After quite the journey, we finally reached Ironbell! What a spectacular town, you know. Wanna know how it got its name? You probably might’ve guessed that given the word "iron" in its name, it has something to do with ironworks. And you’re right.
It’s the premier hub for iron and steel weapon manufacturing throughout the entire region. Blades, shields, gauntlets, armor, you name it, they forge it. The place practically hoards professionals capable of creating such perfect items and craftsmen whose work then gets shipped out to all corners of Wanshou.
And being the very hub of weapon creation also means being the epicenter of conducting tournaments and demonstrations of said weapons. Which, in turn, ultimately means being the hub of poor, injured cultivators desperately in need of healers after getting their asses handed to them in combat.
Hence, there’s quite the demand for healers around here. And that’s how I heard about Mei Lian.
We disembarked from our boat and took in the impressive scenery. A massive wall of polished iron and steel encircled the settlement, stretching toward the horizon like a silver ribbon. Despite being centuries old, the metal gleamed as if it had been buffed that morning.
Why do I keep calling it a "town" when its description sounds more like a huge kingdom, you ask? Don’t ask me, ask the government. Apparently it’s not too small of a place to be called a village and not too big to categorise it as a kingdom either. We just call it a town given its population of about fifty-thousand.
"Damn, this place is way more huge than I thought," said Qinyue, craning her neck to take in the towering fortifications.
The gang then looked at me expectantly, as if they were waiting for my brilliant command.
Oh, yeah, baby! I was their leader! Time to lead my fellow comrades into glorious victory. It was my very first day as the official leader of the Zenith Sect, and nobody, and I mean nobody, was gonna stop me from completing this mission successfully.
"Stop," said a voice.
It came from two of the most bored looking guards I’d ever seen, leaning against the massive gate.
I flashed a confident wink at my team, and said, "Let me handle this situation, folks. Watch and learn." I turned to face the guards with my most authoritative stance. "We’re representatives of the Zenith Sect, here on some formal business matters. Here are our official documents." I opened and proudly displayed the scroll of approval to conduct business in Ironbell, complete with all the fancy seals and signatures.
The first guard squinted at it. "Oh, wow. That’s actually impressive. Look at that stamp, Yan. Embossed and everything."
"You bet your ass it is," I said proudly, puffing out my chest.
"No."
"Huh? What do you mean, ’no’?"
"We said no. Ironbell is completely closed for any and all business until further notice. It’s been this way for the past four weeks straight."
Jian snapped at me. "You didn’t even bother to check if the damn town was open for business before dragging us all the way out here, you stupid fuck?"
"No, wait just a minute. Look, there must have been some kind of mistake here," I said to the guards. "Look at this documentation. This has been personally signed by Master Juechen himself. Ever heard of him? He’s one of the big bosses at Tianlan Academy, practically runs half the place."
"Do we look like we give a shit about your fancy academy connections?" One of the guards said dismissively.
"But-"
"I don’t think they’re gonna let us in," Liangyu said.
"No, no, hold on. We’ve traveled this far already. Alright, if not for official business," I dramatically threw away the scroll, letting it flutter to the ground, "we can surely visit as regular tourists, right? We’re here for the sights! The iron! The bells!"
"Tourists, officials, business representatives, no one’s allowed inside. The town is closed, dude. How many different ways do we need to explain this simple concept to you?"
Was I supposed to go home now with my tail between my legs? Fuck no. I wasn’t gonna take "no" for an answer, not after coming this far. "Look here, buddy, we’re actually from Longyao. Ever heard of it? Of course you haven’t, nobody has. It’s so peaceful and quiet that nobody even knows about the place because it doesn’t ever make any noise. We’re literally as peaceful as they come. We go in, conduct our business, and come out before lunchtime even arrives. How about that?"
"Hmm, interesting," one guard mused. "You started this conversation wanting entry based on official sect business, you’re all wearing combat ready clothing, and now you suddenly wanna talk about being’peaceful’ ?"
