Chapter 26
Divine noticed Beorn using the distraction Torm's resistance created to take off his light armor and clothes until he was standing there in his underpants.
While the minions were stripping Torm, Divine gestured to Beorn to loose the pants too.
After some hesitation Beorn complied and Divine handed him a pot of water.
Beorn started washing and Divine shifted his attention.
The goblin Torm had kicked away, Minion Hooknose, was already dirty again.
Divine should have let them take care of the humans before they washed up themselves.
Divine noted it for the future.
Torm was heavily bruised now and the bruises were only getting darker, but he wasn't bleeding... Anymore.
Torm had trouble moving and could only endure the goblins ministrations, washing him with rough hands and maliciously poking at his bruises.
Beorn was done first and instead of getting his light armor and clothes back, he received a human-sized robe in the same style Divine and the other goblins wore.
Only the quality was lesser.
Divine handed the pot Beorn had used to one of the minions for a refill.
Divine led Beorn back to his place next to Venus personally and let the vine bind him especially carefully.
Beorn was the most collected of the humans und thereby the most useful and the most dangerous one of the three.
Coming back, Scarface had already placed the filthy woman where Beorn had stood.
The woman's eyes weren't as empty anymore. They showed some discomfort.
She was still wearing her chain mail and was holding her arms defensively in front of her.
Her eyes only whispered of her discomfort, but her body language screamed of it.
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Nola really didn't want to wash herself in front of this small crowd.
She had heard stories about the horrible things goblins did to women.
But on the other hand, until now, she hadn't seen any indication they were true.
The goblins had left them alone and even gave them food. And until now they had made no indication that they wanted to eat Beorn, Torm and her.
That was already better than anywhere else in this damned Witching Forest.
Maybe it wasn't such a big deal if she washed herself really quickly.
She was so dirty.
Nola wanted to wash off all the blood.
The only one she could see reacting to the prospect of her being naked was Torm.
He was shooting shy looks in her direction, even while he was suffering under the goblins' hands.
The older man Beorn, back bound to the strange big flower, kept his eyes only on the goblins, especially on the leader, who was coming back to watch over Nola and the rest.
In the formidable goblin's eyes was only indifference, keeping everyone under watch.
Most of the other goblins weren't even glancing in her direction, only the two goblin girls that were keeping an eye on Nola the whole time since the weird plant shackle had come off.
Nola felt her skin itch, reminding her how bitterly she needed a rose petal bath or even just a washing.
When the two goblin girls started to peel her out of her dirt-caked chain mail, Nola chose the path of least resistance and helped them get it off.
The metal stuck firmly to her leather armor, because of all the hardened dirt and both came off in one.
Nola was really uncomfortable, but even as she lost her leather pants and her silk blouse, the behavior of the goblins didn't change.
It seemed like the stories weren't true at all and only told to scare girls into staying home.
Nola started washing herself and quickly used up one pot of water.
All of the water had turned black running down her body. And the hand she used to rub her body off had become even dirtier than before.
Torm's looks had increased, but he was the only one. Nola would teach him a lesson later.
She took the second pot one of the goblin girls had brought for her.
All of her hair was a complete mess. It was so dirty, her hair had become hard.
It was really so much, and so exhausting. Nola quickly used up two more fillings of the pots.
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It was a relief.
Washing herself.
Literally feeling herself getting cleaner with every drop of water.
And not thinking about anything else.
By the fourth pot of water, the water finally wasn't turning brown anymore, when it ran through her hair and down her skin.
Even her hand was clean now.
Suddenly a cold shudder ran down her spine.
Alerted, she looked around.
Torm was openly staring at her now with a bright red face.
Three of the goblins were ogling her with open mouths and desire in their eyes.
The leader's posture and facial expression were still aloof, but even this goblin's eyes didn't leave her.
Nola had removed what had been left of her underclothes while she was washing.
Now, she stood there wet, and completely naked.
She covered herself with her arms as best as she could and froze like a deer before a fireball, supressing her initial reaction to let out a girly scream.
Nola killed the scream in her throat and it turned into a heavy lump, making her breathing laborious.
Nola finally found something that mattered to her and broke through her blanket of indifference.
She would die before letting anyone or anything here have her.
She would kill a few of the goblins and die fighting, if they tried.
In the middle of her desperation, a little hope bloomed in her imagination, that she could just take one of the goblins as a hostage and get out of here.
Even if the chance was incredibly low, it could happen if she fought and tried it.
Dying was the worst that could happen.
One of the goblins couldn't resist its lustful urges anymore and stepped closer, staring creepily and making disgusting movements with its hand.
The leader, with the short sword strapped to his back, was her prime target.
If she could manage to grab its weapon, maybe she stood a chance and Nola didn't want to attack the lecherous one first.
Not with her bare hands and her bare body.
The leader said something Nola couldn't make out and the goblin getting closer stopped in its tracks.
