Chapter 4079 — The Mask Remade

"Don't be surprised. This is a private favor. The old man and I took part in several trial missions together when we were young. He's one of us, reliable. If you have any business, Young Hero Lin, you can go to him. I'm only mentioning it ahead of time to be prepared. The odds of you going to the Middle Island for now aren't high, so it may not even come to that." Hong Zhong laughed.

"Whether I need it or not, Elder Hong's kindness is something I'll remember." Wei Zhao nodded gratefully.

After leaving the Hong Commerce, Wei Zhao escorted Shangguan Lan'er and Ning Xuefei back to Hualan Residence. Then he returned to Yingxin Pavilion to brief his miserable senior brother and the others before heading to the Rag King's secret forging base. He had no idea how long this trip would take, so he had to at least say his farewells in advance.

Yet the moment he stepped into the cave, Wei Zhao was startled by the sorry state of the Rag King: bruises mottled his whole body, and the white gauze wrapped around him still bore fresh bloodstains.

"Brother Wang, what happened to you?" Wei Zhao asked hurriedly.

The Rag King waved it off with an easy laugh. "Nothing much. A couple of days ago some people slipped in on me unawares. A few scratches, nothing serious. I'm used to it by now."

"It was Kang Jingming and his lot, wasn't it?" Wei Zhao guessed at once. The Rag King had always guarded this secret base with the utmost care, and for all these years no one had ever known of it. Only last time, because Wei Zhao had been careless, had Kang Jingming and his people tailed him, and the secret forging base became known.

"It's really nothing. Back when I was forging, I got burned by fire often enough, and blown up by faulty wares more times than I can count. Though that Kang Jingming of yours — his tricks are a bit peculiar. I've never seen anyone use pill fire as a combat technique, and the power's considerable. Still, it's nothing much. A few days' rest and I'll be right as rain." The Rag King laughed carelessly.

"That move must have been a pill-fire bomb. This is all my fault. I dragged you into it and got you hurt, Brother Wang. I'm truly sorry." Wei Zhao said with some guilt. These past few days he had been so busy escorting Shangguan Lan'er and Ning Xuefei around that he had neglected the Rag King's side, and never expected such a thing to happen. He had been far too careless.

With that, Wei Zhao moved behind the Rag King, placed one palm on his back, and circulated his cultivation method to heal him.

"Brother Lin, what are you doing?" Feeling the warm true qi flowing from Wei Zhao's palm, the Rag King was startled. Amid the comfort, he noticed the wounds all over his body beginning to itch — a sign of self-healing.

After a moment, Wei Zhao slowly withdrew his true qi. "Brother Wang, how do you feel now?"

"Eh? Much better than before. The wounds don't hurt at all anymore. Brother Lin, what kind of technique is this? It's amazing!" The Rag King moved his hands and feet, exclaiming in astonishment.

By his past experience, injuries like these should have ached for at least another month. He never imagined that a single treatment from Wei Zhao would heal them outright. It was simply inconceivable.

Wei Zhao chuckled. "Just a little trick. If you get hurt again in the future, Brother Wang, just tell me. A few small injuries are nothing to worry about."

"Good, good. There's no forging without getting hurt. I won't stand on ceremony with you anymore, Brother Lin." The Rag King scratched his head and laughed.

"By the way, I came this time to tell you, Brother Wang, that I'm about to leave on a trip to find that Life-Aspect Mushroom. As for when I'll be back, that's hard to say. So I'll have to trouble you to hold down the fort here alone for now." Wei Zhao stated the purpose of his visit.

"Mm, the Life-Aspect Mushroom is very hard to find. I can only trouble you to make the trip, Brother Lin." The Rag King nodded, then suddenly said, "By the way, Brother Lin, on this trip of yours, are you going to conceal your identity?"

"Naturally. The North Island Cultivators' Guild is a mixed and motley crowd. I can't very well go there as a newcomer from Yingxin Pavilion. That would be far too conspicuous." Wei Zhao nodded.

"In that case, that Thousand-Silk Mask of yours won't do anymore. After all, plenty of people know it, and even wearing it, you can't be sure you won't be recognized. How about this — I'll remodel it for you!" the Rag King suggested.

"Remodel the Thousand-Silk Mask?" Wei Zhao was slightly taken aback, then recalled that the Rag King seemed to have mentioned last time that he could forge such masks as well.

"That's right. It takes a great deal of skill to forge one of these things from scratch, but if it's just a matter of remodeling it to change the appearance, that's quite simple." The Rag King took the Thousand-Silk Mask from Wei Zhao with one hand and asked casually, "By the way, Brother Lin, what do you want to look like?"

Wei Zhao thought for a moment. "In that case, I'll trouble you, Brother Wang, to make me into a rough-featured martial artist."

In the wider martial world, apart from formidable strength, appearance was often an extremely useful weapon in its own right. A rough-featured martial artist, for instance, would lead others to assume, from first impressions, that he was not very clever and was simple at heart, making him easier to trust — and, of course, easier for those with ulterior motives to underestimate, so that one could play the pig to eat the tiger.

In but a brief moment, the Thousand-Silk Mask had taken on an entirely new appearance in the Rag King's hands. Just as Wei Zhao had requested, the face was rugged and domineering — at a glance, a standard martial artist — yet on closer inspection it carried a touch of uncommon valor.

"Brother Wang, your craftsmanship is truly superb. I think you'd have more than enough skill to be a professional painter." Wei Zhao praised sincerely. A few simple strokes, and he had produced such a vivid, expressive face — a veritable divine skill.

The Rag King gave a rather smug chuckle. "In our line of work as forgers, the key to designing a forging plan lies in the drawing. Whether it's precise or not directly determines the success rate. Don't think I've never forged anything decent before — my fundamentals are by no means poor. And besides, I like to doodle when I've got nothing to do. I'm afraid I've made a fool of myself before you, Brother Lin."

Wei Zhao gave him a thumbs-up. Setting everything else aside, the Rag King's talent in forging alone was no exaggeration to call a rare genius.

The next day, Wei Zhao set out early. Wearing the brand-new Thousand-Silk Mask, he followed Hong Zhong's earlier directions and arrived at the North Island Cultivators' Guild.

The place was not far from the Threefold Pavilion — practically right beside it, less than ten li away. Though the hour was still early, the guild's great hall was already packed to overflowing.

Experts at the Foundation Establishment stage and above were as common as cabbages by the roadside, jostling shoulder to shoulder, the clamor and hubbub unending. This spectacle of experts cheap as dogs left Wei Zhao dumbstruck for quite a while. R1152