My Disciple Wants to Tease Me Every Day - Chapter 72

: Wooden Sculpture
Di Jiufeng had an embroidered pouch, but it was a bit strange. Thinking about it now, it must have been because it was a failed product. Since it was a failed product, maybe the thread could be reused.

Di Jiufeng woke the System and had it bring out the embroidered pouch. She asked casually, “Do you know what I will get if I give this to her?” She didn’t expect to get an answer, but unexpectedly, the System responded, “You will get an umbrella, an umbrella which can block a heavenly calamity. As for whether it works and when you can use it, I do not know, the program only says this much.”

“An umbrella which can block a heavenly calamity? But no one can achieve immortality nowadays, even yao rarely cultivate to taking form. What use do I have for this umbrella?”

[T/N: A heavenly calamity is a challenge a cultivator goes through which allows them to ascend to immortality if they succeed.]

Di Jiufeng thought this to herself, not expecting the System to reply. She slowly took out that old pouch and showed it to the young mistress, her brows slightly furrowed. She said a bit hesitantly, “I picked this up by the side of the road outside the city, it looks a bit like the one Lin Hao has. I don’t know if it belongs to him, I was going to ask him tomorrow.”

The young mistress looked down at it, took the pouch, and stroked its surface. “Yes, this is the first one I made. Unfortunately, it failed. I left it in the sewing room, I don’t know if the maids lost it later.”

Di Jiufeng nodded and said, “Since it did not succeed, you should be able to use the thread if you take it apart.”

“…, Miss Di is smart!” The young mistress was a bit shocked at first, then she began to smile. She squeezed the pouch in her hands, eyes curved in a smile floating towards the direction of the estate. She couldn’t keep still, she wanted to go back immediately to make Lin Hao an embroidered pouch.

“Miss Di, you really are my benefactor, I don’t know how to thank you. How about this, I have an umbrella which can block heavenly calamities; I don’t think anyone here will have a chance to use it, but you and Miss Ning Guang may have the chance. I truly want to thank you, please do not refuse.”

Di Jiufeng did not say anything, she was thinking about something else.

She looked at the young mistress, then looked at the embroidered pouch in her hands. Di Jiufeng hesitated for a long time, then mumbled out, “I only picked it up by accident, you don’t need to be so polite. But I do have a presumptuous request. Could you make a smaller pouch and leave some thread for me? I would like to make one for Ning Guang.”

The young mistress laughed lightly, her eyes traveling between the two, her expression growing even more gentle. “Of course. Making a pouch only requires one thread of twining vine silk, and this is enough for three. Miss Di, give me some time to take it apart, I will have someone take it to you tomorrow.”

“There’s no need, no need, I can come to you. I still have to learn how to make it from you.”

Ning Guang did not say anything, like she was happy to accept Di Jiufeng’s thoughtful gift. But after they sent off the young mistress, she looked meaningfully at a thread seller.

After a glance, she looked back, softly pinching Di Jiufeng’s earlobe. “A-Feng, you want to do needlework?”

“What about it? Do you have any objections?” Di Jiufeng asked, all the thorns on her body raised. “Don’t say a word, I don’t want to hear it.” She shoved Ning Guang, then ran off towards the city lord’s estate following in the eldest young mistress’s footsteps.

Ning Guang chased after her and put an arm around her shoulders. She continued to herself, “I just pity your needle a bit, it must not have done anything so clumsy in its entire existence.”

Di Jiufeng felt that there was no way to continue this conversation, no way to continue this relationship. She humphed coldly, and ignored Ning Guang all evening.

The next morning, she gathered her things and went to find the eldest young mistress.

Usually, Ning Guang would follow wherever Di Jiufeng went, today was no exception. But the first time she picked up the needle and pricked her finger, Ning Guang not only didn’t comfort her, she even laughed in her face. Di Jiufeng puffed up and spat indignantly, chasing her out of the room with fists and teeth.

