248.2 – Disassembled Mechanism Sword
Xue Qilin lowered her head and told Qi Qiqi the whole story in a weak voice. Consequently, before Xue Qilin could say that it was Phecda who sent the door flying, Qi Qiqi raised her hand and interrupted her.
“Qilin, wait a moment! You said — you took the sword apart, and then couldn’t put it back together?”
Qi Qiqi asked this question in a slightly impatient tone, stunned.
In response, Xue Qilin tilted her head, and then awkwardly scratched her head and replied, “Er… that’s right…”
Qi Qiqi cast Xue Qilin a pitying look.
“Qilin, you’re on your own…”
“Hey, wait! What did you… why are you looking at me like that? Stop!”
A bad premonition welled up inside her, and Xue Qilin promptly went to the bottom of it, “Make yourself clear!”
“Really, you can’t have forgotten, right?”
Qi Qiqi showed a flabbergasted expression.
Then, as if trying to organize her words, she suddenly looked up at the ceiling. After a while, she looked at Xue Qilin again.
“Wasn’t the mechanism sword damaged last time? You can’t have forgotten Older Sister Ting’s reaction from that time, right?”
Xue Qilin crossed her arms and tilted her head, and then uttered disapprovingly, “Little Ting was angry. But she only scolded me a few times.” Xue Qilin puckered her lips, “Unlike you, she didn’t hit me!”
“Xue Qilin!”
Qi Qiqi knocked Xue Qilin on the head.
Xue Qilin clasped the place that was hit and protested loudly, “Little Seven, you shouldn’t readily hit people!”
“Mind your own business!”
“You won’t get married…”
“You…”
Upon hearing the words Xue Qilin murmured, Qi Qiqi was so angry that she gnashed her teeth, and her lips trembled.
“I didn’t say anything!”
Xue Qilin acted dumb.
She turned her eyes and whistled, not looking at Qi Qiqi.
Perhaps afraid that what Xue Qilin said will come true, that she really won’t get married, Qi Qiqi didn’t hit the other party again. Instead, she vigorously waved her sleeve.
“There’s someone who will teach you a lesson!”
Appearing to be a little pleased with herself, Qi Qiqi involuntarily raised the corners of her mouth.
“Little Ting will scold me at most! She won’t hit me!”
“Really?”
Qi Qiqi puckered her lips and glanced at Xue Qilin askance.
“Qilin, last time you could still say that someone else broke it. But what about this time? This time you took it apart yourself. Even if it was an accident, but the circumstances are still different from before. Are you sure that Older Sister Ting will just scold you? Think about it. You should know how much Older Sister Ting values her works, right?”
“This…”
Xue Qilin didn’t answer.
She knows that Li Wanting is very fond of forging swords, that she can give almost anything for it. Since that is the case, she naturally values her works.
And Empyrean Universe is one of her proudest works.
Xue Qilin still remembers the excitement and satisfaction she showed when she handed her the mechanism sword.
If she learns that I was the one who took the mechanism sword apart, how will she react? Xue Qilin began to contemplate this question. Finally, she came to an answer that made her shiver.
“… she wouldn’t?”
Xue Qilin unwittingly broke out in a cold sweat from her forehead. She stiffly turned her head and gazed at Qi Qiqi, looking to get a denial from the other party.
She didn’t receive any comfort from Qi Qiqi.
“Let’s discuss this, Little Seven?”
Xue Qilin rubbed her hands together and said with a fawning expression, “Can you deliver the sword to Little Ting for me? I will owe you a meal, okay?”
In response to the lass’s request, Qi Qiqi just snorted.
“That’s none of my business! Go yourself, you wretched thing!”
“Two meals!”
Xue Qilin erected two fingers.
As everyone knows, Qi Qiqi has an astounding appetite. Just taking her out for two meals is enough to downsize Xue Qilin’s small pouch by half.
“How annoying. Suppose I don’t have the money to eat out, would I care if you treated me to a meal?!”
“Er… that’s not what I meant! But, being able to freeload is really enjoyable!”
Qi Qiqi crossed her arms and looked Xue Qilin up and down with an unkind gaze.
“So you finally realized that you’re freeloading?”
“Er…”
Xue Qilin was momentarily at a loss for words.
She, who has always been lazy, indeed hasn’t done anything when it comes to the Merak Temple’s operation. She doesn’t work hard on her cultivation either. At most, she serves as a deterrent. Although it was just a remark stemming from anger, but Qi Qiqi’s statement that she is a freeloader is not without reason.
“Take care of the mess yourself! I still have a meeting with the elders to attend!” Qi Qiqi shivered abruptly, “An angry Older Sister Ting is really scary.”
After leaving this sentence behind, Qi Qiqi turned around and walked towards her room.
“Ah, Little Seven, let’s discuss it again! Three, how about three meals!”
Xue Qilin got up in a hurry and ran after the other party. As a result, the other party blocked the entrance.
“No!”
Before closing the door, Qi Qiqi uttered coldly, “Remember to have the door repaired! I don’t care what method you use. If it isn’t repaired, cold wind will blow in at night!”
With that, Qi Qiqi slammed the door shut, leaving the covered in cold sweat Xue Qilin, who doesn’t know what to do, alone.
She stood there in a daze for a long time —
“Little Phecda! Get out here!”
With a high pitched roar, Xue Qilin rushed back to her room in an attempt to settle accounts with Phecda. However, even though she turned the room upside down, she didn’t find any traces of Phecda.
Clearly, Phecda had a bad premonition and fled.
“Damned Phecda!”
Xue Qilin was so angry that her mouth crooked. She stamped her foot hard, and then inadvertently saw the parts on the floor.
“What to do…”
Following a sigh, she decided to try her best and assemble them.
Xue Qilin sat cross-legged on the floor, lifted a screwdriver, and fiddled with the parts again.
Unwittingly, more than two hours passed, yet Xue Qilin is still at a loss of what to do. She tried everything she could, but she still doesn’t know how to reassemble these parts into the mechanism sword. She can only stare blankly at the parts.
“I can’t, I can’t do it! I can’t fix it!”
Xue Qilin abandoned herself to resignation. She leaned backwards and laid down on the floor in the shape of the “大” character.
She suddenly felt that Li Wanting is really incredible.
The Merak Temple’s Elder of the Sword Casting Workshop is not only amazing at forging swords, but also possesses deep knowledge regarding mechanism arts. She can design a mechanism sword so precisely that it can be subdivided into hundreds of parts.
It’s probably very difficult to divide a sword into many parts — Xue Qilin mused.
What is the most reasonable way to divide it into parts? Is it hard enough? Will it affect the changes of shape and performance of the mechanism sword? Even the layman Xue Qilin can easily come up with some elements to consider, not to mention the many problems you would encounter when it’s really put into practice.
More importantly, these parts were all forged by Li Wanting.
It should be mentioned that the Hua Dynasty’s forging craftsmanship, theory, and knowledge lag far behind the modern era. It is extremely difficult to forge so many elaborate parts.
This shows how superb Li Wanting’s forging skills are.
