Chapter 692: Sword Lu

Zhang Haotian turned around and looked at her and said, "Is there anything wrong?"

Ou Tiemei said softly, then said, "Can you take out the golden dragon short sword and let me see it?"

Zhang Haotian knew that the knife was his father's last work, and it was reasonable for her to see it. He nodded and took out the short golden dragon sword that was only one foot long from the suitcase and handed it to her.

Ou Tiemei did not draw her sword, but stroked the golden light and a dragon's scabbard, with endless sadness in her eyes, and murmured: "The pattern of the scabbard is also the sword-casting skill of our Ou family. It usually carves the seven-star logo or the flying dragon pattern. But one does not use colored pens, and the other does not follow the pattern. Just a handful of steel chisels carves on the scabbard. After carving, copper water is poured on it. After the shovel is flat and polished, the pattern will never disappear. It took my father a week to carve the flowers and gilt the scabbard. I saw him get up early and go to bed late."

As she said this, she slowly pulled out the knife. At this moment, the moon was slanting in the sky. A ray of light shot up from the intersection of the hilt and the blade with the tip of the knife. The blade was filled with a thin dragon. Under the reflection of the moonlight and the short knife itself, it was really lifelike, as if it was about to soar into the sky. Although Xiaowei was often kept by Zhang Haotian, this golden dragon short knife had never been pulled out and seen. When she saw it, she couldn't help but cheer.

Ou Tiemei stared quietly with the golden dragon knife, as if she was trapped in the memories of the past. After a while, she sighed deeply, turned her eyes to Zhang Haotian, and said, "Mr. Zhang, I will ask you something, please tell the truth."

Zhang Haotian hurriedly said, "Sister asked, I know everything."

Ou Tiemei said "um" and then said, "Are you still trying to melt this short knife and cast another knife?"

Zhang Haotian knew that this would make Ou Tiemei sad, but he was unwilling to hide it, so he nodded and said, "I urgently need an arc knife that combines the advantages of a big knife and a scimitar. If I can visit a famous sword-casting master, the other party can melt the meteorite of the Golden Dragon Short Sword and other fine steel into another knife. I think I will do this, Sister Ou, I'm really sorry."

Ou Tiemei nodded silently, suddenly sighed, but instead of giving him the knife, she sat back to the stone table, held it in her hand, stared at it for a long time, her face gradually became stern. After a while, she stood up again and looked at Zhang Haotian and said, "Mr. Zhang, I may be able to find a way to get the weapons you want, but I hope you will agree to one thing."

When Zhang Haotian heard this, he was overjoyed and said quickly: "Sister Ou, please tell me what I want you to agree to."

Ou Tiemei said: "After the sword is completed, you must not use this sword to kill innocent people."

Zhang Haotian nodded without hesitation and said, "No problem, I can promise you that I will never kill innocent and kind people. If you violate this promise, you will be struck by lightning and will never be a human being."

After hearing Zhang Haotian's words, Ou Tiemei didn't say anything more, but pointed to an empty room on the right and said, "You can live there. Within three months, I see if I can cast a satisfactory knife for you."

When Zhang Haotian heard this, he was surprised and happy and said, "Sister Ou, it turns out that you can make swords. Your Ou family's sword-making technique has not been lost."

Ou Tiemei shook her head and said, "Our Ou family has the rule of passing on men but not women. My father has never passed on me or something. But since I was a child, I have followed his father to watch him make swords in the sword hut. I learned some skills and try my luck, maybe it can."

Zhang Haotian knew that the "Sword House" she was talking about must be the stone house she had just seen, and this middle-aged woman who was clumsy on the outside and clearly inside was not as simple as "trying luck". She couldn't help but say, "Didn't it mean that Old Master Ou rarely casts swords for others? Why did you follow him in the sword furnace since you were a child and watch him cast swords?"

Ou Tiemei seemed to sigh slightly and said, "Come with me." Then she headed towards his stone house, Zhang Haotian and Xiaowei followed behind him.

The stone house was not locked, Ou Tiemei opened the door as soon as she pushed the door. She reached out and pulled it. The stone house was as bright as day. There were more than a dozen fluorescent tubes on the top of the forty square houses.

Knowing that making swords requires eyesight, Zhang Haotian was not surprised by the brightness of the room. Instead, he looked around and looked at the "Sword House" carefully. He saw that except for the large iron furnace and iron hammer, iron pincers and iron plates in the middle, even if there was a broken sword, it was not consistent with the name of "Sword House".

At this moment, Ou Tiemei walked to the west side of the room, uncovered a dark dusty cover on the ground, revealing a four-foot-square hole, and pointed to the bottom, "Mr. Zhang, you will understand when you come and take a look."

Zhang Haotian strode over, reached the entrance of the cave, and looked down. After seeing this, he was shocked.

