The dim light is the first impression after entering the room.
To the right of the door is the center of the house, where there is a small round table with three or two stools scattered around the wooden table. On the round table are an oil lamp and a basket containing several fruits. On the surface of the apple-sized fruit, colorful patterns are scattered scatteredly, making it impossible to feel the possibility of "eating" it. The flame of the oil lamp emits little bits of black smoke and slowly disappears directly above the table - there is a lantern hanging on the ceiling there, and the old stone walls are reflected with a warm yellow color by these lights. There was a fireplace on the wall opposite the table, and the crackling sound of the fire came from the fire. A few sparks jumped on the cracked floor, and then gradually extinguished and disappeared from sight. Looking along the cracks, Duan Qing saw a wooden tabletop and fence that surrounded part of the space, forming a place similar to a counter. There were some weapons-like objects hanging on the wall behind the counter, including ordinary swords and shields. , there are also things that Duan Qing doesn’t recognize at all.
There was a door behind the counter, which seemed to lead to another room. The clanking sound came from the crack of the door, and it has stopped now. As heavy footsteps approached, the door was opened.
Dark skin, sweat stains all over his body, and a bald head that shimmered under the light. The man who walked out looked young and not tall, but he looked quite strong. He had his upper body bare, and a towel was placed on his shoulders. The gray and black streaks on the towel covered up its original white color. . The man wiped his face randomly with the end of the towel, then wiped his bald head with it, and grinned at Ambition of Iron.
"Here we come." He said, then tilted his head: "This..."
"Friend." Iron Ambition stepped forward, then untied a small package hanging from his waist with his right hand, and handed it to the man on the other side of the counter: "This is what you want, please take a look."
The bald man took it, untied the rope on it, drank from the big cup on the table, and looked at the contents of the package with his peripheral vision. Iron Heart stood aside, looking a little nervous, or excited: "I encountered some troubles in the middle, I don't know if there is any damage..."
The man put down the cup and took out a few pieces of oilcloth from the package. After untying it, several herbs were wrapped inside. The man picked up one of them with his hand and placed it in front of the light to observe it. His serious expression gradually relaxed. Nodding slowly: "This is it..."
Iron Ambition's shoulders relaxed, and then he said with anticipation: "I hope it's not too late."
"Of course." The man who looked like a blacksmith said in a low voice, and he said with great care: "Sooner than expected."
The man turned around, picked up a sword from under the wall, and handed it to Iron Heart.
Iron Heart took it and then raised the hand holding the sword.
It was a broad-edged sword, with a silvery blade that looked nearly one meter long. The blade was four fingers wide, with a blood groove carved in the middle. The hilt was more than ten centimeters long, and it was wrapped with something similar to rubber. The same black tape. Iron Ambition held the hilt of the sword, raised the blade in the air and examined it for a while, then took it down and put it in front of his eyes for a closer look. He found some characters engraved on the end of the hilt. The meaning of the characters was unknown, but Iron Ambition didn't care. .
"The sword is 0.9 miles long and 0.8 miles wide. Although it is still far behind the standard weapon of the army, it is still sharp enough." The bald man said a lot of words this time, and he looked proud. It seemed that he was very interested in this weapon. The work is quite satisfactory.
"Thank you very much." Iron Ambition inserted the sword into his waist, and then made a strange salute to the blacksmith: "This sword is the best sword I have ever seen."
The bald man grinned, his white teeth standing out under his dark skin: "I should be the one thanking you." He pointed to the herbs placed on the counter: "You helped me a lot."
"I hope your wife will be safe." Iron Ambition said: "Then, if there is nothing else..."
The blacksmith did not speak, but raised his right arm to signal.
Iron Ambition understood what he meant, so he said goodbye a few more times. When the bald man was about to return to the previous room, he waved Duan Qing to leave. At this moment, Duan Qing looked back.
Then he took a few steps forward and put one hand on the counter before the dark figure disappeared.
"Uncle, I also want a weapon!"
The atmosphere around them seemed to be a little lower. The man who was about to disappear in front of the two people stopped pushing the door, slowly turned his head, looked at the man with short black hair, and then raised his finger to point behind him. wall.
