The Smiling, Proud Wanderer: From the Moment He Picked Up Qu Feiyan

This was the first time Shen An had slept until late morning since he transmigrated.

He didn't wake up until the sun was high in the sky, nearing noon, and the warm sunlight shone through the window onto his face, only then did he slowly wake up amidst a muscle soreness.

He stood up, stretched, and his joints cracked with a series of crisp sounds.

Last night's series of fierce battles, especially the final pure strength confrontation with the polar bear, put a tremendous strain on my body. At this moment, I feel as if all my muscles are filled with lead, heavy and sore.

Once outside, he instinctively glanced at the several side rooms in the inner courtyard, but the doors remained tightly shut, and not a sound could be heard.

Those two girls must have been exhausted, especially Qu Feiyan, who had been running around for almost half the night.

A warm feeling and a sense of guilt welled up in Shen An's heart. She quietly and quickly washed up, then went to the small kitchen to find some leftover pastries to fill her stomach before heading straight to the front yard.

But after searching for a long time, he couldn't find Li Qingde. After inquiring, he learned that Li Qingde had stayed in the forging workshop since early morning and hadn't come out.

At this moment, Bailianfang was already a scene of bustling activity.

The furnace roared, the bellows howled, and the clanging of hammers echoed incessantly. The muscular men, shirtless, bulged in the firelight and steam, their muscles bulging and sweat pouring down their faces.

Li Qingde was directing everyone, and almost all of the dozens of furnaces and bellows were in use. There wasn't a moment of rest. Under his command, the huge workshop was well-organized and orderly.

Seeing Shen An stride towards him, a hint of joy flashed in his eyes. He quickly waved to a steward to temporarily take over the supervision, then hurried forward, his face filled with concern: "Senior Brother, you're finally awake. Yesterday... were you alright? Is there anything you need?"

"Nothing important," Shen An waved his hand. "I came to see you because I have something to fight."

"Please give your orders." Despite saying this, Li Qingde remained composed and looked like he was listening attentively.

"Make another one in the same style as the one that imitated Dugu Qiubai's heavy sword, but this time it's not a prop for display, I'm going to use it. Weight..." Shen An said in a deep voice, thinking about the weapon that Bai Xiong had yesterday. The weight was quite suitable for his hands. "Around seventy pounds, the body should be broad, the spine should be thick, and it doesn't need to be sharpened."

A glint of light flashed in Li Qingde's eyes: "Hey, senior brother, I knew it was this. I ordered people to find the best materials last night. Don't worry, I'll personally oversee this job and make sure you're satisfied."

No wonder he was able to rise from a blacksmith's apprentice to become an outer disciple of Mount Song.

"Also," Shen An chuckled, adding, "make me a pig-slaughtering knife. It needs to be fast and sharp. The design should be the kind that ordinary butchers use, but the materials must be of good quality."

"A pig-slaughtering knife?" Li Qingde was taken aback, his face full of confusion.

"I accidentally broke one last night."

Li Qingde didn't ask any more questions, making sure he remembered both things. He paused, then said, "By the way, Senior Brother. Yesterday afternoon, Junior Brother Sha Xihe from Changsha Prefecture came over, requesting an audience with you, but you weren't there."

"Shaxihe?" Shen An raised an eyebrow, remembering the person who had placed his bet when almost everyone else was pessimistic. "What's he doing here?"

"Brother Sha is a thoughtful person." Li Qingde's tone was full of praise. "He said that our Hengyang Bailian Workshop is currently busy making the 'Light Sound Sword' and also has to focus on making the 'Seventy-Two Peaks of Songshan' body-forging equipment. We will definitely be short-handed and have furnaces, which will greatly affect the delivery speed."

He paused, then continued, "So, he proposed that he build another Bailian Workshop in Changsha Prefecture, specifically to relieve our burden. He also said that Changsha is a thoroughfare connecting nine provinces, and its water and land transportation is far more convenient than Hengyang's. Building the workshop there would save a lot of effort and money, whether it's purchasing raw materials or transporting finished products."

