Castle of Black Iron

"Why does this guy always run so fast after school?" seeing Zhang Tie waving his hands and disappearing, Barley smacked his lip and said languidly.

"Is he heading to the grocery store?" added Sharwin.

"He has to be there twice a week on Tuesday and Thursday. He was there yesterday, and today is Friday, so what would he do there?" Barley explained.

"Maybe he’s in a rush to get home!" Doug covered for Zhang Tie for the first time since they made peace.

"The males that go back home after school are hopeless!" Bagdad added proudly with arms crossed.

"What are your plans?" Leit asked Bagdad.

"I’m getting ready to apply for a part-time job at the Fierce Tiger Fighting Palace. This weekend, a couple of part-time waiters are needed over there. If I get employed there, I would be able to use the training equipment inside for free, and If I’m lucky enough, I might be able to meet several great fighters over there!"

"Well, good luck. That place belongs to the rich. I heard that Glaze would train for a few more hours in the fighting palace after school everyday…" Leit shrugged his shoulders.

"Glaze is always heading to the Fierce Fire Fighting Palace, which is one of the best fighting palaces in Blackhot City!" Bagdad admired. "If only part-time waiters are needed over there!"

The last few words Bagdad said made Barley disgusted.

"What about you, Leit? What are your plans for the weekend?" Sharwin asked.

After some hesitation, Leit decided to finally tell the truth, "My dad is going to take me to visit one of his old friends. He had arrived at Blackhot City just two days ago and was appointed as the vice director of the Storm Business Group in Blackhot City. Dad might be planning to pave a road for me! What about you, Sharwin?"

"I will be a private teacher over the weekend. 40 copper coins a day!" Sharwin became coy.

"Your dad is really narrow-minded. You’re only 15, yet he wants you to make money during the weekends?" Doug foolishly asked.

"It’s understandable. Shawin is the elder since he has two younger brothers. He should fulfill the responsibility of an elder brother."

"Yea, what about you, Hista? What are your plans?"

"Hoho, I have some spare money this month, so I plan to relax myself this weekend!" saying this, Hista kept thrustingraising his waist up.

"Son of a !@#$%, you saved your spare money for a month, including the money for your breakfast, just for that?" Bagdad said, shooting a contemptuous glare at him.

"I will die without doing women! After the first time, I now understand that I am living only for women..." Hista replied seriously. He then started murmuring with Barley with his arm wrapped around Barley’s shoulder

In this fashion on the last day of the school week, the core members of the Hit-Plane Brotherhood chatted and joked freely before separating to do their own business.

Zhang Tie was running rapidly across the alleys neighboring the school. After running for about two blocks, he finally arrived at where he had always gone to — the train station at Wesley Avenue. Zhang Tie stood at the mouth of a small alley beside the station, breathing heavily as he gazed at the corner on the other side.

For the past two years, he had always waited here on numerous occasions and for the most part, he could see the one he was waiting for. In the past, he would always wait with many other students outside the school gate after school and followed her for almost two blocks. However, ever since the terrifying one-eyed man appeared, whichever horny student decided to follow her would be fiercely beaten by him. As a result, nobody dared to follow her anymore. However, Zhang Tie still stuck to it. Naturally, he didn’t dare to follow her in the usual manner, so he would come here to appreciate her after school each day, even if it was only for a single glance.

After Zhang Tie peacefully waited for more than ten minutes, a figure walked out from the corner of the avenue more than 40 meters away from the station. The moment Zhang Tie saw Miss Daina, he felt like he was appreciating a living painting instead of a person in front of him. At the sight of Miss Daina, Zhang Tie felt the whole world become alive, and the 15-year-old teenager felt breathless.

Walking towards him from afar, Miss Daina arrived at the station. The shadow that was more than 20 meters away from the mouth of the valley where Zhang Tie hid was the most beautiful. With the most beautiful hair, the most beautiful figure, the most beautiful clothes, the most beautiful legs, and the sexy black high heels, Zhang Tie felt that Miss Daina was the reincarnation of a goddess.

