Forging Immortality: The Undying Blacksmith

Chapter 88: Changes

“Gang Leader Tianlong, it’s been a long time.” A spirited smile graced Li Qing’s otherwise unremarkable face.

Tianlong, the leader of the Righteousness Gang, watched the man approach with his hands clasped behind his back. He finally had his confirmation—this was, without a doubt, the same man who had fought alongside him to crush the Yan family six years ago.

Nearly six years had passed. For a moment, Tianlong felt lost in a daze.

Time seemed to have left no mark on Li Qing. He still possessed that same air of unruffled calm. While his features were not handsome, his aura had deepened, becoming as profound and still as an abyss.

“Brother Li, it really is you! I was just wondering if that man carrying the war hammer could be you!” Tianlong’s voice surged with excitement.

The two had not spent much time together, but friendships between men are sometimes forged beyond the measure of time. The very foundation of the Righteousness Gang’s power in Obsidian City was built by their combined strength. That connection alone was enough to earn Tianlong’s eternal gratitude.

“Where have you been all these years? Look at me, I’ve grown old,” Tianlong lamented with a sigh.

Soon after, Wei Tian and Zhao Kou stepped forward, their faces alight with a surprise they couldn’t contain.

“Li… Li-ye!” Wei Tian hesitated, finally settling on the old honorific he had used for Li Qing. The memory of trying to burgle Li Qing’s home, only to be lifted off the ground by the neck with a single hand, was still seared into his mind.

Zhao Kou, however, was far more at ease. “Big Brother Li!” he called out directly. “After all these years, you’re finally back!”

Facing their greetings, Li Qing let out a carefree laugh. “For the past few years, I’ve been completely immersed in the martial path, traveling the world as I trained. I returned to handle some affairs and decided to stop by Obsidian City to see you all.”

A convenient stop on the way, he thought, though he kept that part to himself.

Six years had etched new lines onto Tianlong’s face. The once-vicious young man, Zhao Kou, had matured considerably. As for Wei Tian, now approaching thirty, he carried himself with a new, steady composure.

Tianlong roared with laughter. “Hahahaha! Someone, go fetch An’er for me! Today is a day for celebration!”

They had far too much to say to each other to stand around catching up at the gate.

As they walked through the entrance to the mansion, Tianlong waved a large hand, feigning anger. “I’ve told you all countless times! The first duty of any new member is to memorize the portrait of my Brother Li! Why does no one take this seriously?”

The subordinate who had announced Li Qing’s arrival immediately dropped to his knees. “This subordinate deserves death. Please, Gang Leader, punish me.”

“Hmph. Useless. Get out of my sight before you become a bigger eyesore,” Tianlong grumbled, waving him away.

Li Qing’s eyebrow twitched at the exchange. A portrait of me? Tianlong was more thorough than he’d given him credit for, a detail he himself would never have anticipated.

Walking deeper into the estate, Li Qing found the interior vastly different from his memory. The classical wooden architecture had been entirely replaced by structures built from massive mushroom trees. The halls were lit by clusters of eerie Glowshrooms, and the main courtyard was a grotesque garden of bizarre, ornamental fungi.

The alien and absurd landscape was a sobering sight. The Extreme Night World was changing at an accelerating pace, its new reality clashing more and more with the world he once knew.

To celebrate his return, a banquet had already been prepared. Plate after plate of rare, edible mushrooms discovered by the gang over the years were brought out. At the center of the table, however, was something new: a whole roasted animal, vaguely resembling a pig, served on a massive platter.

Before Li Qing could ask about the fresh meat, a clear and melodious voice, like a wind chime in a silent valley, drifted over.

“Big Brother Li! Is it really you?!”

From the side of the courtyard, a slender figure in a lotus-green gauze dress emerged into the faint, milky light of the Glowshrooms. Her steps were light, and her pale, fair skin made her sweet smile all the more radiant.

It was An Xuan, the granddaughter raised by Old Man An.

The little girl who had once shown the mere promise of beauty had, over six years, blossomed into a graceful and stunning young woman.

“An Xuan?” Li Qing was momentarily stunned, his thoughts drifting. “In the blink of an eye, you’ve grown so much.”

His memory of her was of a sallow, malnourished child, distinguished only by her well-defined features and a pair of startlingly clear eyes.

“Big Brother Li!” An Xuan’s pace slowed as she drew near, her eyes welling with tears. In her memory, the blacksmith from across the street had been a pillar of support for her family. Six years had vanished in an instant, and she never imagined she would see him again.

“Where is your grandfather? I don’t see him…”

Li Qing trailed off. The somber expressions on the others’ faces told him everything he needed to know.

“Ai,” Tianlong said from the side. “In the third year after you left, Old Man An and Old Man Mo both passed away.”

“I see,” Li Qing nodded. So much could happen in six years.

“Hahahaha, enough of that!” Tianlong boomed, breaking the heavy silence. “It’s a rare occasion, having you back. We must have a proper feast!”

With that, he began to serve Li Qing. Only then did Li Qing voice his question. “Gang Leader Tianlong, if I may ask, what kind of meat is this?”

Tianlong gave him a mysterious smile. “Heh, remember that fresh meat we found in the Yan family’s vault after we took them down?” he began. “After you left, I looked into it. The Yans used to send regular shipments of Black Wheat Mushrooms to a place called Tianliang Mountain. They stopped because a new faction in Giant Rock City to the west started selling meat. This very meat—the Armored Pig!”

He leaned in closer. “Thirty carts of Black Wheat Mushrooms for a single carcass. And they never, ever sell them alive.”

He spat. “Fucking daylight robbery!”

Li Qing’s eyes narrowed slightly as he listened intently. Armored Pig? Another new species?

Tianlong continued, “This thing is covered in a hard shell, but otherwise looks like a normal pig. Apparently, it fattens up just by eating Black Wheat Mushrooms. We never saw anything like it back when the sun was still in the sky. It must have appeared sometime in the last decade.”

Curious, Li Qing took a small piece of the strange meat. The taste and texture were similar to pork, though the flesh was firmer. Roasted, it sizzled with fat and released a rich, savory aroma.

“Interesting…” Li Qing chewed thoughtfully. “Gang Leader Tianlong, that place you mentioned, Tianliang Mountain. Have you learned anything more about it over the years?”

Tianlong shook his head in disgust. “That blasted mountain is impossible to find. My caravans have crisscrossed the entire Black Wind Region, and only a handful of old-timers have even heard the name. They call it some kind of ‘immortal land’—just a bunch of mystical nonsense.”

He slammed his cup down. “If there really were immortals, why haven’t they brought the damn sun back? It’s a load of horseshit! Without the sun, we can’t grow grain. A man can’t even get a proper drink of wine!”

Li Qing offered a faint smile. The mushrooms that grew from the blighted earth could fill a stomach, but the art of brewing wine from them remained a mystery. Any wine that still existed in the Extreme Night World was a priceless relic from the Sun Era, a treasure one might unearth from a forgotten cellar if they were impossibly lucky. Every discovered jar was worth a fortune.

Finally, after the satisfying meal, Li Qing made a request. He wanted to see an Armored Pig for himself.

Tianlong agreed without a moment’s hesitation.