Chapter Seven: "There's Something Wrong with Your Head"

The completion condition was to sever the enemy’s weapon, which obviously required both an enemy and a weapon. Moreover, the weapon likely needed to be forged from metal—just hearing the requirement, it didn’t seem the kind of thing that could be faked with a stick.

Of course, he would have to test it to be sure.

Contemplating these conditions, Yu Ge realized there was no stipulation regarding the quality of the weapon, which actually made things easier. All it would take was a bit of silver to have the town blacksmith forge a sword or blade that looked the part.

But the mention of an enemy proved troublesome. He hadn’t made any enemies in this town, so where would he find one—much less a hundred?

For an instant, Yu Ge even thought of Zhao the butcher at the town’s meat shop.

But he quickly shook off the thought—Zhao the butcher’s gleaming boning knife didn’t look like it was just for show.

Never mind, first he’d buy a weapon and give it a try.

Yu Ge returned home to fetch some silver, then rushed to the blacksmith’s shop on the south side of town, where he bought two crude, poorly made swords that barely resembled weapons.

Now he had weapons, but still lacked an enemy.

As he walked down the street, fretting, he suddenly spotted a little girl picking flowers by the roadside, eight or nine years old. Inspiration struck.

He stopped her. “Little girl, what’s your name? Can you help me with something?”

The girl’s hair was in disarray, and she looked at him with her head tilted, her voice crisp as she replied, “No. My mother says you’re not right in the head!”

Yu Ge was stunned. Who was this girl’s mother to say such things? He couldn’t help retorting, “How could your mother slander me without cause?”

But the girl lifted her chin, speaking with conviction. “I saw it too! That day you were cutting your own thigh on the steps.”

As she spoke, Yu Ge found her increasingly familiar, and then, recalling the day he completed his first achievement and received the black iron dagger, it hit him. On the opposite side of the street, he’d passed a woman and child—wasn’t this the very girl who’d wondered aloud if he was possessed by a demon?

And her mother’s voice had been loud enough to startle anyone!

“Um, your mother must have made a mistake. I’m perfectly sane. I just need your help with something…” Looking at this wayward child, Yu Ge decided to explain patiently.

“No. You’re crazy!” she insisted.

Damn! Did she want a beating?

A punch from such a cute little girl would probably make her cry for ages!

The veins on Yu Ge’s forehead stood out; he barely restrained the urge to give her a good thrashing on the spot.

He kept repeating to himself: She’s just a child, just a child, children speak without malice. I am magnanimous, as broad-minded as the sea itself—broad enough to forgive her and her mother.

“Alright… Anyway—”

“You’re not right in the head!”

Argh!

He couldn’t take it anymore!

…

In the end, to his own surprise, Yu Ge endured it. After much persuasion—and the promise of some copper coins—he finally convinced the infuriatingly talkative girl, whose name was Meng Xiaoya.

“Here, take this stick. Hold it diagonally toward the sky. When I tell you to start, swing it down slowly—move as slowly as you can.”

Yu Ge wasn’t entirely sure how the process should go, so he improvised, instructing the girl to follow his lead.

Meng Xiaoya had no idea what Yu Ge was up to, but thinking of the coins she’d earn, her little hands cooperated cheerfully as she took the branch and waved it at the air.

Yu Ge was quite satisfied with her cooperation, despite her sharp tongue.

“Oh, right—there’s a line you have to say. Let’s see… say, ‘In the name of the moon, I’ll punish you!’”

At the sudden inspiration, Yu Ge’s eyes lit up.

“A line? Why am I representing the moon and punishing you?” Meng Xiaoya was confused, her little head full of questions.

For some reason, just hearing the line made her flush with an inexplicable sense of embarrassment.

“Don’t worry about the reason. Just swing the stick slowly from above to the ground, and shout that line while you do it!”

Yu Ge grinned, chuckling to himself. I won’t hit you. I’ll make sure you have a full childhood—a real childhood can’t be complete without a little blackmail material.

