Chapter 80: Chapter 72: The Tree Longs for Stillness, but the Wind Will Not Cease
Yanzhou City is a large city with a population of over a hundred thousand.
Of course, this figure of over a hundred thousand is just the official number, which includes the population within the city and the entire territory of Yanzhou, minus those not registered, the reclusive, or those simply unrecorded... In short, after some calculation, this is a number that everyone can agree on.
In the eyes of Du Chengfeng, who comes from a peaceful land, this city might seem a bit small, but for the people from Jibei in the team, this Yanzhou City is much larger than Jizhen.
"After all, it has city walls."
Looking up at the towering walls of Yanzhou City, Du Chengfeng couldn’t help but sigh.
Unlike Jizhen, which at most could be considered a large Dock Fortress, Yanzhou City is surrounded by city walls. Although less than two zhang high wasn’t very tall, the walls were quite solid.
Du Chengfeng roughly estimated that if He Xiqing didn’t become a monster, relying only on the blood-red saber light drawn from the evil qi entering the body, breaking Jizhen might be possible, but to breach Yanzhou would require considerable effort.
And this also meant that inside the walls, safety was synonymous.
So, in such a safe place, having security checks seemed quite normal.
"Take everything out for inspection! Especially those with sharp edges... Be mindful, this is Yanzhou! Not your Jibei!"
Several soldiers maintained the order of the queue while shouting at the Yang Clan Fort men.
"I know in Jibei you don’t care about this! But here in Yanzhou, weapons that have killed are strictly prohibited from entering the city! This is your last chance to hand over any contraband!"
"Uh, is it this strict... wait a minute?"
Du Chengfeng suddenly furrowed his brows.
"Dear sir, what was that you said about weapons that have killed?"
"Grudge weapons."
The soldier detained by Du Chengfeng was stunned for a moment, then looked at Du Chengfeng with a frown.
"You guys in Jibei fight and kill all the time; you don’t know about this?"
"...Could you wait a moment?"
Du Chengfeng was directly baffled by the question.
He knew about fighting and killing, but what came out of that was deadly weapons, so what’s the deal with these grudge weapons?
Fortunately, the soldier detained by him was quite talkative, and in a few words, he cleared Du Chengfeng’s confusion.
It turns out these grudge weapons and deadly weapons are similar concepts. In other words, they are different terms for the same thing—though if you have to say there’s a difference, it’s because the academies in the mountains recently came up with a new theory, saying that the evil qi on these weapons should be understood as the resentment of the dead, which is why it causes a change in temperament, even turning people into lethal monsters.
Because this theory seemed somewhat reasonable, people here in Yanzhou started using the term "grudge weapons". On one hand, it was to follow the trend; on the other hand, it was to clarify the danger of these deadly weapons.
After all, "deadly weapon" might sound powerful, but "grudge weapon" tends to repel people, which also prevents many from touching it out of curiosity and ending up in madness, causing bloodshed everywhere.
"That’s roughly it."
Clad in armor, the soldier explained the situation courteously.
But being the listener, Du Chengfeng could only feel as if it was from another world.
To descend into madness upon touching a deadly weapon... When did this happen?
It seems to have been a long time ago, as on the level he operated, everyone had reached the point where they started with evil qi entering the body, and without a few hundred lives in their hands, they probably couldn’t even wield the saber light—even the weakest Li Carpenter had decapitated over twenty people personally, which Du Chengfeng considered quite few.
But now it seems that these people here can’t even withstand ordinary evil qi...
"Hey, no."
Coming back to his senses, Du Chengfeng patted his forehead.
It’s right not to withstand it; he shouldn’t compare himself to these people. Normal life doesn’t involve cutting people in half, there aren’t entrails and brains everywhere, and it’s not about slaughtering a few hundred people just to get started; that’s proper living.
And him, over there in Jibei... How many people did he kill anyway?
Hard to remember, as back then, he was doing it as a way to gain experience.
Does anyone calculate the number of grains of rice eaten in a meal?
"This way of calculation seems a bit off..."
Du Chengfeng patted his head, trying to make his thoughts slightly normal.
Meanwhile, the villagers from Yang Clan Fort had been checked by the soldiers.
No one had any contraband on them, nor was there any on the carts; it seemed Yang Xuan had anticipated such checks, as not a single blade was brought by the villagers of Yang Clan Fort—except maybe Li Carpenter’s ancient war axe, but a carpenter carrying an axe is a rather commonplace scenario.
Of course, most importantly, that axe had been broken once, and now it’s dead in a sense, without a trace of weapon evil qi.
This allowed Du Chengfeng to breathe a sigh of relief.