Nola was already committed to her plan and started rushing at the leader anyway.
The goblins were stunned.
Torm gaped like a fish.
Beorn called out to her.
And even the leader was really surprised about her sudden attack.
Nola managed to get really close to the goblin leader and her hand was almost around the sword handle, when the goblin leader grabbed her outstretched arm and used her momentum against her to throw her onto the hard ground.
That hurt.
Now, she laid spread out and naked before the goblin. Pretty helpless.
She thought about biting off her tongue, when a robe fell on top of her.
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Divine really hadn't thought that such a fine woman was hidden beneath that armor and all the filth.
She wasn't as pretty as a model, but her face was a seven out of ten.
With her wet dark hair and glistening skin.
Her body was slender and very fit.
The woman's right arm was unproportionally more muscular than her left.
She had small breasts.
Her legs were long for her height and nice to look at.
Her ass simply was a splendor.
She was really tempting.
She looked like she was around 24 years old.
Divine covered her with another human-sized robe.
He gave the goblins and Torm a warning look.
After the woman had robed herself properly, Divine bound her to Venus again and left her under the older man's vigilant watch.
When he bound the young man afterwards, he let the vine bind all the way up his leg, reducing his moving range considerably.
He placed a pot of water for drinking nearby and glanced at the woman again.
Divine quickly left for the adjacent room.
"Minion Scarface, watch over everything." Divine yelled out his instruction on the way and disappeared into the short tunnel.
The spirit hemp rope quickly semi-covered the entrance.
The robe he was wearing had covered it pretty well, but seeing the woman naked had really gotten his blood pumping.
Now, Divine really had to take care of his raging erection now and defenitely didn't want to put it off anymore. He couldn't.
It felt like a first time, and yet incredibly familiar.
Like a pair of new gloves that fit perfectly.
As quickly as a celibate teenager, Divine's muscles contracted intensely and he exploded.
It was an eruption of male energy. Yang energy.
A big white splotch on the stone wall was followed by an incredibly warm and relaxing feeling throughout his whole body.
Relieved and enjoying this moment, Divine noticed his green man standing up again.
He took care of it again and felt even better afterwards.
In the midst of of the third time, he started sweating.
After the fourth time, all his pores opened and a lot of impurities came out.
Suddenly his body felt completely different.
Everything got enhanced.
He had been living beneath the sea and was stepping out of the water for the first time now.
Divine felt light and free.
An incredible vitality and unfathomable power coursed through his whole body. In his every move and in his every breath.
Yes!
Breakthrough!
Jackpot!
Hooray!
Divine was really happy.
His green man stood up again.
Only after calming him down another three times, Divine felt it was enough.
Now he was a little sore and incredibly filthy.
His brand new robe!
Already ruined. Again.
The new room was dirty as hell, or at least as a brothel, too.
But that couldn't spoil his great mood.
He looked at his status.
[Spirit Qi Cultivation: Ninth Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm]
[Body Cultivation: First Stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm]
[Blood Qi Essence: 22]
He was really happy about his breakthrough and it made sense that this eruption of yang energy was extremely beneficial for his Sacred Demon Yang Constitution.
About the circumstance, that he was behaving like a healthy young goblin now, he was glad.
But still, he was a little worried about this whole development.
The build-up over month and then the eruption of yang energy.
Divine had read about something like this and the eruption of yang in The Demonic Path of Immortality in a section that talked about dual cultivation.
Was it a side effect of his cultivation method? The cultivation manuals hadn't even hinted at this.
Was it just him and not a side effect of his cultivation? And was it influencing his cultivation somehow?
He had no choice but to keep it in mind and play it by ear.
Divine took off his open robe and wiped some of the grime off his body with it.
With the help of his earth control, he buried the filthy robe.
It stank and was so dirty that he wouldn't even leave it for the minions.
The left over bodily fluids were buried, too.
Naked and still dirty with sweat and impurities, he stepped back into the cavern, got some water and went near the latrine pits to wash.
The minions didn't even wonder anymore about the strange things he did and the goblings weren't the most attentive anyway, but the humans gaped at him in bewilderment.
When Divine let a bar of body tempering soap appear out of nowhere, the humans gasped.
The soap didn't do much for his body cultivation anymore, but it was really helpful washing off the dirt and it smelled nice.
With a bleeding heart, Divine bought a new robe. Again. And so early after the last.
[+1 Sea Serpent Hide Robe] [-12 Blood Qi Essence]
After his breakthrough he wanted to reward himself, and at the same time he hoped with his better qi control, this high quality and the different material, the robe would stay wearable longer than the previous ones.
Divine took the robe out and put it on.
Depending on the light, the robe lightly shimmered from dark green to dark blue.
The material felt really robust, but silkily soft on his skin.
The Sea Serpent Hide Robe was a great treasure Divine would have to refine to unleash its full capabilities in warding against attacks and soiling.
These were the most important aspects, at least for him, and he would guide the refining as well as he could.