Mastering the Sword Manual, sweeping across the globe

"Actually, I regretted it afterward. Wang Hai is a young kid, and it's not easy for him to come out to work. I handled it too roughly." Gao Dachang revealed a hint of remorse: "I've been thinking about how to smooth things over these past few days. At least I should settle the wages he owes, right? But... but I don't know where he lives, and I can't reach him by phone. I'm really worried!"

At this point, Gao Dachang spread his hands, displaying utmost sincerity: "Look, you've come at the perfect time! This really is... well, this shows we're destined to meet, this matter should be resolved today!"

"Don't worry, I won't shortchange Wang Hai on a single penny. Let's call it even..."

At this point, Gao Dachang wanted to slap himself. Damn it, he'd really drunk! Was that guy a client? Seriously? He was like a bastard! He was practically begging people to stay!

"Never mind... no, what I mean is, how about fifty thousand? The main thing is, it's the middle of the night, and the factory doesn't have much cash on hand."

There isn't much cash, but there's still about 120,000 to 130,000. —Having done business for so long, you always need to leave some room for negotiation.

"No need," the other party was indeed not very satisfied, but not because of the amount: "Let's calculate it carefully. My Xiaohai doesn't like to take advantage of others."

Gao Dachang's eyelids twitched violently twice.

This is definitely not a good idea.

"Yes, yes, Xiao Hai is indeed an honest kid..." Under the other party's gaze, Gao Dachang couldn't delay any longer and had no choice but to play along: "Then let's just say so..."

Actually, there's no need to calculate it. He has a clear record of each worker's wage structure and attendance on his phone, especially for people like Wang Hai whom he has a firm grasp on.

Gao Dachang took out his phone, opened an accounting app, and read aloud: "Wang Hai's salary last month, worked until... worked until the day of the accident, exactly twenty days. The agreed daily wage was 120, so twenty days would be 2400."

In fact, there's also a day of sick leave and half a day of personal leave, plus food allowance. If a different worker were to stand in front of Gao Dachang, all of these would definitely be deducted from his pay.

"Okay." The young man nodded, readily agreeing.

"Then...then I'll get you the money now," Gao Dachang asked.

"Row."

Gao Dachang turned around and walked towards the low cabinet in the corner that looked like an ordinary filing cabinet.

He crouched down somewhat stiffly and groped to open the hidden compartment below the cabinet door—where an inconspicuous small safe was embedded.

As he entered his password, he glanced furtively behind him out of the corner of his eye.

The young man didn't react, he didn't even look in their direction, his gaze was fixed on a handicraft in the office that read "Honesty Wins the World", and he chuckled softly.

With a click, the box door popped open.

Inside were several stacks of red banknotes neatly arranged, along with some loose bills and receipts. He quickly counted out two thousand four hundred yuan.

Holding the thin wad of banknotes, Gao Dachang turned around and carefully placed them on the coffee table in front of the young man.

"You... a little something?"

"No need." The young man shook his head, casually picked up a blank envelope from the coffee table, put the money in it, folded it in half, and stuffed it into his pocket.

Gao Dachang didn't relax. This was definitely not the end; at most, it could be said that one step had been completed.

"By the way," as expected, the young man spoke up without any surprise after putting away the money, "the batch of materials that Xiao Hai damaged, plus the loss of work time, amounted to three thousand yuan, right?"

"No, no!" Gao Dachang quickly waved his hands. "That...that was just something I said in anger! I was so angry at the time, I just said it randomly! How could I really make a child pay so much? It doesn't count, it doesn't stand up to scrutiny!"

“Three thousand yuan, I happen to have it with me.” The young man seemed not to hear his explanation, and reached behind him—not into his pants pocket, but into his back pocket, and slowly pulled out a wad of bills.

Gao Dachang glanced at the stack of money and, based on his years of experience, knew it was about three thousand.

So well prepared?

His heart felt like it was being squeezed by an invisible hand, and Gao Dachang's back instantly broke out in a cold sweat.

His throat was dry. He took a half-step back without making a sound, his heel bracing against the edge of the bed. He tried his best to keep his voice calm: "You...you've really misunderstood. I really didn't mean it that way...How about this? When you're free, bring Xiao Hai over, or I can go with you to see him. I'll host a banquet and apologize to him in person, okay?"

“I don’t have time,” the young man refused bluntly, placing the three thousand yuan on the coffee table, right where the envelope had been. “I’ve already paid the money.”

After speaking, the young man leaned forward slightly and placed his hands clasped together on his knees.

