Cultivating Civilization - Chapter 73

The young woman hesitated for a second before her eyes let out a curious gleam and she asked “What do you mean?”

Jack cheered to victory on the inside, but on the outside, he clasped his hands in greeting and said “Let me introduce myself first. My name is Jack Song, but you can call me Jack. I am a leader of a foreign mercenary company that will go to the other side of the River soon.”

The young woman’s eyes flicked over to old Long for a moment with a bit of confusion; a second later she looked back at Jack and responded “I am Wu Angrui, an armor maker that dabbles in sigilcraft. It is nice to meet you, Jak.” That hint of curiosity returned as she asked “What did you have in mind?”

Jack’s smile turned a little sour at the pronunciation of his name, but he decided to move past it as he explained “Several days ago, I hunted a Haechi beast a few days of fast travel away from here. None of us knew what it was so I decided to come to this wonderful city to check since it gave us quite the fight.”

Wu Angrui’s eyes had a hint of respect in them as she asked “You found a Haechi on this side of the River? And killed it on your own? No wonder you can lead your own mercenary company.”

Jack waved away her praise in an attempt to appear humble, while shame gnawed on his insides. He cleared his throat and said “Indeed when we found out about the beast’s worth we decided to go on to the wilderness and hunt a few more. In fact, that was the reason I approached your store. I admired your designs and wanted to order something made out of the Haechi hide I have.”

Wu Angrui almost salivated at the offer of working on something of such quality, but the long lessons that her father imparted to her held her back enough to explain “I do not work for cheap, especially if you want sigils on your armor.” She turned to gesture at her exhibits before she asked “What kind of armor did you have in mind?”

Jack gave her a nod of understanding when she declared her worth and proceeded to give the works on display a thorough inspection.

A dozen minutes later, he finished his tour and asked Wu Angrui “Do you have anything to write with? I only have charcoal and don’t want to make my hands dirty. I want to draw what I want since none of your designs fit quite right.”

Wu Angrui looked a little insulted, but she nodded her head and went into the house to get what Jack wanted.

Ma Ruiman muttered “Isn’t even afraid to leave her shop unattended to.”

Old Long gave him a withering glare and mocked “Then steal something.”

Ma Ruiman just snorted in response while Jack shook his head at their antics.

A minute later, Wu Angrui’s voice called from the inside “Come here, please.”

Jack and his men exchanged glances, but they followed the voice inside of the ancient house. Once they entered, they found the small room furnished with several fitting dolls that had leather armors and cloth robes with inscribed sigils on them. These ones had a lot more sigils sorted out in advanced designs than the ones from the outside.

In the middle of the room stood a rectangular table with two chairs on each of its longer sides.

Wu Angrui sat on the side facing the entrance while grinding a stick of ink. A blank scroll and a painting brush lay on the table opposite her.

Jack got used to the tools this world used to write in his role as the leader of the Gravediggers, so he wasn’t surprised by what Wu Angrui did.

As they neared the table, Wu Angrui looked up from her work and asked “Can you please show me the Haechi hide? I did not ask you for it out in the open, but I will need some proof for your claims now.”

Jack nodded his head and reached for the light blue pouch on his hip. He had to encompass the entire Haechi hide with his spirit energy and keep it like that while taking it out of the Star Bag. After a few seconds of concentration, he managed to pull the entire nine square meters of rolled up hide out.

Wu Angrui’s eyes shined with excitement and she didn’t seem to mind the smell as she stared at the poorly sheared and skinned pale hide. Only after Jack gave a soft cough, did she drag her gaze away from it and gestured for him to sit opposite her.

Jack handed the hide over to Bai Maolong and sat down. He grabbed the provided brush and scroll and waited for a few more minutes for Wu Angrui to finish grinding the ink.

While she did it, she looked at Jack and explained “It will take me at least twenty days to finish your order with the state in which the hide is right now. Even with that, I will need to use a few of our family’s secret techniques to speed up the process. I assume that you are taking the large transport ship that goes in twenty-seven days if you have a mercenary company. I will not be able to add any sigils to your armor by that time.”

Jack’s brows rose in surprise as he asked “You know when the ships depart?”

Wu Angrui nodded her head and answered “Yes, every child in the White River Outpost knows. They are our lifeblood.”

