Time passes quickly.

After forging for several hours, Elder Zhang observed the various weapon constructions in the blacksmith shop, walking back and forth among the small teams, occasionally offering guidance.

These painting cards, dog-tail weapons, do indeed have some tricks.

But the craftsmanship is too rough.

They rely on the advantage of Demon Beast material's Divine Techniques; otherwise, they wouldn't stand a chance in today's fiercely competitive weapon market.

"Here, hit it like this, light and heavy."

"The rhythm, yes, match it with your breathing, breathing is the most important."

"Every excellent blacksmith is a master of drumbeats, a great musician."

"Forging an excellent weapon is like playing a perfectly fluent and beautiful melody!"

"There are too many cluttered noises here; anyone can tell it won't work."

Elder Zhang constantly pointed out issues, even stepping in himself.

As if the horrific scene he saw before was all a hallucination.

Of course, even with doubts in his heart, what could he do?

After Divine Summoning, his remaining soul was rapidly dissipating; within a few hours it estimated he'd burn through all his life.

These things were no longer important.

At the end of his life, he just wanted to forge well, appease his cravings, and teach some people, finishing in Perfection.

Time moved from noon to dusk, as the sky gradually grew dim.

"Elder, what do you think of this painting card?"

At dinner time, Jiucai Rong couldn't help but step out.

Elder Zhang put down the hammer, wiped the sweat from his brow, recalling the forging process of the painting card:

"Hmm, evident that you are good at summarizing patterns, documenting materials and data in notebooks, conducting those comparative experiments you mentioned, progressing quickly."

Before his demise, Elder Zhang's heart felt awe at these people's purity.

They endlessly spewed terms like "upgrading," "sharing experience," "cooperation for mutual success," zealously driving their technical advancements.

Note.

In similar blacksmith sub-professions, many little techniques and secrets aren't easily shared with others.

Even within family blacksmith shops, it's divided into branches, each forging independently, secrets passed only to direct descendants.

Yet these people seemed without any wariness.

And it was this forging mode that allowed them to research at an extraordinary pace.

At least, with the one or two Magical Artifacts in the low-tier blacksmithing realm, they are extremely solid, and with my help refining some little details and flaws, I believe they will completely master these two weapons within a few days.

At this moment, Su Yuniang ran in from outside:

"Senior, please join our dinner gathering where we'll also bid you farewell."

Elder Zhang paused and then nodded, "Since it is so, I shall dine with you in my final moment!"

Soon.

A group of people sat around the bonfire, singing and dancing.

Joyful laughter never ceased.

Elder Zhang watched this lively scene and smiled in relief.

He found seeing such energetic blacksmiths before departure to be a pleasant affair.

"Sir, what do you think of us?" Amid the flickering firelight, the Food God served the dishes.

Elder Zhang thought for a moment, "Hardworking, diligent, studious, and most importantly, eyes still shine with dreams; these are core elements of success for a team."

"Senior, you don't have to praise them so much; they'll get arrogant." The Medical Fairy giggled playfully.

"Nonsense, we are strong, okay!" A blacksmith fumed, "We aim to become the number one Forging Manor in the world! Paving the way for humanity!"

The Medical Fairy countered, "Strong my foot, low-tier Magical Artifact has been researched for so long, and still the same. The only option is to summon Divine Techniques."

Elder Zhang just quietly watched them exchange banter, laughing and scolding.

He actually had an inkling of the painting card's forging process, what exactly "Water Army" was.

It's people.

This manor indeed had issues.

According to common sense, even high-tier blacksmiths from the Zhang Family couldn't identify Water Army's background, how could Elder Zhang, a weaker blacksmith's remaining soul, possibly discern it?

But he witnessed that Water Army forging in the blacksmith shop with his own eyes.

Once connected.

It was clear that Water Army was what Demon Cultivator called "two-legged sheep," living ginseng.

Yet looking at this group of cheerful people, he couldn't associate it with such a horrible matter.

He felt his memory growing more blurred. In his dying moment, he suddenly asked, "Water Army, why do you do this?"

Around the table eating, boasting blacksmiths, their expressions suddenly stiffened.

Indeed, it was guessed.

In the tense atmosphere, Shao Chaikun stepped forward, pointing to the mountain below: "Did you see the bonfire down there?"

Elder Zhang gazed at it.

It was a huge wall.

The bonfire lit up, with a group of women dancing gracefully and beautifully on the other side.

"Those are our wives."

Shao Chaikun narrated a beautiful love story.

In this remote village, villagers have lived bearing simplicity for hundreds of years, leaving doors open at night, faith and honesty.

They studied and trained in the school on the mountain, protecting the manor.

And the women at the mountain foot took a non-professional forging route, as a special painter, painting landscapes, selling them.

But one day, the Ghost Disaster struck, war flames surrounded this land, pitiful roars, angry shouts, endlessly echoed.

Shao Chaikun's face showed bitterness, "As you see, they have become ghosts."

"In that Ghost Disaster, the manor's warriors did not protect them..."

Shao Chaikun reached this point, already shedding tears, wailing loudly:

"Now, they still gaze from the mountain below."

"In helplessness, we can only temporarily become blacksmiths, using their bones to forge painting cards."

"The painting cards are what we've only recently studied and begun forging, leaving their bones with traces in this world."

"They loved painting; whenever writing with the painting cards forged with their bones, it recalls them."

"Furthermore, to better forge their painting cards, leaving traces of them in the world, we spared no expense, using five thousand Magic Coins, to buy a Divine Summoning Plaque, urgently learning forging memory."

"So, you came..."

Shao Chaikun's voice gradually choked,

"Sorry, we never meant to deceive you, we never harmed anyone, we only hurt ourselves, just wishing to keep our loved ones."

