Chapter 4: Medicinal baths
In the cruel wilderness where ferocious birds and beasts infested and lives were threatened from time to time, the village people's requirements were simple, as long as there was food and they could eat well, they would be satisfied.
The bonfire jumped, the stone village was very lively, men and women, young and old were all wearing smiles and filled with laughter.
"Waifs don't run around, in a while, all come to have a medicinal bath, sleep well at night, and in the future, you're guaranteed to be stronger than even the ferocious beasts." An old man said with a smile.
"Ow ...... no!" A group of children heard all screamed miserably, fled, hiding to all parts of the village.
"A group of melon children, really do not know the blessing, that is a rare tonic, if you can persistently medicinal bath, can make your muscles and bones comparable to the giant beast." The adults counted and started catching their own children like little chickens.
"It hurts, I don't want a medicinal bath, it was like a knife cut last time."
"Abba let go, I don't want to be cooked."
A group of children fiercely resisted, but their small arms couldn't twist their thighs, and they were all caught back.
In an open space in the village, eight large copper pots had already been set up, with a blazing fire underneath and boiling water inside the pots, several old men threw herbs into them, and from time to time, they would also put in a few foot-long centipedes, fist-sized spiders, etc., which made the originally very clear water black, like ink, and it was very scary.
A group of children's faces turned green at that time, and they could not wait to escape immediately, but they were held down by the adults.
Afterwards, some clansmen fetched dozens of clay pots, and a few old men took them, carefully opened them, and poured some of the crimson liquid into the large copper pot, resulting in the black water boiling even more.
This was a small amount of real blood taken out from the bodies of those hunted beasts, very precious, whether it was used by adults or children, it could strengthen the body. Plus, the village people had a few ancient formulas at their disposal, and with some herbs and such, the effect of the true blood would be even better.
In addition to the true blood, a few old men also caused the wing bones of the flying python and the foot bones of the kui beast to be painstakingly crushed and thrown into the boiling water as well.
When the fire was extinguished, the water in the tripod no longer boiled, and the temperature of the water dropped a little, screams and "plop, plop, plop" sounds came from the first batch of children were thrown in, two or three people in one tripod.
"Pain ah, this water can burn people ah."
"Help, the body is like being cut by a knife, the skin and flesh are cracked!"
They bared their teeth, grabbed their hands and stomped their feet, one by one, they fought to rush outward, but as a result, they were all pressed back again, screaming miserably.
In this way, dozens of children were thrown in one batch after another, most of them screaming ferociously and constantly struggling, only seven or eight of them were slightly better, although sweating profusely from the pain, they endured not saying a word.
As for Little Bit, he didn't escape either, and was given special care, being thrown into a black cauldron alone, with only a little bit of clear water added inside, the rest being ferocious beasts' real blood, crushed bones, and so on.
The village people didn't feel it was wrong, nor did they feel that they were favoring one over the other, because their own waifs couldn't bear it, and they were already tearing their hearts out and crying in the ordinary medicinal cauldron, whereas Little Bit was able to eat it.
In addition, when the sticky liquid inside the black cauldron used by Little Bit boiled, the old patriarch opened two special earthenware jars and poured the liquid into the cauldron one by one.
A reddish haze rushed out of one of the jars, condensing into a bravura, palm-length, mighty and hideous, seemingly about to tear people apart and flee, with extreme ferocity. Glowing characters emerged from Shi Yunfeng's palm, the bone text lit up, and with a slap, the brave was dispersed, transformed into blood, and fell into the cauldron.
The other jar rushed out a two-headed rhinoceros, crimson like fire, brilliant and intimidating, it raised its head and roared, and was similarly dispersed by the old patriarch, falling into the black cauldron.
When the temperature of the water dropped a little bit, the little one was picked up, was thrown into the tripod after struggling hard, because he is still small, sitting inside will choke on water, just fell into the "gulp gulp gulp" directly on a few mouthfuls.
Opposite the children are showing sympathy, suddenly feel lucky, that only a small amount of water, mainly with special blood and animal bones, tendons and other components of the medicinal liquid will certainly make people's skin and bones even more severe pain, the little one is really pitiful.
It was some of the adults who were also a bit intolerant, because seeing the little guy struggling hard, baring his teeth, and taking a few big gulps of the sticky liquid from time to time, it was really a bit worrying.
"It's okay, it's not the first time, he's been like this before, he can take it. Drinking more of the medicinal liquid is not bad, it will be of great benefit to him if he can absorb it." The old patriarch said, his conditioning and care for Little Bit was sometimes sloppy.
"His physique is extremely strong, in addition the mysterious power of the bone text may also be in operation, helping him to refine some of the medicinal power, Little Bit shouldn't be in great pain." Another old man said as he ran his hand through his beard.