“A-Feng, I don’t need this, don’t trouble the young mistress.” Ning Guang pinched her fingers and stroked them lightly.

Di Jiufeng was currently in a temper, and she pulled out a nonexistent meaning from those words. She ground her teeth and yanked her fingers from Ning Guang’s grip. “Let me ask you a question, is she prettier than me?!”

“What?” Ning Guang was caught unawares for once, she didn’t really understand what Di Jiufeng was implying. But before she could reply, Di Jiufeng spat at her.

“Pah, I know you think she’s pretty! No wonder you seem to enjoy angering me more and more lately!”

Di Jiufeng started to throw a tantrum for no reason, even she was afraid. Ning Guang stood there for a while, with mixed feelings, but before she could reach out, Di Jiufeng had already turned around. Ning Guang was afraid she would run and hurriedly reached out to catch her by the shoulder. “A-Feng, I…” She mumbled for a while, unsure what she wanted to bluster out.

Di Jiufeng waited for a while, but unable to hear the words she wanted to hear, she turned and glared at her fiercely!

“You what? Don’t you know you should praise me right now?!”

“En, I know, but this can’t count as praise, because you were prettier than her in the first place. She can’t compare to you.”

“Really?” Di Jiufeng knew she shouldn’t be smiling, but the corners of her mouth kept tilting up, she couldn’t control it. She tilted her head all the way up, getting on her tiptoes to kiss Ning Guang’s chin.

Di Jiufeng was going to say she would magnanimously forgive her mistake, when she heard Ning Guang continue, “But, don’t trouble yourself, needlework hurts the eyes and the nerves. If you have the time, why not go out for a stroll?”

“You’re looking down on me! Don’t say another word, go out yourself!”

Di Jiufeng gave Ning Guang the cold shoulder and walked back into the room. But she had only taken two steps before she turned back around and jogged over. “Go buy the materials, we don’t have much time, get to work! When you get back, you’ll come back to a, very, pretty, embroidered pouch!”

Di Jiufeng held her anger and walked back inside, but even so, she couldn’t be possessed by an embroidery god. After an entire hour had passed, she hadn’t even finished sewing the mandarin ducks’ heads. She probably just had neither the talent, nor the patience.

Di Jiufeng pressed her lips into a line. Looking at this crooked ball of black thread, she could already hear Ning Guang’s taunts.

But she really couldn’t sew any good-looking patterns. Even if you gave her half a month, she’d be able to get out an ugly little duck at most. Di Jiufeng’s head hurt, and she angrily set the embroidery down on her leg. “Right, I wanted to ask, this embroidered pouch can block a disaster, does it use a body double array?”

The eldest young mistress nodded. In her hands, a pair of mandarin ducks, their necks entwined, were already beginning to take shape. “Yes, Miss Di is correct. But it is a bit different. You must know that a body double array is very difficult to cast, and it takes up too much space, there’s no way to carry it on your person. If you could not predict a disaster ahead of time, there’s no time to cast it.

It would be a pity to let a perfectly-good array fall to disuse just like that, so my grandmother altered the casting a method a bit. Though it is much weaker, it’s still enough to block some minor disasters.”

Di Jiufeng said, surprised, “So this embroidered pouch is a secret technique? If so, is it improper for you to teach it to me?”

The eldest young mistress shook her head. “My benefactor, what are you saying? If not for you, Lin-ge and I would have gone together to the yellow springs long ago, I would never have had the chance to teach you how to make an embroidered pouch. But, this embroidered pouch is truly difficult to make, and you have no experience with needlework, you won’t be able to embroider the array in this bit of time. All the other patterns on it are fake, only the array sewn on the inside is the basis for the spell. Why don’t I sew the array for you? Then you can dot your pure heart’s blood in the center of the array key and see if you can activate the array.”

“No no no, I’ll do it myself, I can’t let her look down on me.” Di Jiufeng had thought of something, a smile leaping up onto her brows and the corners of her eyes.

