Friends Can Be a Blessing! (5)
The Sichuan Tang Family had begun to simmer with excitement.
The Tang Family’s hallmark was poison and hidden weapons.
So when word spread that the Tang Family’s foremost artisan—the man who stood at the summit of hidden-weapon craftsmanship—had picked up a hammer again for the first time in years, it was more than enough to send the entire family into a frenzy.
“What on earth is he making?”
“Whatever it is, it’s gotta be amazing!”
“But can the old master even hold a hammer right now? Isn’t it common knowledge his mind isn’t all there?”
“The family head must have his reasons.”
The Tang Family’s attention slowly began to gather around Dang Jo-pyeong’s workshop.
Meanwhile, inside the workshop, people were moving busily, sweeping away layers of old dust. With dozens of sturdy men working at once, the place quickly shone as if it had been rebuilt from scratch.
Sitting before the huge furnace in the very center, Dang Jo-pyeong examined the charcoal in his hand with grave, serene eyes.
“Fine Jangbaek Charcoal, I see. The management was good, even while I’d set my hands down.”
Tang Gun-ak watched that scene and smiled faintly.
“……Great-granduncle. That’s just ordinary white charcoal. The Jangbaek charcoal is over here.”
“Is it?”
“…….”
Chung Myung, standing at the workshop entrance and watching all this, gnawed anxiously at his thumbnail.
“Will this be okay? Really, is this actually going to be okay?”
What if they ended up ruining the Thousand-Year Cold Iron and everything else with it?
Rarely did Chung Myung feel this unsettled, but the situation really did not look as he had hoped.
Even so, despite his unease, Dang Jo-pyeong’s movements were flawless. He sprang into the furnace, which was more than twice the height of an average man.
“Bring it down!”
“Yes!”
As Tang Jan carried over the Jangbaek charcoal and packed it carefully into the furnace, Dang Jo-pyeong snapped his head up and shouted.
“Family head!”
“Yes, Great-granduncle!”
As if he had been waiting for the order, Tang Gun-ak took a small box from inside his sleeve. His face was faintly stiff with tension.
Then the ornate, gold-leafed box was opened. A small red jewel revealed itself.
Tang Gun-ak carefully took it out and handed it to Dang Jo-pyeong inside the furnace.
Baek Cheon tilted his head and asked, “What is that?”
Tang Pae answered in a cautious voice.
“It’s called the White Flame Jade. The more inner power it receives, the more heat it gives off. Without that item, the White Furnace can’t be heated.”
“There’s such a thing?”
“It’s one of the Tang Family’s treasured relics. A truly precious object.”
“Oh! So that’s one of the Tang Family’s treasures.”
Just hearing that told him how rare it must be…
“Is it expensive?”
“…….”
At Chung Myung’s abrupt question, Tang Pae only opened and closed his mouth.
What on earth was he supposed to say? In front of the greediest Taoist in the world, a man practically radiating naked avarice from both eyes…
Fortunately, at that very moment, Dang Jo-pyeong climbed back out of the furnace. He dusted off his hands and barked, “Light the White Furnace!”
“Yes!”
At last, a fire was kindled in the furnace.
“Family head!”
“Yes!”
“Pour in your inner power! We need more heat!”
“Yes! Understood.”
Tang Gun-ak and the Tang Family elders took their positions at the three sides of the furnace. It must have been built for exactly this purpose, because places to stand had already been prepared.
As they began forcing in their inner power, the fire surged instantly into a fierce blaze. Beneath the furnace, flames poured down through a small opening, looking less like fire and more like a waterfall of light.
But Dang Jo-pyeong still seemed dissatisfied with the heat.
“More!”
Watching from outside the workshop, Chung Myung quietly asked Tang Pae, “That furnace special?”
Tang Pae nodded.
“Yes. The Tang Family has several furnaces. Ordinary furnaces are called Red Furnaces, and anyone in the Tang Family can use them. Furnaces that can produce even greater heat are called Blue Furnaces, and only artisans recognized by the workshop are allowed to use those.”
“Then is that one the Blue Furnace?”
“No.”
Tang Pae shook his head.
“That one is called the White Furnace. It’s the furnace only the head of the workshop can use, and it produces the strongest heat in the Tang Family. Only that furnace can melt the Thousand-Year Cold Iron.”
“Oh….”