"However, Xiao Hai was a little unconvinced. He said that he had worked several night shifts in a row, and on the day of the accident, he worked until midnight. It was really not intentional... Well, the little guy's work attitude is very improper, and I have already criticized him."

The color drained from Gao Dachang's face little by little.

“But,” the young man looked at him, as if a scholar were discussing an interesting topic, “I’m also a little curious… what would happen if someone were to weld themselves into such a state of exhaustion?”

"It's the middle of the night, where am I supposed to find workers for you? Besides, do you really expect me to find people?" Gao Dachang asked, puzzled.

Of course you can.

The young man finally stood up and walked outside: "Please, Mr. Gao, demonstrate for us."

Hey... Gao Dachang isn't afraid of this at all. When the factory was still small, Gao Dachang often had to do it himself. Of course, he's a bit rusty now, but he can still solder a few times without any problem.

The so-called "factory director's office" was even more rudimentary, with documents scattered around.

Passing through this room and pushing open another door, you'll find the iron staircase leading to the second floor of the workshop.

Downstairs is the assembly workshop, which is currently dormant.

The young man walked up to a workbench and stopped.

On the table was an old circuit board stand with standard test solder joints, next to which were scattered soldering iron stands, rolls of solder wire, flux, and a box of loose electronic components.

An adjustable clip-on work light hangs forlornly above the table.

"Please, Mr. Gao." The young man stepped aside and gestured for him to proceed.

Gao Dachang took a deep breath, composed himself, and walked to the workbench.

Gao Dachang turned on the light, picked up the constant temperature soldering iron, plugged it in, and the orange indicator light lit up.

He picked out another roll of thin solder wire, and with his other hand, he used tweezers to pick up a common resistor, preparing to place it on an empty pad on the circuit board.

Although the movements were somewhat slow and clumsy, the steps were correct.

Just as the soldering iron was slowly heating up, Gao Dachang, who was waiting, noticed that the young man standing to his side and behind him suddenly raised his right hand and gently stroked Gao Dachang's forehead from a distance.

In an instant, a heavy weariness originating from the depths of his soul quickly overwhelmed Gao Dachang!

Do you know what it's like to stay up all night for 72 consecutive hours?

At this moment, Gao Dachang felt three to five times more intense that experience.

As a legacy of the Heavenly Demon Sect, the Self-Reliance Holy Scripture naturally contains several of its most classic techniques, such as:

The Heavenly Demon Devours the Soul.

41. Lighter punishment

The Heavenly Demon Soul Devourer: Manipulates or absorbs a person's soul, seizing the essence of humanity for its own use. It can cause a person to lose their soul completely, turning them into a living corpse.

Here, Zhang Qiliang only used the most superficial effect, captivating Gao Dachang's mind and leaving him in a state of extreme exhaustion, yet completely unable to fall asleep.

Gao Dachang felt the same way; his eyelids felt like they were welded onto two lead mountains, and every attempt to lift them brought a burning pain to his nerves, yet he was completely deprived of sleep.

Consciousness is like an insect trapped in transparent amber; it can clearly see the outside world, but it cannot move and can only consciously feel every bit of fatigue.

In such a state of exhaustion, the body and the will were completely separated.

The instructions issued by the brain—pick up, align, weld—are crystal clear, but when they reach the limbs and bones, they are like a remote-controlled toy with a broken signal.

My arms felt heavy, as if filled with mercury, and lifting even an inch required immense effort; my fingers were stiff and numb, and my perception of force and angle was distorted and inaccurate; my vision was also difficult to focus, and everything in front of me was shaking, fragmented, and shrouded in a thick fog.

A trembling hand gripped the soldering iron handle.

The circuit boards and components in front of me resembled a small boat tossed about in a stormy sea.

Gao Dachang tried to focus his scattered thoughts and shakily moved the soldering iron tip toward the solder pad.

"Zi la..."

A mistake that was taken for granted.

The soldering iron tip wasn't aimed correctly; it grazed the edge of the component, scorching a small patch of green solder resist and emitting a pungent blue smoke.

He was panting heavily as he adjusted the angle and tried again.

This time, the trembling wrist caused the soldering iron to draw a crooked arc, and the timing of the solder wire was completely wrong, turning the solder joint into a dull lump.

The second time...

The third time... the fourth time...

Whether it's reliable or not depends entirely on luck.

Errors kept occurring, and splattered solder was scattered all over the workbench.

