Chapter 141

Chapter 141

Inside the thick woolen tent, the air was heavy with the scent of incense.

Clear spring water gurgled through a channel built from slabs of black stone.

This tent had originally been the residence of the Shaman Hulan, but after Qin Ying arrived, it became her temporary quarters.

Qin Ying did not refuse.

For the sake of her own life, it was better to put on the airs of a Divine Envoy and maintain a little distance from the people below her.

Inside the tent sat a large round black basin, the sort modern people might use to wash clothes, or to chop a mountain of chili peppers.

It was two-thirds filled with steaming clear water, and floating on the surface were several aromatic plants unique to Chixia Mountain.

This was the bathwater Hulan had prepared for Qin Ying, the fake Divine Envoy.

In the Chixia Desert, only the Blackstone Tribe, which possessed a spring, could enjoy such a luxury.

At Qin Ying’s signal, Hulan withdrew from the tent.

Only when she was alone did Qin Ying bare her teeth and suck in a sharp breath.

The nonwoven sack clothing on her body was far too stiff.

After being carried by Han Lie as he ran the whole way, large patches of her back and underarms had been rubbed raw and swollen red, almost like burns.

She tore off the rough clothing, and when she felt under her arm, Qin Ying found a small row of tender, watery blisters.

The moment that thick, rigid outfit hit the floor, she felt as if the air had cooled by three degrees.

Lowering her head, she raked her fingers through her hair twice, and fine red-yellow sand scattered down in a cloud, almost like smoke and dust.

The Blackstone Tribe’s drinking water was right beside her, so Qin Ying sensibly sidled two steps away to avoid contaminating the water source.

Beside the large basin meant for her bath stood a tallow candle planted in the ground for light.

There was also a wooden chest being used as a cabinet, with a bone comb and a flat, round silver box placed on top.

The silver box was exquisitely carved. Qin Ying opened it for a look and found that the black ointment inside gave off the medicinal scent of Immortal Grass.

There was only so much bathwater, and with no soap or shower gel, Qin Ying had no choice but to first comb the sand out of her hair if she wanted to get clean.

Once she had combed out the sand, Qin Ying scooped up water to wash the pitch-black soles of her feet before sitting down in the big round foot-washing basin.

The water in the basin only reached her navel. When Qin Ying had tested the temperature with her foot, she had not noticed anything strange, but the moment she sat down, she was nearly scalded into springing out like a monkey.

She gripped the black stone basin. What met her touch was not the chill of stone at all, and only then did she realize there was something unusual about it.

The stone basin itself could heat and warm the water.

Even more miraculous was that Qin Ying had originally assumed that once she got into the basin, the water would quickly turn into yellow mud soup.

But when she actually sat in the stone basin, she discovered that beneath the floating aromatic plants, countless bubbles were emerging from the tiny pores in the stone. The yellow sand and grime on her body dissolved away as those little bubbles dispersed.

Qin Ying could not help silently apologizing in her heart for having complained earlier that there was too little water.

With this miraculous stone basin, Qin Ying’s bath left her truly clean.

Just then, Hulan reported from outside the tent that she had brought food and clothing.

Qin Ying, who had been hunched over in the basin without the slightest dignity, scooping up water to wash her hair, flicked her wet hair back.

She immediately changed into a posture that looked considerably more proper. After using her black hair to cover her chest, she said, “Come in.”

Hulan entered holding a tray. The burns on her face looked somewhat frightening under the wavering light of the tallow candle.

She was extremely respectful toward Qin Ying, not looking directly at her as she bowed and stepped forward to present the tray.

On the tray was a set of Sand People clothing, along with quite a few pieces of silver jewelry.

When Hulan entered the tent, it was impossible to say she was not nervous.

She had once been the tribe’s Shaman, but only she knew the truth of her own affairs. The Heaven and Earth God she had believed in before had never once given her a response.

Now a Divine Envoy had suddenly descended from the heavens, and outside the village, countless divine agents filled the sand dunes. Naturally, she had to act with utmost caution in everything.

As she lifted the tray, she glanced from the corner of her eye.

She saw the Divine Envoy sitting in the water basin, her wet black hair wrapped around her body. The skin she revealed was so pale that under the candlelight, it seemed to give off a hazy glow.

This was a complexion rarely seen by those who lived in the Chixia Desert.

Her porcelain-white face was neither sorrowful nor joyful, and she looked just like the unglazed porcelain beloved by the nobles of Great Xia.
Only the tiny mole at the corner of her eye was too red, adding a touch of eerie, mysterious ghostliness to her face.

