Chapter 880: Old Fellow Sees Old Fellow

“Clang… clang… clang…”

The sound of hammering from the blacksmith’s shop was remarkably rhythmic. Zuo Wuji watched from outside, observing how with each powerful strike of the hammer, a shower of sparks erupted from the anvil. The iron blank under the blacksmith’s hammer seemed like a tough piece of dough, visibly changing shape with every blow.

Initially, Zuo Wuji’s attention had been drawn by the steamed buns, so he hadn’t paid much heed to the blacksmith’s shop next door. But watching Jin Jia at work, he found it quite insightful, realizing that blacksmithing was clearly a skilled craft.

“Excuse me, sir, your buns!”

The bun shop owner had already wrapped the buns in oiled paper and walked over to hand them to Zuo Wuji.

“Oh, thank you.”

Zuo Wuji spoke these few words quite fluently. He reached out, took the oiled paper package, and looked inside to find ten buns. No wonder the bundle felt so heavy.

“Ten of them?”

“Hehe, enjoy, sir! You won’t be charged for the extra ones!”

“Oh, thank you, thank you very much!”

Zuo Wuji picked up a bun and took a huge bite, instantly halving the generously sized pastry. The warm, savory flavor filled his mouth.

“Good, delicious!”

Zuo Wuji praised the bun and then looked back at Jin Jia hammering. Seeing no customers for the moment, the bun shop owner didn’t go back inside his shop but instead leaned closer to Zuo Wuji and asked,

“Sir, are you from the same hometown as Brother Jin?”

“Huh?”

The other person spoke quietly and quickly, so Zuo Wuji didn’t immediately understand. “I mean, sir, are you from the same hometown as Brother Jin?”

“Oh, oh, oh…”

Zuo Wuji nodded, finally grasping the meaning.

“Yes, it should be. From the accent, it sounds like it. We are all…”

*He wondered how to say “Dazhen of Yunzhou”…*

After a moment’s thought, Zuo Wuji pointed to the clouds in the sky and said,

“We are all from Yunzhou, Da… Zhen… people.”

“Dazhen” was spoken with its original pronunciation. The bun shop owner followed Zuo Wuji’s finger and looked up at the sky, scratching his head, appearing to understand yet not. He had never heard the word “Dazhen” before and couldn’t grasp it. Was it a place in the sky? He concluded it must be a rather unusual place name.

“Is it far?”

Zuo Wuji was already eating his second bun and exclaimed to the bun shop owner,

“These buns taste really good! My hometown, ah, it’s far, very, very far away. Across the ocean, on the other side of the sea…”

As he spoke, Zuo Wuji had already stepped into the blacksmith’s shop, looking around, occasionally picking up farming tools and cleavers to heft and tap them.

“Brother, you have excellent craftsmanship; these iron tools are impressive.”

Jin Jia, however, paid no attention to Zuo Wuji and continued hammering. Zuo Wuji didn’t insist on a response; he simply walked closer to the anvil and watched him.

The bun shop owner outside was slightly astonished. This stranger stood so close to the anvil, yet remained perfectly steady, unblinking, and casually eating his bun. For anyone else, the sheer force of Brother Jin’s hammering alone would send most people recoiling in fear.

*It seems this stranger is also a formidable person!*

“Owner, I’d like to buy some buns…”

“Oh, alright, coming!”

Hearing someone call him, the bun shop owner quickly returned, though he couldn’t help but glance back at the blacksmith’s shop. It was rare to meet someone from Brother Jin’s hometown, and he was curious to learn more about Brother Jin.

Zuo Wuji simply stood beside Jin Jia, observing the changes in his hammering rhythm and counting his strikes. It was essentially forty-nine hammers per cycle, attending to every detail of the iron blank.

“Sizzle——”

The iron blank was plunged into a wooden tub for quenching, then tempered moments later. During this process, Zuo Wuji finished his last bun, clapped his hands, rubbed his stomach, and revealed a look of contentment.

Just then, the curtain to the back room of the blacksmith’s shop was pulled aside from within, and a sturdy old man emerged.

“Hmm? Who are you? If you’re buying ironware, don’t stand too close to the furnace and anvil!”

Zuo Wuji cupped his hands and bowed to the old man.

“I am Zuo Wuji, also from Dazhen. I haven’t come to buy ironware, but it’s quite warm by the furnace!”

The old blacksmith frowned, looking at Zuo Wuji.

“What are you talking about? I don’t understand a single word.”

As soon as the old blacksmith said this, Zuo Wuji realized that the old man likely had no connection to Dazhen.

Jin Jia glanced at the old blacksmith and replied,

“He says his name is Zuo Wuji, and he’s from Dazhen. He’s not here to buy ironware; he’s standing by the furnace because it’s warm.”

This straightforward retelling made Zuo Wuji secretly chuckle. And when Jin Jia pronounced “Dazhen,” he mimicked Zuo Wuji, speaking it directly in the Dazhen dialect.

“Old man, he and I are from the same hometown!”

Zuo Wuji pointed to himself, then to Jin Jia. The old blacksmith understood this and instantly became interested.

“Really! You’re from Little Jin’s hometown? Is his family far? How many people are in his family? What do his parents do?”

