Translated by Mianbao
Edited by RED
Entering the foundry, Zhu Minglang saw the old master, who only wore a soft sleeveless leather garment, even though it was winter. His skin was like bacon, his muscles like a fierce bear. If he was charging with a shield, perhaps even a squadron of soldiers would be sent flying!
“Good morning, Master Zhao Long,” Zhu Minglang greeted.
“Oh, Xiaozhu, you’re so early today as well. Ah, you’re really a decent apprentice, with the heart and perseverance, unlike those lazy dogs I’m teaching. God knows how long they need to learn here before they finish their apprenticeship,” Zhao Long said, holding a needle and thread, sewing a ripped piece of leather armor back together.
Truthfully speaking, Zhu Minglang always thought Master Zhao Long should work in the casting workshop next door. Forging, hammering, and sharpening knives fit his image better. Heavens knew how those thick palms of his held those tiny needles and thread, and his skills were really good!
“Master Zhao, I told you I learned the skills from family before, and am not some apprentice. I’ll show you the robe armor I made a few days ago later. That looks really good!” Zhu Minglang said.
“Hahaha, I believe you, of course I believe you. Your techniques are different from others. Too bad we can’t learn them, or you could teach us foundry workers who only knew how to keep to the working routine… Right, someone sent some heavy stuff here a couple of days ago. It’s very precious, and says that it’s for you,” Zhao Long said.
“Is that so? Then I have to work now. I’ll talk to you later!”
“Alright, alright… Strange, where’s my scissors? Which dumb apprentice didn’t return them properly after using them… Ai, really…” As Zhao Long was speaking, he opened his mouth and bit on the excess thread with his perfect teeth, snapping the extremely flexible thread.
Zhu Minglang shook his head, smiling.
The professional air he gave off earlier was completely gone after his act of thread biting!
If someone sent something to him in the foundry, it was basically sure to be the present Zheng Yu gave him.
Green Silver ore!
This type of ore was uncommon, but wasn’t especially rare. One could get their hands on a lot of it if they really wanted to gather it, but as Zhu Minglang understood the situation, the foundry in Ancestral Dragon City State didn’t use Green Silver ore as material.
Green Silver usually appeared in hairpins, earrings, and yarn chains, purely as accessories for aesthetics.
Zhu Minglang needed Green Silver because it contained certain properties. If he could bring out the energy it contained, it could be directly transformed onto his dragons.
Dragon armor!
With the material and money, in addition to his practice, Zhu Minglang could officially start forging some heavy dragon armor!
“Master Zhao, I need a private casting room. I’ll leave the money here,” Zhu Minglang told Zhao Long.
“What money? Just use it. No one will bother you,” Zhao Long said.
“Thank you very much then, Master Zhao!”
Casting dragon armor was a private matter. Zhu Minglang didn’t want others to know about it. He could tell there were very few people within Ancestral Dragon City State’s borders who had the skills to do it, and there weren’t many in other city states, either.
It was better for Zhu Minglang to keep a low profile to prevent any unnecessary troubles.
Burying himself in casting, time passed unexpectedly quickly. He entered the private workspace and refined a few key parts from the Green Silver. When he came out for dinner, the sky was already dark.
Even so, studying a craft was a kind of enjoyment.
Looking for food, training dragons, casting armor… It had been a long time since he lived such a fulfilling life. He felt like he didn’t have enough time in the day.
Of course, no matter how busy he was, Zhu Minglang would remember to go visit the baby dragon. After all, he was his third contracted dragon. Zhu Minglang hoped he would recover soon!
—–
Pure white snow fell on the silvery grey high walls of the Ancestral Dragon City State. The tip of the tower was the first to come into contact with the holy winter spirit.
The first snow was like white butterflies, dancing gently. Before dawn arrived, only hardworking people like Zhu Minglang would witness their beauty. By the time the sky turned fully bright, the snowy butterflies would have melted in the warm sunlight, and the big city turned a sacred silvery white!
The process of armor casting had been studied thoroughly. Zhu Minglang stepped on the snow, entering the foundry at the same hour.
In every environment, there would always be someone even more hardworking than Zhu Minglang, arriving even earlier. While he was still cheering himself on to work even harder today, that person was already fully focused on work.
That person was none other than Master Zhao Long.
On several occasions, Zhu Minglang had tried to arrive a few minutes earlier, wanting to see if Master Zhao Long slept here. However, he never solved the secret of him always being the earliest.
“Good morning, Master Zhao,” Zhu Minglang greeted him.