The solder joints were uglier and more dangerous than the last.

Then, it was the fifth time.

Gao Dachang attempted to solder a tiny capacitor pin into place.

Through his blurred vision, he judged the distance and slowly brought the heated iron tip closer...

No pins were touched.

The tip of the branding iron, glowing with a dark red luster, was firmly and solidly placed on the back of Gao Dachang's left hand.

"Sizzle—!!"

That was the sound of 350-degree Celsius metal coming into contact with fresh flesh, and the smell of burnt protein from roasted meat suddenly rushed into my nostrils.

"Well--!!!"

The indescribable pain was like a high-voltage electric current, exploding from the burn site and rushing along the nerves in my arm straight to my brain!

Gao Dachang's eyeballs bulged out instantly.

He wanted to shake off his hands, scream, and beg for mercy!

But his body remained completely still.

Extreme fear overwhelmed his mind, but at the same time, a steel-stamped belief was firmly imprinted on the core of his consciousness: it had to be done.

It must be welded properly!

This is perfectly normal. This is the direct lineage of the Heavenly Demon Sect's cultivation technique. Let alone having an ordinary person like Gao Dachang, who has no resistance, weld a few parts, he could even perform a heart-and-lung-and-liver-pulling internal surgery on himself. Even disciples of prestigious sects, if they are unlucky enough to be caught in the trap and unlucky enough not to have mastered the corresponding cultivation method, will be unable to resist exerting all their strength and squeezing out their last bit of cultivation.

So, while consciously savoring the extreme pain of his own flesh carbonizing, Gao Dachang's right hand began to tremble even more violently as he continued to send the solder wire to that damned place.

The sixth time, the trembling branding iron burned the side of his right thumb, and the skin and flesh instantly curled up and turned white.

On the seventh time, whether it was due to the slippery sweat or complete exhaustion, the branding iron slipped from my out-of-control fingers, tracing a short arc, and the hot tip "poof"ed onto the instep of my right foot, which was only wearing slippers.

"Heh...heh..." Each new burn brought a new round of tearing pain, yet it could never break through the confinement of the soul.

Gao Dachang couldn't even twitch or roll over; he could only stand there like a sculpture nailed to a rack, letting the high temperature leave charred marks on different parts of his body, while the air was filled with an increasingly strong aroma of meat.

Sweat, tears, and saliva that flowed uncontrollably from the excruciating pain smeared his contorted and grotesque face.

Gao Dachang's eyes darted back and forth between extreme pain and a strange "focus".

Finally, after countless attempts and numerous shocking burns on his hands and feet, a crooked solder joint, riddled with spikes and poor soldering, but barely "connected," appeared on the circuit board.

The moment the solder joint was completed, the obsession that had always haunted Wang Dachang suddenly receded like a tide.

Clang!

The branding iron slipped from his hand, which had instantly lost all strength, and crashed heavily to the ground.

As if all his bones had been removed, Wang Dachang fell straight backward, his head slamming against the cold cement floor with a thud.

He lay there, paralyzed like a fish out of water, with only his chest heaving violently and a hoarse sound emanating from deep within his throat.

I felt a burning, excruciating pain all over my body, especially the severe burns on the backs of my hands and feet, where the skin and flesh were rolled back, a gruesome sight of charred black and bright red.

Zhang Qiliang walked to the workbench, looked down at the disastrous weld point that had finally been barely connected, and then glanced at Wang Dachang, who lay on the ground like a lump of mud.

"See? It really wasn't easy."

Seeing Gao Dachang's appearance, Zhang Qiliang felt no pity whatsoever.

This guy is shrewd and alert. When he saw Zhang Qiliang break into his room in the middle of the night, he didn't report it to the authorities or make a fuss. He was very honest and did everything he wanted to say. This fully demonstrates that this scoundrel has extraordinary rationality and a situational judgment ability far beyond that of ordinary people: So, he deliberately picked on an easy target like Wang Hai.

Similarly, when Zhang Qiliang asked him, this guy was willing to give him 50,000 without saying a word. On the surface, this seemed to be giving Zhang Qiliang face. But on a deeper level, it was like saying, "You give away 50,000 without batting an eye, but you're going to be killed if I just settle the workers' wages?"

Gao Dachang stared blankly at the high ceiling.

"Make a call," the young man's voice came from above.

Gao Dachang slowly turned his head.

"Call 120... You're not going to just go to sleep like this, are you?"

Yes, yes, 120!

Gao Dachang struggled to pull out his phone and dialed 120.