A Different Way to Braid Hair

Miss Xiao Wu's private lessons were undeniably top-notch.

The first lesson was how to fall.

That one fall taught him not to get cocky or complacent.

That was, in a way, the hidden purpose of the first lesson.

To learn Soft Technique well, he first needed to have at least a little reverence for it.

If he didn't take Soft Technique seriously, Xiao Wu had no reason to put so much effort into teaching him. They might as well have stuck to the playful roughhousing they'd done before.

Jiang Jiu's performance had undoubtedly pleased Xiao Wu, making her feel all the more accomplished as his teacher.

"That's enough for today. Let's go take a bath and change," Xiao Wu said, clapping her hands.

Dorm Seven had no private bathrooms. To bathe, they had to fetch water and wash up in the communal bathhouse.

At least the bathhouse had separate facilities for boys and girls.

As someone who had once lived in the south, Jiang Jiu honestly found this bathing arrangement difficult to get used to. Fortunately, no one else was in the bathhouse at that hour.

"Looks like I'll have to get up early to bathe from now on."

He was even thinking of renting a place outside.

Putting those distractions aside, he began to recall Xiao Wu's "lessons."

His shoulders, back, hips, legs, chest, and sides were all hot and red.

One of the core principles behind the way Xiao Wu taught him to fall was to maximize the area of his body that hit the ground, while protecting vulnerable spots such as his head, neck, and important joints.

In other words, how to "breakfall."

She hadn't taught him the more advanced techniques for dispersing force yet, but he had figured out a few things about circulating Soul Power in time to protect his body.

When he'd been sent flying against his will, his body had reacted faster than his mind. His Soul Power had responded before his conscious thoughts.

For an ordinary Soul Master like Jiang Jiu, without Martial Soul Possession, it wasn't a given that he could direct his Soul Power wherever he pleased, gathering it at any part of his body he chose.

That took long hours of practice and experimentation.

With no formal instruction, he could only train bit by bit on his own.

Fortunately, Jiang Jiu now had a "master," even if his teacher was a transformed Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.

He could learn a few things at a beginner Soul Master Academy, but it was unlikely he'd get lessons tailored to him.

If he wasn't especially gifted, then even at an advanced Soul Master Academy, he'd still be just another face in the crowd, overlooked and unremarked.

A good one-on-one teacher was incredibly important.

After bathing, Jiang Jiu met up with Xiao Wu again.

Her hair was loose, and healthy color glowed in her fair, rosy cheeks.

"Hmm, Xiao Jiu, your hair will have to grow as long as mine, too, right? Hehe, my scorpion braid is a great weapon in a fight!"

Looking at Jiang Jiu's long golden hair, Xiao Wu decided she'd have him wear it in a scorpion braid as well.

That was the only proper way for a master and disciple to look!

"Won't it break? Or get grabbed?"

He knew Xiao Wu had a special scorpion-braid technique for choking people, but in Jiang Jiu's mind, hair was a weakness. The classic example was having it pulled.

Unless your hair was your Martial Soul, with the ability to grow freely and repair itself after damage.

But then, getting into a brawl was dangerous to begin with. Any part of your body could be struck hard enough to leave you reeling. Having one more way to attack was still a good thing.

"Don't be silly. We use Soft Technique, and the moves for slipping free work on hair, too. Just reinforce it with Soul Power," Xiao Wu said, tossing her long hair. Her black tresses danced as if alive.

"I'll show you in a bit."

Back in Dorm Seven, Xiao Wu took a comb from her little bundle and began to comb her long hair.

As she worked, she told Jiang Jiu, "Watch closely. This is how you make a scorpion braid."

Once she set down the comb, Xiao Wu began braiding her hair with both hands.

"Like this... then this... and then this. Tie it off with a strip of cloth, and you're done!" Xiao Wu gave her long scorpion braid, tied with a pink ribbon, a playful toss.

"Got it?" She turned to look at Jiang Jiu.

"Not at all." After a moment of silence, that was the only answer Jiang Jiu could give.

He couldn't tell whether Xiao Wu had no talent for teaching people to braid hair or whether he was simply much more gifted at Soft Technique than at hairstyling.

Jiang Jiu felt it was Xiao Wu's fault.

"Forget it. I'll do it for you myself."

Xiao Wu glanced at the little purple comb in her hand and hesitated.

"Can I skip the braid?"

"Sit still!" Xiao Wu pushed Jiang Jiu onto the bed, leaned close, and began carefully combing his hair.

"Your hair feels so nice." Xiao Wu loved the feel of Jiang Jiu's golden hair. It felt pleasantly different from her own black hair.

As Jiang Jiu felt the comb move and Xiao Wu's hand stroke his hair, that strange sense of their roles being reversed returned.

Wasn't this backward?

Before he could think any further, Xiao Wu began gathering and sectioning his hair.

His thick, silky hair made braiding it a pleasure. No matter how you tied hair like this, it looked good.

"Hmm, done." Xiao Wu's voice held a hint of reluctance.

"How do I put this... it doesn't seem quite right." She studied it closely before speaking.

Xiao Wu's style of scorpion braid suited someone fresh and playful. Once finished, it made the wearer look especially polished and cute.

Clearly, Jiang Jiu didn't have that sort of temperament.

After thinking it over, Xiao Wu began making adjustments.

She took a new strip of cloth from her bundle and twisted it by hand. Little by little, she changed Jiang Jiu's scorpion braid into an updo, leaving a small tuft of hair sticking up at the crown and bangs falling along both sides of his face. The result gave him a gentle yet resolute, heroic air.

Xiao Wu stepped back and looked. Satisfied, she nodded, then sneaked back to adjust the ribbon behind Jiang Jiu's head into a bow.

"Perfect!" She clapped her hands.

Jiang Jiu felt like he was sitting bored in a barber's shop. He couldn't see exactly what she'd done to his hair. Maybe it was better than watching himself fail a gacha pull in the mirror?

"Why'd you put my hair up?" He could at least tell that much.

"It looks better this way, but it doesn't really make you look like one of us Soft Bone Rabbit Soul Masters..." Xiao Wu began another plaintive little mutter.

"Practicality matters more, right?" Jiang Jiu had a different opinion.

"Don't worry. Just untie your ribbon, and you'll have a scorpion braid like mine again. Undo it for training and fights; wear it like this the rest of the time."

"You're the teacher. I'll do what you say."

"Then let's go out and play! Hmph, where have Wang Sheng and the others been all this time? Don't tell me they've forgotten I'm the boss?" Xiao Wu's thoughts jumped from one thing to the next.

Jiang Jiu rolled his eyes.

As far as he remembered, Wang Sheng and the others had come back. They'd seen him being enthusiastically thrown around by Xiao Wu at the entrance, and had probably been scared off by her.