The old things I repaired have become fine

Chapter 671 When repairing cultural relics, don't make yourself disappear!

The professor specializing in textile restoration ultimately did not find an opportunity to mentor Shen Le.

Shen Le was indeed a novice in textile restoration—there's no denying that; he'd only been in the field for a year or two, and the number of textiles he'd restored was less than 20, if you add or subtract them. But he could cheat!

His spiritual power can penetrate into every single thread, allowing him to touch, feel, and control each and every one of them!

Shen Le could sense whether they could absorb water, whether they could still "grow," whether they were soft or stiff, dry or moist—down to the precise details of each individual thread!

At any given moment, the professor could only rely on his eyes, touch, and experience to make judgments.

It is true that instruments can be used, but they are not precise enough to reach every single thread, especially the warp and weft threads wrapped in embroidery thread...

So, while the professor was still glued to the large screen, Shen Le had already unrolled and flattened the entire roll of silk. He took photos, scanned it, and put the silk under a microscope to photograph its fiber structure.

Once all the work was done, the silk was placed in the restoration cabinet to air dry slowly. Only then did he run out to thank his teachers. His own mentor laughed heartily and slapped him on the shoulder:
"Just for you, little one, several professors traveled all the way here! How about it, regretting not studying harder in school?"

"I really regret it. If I had known it would turn out like this, I would have listened attentively in class, practiced diligently in practical classes, and tried to get full marks in every course, aiming for a GPA of 4.0." Shen Le bowed to the teachers with a bitter face.

"Teacher, look at this roll of silk. Should we open it up and check the lining? I have a feeling there's something hidden inside, but I'm really not confident doing it myself..."

The professors exchanged glances. Just as the professor specializing in textiles was about to speak, Professor Han, Shen Le's close advisor, interrupted:

"If you think there's something inside, then of course you should take it apart! As for things you're not sure about, why don't you find some similar textiles and practice?"

"Old Han, you're giving me a hard time." The colleague who works on textiles glanced at him sideways.
"Is this all the best material I've been hoarding, so your students can practice on it?"

"We've got something, we've got something here." The guy from the Special Affairs Bureau stood at a distance that wasn't too close or too far, listening intently, ready to hear what Shen Le needed.

Upon hearing this, he quickly rushed over:

"We have plenty of similar materials here, feel free to practice, it doesn't matter if you mess it up—"

"The fabric you use? It's not so much that it's soaked in demonic energy, so that we ordinary people can only look at it from afar through the glass and can't even go inside, is it?"

In fact, the professor was absolutely right. The special affairs officer brought out a huge pile of clothes, fabrics, and various materials that looked like robes or curtains.

Many were burned down to just a corner, or dripped black water continuously. Some even had blood dripping down their path, clearly indicating they came from a bad place.

As he spread out the fabric, he explained:
"These are all the clothes, weapons, or protective gear worn by our personnel, damaged during the operation—this is a robe, this piece of silk used to be the Universe Ribbon, this is the canopy of an umbrella..."

None of these fabrics are single-layered; they are at least two layers, and some even have three or more layers.

Most of them are embroidered, some even with gold and silver thread, depicting various sun, moon, stars, Bagua symbols, talismans, cranes, and flowing clouds—quite exquisite…

The professors' faces contorted in shock. These things were clearly beyond their capabilities, even beyond their ability to get close to!

So in the end, they still have to watch from the sidelines through the glass?

"Who told you to be so stingy with your little bit of food! Look, we've been marginalized again..."

"Well, actually, there aren't many real skills involved in this job. It's all about practice! You have to be able to calm down, be patient, practice slowly, practice like crazy, practice dozens or even hundreds of things, and you'll master them!"

The real challenges in training successors for cultural relic restoration are twofold: first, the low income makes it easy for people to leave – the salaries in public institutions are just so-so; second, the number of antiques available for restoration is dwindling with each use…

It's a rare opportunity to take advantage of the Special Affairs Bureau, so why not! His treasured collection should be used to train the students he values ​​who are truly suited for this field!
He smiled at his colleague and began to instruct Shen Le:
"Removing the lining is not difficult; the difficulty lies in restoring it to its original state afterward."

There's a trick to this: you need to know the stitch pattern—where it starts, where it ends, and how it coils and twists. Then, starting from the end, you pull it out little by little…

Shen Le felt as if she had returned to the time when she was repairing the red wedding dress. Memorizing, practicing, various needlework techniques, threading the needle again and again.

