pungent, fishy smell that had accumulated for who knows how long.

And, and...

After the sword was drawn, there was a sound like the wind, or like a thread snapping—a sound that no one who had never been on the battlefield could possibly recognize.

That was the sound of a blade slicing through a human body, spraying blood from the neck!
What happened?
This is a porcelain kiln, a porcelain kiln!

Even if looting occurs, the porcelain kilns are not the first targets. They can manufacture utensils and toys, but they cannot make weapons or armor!
Even if you want to seize more wealth, you can't just start by killing people—without experienced kiln workers, who don't know how to open the kiln or how to open the saggars, all you'll get are worthless broken porcelain pieces!

Shen Le was like a blindfolded prisoner bound to the local area, desperately pricking up his ears and flaring his nostrils, trying to perceive everything around him.

Soon, the thunderous sound of horses' hooves approached, then stopped abruptly. A deep, harsh voice, in an unquestionable tone, loudly commanded:

"The Lu family illegally manufactured malevolent artifacts, intending to curse the fate of the nation. Their crime is unforgivable! Their entire clan must be exterminated, and their kilns destroyed!!!"

(End of this chapter)