Chapter 440: Who is Deceiving Whom

Huangpin could only answer truthfully: "I did not go there, I did not see it. We had too few people, and I was the only one who heard this news at the time. As soon as I showed my face, I would have been killed by the people of Huaxia immediately; I couldn't even bring back this bit of news."

Baoxi also understood what Huangpin's situation was like at the time. It was correct that he hadn't seen it; if he had said he was alone, had traveled that road the whole way, and had scouted out another city of Huaxia, Baoxi would have doubted the authenticity of it instead.

Originally, Baoxi had wanted to have it recorded and give Huangpin some rewards later, but looking at the pile of arrowheads in front of him, Baoxi threw one he was holding in his hand to Huangpin: "Take it. This counts as a reward for your scouting. All other treatment will be in accordance with the Great Commander's arrangements. I hope you continue to contribute to the Suiren tribe and conquer Huaxia soon. When that time comes, even the Long Sword of Huaxia can be awarded to you."

Huangpin acted as if he had obtained a supreme treasure—no, he truly had obtained a supreme treasure. He held the one arrowhead from the many he had offered up in his hands to thank the Tribal Chief. He hadn't kept a single one for himself; he had handed them all over because he knew that, at this moment, his life was far more important than Iron. If he had been discovered hiding an arrowhead, he would have been skinned alive even if he didn't die. But this one was a reward from the Tribal Chief; it truly belonged to him.

The other few Soldiers who had survived and returned did not receive any rewards because they were not worth it, but they were spared the fate of being treated as deserters on the spot. Now, they had even become Huangpin's close guards and confidants, and their standard of living and status had risen sharply. They no longer had to worry about starving to death in this Winter, nor did they need to return to their own desolate and impoverished Village.

Baoxi had someone summon the best Artisan of their Suiren tribe and told him to find a way to reforge this Iron into a Sword. With this many Iron Arrowheads, it was enough to forge a medium-length Sword.

Their Suiren tribe was not lacking in Artisans. There were quite a few Artisans who had been refining Bronze and forging Bronze Weaponry for the Suiren tribe throughout these eras. These people were the treasures of the Suiren tribe; even Baoxi would not easily entertain the thought of killing an Artisan. They could be considered the people Baoxi trusted most.

Afterward, he heard a Soldier report that the materials for making the thunder-startling Weapon were already prepared, and for this, they had even killed an ox. Baoxi wanted to go see for himself whether this Weapon could actually be made successfully.

Accompanied by the Soldiers, Baoxi arrived at the place where the Weapon was being made. There was a large stove and a large Pottery Jar, and the fire was already burning very brightly, but no one knew what to do next.

Huangpin had stated the ingredients, but they did not know how much to put in or in what order. Baoxi also regretted killing Wangzuo too early; he should have thought it through and asked clearly before killing him.

But things had reached this point, and they could only try slowly. There were plenty of the other ingredients, enough of them, but the Bronze powder was truly hard to come by. The amount needed for this one attempt was obtained only by grinding down a Bronze Axe. Even Baoxi felt a bit of heartache, and he also doubted whether this was real, because the cost was truly too high, yet the Weapons of Huaxia could be used so casually.

But thinking that Huaxia could even make Arrowheads out of Iron, perhaps they really were not lacking in this Bronze.

As things stood, Baoxi could only try first. Looking at the materials all over the ground, the Artisans did not move, waiting for Baoxi to issue instructions.

Baoxi thought that the ingredient used in the largest quantity in that Weapon was Sulfur, so he would put the Sulfur in first. However, the Sulfur was in whole chunks and did not quite fit the requirements for "boiling."

Just as the Artisans were about to put the Sulfur in, Baoxi stopped them again and said to pour the blood in first.

The Artisans had no choice but to pick up the blood, but they paused before pouring it, lest the Tribal Chief suddenly make another request that they would be too late to fulfill.

The blood was slowly poured into the Pottery Jar. In an instant, it emitted a charred, foul stench, causing Baoxi to involuntarily step back and move away, but the other Artisans had to stand by the side. The smoke that emerged made them wrinkle their noses and twist their facial features.

Fortunately, after a short while, the blood began to boil with a bubbling sound, and the foul stench gradually faded, though it was still very fishy.

Seeing the blood gradually become thick, Baoxi had people pour the Sulfur into it. But until the blood was almost congealed, the Sulfur remained as it was, without any change.

The attempt failed, so they changed the order again. They put the Sulfur in first. After continuous heating, the Sulfur actually melted slowly, which made Baoxi very excited; it seemed there was hope.

Until all the Sulfur turned into a liquid state, Baoxi then had people pour the remaining blood in. But as soon as the blood touched the Sulfur water, it immediately splashed everywhere, accompanied by an extremely unbearable, foul stench. Baoxi was far away and found it hard to endure, while the Soldiers beside the pot had already rolled and crawled to a distance to vomit. Their arms and faces were also scalded by the liquid that had splashed out.

Baoxi was somewhat angry, and with his rage having nowhere to vent, he couldn't be bothered to manage this place anymore. So, looking at the Artisans who were still vomiting, he loudly ordered them: "I don't care how you do it, you must try to make that Weapon for me! If the order is wrong, you adjust it until it is reasonable!"

Having said that, he left without looking back, because he was now barely able to suppress the things rising up inside him.

However, the experiment ended in complete failure one day later, because not only were all the materials wasted, but even those few Artisans died inexplicably; their skin had all turned black.

Baoxi now completely understood that he had been played by Wangzuo. The things he had given were not meant for making Weapons at all; he might have even known that doing so would kill people and waste their Bronze, which was why he had fabricated such a lie.

After receiving the news, Baoxi angrily swept everything off the table with his arm. Things shattered all over the floor, and he only felt slightly better after smashing a few more Pottery Jars.

To vent his anger, he immediately summoned Huangpin. Seeing the Tribal Chief's expression, Huangpin knew nothing good was coming, but he could only kneel on the ground and wait for orders.

"You will take a team of people now, in the capacity of an envoy, and deliver Wangzuo's head to Baifeng. You must make Baifeng see it with his own eyes. I want to see what kind of reaction he will have when he sees the person he went to such great lengths to send over being killed by me."

Upon hearing this, Huangpin felt numb. Although the rule was not to kill envoys, sending someone over to provoke them right after a great battle had ended—who knew if they would abide by this rule? He had finally managed to escape back, and now sending himself back—wasn't this just asking for death?