Daily life of a teacher in the martial arts department

"Unfortunately, I still have to come to you."

Himura Tanzakura shook her head.

The two continued onward, the country roads muddy, damp, and foul-smelling. Hisumura Tanzaku looked at Shinku and chuckled, "You can stop here."

Shen Jiu nodded, and Hishimura Tan's finger flicked out a divine light to protect Shen Jiu. Then he stepped forward and stepped onto it.

An invisible inner energy enveloped his entire body, forming an imperceptible barrier that kept everything at bay.

This operation is extremely difficult; even experts would recognize it as expert work.

Himura Tanzakura continued forward until she finally stopped in front of a simple house.

Bestselling novels often feature blacksmiths who can forge divine weapons living in seclusion in the countryside, much like today. But that actually means they've stopped making them. Even cold weapons require modern technology; a good weapon cannot be made in a small blacksmith shop—it would be more accurate to say it was made three thousand years ago.

Himura Kyou reached out and knocked on the door.

No response.

Himura Tanzakura pushed open the door—the door was closed, but the dilapidated house could not stop Himura Tanzakura's steps.

He pushed open the door, went inside, and saw a middle-aged man with only one arm.

The middle-aged man had a calm expression, a withered face, disheveled hair, and his right hand was severed at the root. He sat in a chair, holding a worn-out cup in his left hand, drinking some liquid of unknown origin.

Without a doubt, he is Po Xiezi.

"You want me to forge your sword?" The middle-aged man took a sip of strong liquor, his face contorted in a grimace. Yet, when he spoke, his voice remained calm. "My hand is broken."

If someone is an alchemist, losing an arm would significantly reduce all their abilities. However, it doesn't mean they can't continue being an alchemist; it just means their work efficiency will be much lower. If they switch to being a teacher, the missing arm wouldn't even affect their work in the slightest.

But blacksmiths are different. A blacksmith's hands are his life. Every hammer blow and every bellows pull requires them to feel the metal with their own hands. Too much or too little is not good. If a blacksmith loses his hands, he loses everything.

Po Xiezi's hand is broken?!

This was something that Hiramura Tan's wife hadn't anticipated. He had prepared all sorts of persuasive words and offered all sorts of irresistible deals, but... Po Xiezi's hand was broken.

It has nothing to do with whether he wants to or not; he's no longer capable of doing such a thing.

Himura Tanzaku slightly opened her eyes and said, "I really didn't know that your hand was broken, sir... Please forgive my presumption, but how did you break your hand, sir?"

“Something that has nothing to do with you.” Po Xiezi stretched out his only remaining left hand and said, “Go back to where you came from.”

Himura Tanzaku shook her head and said, "There's no way back. We have no choice but to move forward..."

Po Xiezi was slightly taken aback.

Himura Tanzaku said, "If you have nothing to say, sir, please tell me."

After a moment of silence, Po Xiezi ultimately did not refuse Himura Tan's request. Perhaps he also wanted to confide in her, not wanting some things to simply become dust in the past, even though that was inevitable.

He said softly, “When the Black Dragon Empire invaded Southern Qin, the Jue Tian Army was a heartless killing machine that killed anyone they saw. But they also captured some people occasionally. I know those people were useful to them... I should have been one of them. By the time I realized this, I was already trapped.”

As Po Xiezi spoke, he turned to look at his severed arm.

"The Black Dragon Empire has many cruel and terrifying tortures. If I were to be captured by the Black Dragon, I probably wouldn't be able to withstand it. But to ask me to commit suicide... I can't do it."

He whispered, “I want to live, no matter how miserable it is. Dying is too easy, living is so much harder than dying. I want to live, but I don’t want to forge a sword for the Black Dragon. This is wanting to live and wanting righteousness at the same time. There is only one way left.”

Hisumura Tanzaku opened her eyes and asked, "You cut off your own hand?"

"Yes."

Yes, life is what we desire, and righteousness is also what we desire. If we want both life and righteousness, we have to pay a price.

The price to pay is your own hands.

Himura Tan's voice couldn't help but exclaim, "The righteous man of Southern Qin... truly lives up to his reputation."

