Chapter 38: Preparations to Leave the City

"Qiu Da has left; he must be going to the other families to demand the people."

Yue Yue Yunjin walked briskly into the courtyard, not forgetting to close the door.

The families inside and outside the walls of Gao Liu County already had the responsibility to cooperate with the county government office in hunting down criminals; they could not decline, and naturally, the other families could not decline either.

"Hmm."

Tang Tong sat upright in a large armchair, holding a teacup, and leisurely surveyed the ten apprentices in the courtyard:

"What, none of you are willing to go?"

Li Yuan glanced from the corner of his eye; the group of apprentices all had their heads down, clearly unwilling to go, yet no one dared to speak.

Yue Yue Yunjin still cupped his fist in salute:

"Master, we few don't mind, but Junior Brother Li has only been practicing martial arts for about seven or eight months. Is it too early to go out and gain experience now?"

"What is early, and what is late? When you walk the Jianghu in the future, will enemies give you a pass because of this?"

Tang Tong snorted coldly and set down his teacup:

"Practicing martial arts has never been about mere arduous cultivation; the Shi Da Fa cannot be perfected just by striking practice dummies."

"To practice martial arts, one must have courage!"

Whoosh!

Tang Tong rose, raised a hand and slapped; his wind-filled wide sleeve swept past the faces of the apprentices.

Li Yuan felt a flash before his eyes; the forceful wind made his face sting, and he instinctively closed his eyes and stepped back. The other apprentices also cried out and retreated in shock; not a single one could react in time.

"Close your eyes? If you close your eyes, I won't hit you? If you really close your eyes when fighting someone, that single strike could take your lives!"

Tang Tong stood on the steps, looking down at the crowd, his eyes sharp as an eagle's:

"For those who practice martial arts, what is the core? The Zhao Shi Da Fa? Breathing methods? Training methods? Stance cultivation? No. Courage is the true core!"

The apprentices were scolded so severely they could not lift their heads. Li Yuan's heart raced; when Tang Tong's large hand reached for his face, his mind went completely blank, and he forgot every single Zhao Shi Da Fa completely.

"Have courage..."

Li Yuan pondered thoughtfully.

"If you fear this and fear that, just go home and farm; what martial arts are you practicing?!"

Tang Tong shouted the reprimand loudly.

The apprentices quickly admitted their faults, their faces flushed red with shame, and no one said they wouldn't go again.

"Wu Ming, take them to the warehouse to collect weapons. Yue Yunjin, you stay!"

Hearing this, the apprentices all took their leave, feeling somewhat relieved; Tang Tong, with his aura fully unleashed, was truly terrifying.

"Master, I understand!"

Yue Yue Yunjin bowed deeply:

"You were right not to let me join my senior brothers on the 'city-exit mountain sweep' before. Although my hammer technique is perfected, I am not as capable and decisive as my senior brothers..."

"You understand nothing!"

Tang Tong glared at him, his voice dropping:

"That year, Nine attacked Qiu Da but failed; Qiu Long pierced his heart and lungs with a single move. Even if he survived by luck, he was mostly crippled. A tiger on its deathbed, with us blocking the way in front, what are you afraid of?"

"Ah?"

Yue Yue Yunjin was stunned: "You..."

"This old man must travel with Qiu Long; I fear I will have no time to look after you."

Tang Tong sat down, picked up his teacup again, and squinted at Yue Yue Yunjin:

"Your Junior Brother Li's talent is not bad, but after all, he has practiced martial arts for not long. During this city exit, you must pay special attention to caring for him..."

Yue Yue Yunjin's breathing grew slightly heavy; he clasped his fist and lowered his head:

"Disciple has noted it."

The White Ape Cloak Hammer has a distinction between the Shi Da Fa and the training method.

Hammers also have distinctions between training hammers, forging hammers, and weapon hammers; weapon hammers are further divided into long-handled hammers, short-handled hammers, chain hammers, and so on.

A true weapon hammer is not a wooden handle plus a hammerhead; it is made entirely of fine steel, over one meter long, with a fist-sized hammerhead, weighing over twenty jin; ordinary apprentices simply cannot wield it.

"Weapon hammers are true deadly weapons. With our strength and hammer technique, one strike can kill a wild ox; replace it with a human, hmm..."

In the warehouse, Wu Ming pointed at the weapon rack, signaling the junior brothers to choose.

As one of only three senior brothers in the inner courtyard whose hammer technique is perfected, Wu Ming's physique could rank in the top three among people Li Yuan had ever seen; nearly one meter ninety tall, powerful and strong.

First is naturally Qin Xiong.

The apprentices were clearly very familiar and chose on their own.

