HNYWEF -Chapter 62 The Reason

The group of soldiers had gone far away.

Their footsteps disappeared at the mouth of the alley, and the noise faded with them. The smithy grew quiet again, leaving only the steady ringing of the hammer.

“Clang.”

“Clang.”

“Clang.”

Zhou Yi squatted by the doorway, staring at the figure forging iron.

He watched for a while.

Then he set the branch in his hand aside and stood up.

He walked over to the long workbench.

Zhou Xiong did not look up.

The hammer kept falling.

Zhou Yi stood there, waiting for his father to finish that strike.

“Clang.”

Zhou Xiong flipped the iron over.

Zhou Yi finally spoke.

“Dad.”

Zhou Xiong’s hand paused for a moment.

But he still did not look up.

After waiting a breath, Zhou Yi asked again,

“That soldier just now… you only touched him a few times and already knew his leg was dislocated?”

Zhou Xiong said nothing.

He raised the hammer and brought it down.

“Clang.”

Zhou Yi swallowed.

He looked at that hand. He knew that hand too well.

Ever since childhood, he had watched it hold hammers, tongs, and that medicine box.

But he had never seen that hand press against someone’s leg, feel around a little, and instantly know what was wrong.

In his memory, whenever his father treated patients, it had never been this—

casual.

He recalled the scene from earlier.

His father had crouched down, felt around briefly, stood up, and cursed at the man.

That was it.

The wounded soldier had been carried in pale as paper, groaning in agony. When he left, he was no longer crying out—not because it no longer hurt, but because he now knew the bone was fine.

Zhou Yi did not know what that feeling was like.

But he wanted to know.

He took a deep breath.

“Dad, I want to study medicine.”

Zhou Xiong’s hammer stopped.

Slowly, he turned around.

And looked at Zhou Yi.

He looked at him for three breaths.

Then he spoke.

“No.”

Just two words.

Crisp.

Absolute.

No room for discussion.

Zhou Yi froze.

He stared at Zhou Xiong, suddenly unsure what to say.

His thoughts raced—is this another wound I’m not supposed to touch? Is this about Mother again? Is this one of those things I’m forbidden to ask about?

He opened his mouth.

“Dad, I—”

Zhou Xiong did not let him finish.

He set the hammer down.

Then simply stood there, staring straight at Zhou Yi.

And this time, he spoke at length.

Long enough that Zhou Yi was stunned for a moment.

“Learning medicine isn’t like learning martial arts.”

Zhou Xiong’s voice was still hoarse, but every word was deliberate and clear.

“With martial arts, you just train. If you mess up, it doesn’t matter much. Worst case, you get beaten up, lie in bed for a couple days, then get up and keep training.”

He paused.

“Medicine’s different.”

He looked at Zhou Yi.

“If you become some half-baked doctor and treat people, then if you get it right, fine. But if you get it wrong—”

He paused again.

“And end up treating someone to death…”

Zhou Yi felt his heart sink slightly.

Zhou Xiong continued,

“When the family comes banging on your door, yelling at you or beating you up would be the least of it.”

He looked at Zhou Yi.

“And then I’d still have to clean up your mess.”

Zhou Yi stood there, mouth slightly open.

Looking at Zhou Xiong.

And Zhou Xiong looked back at him.

The two simply stood there.

The furnace crackled softly.

Zhou Yi’s mind went blank.

He had expected something else.

Expected his father to mention those forbidden things.

Expected to touch upon some old scar.

Expected—

But instead, this was what he heard.

Simple.

Rough.

Direct to the extreme.

For a moment, he had no idea how to respond.

Seeing that expression on his face, the corner of Zhou Xiong’s mouth twitched.

Just once.

Then he turned back around.

Picked up the hammer.

“Clang.”

Zhou Yi stood behind him, staring at that broad back.

After watching for a while, he suddenly asked something.

Very softly.

“Dad… are you afraid I’ll harm someone while treating them, or are you just afraid of trouble?”

Zhou Xiong’s hammer never stopped.

“Clang.”

Zhou Yi waited for a while.

No answer came.

So he asked again.

“Dad?”

At last, Zhou Xiong spoke.

“Both.”

Two words.

Zhou Yi blinked in surprise.

Then suddenly, he laughed.

Very softly.

Zhou Xiong did not turn around.

But Zhou Yi knew his father had heard it.

He stood there, watching that blacksmithing figure for a while longer.

Then he turned around and walked back to the doorway.

Squatted down again.

Picked up the branch.

And resumed scratching lines into the dirt.

After a while, he suddenly spoke again.

“Dad, I won’t become some half-baked doctor.”

No response came from inside.

Only the sound of the hammer.

“Clang.”

“Clang.”

“Even then, I’m still not teaching you!”

Zhou Yi froze once more.

Lowering his head, he continued drawing lines on the ground.

The branch scraped mark after mark into the dirt.

Until finally, it snapped with a crack.

And suddenly, he felt that from today onward, life was probably going to become a lot more interesting.