When Yin Le finished eating a bag of pumpkin candies, they arrived at Lower River Village.

The blacksmith was forging hoes for the villagers. Seeing Qin Yao arrive, he pointed to the door of the cottage and resumed his work with bowed head.

Carrying a bit of anticipation, Qin Yao walked to the door. The iron rod she had custom-ordered stood conspicuously among a heap of farm tools, its dark silver sheen exuding a chill. In this hot season, it felt as refreshing as drinking a mouthful of cold water, bringing comfort to her whole body.

Qin Yao reached out and picked up the long rod. The heavy feel in her hands was exactly to her liking. Having not used such a heavy weapon for a long time, she found it slightly cumbersome at first, making her wrist slightly sore.

Weighing the rod, Qin Yao gradually adapted to its weight. The more she looked at it, the more satisfied she felt. In high spirits, she waved away her apprentice Yin Le, and started swinging it right then and there.

The strange howling wind caused by her movements startled the diligent blacksmith. Following the sound, he saw the Mystic Silver Iron Rod quickly pierce the ancient elm tree in front of his door. With a loud bang, the famously hard wood was punctured by a large hole.

Qin Yao stood on the other side of the hole, while the blacksmith was on this side. Their eyes met, and those unruly, arrogant black eyes made the blacksmith instinctively hold his breath.

The coal fire in the furnace blazed fiercely. Under the high temperature, red sparks splashed and surged above the furnace, with a few accidentally landing on the wooden edges of the pounding table, producing a sizzling noise. Only then did the blacksmith take a deep breath and come back to his senses.

"Manager Qin, are you, are you satisfied?" The blacksmith’s voice trembled. He was both excited and somewhat afraid.

Qin Yao gently brushed off the wood chips from the rod, placed it on her shoulder, and nodded with a smile. "I am very satisfied! You’ve worked hard."

The blacksmith quickly waved his hand, "As long as you’re satisfied, it wasn’t hard work, not hard work at all."

After all, the income from making this rod far exceeded what he usually earned from crafting those farm tools.

However, the blacksmith still felt the need to caution Qin Yao, "I wouldn’t dare take on another job like this. Manager Qin, in the future, please go to the city and find another blacksmith."

"Why?" Qin Yao asked, puzzled. She brought Yin Le here precisely to test out some weapons and have a set crafted to take back.

The blacksmith, looking a bit distressed, motioned for Qin Yao to lean in and quietly confided that his advancing age made him reluctant to seek out the illegal iron peddlers again.

As for crafting this rod, had it not been for the money, he wouldn’t have taken the risk.

Salt and iron were under strict control by the court, and blacksmiths or salt merchants needed to obtain a license from the government to open a salt shop or a blacksmith’s forge.

Even the salt and iron had to be sourced from official mines, with purchase quantities strictly regulated, making overbuying impossible.

The supply shortages naturally created a new black market chain.

Yet, engaging in such illegal activities under government law was too risky for the common folk to do repeatedly.

The salt and iron smugglers were ruthless. Every time the blacksmith dealt with them, he felt as though he had brushed past death’s door.

Qin Yao sighed, "Do you have any good items available?"

She glanced outside. "I intended to have a set of handy weapons made for my new apprentice today."

The blacksmith glanced at Yin Le, and the girl smiled politely at him when she caught his eye.

Yin Le no longer wore a face veil due to the heat and because she had fully reconciled with herself internally.

If strangers got scared, she no longer cared.

What they thought had nothing to do with her. She didn’t need to explain to irrelevant people.

The place was small; any news would spread to nearby villages within three days, and the story of a woman with a scarred face coming to Liu Family Village had reached the blacksmith’s ears.

But he didn’t expect her to be Qin Yao’s apprentice.

Suppressing his curiosity, the blacksmith motioned for Yin Le to come in.

There was still some good stuff left, usually supplied to local hunters and some small-time hooligans in the nearby villages. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Now, unwilling to take on such business any longer, he planned to melt the remaining items down at the end of the month and focus solely on making farm tools.

"Speaking of which, it’s partly due to you, Manager Qin," the blacksmith complained with a hint of blame.

Qin Yao was baffled, "I haven’t reported you. On the contrary, I’ve been keeping it a secret for you."

The blacksmith pulled down the curtain on the door while fetching the goods.

"Your village’s development project attracted Lord County Magistrate, and now our road sees government officers passing by every few days. It frightens me too much to continue doing business with you."

However, considering the increased legitimate traffic and business resulting from the development, he decided not to hold it against villagers from Liu Family Village.

Qin Yao shook her head with a wry smile as the blacksmith laid out his stock, signaling Yin Le to step forward and choose.

"Try some out first to see what feels right."

Yin Le nodded and stepped forward with some excitement. She saw seven or eight weapons, including small flying daggers and knives, as well as larger blades and spiked clubs.

There was even a bow and arrow set and an exotic dual chained meteor ball weapon.

At the time, there wasn’t much in terms of weapon regulations, except in specific cities or special places where entrants were required to surrender weapons.

Hence, it wasn’t uncommon on the road to see traveling escort crews or wealthy noble retinues carrying blades or other weapons.

Having seen many conventional weapons, Yin Le was intrigued by the sight of the dual chained meteor ball weapon.

However, upon picking it up, she realized it was not only difficult to wield but also dangerous to oneself. She quickly gave up on it.

The spiked club was too heavy for her to handle, so she abandoned that choice as well.

The flying daggers didn’t interest her; she saw them as mere self-defense tools, not true weapons.

She was a bit tempted by the bow and arrow and knife, having often seen Qin Yao use them.

However, reality soon gave her a harsh awakening.

The knife was overly large and cumbersome; she could barely swing it before stumbling and almost getting hurt by it.

When she took the bow outside for a test, the bowstring snapped with a crack.

Yin Le was taken aback; she had only been practicing basic skills with her master for a few days and wondered if her strength had suddenly increased.

Clearly, she was overthinking it.

Qin Yao frowned, "Blacksmith, isn’t your quality a bit careless here?"

The blacksmith awkwardly cleared his throat and hurriedly explained, "They’ve been stored for too long. You can try the flying daggers."

He quickly took the bow and arrow set away to avoid damage to his reputation if seen by others.

Having no other choice left, Yin Le was left with the flying daggers, which she hadn’t initially considered.

Qin Yao encouraged her, "Give it a try first."

"Alright."

Pushing aside her biases, Yin Le was reluctant because she felt using flying daggers made her seem less like her master’s apprentice.

After all, knives and bows had much more presence!