Hulan did not dare look any longer. She set down the clothes she had brought, then prostrated herself until her forehead touched the black stone floor. “Divine Envoy, may I ask if the Supreme Deity has given any instructions?”

“How should we worship the Supreme Deity? What divine image should we establish?”

They were far too unfamiliar with this New God. They did not even know the god’s statue or Divine Name. Now that the Divine Envoy had descended, Hulan’s voice carried a note of irrepressible excitement.

She wanted to learn from the Divine Envoy the details of the holy scripture, the making of the image, and the like.

Because she had lowered her head, she naturally did not see Qin Ying’s eyes go blank for an instant.

The Divine Envoy said nothing. In her head, she was frantically making things up.

After a moment, she said softly, “Eyes.”

Hulan looked at her in confusion, but Qin Ying had already closed her eyes, looking as though she were communing with heaven and earth.

In a distant, ethereal voice, she said, “Withdraw for now.”

Give her a little time. She would make one up right away.

Seeing her close her eyes, Hulan noticed that her lashes, damp from the water, were as black as raven feathers. She did not look like a living person.

Hulan’s heart trembled. She dared not say another word, leaving behind the new felt for drying herself, the clothes, and the ornaments before retreating.

Before she left, she seemed to hear the Divine Envoy let out a soft sigh.

Once the tent curtain fell, Qin Ying, who had been putting on a mysterious act, finally opened one eye.

Then she wiped the water droplets from her body with the white wool felt as quickly as possible.

Enduring the pain, she applied ointment from the flat, round silver box to the chafed areas under her arms, on her lower back, and on her backside.

Qin Ying put on the clothes Hulan had brought, draped herself in the brand-new felt cloak, and crouched beside the spring to think.

Only after a long while did she sit cross-legged on the ground again and call Hulan in from outside the tent.

“This is the symbol of our god.”

Qin Ying deliberately slowed both her movements and her tone by half. Dipping into vermilion pigment, she drew a symbol on a sheepskin scroll.

Hulan suppressed the overwhelming anticipation in her heart and leaned forward to look.

On the pale yellow sheepskin scroll, the mysterious symbol was a winding loop joined head to tail.

From Hulan’s angle, it looked like a pair of eyes.

Excitement surged in her heart, and she kowtowed to the symbol.

Qin Ying, who had casually drawn an infinity symbol on the parchment, quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Judging by Hulan’s reaction, it seemed the symbol had not overlapped with anything existing.

As for why she had drawn this, it was because Qin Ying had thought for a very long time and could only come up with this one thing that looked like eyes.

Then she put on another profound expression and said, “Each year at Jingzhe / Awakening of Insects, when the spring thunder startles hibernating creatures awake, offer fresh mugwort shoots.”

“At Xiaoman / Grain Buds, offer sweet flag and plum tea.”

“At Hanlu / Cold Dew, offer fragrant herbs and spiced brine.”

“At Dahan / Major Cold, offer mixed-grain porridge.”

Qin Ying knew very well that this god of hers was a complete fake.

She did not want to come up with complicated, bloody offerings that would drag down the Sand People Tribe converting to the faith.

The things she proposed were all items that could be found in the Chixia Region without too much effort.

As for things like fresh mugwort shoots, the Chixia Desert might not have them, but they should be everywhere in Yunwu County during spring.

As for why there was plum tea and the like, that was because Qin Ying liked drinking it.

As a professional religious figure, Hulan was shocked to hear that the offerings were so simple.

But she did not dare refute Qin Ying. She only hesitated for a long while without answering.

Qin Ying said coldly, “For ordinary offerings, these are sufficient. If there are other ritual needs, the Supreme Deity will naturally send down a divine oracle.”

She did not dare thump her chest and promise that the god would not want certain things from the Chixia Desert.

So she left herself some room to maneuver.

Hulan looked at the sheepskin scroll in her hands, and suddenly felt moved.

When they had believed in the Heaven and Earth God in the past, they always had to slaughter large numbers of the Tribe’s livestock and burn them as offerings.

Every time, the cost had been considerable. Yet the New God they believed in now was actually so merciful.

A smile slowly spread across her burned face.

With the utmost reverence, she traced the symbol Qin Ying had drawn once more and answered, “Yes.”

Her voice was not particularly loud, but as her fingertip stopped after finishing the symbol, Qin Ying, who had single-handedly fabricated both the symbol and the ritual, truly felt a subtle connection.

It was as if a thin veil had been brushed aside. In that instant, she could clearly sense Hulan.