Eternal madness

Chapter 48 Please walk faster (Seeking monthly votes)
Wang Tiaodeng had some old injuries on his fingers, an occupational hazard common to paper lantern makers. Li Yunsheng's methods amplified this hazard, rendering Wang Tiaodeng's fingers completely ineffective, making it much harder to hit him.

Zhang Laifu was slashing wildly with a knife inside the house, while Li Yunsheng was burning incense and chanting incantations on the roof beam. Before long, Wang Tiaodeng was stabbed several times.

The fighting inside was fierce, but no one around noticed.

This is Li Yunsheng's unique puzzle. He uses the method of burning incense to make the smoke quickly envelop the entire house, so that even if people around hear the noise, they will not notice this house.

After a while, a puff of green smoke emerged from Wang Tiaodeng's nose and returned to the bottom of the alarm clock.

Zhang Laifu was a little nervous. He thought that since Green Smoke had returned, the poison would have lost its effectiveness.

Unexpectedly, Wang Tiaodeng collapsed to the ground. The green smoke had indeed returned, but the toxins remained in Wang Tiaodeng's body.

"Stop! I can't fight anymore!" Wang Tiaodeng sat half-upright against the wall. "Laifu, I really want to teach you some skills. Deng Yuechuan attacked you because he was jealous, but that has nothing to do with me. I sincerely want to take you as my good apprentice."

Zhang Laifu sat down next to Wang Tiaodeng: "Master's intentions are good, it's all Deng Yuechuan's fault for not doing things properly, I'll teach him a lesson tomorrow!"

"Laifu, Laifu..." Wang Tiaodeng coughed incessantly, on the verge of coughing himself to death. "Why don't you trust your master?"

"I trust my master. I won't wait until tomorrow. I'll go teach Deng Yuechuan a lesson right now!"

Zhang Laifu got up to leave, but Wang Tiaodeng stopped him: "Laifu, you need to get rid of this poison first. I can't take it anymore. This old shipyard incident really has nothing to do with me! Think about it, what deep-seated hatred could we possibly have? Why would I want to harm you?"

“I also want to know about this,” Zhang Laifu said, looking at Wang Tiaodeng. “What grudge do I have against you? Why did you send Shao Tiangan to deal with me?”

Upon hearing Zhang Laifu mention Shao Tiangan, Wang Tiaodeng stopped pretending; he knew that Zhang Laifu had already investigated the matter thoroughly.

“Laifu, I have my reasons for this. I know I’ve wronged you, but we’ve been master and disciple for a time, and there’s still a bond between us. You gave me the apprenticeship certificate, and now you want to kill me. If this gets out, you won’t be able to stay in our line of work.”

"Master's advice is that this matter must not be spread!" Zhang Laifu raised his knife. He really didn't want this matter to be spread. He just wanted to see how much sincerity Wang Tiaodeng could still show.

"Laifu! We can talk this over!" Wang Tiaodeng reached out to stop the knife. "Whatever you want, your master will give you. You just want to learn a skill, right? I'll teach you everything!"

"Let's not talk about skills first. Let's get the reason clear first. Why did you want to kill me? Don't say it's for your livelihood. You're the head chef; you're not afraid of not finding a job."

"Because I want to change careers!" Wang Tiaodeng told the truth. "I entered the industry at the age of sixteen and have been a paper lantern maker for more than forty years. Today, I am still the head of the second floor."

I am a talented person. I learn things faster than others and do things more skillfully than others, but my skills have not improved. I really don't know why.

There's no hope in this line of work, so I want to switch to something else. I made a bowl, but I'm missing a good seed. I could tell from your first day here that you're a newbie craftsman.

"Newly trained craftsmen are relatively easy to deal with, and since you don't have a formal apprenticeship certificate, the guild doesn't know you well. As long as Lao Liang doesn't find any fault with you, I can kill you without any worries. I wanted to use your excellent skills to gain entry into the guild, but I never expected to be defeated by you."

Zhang Laifu was skeptical: "I've heard people say that changing professions can lead to chaos and even demonic possession."

"So what if you become a demon? At least you'll have another skill, and you can become a ruthless person!"

"Does having more skills make you a ruthless person?"

"Using two skills together is better than being a master craftsman! How old am I? If I don't change professions, what can I achieve in this life?" Wang Tiaodeng coughed up blood. "Laifu, you'll understand when you reach my age. I don't want to be the head chef for the rest of my life. Even if I become a demon, I want to fight one more time!"

Zhang Laifu's eyes reddened: "Master, you are a man of ambition."

