Chapter 342

"Explode when it meets fire?"

"Can there really be such a magical thing in the world?"

As Gao Bing's voice fell, the candlelight in the hall happened to jump, leaving the astonishment on everyone's faces nowhere to hide.

The shock mixed with doubt in the depths of their eyes was almost overflowing.

Having lived for decades, experienced countless battles, and seen fire attacks and water attacks, they had never heard of powder having such power, so they couldn't help but narrow their eyes in skepticism.

"Brother Gao, are you serious?"

Yan Zhi Tui stared fixedly at Gao Bing, measuring him up and down, his gaze shifting as he asked: "And it's powder; are you sure you aren't talking nonsense?"

His face was filled with indescribable confusion.

Powder explodes when it meets fire?

This is too subversive to common sense, isn't it?

Old Gao, this guy, doesn't look like he's drunk or dizzy either!

"Brother Yan, I am very sober right now..."

Gao Bing felt his scalp tingle from being watched; he twitched the corner of his mouth and said decisively: "I am absolutely not talking nonsense!"

Yang Xiu looked up at Gao Bing, the hair at his temples trembling slightly with the movement of his head, the clouds of doubt in his eyes thicker than before: "Taking a step back—"

He deliberately paused, his voice pressed low and slow, every word like it was squeezed from between his teeth: "Even if there really is powder that can explode when it meets fire..."

As he spoke, he leaned over and pointed to the position of the incense burner marked on the defense map, tapping his fingertip heavily: "But can it really explode the incense burner and blow Yuwen Hu to death at the same time?"

Achieving one is hard enough, let alone satisfying both at once!

One must know that the incense burner weighs at least a hundred jin, and is extremely sturdy and solid...

That is not an ordinary earthen wall.

The difficulty is simply too high!

Gao Bing's hand twisting his beard stopped abruptly, the mysterious smile in the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes gradually fading, replaced by a touch of concentration: "At first I didn't believe it either, thinking A-Jiong was spouting nonsense..."

He looked down at the defense map on the table, his fingertips unconsciously drawing circles next to the "incense burner" mark, his voice low as if rolling from the depths of his throat: "Until A-Jiong lit that powder!"

The halo of the charcoal fire flickered on his face; in a trance, the scene of that day seemed to unfold before his eyes again—

A muffled sound exploded, the ground seemed to be punched hard, raising a half-foot-high wave of earth.

Immediately following was an even fiercer roar; where that little bit of powder had been, a pit a foot deep was blasted out.

Broken stones mixed with scorched earth flew like raindrops, actually shaking down most of that half-collapsed earthen wall three zhang away, and the rising dust obscured the setting sun.

Dugu Zhao suddenly raised his hand, the cuffs of his sable coat tracing a clean arc in the air, suppressing the dispute.

Immediately, his gaze swept over the defense map on the table and fell back onto the faces of Gao Bing and Yan Zhi Tui, his voice as steady as a rock: "Instead of arguing here meaninglessly, it's better to have A-Bing bring some powder, and we'll know if it's true or false after one test!"

"Makes sense!" Everyone present nodded in agreement.

"I will send someone to..."

Gao Bing nodded, walked quickly to the hall door, and shouted: "Someone come!"

"Return to the estate and bring all the powder A-Jiong bought back from the black market!"

"Yes." The accompanying personal guard bowed and stepped forward, standing by the door with his hands hanging down, and responded.

When he turned, his footsteps were hurried; soon the sound of horse hooves came from the corridor, moving from near to far, disappearing into the night.

Before long, the guard returned, staggering, carrying a half-full sack on his shoulder, sweat seeping from his forehead.

Gao Bing walked quickly to meet him and took it; the sack dragged across the ground with a "rustling" sound as he brought it before the crowd, "Two old Pillars of State, this is the powder that explodes when it meets fire!"

With that, he bent down to untie the knot at the mouth of the sack, raising a cloud of gray mist.

Yan Zhi Tui narrowed his eyes to examine the pile of grayish-yellow powder.

The light fell on his taut profile, making the doubt between his brows even heavier.

"It looks ordinary; I can't see anything special about it..." He squeezed a light snort from his throat.

As he spoke, he stretched out two fingers and drew them very quickly across the side of the powder pile, his fingertips stained with a little powder, and twisted it from a distance toward the candlelight.

The particles were so fine they were almost invisible, leaving only a cold touch, no different from powder ground from ordinary ore.

"Looking like this, even if it were thrown on the side of the road, I'm afraid no one would pick it up." Dou Yi leaned over, pressed his hands to his waist, his tone filled with disapproval.

"Hmm." Yang Xiu also nodded, his gaze turning twice on the grayish-yellow powder.

"Just looking at it, there is indeed nothing unusual..." Gao Bing's mouth curled up slightly, saying, "You have to use fire to light it to see the effect!"

Dugu Zhao understood and raised his hand, the cuffs of his sable coat lifting lightly: "Pilu, go and get a small bronze tripod, the thickest kind, and prepare a box of fire starters and a bundle of cotton thread soaked in tung oil."

"Yes." Xi Pilu responded and moved.

Dugu Zhao paused, his gaze sweeping over everyone in the hall, "Follow me to the backyard."

Before long, several servants carried in a bronze tripod the size of a palm.

