Shi Zhicheng tapped his foot. Even that simple movement conveyed a subtle malice.
"Why are you just standing there? You need to look them over, don't you?"
Tang Wulie glanced at Shi Zhicheng, then instead of examining the items Shi Zhicheng had brought, he went outside the forge and rummaged through the items displayed there.
A sword with rich red tassels and a blade with intricate patterns engraved on the handle commanded attention. But fancy decorations weren't what Tang Wulie was interested in.
Tang Wulie selected four items in total: two plain-looking practice swords, a blade that had been lying at the bottom with white dust settled between the guard and blade, and a short spear with a broken handle.
Tang Wulie leaned the four weapons against the wall.
"My eye isn't good enough to tell which of the items you brought were made by Master Shi. But among the items I looked at while waiting outside earlier, these four seemed the most excellent."
The reason Tang Wulie went outside the forge was simple.
All twenty swords that Shi Zhicheng had initially brought were made by Shi Zhicheng himself.
If Tang Wulie lacked the eye to distinguish quality, he would have struggled among the items Shi Zhicheng had made himself and picked up something barely different from the rest. Shi Zhicheng would have mocked that sight.
It was a trick that would catch almost anyone.
But there was one variable: Tang Wulie's discernment exceeded Shi Zhicheng's expectations.
'Now I'm certain.'
Even when he first came to the forge, he hadn't trusted his own eye.
His instincts told him he could trust himself, but reason held Tang Wulie back. 'Think about it logically. Learning forge work through dreams? Does that even make sense?'
But after coming to the forge and comparing numerous items, it became clear. He could distinctly tell not only which items were well-made, but even at what stage the flawed items had gone wrong.
Items where the temperature was too low because the bellows weren't worked enough during the heating stage, items that weren't hammered sufficiently during forging, items that were quenched too briefly.
He didn't need to examine them carefully. A quick glance, then flicking the blade surface with his finger to hear the sound was enough. This must be how a master feels when guiding an inadequate student.
"The items you brought were too similar to distinguish. But these looked somehow different, so I thought they might have been made by someone else's hands. I hope some of Master Shi's work is mixed in among these."
The content of his words was modest, but confidence showed in his expression. Tang Wulie looked at Shi Zhicheng with a relaxed expression.
In contrast, the smile disappeared from Shi Zhicheng's face.
Among the items displayed outside the forge, those four were all works made by the previous Master Shi.
'How on earth?'
After his father's retirement, quite a few people had visited the forge. But those items looked shabby on the outside, so no one had taken them.
If Tang Wulie had picked just one of them, he would have thought it was luck. If he'd brought two, he would have thought his eye was good.
But Tang Wulie had brought all four of Master Shi's works, as if their maker's names were engraved on them.
At this point, it went beyond whether to acknowledge Tang Wulie or not. Shi Zhicheng clenched his teeth hard.
'Is the difference really that great? Enough that some guy who's probably never seen anything but scrap metal in his life could tell at a glance?'
No. It was impossible.
He'd been going in and out of the forge for twenty years, but even Shi Zhicheng couldn't pick out those four so accurately.
While each person who made the same item might have slight differences, there were basic patterns.
'Are you claiming to be Ou Yezi of the State of Yue?'
There was no room for argument. This Tang Wulie fellow, at least his eye was certain.
But Shi Zhicheng didn't want to admit defeat. It was either the pride of a young blacksmith or pure stubbornness.
"...Right. I can see that you have a good eye. You might be even more talented than me."
"Hmm, it seems some of the previous master's work was mixed in."
"Just mixed in? All four are my father's work. That's remarkable discernment."
"I was just lucky."
Tang Wulie planned to finish the situation with appropriate modest remarks.
But Shi Zhicheng's words weren't over.
"With talent like yours, it would be ridiculous for me to swing a hammer. Even if I showed you all my skills, I couldn't make anything that would catch your eye. No, even if you searched all of Sichuan Province, you wouldn't find a blacksmith who could satisfy your standards."
Tang Wulie agreed with that opinion.
