“Old Man,” Ou Yangming went closer and uttered with a smile.
The little red bird on his shoulder was obedient and was not displeased about him humbling himself. The little fellow was not old, but it was unusually smart. It knew about the unordinary relationship between Ou Yangming and Old Craftsman long ago, hence it knew the young fellow would not side with it if it created a disturbance because of this.
“Young fella you’re here. Not bad, looks like you do care about an old fart like me.” Old Craftsman laughed and looked at Ou Yangming.
“Old Man, you made it sound like I’m unfilial,” Ou Yangming commented snappily.
Old Craftsman shook his head and sighed. “Ah, young fella, I’m sorry…”
Ou Yangming was stunned, and he asked in confusion, “Old Man, are you not feeling well? Did you have a fever and fried your brain?”
“B*stard, do people curse like you?” Old Craftsman was furious.
“Ah, I wasn’t cursing you, but you… When did you learn to be polite?” Ou Yangming found it odd.
Old Craftsman did not know to cry or to laugh. “You little monkey—you really must be beaten, or you’ll be mischievous again!” He scanned the room as though he was finding something handy.
The little red bird blinked and spread its wings to fly away from Ou Yangming’s shoulder. If Old Craftsman really hit the young fellow and accidentally scraped it, it would probably be a waste.
In any case, as long as Ou Yangming was around, anyone including the little bird would need a clear insight if they wanted to make a move on Old Craftsman.
Ou Yangming was appalled, and he immediately said, “Old Man, don’t be mad. What did you mean just now!”
Old Craftsman was indeed distracted. He stood up straight and sighed again. “B*stard, I know the imperial family and the Ni family aren’t getting along now, so I must’ve caused you a lot of trouble when I left the Ni residence to come to the capital.”
“Old Man, what are you talking about? You can go anywhere in the world. Why would that give me any trouble?” Ou Yangming shook his head and slapped his chest as he stated on purpose, “Are you worried about money? Hehe, I can pay for anything now if I smith some pieces of equipment!”
The old man looked quietly at him and slowly had a kind look in his eyes. “Don’t lie to me. Ah, I knew you’ll surely be troubled if I act rashly, but…” He lowered his head as if he had something too embarrassing to be disclosed.
Ou Yangming’s heart suddenly ached, and he questioned in a deep voice, “Old Man, did someone force you to do something? Tell me—who is it?”
Old Craftsman waved his hand and replied to him, “Don’t imagine things. Nobody forced me to do nothing.”
“No, there must be somebody.” Ou Yangming pondered and asked, “Is it General Chen?”
If it was really Chen Yifan, it would be a tricky problem.
Not many people were optimistic about Ou Yangming before he became successful, but Chen Yifan was an exception. Not only did the general take extra care of him in the military, but he also taught him martial arts. In a way, apart from Old Craftsman, the young fellow respected General Chen very much.
Old Craftsman glared angrily at Ou Yangming. “I told you not to imagine things. Why did you bring General Chen into the picture! Are you a white-eyed wolf that returns kindness with ingratitude?”
Ou Yangming smiled apologetically, “Old Man, you’re overthinking. Not to mention if it isn’t General Chen, even if it’s him, I won’t do anything to him.”
“Hmph.” Old Craftsman scoffed. “B*stard, I won’t ask for anything from you, and I only want you to promise me one thing—you must return even the smallest favor with great gratitude.”
“Yes, I’ll remember your words,” Ou Yangming responded respectfully with a serious face.
Old Craftsman nodded as he was pleased. “Alright, since things have turned out this way, there’s no need for me to hide anything anymore. Do you know how I lived back then?”
‘General Li Xinfan told me,’ Ou Yangming thought, but he rejoined curiously, “I don’t know.”
“Hehe, I was actually quite similar to you when I was young.” The old man stroked his beard and explained, “My parents died when I was young, and they didn’t leave behind much for me. I started to roam around after I buried them, and I arrived at the immense force.”
Ou Yangming nodded. He paid full attention to the story because he dared not let Old Craftsman know that he had heard of it already.
“I almost starved to death when I arrived at the immense forest, but a blacksmith from the military camp saved me and adopted me.” Old Craftsman sighed before he continued, “Ever since then, I settled down in the immense forest until now.”
His life experience was certainly not that plain. From an unknown apprentice, he made his way to become the chief blacksmith in the Immense Forest Military Camp. Although the process could not be mentioned on equal terms with Ou Yangming’s adventure of wiping out the spirit beasts in the world, it could not be described and summarized in a few words.
Even so, Old Craftsman briefly spoke about it as if his lifelong efforts were only worth those sentences.
Ou Yangming responded to the old man softly and noted, “You later adopted me, and I’ve grown up now.”
