v2 C17: Still (Patreon)

“So, you think you can handle something like this?” I asked Yao Che, and the blacksmith stared long and hard at my drawings.

He considered them in great depth, a frown affixed to his face, until he nodded. “I’ll be able to do the pipes, even if they’re that small, and the spiral in it shouldn’t be too hard either. But this much copper and fiddly work is gonna be a bit expensive Jin, especially at the purities you want.”

I nodded. Made sense, really. The copper still was going to be pretty big. Now, I wasn’t actually the biggest drinker. I was normally a juice or iced tea kind of guy (I could not wait until the peaches were ready to harvest, peach iced tea, here I come!) but If other people were drinking, I normally joined in. Get a little buzzed, and have a little fun.

And I had potatoes. Vodka was basically mandatory. The rice wine here wasn’t bad, but screwdrivers were my poison of choice if I had to choose.

Now I just needed some red cups, and beer pong.

That said, it wasn’t all for boozing it up. If you can distill it enough, you can use it to disinfect things.

And my family was full of healers. Might as well get them the best tools for the job they had. They knew boiling water killed most bacteria, but you can’t just start boiling people.

Well you can’t boil most people. I can survive a boiling just fine. And oven temperatures. I’d yet to find a temperature that actually damaged my skin.

I idly wondered if I could just reach into a forge, and grab the cherry-red metal. That would certainly make things easy.

“Well, I’ll make sure to get you your copper. I can afford it, and if things work like I want, you could be able to make more of these.” I told him, and then a thought occurred to me. “Ah, no lead in the flux, either.”

Yao Che snorted. “I should hope not, boy. You don’t want lead near food, it's poison.”

….Right, more advanced medical knowledge, because of cultivators being dickbags. It still got me that they had some really advanced medical knowledge in some areas, and then super medieval thoughts and technology in others. Like in farming equipment. If you have germ theory, pasteurization should be something logical, shouldn’t it? But when I brought that up to Pops, he looked like somebody hit him over the head. Most people used special, expensive arrays to keep things fresh if they had to. Nobody had thought of just heating things up.

But I suppose it was more advanced knowledge than most people had. Hong Yaowu basically meant “Medicine Warehouse” after all. And a lot of the mortals I had seen on the road through The Azure Hills seemed to not have as high hygiene standards.

“Well, if you need a hand, I’m available, even if it's just to pump the bellows. I want to see how this is made.”

Or more specifically, how an ancient blacksmith made pipes. It was always a pleasure to watch someone skilled at work. The lack of drop hammers and machinery just made it more interesting. Everything by hand. No wonder Yao Ch looked like he could get in a fistfight with a bear and win. Though he could do with taking care of himself more. His muscles were really crunchy the last time I gave him a massage.

He looked pleased at my offer, and got to work, writing out measurements.

“I’m a little surprised you wouldn’t just use a pill furnace though. Can’t those refine liquids?” He asked, as he started writing out what he thought things were going to cost.

That… that was actually a good idea. Pill furnaces could extrude liquids, if you interrupted the process, though that was generally the sign of a lack of skill, or you screwed up somewhere. It would be faster too. A couple minutes instead of hours. But it would probably cost the same, or even more, because of all the extra workings that went into a pill furnace.

“It might work, but anyone can use one of these. You don’t need Qi, or anything special.” I told him, shrugging.

He nodded at my explanation.

“Well, leave this drawing with me, and I’ll get the rest of these measurements figured out. Your Brother Che will get you the best price, count on it!” He held out his arm, and we clasped forearms, instead of a more formal bow, completing our deal.

I was fairly certain that most smiths would charge for figuring out a blueprint for their client, but Che just seemed a bit interested to have a project. The perks of being friends with people.

“So? What are you up to for the rest of the day?” He asked me idly, as he began marking things out on a piece of wood.

“Fishing with the boys, at Green Lake.” I said happily.

Yao Che nodded. “Well, you boys have a good time. Your wife going along?”

“Meimei made it very clear that anybody that tries to drag her out of the house today is going to earn her ire. And then she started laughing to herself and muttering about laxatives.” I said. Well, it was fishing with the boys, so I didn’t try too hard to convince her anyway.

Che barked out a laugh. “That girl is entirely too much like her mother. Though tempered with Brother Xian’s subtlety.”

I’d have to ask pops about Meimei’s mom some day. I could tell the wound of her absence still hurt, but I hoped they would tell me about her.

“Hey Jin! We’re ready to go!” Gou Ren shouted to me.

=================================

“Ha! Look at this face!” Yun Ren shouted, bent over double. Both he and his brother were doubled over, as Yun Ren showed off some of the images in the recording crystal.

The fishing trip had been alright, until I started to take a swim. Green Lake was nice looking, peaceful, idyllic.. and had some kind of freshwater shark in it.

Yeah, Yeah, cultivator. But theres something primal that goes off in your brain when you see a fin cutting through the water, heading directly for you.

Yun Ren had, naturally, captured my look of bug-eyed shock. At least that's as far as it went, before it just kind of cruised passed me.

Meiling giggled at the image from her spot in my lap, and I poked her in the side for her cheek.

“I’m revoking your Recording Crystal privileges.” I deadpanned at him, and Yun Ren froze, eyeing me warily.

He liked the crystal a bit too much, if I’m honest. He basically gave up fishing entirely and kept recording images.

But, I suppose I’d be just as eager if denied my passions.

We joked for a while longer, until pops walked into the room, looking a bit worried.

And stretched, sighing with contentment. He had been working on paperwork all day.

“What were you working on today with Brother Che?” he asked idly.

I got out one of my spare pieces of paper and showed him.

“I think I have seen something like this before.” He mused, scratching at his chin. “In Pale Moon Lake City. Of course, the device was three stories tall and glowing with inner fire even when it wasn’t being used, but it did look somewhat similar to the way yours is arrayed.”

“What was it used for?” I asked, intrigued.

“We do not know the original intent of it’s creator. It's nearly two thousand years old. But what it did was concentrate solutions. Any solution. Though only a tenth of the liquid ever came out the other end. But alas, it stopped working. It only produces black sludge now, and nobody knows how to fix it.” Xian sighed. “So now, it is merely a curiosity. The glowing machine near the palace.”

Huh. Well, if it looked like a giant still, I wouldn't be surprised if it was. Qi filled alcohol was expensive.

In any case, I’d probably make a jaunt down to Verdant Hill tomorrow. See how Meihua, Tingfeng, and the Magistrate are doing, and talk to a few copper merchants. And I would need more glass for a Hydrometer if I wanted to know how much alcohol was in the finished drink. I could barely remember the right equation for specific gravity, but it should work. Or I could soak a pellet of gunpowder in it, and try to light it. That would mean above 50% alcohol.