Ye Xi and Butcher stood behind a tree as they watched Plate nimbly run on his tiptoes to the shore, cautiously and softly place one end of the pipe into the water, and then swiftly come back.
The entire process took less than fifteen seconds.
That tongue that had appeared and disappeared in a flash did not shoot out of the lake, perhaps because its owner was full.
Ye Xi grabbed the other end of the pipe. "Right, now, dig out a hole in the ground and prepare to receive the water."
Plate: "Right here?"
Ye Xi looked around and found this to be a well-concealed spot. "This place will do. Dig a rather deep hole. It has to be lower than the water level of the lake."
Totem Warriors were extremely strong, and digging a pit naturally presented little problem. The two of them digging together managed to quickly produce a deep pit.
The two worried that it wasn't deep enough, so they stood at the bottom and continued to dig, the soil flying out from the hole like it was dust.
Ye Xi watched from the surface and estimated that it was deep enough.
Ye Xi pushed the wooden barrel toward the edge. "I'm moving the barrel down. Make sure to catch it."
Thump! Butcher received the barrel.
"Stand aside a little. I'm coming down too," Ye Xi said to the pair in the pit.
The pit's diameter was big enough to fit the barrel and three people standing inside.
Thump! Ye Xi jumped inside.
Seeing the two so dirty from digging, Ye Xi wanted to laugh, but he restrained himself.
No one wanted to get covered in dirt and dust, so Plate and Butcher probably weren't in a very good mood. They thought themselves extremely unlucky that the chief had chosen them to join Ye Xi in his antics.
Would the lake water flow along the 'pipe' into the wooden barrel? Ye Xi didn't know shaman arts, so how could that be possible?!
Ye Xi saw that the two were in a bad mood, but he did not say anything.
In a little while, they would feel that this was all worth it.
Ye Xi placed the end of the water pipe into the barrel, and then he began to grope inside the pipe. Once he found the grass rope inside, he hooked it with his fingers and began to pull.
"Alright. Now, it's time to witness a miracle."
Ye Xi slowly began to pull the grass rope outward.
The other end of the grass rope was tied to a stopper made of soft wood. The stopper was tightly embedded in the 'pipe', and pulling it took some strength.
Plate and Butcher watched Ye Xi pull the grass rope.
At this time, they still did not understand what Ye Xi was trying to do, whether it was the 'pipe', this pit, or the grass rope he was pulling on.
The water pipe was too long, and Ye Xi was continuing to pull the grass rope out.
A small coil of grass rope had begun to build up on the ground, so it was probably about time… Just as he was thinking this, the softwood stopper was expelled by lake water gushing out of the pipe!
Plate and Butcher were dumbfounded. Were they seeing things? This, this, this! This was really water!
Ye Xi swiftly pressed the pipe to the bottom of the barrel.
"It's really water!" Butcher's eyes were wide open in shock. His fierce and emotionless face was now slack and dazed.
The water rushed out of the pipe and into the barrel. In a short while, nearly half of the barrel was full.
Plate's eyes almost popped out as he watched more and more water flow into the barrel. "Just how did you do it? Is it a shaman art?"
Ye Xi waved his hands. "It's not a shaman art, just the siphon principle."
"Siphon principle?" Plate and Butcher glanced at each other in confusion.
"It's a bit troublesome to explain. You just need to remember that you can use this method to get water in the future."
Right, they just needed to be able to get water… The tribe's water shortage was solved? Plate and Butcher were somewhat dazed.
Seeing more and more water accumulate in the barrel, Ye Xi decided to help himself to a drink.
The sloshing of water awakened the pair. Plate and Butcher saw the water in the barrel and felt it to be refreshing and extremely alluring. Their throats suddenly felt dry and thirsty, and without another word, they began to drink.
The three of them drank water until their bellies were full, even washing themselves, wiping away the dirt. The three filthy cavemen were instantly renewed.
"I feel like I've gotten three pounds lighter," Butcher sighed.
Plate wiped a bead of water off his face and comfortably sighed. "That's right! I've never felt this clean during the dry season."
Ye Xi tossed his hair, his sensations boiling down to a single word: "Refreshing!"
The three of them happily carried the wooden barrel back to the tribe.
