Chapter 189

Pan Yun acted on her word immediately.

After finishing her laundry task right on time, she left class right on time, sprinted straight to the Laundry Bureau, stealthily retrieved two large wooden tubs, and raced back to Phoenix Perch Courtyard.

Pan Yun wiped the tubs dry, let them air out, then took out her brush and ink for drawing arrays, settled her mind, and began painting the array onto the wooden tubs.

She channeled her Qi into the brush tip, connected with the celestial and terrestrial spiritual energy, and drew it into the array; as her brush moved, the Qi entwined with the spiritual energy, dragging it into the array and sealing it within the array lines.

Pan Yun shifted her body slightly, extending the lines slowly along the tub's surface; when the final stroke was complete, she lifted her brush—spiritual light flashed—and the array was complete. The entire tub now looked different, shimmering with radiant light.

Pan Yun's lips curled slightly; she admired her work, glanced around, saw no one in the courtyard, and felt a pang of disappointment. She turned to Pan Xiaohei and said, "Only you can share my joy—look, isn't this tub utterly unique?"

The black cat lay in the cool shade, lifted its head at the sound, and meowed, "Uglier than every tub I've ever seen—definitely unique. Uniquely ugly."

Pan Yun frowned. "It's shimmering with radiant light—where's the ugliness?"

Zhang Weiyi pushed open the door and stepped in, pausing at the sight of the person squatting in the courtyard's center.

Deng Ziyu and Xue Hua followed him in, nodded to Pan Yun in greeting, then froze when their eyes landed on the wooden tub in her hands.

Xue Hua: "What an ugly tub—where did you get it, junior sister?"

Pan Yun: …

Deng Ziyu studied her expression, understood something, tugged Xue Hua's sleeve: "It's not that bad. Not ugly at all. Junior sister, are you painting on it? To… help identify it?"

Pan Yun said flatly, "This is an array."

Pan Xiaohei crouched nearby, silently laughing.

Pan Yun glared at it, mentally commanding it to shut its very noisy eyes.

Zhang Weiyi and the other two studied it carefully, unable to recognize the array at all, so humbly asked, "Junior sister, did this array succeed? What's its function?"

Pan Yun: "It succeeded. For washing clothes."

Zhang Weiyi and the other three stared blankly. "Washing clothes? You need an array for that? Three or four garments—just scrub them by hand and it's done."

Pan Yun sighed, "That's for you. For someone who has to wash mountains of clothes, an automatic or semi-automatic washing machine is vital. Don't you know washing too much damages your hands?"

Zhang Weiyi: "Those punished like you are rare."

"Wrong!" Pan Yun said. "Those punished like me are rare—but the laundry maids, the women and girls responsible for washing entire households' clothes? They're countless. This invention could benefit half the world."

"People like you, who only wash their own clothes, are the minority."

Zhang Weiyi and the other three were stunned. They'd never considered this.

Xue Hua grew curious, stepped closer, and examined the array closely. "If you draw this, the tub will wash clothes by itself?"

Pan Yun: "Just add a power rune and it'll be nearly there."

The three gathered around, curious, but since they lacked array expertise and had never even heard of this particular array, they offered no practical advice.

Not even Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He could help.

Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He were on duty today, so they returned only after finishing their cleaning. They were immediately blinded by Pan Yun's ugly tub—but quickly ignored its bizarre lines, eyes gleaming, and asked, "Little Master, will this tub wash clothes by itself?"

Pan Yun said, "I'll meditate tonight, draw a power rune, and stick it on tomorrow."

The power rune was easy for Pan Yun. She carefully stored the tub in her room, slept beside it, and felt twice as happy just knowing it was there.

Sigh. Too long since I drew arrays—I'm rusty. Otherwise, I could've painted two tubs in one go today.

Pan Yun closed her eyes, hugged her quilt, and slept soundly. At noon the next day, as soon as class ended, she sprinted back to Phoenix Perch Courtyard, grabbed the tub with its array painted on, then raced toward the Laundry Bureau.

Zhang Guanshi frowned at her. "Did you paint that ugly mess on this tub?"

Pan Yun: "It's just not pretty—not ugly."

"After washing clothes, clean it thoroughly. If you daub anything else on my tubs, your punishment doubles."

Pan Yun:!!!

Hmph. When I finish this washing machine, no matter how many times they double the punishment, I won't care.

Zhang Guanshi had too many duties daily to watch them constantly. After assigning today's tasks, he left. Pan Yun and Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He silently picked up the tubs full of clothes, carried them to the river, and stared intently at Pan Yun.

Pan Yun rolled up her sleeves. "I'll try it."

She stuffed clothes into the large tub, filled it, then realized something was wrong—pulled them out again. Only five garments per tub: a loose full load. Zhang Guanshi crammed thirty or forty garments into one tub, squeezing them like a vise.

