Chapter 164 Cloak Workshop, Paper Mill, Red House, Green House...
Shu Xin had no way of knowing what these immortal beings were thinking; all she knew was that the harvest month was about to end.
As the last undead phantom of the Great Deer was swallowed by the magical cat, the magical concentration in the Land of Sin began to slowly decrease, while the temperature began to rise little by little. Winter was coming to an end, and spring was on its way.
The servants and two officers of Flower Castle handled the harvesting matters after the harvest month in an orderly manner. After giving the anti-magic bracelet to Xi and instructing him to distribute it, Shu Xin focused her attention on the various seeds brought back by the caravan.
The newly opened experimental field was used specifically to sow these seeds. Shu Xin set aside some for normal planting and the other part for accelerated ripening. Then she discovered some familiar plants, such as an aquatic magical plant called "Fluffy Flower" by the flower fairies, which looked a lot like reeds to Shu Xin.
Considering that the otherworld version of the quail is called the Grey Bird, Shu Xin reasonably suspects that this magical plant is also an otherworld version of the reed.
The reason Shu Xin paid special attention to this magical plant was because she remembered its uses in her original world—
Reeds are truly a treasure from top to bottom!
The flowers, stems, leaves, roots, and young shoots of reeds can all be used in medicine. However, the flower fairies have already discovered its medicinal value, and apothecaries use it as a basic ingredient to concoct magical potions. In addition, reed leaves can be used to wrap rice dumplings or steeped in water to make tea; the tender stems of reeds can be eaten raw or boiled, and when they are old, they can be used to weave mats; as for reed flowers, they also have many uses. They can be used to weave brooms and stuff pillows, and can also be made into reed flower shoes with straw. Most importantly, reeds can also be used to make paper!
Shu Xin was actually thinking of using reed catkins as stuffing to make new warm cloaks for the flower fairies. Flower fairy slaves could use the down feathers of the gray birds to make cloaks, but it wouldn't work for the flower fairy commoners and the elves of the Flower Castle. Given their height and size, even if they plucked all the gray birds out of their bodies, they still wouldn't be able to supply enough.
Of course, reed catkins are no match for cotton in terms of warmth. The widely circulated story of "wearing reed catkins to please one's mother" is a classic example of this. The problem is that there is no cotton in the Land of Sin. In addition, the temperature in the Land of Sin is relatively high. The current low temperature will not last long, so Shu Xin thought she could use a reed catkin cloak as a temporary measure.
The flower fairies' clothing also provides some warmth, after all, it is under the protection of the Tree of Life. However, after the harvest month ends, the common people will have to return to their normal work and life, and they will no longer be able to stay in the warm and enclosed treehouses, but will have to go out and face the cold wind of early spring.
The flower fairies from the underground city also need to return to live on the surface. The temperature is still a bit low, and Shu Xin is worried that these flower fairies from the south will not be able to adapt.
Shu Xin also plans to try making paper from reeds.
The flower fairies are currently using the leaves of the Tree of Life directly as paper. As long as it's only used within the Kingdom of Ganar, Shu Xin doesn't think there's a big problem; it's quite green and environmentally friendly. However, there's already a Wind Market in the territory that attracts other races. In the future, Shu Xin will definitely be doing business with other races. It's fine to give the leaves of the Tree of Life to friendly races like the wind fairies and water fairies, but if they end up in the hands of humans, Shu Xin doesn't think it's very pleasant.
Who knows if humans will use the leaves of the Tree of Life for some magical experiments? Just to be on the safe side, let's make some paper to use!
Shu Xin carried a large bundle of fluffy flowers to the Tree of Life to ask for the recipe.
As always, the Tree of Life was reliable, not only providing blueprints for the papermaking workshop but also for the magic workshop of the Reed Cloak. Although Shu Xin was well aware of the many limitations of magic itself, she couldn't help but marvel at its wonder and convenience—the magical world truly is magical!
The cloak workshop was naturally the first to be built. She directly handed the workshop blueprints to Xi and asked him to bring a group of demons from the underground city to build the house. The building materials would be dried berry wood after the harvest month. Shu Xin herself went to the artificial lake that had been left empty after the little snow elephant left.
Shu Xin had previously considered filling in the artificial lake, since no new baby snow elephants would be fostered here in the short term. With the Sun Spring on the surface and the underground lake below, the artificial lake specifically created for snow elephants in the Land of Sin felt rather useless. But now it has come in handy. This otherworldly version of reeds is a wetland plant, so this place can be used as a reed field.
Shu Xin waved her magic wand, and along the shore of the artificial lake and the edge of the island in the middle of the lake, she spurred the growth of large patches of fluffy flowers.
During this time, the cloak workshop was successfully completed, and Shu Xin went over to inspect it inside and out.
To her surprise, the demons not only used berry wood as building material, but they also dug up lake mud from the underground lake and transported it to the surface. They used molds to make mud bricks from the mud and then used the mud bricks to build the walls of the magic workshop. After that, they processed the berry wood into evenly sized pieces and inserted them densely into the surface of the mud brick walls. Finally, they used the highly adhesive juice of the ground-attached grass fruit to thickly coat the surface of the wood pieces.