With blood in his mouth, Wang Tiaodeng looked at Zhang Laifu pleadingly: "Laifu, I've told you the truth. Spare my life. As long as you help me get rid of the poison, I will never treat you unfairly!"

With tears in his eyes, Zhang Laifu stabbed Wang Tiaodeng in the back: "Master, what benefits can you offer me?"

The knife pierced his ribs, and Wang Tiaodeng almost fainted: "Laifu, I have a lot of savings, they're under the bed. Take them, they're all yours."

“I’m not a greedy person,” Zhang Laifu said, stabbing Wang Tiaodeng in the back again. “Besides money, what else do you have?”

"Craftsmanship! I'll teach you craftsmanship! I'll teach you all my special skills!" Wang Tiaodeng clutched his wound, genuinely unaware of how many knives Zhang Laifu had brought. "Master, I'm afraid you're lying to me." Zhang Laifu held the knife, looking at Wang Tiaodeng with a sincere expression.

“You definitely won’t believe me if I just talk about it. I’ve written down the secret formula for this skill. It’s in that cabinet. Open it and see for yourself!” Wang Tiaodeng pointed to the cabinet by the bed and handed a key to Zhang Laifu.

Zhang Laifu took the key and opened the cabinet. Li Yunsheng kept watch from the roof beam, in case there was a trap inside.

There were no hidden mechanisms in the cabinet, but there were quite a few books. One of the books had a piece of paper tucked inside, with seven characters written on the back: "The Secret Technique of Paper Lamp - One Lamp Lights Up".

There are three paragraphs written on the front of the paper. The first paragraph is called "Lamp," the second is called "Standing Up the Lamp," and the third is called "Lighting the Lamp." Each paragraph has a simple textual description.

“These are the secrets of our sect, and I’m giving them all to you,” Wang Tiaodeng coughed a few times and pointed to the box. “And these books, I’m giving them to you too. These are all secret techniques of our sect. For this friendship alone, wouldn’t you give me my life in return?”

“Alright, Master is a sincere person, I’ll accept these things.” Zhang Laifu tidied up the cabinet and then found a box of silver dollars under Wang Tiaodeng’s bed.

After opening the box and counting the money, Zhang Laifu found only a little over three hundred yuan. He was somewhat dissatisfied: "Master, you said you had savings, but this is all you have. It's really not sincere."

At the old lighting shop, Wang Tiaodeng received a 30% share, which amounted to more than 300 silver dollars a month. This amount was hardly any savings.

Wang Tiaodeng explained, "Laifu, craftsmen earn a lot, but they also spend a lot. You'll understand later that improving your skills isn't an easy thing."

I don't know how many of the gray-eyed bamboos I told you about before have I used. There are many things that are more valuable than gray-eyed bamboos!

There are many books in the cabinet, and you can find all these wonderful things in these books. If you don't trust me, why don't you trust books?

“I trust you!” Zhang Laifu nodded. “Master, you mentioned a bowl before?”

Wang Tiaodeng pointed under the bed: "The bowl is in the box."

Zhang Laifu found a wooden box under the bed. When he opened it, he found an oil lamp inside.

He put away the oil lamp, clasped his hands in a fist salute to Master Wang, and said, "Master, I truly appreciate your kindness. If there's nothing else, we'll take our leave now."

"Laifu!" Wang Tiaodeng crawled a few steps and caught up with Zhang Laifu. "Tell me the way to detoxify him!"

Zhang Laifu helped Wang Tiaodeng to the bed and laid him flat. He whispered in his ear, "I really don't know this method."

After saying this, Zhang Laifu was about to leave, but Li Yunsheng was still watching from the roof beam. The two of them wanted to see if Wang Tiaodeng could bring out something else good.

"Zhang Laifu, I'll take your life!" Wang Tiaodeng suddenly reached for the pillow.

Zhang Laifu acted first, slashing Wang Tiaodeng's neck with a single stroke.

Wang, still clutching his neck, reached under his pillow and, after a few moments, pulled out a bottle of paste.

He tried to throw the paste at Zhang Laifu, but he was too weak and Zhang Laifu took the paste away from him.

Wang Tiaodeng looked at Zhang Laifu, just like the first day he met him.

At that moment, Wang Tiaodeng seemed to see a master craftsman in Zhang Laifu, and he could easily remove his master craftsmanship.

But why didn't the skilled craftsman get it?

"Brother Laifu, Master Wang is already in this state, but don't forget how skilled he is," Li Yunsheng reminded him.

Zhang Laifu then remembered: "Master, hurry up, I'll accept your excellent skills too."

(End of this chapter)