Chapter 189

Early winter on the ancient road, travelers return late.

Du Shanü sent Yu Baobao home, also settled Yunniang and the others; with great difficulty she mounted her horse and rode back onto the mountain road to Zhangpu Village, finally gaining a little breathing space......

Strictly speaking, it was because she had separated Liu Liu and Yunniang that the pent-up frustration in her heart gradually eased a bit.

Although Du Shanü did not see just how perilous the situation on the narrow bridge was at that time, she clearly saw a hint of gratitude deep in Yunniang's eyes.

Yunniang actually has a fiery disposition, but she couldn't resist; this time Liu Liu also saved Yunniang's mother.

A lifesaver, adding another touch of gratitude.

Even if Du Shanü wanted to get lucky this time, she couldn't.

The converger......

The converger.

How could the converger's words be so efficacious?

You can't possibly tell her that in this new world she's entered, there really is talk of gods and ghosts, can you?

Du Shanü was puzzled to no end, and for a moment she failed to notice how tightly she was gripping the reins.

On winter days, darkness falls very early; the twilight falls in specks.

Until a chill mountain wind swept over her face, Du Shanü only then realized she had somehow arrived near the old mill.

In the past, the mill was bustling during the day; although the mill has now become a 'weapon factory', its liveliness is no less than before.

The rolling black smoke from the mill's chimney pours into the night, making it hard to distinguish.

The water mill turns continuously, pushed by the water flow; with each rotation, the wooden teeth on the axle drive the mill's connecting rods, emitting a dull creaking sound.

That night, the sounds of water, turning wheels, bellows, crackling forge, and iron hammer striking the anvil mingled together, producing a roar and a howl.

The mill's door stood wide open; inside, the firelight blazed brightly, faintly revealing several silhouettes.

Du Shanü dismounted, tied the reins to an elm tree by the door, and headed straight into the mill:

"Leitie."

She called out once; her voice was not loud, yet it clearly rose above the clanging inside.

Before the forge, a tall, bare-chested figure turned around; seeing it was Du Shanü, his knotted muscles twitched, he set down his iron hammer on the anvil, and strode forward, his voice booming like thunder:

"Why does the head of the household have time to come back today?"

Du Shanü originally found the noise grating; upon hearing such a loud voice suddenly, her ears felt like they would split, and she said nothing.

Leitie, perhaps from striking iron all day, didn't think much of it; instead he turned and called out to those inside:

"Big Hair! Second Hair! Come over and greet the head of the household!"

Two soot-covered youngsters emerged from behind the forge, their faces full of ash, their clothes riddled with burn holes, and they both bowed to Du Shanü.

Both wore the shy look of country youths seeing strangers; they seemed to shout something, but the surroundings were too noisy for Du Shanü to hear.

Du Shanü nodded at them, acknowledging them.

Leitie had been waiting for inspection for a long time; upon seeing Du Shanü come today, he immediately understood what it meant.

He happily walked to the long table at the innermost part of the mill, reached out to pull off the covering oilcloth, revealing a row of dark, heavy objects beneath——

Crossbow.

A row of crossbows.

Neatly stacked on the table, the crossbow arms were black and lustrous, exuding a sinister aura of pent-up power.

"These are what I have cranked out recently—forty-eight sets in total, with another twelve finished pieces still being worked on."

Leitie picked up the topmost one, supporting the bow arm with one hand and pulling the string with the other; only a soft 'click' was heard as the string engaged the catch.

He raised the crossbow, aimed at a pile of old planks in the mill's corner, and released the trigger.

"Whoosh——"

A sharp tearing-through-air sound rang out; Du Shanü only saw a dark flash before her eyes, and then a dull 'thud' came from that direction.

She went over to look closely; an arrow had pierced through an elm board two inches thick, the shaft sinking in more than halfway, sending up wood shavings and debris, leaving only the fletching trembling slightly outside.

"Good."

Du Shanü said only one word, and the heart she had been holding in suspense finally settled a little.

This thing is her foothold!

Naturally, the stronger the better!

Upon hearing that single 'good' from Leitie, he obviously also let out a big sigh of relief:

"Rest assured, this batch of ballistae, I have made with all my might. Only……"

Du Shanü lifted her eyes to look at Leitie; his honest, sturdy face was full of a troubled expression:

"Only, there simply isn't enough iron!"

"More than a month ago, I already cried out about a shortage of ironware, but nobody paid me any heed. Recently Dun Cheng did send a batch of iron, true enough, but it's already been mostly used up making crossbow mechanisms and arrowheads."

"Now I can barely manage to produce a few crossbow mechanisms, but the arrows can only be made of wood or bamboo as a makeshift…… These can pierce leather armor, but they'd be useless against iron armor."

The iron shortage is indeed not a matter of just a day or two.

But this is just like an empty purse cannot produce money.

Du Shanü can't even conjure money from her pockets, so naturally she can't produce iron either!

Worry—truly something to worry about.

Since that converger could predict Yunniang's affairs, why didn't he just tell her directly how to make a fortune?

Du Shanü felt vexed inside, yet outwardly she put on a steady-as-an-old-dog demeanor; her eyes slowly swept across the row of crossbows, as if counting them, or as if calculating something.

To onlookers, this demeanor meant she already had victory in hand.

"The iron matter will be settled soon. If nothing unexpected happens this time, we should get a batch shortly."

That tone was already unhurried, exuding certainty.

Leitie's eyes lit up immediately:

"Truly worthy of the head of the household! I, your humble servant, await your letter!"

"By the way, didn't we mention earlier that we wanted to make some new gadget? Lately I haven't heard anyone talk about it..."

Since ancient times, craftsmen have more or less loved the skill in their own hands.

Leitie, in particular, was even more so, chattering away with Du Shanü, while Liu Liu had at some point already walked from the mill's door to that long table.

His gaze was firmly fixed on that row of black crossbows, his pupils slightly constricted, and the expression on his face had changed from its earlier indifference to solemnity.

He reached out to touch the crossbow's limb, but his hand withdrew halfway, as if afraid of breaking something:

"What is this?"

Leitie was in the middle of speaking excitedly; being interrupted didn't annoy him. He turned his head to glance at him, then at Du Shanü. Seeing that Du Shanü had no intention of stopping him, he straightened his chest and immediately showed an expression that said, "You've finally asked the right person," and spoke happily.

"This is called the Chief Commander Crossbow."

"The head of the household drew the design, and I forged the iron. This weapon can fire ten arrows in succession; within a hundred paces, it can pierce through iron armor."

"This batch of goods will be exclusively supplied to the militia we are raising and training. The head of the household has secretly raised dozens of militiamen in the earth fort at his home; all are skilled, training daily to learn their abilities, waiting only for the right moment..."

Liu Liu's brows furrowed even tighter.

His gaze shifted from that row of crossbows to Du Shanü, lingered on her face for a moment, then returned to the crossbows.

His hand unconsciously clenched into a fist, his knuckles turning white, as if he were enduring something, or perhaps thinking of something.

Du Shanü had been watching him closely, catching every subtle change in his expression; her face remained calm, but her doubts grew deeper.

Sure enough, the next moment, Du Shanü heard that usually reticent man speak:

"This...... could it possibly break the armor of the northern border barbarians?"