Edward Grant pushed open a door and saw a man lying on the bed humming a tune. When he saw Edward Grant come in, he jumped up as if shocked by electricity. Edward Grant introduced, “This is the new brother, William Thompson. This brother joined a year before you, Ethan Foster. I hope you all get along well from now on.”

He patted William Thompson on the shoulder again. “If you have any difficulties, just come to me!” With that, he left.

Ethan Foster’s round eyes stared at William Thompson in surprise, and the small, red, upturned nose hanging between his eyes seemed even redder, perhaps out of jealousy. He took William Thompson’s luggage with a big smile, glanced inside, and when he saw the rough belongings, his smile faded a little.

“Brother Thompson, are you a relative of Leader Grant?”

“No!” William Thompson replied absentmindedly while making his bed.

A shadow quietly passed over Ethan Foster’s face.

“Then, Brother Thompson, were you introduced by someone in the household? Or recommended by the master’s friend?”

“Neither! Brother Foster, do you have a hammer I could borrow?”

No one answered. William Thompson turned around in surprise and saw Ethan Foster standing against the wall with his arms crossed, his face clouded over, a cold sneer at the corner of his mouth.

“What’s wrong?”

“Get lost! That bed is mine.”

Seeing this man suddenly turn hostile, William Thompson was also a little angry. He clenched his fist tightly and said, “But this spot was assigned to me by Brother Grant.”

“Nonsense! I was here first.”

Ethan Foster strode over and threw William Thompson’s luggage out the door.

William Thompson was furious and punched him hard on the nose. With a miserable scream, Ethan Foster clutched his nose and scrambled out of the room.

※※※

Two months later, the Mongols and the Jin began fighting around Taiyuan Prefecture, and William Thompson also began his first merchant journey, with the destination being Xiangyang Prefecture in the Song Dynasty.

He was responsible for maintaining the vehicles. Over the past two months, he had practiced some riding and archery skills, so he carried a bow on his back. The knife at his waist was given to him by David Clark. It had no sheath, so William Thompson had made a makeshift one himself. Because of this crude sheath, William Thompson had become the butt of everyone’s jokes.

The main gate of The Brooks Estate suddenly opened, and a carriage drawn by four horses rushed out, accompanied by several warriors. It was the master of The Brooks Estate, Charles Brooks. Edward Grant rode at the front. Seeing his men laughing and joking, he shouted angrily, “Line up! Stand properly!”

At this moment, Charles Brooks asked from the carriage, “Who was making a commotion just now?”

Everyone looked at William Thompson. Helpless, William Thompson stepped forward and bowed, saying, “My knife is very crude. Everyone found it novel, so we disturbed the master.”

Edward Grant’s face darkened. “Take him away and give him twenty lashes!”

Two warriors immediately stepped forward to seize William Thompson, but Charles Brooks waved his hand to stop them and asked, “How crude is it? Let me see the knife!”

William Thompson presented the knife to Charles Brooks with both hands. Charles Brooks took the knife, and a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. This was hardly a sheath—just a piece of rough cowhide wrapped around the blade. It was indeed extremely crude. He gently drew the knife, and immediately felt a chilling coldness rush at him. Charles Brooks’s expression changed slightly, and a strange light flashed in his eyes.

“A fine blade!” He twirled the knife, and with two ‘swish! swish!’ sounds, two long slits were cut into the thick cowhide covering the carriage.

“Truly a fine blade!” Charles Brooks couldn’t help but praise again. He saw the words ‘Lintao David Clark’ engraved at the end of the blade and asked with a smile, “If I’m not mistaken, this should be a very rare ‘coiled steel blade,’ able to cut iron as if it were mud. I’ve heard that only a handful of people in the Southern Dynasties can forge such blades. I didn’t expect your master to be able to make one too. Impressive! Have you learned a thing or two?”

William Thompson replied calmly, “Actually, I forged this blade myself.”

Charles Brooks looked at William Thompson in surprise and only then noticed his shabby clothes, his hair tied carelessly with a piece of string, and the cloth shoes on his feet already coming apart at the seams. Standing among the other warriors in their bright armor, he looked very poor. Yet, despite his simple attire, he stood there with dignity, his eyes shining with confidence and determination, exuding a rare aura.

Charles Brooks smiled slightly and returned the knife to him. “A man worthy of his blade! From now on, you’ll be in charge of guarding the money chest. Set out!”

Amid the envious gazes of the others, William Thompson returned to the caravan expressionlessly. The merchant convoy slowly set off, grandly heading east.

Chapter Four: Peril on the Road

From Lintao in the Jin Dynasty to Xiangyang Prefecture in the Song Dynasty was about two thousand li. The caravan would travel for nearly a month, and there would be people meeting them in Dengzhou. To save time, after leaving Tongguan, the caravan didn’t take the official road but instead took a shortcut. On this day, they were still about fifty li from Dengzhou and stopped to rest in a willow grove.

Since William Thompson had been assigned to escort the money and valuables, people in the caravan had become much friendlier to him. Among them, the martial instructor Leader Walker was especially attentive, sometimes teaching him how to use a bow, sometimes giving him tips on riding. But William Thompson felt that his enthusiasm was a bit excessive.