247.2 – Preface, First Amongst the Myriad of Weapons
He looks a little reluctant. But, the lass failed to realize that it’s not simple reluctance.
“Father, if you don’t want to sell it, then –”
“No!” The man asserted, “It has to be sold.”
The lass uttered “oh” a little sadly, but then soon asked curiously, “Is father going to sell it to the older brother martial practitioner who came to ask for a sword a few days earlier?”
“No.”
The man answered without hesitation.
“Then to whom?”
Under the lass’s curious gaze, the man rubbed his chin and pondered for a moment.
“Well… reportedly, it seems that Li Jun of the village chief’s household is going to be a soldier soon?”
“Yes, yes.” The lass nodded repeatedly, “Older Brother Jun has been saying it these days! He said he was going to become a general.”
“Then, this father will sell him the sword!”
“Um, but…”
The lass hesitated, but then still put her thoughts into words.
“That older brother martial practitioner offered a high price… Father, why don’t you sell him the sword?”
A few days ago, there was a renowned young martial practitioner who wanted the man to forge him a good sword. But the man refused flatly.
She doesn’t find this strange.
In the past, there have been many people her father has refused. She is long since used to this. However, since he is going to sell the sword, why not sell it to the higher bidder?
The village where the lass and her parents live at can only be described as “remote and desolate”. The villagers here are mostly farmers, with only a few hunters. As for craftsmen, there is only their household.
In such a poor village, even if you are born in the village chief’s household, how much money can you have? If the other party really wants to buy the sword, the price they can offer won’t be high. A few silver taels may be the limit.
On the other hand, the martial practitioner that came to ask for a sword earlier was much more generous, offering a high price of one hundred taels.
The lass doesn’t know how much one hundred taels is — she has never seen any money other than copper coins. She only knows that one hundred taels is enough for her household to eat well for a long time.
Faced with the lass’s doubt, the man picked up the sweet lass and let her sit on his lap.
“Ting’er, do you know what is first amongst the myriad of weapons?”
“It’s the swords father forges!”
Without thinking, the lass answered loudly in a tone of certainty.
She believes from the bottom of her heart that there are no weapons more amazing that the swords forged by her father. Although it is ignorant, but it is also really cute.
However, this is probably not the answer the man wanted to hear.
He shook his head gently and replied in a somewhat desolate tone, “No.”
“Ah, what is it then?” The lass stared straight into the man’s eyes, “I don’t believe there are swords more amazing than father’s swords!”
“Ting’er, you think too highly of this father.”
The man looked away and gazed at the ceiling. His eyes are full of ringing colors.
“A long time ago, there was a clan able to forge swords that could change shaped according to the wishes of the wielder. Those swords can extended, can become wider, can enhance the strength of martial practitioners, and even can perform miracles for the wielder.”
“How wonderful! Father, what’s the name of that clan?”
“The School of Mo.”
He uttered the words heavily.
— the School of Mo.
At that moment, this term was engraved at the bottom of the lass’s heart like a brand. Even the years could not erase it.
“The weapons they make are called mechanism weapons, and they are the strongest weapons in the world. Even this father’s swords cannot compare to them.”
“Really?” The lass opened her eyes wide and said in disbelief, “But father’s swords are already really amazing! They can easily cut down large trees!”
The lass still remembers the scene from that day. A leaf gently fell on the blade of the sword her father forged, and then was split into two.
Matchlessly tough and capable of slicing through a strand of hair and cutting through iron as though it were mud — that’s how the swords made by this man are.
However, the man claims that there are things more incredible than his swords. This nearly toppled the lass’s world.
“The School of Mo… mechanist weapons…”
The lass repeated these words several times until she firmly recorded them in her heart.
“Father, can you also forge mechanism weapons?”
“This father cannot. It’s said that the real mechanism arts have been lost a long time ago. Now, only some superficial knowledge, that isn’t even 30% of its former glory, is handed down in the world.”
“Ah…”
The lass issued a dispirited sound and lowered her head dejectedly. The man helplessly stroked her head and told the lass a more surprising fact.
“However, even the School of Mo’s weapons are not first amongst the myriad of weapons.”
He spoke in an inexplicably complicated tone, a somber look in his eyes.
The lass didn’t know what those emotions were. To this day, she still doesn’t know.
— in fact, it was intense dejection.
“Ah!”
With her eyes wide open, the lass covered her mouth in surprise.
“There is something still more formidable than mechanism weapons?”
The man lowered his hand and murmured with a dull look in his eyes, “There is… of course there is.”
When the lass asked “what is it”, the man fell silent and did not answer for a long time. The lass gazed at her father, who is thinking who knows what, but she didn’t urge him. Well, she’s a good child.
“– a person’s heart.”
After a long silence, the man blurted this out. The man concealed his emotions and whispered in the lass’s ear,
“Ting’er, a person’s heart is first amongst the myriad of weapons!”
The lass didn’t understand the meaning of her father’s words, didn’t understand why a person’s heart is the strongest weapon. So, she asked, “why”.
But the man just answered vaguely, “You’re still young. When you grow up, you’ll understand.”
The man’s voice contains a hard to unravel powerlessness. His voice has even turned bleak.
“The toughness of the sword hinges upon the person’s will; the quality of the sword hinges upon the person’s disposition; the sharpness of the sword hinges on the person’s conviction — right, you will understand when you grow up…” The man emphasized, “You will!”
The man stroked the sword placed aside, a tinge of helplessness in his eyes.
“This father didn’t sell a sword to the martial practitioner because I don’t know how he will use the sword and whose blood the sword will draw. This father doesn’t want my swords to become swords of evil. If this father sells a sword to Li Jun, at least it will draw the blood of the enemy and become a sword that defends the state.”
The lass crooked her head, not really understanding. Seeing her appearance, the man smiled gently.
“This father… hopes that my swords can lead people to good, rather than become the basis for others to do evil.”
“I don’t understand what father means.”
Feeling slightly frustrated, she slumped her shoulders.
The man rubbed her cheek, and then looked out the window.
Plume-like snow is falling outside.
The snow fell down like dust shaken from the Heavens and covered everything like a gauze. The man’s gaze penetrated the curtain of snow and fell really far away.
“Since ancient times, a person’s heart has been hard to fathom…”
— all this, Li wanting still keeps all this in mind.
Until now, however, she still hasn’t understood what her father said.
She still doesn’t understand.
