How to Forge a Sword

Early story: Short-lived, crybaby assassin top x spirited young hero bottom;

Later story: Frail top who sweeps the battlefield x smiling, sharp-minded, straightforward bottom;

* This is a long novel with a very high proportion of plot. Both leads are protagonists with their own character arcs and plenty of scenes;

* Six volumes in total. Volumes one through three cover the early story, volume four is transitional, and the later story begins in volume five. The story starts when they first meet. The top is 16 and the bottom is 18, and the story spans five years in all;

* Their feelings are strongly mutual, with a one-on-one romance throughout and no love triangle. Lots of sweetness, with a little caretaking early on as the bottom helps the top grow;

* The top has a slight facial disfigurement (see the character profile). He's mentally fragile early on, and physically weak and battle-worn later, but very strong in combat. His poker face isn't because he's aloof, but because he's slow-witted and his throat makes talking a hassle. At heart, he's a bit of a clueless fool with little common sense;

* The bottom seems like a kind, sunny person, but is a little forceful and domineering inside. He's deeply closeted without realizing it and thinks his feelings are just brotherly affection. He's a bit harsh with the top, one of the reasons the top cries so much. He cares a lot about his reputation early on. Later, his motto is, "I'd rather the whole world betray me than betray the whole world";

[Plot Summary]

Bottom's POV

He came alone from an island and took a job at a restaurant to save enough money to go to the capital for the imperial exams. Every day, he worked until he was dizzy with exhaustion, and a mouse kept stealing his steamed buns.

As if things weren't bad enough, a restaurant worker was suddenly murdered, and an assassin from the martial world whom he had never met started hounding him.

Hungry and furious, he went looking for the mouse to take out his frustration. He chased it to the back courtyard and finally found the culprit who had sent it.

Seeing that the mouse boss was even younger than he was, he let him go and lectured him about behaving properly. But the very next night, the mouse boss came to bother him again.

This time, he was determined not to go easy on him. Unfortunately, he let his guard down and lost to the mouse boss. But then he made the astonishing discovery that the little mouse wasn't a bad person. He had come to save him.

Through a series of coincidences, he found a shortcut to power and wealth: rescuing the emperor, who had mysteriously disappeared ten years earlier.

He wanted the little mouse to help him, but he also discovered that the little mouse had no sense of right and wrong and was far too heavy-handed. He didn't seem like a good person, either.

After giving him a thorough scolding, he tried to find an excuse to send him away so he wouldn't ruin his plans. But that night, he saw him sitting by his bedside, holding the tattered little mouse and carefully saying things to win his favor.

His heart softened again, and he decided to forgive him one last time. Back then, he never imagined that this neither-good-nor-bad person would willingly follow him, from beginning to end, no matter whether he was on the side of right or wrong, serving as an official or leading a rebellion.

Later, he rescued the emperor as he had hoped and became an official. But trouble broke out on the border. He knelt before the emperor for three days and three nights to beg for reinforcements, then was hunted to the ends of the earth. At last, he understood that all his efforts had changed nothing at all.

So he chose to kill the person he had once been. From then on, Bai Chaoju no longer existed. There was only the Crown Prince, Lu Zhuo.

The civet cat had finally put on the crown prince's clothes. He knew, too, that sooner or later someone would strip them off him.

Top's POV

He truly couldn't remember anything from his childhood. Whenever people brought it up, they looked at him with pity. Was it really that tragic? Was he supposed to feel something?

There was one thing he cared about. That day, the boy had asked him, "Do you want to become a real person?"

Become a person? Wasn't he already one? He knew his blade was fast. He felt he could do anything for the boy. Perhaps that was the reason he existed.

But the boy didn't accept that as a reason to live.

...His standards were high.

He didn't give up on his own idea, but he didn't accept the boy's view, either. You'll need me one day, he thought.

At the time, he never imagined that everything would suddenly change two years later. He, whom everyone had treated as a disposable pawn, stubbornly survived, while the boy died.

He stood before the grave for a long time, lost in thought, then gripped the sword the boy had given him. I'll avenge you. Killing people is what I'm best at.

