Chapter 1646: Chapter 1948: Guo Halong’s Collection Room
"Mr. Ling, what are you looking at?" Guo Halong asked.
Ling Chen reached out and pointed to an axe hanging on the wall, saying, "That axe looks pretty good."
Upon hearing this, Guo Halong grinned and said, "Mr. Ling’s eyes are indeed discerning. You’re right, that isn’t just a decorative axe, but a divine weapon, crafted by Mr. Guo Ming himself. Mr. Ling, I’m sure there’s no need for me to introduce Mr. Guo to you, as he’s the dedicated master blacksmith for your Dragon Tiger Hall. Mr. Guo Ming’s craftsmanship is unmatched throughout all of Huaxia, and this axe is an early work of his; it took a lot of effort for me to acquire it. Mr. Ling, if possible, could you ask Mr. Guo Ming to specially craft me a suitable weapon?"
"Since Master Guo has made the request, I will surely ask when I return to see if Mr. Guo has the time."
"Mr. Ling, Mr. Guo is affiliated with your Dragon Tiger Hall. Just say the word, and I believe he won’t refuse." After a pause, Guo Halong continued, "Of course, as long as Mr. Guo is willing to create a weapon for me, I’m willing to pay generously."
Ling Chen said lightly, "Given Mr. Guo’s status, doesn’t Master Guo find talking about money a bit vulgar?"
Guo Halong let out a hearty laugh and nodded, "Mr. Ling is right, that’s too provincial of me. The weapons crafted by Mr. Guo are priceless; how can they be measured by money? How about this: no matter what conditions Mr. Guo sets, as long as I can fulfill them, I will certainly not go back on my word. How about that?"
"It seems Master Guo is quite fond of Mr. Guo’s weapons."
"As martial artists, who among us doesn’t like weapons? Not only do I like them, but I also enjoy collecting them. Mr. Ling, if you’re interested, shall I take you to see my collection room?"
Ling Chen responded, "Sure, since we’re sitting here anyway, might as well learn from Master Guo."
"Please follow me, everyone."
"Excuse me, where is your restroom?" Zhu Qing asked at this moment.
Guo Halong made a gesture, and a disciple immediately led Zhu Qing away. Watching Zhu Qing’s departing figure, Ling Chen’s mouth curved slightly before following Guo Halong toward the villa’s underground chamber. At the entrance to the chamber, Ling Chen couldn’t help but be surprised at the sight before him.
The chamber was equipped with a reinforced explosion-proof door, which regular amounts of explosives were unlikely to open. Not only that, this explosion-proof door required dual passwords to unlock—one being Guo Halong’s fingerprint, and the other being his voice recognition. The electronic encryption system would randomly select a pre-recorded phrase for Guo Halong to recite accurately for the door to open. If there was a mistake, not only would the door remain closed, but the security system would be triggered.
As the explosion-proof door slowly opened, Guo Halong made a gesture of ’please’ toward Ling Chen and then walked in briskly.
The lights turned on, revealing the entire collection to Ling Chen. On all four walls hung Guo Halong’s weapon collection; all eighteen types of weapons were present, dazzling to behold, at least forty to fifty items in sight.
Ling Chen smiled and said, "Master Guo’s collection truly opens my eyes."
Upon hearing the compliment, Guo Halong looked unusually pleased. He pointed to a cold, gleaming steel blade and said, "This steel blade is over a hundred years old, left behind by a master skilled in blade use over a century ago." With that, he pointed to a nearby rust-covered iron sword.
"Mr. Ling might find it odd that I collect divine weapons, yet here there’s a rusty sword."
"Master Guo must have a reason for this."
"To be honest, this sword is actually quite ordinary, with no special features. In today’s market, you could easily buy a sword of better quality than this one. However, I collect this sword not for its qualities, but for its owner. Over two hundred years ago, the Martial Arts world had a sword genius who, in just thirty years, reached the pinnacle of the Martial Arts world, becoming the number one of the time with this very sword. So, this sword holds significant historical importance."
Ling Chen nodded, "It seems Master Guo not only likes divine weapons but is also fond of the histories behind them." After a pause, he glanced around the collection room and noticed a vacant spot in the middle of one wall, with nothing placed there.
"Master Guo, haven’t you found enough pieces to fill that gap?" he asked casually.
"No," Guo Halong shook his head, "I have plenty of items, but I left that space for a specific weapon. Mr. Ling, haven’t you noticed that there’s one type of weapon missing from my collection?"
"Missing one type?" Ling Chen looked carefully and quickly understood what Guo Halong referred to.
"There’s a lack of a bow here."
"Exactly!" Guo Halong said with a smile, "Throughout the hundreds of years of Martial Arts history, there’s only one master archer in the world, and that’s the arrow god Zhang Zhongfeng. I’m sure Mr. Ling is quite familiar with him; the bow he held was Mr. Guo Ming’s late masterpiece, considered the pinnacle of Master Guo’s work. Both the man and the bow were unparalleled, which is why only Zhang Zhongfeng’s bow fits this spot in my collection." As he spoke, Guo Halong gave Ling Chen a somewhat apologetic look, "Mr. Ling, please don’t misunderstand, I’m expressing pure admiration without any other intent."
"I understand," Ling Chen said dismissively, "Now that we’ve toured the collection room, shall we discuss our real business?"
"Business? Mr. Ling, I’m not sure what you mean."
"Here’s the situation: two nights ago, several branch halls of the Dragon Tiger Hall were simultaneously attacked by unknown individuals, suffering heavy losses. I’m not sure if Master Guo has heard about this incident?"
"I’ve heard whispers of it, but I don’t know the details. Mr. Ling, your sudden visit tonight isn’t because you suspect our Heavenly Dragon Sect, is it?"
"Not exactly. We found some clues pointing to one of the groups involved in the attack being Jinyao Martial Arts Hall, so we made our way to Yangcheng, hoping to ask its hall master Song Qingde about it. But Song Qingde was too cunning and managed to escape. Since we’re in Yangcheng, we couldn’t leave empty-handed, so I took the opportunity to visit Master Guo, with no other intentions."
"I see," Guo Halong said, maintaining his composure, "I’ve hardly interacted with Song Qingde, so I don’t know him well. Otherwise, I’d certainly assist Mr. Ling."
