Chapter Eleven: Hammer and Axe (Part One)

  Provocations like this are very common in Hanjia Fortress and aren't even worth mentioning. If a cultivator who comes here is weak, it's really hard to stand firm.

  Everyone was idle and had nothing to do, so they all rushed out together.

  Two large men stood on the ice wall, and it was unclear whether they had flown up or crawled up quietly. What surprised Leixing Peak was not this, but that the two were wearing thin leather armor, with a long fur hanging from their necks, revealing two sturdy arms. Both of them had square heads and faces, with dense beards, and their arms also had dense hair. Both men held weapons in their hands.

  One hand held a huge axe, the other held a large hammer, the hammer and water bucket were no different, both were over two meters tall, that kind of terrifying and powerful momentum was simply overwhelming.

  Xin Zhaolun came out and laughed, saying: "Two bastards, get down!"

  What made everyone's eyes pop out was that the two guys actually jumped down from the ice wall and landed on the ground with a loud thud, then suddenly appeared in front of Xin Zhaolun, the two of them hugging each other tightly, instantly obscuring Xin Zhaolun's figure. All that could be heard was Xin Zhaolun's muffled voice shouting: "Trying to suffocate me! Let go!"

  The mad eagle was slightly surprised and said, "This is a local indigenous tribe, an absolutely formidable indigenous tribe. They are not afraid of the cold, their bodies are like steel, and their strength is so great that it makes people's eyes widen in shock. The only drawback is that they can't fly. Their strength has a very loud reputation in Hanyabao, and even high-level cultivators do not want to be their enemy."

  Xin Zhaolun smiled and said, "My friend, let them help watch this small yard. Probably seeing us build a house, they thought it was someone else's cultivation place, so they came to find trouble, hehe."

  Lei Xingfeng was very interested in these two guys who looked quite fierce, and he said: "Senior brother, introduce them to me, are these two locals?"

  Xin Zhaolun smiled and said, "Hammer, Crazy Axe, huh? They're both locals, really formidable guys, heh." As he spoke, he introduced the two to the people present.

  Hammer swung his massive steel hammer and said in a loud voice: "Since you are Brother Xin's friend, then you are my friend too. If you need help in the future, just come find me, I'll definitely assist!"

  The giant axe also swung its huge axe and said: "Just call me Axe!"

  Then the two of them stared at Xin Zhaolun with eager eyes, and everyone was intimidated by their somewhat resentful gaze, not knowing what these two guys were going to do.

  Xin Zhaolun smiled helplessly and said, "Alright, we're preparing dinner, come join us!"

  "Great! Ah... we have something to eat now!"

  "This strange cry scared Miao Ling almost fell to the ground, she muttered: "What's this? Just eating... why so excited..."

  "Come in, come in! Haha! Brother Xin is so great! I love Brother Xin to death!"

  The axe danced in the air for a moment, and then nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, I love Big Brother to death!"

  Everyone's goosebumps fell to the ground, this statement is too ambiguous, especially from two powerful and unparalleled guys, yet they uttered such words, making it unbearable.

  Xin Zhaolun shook his head helplessly. The natives here were straightforward in their likes and dislikes. If they liked you, everything was fine; if not, they would take up arms and attack. These people were extreme in their personalities, mostly straightforward and generous, without much complexity or pretension. What they said was what they meant: if they said they loved someone, they truly did; if they said they wanted to kill someone, they really did. They wouldn't pretend or put on airs.

  Back in the room, a big pot of stew was already simmering on the charcoal brazier. It was a mess of a dish, with all sorts of things thrown together - fresh meat and cured meat, sauce-cooked pork and wind-dried chicken and duck, various dried mushrooms and bamboo shoots, all tossed into the pot to stew together. A large handful of dried chili peppers had also been added, emitting a rich and intense aroma that wafted up from the pot.

  The hammer ran to the edge of the big pot, saliva couldn't help but flow out, and he kept saying: "Is it cooked? Is it done? I'm so hungry!"

  The strong wind put the axe in his hand beside the big pot, he sat down on the axe with a plop, his eyes staring fixedly at the rolling thick soup, saying: "So fragrant... so fragrant... really very fragrant!"

  The two of them sat in front of the huge copper pot, swallowing their saliva non-stop, with a look that was both shocking and amusing to the crowd. However, among these people, Crazy Eagle did not have an unusual expression, he quietly explained to Lei Xingfeng: "It's very normal... The local indigenous people rarely have enough to eat, and their staple food is raw meat, but they prefer cooked meat with spices."

  Lei Xingfeng also whispered: "Do they only eat meat?"

  The mad eagle shook its head and said, "They also like to eat all kinds of grains and vegetables, they just can't get them."

  Hong Jie is the head chef, and this pot of mixed dish was cooked by her. Each person was given a copper basin, which was as large as a washbasin, with two hard pancakes inside.

  Lei Xingfeng tore the hard and crispy pancake into small pieces, waited until the stir-fry was done, then poured it on top, this is an extremely simple way of eating.

  Hammerhead and Crazy Axe were familiar with this way of eating, the two did not tear the pancake into pieces like Leixingfeng, but directly tore it into palm-sized pieces, staring at the large copper pot with eager eyes.