"The prices are on the counter and there's a table."
Hey, hey, is it still self-service shopping... Duan Qing couldn't help shouting in his heart.
But it's not that easy to get rid of me like this.
"This uncle." Duan Qing patted the wooden table with both hands: "I want...a weapon with the same words engraved on it."
The temperature in the air became cooler.
The bald man let go of the door handle and turned his whole body. Then he stroked his hand and walked back slowly: "What did you say...?"
"Ahem..." Due to the close distance, the sturdy man in front of him had a piece of iron in his hand. Duan Qing saw it, so he hurriedly coughed twice to relieve his nervousness. Situation: "I mean...uncle, judging from your superb skills and clever methods, you must be from a famous family..."
The blacksmith remained silent, his eyes staring at prey.
"Um..." Duan Qing waved his hand: "Let me think about it, is it Fisher? Gerald? Or Campasio? Ahhh, could it be..."
The blacksmith looked at him, and Iron Ambition behind him also looked at him. Iron Ambition wondered in his heart, how could this novice brother know so many celebrities? Could it be that he was a veteran player of the free world like himself... Only Duan Qing was sweating in his heart, because of these few words he said He didn't even recognize the name himself.
But the next moment, the blacksmith's expression finally changed.
"Are you a military industrialist?"
Seeing the other party's slightly narrowed eyes, Duan Qing knew that he had finally guessed correctly.
The so-called military industrialists are people who specialize in providing technical services to certain military forces. There are many aspects of this kind of service, but judging from the profession of the uncle in front of me, there is probably only one kind of service he can provide, and that is the creation of weapons and equipment.
"I remember that you just said the term 'standard weapon'. I think you must be very familiar with this aspect, so if I am lucky enough to get your craftsmanship, I will definitely be even more powerful in my future adventures and show my ambitions... ..."
Duan Qing stopped talking because the uncle in front of him raised a hand.
"I know." The blacksmith replied: "I... am, but I was."
Duan Qing also narrowed his eyes.
"You won't mind, huh?" The bald man looked at Duan Qing.
"Of course, I am still an unknown adventurer, and there are naturally many areas where I need help. It would be an honor for me to get the work of a master like you." Duan Qing lowered his head and covered it up with a bow. The sharp light in his eyes: "However, you may not know me yet. For the benefit of both parties, I think we should introduce each other first..."
"You think so, this uncle blacksmith whose name I don't know yet?"
"Valar." The blacksmith stared at Duan Qing: "Valar Narko."
"Moshang Qingshan." Duan Qing smiled slightly, and the depressing atmosphere finally disappeared, as if it had never appeared before: "Look, we have a good start."
"Call me Val." The blacksmith said these last words, and then... turned and entered the inner room, slamming the door behind him.
Duan Qing shrugged, and then pushed Iron Ambition out of the house, and stood in the shadows next to the alley. Iron Ambition said with some fear: "Brother Mo, this is really too risky. What if I offend someone..."
"I didn't say anything bad about him, so why should I offend him?" Duan Qing smiled: "Although this is my first time playing this game, I still have this experience..."
"What kind of experience is this! It doesn't look like a normal way of communicating with NPCs!" Iron Ambition said helplessly: "You know how much effort I put into building a relationship with the only blacksmith family in this village. .....”
"It depends on how you view the meaning of the word 'relationship'." Duan Qing said: "If you define the relationship with the characters in the virtual world as a good relationship, your statement is correct. ,but......"
Duan Qing's expression suddenly became serious: "Making friends with NPCs is also a relationship, and making enemies with NPCs is also a relationship. From this perspective, it is no longer accurate to call them NPCs."
"Now that the virtual reality world has developed for so many years, we are also used to treating the characters in the virtual world on the same level as us, so... the relationships that can appear in the real world, of course, this world also To be able to show up.”
"They are no longer a channel for us to obtain intelligence, a tool for obtaining benefits, and a condition for completing tasks. They are people who can be beaten, scolded, respected and admired. Since they are all human beings, if we can help them, they will naturally also They can help us, they can deceive us..." Duan Qing's eyes turned cold: "We can also deceive them."