“That, I wouldn’t know…”

Jin Jia, standing nearby, put down his hammer. Without lowering his head, he looked at Zuo Wuji with a condescending side glance.

“Since you are from Dazhen, what brings you here?”

Jin Jia asked Zuo Wuji in the Dazhen dialect. The old blacksmith’s eyes widened upon hearing it; they really were from the same hometown! He had never heard Little Jin speak like this before, but he didn’t understand what was said.

Zuo Wuji crossed his arms and replied with a smile.

“To hone my martial arts! And what are you doing in this distant foreign land?”

Jin Jia liked to lie, but he could also choose not to answer. He walked to the side, poured a bowl of water from a kettle, drank it with a gulp, and then looked back at Zuo Wuji.

“Your martial arts, it seems, are not low. What will you use to hone them?”

Zuo Wuji found this even more interesting. This person seemed able to discern the level of his martial arts, though Zuo Wuji himself had sensed the blacksmith possessed extraordinary skill when he observed him earlier.

“Well then, if I said I honed them against demons, would you believe me, brother?”

The old blacksmith grew a little anxious.

“What are you two talking about? Hey, hey, Little Jin, what are you saying?”

“Oh, I’m talking to this blacksmith brother about our hometown, about… a few changes…”

“Oh…”

The old blacksmith nodded in understanding and looked at Jin Jia, asking,

“Has your hometown changed?”

Jin Jia paused for a few breaths, then answered with a single word.

“No.”

“If there’s no change, why are you two chattering so much? You scoundrel, are you making fun of your master…”

The old blacksmith muttered to himself as he walked to the side and began tidying his tools.

Jin Jia, meanwhile, returned to the anvil, checking some iron blanks inside the furnace. Without turning around, he spoke to Zuo Wuji.

“It seems your martial arts are formidable!”

Jin Jia spoke not in a question, but a statement of certainty. Zuo Wuji’s vital energy was indeed more robust than an ordinary person’s, but his true vital essence and killing intent were locked within. Jin Jia hadn’t really noticed before, but after a closer look now, especially after Zuo Wuji’s comment about honing his skills against demons, he felt there was a fierce fire in the man’s eyes, and that it was no idle boast.

Hearing Jin Jia’s words, Zuo Wuji smiled again.

“My martial arts have indeed achieved something, but how do they compare to yours, brother? You’re not just an ordinary blacksmith, are you?”

Jin Jia paused, then turned to look intently at Zuo Wuji. After a while, he turned back, and a statement, devoid of any emotional inflection, came from him.

“You can’t defeat me. There’s no need to challenge me.”

Another definitive and resolute statement.

*What arrogance!*

Zuo Wuji’s heart skipped a beat, but he wasn’t an arrogant novice in the martial world; he wouldn’t get furious over a single remark. Besides, he hadn’t intended to challenge the blacksmith to a fight in the first place.

After finally finding someone from his hometown in a foreign land, and knowing this person was definitely not bad, Zuo Wuji simply felt a sense of familiarity and warmth.

“By the way, brother, if I need lodging, do you know where I might find a relatively inexpensive inn?”

Jin Jia walked to the shop entrance and pointed in a direction.

“Keep going north. That area isn’t as wealthy, so inns should be cheaper.”

“Uh, you’re not going to invite me to stay the night?”

Jin Jia slowly turned and looked at Zuo Wuji.

“Why?”

That question… Zuo Wuji smiled helplessly.

“Alright, thank you, brother. Um, could I borrow some travel money? As you can see, I’m a bit short on funds right now. Rest assured, I, Zuo Wuji, am an honorable man and will definitely repay you!”

But Jin Jia shook his head again.

“I eat and live here with my master. Even the ten coins I gave you for the buns, which isn’t part of my usual wages, I had to ask Master for.”

“Ah?” Zuo Wuji was astonished and about to say something when Jin Jia continued.

“I’ll go ask Master for you.”

With that, Jin Jia walked over to the old blacksmith and said a few words. The old blacksmith glanced at Zuo Wuji, then went into the back room, quickly returning with a string of coins and a small silver ingot, which he handed directly to Zuo Wuji.

“Here, since you’re Little Jin’s fellow townsman, take it and use it.”

“Thank you, old man, and thank you, Brother Jin! Zuo Wuji will take his leave now, but I’ll return!”

Zuo Wuji took the money, cupped his hands to bow in thanks to the old blacksmith and Jin Jia, then turned and exited the blacksmith’s shop. In the cold wind, he breathed on his hands and rubbed them together before heading in the direction Jin Jia had pointed.

Snow began to fall from the sky, growing heavier. Jin Jia stepped out of the blacksmith’s shop and watched Zuo Wuji’s retreating figure disappear into the snow, without ever turning back.

Zuo Wuji continued in the direction Jin Jia had indicated. After some time, he indeed noticed that the houses in that area appeared older. Although people were preparing for spring, at most they had pasted up some decorations, and there were fewer homes with festive lanterns. However, after numerous turns, he still hadn’t found any inns, and was starting to consider climbing onto a rooftop for a better view.

As he rounded a corner into an alley, a small figure suddenly darted past him. He focused his gaze and saw it was a very young child running alone through the wind and snow.