The fiercest soldier of the border army

Shi Hanshan picked up the pair of hammers and weighed them in his hands.

The hammerhead weighed heavily on my wrist, a cold, hard sensation traveling from my palm all the way down to my arm.

He loosened his left hand, leaving only his right, and swung it halfway in the night wind.

The wind howled, whipping up the remaining snow on the ground and swirling it around.

He switched to his left hand and swung it in half a circle as well. He tried it several times with both hands, and the more he tried, the less serious he looked on his face became. Finally, he grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth.

"What a weapon!"

He clasped his arms together, and the two hammers struck each other in front of his chest. The hammerheads collided, producing a short, crisp sound that echoed far away at the entrance of the Flying Fox Ancient Road.

Several more heads peeked out of the barracks, all peering out from the windowsill.

Wei Zong stood opposite, watching Shi Hanshan examine the two hammers over and over. The blades of the hammers gleamed coldly white in the moonlight, and the patterns on the hammers resembled fine cracks on ice.

"They all pointed out that these hammers are very different from ordinary iron hammers."

"The steel is evenly mixed, the double-liquid quenching is precise, the hammer body is tough, and the hammer blade is hard. It is used to charge into battle; ordinary armor cannot withstand it, and even iron shields will crack."

Shi Hanshan held the hammer upright in his right hand, head down, and smashed it hard against a half-buried rock at his feet.

With a muffled "bang," the frozen rock, as big as a washbasin, shattered into seven or eight pieces, the fragments scattering everywhere.

Shi Hanshan lifted the hammer. There wasn't even a notch on the hammer blade. Instead, there was a deep white mark on the broken surface of the stone, as if it had been cleaved open by something.

"If this hits the Xiongnu..." Ma Yue stood to the side, a sentence escaping his throat, but he swallowed the rest of it before finishing.

Wei Zong spoke up at the opportune moment, "Is everything going smoothly?"

Shi Hanshan slammed the two hammers into the ground, the handles of which sank half an inch into the ground.

He patted the dust off his palms, looked up at Wei Zong, and suddenly burst into laughter.

The laughter was rough and loud, rolling out of his chest, making the barracks windows tremble twice.

He laughed and waved his hand, "So easy! So easy! Go back and tell your governor that I, Shi Hanshan, have accepted these hammers! Tell him I really like them!"

Wei Zong cupped his hands and was about to turn around when Shi Hanshan suddenly stopped smiling and raised his hand to stop him: "Wait."

Wei Zong stopped and looked back at him.

Shi Hanshan picked up the pair of hammers again, placed them in his palms, and rubbed the patterns on the hammers. His fingertips slowly slid along the fine lines, and the more he touched them, the more his brows furrowed.

Ordinary blacksmiths heat the iron until it's red-hot, then swing the hammer and fold it repeatedly. They use water or oil to quench the iron.

But the patterns on this hammer are fine and even, as if molten iron flowed out on its own, or as if it were layered on top of each other, which is completely different from the rough layering of hundred-refined steel.

He looked up. "I've never seen such a forging method before. Could it be a family heirloom of some craftsman?"

Wei Zong had already prepared a response.

He bowed slightly, his tone calm and unhurried: "You may not know, but this sword-forging method comes from Longhu Mountain."

"When the Lord was on an inspection tour of the countryside not long ago, a young Taoist priest came to this place and formed a bond with the Lord."

"That young Taoist priest was very old, but he was very capable. He was full of secret scriptures and esoteric texts, and he could recite them off the top of his head."

"The recipe for this knife-forging method comes from the four things in Lingzhou: salt, sugar, soap, and coal."

After listening, Shi Hanshan said with a somewhat indescribable expression, "Longhu Mountain, what a fine Longhu Mountain."

He put the hammer back in the box, closed the lid, and dusted off his hands. "Is that little Taoist priest still in Lingzhou?"

Wei Zong was slightly taken aback. "Yes, yes, but... the Prefect is looking for him."

Shi Hanshan did not ask any further questions.

He waved his hand, indicating that Wei Zong could leave.

Wei Zong cupped his hands in greeting, then led the group of leaders onto their horses, the sound of hooves quickly disappearing into the night along the Flying Fox Ancient Road.

Only Shi Hanshan and Ma Yue remained on the open space.

Ma Yue's lips unconsciously curved into a smile as he looked at Shi Hanshan's obvious delight with the item.

He had followed Shi Hanshan for over a decade and had seen this commander kill without hesitation on the battlefield, as well as slam his fist on the table and curse at the dinner table, but he had never seen him so concerned about a weapon.

He examined the hammers over and over, sometimes lifting them to weigh them, sometimes holding them up to the moonlight to examine their patterns, and sometimes flicking the hammerheads with his fingers to hear the clear, resonant sound.

Shi Hanshan didn't say anything fancy, but the light in his eyes told the whole story.

Ma Yue, with his hands clasped in his pockets, took a half-step forward and said with a smile, "Commander, it seems that Lord Tang truly values ​​you."

"This heavy hammer, just for the steel used and the double-liquid quenching technique, is probably priceless. He actually gave it away as a gift."

Shi Hanshan liked it more and more as he looked at it, clicking his tongue twice. His voice was a little lower than before, but the undisguised joy was still there:

"Yes, yes, this weapon is just what I wanted! Look at the tip of this hammer, it's bladed."

"Ordinary hammers can only smash, but this one can also stab. When charging into battle, one blow can shatter a shield, and a flick of the wrist can pierce through armor. I want to fight those barbarians for another three hundred rounds!"

As he spoke, he swung the hammer around and demonstrated a couple of times, then stepped forward with his left foot, swept the hammer horizontally with his right hand, followed by his left hand, unleashing a powerful combo.

Ma Yue took two steps back, afraid of being hit by the hammer's wind.

Shi Hanshan stopped his momentum, put the hammer back in the box, and couldn't help but reach out and touch the patterns on the hammer, his fingertips slowly tracing the fine lines.

The smile on his face gradually faded, replaced by an indescribable expression.

Ma Yue saw this and knew that Shi Hanshan was going to figure it out on his own.

He cupped his hands in greeting, his tone regaining its usual composure: "Commander, I will go back and draft the documents, clearly writing down everything that happened today, and then submit them to you for review tomorrow."

Shi Hanshan was squatting next to the box, one hand resting on the hammer handle. Hearing this, he suddenly looked up, paused for a moment, and then waved his hand, "No need."

"My brother is upright and honest; he doesn't have so many ulterior motives."

Shi Hanshan stood up. "It seems we misunderstood."

"Who is Tang Shun? He came from our Right Capital, and he almost lost his head on the Datong training ground without uttering a sound."

"You expect me to judge this kind of person with a petty mind? I, Shi Hanshan, cannot do that."

Ma Yue's lips twitched twice, and he remained silent for a long time.

He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but then swallowed it back. After a long while, he finally managed to squeeze out a sentence:

"You mean... those things we just discussed? The pay, the soldiers, and Zhang Biao and the others..."

"Just now?" Shi Hanshan turned his head and looked at him frankly. "What did I say just now? I was drunk and can't remember."

"You've had too much to drink. Go back and rest early; you have training tomorrow."