Her hair definitely smelt fragrant, just like her body fragrant. Gazing at her beautiful hair, Zhang Tie thought to himself, "What would it feel like if I touched it?" The teenager was in the mire of an illusion…

On the station platform, there were several passengers waiting for the vehicle and were talking loudly. However, when Miss Daina arrived, Zhang Tie realized that they lowered their voices. Even the two gentlemen who were reading the newspaper on the chairs silently began to sit straight up. A man even turned his head and silently adjusted his hair against the billboard beside the station.

Zhang Tie really hoped that the vehicle would never arrive. That way, he could continue to appreciate her. However, only five minutes later, a railed vehicle arrived slowly from afar. All the railed vehicles within the city were just smaller train with narrower rails, smaller heads, lower-powered steam-powered units, slower speed, and less capacity. They were naturally more available in the city.

When it was close to the station, the train slowed down, and a wisp of steam rose from the deceleration valve at the end of the coach. With one foot in the doorway, a man showed half of his body while waving a bell. He yelled to remind the passengers to cast their coins for tickets. The passengers then started to board the train.

Zhang Tie dejectedly couldn’t recover his composure until Miss Daina boarded and the railed train moved far away. He reluctantly walked home.

...

As it was the weekend, Zhang Tie’s elder brother, Zhang Yang, would also come back as usual. On each Friday, his family would reunite and eat supper together, thus the supper would be very superb today. His mom had boiled a pot of fresh beans with the remaining half of bacon. Before Zhang Tie entered the house, he could already smell the fragrance of the meat soup. When he saw the steaming oily and milky meat soup tumbling in the pot, Zhang Tie’s appetite instantly rose Taking the spoon against the pot, he scooped up a spoonful of soup. With cheeks puffing out, he heavily blew on it for a while. Although the soup was still hot, he wolfed it down quickly and the taste that could be described as happiness slipped into Zhang Tie’s mouth instantly.

"Greedy cattie, you can enjoy a bowl of soup first if you’re hungry!" his mom walked over from the rice brew store and scratched Zhang Tie’s head like what she used to do for the past ten years.

Swallowing his saliva, Zhang Tie replied, "No, I’m not hungry. Let’s wait for dad and elder brother!"

"Our Guoguo has grown up!" saying this, his mom tied her apron. "Dad is going to work overtime, so he’ll probably be back a bit late. You go take a look at the store, I’ll cook supper!"

"Okay!"

Half an hour later, Zhang Tie’s father returned. After greeting Zhang Tie, he went to the kitchen to help the mom. Twenty minutes later, Zhang Tie was about to sit at the dinner table, and just when he thought his elder brother might not come back tonight, Zhang Yang arrived. Zhang Yang was 1.88m in height and had a strong stature with fairly slim hands. Like Zhang Tie, his eyes and eyebrows were slightly longer and narrower, which gave him a sense of elusive spiritual energy. Wearing the pitch black military uniform of the City Guard Army of Blackhot City, he wore a yellow leather military belt with a copper buckle, had uniformed long sword that hung from his belt, and on his shoulder was a military emblem that signified that he was a sergeant first class. As the little captain of the City Guard Army of Blackhot City, he was almost a military officer.

Ever since Zhang Tie was a child, his elder brother has been always his idol.

Zhang Yang came back with a knapsack in hand. He opened the knapsack and took out two things and foisted them into Zhang TIe’s hands. "Open them, it’s enough for a meal!"

"Canned beef!" taking the two cans, Zhang Tie’s eyes turned bright as saliva began to pour out. Unexpectedly, his elder brother brought back such a good thing

"Sit here, I’ll open them... " his mom took the two cans away before Zhang Tie could respond. She put one of them in the cupboards when she went to get another pair of chopsticks for Zhang Yang in the kitchen. She opened only one can of beef. Seeing this, the three men at the table began to laugh. His mom was really shrewd and frugal when it came to their daily lives. All the family members have already gotten used to her.

"Elder brother, what else is in your knapsack?" Zhang Tie sharply gazed at the filled knapsack. In Zhang Tie’s eyes, his elder brother was like a magician who would always conjure many things.

