in the edge

Chapter 571 Choose your hero
"So this must have been a dream, right?"

Even when shackles were put around his neck and a basin of cold water was poured on his head, the old blacksmith still thought it was all a dream.

Or rather, all this must be a dream, and can only be a dream.

otherwise……

"I, what have I done?"

The old blacksmith didn't even dare to recall what he had just done.

There were a total of thirty-six bodies lying on the ground. They were from the famous Giant Shark Gang, which had always controlled the brothels in Jiange and forced women of good families into prostitution. The old blacksmith had never dared to even confront such a powerful local figure, let alone the Giant Shark Gang. Even a small thug who had not joined the Giant Shark Gang would be enough to make him anxious.

In other words, with his humble status, he is not even qualified to know the Giant Shark Gang.

In fact, until just now, the old blacksmith did not recognize the leaders of the Giant Shark Gang. At that time, he was still immersed in the excitement of being able to stand alone against the enemy. In the past, the old blacksmith had been curious about what was going on with those so-called evil-minded people. They had no backbone at all. Why would they kill people with a knife?
But only after experiencing it personally did he realize what this kind of thing really meant.

Facing so many strong men on one's own and sweeping away everything in front of you with a three-foot sword, this feeling is really too refreshing!

With a sword in hand, nothing can stop him! Nothing can stop him!

It was with this thought in mind that he swung his sword more and more skillfully at that time. After all, this should be a dream. In reality, when facing these strong men, he might still need to be submissive, but in the dream, he could do whatever he wanted and kill everyone!

"kill!"

After beheading those vicious men wielding knives and swords, the old blacksmith still felt unsatisfied. Coincidentally, a group of officers came towards him with ropes and chains from more than ten steps away.

"Well done!"

Just when the old blacksmith felt that he had not killed enough, a new opponent appeared. Isn't this just delivering food to him?

His sword is not at all bad!
So the old blacksmith took two steps at a time, raised his sword, and was about to stab the yamen runner who was closest to him through.

But at this moment, the invincible sword stopped by itself.

The sword stopped in mid-air, and the old blacksmith was startled. Facing the blood-stained sword, the bailiffs were also startled - however, the old blacksmith and the bailiffs stopped, but the noose and chain thrown in the air would not stop.

So the old blacksmith was tied up tightly at once, and then he was hit with several water and fire sticks one after another.

The big stick hit his body and it was so painful that the old blacksmith even felt that several of his bones might have been broken.

It was at this time that the old blacksmith found out.

This is not a dream.

Everything is true.

He really rushed into the Giant Shark Gang's territory for no apparent reason, picked up his sword for no apparent reason, and killed everyone in the Giant Shark Gang for no apparent reason, and even almost killed the officials and runners who came to inquire about the situation.

"What have I done?"

The old blacksmith's head was still a little dizzy. Everything was too bizarre. From childhood to adulthood, he had never seen such a thing, let alone even heard of it.

However, although he was confused, the officers were not. In order to prevent the old blacksmith from attacking and hurting people again, the officers first took the sword from the old blacksmith's hand, and then put a heavy shackle around the old blacksmith's neck, completely restricting the old blacksmith's ability to resist.

Only after they were sure that the old blacksmith was unable to move did the officers bring a bucket of cold water and pour it on the old blacksmith's head.

"Are you awake?"

The leading officer came over and stretched out his hand to pull at the old blacksmith's eyelids.

"I'm asking you something!"

"..."

The old blacksmith said nothing.

Or perhaps, at this moment, he has already lost the ability to organize language.

This must be a dream, it must be a dream.

Otherwise, how could he end up in such a situation?

But the facts proved that his fate would only get worse. Before the old blacksmith could say anything, the leading yamen runner waved his hand and immediately he was thrown into jail by the officers.

The iron doors, iron windows, and iron chains blocked all possibilities of his escape. Perhaps to prevent him from escaping, or perhaps they simply forgot, the officers didn't even give him a steamed bun, leaving him hungry for two days and two nights.

The old blacksmith was already very old, and how could he bear such a situation? Moreover, he was frightened by the sudden situation, and soon became extremely weak.

