Go ahead. You may congratulate me now. Seriously, I'll wait. What I just accomplished wasn't something nearly as easy as it probably looked from the outside. A bunch of complete newbie cultivators going up against the experienced king of a town which is the literal primary source of high-end weapons throughout the region and actually winning? That's an achievement which honestly requires a solid twenty-hour standing ovation from the whole damn town, minimum. But hey, I'm far too humble of a man to actually demand it. I'll just accept it graciously when it inevitably comes.
We carefully took the dazed King Cangyuan into a nearby building for privacy, sat him down on a comfortable chair, gave him some refreshing water to drink, and let him slowly come back to his proper senses.
Qinyue firmly ordered the curious crowd to stay outside and give us space. We were about to discuss some highly classified top secret information, after all. Things that regular civilians probably shouldn't hear. Although, we did let Han stay inside with us. I honestly don't even know why we made that decision. I really shouldn't be trusting someone that quickly, but the dude was just so chill, you couldn't help but trust him.
Let me break the ice for you since you've been patiently waiting so long to find out. What exactly were in those mysterious boxes which had to be kept a secret so desperately? Well, it was Mingchen Tie, also called the Iron of the Dark Dust in some ancient texts. It's an extremely powerful and rare metal which is primarily used to forge high-quality weapons of exceptional strength and durability.
As for the fascinating origins of the metal itself, a long, long time ago there took place an absolutely legendary battle between several immortal cultivators at the peak of their powers. Who won the epic battle, you ask? Funny thing, no one. Literally all of them died at the hands of each other in complete mutual destruction. Haha, talk about cosmic comedy and bitter irony.
Anyway, this incredibly powerful metal is actually taken from the ashes and remains of those fallen immortals. Some spooky trivia about the metal for you: with the right skilled user, the weapons forged from this material can actually become sentient and develop their own consciousness. Crazy to think about, right? I mean, you're on your way to kill some guy and suddenly your sword's got opinions about your life choices. Kind of annoying if you ask me.
Now you might be wondering why I'm stupid enough to have told you earlier that Ironbell was the famous town of weapons manufacturing, but they somehow still gotta bring in the source material from outside. But you see, this specific metal isn't naturally found here in this region. Due to its extreme rarity and the circumstances of its creation, it absolutely has to be imported from distant locations.
Besides, the local smiths usually only use this premium material for high-end client requests for special custom weapons. In such normal cases, just a few small crates of the stuff would be more than enough to fulfill orders. But they've been bringing in literal ship loads of the material from the past month straight. Someone's clearly preparing for a battle. A huge and extremely important one.
"I apologize deeply, King Cangyuan," Han said sincerely as he bowed down before the king with genuine respect.
The king just shook his head wearily, waving off the apology. "It's alright. It's perfectly alright. I don't even remember what exactly happened during all this. This whole situation is very confusing and disorienting to me."
"I knew there was something terribly wrong, King Cangyuan," Han said earnestly. "You wouldn't just turn on us without good reason. That's not who you are."
"Yeah, well, I did turn on you," the King said sadly as he looked around at all of us gathered there. "Even if it was unconsciously and against my will, I'm still not proud of my actions at all. All of you must accept my sincere apology."
"Please don't mention it," Han said as he bowed deeper.
"Although I must say, it is extremely impressive that you were able to take me down in combat," the king nodded.
"Thank you, King Cangyuan," I replied humbly, though I couldn't resist adding, "I mean, taking you down was indeed a very difficult task. If not for my quick thinking and brilliant strategic planning, we'd probably all be dead by now."
Jian immediately shot me an annoyed look. "Yeah, well, if I hadn't improvised on the spot and created that protective barrier around us, a sizable number of innocent civilians would've been dead from collateral damage."
Liangyu shot a look to both Jian and me, so I don't feel left out. "I mean, not to brag or anything here, but if I hadn't delivered that finishing blow at the perfect moment, the king would've still been under the direct influence of whoever he was under the influence of."
Jian narrowed his eyes competitively. "Meh, if it wasn't you, I would've taken that strike myself. It wasn't really that big of a deal."
