Chapter 3: Go into the water to bathe!

Jier walked out of the wooden Church and told his men about the situation he had heard.

Everyone was quite surprised, but surprise aside, having been exhausted for many days, many of the less hygienic Warriors were smelling sour and foul, and it was exactly the time they needed a good cleaning.

Especially with the weather being hot these days; every time the sun shone down, their bodies would sweat and get oily, and at first, their bodies would feel sticky, but once a layer of grime accumulated on their bodies, they wouldn't feel sticky even when sweating under the sun.

Because the dirt on the surface of their skin had already turned into a thick layer of grime, which was both a metabolic byproduct of the body and a means of protection for the body's surface.

The Huimao Hu Li that Jier had captured had been very well-behaved since arriving at Lanse-Qingting Cunzi, carefully lying on the roof of Jier's carriage and observing the interior of the Church with a cautious gaze.

It could sense that there was a powerful source of power inside the Church; the sensory ability of a Shapeshifting Monster's body was far superior to that of a Human, and it was even more sensitive than Jier when it came to sensing unconscious danger.

After all, they needed to survive in the mountain forests and had to be mindful of various dangerous situations at all times. Do not think that just because they were Monsters with a high ecological niche in the mountain forests, there was no danger. Some poisonous plants, dangerous Poisonous Snakes, Poisonous Frogs, and Poisonous Bees—even Monsters had to handle them with caution.

One moment of carelessness, and they would lose their lives.

Unless they reached the level of a Magic Beast, possessing a robust physique and powerful Magic Organs, most accidental situations in the mountain forests would not endanger the life of a Magic Beast.

But that was only most of them.

And at this moment, the Huimao Hu Li could clearly sense that a certain Human in the Church possessed a powerful and vaguely radiating source of power. That was the situation of the elderly Old Priest unconsciously releasing the Divine Power of the Agricultural God that he could not contain.

If this situation of unconsciously radiating Divine Power were maintained for many years, the residence where he frequently used it and stayed would possess some magical power due to the permeation of the Agricultural God's Divine Power.

The source of the materials for the wooden hilt and wooden Sword Sheath of Jier's Hunting Sword mostly came about in this way.

In the garden of the Agricultural God Church in Kendall City, a large tree that was frequently brushed against by passing Priests had its own wooden material possess some magical abilities precisely because it was frequently in contact with the Agricultural God's Divine Power on the Priests.

Although the Huimao Hu Li had eaten some Human brains and knew a little about the situation in Human society, after all, knowledge gained from books is shallow, and one must practice it to truly understand; it had not had much close contact with Human churches or cathedrals before, and while the Agricultural God Church in Changmai Cunzi had been quite damaged, the one in Lanse-Qingting Cunzi was intact, and the wooden statue of the Agricultural God inside would emit a faint green light even at night, not to mention the Old Priest himself, who was full of Divine Power.

In a situation where things were unclear, the Huimao Hu Li preferred to lie on the roof of Jier's carriage and go nowhere.

It had discovered that compared to other parts of the carriage train, where anyone would habitually reach out and rub its fox head and back vigorously, once it ran to Jier's own carriage, those Human Warriors and drivers who casually touched it were much better behaved.

The entire carriage was used only by Xueya Siter, and because Jier did not often rest in the carriage, the Huimao Hu Li could live much more peacefully by staying here honestly.

This could be considered as the fox borrowing the tiger's might; in order to avoid having its head rubbed by people, it had tried every possible method.

It was quite exhausting.

"After the village is ready in a moment, our people will divide into two groups, with Warriors and drivers mixed into two groups; after the first wave of people returns, the second wave will go over. Remember, be polite and courteous; although we have done the village a favor and the villagers are very grateful to us, if anyone behaves improperly because of this, don't blame me for giving the offender a few lashes! After all, if you lose face, it is my reputation that is lost."

Jier said sternly to his men, who were eating their dinner in large mouthfuls.

He held a horse whip he had taken from the carriage and flicked it casually.

Crack!

With a light flick, the tip of the whip made a crisp sound of breaking the air; needless to say, being hit by this thing would easily tear skin and flesh and leave ugly scars.

Of course, they were all Warriors who had rolled through battles, so everyone was not afraid of pain, but it would be very shameful.

If everyone else was fine and only they were whipped for improper behavior, how could they continue to work under Knight Jier? They might as well return to Xinxiwang Town to farm early.

Don't come out thinking about making big money.

Especially since everyone had earned some money one way or another during these days, no one wanted to leave Jier's Warrior team.

After all, here, the harvest from one battle was equal to a year's income from farming at home, and no one wanted to go back to farming for a living.

"My Lord, don't worry, we won't make you lose face," a Warrior said with a laugh.

"Exactly, it's just taking a bath; even if it's getting into the water to bathe, I often snuck into the village pond to bathe when I was in my home village," a driver said with a grin, talking about the past.

