Becoming a Martial Master: Starting as a Swordsmith

Shen Chu's departure came suddenly.

Zhao Dezhu was caught off guard by these words. His expression froze for a moment, but he quickly forced a smile, stood up and saw him to the door: "Alright, alright, take care, Master Shen. We'll talk again another day when we have time."

Shen Chu didn't say anything more, and nodded.

As soon as he stepped out the door, he bumped into a figure.

Master Wang was jogging over, his face beaming with excitement.

He saw Shen Chu come out of Zhao Dezhu's room, and his steps suddenly stopped. His face showed a mixture of disdain and knowingness: "Oh, Shen Chu? You've come to see Manager Zhao too? I was wondering why you didn't want to stick with us old guys. Turns out you've already climbed up the social ladder."

Shen Chu was too lazy to explain to him, so she just glanced at him indifferently and walked straight past him.

Master Wang was taken aback by his nonchalant attitude, snorted coldly, ignored him, and turned to push open the door to Zhao Dezhu's room.

Zhao Dezhu had just seen Shen Chu off and was sitting at the table, his face dark as he pondered something.

Seeing that Master Wang had come uninvited, he frowned slightly, but still patiently asked, "Master Wang? It's so late, what can I do for you?"

Master Wang chuckled and, without any hesitation, plopped down at the table.

He saw that there was still a lot of food and wine left on the table, and his eyes lit up. He picked up his chopsticks, took a piece of meat and stuffed it into his mouth. After taking a swig of wine, he smacked his lips and said, "Manager Zhao is living a good life."

Seeing his demeanor, Zhao Dezhu frowned even more and said in a harsher tone, "Master Wang, get to the point."

"Okay, then I'll just say it directly."

Master Wang wiped his mouth, pulled a notebook from his pocket, and slammed it onto the table with a bang.

"These are the accounts I've checked over the past few days. I've meticulously reviewed the quantities of coal and iron that have entered the yard, as well as the number of knives that have been put into storage. The figures don't add up, Manager Zhao. There's a significant discrepancy. Can you explain this to me?"

Zhao Dezhu's expression changed drastically, though he quickly returned to normal, but Master Wang had already captured that fleeting change.

Master Wang was overjoyed.

This Zhao Dezhu is definitely up to something!

"Master Wang is joking. The accounts have always been clear and accurate. Perhaps you made a mistake when you were calculating them."

Zhao Dezhu naturally wouldn't admit it. He picked up his wine glass, took a sip, and gave Master Wang a cold look.

Master Wang chuckled, leaned back, crossed his legs, and said slowly, "Manager Zhao, don't try to fool me. I've been working in this place for so many years, I know how to hide these little accounting tricks from you. I don't want to make a big deal out of it, but you have to at least give my old buddies some peace of mind, right?"

Zhao Dezhu remained silent for a moment.

He then put down his wine glass and laughed heartily: "Master Wang, this account may have been an oversight on my part. Fortunately, you reminded me. How about this, I'll give you all a bonus later as an apology."

Seeing that he had relented, Master Wang became even more smug: "Hehe, Manager Zhao, wouldn't it have been better if you had said so earlier?"

"But we're not beggars, how much is one dividend worth?"

"I see the numbers on your accounts are quite large. How about this, I won't ask for too much. From now on, for every amount you give out, I'll take half. What do you think?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Dezhu's eyes narrowed sharply. Before Zhao Dezhu could reply, Master Wang went on to make even more demands.

Not only do they want dividends, but they also want Zhao Dezhu to give them, the old folks, priority in allocating the best materials, preferential treatment in scheduling, and even to get rid of all those lackeys.

"No problem, no problem, as long as Master Wang can keep this secret..."

Zhao Dezhu smiled and agreed to everything, but his eyes gradually turned cold.

Master Wang finally finished stating all his conditions, and seeing that Zhao Dezhu actually agreed to everything...

He contentedly picked up two pieces of meat and stuffed them into his mouth.

Zhao Dezhu poured him a full glass of wine and then casually asked, "Master Wang, does anyone else know that you came to see me tonight?"

Master Wang waved his hand dismissively, saying, "I came all by myself. How could I let others have a piece of this good thing?"

Zhao Dezhu nodded, but the smile on his face suddenly became somewhat strange.

He immediately stood up and walked to the door, as if to close it.

Chef Wang was engrossed in finishing the last few pieces of meat on his plate, completely unaware of the strange occurrence behind him.

After closing the door, Zhao Dezhu casually grabbed a doorstop stick about the thickness of an arm from behind the door.

He turned around, his eyes completely expressionless.

Aiming at Master Wang's graying back of the head,

He swung the stick down hard!

The stick struck down with a dull thud.

Before Master Wang could even let out a complete scream, he collapsed limply to the ground.

But Zhao Dezhu didn't stop, continuing to pound Wang Shifu's head repeatedly.

He knocked more than ten times in a row.

Dark red liquid was gushing out from the back of Master Wang's head, quickly soaking the soil beneath his feet.

Zhao Dezhu, clutching the blood-stained doorstop, stood beside the corpse, catching his breath for a moment.

His eyes gradually changed from initial panic to calm, and then to cold and resolute.

He looked down at Master Wang's body, his mind racing.

Since Master Wang was able to uncover the problems with the accounts, the others who colluded with him are most likely also implicated.

Keeping them around will only cause trouble sooner or later!

And Shen Chu too!

Just as Shen Chu was leaving, he bumped into Master Wang who came to find him.

Although Shen Chu seemed indifferent to Master Wang, could he possibly connect what happened tonight? Could he possibly guess something?

Zhao Dezhu's eyes darkened, and his fingers gripping the doorstop tightened abruptly.

No, I need to think of another way!

......

Sun Ping's illness dragged on for about ten days, but he finally recovered.

He returned to the knife-forging compound early in the morning.

He hadn't worked for days and had fallen behind on a lot of work. All morning, Sun Ping's hammer was practically smoking from swinging it around.

It wasn't until lunchtime that he began to vaguely sense that something was wrong.

The group of elderly people who usually liked to gather together and chatter were all nowhere to be seen.

No wonder the only sound left in the courtyard is the sound of blacksmithing.

Without them, it feels empty, and even the air seems a bit quieter.

Sun Ping walked over to Shen Chu and saw her intently eating with her chopsticks. He leaned closer and asked, "Shen Chu, why haven't I seen Master Wang and the others? What's been going on in the yard these past few days?"

Shen Chu's chopsticks didn't stop; she shoveled braised pork into her mouth with gusto: "I don't know, I haven't seen them for several days."