Among the pile of daily necessities that Yan Liqiang bought yesterday, in addition to bedding, bowls and chopsticks, there were also three feather dusters, more than 20 large sewing needles, a box of gum, a roll of yellow paper, and some silk thread, scissors and other things...
If such a pile of things were placed in front of anyone, no one would think that they were meant to be used to kill people. However, after Yan Liqiang returned to the courtyard, he carried the pile of things he bought yesterday to the room on the first floor and started making murder weapons.
The poles of the three feather dusters are made of a kind of bamboo called golden bamboo. Golden bamboo does not grow thick, but it grows very hard and very long. The thickest golden bamboo can usually only grow to the thickness of an adult's thumb. The length of each bamboo node can be more than 60 cm. The skin of the golden bamboo node is very thick and the texture is very hard. It is not easy to break. The surface and the inside are very smooth, so it is an ideal material for making fishing rods and feather duster poles.
Yan Liqiang first picked up a feather duster and cut off the two ends of a bamboo section at the bottom of the feather duster with a dagger. He immediately had a bamboo tube about 40 cm long with open ends in his hand.
He flattened the two ends of the bamboo tube, blew on it, and took a look at it. The inside of the bamboo tube was extremely smooth and there was no foreign matter. In less than three minutes, the first thing was done.
Although he picked up the scissors again, cut a small piece of yellow paper, rolled the yellow paper into a cone shape, inserted a large sewing needle into the cone head with the tip of the needle facing outward, and then used gum and silk thread to fix the sewing needle and the cone-shaped yellow paper roll to keep both strong enough. The second tool was ready.
The second tool took a little more time to make, but it did not take more than five minutes. It might sound troublesome, but the thing Yan Liqiang made with a needle and yellow paper was very similar in shape to the radome on the nose of a fighter jet with a pointed pitot tube. The pitot tube was the sewing needle and the yellow paper was the conical radome.
After finishing them, Yan Liqiang took the two things out to test their power.
The yard outside is very big, and there happens to be a pomegranate tree in the yard. The tree is full of pomegranates. In the mountains, these pomegranate fruits are not valuable, but there are many wild ones. This pomegranate tree and the pomegranates on the tree are the benefits of renting a house for Yan Liqiang, and the landlord did not even ask him for money.
After inserting the needle into the bamboo tube, Yan Liqiang stood in the yard 15 meters away from the pomegranate tree, raised the bamboo tube to his mouth, and blew hard at the trunk of the pomegranate tree in the distance. The needle in the bamboo tube flew out and hit the trunk of the pomegranate tree, but it did not get nailed in, but fell to the ground...
…
That’s right, Yan Liqiang was making blowgun darts again - one of the oldest, simplest, easiest to make and master, but with incredibly powerful hidden weapons.
In the previous life on Earth, no one knew how many years the blowgun had been around. It was just a tube and a small arrow that could be blown out, but when connected to the human lungs, it burst out with tremendous power. From the primitive tribes in the Amazon rainforest to the special forces of many countries, as well as killers and many special professionals, they were all using it. Whether it was used to kill people or hunt, it would never disappoint people, and it was very, very simple to make and master its use.
In his previous life, Yan Liqiang had personally witnessed a new colleague in his company who, in the office, used an aluminum-plastic tube, a scrapped pen refill, an A4 paper, and some transparent tape to make a blowgun, which pierced a can from fifteen meters away.
Yan Liqiang had a deep memory of the power of the blowgun. The colleague said that his brother was a forest policeman. He usually made his own blowgun with simple tools and put anesthetics on it. He could tame any beast, including lions, tigers, and even elephants and rhinos. If he blew it within 20 meters, he could kill them with one blow. If he replaced the pen core with a sharp object made from bicycle spokes and made the blowpipe longer, he could explode a beer bottle or pierce a two-centimeter-thick wooden board from 20 meters away...
A blow dart alone cannot cause huge penetrating wounds and cannot kill people, but if the blow dart is smeared with a deadly poison, killing people with this thing is extremely easy and hard to guard against, because when this thing flies out, it is not only fast, but also silent.
It takes at least three to five years for a person to master the skills of throwing knives, javelins, palm arrows and other hidden weapons, but it only takes three to five days to master the skill of blowgun darts.
…
Yan Liqiang was a little dissatisfied with the first dart, as it felt a little drifting after flying more than ten meters. He picked up the dart, readjusted the length ratio between the exposed needle tip and the cone tail made of yellow paper, made another dart and tried it again, then picked it up again, made another one, and tried again...