Even if he wore out his shoes searching, it would just be a process of finding less crude items, not obtaining needles to his liking. Tang Wulie's standards had become impossibly high.
Of course, the core of what Shi Zhicheng wanted to say wasn't praise for Tang Wulie's discernment. Shi Zhicheng went to a corner of the forge, brought a heavy hammer, and held it out to Tang Wulie.
"In that case, there's only one way to make something that meets your standards. You make what you want yourself."
Tang Wulie burst into laughter.
To use a doctor analogy, it was like a doctor telling a patient to self-diagnose, perform acupuncture on themselves, and even brew their own herbal medicine.
'He really wants to see me struggle.'
Some people are born with good eyes.
There are quite a few people who can offer a comment or two using their natural discernment. Even a blacksmith making things from scrap iron in the marketplace could probably offer a word of advice to the legendary blacksmith Ou Yezi.
But actually swinging a hammer was a different dimension altogether. Without experience, it was absolutely impossible to accomplish.
But Tang Wulie had no intention of refusing Shi Zhicheng's proposal. He was curious about how much he could accomplish and wanted to hold a hammer in his hands.
'Actually, there'd be nothing shameful about failing, right?'
Tang Wulie reached out and took the hammer. As he lifted the heavy hammer, his arm tilted slightly downward. Shi Zhicheng's expression visibly brightened.
"A bit heavy?"
"It's quite substantial."
"Everyone starts that way. If it seems too much, you can stop. I'll put more effort into making needles again. It'll still be lacking, but better than last time, right?"
"It's fine. How many chances will I get in life to try blacksmithing? This is an opportunity too, I suppose."
"Is that so?"
Tang Wulie crossed his arms and looked around the forge. Where should he start the work? Preprocessing iron ore? Refining?
However, Shi Zhicheng had no intention of dragging things out.
"Since you've picked up the hammer, let's start with forging."
His purpose was to see Tang Wulie fumble and make mistakes.
He apparently had no intention of wasting time teaching the entire slow shaping process. Just seeing the most dynamic mistakes in forging would be enough.
After swinging the hammer a few times, Tang Wulie would realize how arrogant his words had been.
Tang Wulie nodded and accepted Shi Zhicheng's proposal.
"Well, let's do that."
Tang Wulie threw firewood into the forge where the fire hadn't gone out. Then he put a piece of iron that had been cut to an appropriate size into the forge.
"That seems like a lot for making needles. Will that be okay?"
"This amount is just right."
Tang Wulie looked below the forge. A small hand bellows was prepared.
Hand bellows were troublesome but had their own charm. As Tang Wulie began working the bellows with a relaxed yet vigorous rhythm, the forge fire became much stronger.
Controlling the forge temperature was harder than it looked. If the temperature was too low, the iron wouldn't heat sufficiently, and if it was too high, the iron would warp during forging.
And to Shi Zhicheng's eyes, the forge temperature looked a bit high. As if it had a different purpose than forging.
When the iron had turned bright yellow and a little time had passed, Tang Wulie grabbed it with tongs and pulled it out.
"Please hold the tongs for me."
When Shi Zhicheng took the tongs and secured the iron, Tang Wulie used a chisel and hammer he'd somehow obtained to cut through the middle of the iron. It was a sudden action, but his hand movements were skilled and natural.
"Why all of a sudden?"
"With one piece, I'm just thinking of doing some simple practice."
Tang Wulie took back the tongs, secured the iron with his left hand, and brought down the hammer in his right hand.
Clang!
The first hammer blow is always spectacular. Impurities stuck from the forge fly out in all directions like fireworks.
The sight is quite threatening and hot too, so beginners typically get scared and step back.
But Tang Wulie paid no attention and swung his hammer. Sparks flew out in all directions several times before soon dying down.
After just a few swings, his shoulders felt heavy and pain surged through his grip.
Tang Wulie had the memories and knowledge of a blacksmith, but his body couldn't keep up with the knowledge.
Clang, clang!
Still, it was good. He swung the hammer without rest. A blacksmith must not miss when the iron is at its hottest.
