The old things I repaired have become fine

Chapter 662 Good news: Firing successful. Bad news…

"Master!"

Liang Bo cried out in surprise and rushed forward, trying to block Shen Le's path. Shen Le, without looking to the side, stretched out his right hand, blocking him behind him:
"Don't go there!"

"Young master, get out of the way! Get out of the way!" Liangbo's voice was almost trembling with fear:
"There are cries and howls coming from the furnace. Do not approach, or disaster will surely follow! The master once told me this when he was drunk! When the soul-suppressing terracotta warrior is being burned, people should stay far away, or great calamity will befall them!"

Is this a major disaster?
Shen Le didn't think so.

The screams, cries, and roars from inside the kiln were truly terrifying. A chill rose from the soles of your feet, traveled down your spine, and even froze the top of your head.

However, when he stood there, aside from his unpleasant voice, which might seem frightening if one's imagination ran wild, upon careful examination of his entire body, there was actually nothing wrong with him:
"What was it like when you fired the soul-suppressing figurines in the past? How did you make them at home? Was there no one to guard the kiln all this time?"

He shielded Liangbo behind him, facing the kiln, and retreated step by step. After retreating ten steps in one breath, the old man's trembling gradually subsided. He gripped Shen Le's arm, panting heavily.

"Yes...yes. I don't know...when the soul-suppressing terracotta warriors were burned, the master always chased everyone out, leaving only a few brothers to take turns guarding them..."

So, the Lu family bloodline is still something special—no wonder they were able to burn the Soul-Suppressing Figurine?

No wonder, those without Lu family blood, like Liang Bo, even if they have been loyal for generations and have accepted the Lu family name, still cannot enter the inner circle:

Without bloodline, there is no bloodline; if you can't stop it, you can't stop it. But before, when the Lu family faced these wailing and howling demons, did they simply rely on their family bloodline to withstand it?

Shen Le thought silently, then turned and helped Liang Bo to a seat under the eaves. A gentle smile graced her face as she spoke earnestly:
"Then don't worry, if the elders are alright, I'll be fine too. Besides, the Immortal Master even gave me a protective method, you see—"

He picked up a wooden plaque from his belt and shook it. A warm current flowed into his palm, and the talismans on the plaque immediately lit up, a small electric current shooting out with a crackling sound.

Liang Bo's slightly dim old eyes suddenly brightened, and he tremblingly grabbed Shen Le's forearm, unable to speak for a long time:
Immortal magic!

This is a magical method!

Young Master is going to be rich! The Lu family is going to be rich!
With immortal powers, what Tom, Dick, or Harry would dare to bully the Lu family?

"Please sit down, I'll go check the fire." Shen Le gently patted his arm. He looked left and right, grabbed a piece of pine firewood, and forcefully jabbed it into the ground, drawing a very long line:

“If you can still hold on, call someone over and build a wall where I’ve marked the line—if there’s not enough time, you can build a fence first.”

"And please keep an eye on them. No one is allowed to step inside the lines unless I give the order!"

"Young Master is kind-hearted." Uncle Liang sighed softly, rubbing his hands together in anticipation, and went to fetch someone. Ah, back when the Lu family's porcelain kiln was thriving, why would they need to offer any advice?

The master has spoken: no one is allowed in here. No one is allowed to enter. Anyone who dares to take a single step in, whether they deliberately broke in or climbed over the wall, stumbled in while drunk, or were just a naughty child, will be severely beaten!
Anyway, all the workers in the kiln have written contracts. The few who don't have contracts are members of the Lu family, and there are family rules and clan regulations in place!
Running around recklessly without throwing people into the kiln is because the master is kind-hearted and doesn't want to delay the important task of firing the kiln!
However, young master can now burn the Soul-Suppressing Puppet! Whether it succeeds or not, taking this step is a good start!

He suddenly seemed to regain his youth, waving his arms and shouting loudly. Shen Le smiled and glanced back at him, then focused her attention back on the kiln in front of her.

Inside the kiln, ghostly wails echoed, and even the firelight shining through the kiln door turned a ghastly green.

It seems the fire instigated by the "immortal master" wasn't enough; at least, it didn't burn away everything that might be harmful to the living.

It's alright, the fire isn't big, I'll just add more firewood. Even though there aren't any 155mm howitzers, 75mm mountain guns, or even a single 60mm mortar here, at least I can add more firewood!

Add firewood, fuel the fire, raise the temperature of the kiln, and I'll burn you to death!

Shen Le mentally reviewed the order of adding firewood for firing the kiln, how much firewood to add at each step, and how big the fire should be. He then picked up a handful of firewood and stuffed it into the furnace.

Stuff a handful of firewood in, throw a fireball, and watch as the handful of dry firewood bursts into flames with a "whoosh," suppressing a section of the ghastly green flames inside the kiln.
Stop for a moment, watch the flames inside the kiln change color, then throw in a handful of firewood, and then throw in a fireball.