Elder Zhang relaxes his thoughts.

Indeed, their forging time was absolutely not long.

From their hands' calluses and reflexes, it was apparent, they were newcomers.

Definitely less than half a year.

But now thinking, perhaps truly less than two months.

But achieving such memory level in two months, it was imaginable how diligent and dedicated they were.

Fearing that every day feels like this effort, enduring monotony.

Elder Zhang watched the dance below the mountain, dazzling and magnificent, inexplicably rising a sense of poignant beauty, unable to resist imagining what kind of scene it was.

On the mountain, a group of blacksmiths was forging; down the mountain, women washed, cooked, and waited; children chased, played, read books, and took walks.

Even now.

They still think about the husbands on the mountain, who dance for them every night, gaze at the scholars reading on the mountain, maintaining their daily life before they die.

This is a group of infatuated people.

They dance daily in the bonfire parties down the mountain.

—That's their will for them, also a love letter.

Elder Zhang looked at the dance below the mountain, sighed:

"Enough, enough, I won't ask about this anymore... Unexpectedly witnessing your story before leaving, is also an interesting affair."

He is actually very clever.

Pretending to agree, casually pointing out, fulfilling his wish before leaving, forging iron, enjoying himself a bit.

Afterward, he leaves this world without transmitting memory fragments to the person summoning the god.

Divine summoning requires compatibility.

Resisting himself, the other party won't get many forging fragments.

His original intention was not to help these vile, twisted scum, Demon Cultivators.

But now, he misunderstood them.

It's a group of infatuated men on the manor.

"Sorry."

Elder Zhang apologized for uncovering the other's scars.

"It's okay." Shao Chaikun softly said: "In the world, what is love, that makes life and death promise each other?"

"Today, let's drink to our heart's content." Mudworker boldly toasted.

"Then let's drink!"

Elder Zhang no longer asked, in one's final moments, why bother to care so much?

He drank heartily, ate heartily, also released his heart mind, no longer concealed some tricks, patiently taught and communicated with the blacksmiths.

The blacksmiths also talked about the past, from their younger days.

"Thinking of the past, how I was so in sync with my beloved partner..."

"Unfortunately, a demon beast named River Crab stopped me and my beloved from being together on the same day. To this day, after being married for a long time, we still cannot be close."

"Bitter it is, destiny it is."

"Alas, River Crab, our local demon beast, truly vicious."

...

Both sides drank heavily, the food and idle chat dispersed the gaps.

"A trumpet came from the east, a fool came from the west~"

Someone improvised a song in the distance, beating a rhythm, singing and jumping, quite amusing.

Wow!

The bonfire burns, sparking stars, warming the people under the winter night.

Strong liquor down the throat, under the firelight, the common human emotions brought both sides closer.

There were also beautiful young girls standing high up, with clear and poignant voices humming unknown local ballads, recounting experiences, warming the hearts of people in this warm winter night.

"Outside the pavilion, beside the ancient road, green grass connects to the sky."

"Evening wind caresses the willows, the sound of the flute fades, the sunset beyond the mountain."

"At the end of the sky, at the corners of the earth, half of the acquaintances have fallen."

"A pot of turbid wine exhausts remaining joys, tonight's farewell dreams are cold."

...

With the melodious and winding singing, Elder Zhang drank until his memory grew increasingly blurred, recalling the past after a long time.

Inexplicably recalling his love and hatred with the woman from his youth, the dreams of forging, high spirits, until now, three thousand years later...

Looking at this group of young people, he felt inexplicably empathetic.

His memory gradually blurred, drinking red-faced, completely disappearing, mumbling the last sentence:

"Don't be discouraged."

"This land is full of graves, living and dying parting with loved ones often happens."

"Witnessing your moving story before my death is also a fate..."

Wow.

He fell into the snow, gazing at the starry night sky, remembering gradually fading.

Vaguely seeing a pair of hands swaying before his eyes, seemingly testing his vision, and hearing voices by his ear.

"Senior, can you hear? Can you hear?"

"Guess it's settled."

"Scared me, thought the other side would resist, resist memory inheritance..."

"Heh, he really believed it."

"Ancestor, have a good journey."

"Ancestor, farewell."

"This time, fortunately we performed on the spot, let him lower his guard, spoke a wave of benevolent lies, let him go... Daojiu should be able to accept over 30% of the forging memory."

"At least it's an A-level clearance, right?"

"Tch, wasn't I already prepared with this story of up the mountain and down the mountain? This actually came in handy, success always favors those who are prepared."

Elder Zhang's voice grew increasingly faint, fragmented, like a demon's whisper, murmuring in his dying moments.

"Hmm, the sentimental script didn't work for Zhang Huaping, used it on this one, and the effect looks good."

"Bah, was it your Shao Chaikun's effort, it was my Food God's effort, if I hadn't put Corpse-Colored Mushroom in his wine, would he be so easily mentally confused, moved, and believed our deceit?"

"Hahaha."

"Hehehe."

"Heeheehee!"

...

Eerie and horror-laden chilling laughter constantly echoed through the manor.

Elder Zhang listened to these words, completely enraged, the intense emotional fluctuation made his spirit daze slightly, clearing up a lot.

I believed your deceit?

—I was deceived?

Thieves!

A whole bunch of thieves!

If he could rise like a corpse at this moment, he would surely make this group look good, but it's a pity his awareness cleared up that brief moment, already gradually disappearing.

He completely realized.

This is an unknown deep mountain Demon Cultivator family, treacherous and cunning, skilled in deception, brutal and cruel, psychologically twisted, using living people for forging.

Elder Zhang kept thinking, before losing consciousness, leaving only one strong thought:

What kind of monsters are they...?

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.