"Alright, you divide into groups first, split into two parts, and mix them together. Those who want to bathe and wash up first, stand on my side; those who still want to eat something, stay where you are and look after everyone's things. The horses pulling the carts need to be fed and watered, their hooves cleaned, and their hair brushed. Those who stay here, do that after you finish eating. Once everyone has finished bathing, it seems the celebration activities for tonight will follow."

Jier added: "Listening to the Old Priest, it seems they are going to take out the things for the Harvest Festival this year to use now; the village really thinks highly of us. So, all of you, behave yourselves later. Don't keep swearing; keep your mouths clean, understand?"

"Understood, My Lord, our mouths are all eating right now, so we can't spare the time to swear!" a Warrior said with a giggle.

"It better be so," Jier muttered.

After waiting for a while, a young farm woman came over to invite everyone to the village's water source to bathe.

Of course, the first step before bathing was to take everyone to relieve themselves first. If there was any burden on their bodies, handle it now; don't go peeing in their water source later.

That would be too unhygienic.

It would be annoying to others.

Jier also took the opportunity to take off his weapons and equipment, and also took off the Muan and Weapon Rack from the back of Tianxuecao, wearing only his Inner Armor, and with a Magic Dagger hanging casually at his waist, he went to handle his body's burden.

It took everyone quite a while to finish handling their burdens, and only then were they led to the side of the pool next to the Church.

It had changed greatly here; temporary Torches were inserted into stone pillars, and cloth screens to block the view were also set up in a semicircle around the pool. Many Villagers were dressed neatly, holding empty boxes and waiting for a long time.

"Please place your personal clothing and items into the boxes in order, and enter the enclosure naked," a young female Villager said to everyone with a smile.

The people behind Jier all blushed, because these Villagers holding the boxes for personal items were all female Villagers, and they were embarrassed.

Seeing this situation, Jier laughed out loud, took the lead in front of everyone, and took off his armor, Inner Armor, as well as his undergarments, belt, and Magic Dagger, throwing them all into the first box.

"Watch over them; other things don't matter, but that Dagger is a precious treasure." Jier, naked and not ashamed, said this, then waved to his men to signal them to follow, and was the first to walk into the set-up enclosure.

Actually, when Jier took off his clothes, everyone's attention was drawn to the two conspicuous glowing marks on Jier's body. Because Jier basically wore armor all day, everyone had rarely, if ever, discovered those two glowing things on Jier's body.

The Warriors curiously guessed what those were; some thought that might be the reason Jier was so powerful, a point which everyone agreed with, and they followed suit by taking off their clothes.

Each box had conspicuous text and patterns for people to identify, so there was no need to worry about wearing someone else's clothes or taking someone else's things later.

As soon as Jier entered, he saw that besides having enough Torches for lighting along the edge of the pool, there were also Wooden Basins prepared, and the basins were filled with many tools used for washing and bathing.

Clean Cloth Towels, long-handled Pig Hair Brushes, rough pebbles for scrubbing calluses, and even rare Soap and a wooden bottle. It was not that there was no Soap in this other world; similar things had existed for a long time, but that a remote village could have these things made Jier somewhat surprised.

However, when he picked up a Wooden Basin to examine it carefully, he discovered that the Soap was not a finely crafted item, but a local homemade soap made from Grease and wood ash, which was not bad for scrubbing one's body.

The wooden bottle contained a viscous liquid with a strong, fresh plant scent, and the smell was very pleasant.

Jier asked the Villagers outside the screen loudly what this was, and they replied: "Warrior Jier, this is Plant Essence made personally by Grandpa Ruiduokasi; it can relieve physical fatigue and is very precious."

Jier was somewhat surprised; he didn't expect this thing to be made personally by the Old Priest, so it must be a good thing.

Seeing his men walking in one after another, shyly covering their lower bodies, he laughed at them, hugged his own Wooden Basin, and walked down the stone steps along the edge of the pool.

The summer air was quite hot, but the water in the pool of Lanse-Qingting Cunzi was indeed as cool and refreshing as he had expected.

Just letting the cool water submerge his chest made Jier feel as if his whole body was refreshed.

"Haha, everyone, come down quickly, it's really cool! So comfortable!" Jier knew how to swim, so he let his Wooden Basin float on the water, while he himself moved his hands and feet, swimming back and forth on the surface of the water, which he didn't know whether to call a large Pond or a small lake.

Water splashed everywhere, and Jier swam at a rapid speed.

Thanks to his formidable physical functions, even though Jier's technique was quite average, his swimming speed easily surpassed that of the world swimming champions from his previous life.

He even jumped out of the water like a dolphin, spun around in the air, and then plunged back into the water with a splash, sending up a large spray.

"Jier, that fellow, is just like a little monkey. After all, he is a young man in his teens." Standing by the back door of the Nongshen Church, the Old Priest said with a chuckle as he walked out accompanied by others, watching Jier swimming lively in the water.