When the tribe members saw the three clean people and a barrel full of water, their jaws dropped.
Like a drop of water being placed in a pan of oil, the entire tribe began to seethe.
"Wow! You really got water!"
"So much water! An entire barrel!"
"You're not injured?"
The crowd repeatedly examined them, but finally, they confirmed that they didn't have a single wound! On the contrary, they had washed and were now extremely clean!
"You didn't take a bath, did you?!" They couldn't have possibly used water in such an extravagant way! It was far too heart-aching!
"Heavens! Just what did you do that let you get water without getting injured? Did you really use the Thorned Terror Beast's intestines to get water?"
"It should be. Ye Xi is truly too formidable!"
"No, no, no, it should be Ye Xi's teacher, that honored shaman, who is the truly formidable one."
"What does it matter? In any case, Ye Xi inherited that shaman's knowledge, so he's the formidable one now."
The chief was also shocked to see the clear water in the barrel. He hadn't been very hopeful, but to his surprise, they had really managed to bring back so much water without a single wound! It was too incredible!
The chief pulled over Plate and asked, "Just how did you manage to do it?"
Plate scratched his head. "Actually, I'm not very sure myself. The lake water flowed on its own from the other end of the Thorned Terror Beast intestine."
Plate explained in detail what Ye Xi had made them do, including placing one end of the pipe in the lake, digging out a large pit, and then pulling on the grass rope to remove the softwood stopper.
The chief fell silent for some time, and then he wondered, "…Could Ye Xi know shaman arts?"
"That's what we thought, but Ye Xi said that it wasn't shaman arts."
The chief frowned. "Not shaman arts?" But even when he racked his brains, he could not understand how one could make lake water obediently flow through to the other end without shaman arts.
At this moment, Awl ran out of the cave.
"Ye Xi, Ye Xi, the shaman wants you to go and see him!"
Ye Xi turned serious. "Okay, I'll go right now." The news had reached the shaman's ears with surprising swiftness.
The shaman lived in the deepest depths of the cave. Ye Xi borrowed a torch and slowly made his way inside.
This cave was truly very deep. It took around five minutes for Ye Xi to finally reach the end.
And then, he discovered to his surprise that there was light in the deepest depths of the cave, not darkness.
A hole had been bored in the ceiling, and light came in through it.
The shaman was seated cross-legged on a stone platform.
The beam of light happened to descend right on the shaman's head, imbuing him with a mysterious aura.
In this weak light, one could see the totems of Mud Mountain, drawn on the walls in cinnabar paint.
Ye Xi stopped several steps away from the stone platform and bowed to the shaman. "I pay respects to the shaman."
The shaman warmly smiled. "You've come."
"Yes, shaman."
The shaman nodded. "I heard that you managed to get water."
Ye Xi said to himself, It really was about this.
"Explain in detail how you got the water."
There was nothing to hide, so Ye Xi gave a detailed explanation.
Once Ye Xi was done, the shaman closed his eyes and pondered. After a long while, he sighed. "To think of this method that doesn't use shaman arts, that shaman was truly learned."
Ye Xi did not respond.
Shaman: "With this method, the tribe members will be much safer when getting water. You have resolved the problem of our water shortage during the dry season."
Ye Xi said that it was because Courage had supported him, hunting the Thorned Terror Beast. Otherwise, he would not have been able to use this method.
The shaman smiled and nodded. He asked, "For your great achievement, what sort of reward do you want?"
Ye Xi was delighted. It was really happening.
"Shaman, I will not hide it from you. My body is too weak. I want some fiendbeast blood to nurture my body."
Ye Xi boldly asked the shaman directly for fiendbeast blood.
The shaman was unperturbed, softly nodding. "Very well. Besides fiendbeast blood, I can also give you some fiendbeast meat. This will be a great boon to your body."
Ye Xi rejoiced. He was really getting some.
But then he heard the shaman say, "But the tribe does not have much fiendbeast meat and blood. At present, I can only give you some fiendbeast blood. In the future, I will give you the rest of your reward."
Ye Xi's excited expression froze. Fine—nothing could be that good. But getting some fiendbeast blood was already a pleasant surprise. He would not get too greedy.