This process was repeated several times until the cries and screams from inside the furnace gradually subsided and the flames returned to normal. Only then did Shen Le realize with a start:
"Ah! Wait! The fire is too high, we need to turn it down! If the initial heat is too strong, it won't slowly bake out the moisture from the porcelain blank, and the blank will crack!"

Making it smaller is also troublesome. In ancient times, there were no gas stoves or electric furnaces for firing kilns, so there was no way to easily control the temperature by simply turning a knob or pressing a button.

Shen Le could only endure the sweltering heat, ladling water into the fire pit, splashing it a few times, then taking two steps back and glancing at the smoke billowing from the chimney.
Splash it a few more times, take two steps back, and take another look...

So terrified, they kept adding fuel to the fire, staring intently and listening intently, afraid of missing even the slightest change.

Being so cautious makes me feel like I'm back in my graduate school days:

I conducted experiments, all kinds of experiments, following the requirements step by step, and then entrusted everything to God, hoping to get the results I wanted so that I could write a good paper based on them.

Honestly, at this point, I suddenly understand why the ancients sought to worship gods and Buddhas, and why every kiln area in the records had to spend a lot of money to worship the kiln god every year.

If he were to kowtow to the machine every day during his experiments, he could guarantee the desired results. I believe that not only him, but also his fellow students would line up to kowtow to it.

The uncertainties of firing a kiln are far greater than those of conducting an experiment, and the consequences of failure are also far greater. At worst, failing an experiment would only result in a delay in graduation.

Every kiln fired was a failure. At best, the kiln owner went bankrupt and the kiln workers went hungry. At worst, someone might be arrested and beaten to death...

These are all official kilns, items specifically designated for production by the palace. Perhaps they were for the emperor's wedding, or for offering sacrifices to heaven and gods. Such carelessness—what's wrong with killing a few?!

Just like now, if the Soul-Suppressing Figurines can't be burned, Shen Le probably won't go bankrupt or starve.

However, having personally heard the agonizing screams and cries from inside the kiln, he now genuinely suspects that the prolonged delay in firing indicates an impending disaster…

"Don't fail...don't fail...do it at least once..."

Shen Le muttered to himself, trying to expand his mental energy to sense the changes inside the kiln.

Good news! Ever since the "Immortal Master" gave him the technique for forging the Soul-Suppressing Figurine, he seems to have unlocked a little more functionality, and his spiritual power can be extended a bit.
Bad news, it's bad enough that it's spreading into the air, but to spread into the scorching kiln—it hurts so much…

Sweat streamed down Shen Le's forehead. He tested the waters again and again, adjusting the heat repeatedly, increasing and decreasing the amount of heat.

After countless adjustments, a faint crackling sound suddenly came from deep within the kiln. Shen Le's scalp tingled instantly.
"Hey! No! Don't blow it up—"

Click!

Click! Click click click click click—

"No!!!" Boom!
Shen Le's scream rang out simultaneously with the sound of the kiln collapsing. A series of crashing sounds shattered Shen Le's heart.
So many days of work!
So much effort over the past few days!
The process involves refining clay, mixing ash and glaze, shaping and shaping the potter's wheel, carving the shape bit by bit with small bamboo sticks, and carefully placing it into the kiln.

I made dozens of terracotta figures in one go. On average, each one failed more than five times. If this batch also failed, the loss would not only be described as peeling off a layer of skin, but it would be like having a heart ripped out!

However, the saggars in the kiln seem to have already collapsed, and even if the fire is extinguished and people go in to salvage them, it will be too late.

This isn't real life. Something feels wrong. Can't we quickly summon the power of the wind and the earth to stabilize those caskets, lift them up, and hold them in mid-air so they can return to their original positions...?

"Oh, young master, the fire is burning too brightly."

Before anyone knew it, Liangbo had already walked shakily to Shen Le's side, his face full of wrinkles, looking even more heartbroken than Shen Le herself.
"We need to keep a close eye on the situation inside the kiln, and whether the saggar pillars have changed. If the saggar pillars are leaning towards the kiln door, it means there's no problem, and we can continue adding firewood;"

"If the sagger pillars are leaning towards the chimney, it means the kiln is about to collapse. We need to quickly reduce the fire—front fire, rear fan, you forgot?"

"I..." I've memorized everything, but when it comes time to use it, I forget this and forget that...

Shen Le wanted to cry but couldn't. The old man sighed and patted him:

"Never mind, keep burning. Once this batch is finished, turn off the fire as usual, and take the items out as usual—who knows, there might be one or two good pieces left?"

That's how firing a kiln is; even when you hear the kiln has collapsed inside, you still have to swallow your tears and grit your teeth. Shen Le was terrified, but after another day and night, she finally extinguished the fire and opened the kiln.

One by one, he shoveled the broken porcelain pieces off the floor, sighing as he picked them up.

"Broken."

"Broken."

