My name is Wei Qing, and I want to fight the Xiongnu.

If a weapon shop doesn't have some powerful connections, it should be prepared to pay a hefty price every time it's investigated.

To avoid this situation, one either needs to cultivate relationships with superiors, find a reliable backer, or even become a front man for a powerful figure.

As for the weapons shop that Liu Yangxin brought Wei Qing to, it was even more so. It was a government-run shop, and the price of weapons of the same quality was much higher.

To paraphrase Liu Yangxin, the more government-run a product is, the more expensive it is, yet buyers still flock to it.

It's not that there's any after-sales guarantee; it's just that if you're using government-issued weapons to fight someone, and neither side is in the right, the other side will inevitably be the one who ends up in trouble, and you can't argue with that.

With this connection, even if the government-run weapons shops sell their weapons for twice the price of other shops, they won't have to worry about selling them.

There weren't many customers on the first floor of the weapon shop; only a few were chatting, and even fewer were selecting weapons.

The shop assistants were indifferent and chatted amongst themselves, not worried at all about the weapons being stolen from the shelves.

Liu Yangxin explained that the first layer consisted of weapons of ordinary quality.

The price is only around ten gold coins. People who are willing to spend money here probably don't care about these weapons. They are just displayed for show.

As they were talking, Wei Qing noticed three Xiongnu barbarians with guards not far away, glancing at him with hostile eyes from time to time.

From the outside, the Xiongnu barbarians and humans were not much different. The main way to distinguish them was by whether they had animalistic features, as well as their clothing and special tattoos.

Among the three Xiongnu barbarians looking at Wei Qing, one of them wore an eagle-head mask and appeared to be a shaman. The only difference between the remaining two, a man and a woman, and the human race was that they both had beast claws on their right hands and gray eagle tattoos that ran from their chests to their necks and extended to their cheeks.

Tattoos were innate and also a source of power for the Xiongnu barbarians.

The tattoos of all the Xiongnu tribes were different, but they all had one thing in common: the tattoos would spread from the body to the cheeks, and eventually the tattooed eye would completely overlap with one of the Xiongnu tribes' eyes.

The reason these Xiongnu barbarians noticed Wei Qing was because of the strong aura of blood emanating from him.

That bloodlust belonged to the Xiongnu barbarians.

This young human has killed many Xiongnu barbarians, and even shamans!

Wei Qing realized he was being watched by the Xiongnu. He grinned, revealing two rows of sharp, white teeth, and demanded, "What are you worried about?!"

Upon hearing this, the three Xiongnu barbarians lowered their heads and whispered in the Xiongnu language, but did not respond to Wei Qing.

Liu Yangxin also noticed the Xiongnu barbarians and gently tugged at Wei Qing's sleeve, saying, "Zhongqing, don't cause trouble. Judging from their attire, they should be princes of some tribe."

Wei Qing said, "Don't worry, I don't plan to take action here."

Liu Yangxin looked at Wei Qing's right hand, which had been resting on the hilt of his sword ever since he met the three Xiongnu barbarians. He thought to himself, "You mean you don't intend to make a move right away?"

Seeing that Liu Yangxin still looked suspicious, Wei Qing helplessly explained again, "I really didn't plan to make a move. Those three barbarians are useless, but their two lackeys are not weak. If we really fought, I wouldn't gain much of an advantage. Let's go. It's no fun running into three cowards."

Liu Yangxin: "..."

So you realized you couldn't beat them, that's why you didn't make a move?

Well... if you could beat them, you wouldn't have already attacked them, would you?

Wei Qing shrugged and didn't refute. If it weren't for those two guards, he would have already started considering whether to kidnap and extort money to make some extra cash.

And that eagle head mask could probably fetch a good price, right?

Unfortunately, the two guards behind him were quite strong, and a fight might lead to unexpected incidents, so it was best to leave it at that.

Anyway, there will be plenty of opportunities. As long as Wei Qing carries that woodcutter's knife, he will be seen as a walking executioner by the Xiongnu barbarians.

“Gemuza, are you saying that even if the three of us join forces, we are no match for him? But he doesn’t even look as strong as a thousand-pound strongman.”

Gemuza was the shaman with the eagle-head mask. He was the most talented of the three and one of the geniuses of the Gray Eagle tribe. He was sent to the Imperial Academy of the Han Dynasty to study.

The other two are members of the Gray Eagle tribe's royal family: Prince Kuile and Princess Musi.

