Chapter 40 — Greed

"Draw your blades," Teng Yuening ordered, and one by one the clansmen untied the cloth sacks from their backs and drew bundles of Bihan Blades from the beast hides wrapping them.

Bundle after bundle of Bihan Blades struck the ground with a low, heavy thud. The cavalry captain sat in his chair and cast a lofty glance at the blades on the floor. "Old Zhang, examine every one of these Bihan Blades thoroughly. We can't have these mountaineers passing off shoddy goods."

"Yes, sir." A tall, broad-shouldered middle-aged man strode forward, beckoning to the others. "Come over here, all of you. Look each blade over carefully."

The cords were cut, and the Bihan Blades clattered and spilled across the ground.

One guard after another took up the blades and studied them closely. Each Bihan Blade gave off a faint green gleam through its whole body, and grasping the hilt sent waves of chill into the hand; the edge was keen. A fine blade, beyond any doubt.

"Sir." Old Zhang tossed one Bihan Blade to the cavalry captain.

The captain caught it and examined it for a moment, then nodded slightly. "Looks passable enough. Whether it holds up in use, though, I couldn't say."

"Rest assured, gentlemen." Teng Yuening smiled with confidence. "Every one of these Bihan Blades was inspected before we brought them here. In all the blades Teng Rongjun has sold, there has never been a single inferior one."

"Hmph. We'll know once we've tested them." The cavalry captain glanced at Old Zhang, who understood at once.

"Bring the timber," the guard called Old Zhang said in a ringing voice.

Great bundles of firewood were carried over and then flung straight down, scattering across the ground.

"Have every man chop wood with a Bihan Blade. Let's see what they can do," Old Zhang said.

The guards set to hewing the timber freely with the Bihan Blades, and each log split cleanly at a stroke. Not one blade turned its edge. Watching this, Teng Yuening sneered inwardly. The art of the Bihan Blade had been hammered out by generations of Teng Rongjun's forebears over a thousand years. How could it be anything but superior?

"Hm." The cavalry captain suddenly rose, took a Bihan Blade from one of the guards, and ran his right hand lightly along the edge. At once his face darkened.

Every man of Teng Rongjun felt his heart lurch.

"What's this? How is this blade's edge turned?" the cavalry captain roared in fury, and flung the Bihan Blade violently to the ground. It struck with a clang right before Teng Xuanji and the others.

"How could that be?" Teng Yuening snatched it up.

The clansmen crowding around looked: it was true. The edge of that Bihan Blade was turned.

Teng Yuening's face changed drastically.

By the written agreement they had signed, once a problem of quality arose, the trouble would be enormous.

"Impossible. Absolutely impossible." Teng Yuening shook his head, his face frantic. "I inspected every single one. How could this happen?"

"Impossible, is it?" The captain smiled coldly.

"Sir—" Teng Xuanji's voice rang out abruptly, loud and clear, loud enough to carry several hundred paces. The cavalry captain's expression shifted, and he snapped, "Boy, keep your voice down! If you disturb the great lord resting up ahead, every one of you will find yourselves in a jail cell."

Teng Xuanji was not yet ten; by the look of him, he was only a boy.

"Sir, do you know internal force—the legendary internal force?" Teng Xuanji gazed at the captain with a look of envy and excitement.

The captain was taken aback.

"Just now I saw it—the moment your hand touched that Bihan Blade, that keen edge—" Before Teng Xuanji could finish, the captain's face changed, and he barked in a fury of alarm, "Boy, shut your mouth!"

Teng Xuanji wore an innocent look, but inwardly he was sneering. Others had not seen it, but Teng Xuanji's six senses were keen, and he had clearly marked just now that the Bihan Blade, whole and sound before, had turned its edge the instant the captain stroked it. In truth, Teng Xuanji could have done the same himself.

Apply internal force to the flat of the blade from the side, and of course the edge would turn.

Teng Xuanji could see plainly that the captain meant to wriggle openly out of paying and pin the blame on them instead.

"What is going on here?" A voice sounded, and a party came out from within the mansion. At their head was a man in a black fur robe, fair of face and clean-featured, plainly a man who had known comfort and privilege all his life. Beside him, dressed mischievously in a white sable coat with two braids, was a cute young girl. Behind them came two servants and two personal guards.

"My lord," the whole gathering in the rear courtyard said at once, bowing.

"Oh, the Bihan Blades have arrived. Since they're here, pay them quickly and send them on their way. What is all this racket?" the middle-aged man said with a slight frown.

"Yes, my lord," the captain said.

"Hey, Qin San, what were you all arguing about just now?" The mischievous girl blinked her big eyes and asked in puzzlement, then looked with curiosity at the Teng clanfolk in their beast hides.

The cavalry captain bowed hastily. "Miss, it's like this. We ordered goods from them, and now they've delivered. Just now, while we were inspecting, it turned out that one of the Bihan Blades was of very ordinary quality—it couldn't even chop firewood without turning its edge." The cute girl looked at Teng Yuening and the others, frowned, and said with a huff, "A hundred and fifty taels for one Bihan Blade, and at that price it can't even split firewood without turning? How could anyone want a weapon like that?"

Teng Xuanji, Teng Yuening, and the rest all felt a shock at heart.

A hundred and fifty taels apiece?

But the cavalry captain had placed the order at only a hundred taels each, and now it seemed he did not even intend to pay the balance.

"Qin San, how are the other Bihan Blades?" the fair-faced middle-aged man asked indifferently.

"The other Bihan Blades are fine," the captain said quickly. "Though we haven't looked them over closely yet."

"Qin Da, go and have a look," the middle-aged man said.

Of the two personal guards behind him, one went straight to the Bihan Blades, throwing the cavalry captain a glare as he passed. He picked up a blade, gave it a few casual swings, and turned back. "My lord, these Bihan Blades are very fine. For ordinary guards' use, they are more than sufficient."

"Good, then. Qin San, pay the silver and send them on their way quickly. All this clamor—what a spectacle." The middle-aged man spoke indifferently, then turned to his daughter. "Yu'er, come along. We still have to call on your Uncle Liu today, and it won't do to be late."

"Yes, Father."

The cute girl gave Teng Xuanji and the others a few curious glances, then left with the middle-aged man.

The guard called Qin Da walked up to the cavalry captain and lowered his voice. "Third Brother, don't be greedy for every bit of silver. These people don't earn their money easily. If this blows up and the lord gets angry, don't blame your elder brother for not helping you." With that, Qin Da followed the lord away.

"Not a shred of face for me," the cavalry captain muttered hatefully once the party had gone. "And him, my so-called senior brother! Damn him, always looking down on me. Wait till I've trained to the sixth layer—then I won't have to watch his moods anymore."

Then he cast a cold glance at Teng Yuening and the others.

"You mountaineers, one of these Bihan Blades came with its edge turned. But I can't be bothered to quibble with you. Old Zhang, give them ten thousand taels in silver notes and tell them to get lost," the cavalry captain ordered.

Teng Xuanji frowned at once.

Ten thousand taels?