The dungeon was cold and damp at night, and there was no bedding in the cell. The old blacksmith could only pick up the straw in the corner to comfort himself, which was considered a little bedding.

"I knew it earlier, I knew it earlier..."

Looking at the moon outside the iron window, the old blacksmith couldn't help but sigh.

If he had known that he would end up in such a situation, he would never have tried to be a hero even in his dreams!
What about one man standing alone against the pass, what about killing people with a sword? Those are all things told to young people. At his age, he should have known that this is never a good way - there is always someone stronger than you. Today he can kill seven or eight people with a sword, but who knows if he will be killed by a more powerful master with a sword tomorrow?

"Kill him..."

Thinking of this, the old blacksmith became more and more frightened.

It was obvious that he was about to be slaughtered. How could he possibly survive with thirty-six lives on his shoulders?
This made the old blacksmith hold the straw in his arms tighter. At this moment, only this false sense of security could make him feel at ease.

But during this hug, the old blacksmith suddenly felt that something was not right.

There was a hard object in the straw that even hurt his bones.

"This……"

Feeling the shape of the hard object, the old blacksmith suddenly broke out in a sweat.

This is a sword, a sword he is very familiar with.

It was the Yin-Yang sword that he forged with his own hands. He had used this sword to kill someone a few days ago.

"Yo!"

The frightened old blacksmith almost threw the sword away.

That was indeed a shock. After all, he had seen with his own eyes that the sword was confiscated by the police and constables. Then the police took the sword to the warehouse as evidence of the murder weapon. The most important thing was that he had been sleeping in this ball of straw for two days, and there was no sign of a sword inside it.

But now, the sword that shouldn't appear appeared in the place where it shouldn't appear.

"Grandpa!"

The old blacksmith respectfully placed the sword wrapped in straw in the corner and kowtowed quickly.

"Please put away your magical powers! I really can't stand your torture! Please be magnanimous and just let me go. I haven't committed any crime, nor have I killed anyone or set fire to anything. Why are you picking on me..."

Is it true that he has not committed any crime?
It was at this moment that another thought inexplicably arose in the old blacksmith's mind.

It should be...no, right?

Probably not. At least in the old blacksmith's own impression, the most outrageous thing he had done was just selling some defective products to make some dirty money. As for murder and arson... well, it's not like he had never thought about it. After all, who wouldn't be jealous when seeing those evil masters killing people and making a lot of money?

But the problem is, if he has the heart, he must also have the courage.

If he was really so cruel and merciless, and took no human life, why would he stay in a small blacksmith shop and live a life where he might not open for business for ten days or half a month? "Grandpa! Please forgive me!"

Thinking of this, the old blacksmith hurriedly kowtowed to the sword wrapped in straw.

He didn't know what sin he had committed to be entangled with this sword. Although it was true that he had made the sword, it shouldn't have been in such a state, right? Could it be that the strange iron material was really strange? If he touched it, his family would be destroyed?

"I just want to live, I just want to live my own life. I am already this old, I am really not worthy of you, please be kind and give me a way to live..."

His head hit the ground, and there was blood all over it. Coupled with the injuries from the previous beating by the water and fire stick, the old blacksmith felt pain all over his body.

But it was this pain that made the old blacksmith sober up a little.

"... Wait a minute?"

Looking at the sword wrapped in straw and then at the iron bars of the cell, the old blacksmith was stunned.

If he remembered correctly, the sword he forged was one that could cut through iron like mud, and he had even tested it before. Facing the steel knives of the Giant Shark Gang, he could break five of them with just one strike of his sword.

Five knives. That's five knives.

No matter how strong this iron railing is, can it be as strong as those five steel knives stacked together?

"My dear! You really saved my life!"

Thinking of this, the old blacksmith couldn't help but be overjoyed.

It turned out that he had been wrong from the very beginning. This sword was not here to kill people, it was clearly here to save lives!

"Okay! Hahaha! Great! It's worth it that I created you!"

Seeing that there was hope of escaping the predicament, the old blacksmith immediately became delighted.

Seeing that it was the middle of the night and there was no one guarding the prison, the old blacksmith reached out and pulled out the sword hidden in the straw. He first used two swords to cut off the shackles on his hands and feet, and then used another sword to split open the prison door.