The tripod body was cast with complex cloud patterns, and the edges were polished until they shone; one could tell at a glance that it was not light.

Xi Pilu also brought the cotton thread and fire starters, carefully wrapped in oilcloth.

The crowd filed out, stepping on the moonlight under the corridor as they walked toward the backyard.

The night dew was already heavy, and a layer of white frost had condensed on the blue brick ground, creaking as they stepped on it.

Some discarded bricks and stones were piled in the corner of the backyard, just right for a testing ground.

Yan Zhi Tui stepped forward two paces, his boots stepping on the frosted blue bricks, making a dull sound.

He rubbed his hands, the calluses on his palms shining with hardness in the moonlight, his voice as loud as a bell: "Old Pillar of State, let me test whether this tiny bit of powder is as magical as Brother Gao says!"

Dugu Zhao and Zhao Qian looked at each other without speaking, but both nodded in tacit approval.

He walked with large strides to the bronze tripod, bent down to scoop a large handful of powder into the tripod, and picked up the piece of cotton thread soaked in tung oil, twisting it with his fingertips.

Gao Bing saw this and hurried forward to remind him, urgently: "Brother Yan, you put too much powder in the tripod..."

"No need to fill it, a small half is enough!"

"This little bit is really enough?" Yan Zhi Tui was skeptical, but he did it anyway.

He took out more than half of the powder that had originally filled the small tripod...

"I ask everyone to retreat fifteen steps away!"

"Then Brother Yan will light the fuse to detonate the powder!"

Gao Bing then walked quickly to the side of Dugu Zhao and the others and said in a deep voice.

Immediately, he urged Yan Zhi Tui, who was preparing to light the fire: "Brother Yan, remember, after lighting the fuse, move away immediately, the further the better!"

"Is such caution necessary?" Zhao Qian raised his eyebrows and said in a deep voice.

"Listen to A-Bing; being cautious never hurts..."

Dugu Zhao chose to listen and said: "Let's retreat fifteen steps away!"

"Hmm." Zhao Qian and the others responded and retreated to a safe distance following Gao Bing.

"Come!"

Yan Zhi Tui looked intently at the grayish-yellow powder in the tripod and said: "Let this Marquis see if you truly have the ability to blow up the tripod..."

With that, after lighting the fuse with the fire starter, he retreated rapidly without any hesitation.

The "hissing" sound of burning was exceptionally clear in the silent night.

Everyone's gaze followed the sparks darting toward the bottom of the tripod, and they even held their breath.

The moonlight shone on the bronze tripod, making the cloud patterns on the tripod body even clearer.

No one could say for sure whether what was hidden under this heavy little tripod was earth-shattering power or just a waste of joy.

Yan Zhi Tui retreated to the side of the crowd; as soon as his feet stood firm, he laughed loudly, his laughter exceptionally loud in the silent backyard: "Brother Gao, you have exaggerated a bit!"

"Yan has already retreated, and there is still no reaction..."

"The fuse hasn't burned out yet!" Gao Bing stared fixedly at the increasingly short piece of cotton thread.

Before the words fell, the end of the cotton thread plunged into the bottom of the tripod with a "pop."

Immediately following, a blinding light burst out from the seams of the tripod body—

"Boom!"

A deafening muffled sound exploded, and the ground seemed to be punched hard.

When the deafening muffled sound exploded, the floor tiles in the backyard seemed to be trembling.

Under the moonlight, that sturdy bronze tripod looked like a walnut gripped by a giant force; first, the tripod body expanded by half an inch, "crack" sounds appeared where the cloud patterns bulged, and then the entire tripod body was torn open from the inside.

The largest piece of the tripod ear carried a sharp whistle and nailed itself deep into the earthen wall behind, trembling like an arrow feather.

Smaller fragments mixed with scorching sand hit the corridor pillars with a "crackling" sound, actually leaving white marks on the hard wood.

The most astonishing part was the bottom of the tripod; that three-inch-thick bronze base plate was actually lifted into an irregular arc, its edges curled with scorched marks, and it smashed three zhang away with lingering heat.

The splashing powder mixed with copper shavings from the tripod body filled the air; by the moonlight, one could see countless fine light spots, like a handful of fire-quenched gravel scattered, stinging slightly when hitting people's faces.

"A mere bit of powder can actually cause such a big commotion!" Yang Xiu's brow completely relaxed, but it wasn't relief; he was so shocked he forgot to frown.

He stared at the pile of tripod fragments, his palms clenched tightly at his sides, his knuckles turning white as frost, and cold sweat even seeped from between his fingers.

The jawline that had been tense just now was now somewhat slack, and his lips moved.

"Look!" Yan Zhi Tui opened his mouth, the previous mockery frozen on his face, his iron-colored cheeks trembling slightly, "That little tripod exploded!"

"Shattered into pieces!"

"It really did!" Dou Yi's pupils shrank to the size of a needle point, staring fixedly at the smoking shallow pit at the center of the explosion, "Those powders can actually have such power?!"

"There really is such a magical thing in this world!"

Shock surged in the depths of his eyes, but a hint of sharpness that was hard to detect was hidden within.

Dugu Zhao stood with his back to the moonlight, the white hair at his temples disheveled by the shockwave, and murmured in a deep voice: "Even if that little tripod were hacked with axes and chiseled with knives, I'm afraid it would take a lot of effort!"