"There is love, hate, deception, and trust in our lives, so these will naturally exist in relationships in the virtual world."
The sun was still warm, and a few more children ran closer from a distance. I don't know if they were the ones who just ran to say they wanted to cause trouble for the old man. Duan Qing paused for a moment, then dropped his serious tone and returned to a nonchalant look: "So in my eyes, that uncle just now is just a blacksmith uncle, no matter how many benefits he can give me, or whether he kills me, Apart from me, he is just an ordinary uncle. Thinking from this standpoint, I can naturally notice some things that should be noticed." He waved his hand: "I can also do more."
Iron Ambition seemed to be a little entranced listening to these words. At this moment, a child emerged from the crowd of children. He shouted a few words to the other children, and then ran over without looking back. Duan Qing saw that it was the one who was making faces on the way here: " Brother Steel, what are you doing?"
Iron Heart woke up from his meditation, and then recognized the little boy: "Haha, little Kos, where did you go to cause trouble just now?"
"Of course I'm going to find the old man with the hair in the sky! He sings so badly, and he sings every day..." The boy was filled with indignation, as if he had just done a great thing. However, the next second, he put on a pleasing smile again: "Yes, yes, I also want a gift! The stone you gave me last time was nice, but John took it away... ..”
"It's okay. I'll bring you something nicer next time. Your mother's illness is not cured yet. Go back and take care of her. A child who doesn't take care of his mother is not a good child."
"I brought bread for my mother today. I only came out after my father agreed for me to go out to play..."
Duan Qing stepped aside and watched Ambition of Iron chatting and joking with the little boy for a while, then patted him on the head, and then pushed the little boy back to the blacksmith's house they had just entered, and watched the child enter the room. Then he turned around and walked over.
"It seems that you get along very well with their family." Duan Qing said with a smile.
"After all, it has been in business for a long time, and it is often taken care of by them." Iron Ambition touched his nose, and then looked at the newly obtained weapons at his waist: "But I really haven't thought about what you just mentioned."
"Don't think too much, just do it according to your heart." Duan Qing said: "You have such a good relationship with that boy, you can probably master some of the tricks."
Iron Ambition turned his head and looked at the old house: "Well, I also have a vague feeling..."
"Let me ask you a question." Duan Qing suddenly interrupted him: "I don't know what mission you took on or what purpose you had. I saw you holding the package before. It was probably the mission item this family needed. Duan Qing held his right elbow with his left hand and touched his chin with his right hand: "No matter how the deal was reached, what I saw was that you helped this family find the herbs they urgently needed, and the blacksmith gave them You want the weapon, right?”
"Well, it's indeed a very accurate summary..."
"So in your heart, do you feel more like giving herbal medicines, or do you feel more like wanting weapons?"
Iron Ambition was silent, and then nodded with understanding: "I understand." He laughed, with a hearty voice: "You have learned a lesson, Brother Mo is really not an ordinary person!"
"Very good." Duan Qing also laughed, and his expression returned to the relaxed mood before, but the meaning of that smile was unknown.
The laughter of the two people became louder and louder, attracting the attention of many passers-by who passed by them. They didn't care about the inexplicable looks in those people's eyes. They laughed and looked at each other. There seemed to be some recognition in their hearts that gradually appeared and then accumulated. The laughter gradually subsided, and the two walked casually to other places. The ordinary figure and the majestic figure slowly moved forward and gradually disappeared into the crowd.
The warm wind blew by, and some of their last words floated along with it.
"What Brother Mo said just now should not be just random talk. Your purpose is..."
"The blacksmith didn't tell the truth."
"Oh? How do you say that?"
"When he turned around, I saw a few scars on his back... Those kind of scars, who dares to say they were made while blacksmithing, I was the first to take a photo of him..."
"That's okay, then you...then what he just said..."
"To put it simply, I want to use what he concealed as a bargaining chip... Well, let's not mention it. The negotiation just now was a failure when I think about it. That blacksmith seems to have a lot of stories..."
"Hey, don't be discouraged... The old man with the broken voice must have more stories to tell. Do you want to pay your respects..."
The figures gradually lengthened behind the two people, and the sun gradually set in the distant sky.