While Tang Wulie focused on his work, Shi Zhicheng stood a step away, staring at Tang Wulie in a daze.
The moment the hammer first touched the iron, any thought of mocking Tang Wulie completely disappeared.
There wasn't a single crude aspect. As natural a sight as Shi Zhicheng's father.
His left arm holding the tongs stayed firmly against his waist, solidly securing the iron, while his right arm holding the hammer traced a clean trajectory as it struck the iron. He looked like a blacksmith who'd been hammering iron his whole life, not a doctor.
That wasn't even all of it.
'The sound is different.'
Instead of the ear-piercing noise typical of most blacksmiths' hammering, it sounded like striking a musical instrument.
Both the interval and volume of the sounds were consistent. If the sound had been just a little clearer, wouldn't it have felt like the sound of stone chimes?
Shi Zhicheng recalled his first hammering.
He reflexively dodged sparks and dropped the iron. While focusing on the hammer, his left hand lost strength and he dropped the tongs.
He couldn't keep the hammer level. Hammering the iron with a tilted hammer created dented marks. Sometimes his aim was off and he hit the anvil instead of the iron.
Even so, his father had a satisfied expression. The reason was that Shi Zhicheng's attitude was serious and he learned faster than other children.
'I wasn't even at that level.'
As if he knew nothing of trial and error, Tang Wulie hammered the iron with mechanical movements.
To proceed with forging work alone, you'd need to put the iron into the fire three or four times to shape it properly.
But the iron in Tang Wulie's tongs was already taking the form of a short blade. His strength wasn't sufficient, but it was possible because his movements were precise with not a single unnecessary motion.
Tang Wulie's right hand grip was badly torn and bleeding. Blood ran down his forearm, dripping from his elbow. It must be extremely painful.
But Tang Wulie stared at the iron with burning eyes as if he knew nothing of pain. His expression showed only pleasure, not pain.
However, his shoulder movements had definitely become sluggish.
Right. He was struggling with even that level of hammering. Anyone could see he'd clearly never done blacksmith work before.
'How can he be like that?'
Before long, Tang Wulie had put the blade into the water basin. With a hissing sound, water droplets splashed up and steam rose hazily. When he pulled out the blade again after a moment, a dark and blunt dagger blade was visible.
There was no need to touch it. Having watched the making process, he knew.
Not only was the form perfect, but the center of gravity was excellently balanced too.
Shi Zhicheng held his breath and watched Tang Wulie's fingertips.
His heart was pounding. Show me the next process.
Show me hammering it a couple more times, quenching, tempering, and sharpening the blade. Whether you'll make the blade octagonal or square.
Show me making the sword handle too, and the process of making the scabbard.
At this moment, pride wasn't important to Shi Zhicheng.
He was a blacksmith who wanted to advance even one more step, before being a proud young man.
But contrary to Shi Zhicheng's hopes, Tang Wulie didn't put the sword into the forge.
"Brother Shi."
"Huh? Yeah."
"Please melt this down again."
"Melt it down?"
"Yes. It's just for practice, isn't it? We can't waste precious iron."
Shi Zhicheng couldn't bring himself to answer. He felt somehow wronged.
Throw it away? That process of making something to throw away?
No, that's not right. If you start something, you should see it through. You should show me what kind of item gets made. You should show me the vision of the finished product in your head.
But Tang Wulie couldn't know Shi Zhicheng's thoughts. Tang Wulie roughly put the dagger blade aside in a corner. Shi Zhicheng couldn't continue speaking due to his disappointment.
'Should I ask him to finish it? No, he might mock me. But if not now, there might not be another chance...'
While Shi Zhicheng was conflicted, Tang Wulie began pushing and pulling the bellows handle again. As the bellows expelled wind, the forge fire became strong again.
Tang Wulie grabbed the other half of the iron he'd cut earlier with tongs and put it into the forge.
Only then did Shi Zhicheng come to his senses.
"...What are you trying to do now?"
"I've roughly warmed up my shoulders, so now I need to make the needles."