The other devout Nongshen Believers nearby also watched with envy as the warrior Jier swam in the village's pool.

But they had been taught since childhood never to enter the water; whether it was this one in the village or any other water source outside the village, they were not allowed to enter. Therefore, in the entire Blue Dragonfly Cunzi, apart from the Old Priest who knew how to swim, the entire village's Villagers were surprisingly unable to swim.

There was no help for it; the pool water in the village was a precious water source used for watering fields, drinking, cooking, washing, doing laundry, and so on. All of it had to be fetched home for use. To protect it, the village had even gone to the lengths of building a large surrounding wall to protect the entire pool.

As for some water sources outside the village, it was best not to approach them, let alone enter the water.

Because the wild water sources in the southern Sasi County were basically occupied by Siege Fish. These large-bodied, ferocious water Monsters would kill every animal that wanted to drink water.

The wild animals in the vast southern Sasi County region would quickly approach the water's edge, take a sip of water, and then flee immediately, fearing an attack by the Siege Fish lurking in the water.

The Priest and his group had come out precisely to cast the Blessing Ritual on the water source.

Of course, the Old Priest had sufficient strength; he alone could easily perform the Blessing Ritual that Bata'er Jiaoshi could never manage. But after all, the old man was advanced in age, and the various preparations for the ritual could not be completed by him alone.

At this time, the several male and female Villagers in their forties or fifties following the Old Priest were the most devout believers in the village. They carried the various items needed for the ritual and followed the Old Priest out of the Church with solemn expressions to hold the ceremony at the back door of the Church, facing the pool.

Water blessed through the ritual could relieve physical fatigue and heal some minor physical injuries after bathing in or drinking it; for all the Villagers, this was a good thing.

After all, farming was very hard work. After long periods of labor, the muscles of the waist, legs, joints, and shoulders would accumulate some soreness and hidden injuries. If one could come into contact with this blessed water, it could very well relieve or even heal such minor physical ailments, thereby significantly extending the lifespan of Humans.

In fact, the Humans of this other world had long known the natural lifespan of a Human, which was about one hundred and twenty years old. The vast majority of people did not live to this age, which was, of course, due to the reduction of lifespan caused by diseases.

And if other supernatural powers were used, the lifespan of Humans could easily break this limit. Among them, the Church of the Gods and the Mages each had their own methods.

In terms of widespread use, the methods of the Mages were promoted more in the upper echelons of society. But in terms of ease of use, those of the Church of the Gods were easier.

For instance, if the Old Priest Ruiduokasi did not get sick and did not exhaust all his Nongshen Divine Power at once, he could easily live past one hundred years of age. Although he had worked too hard and pushed himself too much in his youth, leading to a significant depletion of his body, living past ninety was still very easy.

In fact, if the Old Priest had not been so desperate in his youth, given his physical condition, it would have been possible for him to live past one hundred and fifty years while retiring in the parish.

The group of subordinates who had come with Jier also entered the water one after another at this time, shouting and washing their bodies right by the edge of the pool.

After all, there were not many subordinates as bold and capable of swimming as Jier. Many of them could not swim, and those who could did not dare to swim freely in the pool to their heart's content. After all, just because Jier himself dared to swim openly did not mean these ordinary Warriors could wantonly swim in another village's pool.

Everyone scrubbed their bodies hard with their hands to wash away the dirt. But soon, someone took out the long-handled Pig Hair Brush that everyone had, and used this thing to scrub their bodies hard.

Others wetted the Cloth Towel in the basin and rubbed it back and forth on their heads. There were even drivers or Warriors who did not dare to enter the water at all, only daring to put their legs and feet on the edge of the pool, using a Wooden Basin to fetch water and wipe their bodies.

"Hey, look at that little square in the wooden basin, the one that feels slippery and soft. If you rub that thing on your wet body, and on your head too, you can easily get your body clean."

Seeing that everyone did not really know how to use the Soap, even though the village's homemade earth soap was a very effective washing tool, Jier introduced it to the Warriors and explained how to use it.

Everyone had not dared to use this thing they had never seen before, but after Jier's reminder and the demonstration he took the initiative to perform, everyone finally understood how good this thing was.

It could easily remove dirt and surface Grease from the body, and the earth soap of Blue Dragonfly Cunzi was made to a certain standard; it could barely produce foam when scrubbed, which made the Warriors feel it was novel and interesting.

And after using the Soap, everyone was much cleaner.

As for the rough pebbles for removing calluses, there was no need to use them, because the calluses on the soles of the feet would protect everyone's feet, allowing them to walk further. The calluses on the hands could make it more convenient to use weapons, avoiding the weapons chafing the palms.

Therefore, this thing was not very popular.

And just as everyone was washing and bathing, not far away, the Old Priest, with the help of the believers, began to perform the Blessing Ritual.

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