Chapter 141: One-Person Laundromat
With the clothesline within reach, Anji had a new idea. She might not have enough strength to wring the water from the clothes or continuously spin them dry without a large basket. However, she could mimic a flameless stove to dry them quickly.
Arranging the bronze mirror right beneath the clothesline, Anji carefully designed a new type of spell on a piece of talisman paper. After putting everything together, she imbued qi into the paper and waited.
After a few seconds, the paper started to feel warmer, and Anji stopped supplying it with energy, fearing it would become too hot to hold if she continued. There was a limiter to ensure the heat would not burn the paper and the fabric. It was warmer than hot spring water, so Anji had to be careful when coming into contact with it and prevent getting burned.
Sticking several similar heating talismans to the back of the large bronze mirror on the floor, Anji flipped it around and started working.
One by one, she untangled the wet mess in the nearby tub and grabbed the first clothes she could free. Then, Anji dumped it onto the heated bronze mirror, which started sizzling. Almost immediately, a large amount of steam formed in front of her, clouding her vision.
Stepping backwards, Anji realised she would need to wait until most of the water had evaporated. When the steam finally dispersed, Anji realised the side that touched the heated surface was almost dry. Picking it up, she tossed the wet side of the clothes onto the mirror, rolling ball of fabric over and heaped more wet clothing from the tub onto it as if she were tossing onions into a wok.
The steam became out of hand, so the little girl rushed back to grab more talismans. Hastily scribbling a simple wind-emitting talisman, Anji clipped them on the clothesline above so it faced the bronze mirror.
The downward wind pushed the steam away efficiently and Anji grinned. For safety, she grabbed a dismantled broom handle and poked around at the wet clothes to "cook" them until they were mostly dry. At the same time, Anji unloaded the newly washed clothes into the wet tub and tossed in the dirty clothes with a new batch of ashes.
Repeating the cycle flawlessly, the heap of dirty clothes decreased as the machines worked efficiently. They were almost too efficient because Anji was exhausted from all the walking and carrying alone.