Chapter 83: The Grand Craftsman’s Secret

Zhu Chuanfeng and the middle-aged man, who seemed to be his younger brother, whispered for another fifteen minutes before the middle-aged man got up and left.

Zhu Chuanfeng wrote something for a while before going to bed.

After a long while, some noises came from a corner of the courtyard.

Zhou Shu was getting restless.

Zhu Chuanfeng was just a few dozen feet away from him. At this distance, he was completely confident that he could kill Zhu Chuanfeng before reinforcements arrived.

The problem was, how was he going to get away after killing him?

Grand Craftsmen were the treasures of Great Xia. If someone dared to kill one, Great Xia would definitely not let this matter rest.

‘Pursuit to death’ was definitely not just empty words.

Furthermore, the Zhu Estate truly had several experts.

If Zhou Shu really killed Zhu Chuanfeng, he might not be able to escape unscathed.

Zhou Shu would never sacrifice his life for this old thief.

What did Zhu Chuanfeng and his brother mean earlier? Zhou Shu frowned slightly.

He didn’t know Zhu Chuanfeng’s younger brother’s name. He hadn’t even heard that Zhu Chuanfeng had a younger brother.

Of course, he had never paid much attention to such matters.

He had eavesdropped for half the night. He seemed to have heard a lot of things but also seemed to have heard nothing.

Zhu Chuanfeng’s conversation with his brother was completely random, and it was difficult for him to make sense of it.

The only thing that Zhou Shu could confirm was that Zhu Chuanfeng was really hiding something!

And once this secret was exposed, he and his brother would be in danger!

It sounded like his brother wanted to stop, but Zhu Chuanfeng objected.

Stop?

Are they doing something bad?

If I can find out what evil deeds they’d done, could I use the Imperial Court to get rid of them?

Zhou Shu’s eyes gradually lit up.

Although he had said that he was going to overturn Zhu Chuanfeng, it was mostly words of anger. He had no idea what to do.

Even though he was already a workshop superintendent, the difference between a workshop superintendent and a Grand Craftsman was like the difference between an ordinary university lecturer and an academician of the Academy of Sciences in his previous life.

Now, he seemed to have seen a glimmer of hope!

He was afraid that Zhu Chuanfeng wouldn’t have any flaws. In that case, as a workshop superintendent, he really wouldn’t be able to do anything to a Grand Craftsman.

But since he was hiding something, then he was asking for it!

Just now, the old thief’s younger brother mentioned something about bringing back a weapon. Zhu Chuanfeng is a Grand Craftsman, so why would he need to bring a weapon back from outside? The old thief even specially asked about it. Is there something wrong with this weapon?

Zhou Shu quickly thought. The weapon has been stored in the storeroom. Where is the storeroom?

Zhou Shu placed himself in Zhu Chuanfeng’s shoes. If it were him, according to the habits of a forger, where would he have designed the storeroom?

Zhou Shu had studied architecture in his previous life, so he had some experience in designing buildings.

In addition, he had spent his entire life forging. To a certain extent, he could understand Zhu Chuanfeng’s thoughts.

A three-dimensional image gradually appeared in his mind. Zhou Shu felt that he really did have some talent as a great thief.

Soon, he thought of a few places that might be storerooms.

The Grand Craftsman’s storeroom should be the most important place in the Zhu Estate apart from the old thief’s bedroom.

That place must be heavily guarded!

The person the old thief trusts the most should be his younger brother. In addition, his brother isn’t weak. It’s very possible that his brother personally guards this storeroom.

Zhou Shu gradually had an idea. In that case, the place where I can sense the aura of that middle-aged man could be Zhu Chuanfeng’s storeroom!

Thinking of this, Zhou Shu didn’t delay any further. He silently began to move.

After eavesdropping for half the night, it was almost dawn. He had to make haste.

After a few days of scouting the Zhu Estate, Zhou Shu was now extremely familiar with its layout.

Most importantly, his cultivation was high enough, and there were no experts above the Grandmaster level in the Zhu Estate.

He moved cautiously and entered the Zhu Estate without any obstacles.

A moment later, Zhou Shu once again sensed the middle-aged man’s aura.

Zhou Shu suspected Zhu Chuanfeng’s younger brother to be between the fourth and fifth ranks. His senses were extremely sharp, and he had almost discovered Zhou Shu’s existence in Zhu Chuanfeng’s bedroom previously.

After Zhou Shu sensed his aura, he didn’t approach rashly. Instead, he visualized the Five Mountain’s True Form until his entire body seemed to have turned into a rock. Only then did he carefully approach.

Zhu Chuanfeng’s younger brother lived alone in a small courtyard, without a single servant around.

When Zhou Shu snuck into the courtyard, Zhu Chuanfeng’s brother was sitting cross-legged on the bed, cultivating.

Zhou Shu had just hidden himself when he opened his eyes doubtfully. After looking around, he closed his eyes again.