Jack let out a soft *mhm* sound and said “As for the duration of your work, I am satisfied with it. I do not need any sigils on my armor for the moment so just the basic Haechi leather will do fine.” He didn’t want to admit that he didn’t have the money to pay for a full armor to his possible future business partner.

Wu Angrui didn’t seem to realize his deception as she asked “Then why not buy some of the other armors we offer? I am sure you could get one of the same quality and price without the need to wait for so long.”

Jack’s smile turned apologetic as he said “I am sure that they are excellent armors, but they are a little too conservative for my taste. You mostly have inner armors and reinforced robes. I want something more modern.”

Wu Angrui stopped her grinding as her eyes narrowed while she looked at Jack and asked “What do you mean conservative? Our store has the most modern armor designs in the entire White River Outpost.”

Jack didn’t let the glare coming his way perturb him as he nodded his head calmly and explained “I agree, in this city, the Wu Armor Store has the most modern armors, especially the designs you yourself did. What I am looking for is something from my homeland and I think you are the perfect person to make it for me.” He gestured at the grinding stone and asked “May I?”

Wu Angrui still looked a little angry, but once she glanced at the whole Haechi hide, she slid the grinding stone filled with ink over to Jack’s side.

He gave her a grateful smile, dipped his brush into the ink, and started drawing.

Jack never had a good hand for art, but he knew how to draw diagrams and shapes well. With his rise in cultivation and the improvement in his hand-eye coordination, he could produce a decent depiction of the picture he had in his mind when he wanted to.

Right now he had a long coat made out of Haechi leather in his mind. He didn’t care about the stealth aspect of the coat, nor did he want to have regular protective clothes made out of the leather.

Jack wanted something that would make him visible and that would allow mobility while still protecting most of his body. He considered about adding a hood, but if he wanted to go do something stealthy he wouldn’t wear a white long coat in the first place and it would impede his field of vision.

Wu Angrui had a few jacked-like designs outside, but they leaned too much on attempting to make leather robes instead of coats.

After drawing for a bit more than fifteen minutes, Jack finally felt satisfied with his design and blew on the paper to dry the ink.

When he looked up, he saw the frowning face of Wu Angrui and asked “What do you think?” as he slid the paper over to her.

Wu Angrui studied it for a minute before she looked up at Jack and said “We have leather robe armors already, why not take one of those?”

Jack looked down at the drawing for a second to make sure he drew what he wanted to, furrowed his brows, and stood up. He walked over to Wu Angrui’s side, sat down next to her, and started explaining “It’s not a leather robe, it’s a leather coat. The difference is that the two sides don’t overlap, but meet in the middle where you can join them together with buttons from the neck to the waist. The part under the waist is left free so that it doesn’t limit mobility and leg attacks.”

Wu Angrui studied the parts that Jack pointed out for a while longer before she gave him a doubtful look and asked “You are sure you want this?”

Jack didn’t hesitate as he nodded and confirmed with “I do.”

Wu Angrui shrugged her shoulders and said “You are the customer; I will make what you want.” She gave an apologetic glance to the Haechi hide before she looked back at Jack with a sharp gaze and asked “How much will you pay me for this?”

Jack didn’t even think about it as he looked straight into her eyes and declared “All of the Haechi leather that remains.”

“What?” “What!?” Both Wu Angrui and old Long asked at the same time.

Jack ignored old Long and said “We don’t have much use for it in the wilderness, and you can consider it as payment for a good word with your father once we return with more.”

Old Long shut his mouth, but he still looked unwilling, while Wu Angrui looked willing, but uncertain.

Jack studied her for a second before he suggested “You don’t have to tell him about our deal, just say that you heard we were trustworthy.”

Wu Angrui thought about it for a while, but in the end, she nodded her head and agreed “Fine, I agree to your conditions.”

Once the words were out of her mouth, she realized how close her and Jack sat to each other, so she quickly stood up and said “You should go there so I can take your measurements.”

Jack nodded his head and stood where she instructed him.

After twenty minutes, when they exited the Wu Armor Store, Jack didn’t know why she got so flustered from just sitting next to each other when she manhandled him without any issue for fifteen minutes. ‘Must be just part of the routine for her by now.’ he concluded and started walking towards the housing part of the White River Outpost.

Ma Ruiman turned to look at him and asked “What do we do now?”

Jack gave him a glance and said “Now we find a place to stay and find out what this wilderness everyone keeps mentioning really is.”