Records of the Dragon Follower
Translator: Scrya
Editor: Faith
First Published on Chaleuria
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Chapter 27: Weapon
Out of the blue, Xiaodong recalled an incident from years ago where he had tried to snatch a bow from a child on the streets. It had begun with a heated argument, and then slowly escalated into a fistfight. The winner would naturally take the bow.
When he remembered this, he felt it was a little funny.
Of course, this weapon and that child's bow were two different matters.
Other than this flexible sword, among the weapons that Master brought back, there were also a fan, a flute and even a pair of chopsticks. The chopsticks seemed to be made out of redwood.
Xiaodong was very curious. He picked up the chopsticks, and after weighing it with his hand, he found out he was wrong. From its heavy weight, it was not made of wood. Rather, it should be made out of iron and then painted red.
Senior Sister Linglong saw the pair of chopsticks as well. She curiously took them from Xiaodong's hand and drew arcs in the air with them. She then asked Master, "How are these used?"
The chopsticks were too short. "The longer a weapon, the stronger it is. The shorter a weapon, the riskier it is." Usually, the sharper a short weapon was, the better it would be. These chopsticks, however, were blunt. Even if someone were to willingly stand still to get stabbed, whether the chopsticks could pierce through him was a tough question to answer.
Master looked at them and simply said, "I believe they belonged to a woman from Nanjiang. She was defeated with a single move, and so I didn't get to see her technique clearly. You can take them and play around with them if you like."
After asking her other siblings if they wanted the chopsticks and hearing their refusals, Senior Linglong kept them for herself.
Though, there was no one who would snatch it away from her in the first place. There were colorful patterns printed on the red chopsticks, making them rather incompatible for men to use.
Xiaodong, on the other hand, picked up the fan to have a look. Though the fan was light, the guards of the fan seemed to be made out of jade. The leaf of the fan was made out of an indiscernible material. It might be a mix of silk, silver, and gold, as the fan sparkled with a fine luster when it was opened.
It was rather pretty.
But could this be used as a weapon too? How would one use it in a fight? Open it and desperately slap the enemy's face with it? Otherwise, could the fan be used to cut, slice, or stab?
It was no wonder these things were known as strange weapons. Their methods of usage were truly different from regular swords and sabers.
Mo Chen took the fan off his hands, scrutinized it and said, "This fan has some mechanisms within it."
Xiaodong looked at him eagerly, as though he wanted to know what those mechanisms were.
Mo Chen held the fan in his hand and twisted the fan rivet pin a little. With a light shriek, sharp edges suddenly protruded from the top of the fan guards. The edges shone with a cold gleam, glinting with killing intent.
Seeing Xiaodong take a step back from fright, Mo Chen hurriedly closed the fan. "Don't be afraid. It's fine."
"That sure is dangerous." Xiaodong was caught off guard and was a little frightened. A moment later, he closed in again. "If you're not guarded against it, you might really get assassinated."
"These fan ribs can even shoot out and attack people, and they are all controlled with mechanisms." Mo Chen didn't dare to let Little Junior Brother play with such things again. It would be bad if he were to make a mistake and injure himself or others.
Xiaodong said, "The owner of this fan definitely wasn't a good person."
Those truly were words that children would say. How could people be so simply categorized into good and bad? Though, the martial arts of this fan's owner shouldn't have been that profound. People with true capabilities would not need such tricks and mechanisms.
There was still one weapon that looked very strange. Since it could not fit into the cabinet, it had been left next to the wall.
"It looks like a sickle used to cut tall grass, but a little bigger."
It was not just a "little bigger". Just the handle alone was as tall as Xiaodong, while the blade was both large and wide. Small sickles were obviously used to cut grass. To think someone would make a weapon this large into the shape of a sickle, could it be used for…
Xiaodong found the mere thought appalling.
The weapons that Master brought back all looked like they could only be used by people with ill intentions. Seeing the mild reactions of his senior siblings, Master probably did such things often.
Jiang Fan chuckled as he picked up a single-faced drum. With a smile, he said to Xiaodong, "These people most likely tried to commit crimes against Master, or they might have provoked Master without knowing their own limits. In the end, they all lost to Master. Master usually doesn't take the people's lives, and merely retrieves their weapons as a way of disciplining them."
A single-faced drum?
This thing was even weirder. Were there also people who would smack their opponents with drums?
Li Fulin looked at the drum. His mood was seemingly good as he explained to his disciples its origin.
"This was something that belonged to a swindler Daoist. He claimed that he specialized in exorcisms, and that thing over there was his 'mystic artifact'. He went on and said that it was a celestial drum that could scare away demons and expel ghosts when played. I was enticed by his eloquent tongue and believed that the drum was truly something marvelous. I thought that I had to bring it back for you lot to have a look. Don't stay on the mountain every single day, you lot haven't even experienced what it's like outside. Come, come, come. All of you hit it once. The drum might be as powerful as he claimed."
When Li Fulin finished his story, the disciples all laughed. Even Chen Jingzhi smiled.
Others naturally would not really hit the drum, but Linglong simply smiled as she struck the drum twice. The drum was truly of good quality, as it made a vibrant sound. Though, no one could see if it could actually scare away demons and expel ghosts.
The things that Master brought back had truly opened Xiaodong's eyes. These weapons were all either strange or sinister, and if he had not seen them with his own eyes, he really could not have imagined that people would have the imagination to come up with such dangerous things. In the future, when he really had to head down the mountain, he would definitely have to be more cautious and prevent himself from getting deceived.
Li Fulin showed these weapons to his disciples as a way of reminding them.
Mo Chen had experienced this scene several times, and he understood Master's intentions as well. Not just him, Jiang Fan had the same thought too. The ones that did not understand were most likely just Junior Sister Linglong and the two younger junior brothers. Little Junior Brother was still young and would find anything fascinating. It would take a while for him to think this deeply.
As for Junior Sister… She had been growing older year by year. Her figure grew, and her capabilities grew, but her mind had not shown much growth.
It was getting late. Li Fulin knew that for the test, though his disciples might not have sleepless nights, they could not have afforded to relax that much either. And so, he had them return to their own rooms.
Among the five direct disciples, putting aside the first three, Chen Jingzhi was actually in a similar position as his latest disciple and was taken in because of an old friend of Master's. He had the talent and also did not lack diligence. However, not only did the resentment in his heart not dissipate with time, it had grown even heavier than before.
As for his youngest disciple… Li Fulin initially did not harbor much hope for him. For one, Xiaodong did not have a good foundation, and secondly, he was still young and had yet to truly understand the world around him.
Though the Rudimentary Sword Techniques that he displayed earlier today had some improvements, there was still no spirit behind the execution. There were only sword moves and no sword intent.
Of course, such things could not be forced. Li Fulin gave Chen Jingzhi some words to ponder on, and then left Xiaodong with some encouragement. Chen Jingzhi had his head drooped the entire time, so Li Fulin simply did not know if he had listened. Most likely he had turned a deaf ear to Li Fulin's words. Li Fulin sometimes felt helpless when it came to this disciple of his. The knot in one's heart could never be dispelled with just a few words from an outsider. As for Xiaodong… his eyes were wide open as he seriously listened to Li Fulin's words, as if he were trying to remember every single one.
One was born with talent, which could not be changed by any means. It was not his fault he had a poor aptitude. He had already put a lot of effort to improve, but there was little chance for him to achieve anything big in his life.
This child seemed to have grown a little since he first came up the mountain?
Li Fulin sized him. It seemed like he really had grown a little.