“Xiaozhu… ah, is that Xiaozhu!?” Master Zhao Long cried out strangely all of a sudden. He put down whatever he was doing and looked at Zhu Minglang.
“What’s the matter?” Zhu Minglang was confused.
-I only didn’t come yesterday because of classes…
-Why does he look like we haven’t met for years?-
“Come take a look quickly. Look at what’s pasted at the doors. Is that person really you?” Master Zhao Long said in a hurry as he pulled Zhu Minglang to the streets.
Zhu Minglang moved along, and discovered there really was a portrait pasted by the doors. The quality of the paper was extremely similar to the bounty for wanted men!
-What’s the situation? Did I do something atrocious?
-But the person on the portrait indeed does look identical to me!
-Am I really wanted?
-But why!?-
Zhao Long lowered his body and told Zhu Minglang in a suppressed voice, “Word was spreading crazily yesterday, saying that this person is the vagrant who was with the Valkyrie in the same cell. Rumor says that this person was originally a silkworm farmer from Mulberry Town, born to a poor and lowly background. He is lazy and doesn’t raise silkworms well, and with no money, he became a beggar in Ever City. By some coincidence, he was thrown into the dungeons, and unspeakable things happened between him and the Valkyrie, who was locked up at the time!”
“Huh?” Zhu Minglang looked like he wanted to die after hearing that.
He wanted to correct the story, but he quickly realized he would be admitting to it if he did so.
“You look too similar to that vagrant. I recommend you best wear a mask for now. Many people catch the flu in winter, anyway. Maintaining a habit of wearing masks is good for your health,” Zhao Long told Zhu Minglang very seriously.
“It’s not a matter of whether I look similar. Why did such rumors pop up all of a sudden?” Zhu Minglang asked.
“Who knows? Everyone is talking about it all of a sudden, and your portrait is pasted all over the city. The stores around here are all talking about how you look very similar to the portrait, not to mention those from our store. Everyone thinks it’s you!” Zhao Long said.
“Well, I’m all locked up alone in the foundry anyway,” Zhu Minglang nodded.
Thinking back to when he separated with Li Yunzi, she did remind him that her enemies would likely make a big deal out of him. It seemed those people were making their moves now!
Of course, it was also possible that Luo Xiao was taking his revenge. After that traitor was exiled and listed as a wanted man, he no longer dared to move about freely in the Ancestral Dragon City State, and could only resort to such lowly tactics to annoy him.
“Ah, you, not living their life, but bearing their sins. If it’s impossible for you, go find the doctors and change your appearance,” Zhao Long said, looking very concerned for him.
“…” Zhu Minglang didn’t know how to reply to that.
Some things would come to him no matter what. Actually, Zhu Minglang was already mentally prepared for this.
He would never change his appearance. It was about time for Ancestral Dragon City State to switch up its atmosphere. Whatever nonsense about the man with the Valkyrie being a vagrant or a lowly beggar, he was sick of hearing all of that!
Zhu Minglang would rise to brilliance in Ancestral Dragon City State!
Upright and honorable, that was Zhu Minglang’s reply!
—–
Unsurprisingly, that night, even his name had spread to the people.
When Zhu Minglang walked out from the private workspace, tired, Master Zhao Long and the apprentices were all standing outside, looking at him with strange gazes.
Old Master Zhao Long had a look of disbelief. He thought that portrait only looked similar to Zhu Minglang, but now that the name had spread, there was no mistake!
As for the apprentices…
In fact, they had discussed Valkyrie’s matter a lot in private, during their drinking sessions. There were countless versions of the tale between the noble crown princess and the beggar making their rounds, dominating the sales chart of mature-only books. Zhu Minglang was described in countless ways imaginable…
“Xiaozhu, are you really that… that vagrant in Ever City?” the master couldn’t resist asking in the end.
Zhu Minglang knew making excuses was pointless.
However, the one spreading rumors was indeed disgusting, describing him as lazy, and becoming a beggar because he couldn’t raise silkworms well. He was clearly robbed!
Of course, Zhu Minglang had also realized that since the rumors were so detailed as to mention his identity as a silkworm farmer from Mulberry Town, it was obvious that Luo Xiao was involved in spreading this rumor.
Luo Xiao didn’t want to let Zhu Minglang live peacefully in the Ancestral Dragon City State, holding an unbearable, yet envious identity. If he didn’t have the ability to protect himself, it would indeed be very tough for him to survive!
“Zhu Minglang, you really slept with the Valkyrie?” one of the apprentices, Zhou Xin, asked in a strange voice.