"Maybe you would've, if you weren't so busy literally dying of complete exhaustion at the time," Liangyu replied with a smirk.
"Exhaustion?! Haha! Look who's talking. I'm not the one who desperately chugged down three full glasses of water the second we got here."
"I only drank so much because the water tasted delicious!"
"Oh, did it now?."
"You-"
"Guys!" Qinyue interrupted firmly. "Shut up! Both of you! We're in the literal presence of royalty right now! Show some damn respect!"
Liangyu and Jian immediately apologized, looking slightly embarrassed.
"It's quite alright, I'm genuinely not bothered by it," the king replied with a small smile. "Your bickering actually reminds me of my own youth with my brothers in battle."
I let out a breath and began asking the important questions. "So, King Cangyuan, could you please tell us about the situation you've gotten into? And what's the very last thing you clearly remember? Please don't leave out any details, no matter how small."
He was lost in deep thought for a few long moments, clearly trying to piece together fragmented memories, before he finally began speaking. "It was a few weeks ago. I don't remember the exact date, but it wasn't anything particularly special, just a completely regular day. I finished my usual administrative work, had dinner with some advisors, walked around the palace gardens for a while to clear my head, and then went to my bedroom to sleep. Usually, Li Xue is there waiting for me every night. But this specific time, she wasn't there. I just assumed she was busy with some work or visiting family. I was too sleepy to think much about it, so I just changed my clothes and went to sleep.
At around midnight, I suddenly woke up to some distinct footsteps in my room. I looked around carefully and there was no one visible in the room. The windows though, were wide open. Suspecting something was seriously wrong, I slowly began to reach for the hidden blade under my pillow.
'That's some impressively sharp hearing you have,' said a voice from directly behind me.
I spun around and there I could see a man standing at the far end of the room, near the door. He was fully covered in dark cloth from head to toe, even his entire face was concealed.
'Who are you?' I demanded.
'It doesn't matter who I am,' he replied calmly. 'What matters is what you'll do for me, and what you'll get in return for your cooperation.'
He approached me slowly and limping badly, clearly injured.
I could then get a clear look at his eyes through the mask. It looked like he had been through some serious physical hardship. He was exhausted to the point of nearly fainting, but somehow still kept his posture upright.
He chanted something in a language I didn't recognize, created some kind of thick fog in the room, and all of a sudden, I could see Li Xue appearing in front of me, all tied up tightly and unconscious.
I got immediately angry and stood up from my bed. 'What did you do to her?!' I demanded.
'Nothing yet,' he replied coldly. 'But I will, if you don't do exactly what I tell you to.'
Maybe I should've attacked him right then and there. Maybe what he showed me was just a clever lie, some kind of illusion to manipulate me. But I didn't want to take that risk with Li Xue's life. So I did as he told me.
He pulled out a small potion from his robes and told me to drink it. And that's the very last thing I clearly remember.
I vaguely do seem to remember a few things after that, but only like fragmented dreams. Like passing strange orders to soldiers, meeting someone important. Maybe a young girl? But... I honestly don't know. It's all very foggy and unclear.
I don't know what exactly I did while under his control, but from the terrible looks of it, it seems like I've made serious mistakes I cannot take back. I put my own wife at a higher priority than the people who trust me to lead them, and look where it's gotten me now."
With that heavy admission, he began weeping quietly. "I'm sorry. I didn't see another way out."
"It's alright, King Cangyuan," Han replied gently. "Anybody in your place would've done the same thing."
I could see the answers to our questions clearly now. Well, not so much as to who exactly this mystery man was or where he came from, but at least it was definitively confirmed that the king had been manipulated and controlled by someone dangerous.
Some kind of battle-damaged guy capable of advanced mind control magic, hoarding massive amounts of Mingchen Tie, and forcing a master healer to help him recover and get back on his feet. It had been almost a full month since all of this started happening. God only knows how much he had already been healed in that time.
We were up against someone very clever and powerful, and it would definitely take extensive planning and preparation to take him down successfully. But hey, thank God Ironbell had me on their side. No need to applaud me just yet. But soon.