The professors were eager to see Shen Le transformed into an embroiderer, but what they witnessed instead left them utterly disappointed:
Shen Le sat motionless, his eyes lowered, his breathing even and shallow. A thin thread floated up, drifted to him, and then split in two, then in four, then in eight…

"He's still splitting the embroidery thread! Does he really want to start embroidering?"

"Look, he chopped it again, and now it's split into sixteen strands!"

"They're not going to split it further down, are they...? I seem to remember that Suzhou embroidery is sometimes split into 48 strands..."

Fortunately, Shen Le did not continue to split the thread. A thin embroidery needle suddenly flew over, the embroidery thread went through the eye of the needle, and was pulled by the needle into the silk cloth on the embroidery frame.

It flew up and down, swirling and turning. The professors felt as if they had only blinked a few times and taken a sip of tea, and a tiny flower petal had bloomed on the embroidery hoop.

"Hmm...that's quite good." The professor specializing in textile restoration pinched the web of his hand, suppressing a bellyful of envy and jealousy, and offered his guidance in a calm tone:
"Now, let's try taking them apart again, just like they were?"

The embroidery needle flew off with a whoosh, embedding itself far into the needle pad, its speed and accuracy matching that of Dongfang Bubai—and perhaps even approaching some sword immortals who wield flying needles.

Shen Le sat motionless, seemingly not even glancing at the embroidery hoop. However, on the hoop, a thread slowly began to move, rising from the embroidery.

Stop for a moment, then pull away again from the opposite direction...

Although the speed was ten times slower than embroidery, every single embroidery thread was safely pulled out and neatly hung on the embroidery frame.

The embroidery thread was smooth and even, without any breaks. The silk fabric used as the embroidery base—Shen Le took a macro photo with her phone for comparison—the warp and weft threads on the surface weren't particularly distorted. "Very good! This level is good enough! Go take apart whatever you want to take apart!"

The professor felt a wave of dizziness. How could he teach this? It didn't even need his instruction!
Using magic to repair cultural relics is just too cheating!
However, Shen Le still couldn't get started immediately. He turned to the pile of textile fragments that the Special Affairs Bureau had brought over, examining and studying each piece carefully:

This area was burned by eerie fire, which clung to the fabric surface and couldn't be removed. Fortunately, the fabric itself possessed a force that counteracted it.
The goal is to remove the eerie flames without harming the fabric itself or stripping it of its inherent power. Therefore—fire control!
"Come……"

Shen Le extended a finger. A dim phosphorescent flame rose from the fabric, approached Shen Le, and circled as his fingertip rotated. Shen Le turned his head to look at the corner:

Hey, you there, Special Affairs Bureau guy, don't just stand there staring!
Where's the trash can?

Is there a special facility that can dispose of all kinds of yin fire, ghost energy, and blood?
This laboratory is equipped for restoring cultural relics, not for restoring ritual implements. You need to fix that!

"Oh, wait a minute!"

The young man jumped up, turned around, and ran away. A moment later, he returned with something that looked like a bomb-proof container and opened the lid.

Shen Le smiled and nodded at him, then flicked his finger, and the phosphorescent flame fell into the bucket and disappeared...

After repeating this process several times, the eerie flames on the tattered robe completely vanished, and a mysterious power rose up, illuminating the entire garment with a dazzling light. Excellent, its original power has been preserved!

Shen Le nodded in satisfaction, then unraveled the hem of the robe, cleaning and mending the broken embroidery threads. The power within the robe flowed rapidly, growing stronger and more dazzling.

As the last embroidery thread was joined, a burst of colorful light suddenly swept across the robe.

Immediately afterward, a small red-crowned crane with white feathers and black wings emerged from the embroidery of the robe, circled the room once, and cried out with its head raised!

"It's fixed!"

The young man flipped through the catalog in his hand, his face full of admiration, and gave Shen Le a thumbs up:

"The most important part of this robe is this embroidered crane. Mr. Shen, once you've repaired this part, and then we can cut and piece it together, it'll be ready to use!"

"If that's the case, then you'll have to pay for the repairs." Shen Le smiled and nodded at him, then turned her attention to a robe beside her that was constantly oozing blood.

He concentrated, reached out and grabbed, and the robe let out a piercing scream. Crack! Cracks appeared on the thick glass window, and the special affairs officer covered his ears, curling up into a ball!
"The Green Lamp!"

