NOVEL NEXT Chapter 470: A Generation Older
The village chief, who urged them to give it their all, was already on his way to Hua Village.
So what's the current state of Hua Village? Actually, not much has changed. Apart from everyone in the village training even more diligently in martial arts, and the adults being a little bit tense, life was going on as usual. At the very least, it wasn't like outside where just hearing about the Beicang Tartars would cause a scene of panic and unease.
The children were just as carefree as before, completely unaffected.
Of course, that's what's on the surface. Behind the scenes, there was still some tension. At the very least, the iron workshop in the village was working around the clock. All the iron that could be gathered was sent to the forging house, and even Hua Yunao wasn't spending time with his wife and children anymore; instead, he was busy in the ironhouse alongside Master Hua Tie.
Hua Jin contributed the most metal, offering more than half of what she collected in her space. This was not a small amount, and when it was delivered to the forging house, those inside were both surprised and delighted. They no longer had to worry about having no iron. With this, many weapons and arrows could be produced.
Through years of honing his skills, Master Hua Tie's blacksmithing technique not only fully recovered but even improved beyond that. With continuous experimentation, he gained considerable insight into weapon crafting.
Hua Jin compared the weapons crafted by Master Hua Tie to a batch that had been stored previously. Though they looked somewhat rough on the surface, the hardness, flexibility, and sharpness of the blades were comparable to them. Grandpa Hua Tie undoubtedly has a knack for this; calling him an artisan is no exaggeration.
With non-stop crafting night and day, the dozen or so people in the forging house took turns working. Following the assembly line model improved by Hua Jin, their speed increased significantly. Every day, dozens of weapons could be made. All in all, the goal was to equip everyone in the village with a weapon by the time danger arrived.
Meanwhile, Hua Chengtian and Hua Lao Han were also busy. With the effort of the sons and grandsons, they were making as many bows and crossbows as possible, mainly for the women and children in the village, adding another layer of protection.
Hua Jin and her grandmother helped their two sisters-in-law take care of several babies, and when Hua'er and a few other young girls had free time, they would come over to help. Whenever they came, Hua Jin would go and do other things, like mining for iron ore in her space.
Iron ore that hadn't been discovered in the Qinggu Mountain range was surprisingly found in a newly appeared mountainous corner of her space.
Initially, she didn't pay much attention to it. This was after moving back to Hua Village, thanks to the efforts of several big ones.
Hua Jin would sometimes bring the big ones back into her space, and that time she did the same, taking them up the mountain.
Perhaps they liked marking their territory, for wherever they went, they would mark it, and one of them urinated on a stone, washing out a reddish-brown color. If Hua Jin hadn't taken another look, she might have missed it completely.
Upon realizing something significant, she hastily washed it with water, consulted some information, and confirmed it really was hematite, which made her so happy that she embraced the big ones and danced in place.
Finally, there was no need to worry about running out of iron. She had collected a lot in her space, but this was a consumable item, and who knew when it would run out. Now, finally, there was no more concern.
So whenever she had time, she would mine in her space. Given her strength, it was effortless, and she had already piled up quite a lot inside.
Hua Jin was considering how to extract iron from it, unsure of how much Uncle Wang Tie understood about the process.
For this reason, in recent days, besides mining in the space, she spent more time searching for information on iron extraction and compiling it.
Fortunately, she had the foresight to download many resources beforehand. Although researching without the internet wasn't convenient, she still found a lot of relevant knowledge and transcribed it all onto paper, ready to give to her elder brother. This way, her brother and Uncle Wang Tie could be the ones to deal with the headaches of research. If they succeeded, great; if not, it was no big deal. For now, the amount of iron she collected was still sufficient.
While Hua Jin was busy in her space, the ox-cart from Wang Laohan's home arrived at the entrance of Hua Village.
Looking up at the tall walls with his gaze, he was speechless for a long time.
If they hadn't been there before, the three of them would have thought they'd come to the wrong place.
"Dad, is this really Hua Village?"
It wasn't Wang Laoda's fault. Even though they knew Painter Village had built a wall, they hadn't expected it to be like this. Standing under the wall, feeling small, was quite unbelievable.
The three of them had faces filled with surprise and delight. This wall truly provided a great sense of security. Hua Village was already secluded, with only one path leading up the mountain. Even an old farmer from the countryside like him could see this was an easily defensible location, utilizing the terrain to occupy a strategic position. Even if the Beicang Tartars came, there wouldn't be any fear.
After all, with high walls in front and the Qinggu Mountain range behind, Hua Village could hold its ground or retreat if needed, offering much more flexibility than their Wang Village did.
Wang Laohan didn't know what to say, nodding instinctively.
Then, the three of them, snapping out of their astonishment, remembered to knock on the village gate.
"Who's there?" Soon, a man's voice came from inside the gate.
Hearing the voice, Wang Laohan was delighted, "I am the village chief from Wang Village, an old acquaintance of the Hua village chief. I'm here to visit. Would you please pass this along?"
"Wang Village?"
"Yes, it's Wang Village, about a dozen miles east of here," Wang Laoda added more details.
Soon, they saw a small opening in the middle of the gate being opened, and a pair of eyes peered through it, looking at them.
"Please wait, we'll pass the message," assured Hua Nai'an from inside after assessing the situation and determining that the visitors seemed to pose no threat.
They had moved out of the valley but hadn't relaxed their vigilance just because they were not on the mountain. They stuck to all the mountaintop habits, including rotating gatekeepers and having patrols in the village.
"Of course, of course," Wang Laohan nodded.
All three of them, having prepared themselves mentally, were not too surprised. If anyone could just enter freely, there would be no need to build such a wall. However, it did give them the feeling of arriving at a large estate.
Soon, the sound of livestock running came from inside, causing a hint of surprise in their eyes, but they quickly felt that it made sense. After all, this was their friend's village, and with their friend's capabilities, it wasn't that strange.
Wang Laohan and his sons didn't know how long they waited. Suddenly, they heard a voice from inside, followed by the gate being opened, revealing familiar faces. Wang Laohan was overjoyed and quickly stepped forward.
"Wang Dashu, is it really you?" Hua Laohan happily approached and embraced his old partner, full of joy. Behind him, Hua Chengtian also stepped forward to greet people, introducing himself to Wang Yichun and Wang Yidong, and helped bring the ox-cart inside the gate.
"Yes, it's me. Old friend, it's been two years in the blink of an eye, and you still look so robust." Wang Laohan admired Hua Man's strong physique. Even his appearance lacked the furrows and creases that lined his own, and although they were about the same age, he seemed to be a whole generation younger.
"Getting old, getting old. Let's go inside quickly." Hua Laohan put his arm around the village chief and hurried inside with the ox-cart, and the gate closed behind them.
Watching the heavy gate close slowly, the village chief felt envy once again. One had to admit, his old pal indeed had the ability; even three of him wouldn't compare.
Entering the village only stirred more envy within him. The rows of brand-new houses showed no trace of having lived through several years of disasters. Watching the gentle rise of cooking smoke, it seemed to him like a time of peace and prosperity!