On my first night in the city, just as I had laid down to sleep, someone quietly approached me and handed over two axes. I understood immediately—these were the two axes the blacksmith had forged for me. The man nodded at me and hurriedly left.
I knew this kind of thing couldn't be made public. After all, someone had risked their neck for me, and I couldn't be the one to get them into trouble. I called for my two bodyguards, Dian Wei and Zhang Fei, and gave them the axes. "I designed these personally for you," I told them. "Only my most trusted men get weapons like these; they are the best in the world. I’ve even developed a set of axe techniques tailored just for you." Having watched plenty of movies in my past life, I gestured a few moves for them. The two of them held the axes, clutching them tighter and more excitedly the longer they looked. They seemed quite satisfied. The only problem was that their judgment wasn't the best; to test the sharpness of the blades, one of them actually swung his axe into a pillar. With a sharp "clang," the pillar was severed clean through. I quickly stepped forward and shouted for him to stop.
There were only about a dozen pillars in the entire room. If this guy kept testing like that, I was going to be crushed to death. I looked at Zhang Fei, who looked eager to try it himself, and quickly pleaded with them, "No need to test! No need! The weapons are all the same, look, you definitely can't go wrong." People are just wired differently; a…
Chapter 24