Chung Myung gazed at it with renewed interest.
Fwaaaah!
The heat was so intense that the flames visible beneath the furnace were almost white.
“Wow. It’s hot!”
Gasps of astonishment burst out from all around. The heat pouring from the furnace was so extreme that it seemed it could melt even the Mount Hua disciples standing outside the workshop.
It already seemed hot enough, but Dang Jo-pyeong kept the furnace burning for nearly another half a shichen after that.
“Bring me the iron!”
“Yes!”
The young blacksmiths of the Tang Family, who had been standing by in a state of taut nerves, carried the Thousand-Year Cold Iron into the workshop.
“In!”
No sooner had Dang Jo-pyeong given the order than they poured the Thousand-Year Cold Iron into the top of the furnace without hesitation.
“Jangbaek charcoal!”
The heated charcoal rained down into the furnace once more. White flames swelled even larger, spilling through the openings on top and writhing wildly.
It was a terrifying heat.
Just looking at it made it hard to breathe.
Yet Dang Jo-pyeong sat directly before the furnace, which seemed capable of melting bone, and did not even blink. In his serene eyes, the surging fire was reflected back.
Doesn’t it feel hot at all?
Baek Cheon clicked his tongue in disbelief.
The image of the old man’s mind wandering in and out of clarity was nowhere to be seen. The person before Baek Cheon now was nothing more than a master among masters, one who had devoted his whole life to flame and steel.
“……Amazing,” Yoon Jong breathed.
Baek Cheon nodded hard in agreement.
Whatever the field, reaching a certain level of mastery drew the eye. The Mount Hua disciples couldn’t tear their gaze away from what was happening inside the workshop.
Then, from Dang Jo-pyeong’s tightly set mouth, a great voice burst forth.
“More! Pour in more! Raise the heat higher! If it melts halfheartedly, the steel’s quality will drop. This isn’t enough!”
Beads of sweat sprang up thickly on the foreheads of the elders and Tang Gun-ak.
“Take turns!”
At Dang Jo-pyeong’s sharp command, the waiting elders pushed in and relieved those who had been standing there, pouring in their inner power.
One of the elders, gasping as he stepped away from the furnace, wiped the sweat streaming down his face and looked toward Dang Jo-pyeong.
“Uncle, are you certain this is all right? The heat….”
“Shut it! Don’t speak to me!”
That sharp, brittle voice rang through the workshop like thunder. It was impossible to imagine that this was the same man who had seemed out of his mind only moments before.
His beard ends curled from the heat and his face had gone red from the roasting temperature, yet Dang Jo-pyeong’s eyes were fixed solely on the movement of the flames.
“I said it isn’t enough! What the hell have you all been training to, if this is all the inner power you can muster? Squeeze more out and push it in, now!”
The elders’ faces flushed scarlet as they forced even more power into the furnace. But before long, their strength seemed to run dry and their legs began to tremble.
“Switch!”
“Yes!”
The third group of waiting elders rushed in. But the instant they started pouring in their power, Dang Jo-pyeong shouted, “No!”
His voice was urgent and thin, like a ceramic vessel cracking.
For the first time, Dang Jo-pyeong’s gaze left the furnace.
“This won’t do! Change them now, immediately! You’re not enough. Bring me ones whose inner power is purer!”
Tang Pae, who had been coordinating the situation, was startled and hurriedly said, “B-but the first team hasn’t even finished circulating their energy yet.”
“What?”
Dang Jo-pyeong’s eyes shook violently.
“These are all the elders you have?”
Tang Pae couldn’t answer and lowered his head. After the struggle between the elder council and the family head had been resolved by Chung Myung before, many elders had gone into seclusion.
If the faction led by the former council head, Tang Oe, had still been around, there would have been no shortage of people with abundant inner power. But the situation now was far from ideal.
“You fools! And you still dare talk about melting the Thousand-Year Cold Iron! If the temperature drops, the Cold Iron’s chill will cool the furnace, and in the end everything will turn to scrap! Hurry and bring more people! Those with stronger inner power, now!”
“B-but the ones here are the best among the elders. There are no others in the Tang Family with stronger inner power right now….”
“You idiot!”
Dang Jo-pyeong roared again.
“Then bring me the Sword Saint, old man! Isn’t his inner power the greatest under heaven?”
“……Pardon?”
