Chapter 50: The Sewing Needle
Chapter 50: The Sewing Needle
Chen Mu handed over to He Ying a slender weapon.
Though it's called long, it wasn't really long, only about the length of an arm.
"This is... a sword?"
Holding the weapon in her hand, He Ying felt it was incredibly light, as if weightless, yet the quality was excellent.
It was evidently a short sword with a sheath.
He Ying grasped the thin hilt with her hand, slowly pulling out the blade.
The smooth stainless steel reflected the sunlight coming in through the window, captivating to the eyes.
At first glance, it somewhat resembled the slender swords used in fencing.
However, upon closer observation, the blade was still flat overall, with edges on both sides, extremely sharp, and thicker in the middle, resembling a diamond-shaped cross-section.
The blade was straight, as thin as a finger, and the tip was exceptionally sharp, seemingly capable of piercing into stones without any problem.
"Beautiful."
He Ying couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.
This exquisitely crafted thin sword seemed tailor-made for her – light and sharp, capable of killing without a trace. Once she becomes proficient with it, she might even be able to live up to Sun Yuan's praise, "killing a person from ten steps away, leaving no trace for a thousand miles."
What's even more remarkable is the attention paid to the sheath.
The entire sheath was covered with holes, giving it the appearance of being made from iron mesh.
"How is it?"
"It's fantastic, thank you."
"The primary purpose of this sword is for thrusting. I deliberately designed it with a diamond-shaped cross-section to make it less prone to breaking. However, the edges on both sides are also very sharp, allowing for easy slashing of a person's throat. Nevertheless, it's best not to use it for chopping, as it might bend or break easily."
"Got it. Thank you so much! This reminds me of Arya's Needle." He Ying smiled.
"A sewing needle?" Chen Mu was puzzled.
"It's the weapon of Arya Stark, the youngest daughter of the Stark family, a delicate short sword just like this one."
Seeing Chen Mu still looking confused, He Ying asked, "Have you not seen 'A Song of Ice and Fire'?"
"Oh, um, I've heard of it, but I haven't watched it."
Apart from studying, Chen Mu spent almost all of his free time working to earn money. He had no time to watch TV dramas, although he had heard of the fame of "Game of Thrones," he never got around to watching it, so he naturally didn't know about the name "Needle."
"That's a pity; it's a great show."
"Well, I'll try to watch it when I get a chance."
As they talked, they suddenly seemed to realize something and both stopped discussing the topic.
He Ying turned her face and couldn't help but gently wave the thin sword, occasionally deftly spinning it with her fingers.
Although she wasn't as enthusiastic about weapons as the boys, who could imagine themselves as great martial arts heroes just by holding a stick, He Ying, who had always enjoyed sports, had also fantasized about becoming an admired female martial artist, swift and elegant.
Now, with this short sword in her hands, it seemed like she was one step closer to her fantasy.
Seeing her enraptured expression, Chen Mu also felt a sense of accomplishment and smiled, "I thought about it last night. Since we're going out today, we should have some safety measures. I see that your combat style leans towards agility, so I thought this lightweight weapon would suit you better."
"Thank you. Yesterday, I saw Dong Junwei and Tang Jing with their short swords, and to be honest, I envied them. I just felt a bit embarrassed to ask you for one," He Ying said with a smile, while lovingly caressing the sword's blade.
A few days ago, Chen Mu had made weapons for everyone.
But, to be honest, he hadn't put much thought into it at the time.
As Tang Jing had said, when they encountered enemies, their first choice was naturally grenades. Close combat weapons didn't hold much significance for them, especially for the girls, given their limited strength.
So he made long weapons like spears for the boys, while for the girls, he quickly made a few broad-bladed short swords, more suitable for novices to chop with.
He thought that would be enough.
Little did he know that Tang Jing, who had just said that close combat weapons were useless, turned around and asked Chen Mu to make her short sword look prettier.
Chen Mu was dumbfounded at the time.
This thing was for fighting, what's the use of making it pretty?
But since it was Tang Jing's request, and it was a minor one, he naturally wouldn't refuse, especially since he needed to practice his abilities anyway.
So, Chen Mu spent nearly half an hour, following Tang Jing's inexplicable requirements, before finally finishing the modifications to the short sword.
When he looked at it again after finishing the work.
It was all flashy and decorated.
The basic structure of the sword didn't change much, just the hilt was carved to be more ergonomic. But the blade and sheath had to endure the torment of being carved with various patterns and designs, all personally designed by Tang Jing.
However, the problem was that these things couldn't be seen unless you got close, so it seemed like they were just for self-amusement.
After finishing Tang Jing's sword, Dong Junwei came over.
Chen Mu originally thought that with Dong Junwei's aloof personality, she wouldn't like such flashy things. However, after hearing her request, he discovered that this class monitor was even more demanding than Tang Jing.
Not only did she want carvings and engravings, but she also asked Chen Mu if he could engrave her name on the hilt of the sword.
Chen Mu was dumbfounded at the time.
He had never used his ability to carve proper Chinese characters before.
After some consideration, he decided to give it a try.
As it turned out, this delicate and meticulous task was much more challenging than large-scale transformations.
Especially with Dong Junwei's name, it had so many strokes. After a lot of persuasion, he managed to convince the class monitor to settle for just "Jun Wei" carved on it. Even so, it took Chen Mu more than twenty minutes to complete, and the characters still appeared crooked and uneven.
Fortunately, Dong Junwei didn't mind and happily walked away with the sword. Chen Mu watched her from afar as she joined Tang Jing, and both of them compared their respective short swords, as if they were competing over which one looked prettier.
As the saying goes, when the upper beam is not straight, the lower beam will be crooked. With these two unreliable examples, others followed suit, asking Chen Mu to modify their weapons as well.
Chen Mu was starting to regret making weapons for them. But since he had already made them for Dong Junwei and Tang Jing, he couldn't treat others differently.
Even Wei Dalei hesitated before coming over and said he wanted to carve his name on the Wolf Tooth Club. Chen Mu had already decided to give him a new weapon, so he didn't agree and just kicked him away.
The night before, He Ying saw the short sword that Dong Junwei left in the room and indeed envied it. Unable to resist, she borrowed it and played with it for a while. She thought that when she became more familiar with it, she would ask Chen Mu to make one for her too. Unexpectedly, the next morning, she received her own customized weapon.
And obviously, this weapon was tailor-made for her by Chen Mu.
Chen Mu smiled and said, "The weapons for the class monitor and the others are purely decorative, but yours, when combined with your ability, should be quite powerful."
"That's what I thought too."
He Ying thanked him again and asked, "Why is the sheath of this sword made like a net?"
"Mainly to make it lighter, also to increase friction with the palm, making it quicker to draw the sword, and it won't accumulate water."
"Even the sheath has so much thought put into it," He Ying sighed.
"Just made it on a whim," Chen Mu chuckled, "You use it first, if there's anything that needs to be modified, feel free to let me know. A craftsman must sharpen his tools if he wants to do his work well. With a more suitable weapon, you'll be more helpful to the whole team."
"Yeah," He Ying seemed like a child who had just received a gift, very obediently asking, "Can I make a request now?"
Chen Mu generously replied, "Of course."
He Ying asked carefully, "Can you also engrave my name on the hilt?"
Chen Mu: "..."
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