  Hong Jie scolded with a smile: "Two gluttons, all you know is eating, wait a bit longer and it'll be rotten."

  Hammerhead said pitifully: "Sister, meat with bite is delicious!"

  Hong Jie could only smile bitterly, she picked up a large copper ladle, reached out to take the copper basin with the hammer head, scooped several large ladles of meat and thick soup, saying: "Eat first, axe, bring the basin over!"

  The axe-wielding man revealed a flattering expression on his face and said: "Thank you, big sister!"

  Hong Jie smiled and said: "Be polite when eating, okay, eat now!"

  With two local aborigines joining in, the dishes were absolutely insufficient, and Hong Jie took out a large copper pot and started cooking the second pot of miscellaneous dishes.

  Xin Zhaolun said: "Hammerhead, have you found all the people I asked you to find?"

  Hammer head ate crazily and mumbled: "No, no...haven't found it all...including the axe head, there are only three people..."

  Xin Zhaolun smiled wryly and said, "You've only found one person to help?"

  Chui Tou said: "Can't find anyone, big brother. Recently... someone has been hiring people on a large scale. If it weren't for our agreement, we would have gone too."

  Xin Zhaolun suddenly felt a bit tense and asked: "Who is it that is openly recruiting workers?"

  Hammerhead said: "He's a pretty tough guy, with two people, hired almost a dozen people, and is preparing to enter the mountain after a while."

  "Go into the mountains?" Crazy Eagle exclaimed in surprise. "Are they crazy? At this time, going into the mountains? The weather is about to turn cold soon."

  Miao Ling exclaimed in shock: "What did you say? The weather is about to turn cold... isn't it already very cold now?"

  "Feng Ying said: 'It's not cold yet... The real cold has not arrived.'"

  Miao Ling suddenly covered her forehead, sighed and said: "Oh no, this is not cold enough... Hong Jie, I regret it, I shouldn't have come here." After finishing, she buried her head in Hong Jie's arms.

  Hong Jie patted her back and smiled: "It's okay, with Hong Jie here, you don't have to be afraid of anything. At worst, we'll just go out less often and cultivate in the room as much as possible."

  Miao Lingdao said: "Isn't that suffocating..."

  Xin Zhaolun said: "Just temper yourself a bit, you're a cultivator, not an ordinary person."

  Miao Ling was at a loss, scolded by her senior brother. She came here because of Master's order, not because of her senior brother's request. Most importantly, it was she who was curious and told Master about it, so she couldn't blame anyone else. With a sad face, she couldn't eat her meal and directly poured a bowl of vegetables to the hammerhead, turned around and went back to her room.

  Hammerhead suddenly got a basin of vegetables, couldn't help but smile and say: "Little miss is very good..."

  The hatchet man glanced sideways at him with his head cocked and continued to stuff a piece of meat into his mouth, saying: "Good stuff!"

  Lei Xingfeng laughed and said: "Hire people to enter the mountain... what are they doing?"

  "Because we didn't go, they didn't tell us..."

  Xin Zhaolun's face flashed a hint of unease, and after a moment, he said: "Take a few days off, we'll also go into the mountains."

  "I'm not going, it's too cold."

  Xin Zhaolun said: "Sister, you don't have to go. Xiaodiya will also stay behind. I'll take Ah Feng with me. Hmm, Hammerhead and Kuang Axe will come together too."

  Hammerhead said: "I have no problem."

  "Kuang Fu Dao: 'As long as you take care of food... I don't have a problem.'"

  Lei Xingfeng left, so Feng Ying and Shi Hu would also go together, making a total of six people. This force was already quite impressive. Miao Ling, who was guarding the house, had no problem with Hong Jie around. After Xin Zhaolun finished arranging everything, he said: "Alright, it's getting dark now, let's all go back and rest after dinner."

  They were very satisfied with the meal and left after finishing, also inviting Lei Xingfeng to visit their home when they had time, as they lived next door.

  Lei Xingfeng also returned to his own room. Fēng Yīng and Shì Hǔ lived on both sides, the two of them followed Lei Xingfeng to his room.

  "Ah Feng, if we're going to follow San Ye, then the two of us will naturally go together. However, this time when we go out, we must be careful. The weather is about to turn extremely bad. Fortunately, our preparations are very thorough, so there shouldn't be any major problems."

  "This place is said to be a sacred training ground, even better than our secret space. Let's try it out tonight, maybe I won't need the imprint ring and can advance to the 9th rank, hehe."

  "Old Tiger, stop dreaming," said the mad eagle, shaking its head. "Without the help of the Seal Ring, we can't possibly advance to the ninth ring. We've already reached our limit. The fact that we've made it this far isn't because of our hard work and dedication, but because we have more Seal Rings than others - the Wheel Seal Ring and most importantly, the Seal Ring itself. By the time we reach the eighth ring, we'll be at the peak... unless we use a large number of Seal Rings to increase our cultivation, which is just too extravagant and impossible."

  ………

  Third update. Please follow my WeChat platform xiaqianguanfang, I will post "Ephemeral 2" on this platform later, asking for votes.