Just look at the shining sword blade, there is no damage at all!

"What a sword! What a sword!"

The old blacksmith pushed open the prison door and was overjoyed.

But just when he was about to escape, the old blacksmith suddenly heard the sound of footsteps.

"Yo!"

The frightened old blacksmith quickly retreated back into his cell.

It turns out that although there is no one left to watch over the prison, there are still officers patrolling back and forth at night. The two officers coming from afar with water and fire sticks are doing the night shift.

Looking at the thick and sturdy water and fire stick, the old blacksmith couldn't help but shrink his neck.

It’s no wonder that the old blacksmith was afraid, because these two officers were someone he couldn’t deal with even with his sword.

This is strange. The sword was clearly invincible when dealing with the Giant Shark Gang members before, but when it was swung towards the police officers, it stopped by itself - God knows why the sword went wrong at the critical moment. Could it be that the sword really has a problem of not being able to deal with the police officers?
In short, wait for the two officers to leave, and then find a chance to escape.

The old blacksmith thought so.

However, at this moment, the sound of conversation came from a distance.

"I think we should kill this old man quickly, otherwise there will be more trouble if something happens..."

"How to kill him? Tell me how to kill him?"

Another voice followed.

"You know what this old man did. The leaders of the Giant Shark Gang are all sworn brothers of Captain Zhang. The brothel business has benefited several big families in the county, and even the county magistrate has received benefits... You open your mouth and want to kill him. After that, they will use you to take the blame?"

"This……"

"What's this? If this old man dies in prison and hands over a dried corpse, do you think the big families will believe it? Will the county magistrate believe it? Do you think everyone will believe that this old man committed a crime, or that Captain Zhang wants to swallow up the brothers' property?"

"That is to say..."

"This old man must die, but his death must be justified and with evidence... Wait a few days until the county elders have settled the matter, and we, Zhang Tou, will pull ourselves out of it. That's when the old man should die."

"So that's how it is. I thought less."

"Use your brain more. Don't just collect money all day long. At least learn to look up at the sky..."

The two officers walked towards the cell while chatting.

But the content of this conversation made the old blacksmith feel a chill in his heart.

Goodness, he knew that if he messed with the Giant Shark Gang, there would be no end to the trouble. It turned out that there was such a collusion of interests among them. He had originally thought that if he broke up the Giant Shark Gang, would it be considered as getting rid of harm to the people. What if the county magistrate showed mercy and let him go?

But now it seems that this idea is still a little too dreamy. The Giant Shark Gang can occupy a certain position in Jiange Town because it turns out that there is such a backer behind it.

These yamen runners, the captain of police who arrested him, and the county magistrate... have been in cahoots with the Giant Shark Gang from the very beginning!

How could he afford to offend such a huge monster?
"We have to run quickly!"

Seeing that the two yamen runners didn't notice the movement of the prison door and were walking further and further away, the old blacksmith hurriedly pushed open the prison door and was about to leave.

But at this moment, his hand touched the hilt of the sword unconsciously.

The sword was unsheathed, and the frosty blade glowed faintly under the moonlight.

The sword was shining, but the old blacksmith was sweating.

It was because he couldn't let go of the hilt of the sword.

The sword that he should have thrown into prison now seemed to have taken root in his hand and could not be shaken off no matter how hard he tried - not only that, the sword even carried his body forward!
The old blacksmith didn't stop until the sword blade pierced into the vest of a yamen runner.

"You, you won't kill the constable, right?"

The old blacksmith was horrified; he had never expected such a thing to happen.

But even as he was speaking, the sword slashed out again.

Another yamen runner's head also rolled to the ground, making a mess.

Two bodies fell to the ground, and the pungent smell of blood made the old blacksmith dizzy.

"Grandpa! What are you doing?!"

The old blacksmith immediately knelt down again and kowtowed repeatedly to the sword in his right hand that he could not let go of.

"Please stop bullying me! What on earth do you want to do? Just give me an answer!"

I don't need you for anything.

An idea suddenly emerged in the old blacksmith's mind.

I just want you to be a hero.

(End of this chapter)