Chapter 76

Arakawa Ghost Village had become even more desolate.

Uesugi Toru walked along the empty street, howling loudly several times without seeing a single monster's shadow, and even releasing the Hundred-Eyed Demon's eyeballs to patrol a circle yielded the same result.

This ruined his plan to ruthlessly farm weak enemies and harvest Soul Ash.

Who knew what change had occurred, causing these originally ubiquitous monsters to vanish without a trace.

Uesugi Toru guessed perhaps something had gone wrong on the factory side — because ever since he entered, he hadn't heard the rumbling sound of machinery operating that he could hear every time before.

He just hoped the little guy hadn't disappeared along with them.

Following the route in his memory to the blacksmith shop, Uesugi Toru faintly heard the sound of forging coming from the machiya's backyard, sometimes crisp, sometimes dull.

Ding! Dong! Dong! Ding!

There was no one in the shop; he reckoned the forging sounds from the back were made by the little guy.

Uesugi Toru knocked on the threshold and said "I'm coming in," which counted as a greeting.

He walked into the nearly empty shop, searching for a good while before spotting the wooden door half-hidden in a dark corner.

Pushing open the wooden door, a narrow corridor came into view, with plants Uesugi Toru had never seen before growing on both sides.

Clear dewdrops continuously fell onto the top of each plant; who knew what miraculous technique achieved this.

Uesugi Toru touched a plant's leaf with his hand, and a prompt immediately popped up before his eyes —

【Essence Qi Grass】

【Quality: Excellent】

【Effect: Serves as substitute food for certain yaoguai that feed on heaven and earth qi, providing obvious satiety.】

【— Blacksmith improved hybrid Essence Qi Grass version 2.018, easier to raise, easier to grow.】

He glanced roughly; just these two patches beside the corridor held no fewer than a hundred Essence Qi Grass plants — was this the little guy's daily food?

This soil isn't fertile either.

Not touching someone else's crop field, Uesugi Toru followed the clearer forging sounds deeper inside.

Before long he had walked several dozen steps, and suddenly felt the view open up before him.

Then, Uesugi Toru froze at the backyard entrance.

"Ah?"

In the spacious backyard, a petite girl with muscles knotted all over her body was standing on a tall stool.

She wore a simple tank top, held half a stalk of Essence Qi Grass in her mouth, gripped a blacksmith's opening hammer, and was striking the fiery red gold ball on the anvil hammer by hammer.

The anvil seemed to have had its foundation driven deep into the ground long ago, so no matter what angle or force the girl used to strike, it did not budge at all.

Black-red kimono were neatly stacked beside the girl, and the blast furnace burning charcoal behind that kimono made the entire backyard feel as if it were in the heat of summer.

On the other side, three large vats were neatly arranged, seemingly corresponding to water quenching, oil quenching, and a quenching liquid Uesugi Toru did not recognize.

Perhaps forging had entered the most critical moment; the girl concentrated fully on chiseling the gold ball clamped in tongs with the opening hammer, not noticing Uesugi Toru's arrival and gaze at all.

This bizarre scene was truly somewhat beyond Uesugi Toru's expectations.

Uesugi Toru had completely not expected that the timid little guy when talking with him, after shedding his disguise, would actually turn out to be such a fierce woman.

And, she's a Zashiki-warashi, right?

Uesugi Toru shifted his gaze to that black-red kimono.

This clothing plus the two gold ball bells he saw at the ends of the other party's hair last time already explained the other party's identity well.

The Zashiki-warashi's fame, even a half-bucket like him who can only recognize common yokai, has heard it like thunder in his ears.

But in legend, isn't the Zashiki-warashi a yokai that brings good luck to people?

But this scene before his eyes... what's the situation?

The charcoal firelight reflected the girl's face bright red; glittering sweat flew scattering with each hammer strike, making Uesugi Toru almost unable to help shouting "Forty, forty"!

Making a little fortune god who can give people good luck learn forging, and she actually trained a pretty impressive musculature — the blacksmith really thought of it.

However —

Uesugi Toru turned the thought over: since the Zashiki-warashi can bring good luck to others, then the success rate during forging and the perfection of weapons after quenching can definitely be raised a lot compared to others, right?

Thinking like this, the Zashiki-warashi isn't a natural-born blacksmith!

Thinking of this, Uesugi Toru was filled with confidence in Kaga Kiyomitsu's strengthening to come.

"Hah — that counts as done!"

After water quenching, the Zashiki-warashi with her hair tied in a topknot wiped the sweat from her forehead and examined her new bell — accurately speaking, new gold ball — with satisfaction.

Because she disliked that the original bell was too light, would sway and make sound without having attack power, so she forged it into the current solid gold ball shaped like a bell.

This way, she would have one more unexpected weapon in the future.

Although it cost her hair, there was no helping it.

Teacher often taught her to prepare more self-defense means; in this world sometimes preparing a little more than others is one more life.

Zashiki-warashi believed this was absolutely correct; this was not only Teacher's teaching.

Not to mention anything else, just taking those Sengoku Daimyo and black-hearted Factory Masters, if you look easy to bully, those people will absolutely drag you off to battlefields and factories to be used as consumables without a second word.

After hanging the cooled gold ball back on her hair ends, she raised her head to look at the backyard entrance and the Zashiki-warashi froze.

She subconsciously wanted to follow muscle memory and reach for the handgun hidden in her kimono.

But the next moment she suddenly reacted, cried out "Wah" in alarm, and fell off the tall stool.

Uesugi Toru's eyes were quick and hands fast; he immediately mobilized Kiai Technique, leapt in a flying catch and scooped up the Zashiki-warashi.

— This one is the honored blacksmith Adult who will strengthen his weapon in a moment; how could he let her hands be injured?

"Wah ah!"

Zashiki-warashi cried out, and after carefully opening her eyes said timidly: "Long time no see... Banruo Xiansheng, you seem to have become even more imposing."

Uesugi Toru thought this feeling is so damn weird; just now Zashiki-warashi was forging with heroic spirit, how come the moment she sees an Outsider she doesn't dare speak?

Could it be that the common symptoms of social anxiety in Genjitsu have a tendency to spread to Chang Shi?

Never mind, these are all minor issues.

Carefully placing the zashiki-warashi down, Uesugi Toru held Kaga Kiyomitsu in his right hand, while his left hand took out two essences from his Storage Backpack.

"I came this time with a request—see if you can help me embed these two essences into it."

When it came to forging, the zashiki-warashi's round small face immediately turned serious, her originally timid tone disappearing: "Essence? Weapon strengthening? The one Teacher forged for Banruo Xiansheng?"

She extended her small hand without hesitation: "Can I see them all?"

"Naturally." Uesugi Toru handed everything over to the zashiki-warashi, "If the strengthening succeeds, you can make any conditions of me, as long as I can do them."

Saying this, Uesugi Toru paused, "By the way, what should I call you?"

"Just call me Zashiki."

The girl drew Kaga Kiyomitsu with some effort, carefully examining the blade and sword blade: "Teacher said that before I graduate, I am not worthy of having a unique name."

After a while, she sheathed her sword and said to Uesugi Toru, "Banruo Xiansheng, I have two vague strengthening plans; I don't know which one you would like to choose later."

End of Chapter