Xia Feng clasped his hands behind his back, putting on a mysterious, profound air.
"Today was only the initial treatment," he said calmly.
"You must rest properly. If you move carelessly and damage the bones again, even I will have trouble fixing it."
Kanamori nodded repeatedly.
"I understand!"
Xia Feng raised a hand and wiped away sweat that didn't actually exist.
Seeing this, the village chief immediately understood what he meant and quickly arranged accommodations for Xia Feng, Shinobu, and Kanao.
A short while later, the three of them sat around a small tea table in their room.
Shinobu looked at Xia Feng with curiosity.
"Xia Feng, was today's treatment very difficult? You looked like you used a lot of energy."
Xia Feng laughed.
"They don't know any better, but you do… It was just a small injury. How could it possibly cost me anything?"
Shinobu showed an "I knew it" expression.
Watching Xia Feng shamelessly putting on a show made the corners of her lips curl upward.
Then she suddenly realized something strange.
With her personality, seeing someone behave like that should make her feel annoyed or even disgusted.
But for some reason…
When it was Xia Feng, she didn't dislike it at all.
In fact, she found it rather amusing.
Shinobu sighed softly in her heart.
Without realizing it, she had changed quite a lot.
And all of those changes…
Came from the man who had suddenly stepped into their lives.
Noticing her silence, Xia Feng looked over.
"Shinobu, what's wrong?"
She smiled and shook her head.
"Nothing. I was just thinking that life lately has been really nice."
Xia Feng replied casually,
"Because I'm here?"
He had meant it as a setup for Shinobu to tease him.
But after thinking for a few seconds, Shinobu nodded.
"I suppose that's probably true," she said with a gentle smile.
Xia Feng: "???"
I was setting up a joke here and you didn't roast me?
That makes it really hard to continue the conversation.
He quickly turned toward Kanao, hoping she would say something sarcastic.
Instead, Kanao looked at him with wide eyes and a soft smile.
"Yes. Having Xia Feng here makes people feel safe."
Xia Feng opened his mouth.
Then coughed awkwardly.
"Let's change the subject… change the subject."
"I'm hungry. I'll go tell them to hurry up with dinner."
With that, he quickly stood up and escaped outside.
Behind him, Shinobu couldn't help but laugh.
The Next Morning
Early the next day, Xia Feng first went to check Kanamori's condition.
"Swordsmiths are monsters or something…"
"I only gave him some basic treatment yesterday, and he already healed a lot overnight."
After confirming the injury, Xia Feng clicked his tongue in amazement.
So today, he shamelessly performed a very casual treatment and didn't use much healing ability at all.
After all—
If a miracle doctor fixed everything too easily, it would lose its value.
After leaving Kanamori's residence, Xia Feng headed to the swordsmith workshop he had reserved.
Inside, all the forging tools and ore were already prepared.
Sitting at the entrance was a man wearing a Hyottoko (fire-mask).
When he saw Xia Feng approaching, the man stood up.
"You are… Xia… Xia something?"
"Xia Feng," Xia Feng replied.
"Right. Xia Feng. I'm Haganezuka. The chief told me to assist you."
The masked man spoke with clear impatience.
Haganezuka…
Xia Feng thought for a moment and realized he actually recognized the name.
Isn't this the swordsmith who forged Tanjiro's sword?
What a small world.
He had randomly asked for an assistant and ended up with him.
Xia Feng chuckled softly.
Haganezuka's attitude wasn't surprising.
The man was famously eccentric, and he lived entirely for forging.
Being suddenly assigned to assist an outsider like Xia Feng was obviously irritating.
But Xia Feng didn't care.
He just needed someone to help with manual tasks—not someone to chat with.
With that in mind, he nodded.
"Let's go inside."
Inside the workshop, Xia Feng immediately activated the title ability—
Forging Grandmaster.
The moment it activated, everything in the room felt different.
The forging tools.
The ores.
To Xia Feng's eyes, they all became incredibly familiar.
He walked to the ore crate and began searching.
Soon, he selected several pieces he needed.
Then he turned to Haganezuka.
"Melt these."
But when he looked up—
Haganezuka was frozen in place.
Behind the fire mask, his face was filled with shock and disbelief.
Because just a moment ago—
The Xia Feng in his eyes had completely changed.
The aura around him now made Haganezuka, a professional swordsmith, feel pressured.
He had only ever felt that kind of presence from one person before.
The village chief.
Could this young man really possess forging skill on the same level?!
For a moment, Haganezuka felt his breathing become uneven.
Only when Xia Feng spoke again did he snap out of it.
Seeing Xia Feng's puzzled expression, he hurriedly took the ores.
"I—I understand! I'll do it properly!"
Xia Feng tilted his head.
Why did Haganezuka's attitude suddenly improve so much?
Although he found it strange, he didn't ask.
If Haganezuka cooperated, it would save him a lot of trouble.
Soon, Haganezuka returned holding a small black pot with long tongs.
Inside the pot—
Molten ore glowed with heat.
After only one glance, Xia Feng nodded in satisfaction.
Haganezuka's fundamentals were solid. The ore had been melted perfectly.
Next—
It was time for the first forging.
Xia Feng picked up a mold.
A pleased smile appeared on his face.
🌟 The story is already written… waiting to be unleashed.
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