Chapter 526 - The Past
Chapter 526: The Past
Ni Yunhong nodded and explained, “Brother Ou, General Chen Yifan was ordered to come here. He said His Majesty wants to smith a magic tool, but the Superior Blacksmiths in the capital are helpless, so His Majesty wants to pool more useful opinions by calling up all blacksmiths to gather in the capital.”
Ou Yangming’s mouth twitched, and he thought, ‘What lame excuse is that…
‘In terms of the smithing of magic tools, who else in this world is better than me? The imperial family didn’t invite me, and they say they’re calling up all blacksmiths—this doesn’t sound reliable at all!’
He scoffed and questioned, “Brother Ni, did Old Man believe General Chen just like that? Didn’t you try to stop him?”
After staying with Old Craftsman for 2 years, he knew the old man might not be smart enough but could certainly spot the loophole. Besides, given the relationship between the 8 inherited aristocratic families, the Ni family could not have sent Old Craftsman to the capital.
Nonetheless, Ni Yunhong answered with a bitter smile, “Brother Ou, frankly speaking, all 3 of our great ancestors tried to make Old Craftsman stay, but he seemed to have made up his mind and insisted on going to the capital. We… Ah, none of the Supreme Great Ancestors in Changlong City dared to stop him!”
Ou Yangming furrowed his eyebrows. He did not suspect Ni Yunhong’s answer at all.
If Old Man was firm about entering the capital, not to mention the Ni family’s Three Great Ancestors, even all of the Supreme Great Ancestors in Changlong City together would not have the guts to stop him.
The ends of the 3 spirit insects could be seen outside the city. As bold as those people were, they dared not offend Ou Yangming and would not make things difficult for Old Craftsman.
At this point, Ou Yangming vaguely understood why no Supreme Great Ancestors welcomed him when he returned to the city. It was because the powerhouses were rather afraid because of the incident regarding Old Craftsman; they did not want to get into trouble. In actuality, based on how close the Ni family’s great ancestors and the young fellow were, they did not need to act like that at all. However, they did not show up because of Ni Yinghong; they needed to avoid arousing suspicion.
Ou Yangming asked after some thought, “What about Deng Xiyuan?”
Instead of addressing Deng Xiyuan as the governor, he simply uttered his full name this time. It was evident how terrible his mood was.
Ni Yunhong sneered. “That fella’s as timid as a mouse. He actually followed Old Craftsman to the capital.”
“What about General Li? Where is he?” Ou Yangming questioned in a deep voice.
“General Li Xinfan is still in the military camp; he didn’t leave.” Ni Yunhong sighed. “The general fought bravely in the vanguard against our enemies but in terms of rewards according to one’s contribution, he can’t compare with Governor Deng.”
Ou Yangming could not help but laugh. He was not as worried as before.
Although Old Craftsman was not in the city, he believed that the imperial family would not treat the old man impolitely as long as they were not beyond dumb. In other words, the old man’s life quality would likely improve greatly due to the imperial family. Needless to say, nobody could guarantee that Old Craftsman would be content with the sudden high-quality lifestyle.
The young fellow later nodded and said, “Brother Ni, please inform the three great ancestors that I’ll hurry to the capital because I’m too anxious, so I won’t visit them this time.”
“Elder Brother, please also let Great Ancestors know that I’ll be following Lil’ Ming there,” Ni Yinghong noted after a moment of hesitation.
Ni Yunhong nodded. Being a disciple from the Ni family, he naturally knew how influential Ou Yangming was. Perhaps people would denounce Ni Yinghong for not greeting the great ancestors, but if compared with trying to rope in the young fellow, her breach of etiquette was not worth mentioning at all.
Jiang Jiumei quietly watched as they conversed. Seeing as they reached a consensus, she was finally glad.
Since she acknowledged Ou Yangming as her older brother, she would treat him whole-heartedly. Nevertheless, Jiang Jiumei had also become as close as sisters with Ni Yinghong after spending a long time together. If Ou Yangming were to fall out with the Ni family, she would not know how to choose.
Fortunately, it seemed like there were no unresolvable issues between both parties.
After Ou Yangming bid his farewell, instead of going directly to the capital, he left the city and went to the military camp.
He had become so renowned that everyone in Changlong City knew who he was, and his reputation was also higher in the military camp. When the soldiers on duty noticed the young fellow, they saluted him sternly and treated him with sincere respect, which was evident through their attitudes and looks.
Ou Yangming did not relax at all; he responded to them with military salutations too.
Before long, Ou Yangming found Li Xinfan, who was the military’s commanding general. After experiencing the Humans’ disaster, the Supreme Great Ancestor seemed to have become steadier.
The general had greying temples, but his eyes were still as deep as the sea.
He grinned after seeing Ou Yangming. “When I heard Multi-armed King Kong, I knew you’re going to come to find me, Master Ou, but I wasn’t expecting you so soon.”
“General Li, I’m only here to ask you a question,” Ou Yangming said as he nodded.
“You’re going to ask how exactly we managed to convince Old Craftsman, am I right?” Li Xinfan asked with a smile.