But the doubtful look on his face only disappeared after a long while.

Zhou Shu silently let out a sigh of relief. As expected, he couldn’t underestimate anyone in the world. Zhu Chuanfeng’s brother’s spiritual sense was quite sharp. He had already been so careful, but his brother was still able to sense him.

Thankfully my skills are better. Even if he has some doubts, he still can’t find any traces of me!

He swept his gaze around and confirmed that this was the place he was looking for!

Next to the room where the middle-aged man was sitting cross-legged were rows of wooden shelves. On the wooden shelves were various wooden boxes of different lengths.

Fortunately, it’s not a secret chamber. Otherwise, it would have been troublesome! Zhou Shu thought.

He waited for a moment, and when he saw that Zhu Chuanfeng’s brother’s expression had relaxed, he slowly moved to the room next door.

The room was huge, and there were more than ten rows of wooden shelves. There were also countless wooden boxes placed on it.

Which one is the one they mentioned earlier?

Zhou Shu felt a headache coming on.

There were probably more than a hundred of these wooden boxes. If he opened them one by one to check, how long would it take?

This old thief sure has a lot of assets.

Zhou Shu cursed. Zhu Chuanfeng had only been a Grand Craftsman for around twenty years, but he had actually managed to accumulate over a hundred ranked weapons. If news of this spread, it might terrify some people.

Forging ranked weapons wasn’t as simple as standard weapons.

Generally speaking, it would take at least a few months, or even several years, to forge a ranked weapon.

For many Forging Masters, they would only be able to forge dozens of ranked weapons in their lifetime. This was considered a high yield.

Even a Grand Craftsman might not be able to forge many quality weapons in their lifetime.

Becoming a Grand Craftsman was not based on the quantity of forged weapons but the quality!

A Grand Craftsman was a forger who could forge earth-grade or even heaven-grade weapons.

These hundreds of ranked weapons, even if they are all of the lowest yellow-grade, are still invaluable, Zhou Shu thought.

Unfortunately, he did not have the ability to take all these weapons away.

Otherwise, he would be able to lead an easy life for the rest of his life.

How did the old thief collect so many weapons? Zhou Shu was puzzled.

Generally speaking, weapons forged by forgers would be sold. Otherwise, the weapons were usually custom-made for others.

The cost of forging a ranked weapon was very high. Who would forge so many ranked weapons for fun?

Confused, Zhou Shu carefully walked to a row of wooden shelves and casually opened one of the wooden boxes.

Cold air permeated through his body as a murderous aura assaulted his face.

Inside the wooden box was a long saber!

Zhu Chuanfeng was famous for forging sabers, which was somewhat similar to Zhou Shu. In the eyes of outsiders, Zhou Shu was also skilled in forging standard sabers.

Is this a ranked weapon?

Zhou Shu examined the long saber in the wooden box. He could even hear the blade let out a happy cry.

Sure enough, ranked weapons were very different from standard weapons.

Each of these weapons seemed to have a spirit of its own. They were all unique existences!

No wonder it was said that it would take at least a few months for a Forging Master to forge a ranked weapon.

There’s nothing unusual about this. Zhou Shu observed the saber for a while. It was exquisitely forged, but there was nothing unusual about it.

He closed the wooden box and randomly chose another wooden box to open.

He repeated this many times.

Zhou Shu saw several ranked long sabers of various qualities.

After he saw many ranked sabers, his doubts grew even stronger.

There was nothing remarkable about these sabers.

They were just ‘ordinary’ ranked long sabers. If he had to describe them, then their quality should be decent.

It was as expected of a Grand Craftsman.

Putting aside Zhu Chuanfeng’s character, as a Grand Craftsman, his skills were quite impressive.

This was very normal. After all, one’s forging techniques was unrelated to one’s character.

Couldn’t bad people be Grand Craftsmen?

It doesn’t make any sense, Zhou Shu thought. If there’s nothing wrong with the weapons, Zhu Chuanfeng wouldn’t have deliberately emphasized it to his brother.

Did I miss something?

Zhou Shu frowned while pondering. It was going to be daybreak soon. After daybreak, the monthly examination for the Forging Division’s workshops would begin.

If he couldn’t catch Zhu Chuanfeng’s weakness, he would have endless trouble even if he passed this monthly examination!

Thinking of this, Zhou Shu couldn’t help feeling a bit anxious.

No, this storeroom is too obvious. Truly important items wouldn’t be placed here. If I were Zhu Chuanfeng, I’d definitely hide something that involves my life in the safest place.

I would either carry it with me or give it to someone I trust to safeguard it!

The old thief is a Grand Craftsman and often shows himself in public. The person he trusts the most should be his brother, who is next door!

Other than the storeroom on the surface, there might be a hidden storeroom.. The old thief’s brother said that the weapon was stored in the storeroom, so he must be able to enter and exit freely! Could this secret storeroom be in his room?