Chapter 217 — That Which Must Not Be Looked Upon
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
Fan Yunxiao sighed. "Talking of it brings bitter tears. That ship of mine came apart, broke up in midair. It nearly killed every passenger aboard, and it took every scrap of strength I had to catch them out of the sky; but I couldn't deliver them to the capital, and I paid out a good deal in damages. I came looking for you this morning, but you weren't at the Imperial Academy, so I thought I'd take a stroll through the capital, and here by chance I've met you. You must forge me an iron-hulled ship. The world's at peace now, and I'm back in business!"
Shen Mu's expression turned odd. The world at peace; and this bandit clearly meant to take up his old trade again, no longer reformed, but a highwayman once more.
"Have you got enough dark iron and dark copper, and money?"
Shen Mu asked. "And the plans for a tower ship? Without the structural drawings, forging an iron-hulled ship is no easy thing."
"It's all taken care of. I bribed the registrar of the shipyard and got myself a set of tower-ship plans."
The noodles arrived. Fan Yunxiao took a great mouthful and praised it: "Hot, and fragrant! I've bought the dark iron and copper too, and stowed it at the merchant shipyard by the Hukou of the Tujiang River outside the city. I'm cleaned out now; all I can hope is to earn back a bit more with that iron-hulled ship."
Shen Mu laughed. "Fine. I'll have the ship built for you before the Academy lets out. Come find me tomorrow." And he took out a Da Feng coin and handed it to the noodle-stall owner.
The owner wiped his hands on his towel and smiled apologetically: "Sir, I can't make change for this. Have you anything smaller? Six bowls is only thirty coppers."
"Keep the change," said Shen Mu, and left.
Fan Yunxiao watched his back and sighed in admiration: "Now that's a rich man."
To this day Shen Mu had only the vaguest notion of what a Da Feng coin was worth. When he went out to eat, to buy vegetables and rice and flour, even at the most expensive restaurant a table piled with delicacies, made from the finest ingredients, came to no more than a dozen Da Feng coins or so. And at an ordinary street stall, a single coin dropped carelessly would leave the proprietor bowing in gratitude.
The next day Fan Yunxiao came to the Imperial Academy to find Shen Mu. Shen Mu brought Xue Hu'er, the Dragon Qilin, and the Demon King Dutian, and came to the Hukou merchant shipyard. The yard was full of martial artists and men of power: some smelted dark iron with true fire and cooled it with true water, forging the pill furnaces for the tower ships; some were masters of the arts of calculation, measuring the sizes of the fittings; others shaped molds with their vital essence; still others were strongmen at the forge, and giant strongmen at the great press, and carpenters shaving woodwork with sword-qi. The din was tremendous.
Fan Yunxiao came to a certain workshop. Shen Mu looked around: the shop held every manner of tool and gear, a great blast furnace for smelting, adamantine anvils of dark iron for hammering, scaffolding, approach bridges, greased timber rails, and dark iron and dark copper stacked in neat piles in the corner. The workshop was broad and high, room enough to hold six or seven great tower ships.
A registrar was already waiting there. Seeing Fan Yunxiao, he grumbled: "Why so late? This empty shop is yours for ten days only; after ten days it's sealed."
Fan Yunxiao bowed and smiled again and again: "Ten days is plenty!" And he pressed a purse of money into the man's hand.
The registrar weighed the purse in his palm. "For these ten days I'll turn a blind eye. Work fast; otherwise, when the Supervisor of Construction comes, I'll be in a hard spot too."
He left the workshop. Fan Yunxiao at once turned to Shen Mu with pleading eyes: "Brother Shen, can it be done in ten days?"