Forging Immortality: The Undying Blacksmith

Chapter 50: The Astronomical Bounty

In the days following the New Year, a bounty notice appeared in Shengtian, sending shockwaves through the entire imperial capital.

[BOUNTY: The head of the Star-Plucking Thief shall be rewarded with one hundred thousand silver taels. Capture him alive for a reward of three hundred thousand silver taels! Anyone providing valuable information may claim one hundred silver taels from Prince Yu’s Estate!]

The notice also made a special point: anyone could claim this bounty. The Prince’s Estate would even honor the reward for wanted criminals sentenced to death, no questions asked.

Madness. Utter madness.

That was the first reaction of everyone in the capital who saw the notice. Many even suspected it was a forgery.

But the notices kept appearing, posted and spread throughout the city, then distributed across the entire territory of Feng Country.

Li Qing, who was in the middle of preparing for a tiger hunt, was also stunned when he saw it.

What in the world did this Star-Plucking Thief do to push Prince Yu this far?

When Li Qing first arrived in Shengtian, he’d only heard that the thief had stolen a centuries-old wild ginseng specifically sought by Prince Yu’s Estate. At the time, the Estate had barely reacted, merely giving the Quanshan Medicine Shop tacit permission to post a notice while providing some covert assistance.

Now, not even a few months later, Prince Yu’s Estate was throwing hundreds of thousands of silver taels at the problem. It was clear they were now willing to pay any price to deal with the mysterious thief.

The city instantly erupted.

Wealth stirs the hearts of men, and a sum this staggering, this life-altering, was enough to drive anyone to insanity. Many speculated that even the Star-Plucking Thief himself might be tempted to turn himself in for the reward.

The spring air was still sharp with chill, but it couldn’t cool the feverish greed gripping the city. With the release of the astronomical bounty, countless people in Shengtian mobilized, seemingly intent on tearing the capital apart to find him.

In the following days, even Li Qing’s blacksmith shop was visited by several groups of men, all asking questions and poking around. These intrusions alone showed just how determined Prince Yu’s Estate had become.

A few more days passed in a blur. The city’s fervor had yet to die down when Prince Yu’s Estate made another move.

At the Shengtian execution grounds, a landscape painter of some renown was dragged to the chopping block for a public beheading.

Tears of bitter injustice streamed down the old painter’s face. “I am wronged!” he screamed, his voice raw. “I am wronged!”

But the executioner had heard such cries countless times; his heart was a stone, long since turned cold and merciless.

With a single, brutal chop, the painter’s head tumbled to the ground, scarlet blood staining the packed earth.

Most chillingly, the government never announced the man’s crime, shrouding the execution in secrecy. A fog of mystery and fear descended upon the capital.

Then, in the wake of the beheading, Prince Yu’s Estate dropped another bombshell.

A portrait of the Star-Plucking Thief.

The news hit the city like a depth charge, rattling its citizens to the core. After all this time, the infamous thief finally had a face. Until today, no one even knew what the man looked like, making any attempt to track him down a fool’s errand.

Interesting, Li Qing thought, his curiosity piqued. Let’s see what this master thief who’s pushed Prince Yu this far actually looks like.

He made his way to the head of Chiming Street, where a crowd of neighbors and onlookers had gathered around a newly posted notice. The portrait was clearly the work of a master, its lines firm and realistic, capturing its subject with lifelike precision.

It depicted a handsome man with sharp, sword-like brows and eyes that glittered like stars. A hint of a reckless smile played on his lips.

The moment Li Qing saw it, his eyes narrowed.

The face was familiar.

Suddenly, a man in the crowd gasped. “I’ve seen him! I’ve seen him!”

The crowd instinctively parted, revealing an excited man. From his rough-spun clothes and restless eyes, he was clearly a man who lived by the sword.

“I saw him at the tavern on the next street over!”

That’s him, Li Qing confirmed internally. The man on the notice was the same one he’d often seen at the tavern, the one who disdained cups and drank straight from the jug. He’d seen him there more than once; the man loved his wine as much as life itself.

“Hahaha! I’m off to the Prince’s Estate to claim my reward!” The man who’d recognized the thief let out a booming laugh and shoved his way through the crowd, heading for the inner city.

Envious eyes followed his retreating back. Just for having seen the man, he would likely walk away with fifty taels of silver.

Li Qing had seen him too, of course. But true to his principle of avoiding unnecessary trouble, he had no intention of chasing after such a paltry sum. He didn’t need the money, and besides, after all this time, the Prince’s Estate had never once mentioned the thief’s level of martial skill.

What if he was an Inner Force master? Worse, an Inner Force master skilled in evasive arts? That would be a hornet’s nest not worth kicking.

With no desire to get entangled in the bounty hunt, Li Qing returned to his smithy. As the last of the winter chill clung to the air, he began forging a new suit of armor for himself.

‘The armor needs steel spikes, for dealing with tigers,’ he mused. ‘And I’ll need a proper weapon. The Peerless Hammer is too cumbersome for hunting; it won’t be effective.’

Yes, his preparations for the tiger hunt were underway. His martial arts progress had stalled recently; he could feel no sign of a breakthrough into the Inner Force realm. Frustrated, he had turned his attention to the tigers of Xiaocui Ridge.

While his immense lifespan meant he could afford to wait, to temper himself slowly over decades, Shengtian was growing more chaotic by the day. Martial artists from all over had flocked to the capital, drawn by the scent of silver. Li Qing had spotted more Outer Force experts in the local tavern these past few days than he’d seen in months—men who were usually only found within the city’s great martial halls.

‘First, the tiger bones for medicinal wine. Then, when summer arrives, I’ll brew the Five Poisons Wine.’

He nodded to himself, satisfied. ‘Yes. The path forward is clear.’

Just as he was lost in thought, unexpected visitors arrived at his door.

“Li Qing? Are you the blacksmith here?”

Several constables in matching uniforms, standard-issue longswords at their waists, stepped into the smithy.

Seeing them, Li Qing’s heart gave a slight lurch. He subconsciously reined in the flow of his qi and blood, masking any trace of his martial cultivation.

“That’s me,” Li Qing said, offering a subservient smile. “What can I do for you, officers?”

“No need to be alarmed,” the lead constable said, his face an emotionless mask. “We’re just here to ask you a few questions.”