Becoming a god starting from blacksmithing

Chapter 6 The Shadow from Afar

The afternoon sun was scorching.

Shen Chi stood at the entrance of the blacksmith's shop, staring at the direction of the town entrance for a long time.

There was nothing there.

He turned and went back to the shop, where he rekindled the fire in the stove.

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The hammer struck the red-hot iron bar.

Shen Chi wasn't working on anything serious; he just wanted to heat the iron until it was red-hot, then flatten it, then heat it again. Having something to do kept him calm.

Every now and then, A-Zhu would look up at the direction of the town entrance. She looked even more frequently than Shen Chi.

"Brother Shen Chi."

"Um?"

"Someone's coming."

Shen Chi paused, his hand gripping the pliers. Without turning his head, he asked again, "How many?"

"Three."

Ah Zhu's voice was lower than usual.

Shen Chi clamped the iron bar back into the furnace fire and continued pumping the bellows. The flames suddenly leaped up, casting flickering light on his face.

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Three people. They walked slowly, but each step was in sync with the others.

The leader was a middle-aged man with a scar on his face that ran diagonally from his left eyebrow to his right cheekbone. He wore a dark gray robe, with the emblem of the Yansheng Pavilion embroidered in silver thread on the collar and cuffs. When the hem of the robe was rolled up, the lining underneath was visible, and a dark belt was tied around his waist, from which hung an iron token.

The token was engraved with two words: Deputy Envoy.

The two men behind him were dressed in the same color, narrow-sleeved, tight-fitting outfits. One of them had a long strip of cloth slung across his back.

The two followed behind with their hands hanging down, their eyes looking straight ahead, their steps perfectly synchronized, as if they were being led by the same thread.

As if they had been here countless times, they walked straight across the street to the monument to human compassion.

The middle-aged man leading the group looked up at the monument.

Looked for a long time.

Then he reached out and touched the surface of the monument, his lips twitching slightly as if he were confirming something.

Then he turned around and walked towards the blacksmith's shop.

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Footsteps echoed in the alley.

Shen Chi heard it. He didn't look up and continued pulling the bellows. The fire in the stove made his face hot, but he didn't stop.

The footsteps stopped at the entrance of the blacksmith's shop.

Shen Chi used tongs to pick out the red-hot iron bar, placed it on the anvil, and raised the hammer.

One hammer blow.

Sparks flew everywhere.

Two hammer blows.

The iron bar was bent slightly.

Three hammer blows.

He stopped, flipped the iron bar over, as if he hadn't noticed the person standing at the door at all.

The middle-aged man who was leading the group stood outside the threshold and did not come in.

He just stood there, watching Shen Chi forge iron.

The streets were empty sometime during the night. Old Zhang's vegetable stall had been packed up and then left. Liu the carpenter's door closed the fastest, but an eye peeked through the crack, blinked, and then disappeared. A figure flashed at the alley entrance before retreating, and half a shoe peeked out from behind the corner of the wall.

No one spoke. Only the whooshing of the bellows and the clanging of the hammer hitting the anvil.

Shen Chi hammered a few more times.

His rhythm wasn't off. But the back of his neck was starting to feel numb.

He finally stopped.

He put the iron bar back into the furnace and turned around.

He met the middle-aged man's gaze from three steps away.

The middle-aged man's eyes were gray, like two cold stones.

"My name is Li Han. I'm the Deputy Enforcement Officer of the Yansheng Pavilion. What's your name?"

"Shen Chi."

Deputy Envoy Li nodded, as if he already knew the name.

Then he raised his right hand.

Suddenly, several strands of gray light appeared between his fingers, wandering and entwining between them.

He waved his hand casually.

Shen Chi hadn't even seen what it was when he felt a sudden tightness in his chest, as if something was binding him, making it hard to breathe. Then, an invisible force pulled him forward, sending him flying and crashing heavily to the ground.

Before he could even get up, Deputy Envoy Li had already appeared in front of him.

Looking down at him, she slapped him across the face.