Everyone’s attention shifted to Chung Myung.
“…….”
Chung Myung stared back at them, dazed.
Then he asked, “……Me?”
“…….”
Baek Cheon said dryly, “He’s fallen into his own trap.”
Yoon Jong agreed at once, nodding hard.
“The net of heaven is vast; though it meshes loosely, it does not let anything slip through.”
“Uh….”
As Chung Myung hesitated, Dang Jo-pyeong looked directly at him and started to speak.
“Sword Saint, old man! Please help right n— Hm? Who are you…?”
“…….”
Seriously, he comes to his senses at the dumbest possible times.
Chung Myung scratched the back of his head and said in an irritated voice, “Who do you think? Damn it!”
Then he spun around.
“Follow me!”
“……Us too?”
Instead of answering, Chung Myung looked at Dang Jo-pyeong and asked, “Does the type of inner power matter? Is it enough as long as the inner power is strong?”
Dang Jo-pyeong’s burning gaze fixed on him.
“The type doesn’t matter. As long as it isn’t yin-cold in nature. But it must be pure!”
“What about Daoist inner power?”
“That’s fine!”
At that moment, disappointment flashed across Dang Jo-pyeong’s face.
“It has to be right now! Where is the Sword Saint, old man? Bring him here at once!”
“That’s half back, at least.”
“What?”
“Ah, no, nothing. You just need strong inner power, right?”
“……Hm?”
Chung Myung grinned.
“Well, it just so happens. We’ve got nothing but inner power here.”
“……That sounds a bit harsh.”
“Nothing but inner power, huh.”
The Mount Hua disciples muttered from behind him, but Chung Myung was merciless.
“Shut up! You should at least earn the price of all those elixirs you swallowed. Hurry up and stick close before we waste the Thousand-Year Cold Iron we went to all this trouble to bring!”
“Got it!”
Chung Myung, Baek Cheon, and Yu I-seol rushed inside. The elders all looked thoroughly flustered.
But Chung Myung pushed past them without the slightest hesitation, shoving them aside as he made room.
“Move it, move! Quickly!”
Breathless, the elders shouted back, “M-Master Taoist! Ordinary inner power won’t be enough to heat this furnace! Don’t do something reckless!”
“Ordinary inner power, my ass.”
These guys just kept getting handed the good stuff, and now their inner power was absurdly monstrous?
“Stick together!”
“Please move aside.”
“Just a moment.”
At last, Chung Myung, Baek Cheon, and Yu I-seol forced the elders back and pressed themselves to the furnace.
After a short breath, Chung Myung grasped the protruding handle on the furnace. He didn’t know what the material was, but despite the furnace’s temperature, the handle wasn’t nearly as hot as he had expected.
“Pour it in!”
All three of them sent their inner power surging into the furnace at once.
“Oh?”
At the same time, Dang Jo-pyeong’s face, which had been slightly twisted with worry, brightened.
The flames that had turned bluish shifted back to white. Not only that—the white flame heating the furnace began burning even more violently than before.
After confirming the steadily climbing temperature, Dang Jo-pyeong nodded.
“These young brats have monstrous inner power! Good! If we keep this up—”
“By the way,” Chung Myung said.
“Hrk!”
Dang Jo-pyeong inhaled sharply and jerked his head up. His eyes met Chung Myung’s.
He can keep talking while forcing in that much inner power?
His jaw dropped before he could stop it.
“How long does this have to go on? Hm? ……Old man?”
“…….”
Snapping back to his senses, Dang Jo-pyeong stammered his answer.
“A-at least three days.”
“Three days?”
Chung Myung frowned.
“Hm, that’s too long. If we raise the heat even more, will it shorten the time?”
“……If the heat rises higher, yes. But there’s no way that would—”
“Yeah, got it. Then….”
Chung Myung’s lips curled wide.
“Be careful. You might end up roasted nice and golden!”
At that instant, Chung Myung’s robes whipped violently, as if caught in a typhoon. Then the furnace flames began to swell with savage force.
Shocked, Dang Jo-pyeong’s eyes widened so far the wrinkles at their corners tightened. But that shock quickly gave way to exhilaration.
“Good, let’s see what you’ve got! What are you waiting for? Start the bellows!”
“Yes!”
Through the wide-open chimney of the workshop, white flames surged upward like a dragon ascending into the sky.