Chapter 10: Evil Weapon Refiner
Evil Lan was a weapon refiner in C County.
In the Eastern Region, a popular profession was a weapon refiner. Most of the clans treated weapon refiners like exalted guests in the hopes that they would build many remarkable armaments for them.
However, most of the clans in the Eastern Region loathed Evil Lan. They detested his techniques. Instead of wanting to roll out the red carpet, anyone who knew him yearned to eliminate him.
There was a reason why so many people were eager to see Evil Lan dead. He used notably evil means to build his weapons. Evil Lan would pour blood from living people into his furnace while creating weaponry. Sometimes, he would even pull live people straight into his furnace like a sacrifice of some evil religion.
Although several clans in the Eastern Region attempted to catch Evil Lan, they failed due to Evil Lan's vast power. He also happened to be as slippery as an eel.
It was quite puzzling to the clan when Evil Lan showed up and grabbed Zen.
“Release him Evil Lan! This kid is a member of the Luo clan!” said Bryson. His guard was up because even though Bryson was just half of a step into the nature level, Evil Lan was a formidable adversary.
Snickering Evil Lan asked,“Why would you be pointing your swords at him if he is a member of the Luo clan?” He added,“I want to handle this for you since you want to kill him so badly. Don't you think it would be a better solution?”
“Evil Lan! He is a member of my family and has rebelled against us, so, it should be me who deals with him! Anyone who dares provoke the Luo clan has a bad end. I advise you don't go against me!” Bryson threatened. Floating near Evil Lan and ready to strike were swords imbued with a purple aura.
“If Mike Luo were here, I would hesitate. But, since it's only you... Ha-ha! I don't care about you! None of the Luo clan deserves my care!” countered Evil Lan while laughing loudly.
“You weasel! That's complete trash! I'll kill you myself!” shouted Bryson. His face was darkening with anger, and with a clear sound, the purple swords shot forward, hurdling at Evil Lan.
“That's rich! We'll see if you can kill me! Ha-ha-ha!” Evil Lan jumped back into the bronze furnace. His laughter echoed sharply, as the furnace rolled over forward into the crowd of the Luo children.
Seeing the huge bronze furnace plunging at them, the Luo children scattered, screaming. Several were too slow to escape, and as the furnace struck fleeing children, they bled profusely, making it impossible to know whether or not they would survive.
While chasing the large metal object, Bryson manipulated the flaming purple swords, hacking at the bronze furnace. Although the swords were eminently sharp, they couldn't even make one dent in the hull and made a series of clinking sounds against the metal target.
As more and more children were run down, the massive furnace created significant mayhem in the yard. After a while, the bronze furnace turned in another direction and rolled out of sight.
Watching the contraption roll away, Bryson clenched his teeth. He wanted to give chase, but Ken stopped him and said,“Brother, Evil Lan is dangerous, think of what he could do! Don't go after him.”
“And what about that rebel, Zen?” asked Bryson flatly.
Ken sneered,“That maniac, Evil Lan, is insane! When he takes someone, they end up burning to death in the bowels of his furnace, so, there is no chance of survival for Zen!”
Glancing around, Bryson nodded. He wasn't sure why, but he had a vague sense of apprehension. Looking at Ken, he snapped,“We need to treat the injured, dispatch my medicine unit!”
In the yard, there were dozens of injured Luo children who had broken ribs and limbs crying in misery.
Many uninjured ones looked on the scene, filled with discouragement.
The ongoing feud between Zen and his uncles, Bryson and Ken, was adding to the demise of the Luo clan.
When Zen's father, Mike, was still alive, evil guys such as Evil Lan never dared to cause trouble like today.
Many other factors contributed to the downfall of the Luo clan.
At one time, the Luo clan could boast that it was the top clan of C County, but, it had slipped so far that the tribe wasn't even in the top three.
In the past, the Luo clan members could walk the streets, and no one dared provoke them.
Now, they weren't respected or feared in town or at the compound and at times had even to bribe the Luo clan servants to get results.
None of the Luo children felt the Luo clan would be able to rise above the situation they had fallen into.
...
...
Squatting in the belly of the metal furnace, Zen remained silent.
Naturally, as the former young master of the clan, Zen knew about Evil Lan. His father, Mike, had told him more than once that if he caught Evil Lan, he would slash Evil Lan in half with his cyan-blade sword.
Zen heard about many of the monstrous atrocities that Evil Lan committed, including that he performed human sacrifices to build his weaponry.
After everything else that had happened to Zen, he thought being taken hostage by Evil Lan, was the worst luck.