Upon hearing this, a hint of admiration flashed in Shen An's eyes.

Sha Xihe is indeed a discerning person who knows when to advance and when to retreat.

This move not only shows his intention to align himself with me, but also demonstrates his determination to distance himself from the shady businesses of the past.

Moreover, what he said was indeed true; the production line of Hengyang Bailianfang was simply not enough to produce two sets of popular products at the same time.

The forging process of the light-sounding sword is quite complex, with high requirements for temperature, heat, quenching timing, and even forging force. It can only be controlled by the old craftsmen of Bailianfang, so the output is destined to be low.

But the "Seventy-two Peaks of Mount Song" that Qu Feiyan touted as miraculous is actually just a set of fitness equipment such as dumbbells, kettlebells, barbells, Roman chairs, and parallel bars, which has a much lower level of technical content.

Their core lies in their weight, sturdiness, and standardized shape. They do not require high forging skills; as long as the materials are solid, even ordinary blacksmith apprentices can master them.

Moreover, they were all sold based on the so-called "Eight-Nine Arcane Arts". Once that booklet becomes widely circulated, it may not sell well.

"Okay." Shen An nodded and made the decision. "You draft a plan later. Compile a set of forging blueprints and standards for the 'Seventy-Two Peaks of Songshan' set and give it to Sha Xihe. Tell him that Xinfang in Changsha is specifically responsible for producing this. Let him go all out and do it. If he doesn't have enough money or manpower, we'll make up the difference."

"Alright!" Li Qingde readily agreed. He thought so too, but such a major matter involving the distribution of benefits and the division of territory had to be decided by Senior Brother Shen himself before he could proceed with it.

After explaining the matter of the forge, Shen An found Feng Changrong, who was standing in a daze in the front yard.

"Junior brother, go and gather all the men who were monitoring the Liu residence with you, without missing a single one, and have them wait for me in my study."

"But... I found out yesterday that they were taken over by someone else sent by my master..." Feng Changrong hesitated.

"It's alright, go ahead and call them." The man had already set up his fishing spot in the Xiang River.

Seeing his solemn expression, Feng Changrong dared not delay and accepted the order to leave.

Shen An returned alone to the relatively quiet inner courtyard, intending to do his morning exercise first, when he saw Qu Feiyan rubbing her sleepy eyes and coming out of her room.

She had clearly just gotten up, her hair still a little loose. When she saw Shen An, she was only wearing a thin nightgown. She first gave him a sweet smile, then seemed to remember something and glanced down at the corridor.

Ji Wushi was still in the same position that Shen An had put him down in the night before, leaning against the pillar with his eyes closed and his face pale. He had obviously been jostled all night and had his acupoints sealed, so he had already fallen into a deep sleep.

"Brother An," Qu Feiyan stretched and yawned, speaking in a languidly sympathetic tone, "that guy has been hanging under the eaves for so long, it's quite pitiful. Shouldn't... we take him down and give him a drink of water?"

Shen An slapped his forehead, only then remembering that there was such a person; he had completely forgotten about him.

It's fortunate that this "night owl" is highly skilled; an ordinary person would probably have caught a cold long ago.

He walked over and first released Ji Wushi's acupoints. The "night owl" went limp and almost collapsed, then suddenly opened his eyes and gasped for breath.

"Thank you..." Ji Wushi said hoarsely, but before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by a bowl of cold water handed to him by Qu Feiyan. He didn't care about anything else, picked up the bowl and gulped it down.

Seeing his disheveled appearance, Qu Feiyan's anger subsided. Rubbing her eyes, a sudden thought flashed through her mind, and she quickly took out a series of sealed letters from her bosom and handed them to Shen An.

"Oh, right, Brother An! This letter was left for you by that scholar last night. He said he was leaving, and... and he kept saying strange things..."

As she spoke, she remembered the scholar's words, "Wishing you both a long and happy life together," and her pretty face flushed. She couldn't say the rest of her sentence, but simply handed the letter to Shen An and added:

"The booklet you kept with the 'Eight-Nine Arcane Arts' was meant for him, and I gave it to him last night."