"Yes, it’s locked in the backyard and no one can approach," the steward said, "Young master, I’ve seen it. There are quite a lot of strong young men in this tavern, and the staff seem to know some martial arts."

Bai Shan nodded, "To keep a tavern here, you naturally need to have some influence. Well, let’s buy them. Expensive it might be, we should replenish a bit more. We at least need to spend a night in the desert. If things don’t go smoothly, we might stay even longer. Water is essential no matter what."

The steward acknowledged and left.

Bai Shan turned around and extended his hand towards them, "Pay up."

Obviously, the further west they go, the higher the expenses. The public funds are insufficient.

Currently, Bai Erlang is the poorest. He clutched his money bag and said, "Shouldn’t Manbao pay? We previously ate and stayed at the post station, and she didn’t contribute to the public fund. Now that there are no post stations."

Manbao started searching for her money bag. Bai Shan said wistfully, "She can report it as public expenses, but can you?"

Manbao then realized, "Oh right, when I go back, I can report the expenses to the Ministry of Revenue."

Liu Huan said, "My grandfather won’t reimburse all of it for you."

He said, "Even my father can only claim a third when returning from Suzhou to visit family. You, well..."

He looked Manbao up and down and said, "Considering our current journey, managing to claim a quarter of the expenses would be quite good already."

Manbao couldn’t find words to respond and eventually fished out some silver coins.

Water is scarce here, even bathing requires using a private bathhouse, costing thirty coins per person, making a bath almost as expensive as staying a night at the tavern.

But Manbao and the others didn’t mind at all. They fetched their clothes for changing, put them in a basket, brought along some soap, and joyfully headed to the bathhouse.

It was the first time they have bathed in a bathhouse as they’ve grown up.

Unfortunately, there’s only her and Zhou Liru as girls in the entire tavern, so when they pushed open the door, there were only the two of them inside, making it not much different from washing in their own room.

Manbao placed the basket of clothes to one side, and turned to bring the hot water from the entrance to pour into the bathtub...

There were only two people on their side, but Bai Shan’s side had a swarm of people!

The tavern was almost full of men, so naturally, many came to bathe. A group of them entered and saw a bunch of naked men inside, couldn’t help but close their eyes.

Assistant General Nie knew they’d be embarrassed, laughed heartily and then pointed to a spot, "Young masters, there’s a small cubicle over there, you can bathe there."

Bai Shan reluctantly nodded and led his companions over.

Liu Huan was the only one with bath experience. He glanced around and saw the three all blushing deeply, couldn’t help but be curious, "What’s there to be embarrassed about? Yin Huo is fine, but haven’t you two ever bathed in a hot spring?"

Bai Shan glanced at him and said, "No."

Liu Huan immediately said, "When we get back to the capital, I’ll take you. There’s not only hot springs, but also bathhouses to visit. There’s one right next to the Imperial Academy that only scholars go to. It’s not expensive, just the drinks and snacks are costly."

Bai Erlang couldn’t help but ask, "Isn’t it better to bathe at home? Why go out?"

Liu Huan thought for a while and shook his head, "How would I know? Everyone goes, and they invited me, so I went."

"But classmates from the Imperial Academy do it because it’s cold in the dorm during winter. Anyway, nobody bathes daily, so they save up, and when they have enough, they spend a bit and go to the bathhouse..."

Bai Shan looked bewildered and asked, "Save what?"

"Save the dust."

The faces of Bai Shan and the other two were red, unable to speak.

Liu Huan was quick. Once inside, he checked the water temperature in the hot tub, found it agreeable, immediately stripped off his clothes and jumped in, looked back to see the three still standing there dumbfounded, then said, "Why are you standing there? Hurry up and get in."

Bai Shan closed his mouth and asked, "Bathe in one pool? This water..."

"What’s the problem? It’s like soaking in a hot spring. This water being changed once a day is already considered good."

Yin Huo retreated a bit, asked strangely, "Did someone soak before?"

Bai Erlang was also quite scared.

Bai Shan quickly regained his composure, shook his head, "Probably not. It’s still early now. I saw outside it’s all our people, so no one should have bathed yet today."

Bai Erlang asked, "Doesn’t that mean someone might come soon?"

The three listened to the noise and laughter outside, quickly stripped their clothes and went into the water, bathed quickly and got out.

They were fast, but even then, it was two quarters of an hour before they exited. The four walked out with red faces as a group of men entered draping clothes over shoulders. Seeing them, someone in the group whistled loudly and said "Yo," the crowd laughed mockingly, some casting lewd glances their way.

Bai Shan’s face turned cold, glanced at them indifferently, and then called, "Daji!"

Daji, guarding outside the bathhouse, came over, squeezed through the people, walked up to Bai Shan, and then turned to glare at them angrily.

The laughing people stopped their smiles, put away the grin on their faces, and glared back at Daji.

Daji, unyielding, quietly watched them.

The leading man with a big beard initially looked at Bai Shan’s group mockingly, his eyebrows raised though not as rowdy as the ones behind him. But when Daji squeezed through them, his slight smile faded, he glanced at Bai Shan, the smile on his face slightly receding, stepped forward two steps, stood before Daji, and said, "Move aside."

Daji stood firm without moving, now Bai Shan and his group cast joking glances back at them.

The man’s beard twitched slightly; he was about to reach and push Daji aside when noticing the atmosphere turned tense, soldiers hurriedly wiped themselves dry and pulled on their pants came out, "Young master, what’s happening?"

Seeing the men behind them, the opponent lowered his gaze and after a moment raised it, told Daji politely, "Please step aside."

Daji said, "No way!"

"You!" The man with a big beard stopped his angry followers from charging forward, stared at Daji a moment then glanced behind him at Bai Shan, forced an awkward smile and said, "Master, we want to go in and bathe."

Bai Shan’s hair was still wet, he lazily carried his basket and said, "Unfortunately, we’re heading out."

The opponent narrowed his eyes and glanced at the multiplying guards and soldiers behind him. Upon noticing Assistant General Nie emerge bare-chested, he sidestepped, "Alright, young master, please proceed."

His people reluctantly made way.

Daji gave Bai Shan a glance, Bai Shan nodded slightly, and only then did he sidestep and protectively escort the four out.

Bai Shan glanced back at Assistant General Nie before leaving the door, smiling lightly.

Once out, the beard-man was about to lead his group inside, but after only a couple of steps, Assistant General Nie blocked them.

Assistant General Nie rubbed his skin, flicks off a small ball of dirt, and said to them, "The bathhouse is full, can’t fit more people. Wait for us to finish, then you can come."