The eldest young mistress seemed to have been infected by her enthusiasm, and her expression grew gentle. “Miss Ning Guang is very lucky to have your true affections.”

Di Jiufeng’s face went red. She felt a bit embarrassed, but she couldn’t suppress the warm current in her heart. It roiled for a while, and swelled from the pit of her stomach. “In fact, I always thought I was very lucky. To have been able to keep Ning Guang by my side was probably the best thing which has happened to me in my life.”

Di Jiufeng never hesitated to let people know she liked Ning Guang, this wasn’t some unspeakable secret. Rather, it was the most beautiful thing in the world.

Mutual satisfaction was the most basic requirement for two people to be together. If even the lovers felt that their affection was not fit to be seen, always hiding it and tucking it away like some unmentionable secret, even the deepest love would be ground away by fear.

Di Jiufeng was not bold, she was actually quite bashful, but she would never say a false word to Ning Guang’s heart.

Though she knew that Ning Guang probably didn’t need this embroidered pouch, Di Jiufeng still wanted to give it to her. One, for peace of mind, and two, for the sense of accomplishment at seeing something she made on her body.

The amateur sewer Di Jiufeng worked from day until dusk before she finally managed to make the pouch. Though it was very ugly, she had put her heart into it, so even though the array didn’t look very nice, she was still able to activate it.

With her brand-new ugly embroidered pouch, Di Jiufeng was like a child showing off a sparkling new toy. She hurriedly thanked the eldest young mistress, then flew out the door.

A round moon had risen in the ink-splashed sky, the clear light spilling from it making the dense background of stars seem dim by comparison.

Ning Guang had already returned after finding the materials, and she was sitting sideways across the stairs at the door. She had a piece of green wood in one hand, a carving knife in the other, sculpting some object. Seeing Di Jiufeng run outside and throw herself down the stairs, Ning Guang instantly tossed aside the objects in her hands and spun around to pull her into her embrace.

“A-Feng, what are you running for? Be careful, don’t trip.” With her arms full of Di Jiufeng, a dense scent of peaches poured into her nose. Ning Guang looked up at her, this person in her arms was so beautiful from every angle.

Di Jiufeng cupped her face and pressed a kiss to her eyebrows. “I made it, Ning Guang, do you dare look down on me now?”

She waved the pouch in her hand in Ning Guang’s face. When Ning Guang took it, her face went red. Di Jiufeng coughed, and said very seriously, “Though it’s not very good-looking, it’s useful. I don’t care about all those meaningless things, as long as there’s a practical use, right!” There was a bit of threat in her tone.

Ning Guang heard, and cooperated, completely unprincipled. “I think it’s very good-looking, I will keep it close to me always. A-Feng, I like it a lot, I like it very much.”

Still holding her, she spun a few circles on the spot. This somewhat frivolous behavior was much different from Ning Guang’s usual stoic demeanor.

Di Jiufeng began to laugh. She cupped her face and pressed kisses all over. “Everything I gave to you before was given as a Shifu. From now on, it will be as a lover. Ning Guang, I like you, I want to spend my life with you.”

Her words were very natural, but as soon as they left her mouth, Di Jiufeng felt a bit choked up.

She looked down and saw the wooden sculpture Ning Guang had tossed aside. “What is that? Why are you carving?”

Ning Guang finally remembered. She put her down and said, “This is an ordinary carving, but the wood is rather special. I added it to the list because I wanted to use the city lord’s power to search for it. I just wanted to try and see, I didn’t expect that it would actually be available. It’s rather complicated to explain, I can tell you in detail after we get back.”

Author’s Notes:

Don’t worry about BE, it won’t happen, I encourage writing sweet novels, I won’t BE, emmmmmmm this is what I like
Transition chapter, transition chapter, things will get exciting soon, my rabbit holes are too deep, I can’t climb out anymore
The wooden sculpture is not a lucky charm, please remember it, remember it, it’s shown its face already~
Notes:

This chapter was translated by Lily.