Chapter 307
“Brother Tang, what does ‘taking a bath’ mean?”
Gan Lin, who once met Tang Yu’an in a dream and was about the same age back then, was now clearly younger than him.
In just five months, Tang Yu’an would turn 18. Although his cheeks were still a bit chubby and his eyes clear and innocent, giving him a youthful look, it was still obvious he was older than Gan Lin.
Hearing Gan Lin call him “brother,” Tang Yu’an couldn’t help but feel a bit pleased with himself.
He loved being the older brother!
He patiently explained, “Taking a bath means using water to clean the dirt off your body. That way, you won’t get sick as easily.”
Tang Yu’an understood that in a place like Flame Dragon Fortress, it was perfectly normal that Gan Lin had never taken a bath before.
“How much water does that take?” Gan Lin asked, eyes wide.
“There’s no need to worry about water shortages in the Flame Dragon Settlement,” Tang Yu’an replied. “Now that we have teleportation arrays, we can transport water from the coast. Once we install pipelines, it’ll be even more convenient.”
When the time was right, he planned to grant the “remote retrieval” ability to Hai Jing, allowing him to transport water to the Flame Dragon Settlement.
Only employees can retrieve goods from their own stores with that ability, so he either had to give Hai Jing access—or transfer Gan Lin to the Li Hai General Store.
“Gan Lin, do you know what the ocean is?” Tang Yu’an asked.
Gan Lin nodded. “I heard the ocean is full of water—but it’s salty.”
“Right, not drinkable,” Tang Yu’an confirmed. “But it can be distilled and purified into fresh water that we can drink.”
“How big is the ocean?” Gan Lin asked. “Is it as big as the lake that the divine envoys created for us?”
Tang Yu’an almost nodded instinctively, but caught himself just in time.
“I don’t know how big that lake is, but I’m sure it’s smaller than the ocean. The sea is endless—way bigger than this desert around Flame Dragon Fortress.”
Gan Lin looked stunned, with a yearning expression.
“I really want to see it…”
“You can! I’ll take you there now.” Tang Yu’an grabbed Gan Lin, planning to take him to the RV to wash up first.
“No, no!” Gan Lin resisted, shaking his head. “That would waste so much water!”
Tang Yu’an thought for a moment and said, “Then I’ll take you to the coast to wash. Once you see how much water is there, you won’t feel like it’s being wasted.”
He sent a private message to Hai Jing, asking him to add Old Mo and Gan Lin to the teleportation array’s access list.
Hai Jing complied without question.
“Let’s go! We’re heading to the Li Hai Settlement—to the ocean.”
And so, Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi took them through the teleportation array—arriving at the Li Hai General Store.
Hai Jing was busy outside, while Little Hai Lan was studying in the courtyard.
After Tang Yu’an greeted them and explained they were heading to the coast, Little Hai Lan eagerly volunteered to be their guide.
“Daddy said, if guests come, we have to treat them well. It’s proper etiquette,” the little girl said seriously, pushing aside her workbook.
“Then let’s go together,” Tang Yu’an said with a smile.
They left the general store and, right as they stepped out, a bus pulled into the stop—so they all got on and headed to the beach.
Gan Lin stared wide-eyed at everything in the Li Hai Town.
After a few months of development, the town had changed rapidly. New houses were going up, and men, women, and children wore clean, sturdy clothes.
In addition to buses, people could be seen riding bikes and tricycles through the streets.
Everyone was busy, but their faces were full of a spirit and energy Gan Lin rarely saw.
The sky here was a clear blue, the air was moist, and the breeze felt soft on their faces. Lush green plants could be seen everywhere.
“This is the Li Hai Settlement…?”
“Yup,” Tang Yu’an replied. “We’re almost at the sea.”
The protective barrier had already been expanded several kilometers beyond the town. Although a cold front was hitting the outside world, the seawater within the barrier remained unfrozen.
When Gan Lin and Old Mo stood on the beach and saw the vast, endless ocean, they couldn’t hide their excitement.
Who would’ve thought that just minutes ago, they were still suffering under the burning heat of Flame Dragon Fortress—and now they were here, feeling the cool sea breeze?
Even though they’d already taken a physical enhancement pill, the two shivered in unison.
After all, they had lived for years in temperatures over 40°C—and suddenly dropping to around 0°C was a shock to their systems.
“Let’s get you into a hot bath first!” said Little Hai Lan. “The bathhouse is right over there.”
Since hygiene was mandatory in the settlement but resources were limited, a communal bathhouse had been built.
For now, it only used heated seawater—but some elders sent from the Desolate City Haven were already working on building distillation equipment.
After all, sea baths had their benefits, but it was best to rinse off with fresh water afterward.
Thanks to flame crystals, they had no shortage of energy.
As Old Mo and Gan Lin entered the bathhouse and saw the pools filled with hot water, they couldn’t help but stop in their tracks again.
“So much water…”
“It’s all seawater, not for drinking—just wash already!”
Though Tang Yu’an could’ve used purification magic on them, Silverlight had just cast a similar healing light earlier, so he felt a bit guilty.
Besides, taking a bath was a totally different experience from being magically cleaned.
“This is soap—it makes bubbles, and you use it to wash your hair and body.”
Tang Yu’an handed them soap and towels.