It turned out that this was a ground kiln about four or five meters deep, and in the cellar, there were long swords piled up everywhere. Under the bright light, these long swords shone with snow, and there were no rusts. There were countless layers of them, but they all had no scabbards.

Xiaowei also came over to see it, and immediately stuck out her tongue and said, "There are so many swords, Sister Ou, are they all cast by Mr. Ou? I think they are quite sharp, why don't you sell them? It's a pity to pile them here?"

Unexpectedly, Ou Tiemei shook her head slowly and said, "No, these are all waste swords that cannot be seen. This cave is called the Sword Burning Cave. If the sword entered here, it will not be taken out again."

Xiaowei looked carefully for a while and felt that it was shining brightly, as if it was much more refined and smoother than the swords she and Zhang Haotian bought on Sword Street in Longquan City for 2,000 yuan. She said in surprise: "Wasted swords, no, I see that if these swords are put on a more gorgeous scabbard outside, they will definitely be sold at a good price."

At this time, Zhang Haotian had already understood and sighed a long sigh and said, "Xiaowei, don't you understand? If these swords are sold in the store, they will definitely be top-quality. However, for the Ou family, such swords are not a waste product. Old Master Ou did not cast many swords, but it was not much that satisfied him. This may be a tradition of the Ou family."

Ou Tiemei nodded and said, "Yes, our Ou family has its own standards for making swords and cannot tolerate any flaws, so there are many swords cast, but few swords born. My father cast six swords that satisfy him in his life, plus the golden dragon short sword, with seven swords in total, but he actually built no less than a hundred swords. In this yard, in addition to my father, there are three generations on it. However, in my father's generation, we experienced the Cultural Revolution. Because our family often presents swords to the emperor, we are regarded as lackeys of the feudal dynasty, and some of them are jealous of our sword-casting skills. They secretly used their weapons to kill them, and they lost my uncle and second uncle. In this sword cave, there are not only the swords cast by my father, but also the swords of my uncle and second uncle, and my grandfather and others, at least thousands of them."

When Xiaowei heard this, she stuck out her tongue and said, "Ah, there are a thousand swords inside. Are they all made of iron? Isn't it a waste?"

However, Zhang Haotian was delighted in his heart, looked at Ou Tiemei and said, "Sister Ou, what is buried in this sword cave is not just a waste sword, but a kind of storage, right?"

Ou Tiemei said "Hmm": "If these irons are cast ten swords in each lifetime, they are at least enough for my family to use for dozens of lifetimes."

Zhang Haotian couldn't help but admire and said, "The ancestors of your Ou family are really foresighted. Now there are many swords cast in Longquan. Sooner or later, they will mine the good iron. Then only your Ou family will have it, so every sword cast will be a rare treasure."

Ou Tiemei looked at the swords silently, as if she was thinking about her elders. After a while, she said: "Our Ou family started with his ancestor Ou Zhizi, and was not a greedy person. If such a person appeared, the elders would fund him to do business or go into politics, but he would never pass on his sword making skills. People who were obsessed with profit will not learn such a skill. For real Ou family, being able to cast a sword like his ancestor Ou Zhizi is the ambition of his life. What's more, every time we sell a sword, we can earn more money than ordinary people in our lives. There is no problem with food and clothing. More time is spent studying sword making skills, and then summarizing experiences to pass on each generation."

Xiaowei immediately said: "You have a rule that you will pass on men but not women. If the next generation is all women and they don't like to make swords, then will all the hard work of the ancestors be lost?"

Zhang Haotian suddenly figured it out, smiled and shook his head and said, "Of course it will not be lost. Although the Ou family has rules to pass on men but not women, they can write down all the experiences they have learned. When these daughters have descendants, they will adopt the incense of the Ou family, and the sword-making technique can be passed on forever."

Ou Tiemei neither admitted nor denied it, but said, "Mr. Zhang, the reason why I helped you cast a knife was that I destroyed a peerless flying stone from the sky because I didn't want you to find a mediocre craftsman. However, I have been an assistant to my father in Jianlu, and I have never cast a sword alone. Even my father has never cast a knife. If the final result cannot satisfy you, don't blame me."

Zhang Haotian nodded quickly and said, "Don't complain, of course, no complaints, but I believe that the descendants of the Ou family will not disappoint me."

Ou Tiemei didn't say anything anymore, put the iron cover again, but walked to the east side of Jianlu, pointing to a place and said, "Mr. Zhang, come here, let's move this away."

Zhang Haotian strode over and saw a purple-red cabinet about a half meters high where she pointed. He went to knock on it, making a dull sound, which seemed to be cast from pig iron.

Ou Tiemei said: "There are some sword-casting tools in this iron cabinet, but we don't want these, but below."

