The Carefree Artisan's Explosive Serenade
By @john1208
The story opens with a simple handshake. Qiao Xin, a reincarnated modern artisan, just wants to craft the perfect bamboo flute. When a terrifyingly imposing masked patron offers a fortune for a bulk order of custom instruments, Qiao Xin cheerfully strikes the deal, acting completely oblivious to the killing intent oozing from his new customer. All he cares about is his woodworking and feeding his grumpy, sentient pet radish, Baozi. But in the Qizhou Region, the Dao of the Sword is absolute, and artisans are considered useless trash. Enter Elder Feng Wuhen of the Iron Edge Sect, a ruthless traditionalist who arrives to raze Qiao Xin's workshop to the ground. Maintaining his cheerful airhead persona, Qiao Xin plays a lively tune - which inexplicably forces the sect’s disciples into an uncontrollable tap dance while a casually tossed radish detonates against the Elder's legendary sword with the force of a meteor. As Qiao Xin and his enigmatic patron spark a dangerous romance, a terrifying rumor spreads of a demonic army wielding mind-controlling sonic weapons. Could Qiao Xin’s harmless business deals and the looming apocalyptic war actually be the exact same thing?
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