Between rolling over and over as the furnace tumbled and smelling the fusty stench of Evil Lan's body, Zen wanted to retch.
After rolling on for a while, they suddenly stopped. The gleam of excitement flashed in Evil Lan's eyes as he came up and leaned in close to Zen to inhale his scent. Evil Lan questioned,“I have never come across a person with a body as special as yours. You are surreal! Your fragrance is so similar to my mysterious weapon!”
“You're kidding, right? Look at me; I have limbs! Touch me, and you'll see, I am flesh, just like you! How can I be anything but a real human?” demanded Zen seriously. “I won't be helpful to you in refining weapons, and I advise you let me go,” Zen calmly informed Evil Lan. Not expecting Evil Lan's nose to be so sensitive that he would be able to smell Zen's subtle scent unnerved him, but, he remained calm and collected outwardly.
“Ha-ha-ha! Are you kidding? Let you go?” cackled Evil Lan wildly. “Hell no! I am so excited to find someone who has a body as unique as you have! I wonder what powerful item will result from tossing you into my weapon-refining furnace? I'm really looking forward to this!” Evil Lan said while reaching out with chains to secure Zen's hands to the inside hull of the bronze furnace before he jumped out.
Inside the metal beast, Zen lurched side to side and then began being bounced around slightly as Evil Lan lifted it off the ground, and took off running with his furnace on his back. They were moving even faster than they had been with Evil Lan inside.
At least now that Zen didn't have to suffer the foul stench of Evil Lan and wasn't being tossed around, he was more comfortable. He was able to crane his head out of the bronze furnace to see the surrounding scenery.
Tugging at his restraints, Zen realized they were too strong to be broken, so, he knew they weren't gold or iron. As he looked around the furnace, Zen's mind whirred as he tried to think of a way to escape. The insane man wasn't even afraid of Zen's uncle, Bryson! Considering how much stronger Bryson was compared to Zen, how would he escape this? Instead of wasting energy worrying, Zen decided he would wait and see what happened.
Trees were a blur to Zen, making him realize Evil Lan was running very fast, even barefoot. He could hear cawing and hooting while the trees became denser. The air was a touch cooler, and the light was dimmer, all of which told Zen they were deep in the thick forest.
Eventually, it grew brighter again as they came back out of the forest. Craning his neck, Zen saw a cliff rising in front of them, and quickly coming closer. But, Evil Lan wasn't stopping or slowing down, and when they came to the precipice, he clutched the bronze furnace tighter as he flung himself over the edge.
'Incredible! How will we survive jumping off the cliff?' wondered Zen. Terrified, Zen grasped the chains in the bronze furnace. Suddenly, he lurched to a stop telling him they weren't falling anymore.
Clinging to the furnace with his right hand, Evil Lan grasped one stone after another with his left hand from a mass of thorn-like rocks protruding from the cliff as he descended the face of the mountain.
Midway down the cliff was a towering tree. Evil Lan stepped onto a sturdy, twisted part of the trunk and reached out his free hand to move the thick branches, revealing the opening of a large cave.
The mouth of the cave was so small that the bronze furnace could barely make it through, but as they went deeper into it, space opened up and became more extensive.
'No wonder Evil Lan has successfully escaped every attack clans in the C County launched. This secret place is obscure! It's perfect!' Zen considered.
Deeper in the cave, the ceiling was dozens of feet higher. The walls were shimmering with dark red glowing light. Flames radiated faintly from the ground, making it the perfect place for refining weapons.
In the center was a dark weapon-refining furnace on four legs. Eight spikes protruded from the wall, and there was a person skewered on each.
The blood was being slowly drained as the victims hung off the spikes. The horrific sight of the emaciated, almost skeletal people turned Zen's stomach. Although they appeared to be dead, the abdomens heaved as they breathed. They were living people!
Not far from the furnace, were about a dozen cast iron cages, three feet wide, holding one person each. Most of them had a dull look in their eyes and were curled up, shivering uncontrollably.
It was apparent that Evil Lan was more despicable than people said. Zen was stunned at Evil Lan's methodology.
“Thud!”
The bronze furnace hit the ground. Evil Lan climbed into it, sniffing like an animal at Zen's flesh. Smirking like the Cheshire cat, he gloated,“I figured if I used flesh and blood to refine weapons and sealed in the grudges of people, then the mysterious weapon's power would increase with those strong hatreds in it!” Evil Lan added,“With your flesh and blood smelling so similar to the mysterious weapon, putting your body into the furnace with my Hell Fire Sword to refine, will likely transform the sword into a spiritual weapon!”