If Li Carpenter could pass the inspection, then he should also be fine. After all, his weapon was also broken and naturally had no evil qi.
But to be safe, just before the soldiers were about to inspect the saddlebag, he exerted force and snapped the heavy great saber.
"A broken saber."
The soldiers merely frowned slightly at the heavy great saber broken into two pieces.
"This thing of yours..."
"Using it as a kindling knife."
Saying that, Du Chengfeng picked up the half-broken blade with a hilt and gestured twice.
No doubt, this long-handled, short-bladed broken saber indeed looked like a fine tool for chopping wood.
"I kept the blade head and didn’t throw it away; it’s ancestral, a keepsake."
"Ah, if it’s a tool, you can take it in."
The soldiers nodded, but then their brows furrowed tightly.
"This long... a military weapon? Where did you get this Broken Horse Sword?"
In an instant, the soldiers surrounded Du Chengfeng, pointing their long spears at him, creating a tense atmosphere.
"Speak! Privately possessing military weapons is a serious crime! If you reveal your supplier, you might get a lighter punishment! If not..."
"No, it’s not a military weapon, it’s a replica, this is just a replica."
Du Chengfeng dropped the Broken Horse Long Saber to the ground and pulled open the scabbard, finally revealing the entire blade safely.
"A souvenir, purely a souvenir, see? This blade is clean and hasn’t killed anyone."
"This... indeed."
The city guard soldiers examined it a few times and put away their weapons.
There was no hint of evil qi on the blade, and there were faint signs of repair at the broken parts; the most crucial aspect is that it was a saber and not a sword, so it didn’t breach any prohibitions.
"You can carry it, but it must be packed away, and once in the city, you’re not allowed to take it out. If found, it will be confiscated on the spot, understand?"
While saying this, the lead soldier tapped Du Chengfeng’s chest.
"I know the folks from the north of Ji are quite robust, you all like collecting this stuff, but this is Yanzhou, you at least... Hmm? What are you hiding in your chest?"
"I..."
Du Chengfeng suddenly felt a toothache.
He had seventeen blades stashed in his chest, each of them a deadly weapon stained with blood, and he had completely forgotten about them.
"There’s more military gear here!"
As Du Chengfeng was pondering excuses, the soldier inspecting the saddlebag shouted.
"Hurry! Open the bag!"
"This..."
Du Chengfeng turned his head and saw the soldiers pulling out a Phoenix Battle Flag from his saddlebag.
Good heavens, he had almost forgotten about that item, yet the soldiers dug it out.
Whatever excuse he might have, it wouldn’t hold water anymore; even if the Broken Horse Long Saber could pass through, the battle flag was genuine military gear. Coupled with the seventeen blades on his person, he was now caught red-handed.
"Understand guys, let me explain, I am actually a sharpening Master Craftsman, my name is Du Chengfeng..."
While trying hard to persuade the soldiers, Du Chengfeng instinctively squinted his eyes.
The closest soldier was only three and a half steps away, just within the range of a tiger’s leap, and even though he was unarmed, his spine could easily crush the person’s head into their chest—then the shrunken corpse could serve as a shield against incoming spears and lances, giving him a chance to snatch the waist knife from the corpse, slash the throats of three men with a Flying Dragon Saber, and then seize a spear...
"Du Chengfeng... Wait, you say you are Du Chengfeng?"
Just as Du Chengfeng’s spine was contracting and his body was about to pounce, the lead soldier suddenly turned his head.
"Where are you from? Which part of Ji north?"
"Yangjiabao, why?"
The imminent action was interrupted by the questioning, leaving Du Chengfeng slightly confused.
If he remembered correctly, his name was only briefly circulated among the Yang family friends in Ji Prefecture, so why did it seem like they had heard of him in Yanzhou too?
"Du Chengfeng from Yangjiabao, that’s right."
The lead soldier signaled his companions to put down their weapons.
"No need to worry, he’s got military gear, it’s normal; after all, he’s the Supervisor of Military Gear for the Ji Town Governor’s Mansion, he’s one of us!"
"...Wait a moment?"
Du Chengfeng grew increasingly perplexed.
If he remembered correctly, he was merely hired as a contractor for some work at the Ji Prefecture Governor’s Mansion, how had he suddenly become the Supervisor of Military Gear?
With this thought, Du Chengfeng couldn’t help but recall the large face of the Ji Prefecture troop governor Liu Yanran.
"Did that lunatic pull some big stunt behind my back..."
Du Chengfeng felt something was indeed off about this situation.
And only when he was led into the city by the soldiers did he realize the hellish Liu Yanran had left behind him a truly grand gift.
