The Fifty-Three Masters of Ink have refined their craft, Ou Zixu restored the fish intestines.

  Lü Bu put his sword back in its place and said to the blacksmith, "It seems that your craftsmanship is extraordinary. I wonder if you can repair my sword?"

  The blacksmith smiled and said, "I won't hide it from you, sir. I've been forging iron for thirty years, and I've never seen a weapon that I couldn't repair. What treasure do you have, sir? Please take it out and let me see."

  Lü Bu smiled and took off his sword from his waist, handing it to Ou Xingzi, saying: "Don't talk nonsense for now, do you recognize this sword?"

  Ou Zhi's son took over the sword, rubbed it with both hands, and frowned more and more as he looked at it. He muttered to himself: "Fish intestine! I didn't think that in this life, I, Ou Zhi's son, would be able to see the Fish Intestine Sword."

  Lü Bu obtained the Fish Intestine, but it had been knocked against by Guan Yu's Green Dragon Crescent Blade twice and was slightly bent. When he was in the north, Lü Bu had looked for a blacksmith from the military supplies department to repair the Fish Intestine, but unfortunately, not a single blacksmith in the entire northern region had the ability to do so. Now that Lü Bu saw Ou Xingzi recognize the Fish Intestine, he hastily asked him to repair it. He laughed and said: "So the craftsman recognizes this sword, I wonder if the craftsman can restore this sword?"

  Ou Yezi returned the fish intestine to Lü Bu and said: "The noble guest has come at an opportune time. It is said that this sword was forged by my Ou ancestors, made with multiple folds and tempering, not comparable to ordinary gold and water. My family indeed has ancestral craftsmanship for forging swords. However, it's been a long time since the last repair, I don't know if it can be restored again. But if the noble guest trusts me, Ou Yezi, I am willing to risk my life to restore this sword."

  Lü Bu smiled and said: "This sword is good, but it's not worth taking a life to repair. How could the craftsman say such a thing?"

  "May I ask your honorable name?"

  Lü Bu smiled and said: "I am Lü Bu, the Northern Frontier Protector and Colonel of the Imperial Guard."

  Ou Zizhen was taken aback, and immediately became stupid. After regaining consciousness, he hurriedly walked over to the counter and came to Lü Bu's face, knocking his head and saying: "The humble citizen did not know that the lord had arrived, and there were many places where he lost his manners. I hope the lord will forgive me."

  Lü Bu smiled and said: "Get up. I came here today only to repair the fish intestine."

  "Since it's Lord Lü's sword, I should risk my life to repair your precious sword."

  Lü Bu knew that Ou Yezi was a good craftsman, and it's not easy to meet a good craftsman now. He even wanted to invite him to the military supplies department to be an official craftsman. But he didn't want to lose his life over a sword, so he said: "Master Ou can repair it if possible, and there's no need to blame yourself too much if you can't. I know that repairing this sword is quite difficult, so I won't make things difficult for Master Ou."

  "Sir, you are unaware. Although I am a craftsman, we craftsmen also have our own ambitions. Let's not mention whether this sword is related to my ancestors or not. Even if it's not related, restoring the Fish Intestine Sword is a major wish for a blacksmith in his lifetime. I hope Lord Lü trusts me, even if I lose my life, I will still restore your Fish Intestine Sword."

  Lü Bu was moved by this and thought that Ou Xing's professional ethics were indeed noble. So he handed the fish intestines back to Ou Xing, saying: "In that case, Master Ou can take it back and repair it."

  Ou Zizhong handed over the fish intestines and first thanked Lv Bu. Then he turned around and said to a little boy behind him, "Ding Er, close the door and stop business."

  Lü Bu was puzzled and asked: "Now is a good time, why does Master Ou want to stop?"

  "Ha ha, repairing the fish intestines is not a one-man job for a day. I should mobilize the whole family to do it, and outsiders can't disturb us. So we need to close the business for a few days."

  Lü Bu said: "Oh. Must it be so troublesome? When can the fish intestine be repaired?"

  "Half a month," said Ou Zhi with a wave of his hand. "In half a month's time, I will naturally return the fish intestines to you, sir."

  Lü Bu nodded and said: "So be it. I won't disturb Master Ou either. Farewell."

  Ou Zizhong bowed and said: "Today, many of our envoys have been discourteous. Tomorrow, I will certainly go to the lord's mansion to apologize."

  Lü Bu didn't say much more and took Zhang Liao back with him.

  Ou Zizhong spent nine days and nine nights to repair the curved part of the fish intestine, and brought gifts to see Lü Bu at the county government office. Lü Bu was overjoyed to see that the fish intestine had been restored to its original state. He generously rewarded Ou Zizhong with 100 pieces of gold.

  Ou Zizhong politely declined, saying: "Being able to see the Fish Intestine Sword is already a blessing from my ancestors. Being entrusted by Your Excellency to repair it is a great fortune for me in this life and the next two lives. Now that I have fulfilled my wish, I thank you, sir, but I don't dare accept your generous reward."