Ou Yangming replied to him without any hesitation, “That’s right. Old Man doesn’t care about politics, but he’s aware of the discord between the imperial family and the aristocratic families from the 8 counties. Why did he choose to go to the capital at this time?” He stared with bright eyes at Li Xinfan. If the general was guilty or tried to hide something, he would not be able to escape the young fellow’s spiritual sense.
Li Xinfan sighed. “Master Ou, frankly speaking, we didn’t lure Old Craftsman at all; we only told him one thing.”
“What is it?” Ou Yangming raised his eyebrows.
“It’s a military order,” Li Xinfan uttered.
Ou Yangming had a cold look on his face as he questioned, “Did you coerce him with that?”
“Master Ou, please speak carefully. Military orders can’t be disobeyed, so how can they be associated with coercion at all?” Li Xinfan expressed proudly. His voice was sonorous as he asked, “You never got your military status, but you’ve stayed in the military for 2 years. Let me ask you—what does a military order mean?”
The young fellow took a deep breath. He did not say a word, but his face took on a ghastly expression.
Li Xinfan continued, “Master Ou, you’ve followed Old Craftsman for several years, and he has always regarded you as his child. I know you don’t want him to get involved in any disputes because you care for him, but do you know about his life experience?”
Ou Yangming was stunned, and he instantly fell silent.
Ever since Old Craftsman adopted him, he was sometimes beaten or scolded, but the old man’s love for him so that he would have a bright future was real.
On the other hand, Ou Yangming did not know much about Old Craftsman’s life.
Li Xinfan said with a grim look on his face, “When Old Craftsman was young, his parents died from illnesses, so he roamed about on his own. Without any skills, he could only beg on the streets and struggle on to prolong his life.”
Ou Yangming opened his mouth. His heart ached.
He had stayed with Old Craftsman a few years, but the old man only taught him how to read, educated him to be a better person, and passed on smithing art to him.
Old Craftsman never talked about his past. Each time Ou Yangming asked out of curiosity, the old man would snort and stare in anger and would pick up a broom to act like he wanted to hit the young fellow.
As dumb as Ou Yangming was, he knew after a few times that it was a taboo, thus he never raised the question anymore.
Even if he thought about secretly inquiring about the matter… Old Craftsman was the person with the oldest qualification in the Immense Forest Military Camp. He knew about the other people, but almost nobody knew about him.
Having said that, Ou Yangming knew Li Xinfan was not talking nonsense.
Given the imperial family’s abilities, they surely had plenty of ways to inquire about someone or something. In fact, they could also find out things unbeknownst to the person involved.
“Old Craftsman wandered to a town near the Immense Forest Military Camp, where he happened to meet a blacksmith from the camp,” Li Xinfan continued and sighed. “The blacksmith sympathized with him. Perhaps they were congenial, the blacksmith ended up taking him in and used his military merits of a lifetime to exchange a chance to obtain the Military Fire for him.”
Ou Yangming’s heart skipped a beat because he realized that his life experience was very similar to that of Old Craftsman.
“Master Ou, I know what you’re thinking, but it’s the truth. I suppose Old Craftsman adopted you from the town and used his military merits for a chance to gain the Military Fire because of his past experience, but…” Li Xinfan looked deeply at Ou Yangming and chuckled. “Your strange inheritance method seems to be stronger after each generation. After the old man attained the Military Fire, he cultivated hard and finally became successful late in his life, where he yielded unusually brilliant results in smithing art. Now that he even fathomed the integration of Heaven and man, his smithing skill is definitely not inferior to the Superior Blacksmiths from the capital.”
He added after a pause, “As for you, Master Ou, there’s no need for me to say much—none of the blacksmiths from the past generations in this dynasty is on par with you.”
Ou Yangming curled his lips and simply ignored the general’s flatters. “General Li, why are you telling me this?”
“I’m only telling you about Old Craftsman’s life experience,” Li Xinfan responded in a deep voice and continued with a grim look on his face, “Other than that, there’s something else I’d like to tell you.”
“Please go ahead, general.”
“When we told Old Craftsman that it’s a military order, he only uttered two words after making a thorough consideration.”
“What did he say?”
“He said—yes, sir.”
Ou Yangming was startled for a brief moment, then he mumbled, “Yes, sir.”
“That’s right. Honestly, even I didn’t think Old Craftsman would agree to go so easily.” Li Xinfan smiled bitterly, then he shook his head and sneered. “The Ni family’s Three Great Ancestors and the Supreme Great Ancestors tried to make him stay, but he was unmoved but their persuasion and insisted on accepting the order. Heh, their efforts were in vain.”
When Ou Yangming heard Li Xinfan ridicule the Ni family’s great ancestors and the Supreme Great Ancestors from Changlong City, he did not know to cry or to laugh.
He cupped his hands and said, “Thank you, General Li, I’ll bid my farewell.”
Li Xinfan asked, “Are you heading to the capital, Master Ou?”
“Yes.” Ou Yangming grinned. “I didn’t want to get involved in the trouble but since Old Craftsman went over, I can’t stay out of it anymore. General Li, I hope we’ll drink and chat merrily the next time we meet.”
With that, he flashed and disappeared.
Li Xinfan was left standing with a grave look on his face. He sighed after a long time and was speechless.