Until a group of rebels invited him to tea and told him that their leader was the Crown Prince.

The emperor had died suddenly and had never named a crown prince. This one had to be a fake.

He soon uncovered the crown prince's true identity and pledged his forces to him.

Keep your identity hidden. Whatever you want, I'll help you get it. I'm not the person I used to be. I have soldiers and allies, though the price of gaining them was steep.

He had even realized that the most dangerous person wasn't at court. They were right by their side.

[Main Story Guide]

*Note: The summaries below cover only about 20% of the whole novel, and they're incomplete, with parts cut from the beginning and end. If you're worried about potential triggers, you can take a quick look. You can also ask me directly in the comments if you have any questions~

Volume One

Ghosts at Linjiang Tower (Xiao Bai and Xiao Ming meet for the first time. Xiao Bai mistakes him for a villain, then gets saved by him)

The Armor Disaster (Xiao Ming protects Xiao Bai, then nearly dies from his first poison attack)

Heroes' Gathering at Banyue Tower (Xiao Ming's identity as an assassin is exposed, and Xiao Bai protects him)

The Killer of Huangmei (The two officially confirm their friendship. Xiao Ming is "abducted," and the couple are separated)

Volume Two

A Ten-Year Promise (Xiao Bai learns Xiao Ming's origins and real name)

Peach Blossom Valley of Miasma (The couple reunite. Xiao Bai reads Xiao Ming's thoughts aloud, making Xiao Ming cry for the first time. At the end, Xiao Ming is injured, suffers a poison attack, and loses his voice, and Xiao Bai carries him bridal-style)

A Moonlit Mid-Autumn Night (Xiao Ming asks to kiss Xiao Bai's cheek)

The Other Shore at Linjiang Tower (Xiao Bai throws a righteous punch to protect his friend)

The Twelve Aspects of Nuo Masks + The Underground Emperor of the Chicken Coop (Main plot arc: Xiao Ming takes revenge, the two rescue the emperor and find a cure, Xiao Ming confesses and is rejected by the "straight" Xiao Bai, and the two become sworn brothers)

Volume Three

Heaven-Worship Ceremony at the Thunder God Temple (Main plot arc: the two help restore the emperor to the throne)

Jinhua in Bloom in the Capital (A lighthearted arc about the two arriving in the capital. At the end, Xiao Ming steals Xiao Bai's first kiss without warning, then gets slapped)

The Five Thunder Divine Machine Diagram (Main plot arc, with the couple bickering and squabbling)

The Roll of Successful Candidates (The imperial exams end, and the couple have a huge argument over their differences in outlook)

Hidden Blade (Xiao Bai gets drunk, ambushes Xiao Ming, kisses him by force, and they confirm their feelings and officially become a couple)

Old Stories of the Capital (Xiao Ming uncovers Xiao Bai's origins)

Urgent News from Shazhou (The couple are forced apart)

Volume Four

Trapped Beast + Where Did the Money from the Weapons Bureau Go? + Heavy Snow (Xiao Ming's illness arc)

Emperor Guangshun's Death + Shanjiong Village (Xiao Bai assumes a false identity and flees, pretending to be the Crown Prince)

Volume Five

Opening chapters (The couple meet again)

Canglang's Startled Flood Dragon (Xiao Bai dives into the sea to save Xiao Ming. Xiao Ming bleeds himself to save someone and becomes seriously ill)

The Root of the Problem (The two open their hearts to each other again and treat Xiao Ming's illness)

No Daylight in Black City (The court discovers the rebellion, and the two are hunted by assassins)

Meeting an Old Friend in a Foreign Land (The princess appears. Xiao Bai drives Xiao Ming away and faces life and death, but the princess saves him)

Tianmen Crossing (Main plot: Xiao Ming brings reinforcements to Xiao Bai and resolves to kill the princess, but abandons the plan when a poison attack makes him seriously ill)

Thirty-Nine (Main plot)

Volume Six

The concluding story. No spoilers!

Theme: Even a wandering little seed can grow into a great tree