Ge Muzha said with lingering fear, "Prince Kuile, Princess Musi, please trust my intuition. He is extremely dangerous, even more terrifying than the wolves of our Holy Realm. Just now, he even had the idea of ​​attacking us, but he gave up because of Your Highness's guards."

"Hmph, you slaughtered my Holy Race, and you think you can just let it go like this?"

Prince Kui Le couldn't swallow his anger. It wasn't that Wei Qing had killed any Xiongnu barbarians, but rather that when that young man grinned maliciously just now, he felt a deep fear in his heart, and even had the thought of turning around and running away.

Even though the opponent seems weak, why are you afraid?

This made no sense, which further enraged Prince Kuile, who felt humiliated but refused to admit it.

Princess Miao Si, standing beside her, was also terrified, feeling as if she were being targeted by a natural enemy: "He won't dare to make a move. This is Chang'an Royal City. He won't dare to attack our Holy Clan! Otherwise, the human officials in Chang'an Royal City will definitely not let him off the hook. Why don't we follow him and see? As long as we don't take the initiative, he won't dare to act recklessly against us."

The shaman Gumza, standing nearby, hesitated. If possible, he would prefer to stay away from that guy.

It's true that there are many spineless humans, but that doesn't mean there aren't any tough ones.

The Gray Eagle tribe was just a small tribe among the Xiongnu barbarians, and they often suffered humiliation from other tribes.

It was only after the Han Dynasty that they were freed from slavery and began to sing, finally gaining what was called dignity.

But in Gemuza's view, risking offending that dangerous boy for the sake of this so-called dignity was not a worthwhile thing to do.

However, Prince Kui Le nodded heavily and said, "Mu Si is right. Humans are all worthless. If he dares to attack us, they won't let him get away with it. Why don't we find an opportunity to make him attack us? That way, we can use humans to deal with him. My father said this is called using people to control people!"

Chapter 41: The Blade Must Draw Blood

Seeing this, Gemuza sighed silently. He was just a genius in the tribe who was lucky enough to be sent to the Han Dynasty to study. In terms of status, he was no match for the two princes and princesses. Obviously, it was not up to him to make such a decision.

Looking at the enthusiastic Prince Kuile and Princess Musi, he couldn't help but feel a little worried.

During the Han Dynasty, even princes from the smallest tribes enjoyed treatment far superior to that of ordinary people.

Over time, these princes of the Holy Race inevitably became arrogant and unwilling to lower their heads.

But we can't stay in the Han Dynasty forever; sooner or later we'll have to return to the Holy Realm.

But once you return to the Holy Realm, all your privileges will vanish, and no one will indulge you anymore.

If we were to fight to the death over such minor skirmishes, the entire tribe might be wiped out if we were not careful.

Gemuza even began to suspect that this might be a human tactic to corrupt the Holy Race royal family or geniuses, undermining their unwavering will and vigilance.

Fortunately, Ge Muzha did not reveal his thoughts to Wei Qing, otherwise Wei Qing would definitely have sprayed him with salt water.

What kind of despicable person would come up with such a method to deal with an enemy?

If such a despicable opponent really exists, give me a dozen of them. Come at me if you have a problem.

Liu Yangxin frowned and said, "Those three Xiongnu barbarians seem to be following us."

"Is this for real?"

Wei Qing was stunned. This was like a little white rabbit running up to a big bad wolf and trying to sell rabbit meat recipes!

Liu Yangxin: "..."

Being followed by the Xiongnu barbarians was probably a good thing for Wei Qing.

"Should I call someone to come and take them away?"

Even though the Liu royal family was suppressed by the Lü family, Liu Yangxin was still a princess, no matter how incompetent she was. It was impossible for her not to be able to handle a prince from a small tribe.

"No need. Let them follow if they want. It would be best if they provoked me, so I could kill them without any problem."

Liu Yangxin rolled his eyes. Those guys were really out of their minds. Why did they have to provoke him for no reason?

Well, after spending more time with him, Liu Yangxin discovered that although Wei Qing usually gave people the impression of being unreliable, he was actually more shrewd than anyone else when it came to handling problems.

Cao Shen might have misjudged him, but Xiahou Ying, the patron who discovered that man in the past, spoke highly of Wei Qing, clearly not blindly praising and flattering him.

It was only because of his background and upbringing that Wei Qing developed his unique personality.