"This one is broken too."

"This one is still broken."

"This eight-foot-tall, fully-formed Soul-Suppressing Figurine... sigh, it's completely shattered, beyond repair..."

There was no hope for the eight-foot-tall soul-suppressing terracotta warrior. It was smashed by the sagger pillar, toppled over on the spot, and fell heavily to the ground, breaking into seven, eight, or even dozens of pieces.

Those soul-suppressing figurines that were fired in eight pieces, and those stacked on top, are no longer worth keeping. The porcelain and the saggars are all ruined.

Shen Le rummaged all the way down to the bottom and finally managed to pull out a few usable items from the bottom three layers of boxes.

I looked at it from left to right, held it up to the light to examine it closely, and then turned it around to look at it from all angles. After looking at it from all sides, I finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness, this Soul-Suppressing Figurine is good... Let's look at the next one... Hmm, this one is good too..."

He examined each piece meticulously, piecing it together bit by bit. Finally, Shen Le let out a hoarse, desperate wail:
"...Why is one piece still missing?!"

Yes, he found 35 complete, crack-free, and usable pieces from the one-eighth version of the Soul-Suppressing Figurine.

The problem is, these 35 pieces cannot be pieced together to form a complete porcelain figurine... The most fragile, intricate, and troublesome section—the hem of the garment—was completely shattered; none survived...

"Oh well, it's okay. I'll burn more spare parts next time so it'll be easier to assemble." After rummaging through all the parts, Shen Le could only sit down on the ground and try to cheer himself up.

After pumping up the air, he got up again and continued sifting. Piles of broken porcelain and shards of broken saggars were being carried out of the kiln when he suddenly stopped:

"……what?"

Shen Le fumbled around in the pile of shards of a sagger and pulled out a white porcelain object about a foot long. He held it up, looked at it from left to right, and sighed deeply.
"Sigh...what's the use of something so small!"

What he held in his hands was a shrunken Soul-Suppressing Figurine—after finishing this batch of Soul-Suppressing Figurines, there was only a little bit of porcelain clay and glaze left, not even enough to make a single part, so he casually made a small figure.

The Eight Trigrams, the Seven Stars, the Nine Apertures—everything was made meticulously and flawlessly. Even the glaze was mixed with bone ash. The only difference was that the figure was reduced to one foot in height.

Holding it in my hands, I looked it over from all angles and couldn't help but sigh:
"It would be better if this were a bit bigger. This tiny soul-suppressing figurine, even if it could suppress souls, could only suppress the souls of frogs and toads, right? It couldn't even suppress the soul of a poisonous snake!"

Shen Le muttered a complaint, casually placed the miniature Soul-Suppressing Figurine on the shelf, rallied his spirits, and began preparing to burn the second batch.

First, we inspect and repair the kiln, and then we organize and press back the bricks that were pushed off the top of the kiln by the fire after one firing.

Apply a new layer of mud to the inside of the kiln to repair the parts that have fallen off and are causing air leaks;
Then, I select the porcelain clay that the workers have washed and filter, and personally perform the final washing and filtering by hand to ensure that its quality meets the requirements...

Then, the clay was shaped, the glaze was prepared, the clay was glazed, placed in saggars, the saggars were arranged, and the firing began. The flames roared, casting a red glow on the two circular openings above the kiln door, and once again, a great wail erupted from inside the kiln…

This time, Shen Le was confident and not flustered at all. He calmly threw firewood and fireballs inside.

Add as much firewood as needed, and throw fireballs to ignite the fire when necessary. Never let the flames grow any larger, and never cause the sagger to collapse!

Let him argue. Once this batch of porcelain is finished firing, everything that was supposed to die will definitely die. As for the ones that didn't die... well, they'll probably be good for suppressing spirits.
This batch was lucky; four complete, eight-foot-tall soul-suppressing figurines were produced. Two were cracked during firing, one had uneven glaze clogging the seven star-shaped orifices, and the other was perfectly intact.

In the field of large-scale porcelain firing, this is considered normal loss.

I successfully burned about 50 or 60 parts from the one-eighth version, which, together with the previous ones, can make seven or eight sets. I just don't know how many will be left after burning them all together...

Even so, Shen Le was already happy, lit the incense to notify the client to come and inspect the goods, and also applied for the next phase of investment.

The "Immortal Master" arrived swiftly, examined the porcelain figurine he had handed over, and was quite satisfied. He quickly cast a few spells, and a gust of cold wind, carrying eerie chirps, landed on the soul-suppressing figurine.
With a series of "cracks," a large spiderweb-like crack instantly appeared on the surface of the porcelain figurine, extending deep into the interior.

The next moment, the porcelain figurine shattered into seventy or eighty pieces, falling to the ground. The immortal master froze, then turned to look at Shen Le:

"...Your Soul-Suppressing Figurine can't suppress a soul?"

"I burned them exactly as you requested!!!"

(End of this chapter)