Because the golden cherry wood is reddish-brown, the completed cloak workshop is a bright reddish-brown pointed-roof house that looks particularly beautiful under the sunlight.
When Shu Xin handed the workshop blueprints to Xi, she arranged for the servants of the Flower Castle and the demons to work together. However, she only said that the workshop could be built with reference to the wooden houses of the flower fairies. She originally thought that the magic workshop would be a triangular wooden house when it was finally completed. Unexpectedly, this cloak workshop was square and very regular. It could be said to be the most human-like building she had seen since she came to this magic world.
"I told you, you could tell at a glance it was the human style, but Bluehorn wouldn't believe me." Xi mocked her subordinate loudly without any politeness. "I knew her brain had been ruined by the human magic gas lamps! She even copied the city lord's mansion we saw in human territory and made her cave look like that too!"
Shu Xin had always been human. Although she thought the buildings of the flower fairies were very fantastical and romantic, especially fairytale-like and cute, she didn't think that human buildings were ugly. After listening to Xi's words, Shu Xin thought that Lan Jiao was quite amazing and had the talent of an architect!
"Was it also Lanjiao's idea to use mud from the underground lake to make mud bricks?" Shuxin asked.
Xi thought for a moment and replied, "Not entirely. The idea of making the kind of bricks that humans often use was suggested by Lanjiao, and she also made the mold. However, the idea of using lake mud to build the walls was conceived by Xiaoshui and Dashui."
Shu Xin nodded knowingly. It was obvious that Xiao Shui and Da Shui often went into the underground lake, which was why they thought of using lake mud as building material.
As a reward, Shu Xin took back the magic-suppressing bracelets of Lan Jiao and Da Shui, and arranged for the kitchen of Flower Castle to provide these three outstanding demons with special meals for a week—during this week, they could receive an extra dessert and a large piece of nut candy for every meal they had.
Once the cloak workshop is built, reed cloaks can be produced. The Tree of Life provides its own leaves to be used as magical fabric, so as long as the reeds are picked and cleaned, they can be sent into the magic workshop along with the leaves of the Tree of Life to produce thick and soft reed cloaks.
The flower fairies, commoners, and elves of the Flower Castle quickly donned windproof and cold-resistant reed catkin cloaks. Before the cloak workshop shut down, Shu Xin even used public resources to make herself a thick reed catkin quilt.
Although she didn't know what cotton quilts looked like in the other world, Shu Xin was very satisfied with the cattail quilt. It was especially thick and light, warm and soft, covering her body. When only her head was sticking out, Shu Xin felt as if she had returned to her hometown for the Chinese New Year.
The cotton quilts in my hometown are much heavier than cattail quilts. My mother would sun-dry the quilts thoroughly and fluff them up in the sun beforehand, then put on a fluffy duvet cover and give them to her to sleep on. In the deep winter of the north, the air is dry and cold, and the scent of the cotton quilt, which can be called the "scent of the sun," becomes particularly distinct and pleasant with each breath.
Unfortunately, the otherworld version of the reed-flower quilt didn't have much of a scent. If you had to describe it, it would be a very faint, fresh fragrance unique to plants. But Shu Xin hadn't slept under the reed-flower quilt for very long before the weather in the Land of Sin became completely warm.
Because the demons built the cloak workshop so well, Shu Xin entrusted the construction of the papermaking workshop to them as well. Perhaps inspired by Blue Horn and the others, the demons also developed new building materials for the papermaking workshop this time.
Calling it a new building material is a bit of a stretch. The walls and roof of the papermaking workshop were also made of lake mud and berry wood. Unlike the cloak workshop, the demons did not make mud bricks from the lake mud this time. Instead, they first wove a framework with berry wood and reed leaves, and then applied the lake mud layer by layer from bottom to top, resulting in a dark brown mud wall.
As for the roof, a layer of the sticky substance of *Gnaphalium affine* was first applied to the framework woven from fruit trees and grass leaves, and then a thin layer of lake mud was laid on the dried, gelatinous surface.
Then, on the surface of the damp lake mud, the demons cleverly planted the moss that the dungeon used for lighting.
The moss in the underground city isn't strictly speaking an underground plant; it just grows in the dark underground environment. Now that it's been transplanted to the surface, it's growing even better, turning green and no longer glowing. So the completed paper mill looks like a green house completely covered in fuzzy moss.
The cloak workshop became a red house, while the papermaking workshop became a green house. The two workshops were not far apart, and Shu Xin couldn't help but laugh when she saw them.
The demon who came up with this ingenious idea was Shan. It is said that Shan fought with himself several times in order to decide which type of moss to plant on the house. In the end, both types of moss were planted. As a result, both the blue moss and the white moss turned into green moss after they came to the ground.
To keep the demons motivated, Shu Xin also rewarded Shan. However, since he had only discovered a new way to decorate the house, she did not take back his anti-magic bracelet, but she still gave him desserts and nut candies for a week.
Next, it's time to start making reed paper.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com