Wu Ming picked up a hammer as thick as an arm, weighed it, and when he saw Li Yuan pick up a long hammer, his eyelid twitched involuntarily:

"Junior Brother Li, your blood qi is slightly weak; it is best to choose something lighter. Something too heavy is easy to injure yourself with."

"Thank you, Senior Brother, for the reminder."

Li Yuan held the weapon hammer upright; it was almost as high as his eyebrows. The hammerhead was very small, and the shaft was not thick, but the weight was probably around thirty jin:

"I think this hammer is very good; it feels very natural in my hand."

This hammer was indeed very good.

Over the past few months, Li Yuan had entered and exited the warehouse many times; he knew the weapons in the entire warehouse as well as his own family treasures. This hammer could certainly rank in the top five among weapon hammers.

【Long-Handled Melon Hammer (Tier One)】

【Forged from a mixture of black gold and refined copper; immense power and weight...】

【Mastery Condition: Hammer Technique Small Perfection】

【Mastery Effect: Rooted to the Ground, Immense Power and Weight, Breaks Through External Hardening Armor】

There were plenty of hammers in the armory—quite a few first-tier ones, and three second-tier ones as well—but Li Yuan still chose this one. For one, this hammer had to be returned after use; he couldn't keep it under his control.

For another, those other hammers were far heavier than this one, and besides, this one had a long handle.

"This…"

Wu Ming frowned slightly, but couldn't be bothered to care: "Then suit yourself."

The other apprentices exchanged glances, their expressions subtly shifting.

When it came to weapons, heavier wasn't necessarily better.

"Once you've picked, register it in the ledger. Bring it back when you return to the city. If you lose it, at least two years' monthly wages will be docked from you!"

Coming out of the armory, Wu Ming and the others dispersed to prepare for leaving the city the next day.

"Junior Brother Li, why did you pick one so heavy?"

The armory guard Wang Hu frowned slightly:

"This hammer is certainly powerful, but how many swings can you actually manage? Carrying it on the road would tire a man to death! I won't register it yet—go swap it for another one right now…"

"Thanks for the warning, Brother Hu, but I'm just tagging along for the trip. I won't even need to fight, so whether it's a bit lighter or heavier doesn't really matter."

Li Yuan smiled, thanked Wang Hu, and went off to prepare for leaving the city the next day.

Along the way, he stopped by to let Zhang Ben know.

Regarding his leaving the city, Zhang Ben had no objections—he just stuffed a bottle of wound medicine into his hand, told him to be careful on the road, and to run when he should.

"Nian Jiu…"

In the small courtyard, after asking Liu Qing to buy a few things on his behalf, Li Yuan stood holding the hammer, familiarizing himself with this newly acquired weapon.

Hammer weapons followed the path of using force to injure—tremendous power and heavy momentum.

They were best at breaking armor; even an internal-force martial artist who took one hit would suffer broken tendons, fractured bones, and internal bleeding—a true great killing weapon.

Better to take a blade than a hammer—that was the reasoning behind it.

"The feel is vastly different from a forging hammer, but it suits the Soldier's Dao Combat-Slaying Hammer even better?"

Stroking the hammer's body lightly, Li Yuan found it quite comfortable.

With the combined boost of Hundred Weapons Familiarity, Long Weapons Mastery, Weapon Talent, and a perfected-tier hammer technique, he picked it up quickly, and before long was utterly immersed.

Sun Fatty, who had lost a great deal of weight, watched with twitching eyelids, his heart going weak.

"This kid couldn't have already reached Great Completion, could he?"

……

……

Nothing to say about the night. The next day, Li Yuan didn't get up early to practice; he packed his bags early on—mainly just a bit of dry rations and some copper coins.

"Pills have all gone up in price. A bottle of Zeng Xue Dan costs six taels of silver now—one bottle is about Second Brother's monthly wages. The poor study, the rich martial—how true that is."

Clutching the Zeng Xue Dan he'd just bought, Li Yuan felt a pang of heartache.

The silver he earned from blacksmithing wasn't enough to get by. After not leaving the house for months, his debts had hit a new high—fully fifty-three taels, plus one tael of gold.

Sun Fatty's savings had been nearly half emptied by him; no matter what, Fatty refused to lend any more.

"This time back in Huicheng, I need to find a way to offload those few pearls. Mm, I also need to find a way to make money. Borrowing to practice martial arts isn't a long-term plan, and I need to start paying Fatty back too…"

Li Yuan felt bitter inside, thinking he was like a college student back in his previous life shouldering a loan—hadn't even graduated, yet already had to prepare to repay debts.

"Li Yuan, get ready to set out!"

From outside the door, Wu Ming's voice rang out.

Straightening his clothes, Li Yuan drew a deep breath and pushed the door open:

"Coming!"

(End of chapter)