Chapter 8: A Letter Home

He turned around and kicked the heavy wooden door of the tavern shut with a loud bang. The blacksmith roared towards the wine cabinet: "Ladies, are you deaf? Good wine, bring me good wine! On such a cold day, with guests arriving, especially since I am an old friend of your boss, can't you at least serve me a drink?"

"Young master, it is wonderful to have you here!" The hammer heavily wiped his nose and turned to roar at the wine cabinet: "Ladies, get me a good drink! I warn you, if anyone dares to let a single drop of water fall into the wine, I will surely smash every bone in her body!"

Swallowing a mouthful of saliva, the hammer turned his head and shouted at the maids: "Where is the cripple? As long as he is not dead, tell him to come out and greet an old friend! Ah, it has been three years since I last saw him, I really do miss that old scoundrel! Hahaha, hasn't he been beaten into a cripple?"

The cripple sighed in agreement and hurriedly called for the maid to bring wine and meat

With the roar of the hammer, the cripple quietly emerged from a dark corner of the tavern. The cripple looked at the hammer in surprise, spread his hands, and shouted, "Ah, haha, look who has come! Isn't it the Hammer? How does it feel to be wanted by the Berleli Security Bureau? Hahaha, you come to Berleli, and apart from my territory, you wouldn't dare go anywhere else, would you? When did you disembark?" Hahaha, you come to Berleli, and apart from my territory, you wouldn't dare go anywhere else, would you? When did you disembark?

The cripple continued to ask him questions, echoing the words of the blacksmith: "How is that possible? In recent years, the empire has enjoyed favorable weather and abundant wheat harvests; Old Blackbeard's business should be thriving more than ever!"

Satisfied, he let out a hearty belch. The blacksmith pulled a leather tobacco pouch from his sleeve, grabbed a handful of tobacco, and began chewing it vigorously. While chewing, he mumbled, "The master has a task for you. Uh, young master, you are now a university student, bringing honor to the master. You must return and properly enhance the master's reputation in front of those local tycoons!"

Casting a sidelong glance at the hammer, Enzo was even more curious about how a straightforward mill owner could have such a skilled individual as the hammer in his employ. This was a wanted criminal from the Berleli Security Bureau, and even ordinary petty criminals were not qualified to appear on that wanted list

The hammer let out a helpless sigh towards the sky, shaking his head and saying: "Wrong, wrong, lame one. The better the weather, the worse the master's business becomes. There is too much flour, and it cannot be sold at a good price! What the master hopes for the most is for the empire to suffer disasters year after year, with chaos everywhere and famine depicted in the books, so that our wheat can be sold at sky-high prices!"

The brutish figure of the Hammer burst into the tavern, a towering and robust man with a thick, bushy beard, nearly as tall as the tavern's entrance. Clad in a heavy black bear fur coat, the Hammer's bald head was steaming with heat. The grotesque face, marred by a deep scar from a vicious blade, occasionally contorted, resembling a many-legged centipede writhing.

Lin Qi and Hammer embraced each other tightly, and Lin Qi laughed heartily, turning to Enzo to introduce him: "Enzo, this is Uncle Hammer, my mentor in martial arts. Uncle Hammer, this is Enzo, my good brother, my assistant, and a very skilled swordsman!"

With a satisfied hum, the Hammer swung his hand from a distance of seven or eight meters. A thin iron chain, about the thickness of a little finger, shot out with a piercing sound, wrapping around the large wine cup and bringing it to his side. Taking a deep breath of the wine's aroma, the Hammer raised the cup and shouted, "Young Master, seeing you in good health makes the Hammer very happy"

The cripple sincerely inquired: "How is old Blackbeard's health?"

Enzo curiously leaned closer to Lin Qi, tilting his head to look at the letter. He had some knowledge of his family's prominent background. According to Lin Qi, his father was a mill owner in the port city of Dunerk, which ranked third in the empire, specializing in the flour business and controlling almost all flour imports and exports in Dunerk. His father's mill supplied flour to at least three provinces in the northern part of the empire.

The hammer chuckled a few times, stood up, and embraced the crippled man with great strength.

Enzo stared in shock at the Hammer, feeling a fiery power emanating from the burly man clad in a bear fur coat. Even as the wind and snow howled through the open door, Enzo, standing before the Hammer, felt a heat radiating from his body, as if he were standing in front of a glowing red ingot.

Hearing Lin Qi's shout, the iron hammer, which was even more robust than a northern icefield giant bear, let out a wild laugh and charged towards Lin Qi. It lifted him up with a powerful embrace and swung him upwards. Lin Qi let out a strange cry, and the iron hammer nearly flung him to the ceiling. Fortunately, he was agile and quick-witted, managing to brace himself against the tavern's ceiling; otherwise, his head would surely have been smashed and bleeding.

The hammer, feeling quite pleased, patted the cripple's shoulder and said: "The master and the library are in very good health, but, well, the recent harvest has not been very good, so the mood is not great"

According to Lin Qi, he should come from a well-off family that has been engaged in business for generations. However, how could a straightforward and honest child from such a family possibly establish an organization like the Iron Fist Brotherhood in just three years

The roar of the hammer is comparable to the howling of a beast, as the bottles and glasses in the wine cabinet clink and clatter in a chaotic symphony. Several maids tremble in fear, nearly collapsing to the ground. The boldest of the maids, shaking uncontrollably, hurriedly grabs a large goblet capable of holding a full liter of strong liquor and promptly pours an entire bottle of potent rum into it

The maids inside and outside the counter all turned pale; they worked in a place frequented by the lame and had seen their fair share of tough characters from the dock area. However, the hammer, both in size and presence, was undoubtedly more terrifying than any of the tough guys they had encountered before. They had no doubt that this imposing figure, who clearly was not a kind-hearted person, could follow through on his threats; if he said he would crush every bone in their bodies, he certainly could.

The Hammer cast a deep glance at Enzo, who felt a warmth surge in his chest, as if struck by a heavy blow. He stumbled slightly, almost taking a step back, but his muscles tensed, allowing him to stand firmly in place. The Hammer nodded in approval and, with a hearty laugh, patted his smooth head, saying: "Young master, your brother is quite impressive. Hehe, at such a young age, he possesses this level of strength, not bad!"

A thick middle finger pointed straight at the ceiling, and the hammer roared: "Cursed be the gods, if you do not let the empire suffer a drought for a few years, my brothers will have nothing to eat! The boss has hoarded twenty warehouses of wheat; when will he be able to sell it?"

With a gulp, a full liter of strong liquor was downed by Tie Hammer, leaving nothing behind. He let out a satisfying belch and plopped down onto the wooden chair beside him, rummaging through his pocket to pull out an envelope, which he handed to Lin Qi. "Young Master, you haven't returned for a full three years. The Master said that this year, during your annual leave, you must make a trip back no matter what"

Lin Qi stood by, opening the envelope to read his father's handwritten letter. The familiar handwriting was still as rigid and precise as ever, each stroke seeming to be carved out with a heavy axe, exuding a rough and unrestrained vigor. Upon seeing these characters, Lin Qi felt as if he were looking at his father, the robust man full of wildness, resembling a fierce bear.