"Besides, isn’t Longyao the exact same town where that notorious Longwei character apparently sprouted from? Doesn’t sound particularly peaceful to me, if you ask," the other guard added suspiciously.
"No, wait, that’s completely different-" I tried to explain.
"Also, isn’t Longyao that specific town where the residents were once fierce warriors in the legendary War of Three Skies?" the first guard continued.
"Yeah, now that you mention it, I remember hearing stories," the other one nodded knowingly.
That’s when Qinyue finally lost her temper and stepped forward. "Listen to me, you racist fuck! Let us into this godforsaken town right now, or I’ll personally melt your so-called impenetrable walls down!"
"Is it really considered racist if I’m simply stating well-documented historical facts?" the guard replied calmly. "Also, didn’t you people just finish telling us how incredibly peaceful you are, and now you’re openly talking about burning down our entire town?"
"Come here, you little piece of-" Qinyue was about to physically tear them apart before the rest of us quickly restrained her and tried our best to calm her down.
Next thing we knew, we found ourselves waiting outside the town gates with the whole gang staring at me like I had just personally murdered all of their beloved parents in cold blood.
"Look, it was my very first leadership task, okay? Cut me some slack here. There’s just been some minor error in the scheduling of our logistics," I said defensively.
" Scheduling of logistics? Bitch, you try that kind of smooth corporate talk one more time and see what happens. You made us endure a whole week of journey for this complete disaster!" Jian exploded.
"Mistakes happen in life, okay! That’s all part of the grand adventure!" I replied weakly.
"Adventure?! This looks like adventure to you?"
"Let’s just leave the past behind us, shall we? Gotta focus our energy forward into the bright future ahead."
"Yeah, let’s just knock those guards unconscious and be done with it," Qinyue suggested. "Or maybe maybe just off them, for like, forever. Those annoying fucks."
"We will do no such thing," I instantly declared.
"Maybe we should attempt to bribe them with some coin," Liangyu added.
"Fuck no. Does your money grow on trees or something?" Qinyue scoffed. "How about we disguise ourselves instead?"
"You’re talking about illegal entry now?" Jian asked.
"It’s technically not illegal if you’re legitimately part of the town’s workforce," Qinyue pointed out gesturing towards another merchant ship that was currently unloading various crates and boxes, with workers casually walking through the gates into town.
"Yeah, right, like they won’t immediately recognize our faces," Jian said.
"Actually, I think she might be onto something here," I admitted. "Those guards specifically told us that the town’s been completely closed for all business. So what exactly are those boxes? It obviously means it’s definitely some kind of essential cargo that’s way too important for them to refuse entry. And from the looks of the situation, if we can move quickly enough, we might just slip inside undetected."
The merchant ship’s loading area was crowded enough already, so it wasn’t particularly difficult for us to wrap ourselves in some spare cloth we managed to acquire and blend in with the legitimate workers.
I sent Liangyu in first, then Qinyue, followed by Jian, and finally myself bringing up the rear in carefully timed intervals so as not to raise any unnecessary suspicion.
So far, everything seemed to be going according to plan. With just a handful of workers remaining, the guards didn’t appear to notice anything unusual, and I genuinely thought our improvised plan was working perfectly.
I confidently walked towards the imposing gate while carrying a heavy wooden crate, my face properly covered by cloth. Just one more step inside the town limits, and we’d be home free.
But then they stopped me dead in my tracks.
I froze. The crate felt like it weighed a thousand pounds. Through the gaps in my head wrap, I saw the guard’s boots.
"You actually thought we wouldn’t notice, smartass?" one of the guards said with obvious amusement.
In the periphery, I saw Qinyue’s hand drifting toward her blade. Liangyu and Jian lunged to grab her arms before she could start a massacre.
"Notice what, exactly?" I asked, my voice muffled by the cloth, praying my "humble laborer" accent was convincing.