"Look, here you are!" Zhang Yang directly tossed the entire knapsack into Zhang Tie’s hands. Zhang Tie couldn’t wait to open it, and when he did, a pair of black leather training shoes appeared before him. Additionally, there were two dark green sleeveless sweaters, and two pairs of dark green underwear. Leather shoes, sleeveless sweaters, underwear, towel, and soap were all personal living necessitiesutilities given to the City Guard Army in Blackhot City. These goods were in great demand in the black market of Blackhot City. His elder brother had saved them all for Zhang Tie. Looking a the new pair of leather shoes and then at the heavily worn out pair on his elder brother’s feet, Zhang Tie felt like crying.

"I’ve replaced them for you, their sizes should be suitable for you. Mom said you had grown up, so don’t cry!" when he said this, he stretched out his huge hand and rubbed Zhang Tie’s hair, making it a mess.

Hearing the last few words, Zhang Tie instantly felt that he was losing face. He became coy and irritated all in a moment. At the same time, the elder brother felt it was funny and murmured something to his dad. His dad also laughed out loud, not caring about how embarrassed the young soul was.

"Mom!" Zhang Tie cried unhappily.

"Well, well, supper time, I promise not to disclose it in the future~!" with an opened canned beef on the plate, mom walked over recklessly.

The family started eating happily...

"Don’t play outside in the evening during this period!" Zhang Yang told Zhang Tie at the table, "Blackhot City is not peaceful recently!"

"What’s happening?" his dad became a bit nervous. The mom also became alert. Only Zhang Tie was chewing on the beef tendon in his bowl dejectedly. "Any news?" added the dad.

"A couple of days ago, Sara, the number two of Bloody Hand Bucher of the Red-scarf Burglars Group, was captured in Andaman City. Yesterday, the alliance parliament voted to hang Sara. The Red-scarf Burglar Group then released news that they’re going to take revenge!"

"Will this… affect Blackhot City?" the dad doubted.

"When voting if they should hang the Bloody Hand Butcher, 11 of the 17 city-state representatives of the Andaman City-State Alliance agreed, including the representative of Blackhot City. Nobody knew how the voting results were disclosed, but the Red-scarf Burglars Group has targeted the 11 alliance members who voted "yes" for revenge. Blackhot city is remote geographically and at the northernmost end of the alliance, and its surroundings are matched with the weaker alliance forces; therefore, it might be the place that’s the most easily attacked by the Red-scarf Burglar Group!" the elder brother explained peacefully.

"Is the alliance deteriorating? How was the voting result of the alliance parliament leaked? There must be a spy in the alliance. For killers like the Red-scarf Burglars group, some may want to sympathize with them and want them alive…" the dad cursed cynically. "I don’t know whether there are any spies, but vacation for all the guards in the City Guard Army have been canceled for the following two months, so I can’t come back home for the next two months!" said the elder brother with his hands stretched out.

"Son, is it dangerous?" the mom worried.

"Mom, trust me, the Red Scarf Burglars are not strong enough to attack our city yet. Us members of the City Guard Army and the city defense of Blackhot City are sturdy enough. They could at most launch terrorist attacks and destroy in secret. We at the City Guard Army don’t feel too much stress, but you should watch out for yourselves!"

Opening his mouth, Zhang Tie wanted to pour out everything about the Castle of Black Iron at this moment. However, he clearly knew that if he told his secret to the family, it might cause an unpredictable catastrophe for the happy family since Zhang Tie, his elder brother, and even his dad and mom were trivial figures in Blackhot City. Zhang Tie had heard many similar stories. He remembered that the trivial figures in those stories had all died miserably. Therefore he decided that keeping it a secret might be the best choice.

After supper, his elder brother left, his dad went to black chess with the neighbors, which was his number one hobby, and his mom went to church. Before she left, she closed the door to their home. Zhang Tie was then left alone at home. After collecting and washing the bowls and chopsticks, Zhang Tie returned to his room. It was now the perfect time for him to further study the secrets in the Castle of Black Iron...