If the tail is too small, make it bigger. If it is too big, cut it short. If the tip is too short, make the lower part longer. If it is too long, retract it. If it feels too light, wrap the hemp rope around the tail of the sewing needle to add weight. If it is not suitable, keep adjusting the position of the weight on the dart.
Yan Liqiang was just like doing a scientific experiment in a laboratory, constantly searching for the most suitable parameters for the blowpipe. Finally, after working for a whole morning and almost an afternoon, and repeating the experiment hundreds of times, he finally figured out the shape of the blowpipe that best suited the blowpipe...
…
In the evening, when the sun was about to set, Yan Liqiang stood in the yard more than 20 meters away from the pomegranate tree. He put the newly made dart into the blowpipe, then took a deep breath. The expanding lung pressure instantly converted into kinetic energy, pushing the dart out of the blowpipe...
The dart that flew out of the blowpipe was like a small rocket, or a flash of lightning so tiny that it was barely noticeable. Even Yan Liqiang's eyes could not catch its trajectory as it flew through the air. Almost at the moment it was blown out, the dart stuck to the tree trunk like a small black flower.
In order to pursue the most precise and realistic effect, Yan Liqiang had already dyed the yellow paper black for use.
Yan Liqiang came under the pomegranate tree and found that the arrowhead of the blowpipe had sunk nearly two centimeters into the trunk. It was like a nail nailed to the tree, very firm. He had to use a little force with his fingers to pull the blowpipe out.
After working on it for almost the entire day, Yan Liqiang finally smiled...
With such power, as long as the target is not wearing armor, even if it hits clothes, it is enough to penetrate several layers of clothes and cause bleeding.
Yan Liqiang made ten standard blowgun darts in one breath for practice.
At night, Yan Liqiang continued to practice under the light of the stars and the moon, and his accuracy in blowing arrows was improving rapidly.
When he had almost finished practicing, Yan Liqiang did today's evening lesson again - he practiced the Yi Jin Xi Sui Jing three times before falling asleep.
…
The next day, August 29th, after morning class, Yan Liqiang changed into old clothes that he rarely wore, deliberately made himself look a little dusty, put on a hat, found an unused torn sack in the storage room of the rented house, and went out, leaving Wuyang Village.
After walking for more than ten kilometers along the official road outside Wuyang Village, we arrived at the largest market located in the north of Pingxi City.
The most popular items sold in this market in the north of Pingxi City are various kinds of furs, wild delicacies, and medicinal materials. Most of the people who come here to sell things are hunters, herbalists, or small vendors who specialize in mountain products. Those who come here to buy things are the purchasers or shopkeepers of drug stores and restaurants in Pingxi City. There are also many Pingxi City residents who come here to buy things that they rarely buy on weekdays because the mountain products sold here are cheap.
As soon as the sun came out, the market became bustling and lively.
Yan Liqiang walked in the market, constantly looking at the mountain products being sold in the market.
Among those who sell mountain products, there are many who sell snakes. Those snakes are caught by hunters or herbalists from nearby mountains. Many people in Pingxi City like to eat snake meat. Some restaurants also make various snake soups and snake banquets. Some pharmacies purchase snake gall and various live snakes. Because there is this demand, naturally there are people willing to catch snakes to sell.
At first glance, there are more than ten species of snakes on sale. All the poisonous snakes are placed in bamboo cages. There are poisonous snakes and non-poisonous snakes, slightly poisonous snakes and highly poisonous snakes.
After walking around the market and finding that there were more than one person selling the type of snake he needed, and that there were not a few people buying that type of snake, Yan Liqiang finally came to a stall that was doing quite a booming business.
"Boss, how much is this black-ringed viper of yours?" Yan Liqiang spoke to the boss in an authentic Pingxi City accent.
The stall owner glanced at Yan Liqiang and said, "This snake costs one qian and four fen of silver. What are you going to do with it, little brother? Are you going to eat it?"
"I'm not eating it. I can't afford it. The doctor prescribed medicine for my father's eye disease. I need the gallbladder of this black-ringed viper..." Yan Liqiang looked at the stall owner with an embarrassed look on his face. "One cent and four cents is too expensive. Can you make it cheaper?"
After hearing Yan Liqiang's explanation of the use, the stall owner no longer had any doubts, "Since you are so filial, I will give you one cent and three fen..."
"It's still too expensive. How about one penny?"
"I lost every penny I made..."
After bargaining with the boss, Yan Liqiang finally bought the black-ringed viper for one and a half cents of silver, and left the market with the bamboo cage containing the snake. After he came out, he put the bamboo cage in the sack he brought with him to cover it, and then walked around for a long time. After making sure that no one was following him, he went to the river to wash his face, tidied himself up, and then returned to Wuyang Village with the snake...
(End of this chapter)