Pan Yun poured water into the tub, rubbed in a bit of pig pancreas soap, wiped her slippery hands on the clothes, then took out the power rune and slapped it onto the tub. She formed the hand seal, channeled Qi into it—the rune glowed, merging seamlessly with the array on the tub's surface.

Two breaths later, the tub jolted violently. Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He leapt back two steps. Even Pan Yun, prepared as she was, was startled.

The tub began shaking. Under Pan Yun's gleaming gaze, it shook violently—then CRACKED. The clothes spinning furiously inside shot upward and scattered everywhere. Water and clothes drenched her head and face.

Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He wiped water from their faces, shook their soaked clothes, and said, "Little Master, class starts in an hour."

Pan Yun, expressionless, pulled off her wet clothes, stared at the shattered tub, and said, "I forgot—the wood isn't strong enough. Needs iron. Or alloy."

Seeing Miao Zhen: "Just to make a washing thing? It's like forging a spiritual sword. Little Master, if it's just for yourself, you don't need to spend so much money or energy. It's only a month and a half—blink and it's over."

"If you say it's for the half of the world suffering from laundry, even less reason. Iron and alloy are expensive. How many ordinary families can afford them? Even wealthy families won't spend so much just because a woman washes clothes—and they have servants anyway."

!. Read

Seeing Miao Zhen asked: "Would an iron or alloy washing machine cost less than hiring a laundry worker or buying a servant?"

Pan Yun paused, then said, "You're right—but I'm still going to make it. Whether they use it is their problem. Whether it exists is ours. Once it's made, the world has a choice."

"Besides," Pan Yun's expression hardened, teeth clenched, "it's ignited my competitive spirit. A simple washing machine? How could I possibly fail to make it?"

In her past life, such things were everywhere—mature technology. She refused to believe she couldn't make it. She just wasn't trained in it—so there'd be twists.

But once you understand the principle, and you have the ability to generate power—how could it fail?

Pan Yun clenched her fists. "I will make it!"

Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He exchange a glance and stop trying to persuade her.

Though Pan Yun was full of ambition, she still had to complete her punishment. She silently gathered the scattered clothes, dried her own garments and hair with Qi, and began scrubbing by hand.

Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He silently dried their clothes too, found a flat stone, and began washing.

Pan Yun scrubbed for a long time. When she tossed the clothes into the water to rinse, her hand paused—she thought of something. She hurled seven or eight garments into the water at once, stepped into the water, and moved her palm skillfully across the surface, forming a Taiji.

Celestial and terrestrial spiritual energy, drawn by her Qi, began flowing along the Taiji pattern, causing the water to slowly churn. Moments later, a vortex formed. The clothes spun rapidly within it. Before her, a clear Taiji emerged—the garments twisted, struggling to escape the vortex, only to be pulled back in.

Seeing Miao Zhen stared, dumbfounded; this vortex was so powerful it seemed capable of swallowing a person—washing a few garments was more than enough.

Pan Yun felt it was sufficient; she lightly slapped the vortex's surface with her right hand, and the clothes inside flew out one by one. She did not reach to catch them, but raised a finger, and the garments twisted midair like braids, squeezing out all the water.

Pan Yun waved her hand, and the clothes landed in the wooden tub with a series of sharp thuds.

Pan Yun looked at Seeing Miao Zhen with satisfaction.

Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He glanced at the clothes in their hands, then tossed five or six into the water at once, imitating Pan Yun's method.

They had carefully observed earlier: the clothes that flew out were spotless, every stain washed clean—so this method worked.

Pan Yun's speed was far faster; each time she tossed seven or eight garments into the water, finishing in half a watch.

That's one garment per minute—my heavens, we won't need to rush to finish today.

Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He tried this method four times, then gave up, slumping lazily beside the stone and rubbing the clothes by hand.

Seeing Miao Zhen: "Our cultivation is nowhere near Master Xiao Shu's. This method isn't suitable for us."

Miao He: "Is it worth using so much Yuan force and internal strength just to wash clothes?"

Pan Yun had nearly finished washing her share; she used Yuan force to wring out the clothes and tossed them into the tub. "Fools, haven't you noticed that doing this strengthens your control over Yuan force? And after using Yuan force this way, your Upper Dantian recovers faster when you cultivate again."

Seeing Miao Zhen and Miao He froze, forgetting their fatigue, and immediately stepped into the water, dropping a few garments to feel it for themselves.

Pan Yun let them discover it on their own, then began washing Seeing Miao Zhen's clothes, controlling the vortex while pondering: this was the effect she wanted—but the wooden tub clearly couldn't achieve it. How, then, could it be done?

I just got home a moment ago—I'm utterly exhausted, so I'm taking a day off today. I'll make up the chapters starting tomorrow. Sorry, readers.

(End of Chapter)