  Lü Bu handed over the hundred pieces of gold to Ou Xingzi and said, "My Lü Bu's military law is strict and clear-cut in rewards and punishments. Now that Ou Xingzi has made a contribution, if I don't reward him, it would ruin my army's rules. You should take charge of receiving them."

  Lü Bu heard that and had no choice but to accept. Lü Bu saw that Ou Xingzi was indeed skilled in craftsmanship, thinking that if he could repair the Fish Intestine, then he could also ask him to repair his Guī Jiǎo (Ghost Halberd). He chopped off two small pieces from the blade of the Ghost Halberd, creating two slight notches at the edge. Then he said: "To be honest with you, I obtained the Fish Intestine by taking it from an assassin's hand. The curved part of the sword was caused by me chopping the assassin when he used his sword to block my attack. Now that I see that Ou Xingzi can repair the Fish Intestine, I think he should also be able to repair another one of my treasured weapons."

  Ou Zizhong exclaimed in surprise: "The fish intestine is made of alloy, and the adults can actually cut it off. It's really a divine weapon. I really want to see the adult's treasure that can cut off the fish intestine."

  Lü Bu said to his guard Zhang Liao: "Wen Yuan, bring me my halberd."

  Zhang Liao went to the back room and brought out Lü Bu's ghost halberd. Ou Xingzi took over Zhang Liao's hand, turned over the Ghost Halberd, and suddenly felt a burst of evil energy coming from his hands, and his whole body was covered in goosebumps.

  "Alas... this commoner is powerless."

  Lü Bu's heart sank upon hearing this, and he coldly said: "My Ghost Halberd beheaded the Fish Intestine, yet the Fish Intestine merely bent. My Ghost Halberd, however, left a gaping hole. It is clear that the Golden Water is far superior to my Ghost Halberd. How could Ou Xing say it was beyond his power? Could it be that Ou Xing is hiding something? Does he not want to repair my Ghost Halberd?"

  "Sir, you are unaware that if we compare the quality of gold and water, the fish intestine sword is indeed superior to the ghost halberd by a layer. However, this halberd's metal is slightly inferior to the fish intestine sword. But what makes it extraordinary is that countless lives have been lost under its blade. The difficulty in forging lies not in the metal itself, but in the fact that this halberd is filled with an aura of slaughter, making it impossible for ordinary people to forge.

  The ancestral craftsmanship of our family has five stages: selecting gold, creating a design template, determining the amount of gold, creating a model, and quenching and forging. Selecting gold is the foundation of crafting, and combining metals is the most crucial step. The design template determines the shape of the weapon, including its length and balance.

  The amount of gold used affects the weight of the weapon, which in turn affects how well it suits the user's hand. Creating a model involves combining the design template with the amount of gold to create a prototype, which is then forged into shape. Quenching is the most critical step in forging, as the temperature and timing of the water determine the hardness and toughness of the metal.

  According to the natural order, hardness implies rigidity, while softness implies flexibility. However, excessive hardness leads to brittleness, while excessive softness leads to weakness. A skilled craftsman must balance these opposing forces to create a superior weapon.

  If one masters these five stages, the resulting weapon will be a treasured artifact among men. But even such an artifact is still an ordinary object compared to the extraordinary weapon you wield, sir. This halberd was originally a treasured artifact but has since been tempered with blood and flesh, elevating it to the realm of divine artifacts.

  Therefore, I, Ou Zhi, can only admit my inability to forge something that surpasses this halberd."

  Lü Bu thought to himself: What Ou Xingzi said is not false, thousands of people have indeed died on this ghost halberd. This ghost halberd has really become a ghost halberd, it seems that repairing the ghost halberd will be difficult. He then sighed and said: "It seems that restoring this halberd is already impossible?"

  Ou Zizidao said: "In the opinion of a humble subject, if you want to repair this halberd, it is not possible without Mozi's great technique, and the punishment will be unbearable."

  Lü Bu almost kicked Ou Xingzi to death, and was furious: "Damn it, someone can repair it but didn't say so earlier. Now you're saying someone can repair it?" However, he really wanted to see who could repair the Ghost Halberd, and hastily asked: "Oh? Mozi's disciple Mo Xing. Where is this person?"

  "Uh... this humble subject doesn't know, but a few years ago I heard someone mention that they saw him in Luoyang. However, now I don't know where he is."

  Lü Bu almost choked with rage, but didn't know what to say. However, when Ou Xingzi mentioned the Mohist successor, he remembered the tattoo on Ou Xingzi's back and said: "Speaking of the Mohists, I suppose you're also a member of the Mohist school?"

  Ou Zizi suddenly realized his mistake and hastily covered it up, saying: "Hehe. What do you mean by 'Mojia Zhongren'? I'm just an ordinary person. I don't understand what you're saying."