Chapter 59: Requirement

There was one lady who was about Ai Hui’s age . Her elemental needle technique was like a group of active silvery-white fish and her embroidery cloth was like a calm lake . The elemental needles nimbly jumped in and out from the cloth, as if they had a mind of their own .

There was another seamstress whose elemental needle was like a hissing arrow released into the sky, . The embroidery cloth in front of her seemed like it had been woven with silver silk . It was entirely bright, and a very hollow tut-tut sound was made whenever the elemental needle poked through .

Another middle-aged lady had her embroidery cloth pinned beside a weirdly shaped stove . Each time, the elemental needle would sweep across the fire within the stove before carrying a flame with it and piercing through the cloth, leaving beautiful golden marks .

What he witnessed today completely subverted his prior knowledge of embroidery .

The old man was very pleased with Ai Hui’s answer, but the lady beside him was not . The old man could say that, but when Ai Hui said it, she became unhappy and snorted coldly, “A bunch of nonsense! Training method? To you, embroidery is a kind of training method?”

The old man knew things had gone awry and that she was truly angry . To say that embroidery served as an effective practice exercise to a master who had dedicated her whole life to it, how could she not get angry?

Darn! He would have exposed her identity to his disciple earlier if he had known . The old man tried his best to give a hint with his eyes .

Ai Hui saw his gestures, but…what did they mean?

“Mingxiu,” the old lady called coldly .

A sweet-tempered, beautiful lady appeared . “Master!”

The observing ladies had earlier been quiet out of fear . A few timid ones started to slip away from the scene .

The old lady said inhospitably to Ai Hui, “My workshop is not for anyone to come to as they please . Ten days . I’ll let you in if you can weave a light muslin . ”

The surrounding ladies inhaled deeply in unison, faces full of sympathy . Ai Hui could barely thread a needle and had not learned how to move the needle . How could he possibly complete such a challenging task?

Ai Hui could tell from their reactions that spinning muslin was definitely difficult and was certain he had said something wrong to offend the owner of the workshop . He was, however, not overly alarmed since there was no point in panicking .

“Yu Qin!” The old man’s face changed as he said unhappily, “Aren’t you making things difficult for him? He’s new to embroidery . How is he going to weave in ten days?”

“I have my rules,” The old lady responded persistently . “If you’re unhappy, leave with him . ”

Ai Hui saw the redness in his teacher’s face and chipped in hurriedly, “I’m willing to accept the test . ”

His teacher was angry, but Ai Hui was not at all upset . A small test meant nothing . In the Wilderness, he had to request for a very long time if he wanted to learn something . He even had to trade items for tutelage at times .

No one was obligated to help you . You had to fight for everything yourself . Water, food, money, and sunlight .

The old lady’s requirement was very normal and was considered friendly when compared to those of the master elementalists . No money was needed either .

The old lady was somewhat surprised by Ai Hui’s attitude, but kept a straight face . “Mingxiu, demonstrate the Twin Weaving Technique . ”

“Yes . ”

Mingxiu smiled courteously at Ai Hui . “I’ve seen you, junior!”

Mingxiu had been observing Ai Hui and had seen that he showed no signs of panic from the beginning . He had been calm all along . She knew, of course, exactly which of Ai Hui’s sentences offended her master, but had no way of reminding him at this point of time .

She decided to demonstrate the technique at a slower speed .

Actually, she knew that it was totally impossible for a newcomer to learn weaving just by looking once . It was usually something that could only be learned after two years of apprenticeship .

Ai Hui’s calm demeanour impressed her . Unlike her master, she did not find that sentence offensive . It would be really weird for a man to take pleasure in embroidering!

The master knew this as well, but could not control her rage anyway when that sentence was spilled .

Mingxiu had a headache too . In a fit of anger, her master was naturally being impolite . The moment her anger dissipated, she would regret and sigh for a long time whenever she thought about how she had angered Grandpa Wang .

Ai Hui immediately returned the gesture, albeit unaccustomed . “I’ve seen you too, Senior . ”

He felt as if if he had returned to the ancient times where even greetings sounded weird . In the Induction Ground, addressing one as junior or senior had been out of fashion for a long time . “Seems like the embroidery workshop was a more traditional place,” Ai Hui thought . Plus, from the greetings, Ai Hui could also tell that the relationship between his teacher and the embroidery master was atypical .

He had sensed this the moment he entered . Teacher was very familiar with the workshop and probably frequented this place .

Ai Hui lacked comprehension when it came to women . He did not know how to describe senior Mingxiu, but he felt she was very beautiful, made people feel comfortable, and had a pleasant, friendly attitude .

“Twin Weaving Technique is a basic method used to weave fabric, mainly muslin . It’s unique in that both needles, side by side, will form crisscrosses as the threads move in opposite directions . ”

Mingxiu’s voice was soft and soothing . She tried as much as possible to explain slowly in layman terms .

Her delicate hands were unoccupied . Not far away, the spindle and bobbin were spinning rapidly as two muslin threads flew straight toward her . Ai Hui knew not when, but two elemental needles soon floated in front of her, already threaded .

His eyes brightened at the dashing skill . Compared to his previous, laborious attempt, this was much more adroit .

Her control of elemental energy was just right . She was precise and her skill level was adept .

Such precise control would be terrifying on the battlefield . Ai Hui had thought about the frightful attacking methods and combat scenarios that could emerge from this skill alone .

It would be even more menacing if this was used in the dark .

“This is the simplest weaving method . You have to control two elemental needles simultaneously . The key is to coordinate the rhythm of the elemental needles . Are you ready junior? I’m going to start demonstrating . It’s a little tough, so please pay attention . ”

“Wait a moment, Senior . ”

Ai Hui pointed at some words in the garden that were waiting to be roped and requested, “Can Junior borrow a sword?”

Mingxiu gave the old lady a glance . The old lady did not know why Ai Hui wanted a sword but she was not as angry as before, so she said coolly, “Give it to him . ”

Another embroidery lady retrieved a sword and handed it over to Ai Hui . Ai Hui bowed in gratitude . He did not draw the sword out, but held the whole thing close to his waist instead . No one knew the purpose of his absurd action . Even the old man was baffled . Could it be that there was something special about that sword? No, there shouldn’t be .

Ai Hui held the sheath with his left palm and the hilt with his right .

The hilt was not roped, so it was cold to the touch, but Ai Hui’s palm held it perfectly snug . His world turned peaceful the moment he held onto the sword . All distracting thoughts retreated like the tides .

He looked up, his reserved eyes as bright as the stars .

“Senior, you can start now . ”

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