Chen Jie chuckled, "Hehe, naturally Iām here to forge weapons."
Hearing this, Si Xi said, "Oh, then please follow me."
Soon, the two arrived in East City.
Mianshui County was divided into West, East, South, and North Cities, and each city had its own significance: It was said that East City housed the elite, Northwest was home to major guilds, while South City was a mix of good and bad people, and the pitiable common folk dwelled in the center.
This was the layout of Mianshui County.
So-called East City housing the elite referred to the area where many Mulan people lived; it was the gathering place of the Mulan.
Thus, it was called the land filled with nobility.
Following that was the Northwest; West City belonged to the Fishing Guild, North City to Guild Caoātwo powerful guilds resided in those two cities.
Then, South City was where everything was jumbled together, and finally, the central area near the government office had no guild jurisdiction and was inhabited by a bunch of ordinary people. But could living next to the government office bring any good these days?
People were often conscripted by the government office, hence they were the pitiable commoners.
The Sun Family Blacksmith Shop was located in East City. Chen Jie and Si Xi arrived in East City and spotted a large blacksmith shop from a distance.
However, the blacksmith shop was closed, yet Chen Jie could see smoke rising from the chimney inside, clearly indicating that metalworking was going on.
Chen Jie curiously asked, "Eh, do they need to close the doors when forging iron?"
Hearing this, Si Xi replied, "Normally, itās not necessary, but maybe Sun Tiechui has his own secret technique he doesnāt want to reveal."
With a chuckle, Chen Jie said, "Hehe, makes sense. Letās knock on the door."
Si Xi immediately went forward to knock.
Knock knock knock...
A series of knocks rang out. It took quite a long time before someone came to open the door, and it was a young staff member who stuck his head out and asked, "Who are you looking for?"
At this moment, Chen Jie stepped forward and said, "I am Chen Jiusi, here to pay a visit to Master Sun."
Upon hearing this, the young staff member hesitated and said, "Youāre looking for my master? Wait a moment, Iāll go inform the eldest apprentice."
The staff member shut the door and called out, "Eldest apprentice brother, someone named Chen Jiusi has come."
Upon hearing this, there was a sudden silence in the yard, followed quickly by the eldest apprentice rushing over and saying, "You fool, Chen Jiusi is what you call him? Hurry up and open the door!"
At that, the young staff member immediately opened the door, and Chen Jie walked in to see a burly man greeting him with folded fists, "My little apprentice brother is ignorant. Not knowing your distinguished self, Master Chen, was coming, we definitely failed in providing a proper welcome."
Chen Jie returned the salute with his fists and said, "Itās just empty fame. By the way, is Master Sun around? I would like to commission him to craft a weapon."
Hearing this, the senior apprentice said, "Oh, please wait. My teacher is in the backyard. Six, lead Master Chen to the front for some tea."
Upon hearing this, the young staff member who had just arrived said, "Master Chen, this way, please."
Chen Jie entered the courtyard and saw it was spacious, with ten tall furnaces for ironworking. As Chen Jie walked past the furnaces,
suddenly, he paused, then glanced towards a spot where something seemed to have fallen.
Chen Jie gave Si Xi a signal with his eyes; Si Xi too noticed the object, was startled, and immediately squatted down, hiding the item up his sleeve.
Chen Jie said nothing more and, at this time, arrived at the Inner Hall.
Sitting down, a pot of tea was brewed.
Chen Jie and Si Xi were drinking their tea when, at that moment, the eldest apprentice rushed into the backyard where there was a separate small courtyard.
Then, from inside, there came coughing sounds.
Cough cough...
The cough of a woman.
In the courtyard, Sun Tiechui said to the woman in front of him, who was wearing a veil and coughing non-stop, "Alian, are you alright?"
"Cough cough, Iām fine. Itās just that my lung has been injured, causing the constant coughing. I didnāt expect Chen Jiusi to be so formidable. That final palm strike was unavoidable. You guys should be careful in the future, do not engage with him lightly."
Hearing this, Sun Tiechui replied, "Mm, I understand. But Alian, thereās an issue."
"What is it?"
Sun Tiechui said, "Today, I sent someone to buy medicine, but to our surprise, Blood Extinction has been sold out in all of Mianshuiās pharmacies, and we failed to get any. The medicine for treating your injury will be hard to prepare. What about your injury?"
The woman responded, "All the Blood Extinction sold out? How can this be? Itās not even a rare medicine."
Sun Tiechui said, "Yes, but it really is sold out. And without Blood Extinction, your injury simply canāt heal!"
"Cough cough... this must be someone doing this on purpose!"
"Mm, Iāve inquired clearly. The Blood Extinction in the market was all bought up by White Tiger Hall."
"Chen Jiusi, hehe, definitely Chen Jiusi. I guessed correctly, cough cough cough..."
Hearing this, Sun Tiechui looked at the woman and said, "Alian, donāt worry, Iāve already sent people to two nearby counties to buy Blood Extinction; they could be back within a day and night."
The woman coughed more violently upon hearing this and shook her head, "Cough cough... Brother Sun, donāt waste your effort. If Chen Jiusi has managed to buy up all the Blood Extinction in Mianshui, itās likely that the nearby counties are also stripped clean. He wonāt give us a chance. Cough cough..."
"Alian, could that be? Is Chen Jiusi that ruthless? If so, I will send people to Prefecture City to buy. I donāt believe he can buy up the whole Prefecture City."
The woman shook her head, "My injury has already been delayed by one day. The best treatment window is within three days. After three days, cough cough... Iām afraid it will be difficult to heal. We canāt count on Prefecture City, and I think Chen Jiusi knows this too."
"Ah, what to do then, are we just to wait for your illness to worsen?"
Sun Tiechui said anxiously. Just then, the woman was about to reply when suddenly a knocking sound came from outside.
"Who?"
Sun Tiechui asked, very nervously, when a voice outside responded, "Teacher, someone has come to see you."
"Who?"
"Chen Jiusi."
"Who?!!"
Sun Tiechui suddenly shouted, his voice octaves higher, as he turned to look outside!