In modern warfare, massacres of entire cities are rare. Back then, Mu Huai-ren led his army to fight against an enemy nation. However, he abandoned his troops and civilians halfway through the campaign, fleeing instead. His army collapsed, and the enemy nation effortlessly seized the territory of Qiyao.

The army fled for two reasons: first, they had no chance of winning; second, they knew the enemy wouldn't massacre the entire city—such a barbaric act would be condemned by all nations. If they went, their deaths would be meaningless, and the enemy would still seize the Seven Luminaries' territory.

Although soldiers are duty-bound to obey orders, generals in the field may disobey the emperor's orders. As Po Xiezi said, dying is too easy; to live on with the stigma of deserter and contribute to the country is what is truly remarkable.

After all, living is much harder than dying.

Why mention the invasion of the seven celestial bodies by other countries here?

Because the Black Dragon was an exception, he massacred the city.

The last time a city was massacred by human beings occurred 1,900 years ago, and the Black Dragon Empire has reversed the course of history by 1,900 years.

The Jue Tian Army was a tireless killing machine, and countless righteous warriors of Southern Qin perished under their bombardment. Yet, they continued their relentless charge, piling up corpses like mountains. Many of them possessed truly formidable martial arts skills; martial arts alliance leaders and sect masters, each likely possessing strength not far inferior to a sword saint. However... they lacked experience in dealing with alchemical equipment.

A disorganized army of Southern Qin knights fought against the Jue Tian Army. By the time the Southern Qin knights were close enough to reach the Jue Tian Army, seventy percent of them had already died. So, without a doubt, many of them had fled by then, and the remaining few were futile in their charge.

If retreating means death, and advancing also means death, then why not die standing up?

Moving forward is useless, but we still move forward.

"A nation that can be destroyed but not conquered."

This is Nanqin... a country that is about to become dust in history.

Chapter Twenty-One: What Exactly Is It?

Most of the resistance in the stories of the Southern Qin heroes was futile. But the most magnificent resistance is the meaningless resistance; even they themselves didn't believe they could win, yet they still resisted.

Those who fight against fate to the very end are always the strong.

Regardless, Ying Qin Guan was eventually born, sweeping across the six directions and eight wastelands, acting as a human nuclear weapon, and ending the Black Dragon Empire's elite army in one fell swoop. This move also directly led countries around the world to resolve to unite and destroy the Black Dragon Empire.

Himura Tan's heart couldn't help but sigh. She was too stubborn; just because she didn't want to forge a sword for the Black Dragon, she cut off her own hand.

He asked himself if he had been there; he could never have done that. Because for him... nothing was more important than self-preservation, at least not in this era.

"Swords are in a very awkward position," Hisumura Tan's voice suddenly broke the silence, bringing up a seemingly unrelated topic. "If it were a thousand years earlier, alchemy wouldn't have been as prevalent, and melee weapons would have been the absolute dominant force. If another thousand years passed, perhaps melee weapons would have been completely phased out, and alchemical equipment would have ruled everything. But now, melee weapons are stuck here, neither here nor there..."

"Of course, the same goes for martial artists."

Po Xiezi asked, "Why are you telling me all this?"

"It was just a spontaneous remark." Hisumura Tan's voice trembled as she shook her head. "Since you are unable to forge the sword, sir, I will not disturb you any longer... Farewell."

As Hiramura Tanzakura spoke, she was about to leave.

"Wait!" Po Xiezi called out to Hishimura Tan's voice, "You seem like a master."

Himura Tan's eyesight is good, sir... but please forgive my impertinence, with your strength, you should not be able to see through my abilities. What makes you say that?

“Your shoes aren’t muddy at all,” Po Xiezi said. “No one has ever come this far without getting clean. You’re the first.”

Himura Tanzaku smiled and said, "That's true... What advice do you have for me, sir?"

"What kind of weapon do you want?" Po Xiezi asked.

"Two knives and one sword."

"Two knives and one sword?" Po Xiezi repeated, "Why so many?"

"I need one knife for myself, and I'll give the remaining knife and sword to someone else."

".."