Shen Le shouted sharply. With a soft crackling sound, a bright flash of lightning leaped from the backpack, outlining a square on the glass window. Then, it extended along the square, enveloping the entire blood-stained robe.

The young man breathed a sigh of relief, slowly recovering. Looking again, he saw that Shen Le seemed completely oblivious, only frowning as she continued to slowly reach out and grab.
With one grab, a gush of blood shot into the air; with another grab, another gush of blood shot into the air. The blood-stained robe trembled incessantly, emitting screams that rose and fell, creating visible ripples within the electric fence.

Shen Le made a few grabbing motions, then suddenly let out a long sigh. He quickly moved his fingers in the air, condensing a ball of water that hovered in front of him.

With his other hand, he summoned a ball of colorful light and pushed it into the water sphere. The water sphere dripped down, turning into a milky-white drizzle that landed on the blood-red robe. After each water sphere had fallen, the color of the blood-red robe faded slightly.
As another water balloon landed, the blood on the blood-stained robe had faded from bright red to light red, then to pale white, and the screams and cries of pain grew weaker and weaker. The young man behind him called out in a low voice:
"Mr. Shen! That's enough! This robe is a keepsake left by a female ghost. Once the ritual is completed, it'll be fine—"

Before the words were finished, another water balloon fell, washing the blood-stained robe for the third time. The screams and dripping blood on the robe suddenly stopped and rolled back.

The robe lay quietly on the restoration table, no longer dripping blood, no longer wailing. In fact, the dark red, slightly blackish-red robe had returned to a bright, radiant, and somewhat festive true red.

The special affairs officer couldn't help but sigh:
"Sigh, Mr. Shen is really..."

Such a kind heart! This blood-stained robe, still bearing the lingering resentment, is something they're trying to cleanse and exorcise. Wouldn't the quickest way to remove something like this be to burn it?
He watched as Shen Le poured another large bottle of silk protein solution onto the surface, then unleashed seven or eight spells in one go before muttering to himself and quickly recording the information.

These staff members were secretly tasked with observing, recording, and evaluating cultivators—not just Shen Le, but any cultivator they encountered, assessing their abilities, conduct, and character…

"Shen Le! Stop playing around and get back to practicing!"

Across the glass window, Professor Han, catching his breath, quickly grabbed his phone and shouted, "Shen Le, do you even remember what you came here for?"

Do you remember why you invited us here?

In any case, I didn't come here to help you exorcise the female ghost!
Shen Le took a deep breath, nodded to his mentor through the window, and his hands flew, pieces of fabric floating up. He grabbed the tattered umbrella fabric, its edges shrouded in a foul-smelling black mist, threw it into the explosion-proof container, and then wove together the damaged sections to seal them.
A tattered curtain embroidered with flowing clouds, its edges torn open, released large, billowing clouds that obscured the entire room, making it pitch black.

Shen Le waved her arms repeatedly, gathering the clouds and stuffing them back into the tear. She mended the broken embroidery thread, sewed the edges back to their original state, gave it a shake, and clouds surged out from the curtain; she turned it over and shook it again, and the clouds receded…

After several rounds of this, they finally used up more than half of the practice materials sent by the Special Affairs Bureau clerk. Shen Le, rubbing his hands together, his eyes gleaming, finally approached the silk cloth that had been unearthed from the jade pillow:
"Boss, I've got an idea! I roughly know how to fix it! Please wait a moment, I'll show you how!"

He lunged directly at the silk, his movements so swift it was as if he feared being stopped—though no one could possibly stop him. With his eyes slightly closed, he carefully unraveled the seams along the silk's edge, revealing its hidden secret:

On the lining, a thin, indistinct silver thread coils and solidifies into characters the size of rice grains.

"The fire in the furnace of the Bingwu year transforms the black iron into flowing essence; the Big Dipper pours in the spirit of the heavens, and the Southern Dipper tempers the cold essence..."

Shen Le read it aloud, word by word. He read it once, then again. After he raised his camera and finished taking the photos and scanning, he suddenly opened his mouth and spat out a beam of white light that fell into the silk, merging with the fine silver threads!
Suddenly, a chilling aura filled the air, illuminating people's faces and turning the entire room into a frosty, eerie color.

The special affairs officer gasped softly and took a step back. Shen Le, however, was overjoyed, stepping forward and reaching out to the roll of silk:
The silver light surged, enveloping his entire body, blurring his figure as if he were about to merge into the sword light!

"Shen Le, don't go!"

Don't follow the sword light!

(End of this chapter)