Speaking of this, she had already walked to the left of the iron cabinet, and Zhang Haotian went to the right. Hearing Ou Tiemei shouted, moving out with all his might. The iron cabinet and the things inside were at least three or four hundred kilograms. If Ou Tiemei could be lifted up, she really deserves to be the daughter of the Ou family.

When the iron box was moved one meter outside and then put it down, a rectangular iron cover appeared below. Ou Tiemei went to uncover the iron cover and immediately saw a stone pit about one meter high below. In the stone pit, there were twenty or thirty swords neatly placed. Unlike the swords buried in the sword cave, these swords all have sword sheaths, some are gorgeous and exquisite, while others are simple and unconventional.

Seeing Zhang Haotian and Xiaowei's eyes a little surprised, Ou Tiemei said: "The swords cast by the Ou family are divided into two types: top-grade and top-grade. The top-grade must be perfect. The top-grade has only tiny flaws. The person who casts the sword will not let it be born, and he is reluctant to put them as waste products in the sword cave. He will be equipped with a scabbard and put them here for collection. Occasionally, he will take them out to enjoy them by himself."

As she said this, she had already squatted down, took out a long sword with a black pear wood scabbard from the pit, and handed it to Zhang Haotian's hand and said: "Fusing this Overlord Sword with your golden dragon short sword, maybe you can get the knife you want."

Zhang Haotian took the sword into his hand, and felt that it was heavy, so he pulled out the sword. As soon as the sword was unsheathed, he felt the cold light forcing him. He stared carefully and saw that the sword body was about four fingers wide, one meter three or four long, while the sword head was a little round and blunt. Although it was not good-looking, it was full of fierce momentum.

Ou Tiemei said: "This sword was cast by my father based on the ancient score. It is said that it was used by Xiang Yu, the King of Western Chu, so it is called the King of Overlords."

Zhang Haotian raised his sword and felt very good at it. He couldn't help but say, "This sword has no flaws, why should it be placed inside?"

Ou Tiemei said: "This sword does not have any flaws, but it was cast by my father because of his interest, so he put it inside."

Speaking of this, she took the sword from Zhang Haotian's hand, bent down and picked an iron rod thicker than the big finger on the ground. She waved the sword and slashed it. The snow light flashed, and the iron rod broke silently. It was not until it fell to the ground that it made a crisp "ding bell" sound.

Zhang Haotian and Xiaowei both exclaimed in the same way when they saw this. At this time, Ou Tiemei handed the sword back to Zhang Haotian's hand and said, "Mr. Zhang, you can break the sword body again."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Haotian held the hilt of the sword in one hand and the blunt sword head in the other. He folded it hard and immediately saw that the wide and thick Overlord sword had been bent and reached a 90-degree angle. He couldn't help but shout again, and then he realized that the Ou family's sword-making technique was indeed well-deserved. If his wolf king sword reached this point, it would undoubtedly be of great help to his sword technique.

Ou Tiemei asked him to return the Overlord Sword back to the black scabbard and moved the iron cabinet to the stone pit again. Then he said: "Let's go, go and rest first. Start casting a knife tomorrow. The most time-consuming thing to cast a sword is iron smelting, but my dad has completed this matter. Within three months, he should be able to cast the knife you need."

Zhang Haotian nodded and looked at her and said, "Sister Ou, your sword hut is really a treasure house. Now that we both know, aren't you afraid that we will have a strange intention?"

Ou Tiemei stared at his eyes quietly and said lightly: "The people of the Ou family can not only know swords, but also people. If I misread you two, then the Ou family will be destined to suffer this disaster in my generation. That is God's attention, and the arrangements of our ancestors, so why should I think too much?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Haotian couldn't help but admire the Ou family and respect the rough middle-aged woman. However, Xiaowei smiled and said, "Sister Ou, I think your sword-making skills are accurate, because you are very good at identifying people."

Ou Tiemei smiled and stopped talking. Instead, she took them out of Jianlu and arrived at the room next to her. The door was not locked and she pushed it in. When she turned on the light, she saw a large bedroom of thirty or forty square meters. There was a carved bed on the north wall of the room, and the rest of the furniture was antique and looked very exquisite.

Ou Tiemei said: "This room was originally where my uncle lived. Later, my uncle died. My uncle remarried and took my cousin away. Now I don't know where to go, but I keep their room without moving, and I come in to clean it every once in a while. You live in this room, and I will go to get you bedding."

As she spoke, she turned around and left. Zhang Haotian and Xiaowei sat on a mahogany seat carved with magpies' squirting branches. Xiaowei said, "Brother Tian, ​​I have a feeling that although this eldest sister Ou is a woman, she really wants to cast a sword in her heart. Although you are not casting a sword, you have peerless iron in your hand, which just aroused her heart."
Chapter completed!