The sound was so crisp it could be heard throughout the entire street. Blood instantly trickled from the corner of Shen Chi's mouth.

A-Zhu suddenly stood up, dropping the charcoal in her hand to the ground.

She took half a step forward.

It stopped abruptly again.

Her small fists were clenched at her sides, her nails digging into her palms. She couldn't go over there. She knew it. If she rushed over, the slap Shen Chi had just taken would have been for nothing.

But when she saw the iron-gray pattern on Shen Chi's chest peeking through his clothes, her eyes instantly welled up with tears.

She covered her mouth, choking back her sobs. Tears streamed down her face, but she made no sound.

Shen Chi lay on the ground. His left cheek burned with pain, and his ears were ringing.

He had only one thought in his mind—

Do not move.

The thing in his chest was throbbing. He could feel the iron-gray lines showing through his skin. If he stood up now, if he clenched his fist now, those lines would light up, like when he smashed the Heartlock Blade the day before yesterday.

Deputy Envoy Li will see it.

A detailed report will be submitted to the Yansheng Pavilion.

Then it wasn't just three people who came.

The two things he carried—the fragments of the Guardian Sword and the bronze mirror—would be taken away. Ah Zhu would be taken away. The townspeople would be interrogated one by one.

Shen Chi lay motionless on the ground.

He gritted his teeth, slowly clenching his fists, letting his nails dig into himself. It hurt. He needed this pain. To use this pain to suppress the burning sensation in his chest.

Then he used the ground as a support and slowly got up.

Deputy Envoy Li stood before him, still looking down at him.

Shen Chi didn't look up. He stared at the ground. The thing in his chest was still throbbing. The force of that palm strike hadn't dissipated; it felt like a stone blocking his chest, making it hard for him to breathe.

The pattern was already visible through the hem of the garment. Very faint.

Deputy Envoy Li's gaze fell on Shen Chi's lapel.

He stared at it for a long time.

Then he suddenly laughed. It was a very soft laugh, as if he had seen something interesting, or as if he hadn't seen anything at all.

He turned around, stepped across the threshold, and left.

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Deputy Envoy Li did not leave the town.

He began to wander around the town.

I walked through every alley and looked at every corner.

When he reached the ancient well in the center of town, he paused. He glanced at the wooden plank at the wellhead.

When he reached the monument to the people's hearts again, he paused for a moment.

That's where Gray Eyes was beaten to death the day before yesterday. The townspeople have washed away the bloodstains on the ground with water, but a dark red mark still remains in the cracks of the stones.

Deputy Envoy Li squatted down, reached out and rubbed the dark patch between his fingers, then held it to his nose and smelled it.

He then stood up, dusted off his hands, and continued walking.

He didn't ask the townspeople any questions.

No one came up to him or spoke to him. No one pointed anything out.

The whole town was so quiet it was as if no one lived there.

Deputy Envoy Li glanced back in the direction of the blacksmith's shop.

"Let's go," he said to the two people beside him.

One of them replied, "Should we go back and tell Lord Gu? The things are here, and so are the people."

Deputy Envoy Li paused for a moment, then said, "No rush."

He left with his men. Three people, walking in unison.

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The town remained quiet for a long time.

The door wasn't open. The dog didn't bark.

After a while, the door of Old Chen's house opened a crack. Old Chen poked half his head out and glanced at the entrance to the town—it was empty.

He looked at both ends of the street again. No one was there.

He walked out, paused for a moment, and headed towards the blacksmith's shop.

Shen Chi sat on the threshold, head down.

Azhu squatted down beside him. She held a damp cloth in her hand, intending to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth, but she pulled her hand back halfway, afraid of hurting him.

She tried again. This time, she gently pressed the cloth against Shen Chi's lips. Shen Chi didn't flinch.

Old Chen arrived at the blacksmith's shop and, after a long pause, managed to utter two words: "I'm leaving...I'm leaving."

Shen Chi nodded.

He touched his chest.

Then I glanced in the direction of the town entrance.