Old Craftsman smiled gladly. “Yes. Back when I took you in, I thought you and I were very alike.”
The little red bird widened its eyes to scan the old man and the young fellow, but it could not tell how similar the two were.
Ou Yangming stuck out his chest and expressed shamelessly, “Yes, Old Man, we were carved from the same mold so of course, we’re alike.”
Old Craftsman was dumbfounded, but he soon laughed cheerfully.
Even though nobody outside the room dared to eavesdrop on their conversation, they were relieved when they heard Old Craftsman laugh out loud. If the old man was unhappy, even the Superior Blacksmiths would be enormously pressured if they faced an enraged Ou Yangming, who might burst at any time.
After a brief moment, Old Craftsman finally stopped laughing and sighed. “B*stard, do you know why I agreed to come?”
This was what Ou Yangming had been wanting to know very badly, so his eyes lit up. “I have no idea. Old Man, please tell me why.”
The old man nodded. “Ah, I grew up in the military camp and ate military food for 60 to 70 years, so the blood that flows in my body is military blood.” He looked at the young fellow and reached out to caress his head. “You don’t have to obey military orders, but I can’t because I must be worthy of my skin.”
Ou Yangming somehow felt sad when he listened to the old man’s plain words.
Nobody lured Old Craftsman, nobody fanned the fire, and it was not because he had lofty sentiments of wanting to sacrifice himself for the world.
Everything merely came from the purest mind of an old man, who was in his seventies and was polished in the military his whole life.
Since he ate military food throughout his life, he must obey the military order. If the old man disobeyed it and was calculative about everything, he would be unworthy of the military, which he had served in this life.
Nevertheless, the simple thought made Ou Yangming emotional, and he could not calm down.
Old Craftsman smiled and said, “Young fella, this is my choice, but you don’t need to care so much. Do what you need to do, and stop worrying about me.”
Ou Yangming lowered his head and uttered, “Yes.”
The little red bird rolled its eyes and thought, ‘Don’t care about you? That young fella might promise you now, but he won’t be able to do it for sure!’
Old Craftsman laughed out loud. “Young fella, I know what you say isn’t what you think, but you must promise not to care about me too much, or I’ll be distressed too.”
“When did you start worrying so much, Old Man? Hehe, there aren’t many things in this world that can trouble me.” Ou Yangming flashed a smile and struck his chest. “Don’t worry and go play all you want. No matter what happens, you got me!”
“Play all I want?” Old Craftsman’s eyes gleamed.
“That’s right. Ou Yangming nodded. He said in a heroic spirit, “As long as I’m here, even if you make a giant hole in the sky, I’ll fill it up for you.”
This was really what he was thinking at the moment.
Helping a closed one even if it was unreasonable did not mean that one was ignorant toward the right and the wrong, but it was sometimes necessary because of how close one was with that person.
“Okay, that’s great.” Old Craftsman beamed with his eyes squinted. He suddenly raised his voice and shouted, “Brother Wu, Brother Jin, quickly come in; the b*stard agreed to teach us how to smith magic tools!”
“What?” Ou Yangming was startled, and he widened his eyes.
Old Craftsman laughed. “I’m sure you’re able to smith magic tools easily because of a unique ability. We’re not asking you to teach us that, and I suppose it can’t be taught anyway, but we might get some clues if we observe you from the side.”
Ou Yangming stammered. He felt like he shot himself in the foot.
“Old Man, I’ve smithed magic tools for at least 80 to 100 times. Weren’t you always watching?”
“It’s different this time. I can’t see clearly, but there are many people here, so they might notice something.” Old Craftsman grinned. “Please work harder for the sake of our smithing careers.”
The door was opened as Wu Hongxi and Jing Shengjie led the other people inside the room. They were delighted, and they bowed at the young fellow to thank him.
“Thank you, Master Ou!”
“Master Ou, thanks for fulfilling our wish!”
Seeing how thrilled the blacksmiths were, Ou Yangming furrowed his eyebrows and thought, ‘Did I fall into their trap?”
The other people were anxious when they saw his dark face.
Old Craftsman was infuriated, “B*stard, are you not willing to do it?”
Ou Yangming raised his eyebrows and chuckled. “Old Man, look at what you’re saying. I’ll start smithing now, and I won’t leave until you learn it.”
‘Forget it, I’ll work harder as long as Old Man’s happy.’
The little red bird tilted its head as it could not understand these interpersonal relationships. It looked up and was reminded of its free and unconstrained days in the upper realm, and it could not help but yearn for those days.
‘When can I go back… But if I were to go back, I must at least bring him along!
‘If I really bring him into the Phoenixes’ forbidden area, what will happen?’