The medicinal bath lasted for a long time, a group of children were soaked like red-skinned monkeys, each one miserable, looking at each other with tears in their eyes, only stopping their sobbing when the medicinal bath was over, finally relieved.
Little Bit didn't cry when he was in the black cauldron, his big eyes turning ominously, his little face flushed like a big apple, but when he was carried out he was staggering like a drunk.
"How does it feel?" An old man asked.
The little guy burped and said in a confused voice, "Drunk and full."
The adults were all amused to hear such a heartless and innocent response from him.
"Sleepy." Little Bit crookedly, his small body collapsing into Shi Yunfeng's embrace, muttering softly and babbling slightly again, falling into a deep sleep.
"Take these children to get a good night's sleep, they'll all grow a lot of strength tomorrow." Patriarch Shi Yunfeng said.
In the end, a few old men cleaned up the residual liquid and instead of wasting it, they added fire under the copper cauldron, and put some special herbs into the cauldron to be boiled dry and made into medicinal powder. This is not only a kind of tonic medicine, but also a kind of healing medicine, when hunting in the mountain range on weekdays, bring it can save your life.
Survival environment is harsh, ferocious beasts are difficult to hunt, real blood is rare and expensive, otherwise it would not be as bad as continuing to boil it into medicinal powder after the children have used it, not wasting it at all.
Of course, the village of young adults do not care, as long as the dressing on the wound can save lives on the line.
The children slept deeply this night, and when they woke up on the second day, many of the little ones were screaming, because their bodies had shed a piece of old skin, and their beds were dirty.
"Go, fetch a bucket of well water to wash yourself clean, and then lift that millstone up for me."
"Abba, that's what San used to exercise his strength on weekdays, how can I lift it?"
"Don't talk nonsense, just lift it if you're told to. Did you use so much real blood and also bone medicine for nothing last night? If there's no growth, I'll slap your ass into eight pieces!"
Early in the morning, there was a flurry of chickens and dogs in the stone village, a group of children were all forced to move boulders and carry copper tripods, screaming in agony.
The effect was really obvious, the children all grew a lot of strength, their physique significantly enhanced, but to say that they were transformed would be a bit too much, not very realistic.
"Ka-ching ka-ching ka-ching."
At the head of the village, Patriarch Shi Yunfeng's palm runic symbols glowed brightly as he held a purple-gold hammer, smashing the rarest section of the dragon horn of the Dragon Horn Elephant, while later taking a section of the claw bone of the brave as well as a small section of the red horn of the fire rhinoceros, similarly smashing it and finally grinding it into powder. He mixed these bone and horn powders with part of the ferocious beast's true blood, and put them together into the beast's milk that was being boiled, and the aroma curled up at once.
And then, the old man threw in one strange herb after another. In a short time, the liquid in the clay pot gradually became a paste, but the aroma was even stronger.
"Little Bit is eating."
In the stone house, the little guy heard the shout and rolled over and sat up, just woke up big eyes are still confused, but after the aroma came, he quickly opened and closed his little nose a few times, immediately got the spirit, murmured, "It smells really good."
"That's for sure, this is a real furnace of precious medicine, don't waste a single bit, eat it all." Shi Yunfeng laughed.
Little Bit wolfed it down, and in no time, he finished the paste in the clay pot, but the negative effects were immediately apparent, he was still too small after all, and the medicinal strength was simply too strong. On this morning, the normally cute Little Bit transformed into a problem child, possessing a pair of big red eyes like a white rabbit, and running around, ah ah ah barking all the time.
The poor big yellow dog was tugged so hard after he caught his tail that the end almost went bald, woofing and growling for most of the day, making a scene all over the village, and there was no peace.
"Hey, Little Bit why are you pulling the fence of Auntie's house?"
"What's wrong with the little guy, why did he run up to my house roof, stop it quickly, no tearing down the tiles!"
......
The village people were stunned, usually very good little bitty transformed into a small beast, breaking into all over the place, can be vigorously tossed.
"A furnace of medicine have all been absorbed, the effect is very good." Shi Yunfeng stood with a few old men and was softly discussing, nodding in satisfaction.
In the distance, many children saw this scene and became even more in awe of the matriarch, all of them shivered with excitement and avoided far away, coming together to mutter in a low voice, "Little Bit is so pathetic!"
Little Dot's palm glowed, and finally spread upwards, and even the bone text surfaced on his little arm, bright and uncertain, very mysterious. Moreover, his physique enhanced, his speed and strength increased by a large margin, which was why the old patriarch was more satisfied.
It wasn't until two hours later that he quieted down, scratching his head in confusion and whispering, "Eeeee, got into trouble."