"A knife and a sword."

Some things are marked with special symbols, perhaps because of a special event or a special person. For example, rabbits, platypuses, and eagles...

For example, a knife or a sword... these two things can make people think of a certain person.

'Master of both swords and sabers' 'The greatest in history' 'The reincarnation of the God of War' 'The dragon slayer' 'The indomitable conqueror of a fallen kingdom'...

He could have as many titles as he wanted, but people were used to calling him the Nameless Swordsman of Southern Qin.

"I really wish you would say you were giving that knife away, and that you wanted to keep the other sword and saber for yourself," Po Xiezi said softly. "But you're too young, you don't look like it at all..."

Hisumura Tan's Sakura knew exactly what Poyako was talking about, but he just smiled and said nothing.

Po Xiezi was a smart man. He knew that asking would be useless, so he stopped asking and said, "I have been judging people all my life and I think I have some insight... It's alright to entrust some things to you. Although my hand is broken, I once forged a set of weapons called 'Qituo', which includes a knife, a longsword, a short sword, and a spear... Although it cannot meet all your requirements, it can at least meet the general requirements."

He looked at Himura Tan's voice and said, "I am the only person in the world who knows where that box is buried."

Himura Tanzaku said, "I would like to hear the details."

"You should understand my current state, my current predicament. This is the last valuable asset I have left," Po Xiezi said calmly. "To be honest, the Black Dragon Empire is gone. I have no more ambitions in life. I don't care about wealth or power. I only want to know one thing, something that has troubled me since the day I became an apprentice. This question has been passed down from my master's master's master, generation after generation, and even now I dare not, cannot let go of it..."

He looked at Himura Tanzaku and said, word by word:

"I want to know what exactly the legendary strongest weapon, 'Fear,' is."

-

The hotel in the snow-capped mountains was already deep in the night.

The living room was still quite lively, with Ying Qin Guan and his group having a great time downstairs, playing cards and the King's Game.

However, none of this mattered to Mu Nandong. He sat calmly at his desk in his pajamas, and under the warm orange light, he opened a book.

Mu Nandong is known for his extensive knowledge and photographic memory; this is a fact universally acknowledged throughout the Imperial Academy. Legend has it that if he only asks all the students to state their names once during the first class, he can call out the names of anyone who is absent at any subsequent class with just a glance, without even needing to take attendance.

He rarely reads a book a second time, but he has read this book many times and can now recite it from memory, yet he still reads it.

This document records two bizarre wars, both of which ended in extremely strange and bizarre ways.

These two wars were the two times that 'fear' was used.

The first time was when the Seven Luminaries Empire was still unstable. In the 14th year of the Imperial Calendar, the ancestor of the Mu family went to fight an entire army alone, without bringing a single soldier with him. As a result, a meteorite fell from the sky and buried everything.

That looked a bit like a multi-person forbidden spell, 'Celestial Obstruction Starfall,' which theoretically requires twenty mages capable of casting forbidden spells individually to chant together... and the success rate isn't high either. The size of the falling meteorite was also off, but considering the unpredictable abilities of the Primordial Alien race, it's understandable.

It is worth mentioning that the ancestor of the Mu family did not initially reveal that he possessed "fear." This information was deduced by people through speculation, inquiry, and inference based on his later behavior.

What's truly incomprehensible is the second one... At least the first one had a crater, but the second one is just absurd.

The army simply evaporated on the spot, completely disappearing.

Yes—they simply vanished without a trace. The entire army encountered the Mu family members wielding "Fear" during their march and evaporated on the spot, leaving nothing behind.

If we had to find a reason to explain it... it would only be mass teleportation magic. But the energy consumption and instability of teleportation magic are well-known; teleporting an entire army is even more difficult than teleporting a celestial meteor.

These two incidents have remained unsolved mysteries. With the assassination of the Seven Luminaries Emperor, Mu Huai Ren's madness, and the disappearance of "Fear," everything seems to have become a secret.

Mu Nandong flipped through those two pages over and over again... It was an incredibly stupid thing for him to do, but he did it anyway.

In the end, as usual, he came up empty-handed.