You say he has low emotional intelligence? Definitely not. He beat Xiahou Ci at the Marquis of Ruyin's residence, and not only was he not punished, but he also gained Xiahou Ying's appreciation and affirmation. You say that's because he has high talent? That's a bit self-deception.

But if you call him tactful, he can always make people speechless with anger, especially when he gets stubborn, he's so stubborn that nothing can stop him, he's the kind of person who won't turn back even after hitting a wall.

Fortunately, regardless of whether he was not tactful enough or had emotional intelligence issues, Liu Yangxin still liked Wei Qing quite a bit.

While you might feel resentful, it certainly won't make you lose your temper or disappoint you.

Wei Qing nodded upon hearing this and followed Liu Yangxin straight to the second floor. He found that there were indeed many more customers on the second floor, and the shop assistants were much more enthusiastic, constantly promoting the weapons displayed on the exquisite shelves.

The pavilion contains a wide variety of weapons, including swords, spears, halberds, axes, hooks, and forks—basically everything imaginable.

Wei Qing walked to the nearest shelf, casually picked up a ring-pommel sword, and tried swinging it a couple of times.

A young shop assistant nearby tactfully approached and introduced the sword, saying, "Young master, you have a good eye. This ring-pommel sword is called Chize, and it was made by the Pu family, a renowned sword-making family in Western Shu. The hilt is nine feet long, and the blade is four inches and three feet long. It is made of refined Shanxi iron that has been refined seven times and took three years to forge. It can cut a hair in two and slice iron like mud!"

Upon hearing this, Wei Qing glanced at a ring-pommel sword beside him and asked the shop assistant, "Cutting iron like mud? Is this sword over there also made of iron?"

The shop assistant was speechless when asked the question. He was afraid that if he nodded, the young master opposite him would just take the chicken wings in his hand and chop them up.

After a moment, he said awkwardly, "Weapons are made of refined steel and cannot be compared with ordinary ironware."

Wei Qing was too lazy to deal with the shop assistant anymore. He casually put the ring-pommel sword back on the sword rack and said to Liu Yangxin next to him, "This sword has never seen blood. It's just a showpiece. In Uncle Cao's words, it's a silver-plated spearhead."

It's only sold to the sons of noble families who have just embarked on the path of self-cultivation. If it were a band of killers from the borderlands, they would never waste such a large sum of money on this kind of 'junk.'

Liu Yangxin, who knew nothing about knives, asked curiously, "Have you ever seen blood?"

Wei Qing took out the chipped machete from his back and said, "This machete of mine is worth five gold pieces. It was given to me by a villager to thank me for saving his whole family. It has been used for seven or eight years and has many chips. But if I were to clash with that ring-pommel sword, I could cut dozens of them in one go."

Liu Yangxin looked surprised, but then she remembered that Wei Qing had said at noon that ordinary swords and knives were not as sharp as his woodcutter's knife. Could this woodcutter's knife be some kind of divine weapon?

She asked with some curiosity, "Seeing blood? I've only heard of quenching. It's said that after a weapon is forged, the strength varies drastically depending on the quenching method used. And those quenching methods are said to be closely guarded secrets of sword-making families. Is using blood to temper a weapon another way of quenching?"

Wei Qing's eyes flashed with great confusion. "I'm not a swordsmith, what do I know about quenching!"

The shop assistant next to him also frowned slightly. Weapons require bloodshed? Never heard of that.

Those who can work as shop assistants in this kind of shop must have some knowledge of casting; otherwise, they wouldn't be able to answer any of the technical questions customers ask, and how could the business continue?

But he had absolutely no recollection of the idea that weapons had to draw blood.

However, although she had doubts, she did not ask them.

As an excellent shop assistant, I know exactly what questions to ask and what questions not to ask.

As for Wei Qing's slander of the weapons in the pavilion, he didn't take it seriously.

They had no intention of refuting them. Even though the shop assistant didn't know who the other party was, judging from their clothes, demeanor, and overall presence, the man and woman were definitely not ordinary people.

The capital city of Chang'an is never short of kings, nobles, and generals. Among the customers this small shop serves every day are also descendants of kings and nobles, and these two in front of us might very well be.

It's true that the Hundred Weapons Pavilion is backed by the imperial court, but it has also offended powerful nobles for no reason, which is not a sustainable solution.

This is especially true for shop assistants. Those nobles might not be able to deal with the shops, but surely they can handle a shop assistant?