“No way! You didn’t mention that before. If you want me to say that, you have to pay extra,” Meng Xiaoya pouted, wanting compensation for this strange sense of shame.

“Oh? Demanding a raise on the spot? Don’t you know the trend these days is wage cuts and reduced benefits? If you won’t do it, I’ll find someone else.”

“Go ahead! Hmph, you don’t know everyone listens to me around here!” she said, waving her little hand and puffing out her chest proudly.

Yu Ge was taken aback, looking at her in a new light. Not only was she the local boss among the kids, she also seemed to know he didn’t want to ask an adult for this embarrassing task.

Indeed, where would he find an adult willing to act so ridiculous?

“Fine, fine, two more coins.”

Finding someone else would be a hassle, so Yu Ge gave in.

Thus, at the tranquil riverside, a bizarre scene unfolded.

A little girl, no more than eight or nine, slowly swung a stick towards the ground, her movements awkward and stiff, while chanting, “In the name of the moon, I’ll punish you!”

Facing her, a young man brandished a short dagger with a swift motion, slashing at the stick as if in slow motion.

Crack!

With a crisp sound, the stick split in two.

Yu Ge withdrew his dagger and waited a moment—no response.

So it really did have to be a weapon?

“All right, let’s try the longsword this time.”

He motioned for the girl to toss aside the stick and handed her what he called a longsword.

Meng Xiaoya took the so-called longsword from Yu Ge, eyeing the crooked, trembling iron strip with disdain—it hardly resembled a sword at all.

Still, thinking of her payment, she kept quiet.

Just as Meng Xiaoya was about to perform the move with the iron strip, Yu Ge suddenly remembered something. “Wait a moment!” he called, dashing away.

“Stick this on your chest.”

Before long, Yu Ge came running back, clutching a piece of paper, which he handed to the now-bored Meng Xiaoya waiting by the riverside.

She looked down to see two large, clumsy brush-strokes on the paper.

Enemy?

Meng Xiaoya’s little head spun in confusion, then she felt it was all dreadfully childish.

She looked at Yu Ge as if he were some strange specimen, suddenly feeling a little sorry for him.

She thought, there’s really no need to explain all this.

Yu Ge sensed the shift in her gaze but was at a loss as to why.

Still, the girl was professional enough—not only did she not ask for more money, but she went along with the plan.

Thus, Meng Xiaoya swung her “sword,” while Yu Ge brought his black iron dagger down on the unrecognizable iron strip.

Since it was just leftover scrap, it broke easily with a crisp snap, splitting cleanly in two.

At that moment, Yu Ge heard a mysterious, otherworldly prompt echo in his mind—one that made him break into a delighted grin.

Meng Xiaoya looked at him with even more pity.

Achievement: [Break Their Blade].

Condition: Sever an enemy’s weapon one hundred times. Current progress: 1/100.

Reward: Unknown.

It really worked!

Seeing the progress counter tick up, Yu Ge was overjoyed; it proved that this method was effective, even if the process was a touch embarrassing.

But the one embarrassed wasn’t him—it was the girl forced to shout that ridiculous line.

He repeated the process with the second iron strip, quickly advancing the tally by another mark.

Having proved the method worked, Yu Ge had the girl wait and dashed off to the blacksmith’s shop, where he bought a heap of odd, scrap iron strips shaped like swords.

He negotiated pay with Meng Xiaoya and resumed the process.

So, beside the peaceful river, there was a relentless series of cracks and snaps as the pile of scrap iron was broken in two, and the “Break Their Blade” counter soon reached sixty-seven.

Just over thirty more to go—but Yu Ge realized he was out of money.

The scrap iron was cheap enough, but his predecessor hadn’t been wealthy, and after a single spree, his silver was gone.

A pity the broken iron couldn’t be reused—otherwise, he could have chopped up one piece ten times, patching it up between each try.

Now, even a penny could stymie a hero.

Yu Ge could only arrange to meet Meng Xiaoya again another day, to sort out the funding issue.