Old Mo, though a bit clumsy, showed Gan Lin how to wet himself, then lather up the soap and scrub his body and hair.
“Grandpa, why are your eyes red?”
“It’s nothing, just the steam,” Old Mo replied.
But his voice was clearly choked with emotion. After all, how many years had it been since he last had a bath?
As he smelled the scent of soap, long-forgotten childhood memories came flooding back—along with the people and places from that time.
In the blink of an eye, more than sixty years had passed…
Old Mo didn’t feel a bit of distress over the water. Instead, he carefully scrubbed every part of his body clean.
Finally, when he and Gan Lin both soaked in the hot water pool, the two of them couldn’t help but let out a long sigh.
Gan Lin had never known that taking a bath could feel so good.
But as he looked at the now-contaminated water, he still couldn’t shake a sense of guilt. Even though it was seawater, it could still be processed and turned into drinkable water…
At that moment, Old Mo reached out and gently patted his head.
“Gan Lin, you have to learn to adapt,” he said. “You’re the Holy Child—you need to set a good example for the people of Flame Dragon Settlement.”
Although everything in the Li Hai Sanctuary seemed so wonderful, Old Mo didn’t feel tempted to stay—nor did he consider relocating from Flame Dragon Settlement.
It’s hard to leave your homeland. And besides, they already had their own oasis.
As long as they invested time and effort into it and made use of their strengths, Old Mo believed the Flame Dragon Settlement would eventually become just as prosperous as this place.
Gan Lin showed a conflicted expression. “Do we really all have to take baths?”
“As long as you take a thorough one once, daily upkeep afterward doesn’t require much water,” Old Mo replied. “And the bathwater can be reused.”
Whether it’s for irrigating crops or distilling for reuse, there are always ways to conserve resources if you put your mind to it.
“Gan Lin, a new era has begun,” he said softly, his eyes shining brightly.
Gan Lin didn’t fully understand.
Seeing the boy’s confused look, Old Mo thought for a moment and then said, “You should start school—like that little girl.”
Gan Lin had only recently been recruited as an employee, and there were still many things he needed to handle, so he hadn’t started the compulsory twelve-year education yet.
“Reading and learning will help you gain wisdom. As the Holy Child, you’ll need to know more if you’re going to manage our future home.”
Things had completely changed. They no longer had to worry about being exposed and hunted by fanatics. In the sanctuary, they were absolutely safe.
So Old Mo’s goals had shifted.
At first, all he wanted was to survive. Now, he wanted to raise Gan Lin to become the true leader of Flame Dragon Sanctuary.
And a leader can’t be ignorant.
Gan Lin had no idea what the future held for him, but hearing Old Mo say that, he simply nodded. “Okay.”
After all, he knew Old Mo would never harm him.
After finishing their bath and changing into the new clothes Tang Yu’an had prepared, they left the bathhouse carrying their old clothes.
Their old clothes were made of common thermal fabric, and Gan Lin couldn’t bear to throw them away.
They wandered along the beach for a bit, caught two fish, and then boarded the bus home.
On the bus, Gan Lin told Little Hai Lan, “My grandpa said I need to start going to school too!”
He just wanted to get closer to her, but to his surprise, after he spoke, the little girl gave him a sympathetic look.
What was that supposed to mean? Was school bad?
Little Hai Lan smiled and said, “You’ll understand soon enough.”
After leaving Li Hai Town, they returned to the Desolate City Haven. Old Li, who had just finished receiving Lan Yunqing and his group, hurried over to greet Old Mo.
“Changqing?”
“Little Noisy!”
The two old men looked at each other and laughed. Soon they were chatting and joking as they walked out of the teleportation room together.
Their voices could still be heard echoing in the hallway:
“I stocked up on a lot of instant noodles—what kind do you want?”
“Any is fine. Can we add a hotdog?”
“Of course! I even got squid snacks—we can eat while watching a movie. What kind do you like?”
“I don’t really remember. Just those pictures that move…”
“Cartoons, huh? Got plenty of those!”
Soon, they got into the elevator and their voices faded.
Tang Yu’an had been listening to their conversation and couldn’t help but feel something strange stir in his heart.
It was like he was seeing Grandpa Li and Old Mo as teenagers again—meeting after school to eat snacks and watch movies…
Maybe this is what they had been fighting for all along.
Tang Yu’an and Zhou Qi also planned to take a short break. In two days, they would use the RV to begin paving the road to connect Flame Dragon Fortress and Li Hai Town.
But before they could rest for long, a video call from Lan Yunqing came through.
Tang Yu’an was surprised and answered it immediately.
Lan Yunqing’s figure appeared on the video panel, his brows furrowed, clearly anxious and worried.
“Brother Yunqing, what happened?” Tang Yu’an asked.
“There’s trouble at Qingmu Fortress!”
“What kind of trouble?”
“The wall—it’s been breached…”
“What?! What do you mean breached?”
*
Meanwhile, at Qingmu Fortress…
The seemingly indestructible fortress wall had collapsed at one corner.
A giant gorilla over 20 meters tall, with glowing red eyes, was smashing its iron fists against the fortress.
People screamed and fled in every direction.
Even more terrifying—there were several other massive figures moving around inside the fortress…
