The blacksmith stood up, slightly excited, and said, "A true expert!"
The blacksmith's son exclaimed, "That's our teacher!"
Tang Long stared at it for a long time without letting go, smacking his lips and saying, "It's a pity this gun is still no good for fighting."
The blacksmith was taken aback and said, "Fighting? Who still uses this kind of thing to fight now? I only use good steel for the spearhead because it's durable."
Tang Long's words seemed to strike a chord with Xiang Yu, who put his hand on Tang Long's shoulder and asked, "Do you think it can be changed?"
Tang Long said, "Of course."
How long?
As Tang Long took off his coat, he said, "It'll only take an hour or two." He then shouted to the onlookers in the crowd, "Bring me two strong men!"
Xiang Yu said, "I'll count as one."
Li Kui, sleeves rolled up, rushed out from the crowd and said, "What do you want?"
Tang Longdao said, "Start the bellows."
The blacksmiths in the countryside still used the old-fashioned bellows-operated furnaces, with Xiang Yu and Li Kui sitting on either side of the vents. Fortunately, this job didn't require much skill; you just had to swing your arms and pull like crazy.
Seeing the fire in the furnace gradually grow brighter and more dazzling, Tang Long suddenly grabbed the butt of the spear and put the front half of the spear shaft inside. The blacksmith exclaimed in surprise, "What are you doing?"
Tang Long ignored him, quietly watching the gun barrel gradually turn red. Then, he casually grabbed a handful of iron powder, held it to his lips, and held the red-hot gun barrel up in flames, carefully blowing the iron powder onto it. The gun barrel flickered, sometimes black, sometimes red. After blowing on it repeatedly for a while, Tang Long quenched the areas where he had blew the iron powder into a bucket of water. Everyone, including the blacksmith, didn't know what he was doing and could only watch from the sidelines.
After quenching the first half, Tang Long grabbed the spearhead and repeated the process on the second half. Once the entire spear was finished, the shaft was covered in fine iron filings; I could feel the prickliness when I touched it. I asked him, "Is this spear still usable?"
Tang Long took the gun to the sandy ground outside and threw it down. He then rolled it around in the sand for a while, polishing it before wiping it with the corner of his clothes. Looking at the iron filings, they had transformed into smooth, round particles, fused seamlessly with the gun's body. Moreover, these iron filings weren't randomly blown on; they meandered and curved, now resembling a black dragon coiled around the gun. In this way, the long gun barrel no longer appeared monotonous. Most importantly, it had transformed from a work of art into a menacing weapon.
The blacksmith immediately asked, without any sense of shame, "Master, what's the point of doing this besides making it look nice?"
Tang Long pointed the gun at him and said, "This way, the friction between the hand and the gun barrel will be increased. Most importantly, in winter, the iron gun barrel will not be so harsh on the hand, and it will also prevent it from freezing to the ground after getting wet."
The blacksmith was dumbfounded. He patted his equally dumbfounded son beside him and said, "From now on, you'd better follow your master and learn properly, understand?"
Tang Long smiled slightly, carefully sharpened the spearhead on the grinding wheel, and solemnly handed it to Xiang Yu: "Brother Xiang, are you satisfied?"
Xiang Yu examined the gun for a while, then said in a deep voice, "With this gun in hand, Fatty is probably in for a rough time." With that, Xiang Yu casually tossed the gun into my arms, took out his phone, and dialed. I quickly heard Fatty's voice: "Hello?"
"I've found my horse, and I have my gun. When are we going to fight?"
Erpang thought for a moment and said, "What do you think?"
Xiang Yu snorted and said, "There's no better day than today. I think today is a good day."
I:"……"
Erpang said, "Wait a moment, let me ask our boss what he thinks."
My face turned red and my neck thickened: "..."
After a while, Erpang said, "Okay, our boss has agreed. Two hours from now, at his villa in Chun Kong Shan, you should be able to find it, right?"
I frantically scratched and kicked: "..."
Xiang Yu said, "It's a deal."
He hung up the phone, looked around in confusion, and said, "Huh, where's my gun?"
I was on the verge of death: "..."
Xiang Yu glanced at the ground, picked up the gun that was pressing against my chest, and laughed, "Xiao Qiang, what are you doing lying on the ground?" Seeing that I didn't get up, he leaned down and put his ear to my mouth, asking, "Didn't you just have something to say? What did you want to say?"
It took me a while to finally catch my breath before I could say, "You...you crushed me to death!"
Chapter Twenty-Six: A Model of Conduct, Like Lü Bu
I'm so glad I'm not going to duel with those guys from the Four Fierce Warriors and Eight Great Hammers. I heard that those guys use hammers that weigh 400 or 800 jin (200-400 kg). If you're carrying a hammer that weighs 100 or 200 jin (50-100 kg), you'd be embarrassed to even greet them.
Perhaps some people don't understand what it means to have 130 pounds pressing down on you. Yes, 130 pounds isn't actually that heavy; it's roughly the weight of an average person. But even if someone were to press down on you, they wouldn't concentrate all their weight on one point. After all, a person has a head, neck, chest, thighs... But if Xiang Yu threw his spear into my arms without warning, it would be equivalent to a 130-pound adult sitting on my chest. With the added kinetic energy, it's no wonder I fell over—if you disagree, try it with someone. I'm about 130 pounds myself, and I'd be happy to help.
Xiang Yu held the spear in his hand, casually twirling it a few times; in his hands, the spear was like a plastic stick. I'm starting to believe in the saying "a weapon that can kill ten thousand men." With this monstrous killing weapon, the techniques don't need to be particularly profound; just swinging it around in a crowd is like turning a meat grinder into a monster.
Among the heroes, Lin Chong, Dong Ping, and Zhang Qing were all skilled spearmen, but when it came to wielding the Overlord Spear, they were all clumsy and inept. Therefore, they were brimming with confidence in their battle against Xiang Yu.
Duan Jingzhu said with some regret, "It's a pity that Brother Lu Fang, the Little Marquis of Wen, isn't here. Otherwise, we could have let him give Brother Xiang a run for his money. He also wields the Fangtian Halberd."
Zhang Qing patted him on the shoulder and said, "Brother Xiang is a hero, why would he care about such a cheap deal?"
The experienced and prudent Lin Chong said to Xiang Yu, "Brother Xiang, although you've mastered the spear technique, you haven't even tested it to see if it's comfortable to use. Isn't it a bit too hasty to start a battle today?"
Having just caught my breath, I also said, "Yeah, Brother Yu, isn't this a bit too rushed?"
Xiang Yu didn't speak, but turned his back and murmured, "My time is running out..."
Xiang Yu, carrying his spear, returned to the campus, found the rabbit, mounted his horse, clasped his hands in a fist salute to us, and said, "Gentlemen, I, Xiang, will now depart."
Fang Zhenjiang said urgently, "Don't worry about the price, let's take a look too."
Wu Sangui also said, "Brother Xiang, a great battle is imminent, you must be careful to conserve your horsepower." Only after he said this did everyone realize the problem. It was more than 30 li to Chun Kong Mountain. Although the rabbit was swift, it would certainly not be easy for it to carry him and the big gun, which weighed a total of 300 jin, for the whole journey.
Xiang Yu was taken aback for a moment, then said, "It's alright."
Wang Yin rushed forward and grabbed the reins of Rabbit's horse, saying, "How about this, I'll drive the coal truck to deliver the horse and guns, and you and Xiao Qiang can come by car, Brother Xiang." Wang Yin's truck had been parked at Yucai before going to Singapore. He was now the captain of the Yucai convoy, and this was probably the last time he would drive this coal truck.