“I saw something similar when I traveled in the east and north of the Empire. The people there usually crushed it and placed it at the bottom of their water basins, saying it made the water softer and sweeter.”
Elon's words made Shane raise an eyebrow, looking at him with some skepticism. “Are you sure?”
Elon pulled back the fragment and turned to look at the wooden door of a nearby earthen house. “It's just speculation. For the specifics, we'll have to ask the people living here.”
With that, he walked toward the nearest earthen house with the fragment in hand and knocked on the wooden door.
But there was no response from inside, only a faint rustling sound that could be heard.
Elon listened closely, realizing the people inside were unwilling to open the door, so he shook his head and walked to the next house.
Shane watched Elon, knowing that no one would pay attention to him anytime soon. He turned his gaze back to the skeletons by the well, directing them to slowly lower one of their own into the well using a hemp rope.
Glancing at Sern, he saw her leaning against the wall, her eyes staring blankly at the sky.
Shane paid her no more mind and walked over to the well. He leaned over and looked down, watching the skeleton climb down the inner wall.
Once it reached a suitable depth, the skeleton began using its tools to scrape away the crystals on the well wall.
Shane observed for a while. The progress was faster than expected. Skeletons did not need to worry about stamina depletion or physical fatigue, so their efficiency was significantly higher than that of ordinary people.
At this rate, it would take about an hour or two to clean it completely.
Taking this opportunity, Shane looked back at Elon. The druid was now in front of a door slightly further away. The owner of this house had finally stopped hiding and come out to greet him—an old man who appeared to be over fifty.
His figure was hunched, his face lined with deep wrinkles, and he was sizing Elon up with a wary yet curious gaze.
Elon wore a warm smile and reached out to summon a soft, emerald-green light. As the light washed over the old man, his eyes lit up, and a joyful smile spread across his face.
Then, the two began to converse cheerfully. They spoke rapidly, with Elon leaning in to listen and nodding from time to time.
After a moment, Elon patted the old man on the shoulder and walked to the next house to knock.
About half an hour later, Elon led several residents toward Shane. Leading them was the same old man from before, followed by three or four middle-aged men and women. Their clothes were worn but reasonably clean.
The group stopped a few paces away from Shane, but their gazes did not land on him. Instead, they stared at the skeletons working together by the well's mouth.
Seeing those undead creatures, uneasy expressions crept onto their faces.
Seeing this, Elon stepped sideways to block their view of the skeletons, introducing Shane in a gentle tone. “This is Shane Leynas. Although he is a necromancer, he bears no ill will. He only wants to help you solve the well water issue. You just need to explain the situation.”
Hearing Shane's identity turned the residents' faces slightly pale, but looking at Elon, the old man grit his teeth and took a small step forward. “Um... Lord Leynas.”
“Although this well water used to have a strange taste, it was at least drinkable. Those things on the well walls have always been there, but they never caused any harm.”
With a look of reminiscence, he stared at the well's mouth and continued, “It's just that since the river dried up during the last dry season, the water level dropped severely. We had no choice but to dig the well deeper. After that, it...”
Seeing that the old man had spoken up and Shane had made no threatening moves, a middle-aged man beside him stepped forward as well. “Old Karl is right. At first, we thought something was wrong with that layer on the well walls, so we scraped it off a few times. But even after scraping it, the water didn't get any better.”
“So we stopped scraping it. The things on the well walls grew back, but the water still didn't improve.”
Seeing that others had spoken up without facing any punishment, the remaining residents began to share what they had observed. After listening to them, Shane summarized the situation: before the well was dug deeper, the water was drinkable despite the buildup on the walls. However, after the well was dug deeper, the water became terrible no matter what they did.
Shane was not surprised by this. In the desert, deep well water often suffered because there were no plants on the surface to lock in moisture. Salt and alkali either remained on the surface as water evaporated or sank deep underground, continuously circulating in the groundwater as the well was dug deeper, making the water extremely salty and bitter.
However, due to the crystals on the well walls, when the water seeped through them, it underwent filtration. Thus, the water quality wasn't too terrible. Even if it eventually circulated back down to the bottom of the well, it was at least drinkable.
But after the water level dropped and the well was dug deeper, the water seeping in could no longer be filtered through the upper well walls, rendering it utterly undrinkable.
This indicated that the buildup on the well walls had a filtering effect on salt and alkali.
Combined with the appearance and color of the substance, it reminded him of something he had used during his past desert reclamation work on saline-alkali land—zeolite.
Zeolite generally had a porous structure, which could adsorb heavy metals, ammonia nitrogen, and excess salts from water, thereby softening it. In agriculture, it served as a soil conditioner for saline-alkali land and a carrier for slow-release fertilizers, and it could also be used to retain water and fertilizer.
Furthermore, this substance was widely used in aquaculture water treatment, industrial and construction materials, and even daily pet products.
It could be said to have an extremely wide range of applications.
Although he did not know if this substance had other uses in this world, its function in purifying water was essentially the same.
“Shane.”
Elon walked over to Shane, holding the crystals that had been crushed into small granules. “This stuff is likely the same as what I saw in the east.”
“In the Elven tongue, it is called Ilusil, while humans call it Moon Sand. It was first discovered by the elves, who used it to purify contaminated water.”
“Of course, if you feel unsure, we can test it first. Conveniently, I've already crushed these.”
Shane had no objections and nodded in agreement to let Elon test it with some well water first. Since the bucket of water they had just drawn was not yet empty, Elon took out three clay bowls, scooped some water into them, and dropped the knuckle-sized crushed granules into the bowls.
“About fifteen minutes.”
Elon stood up and looked at Shane with an expectant expression. “If this works, purifying the well water will be much simpler than we imagined.”
Shane nodded. At the same time, based on what the residents had said, he had developed some other ideas. He gestured for Ksaz to come over. “Go check the other wells in the outpost. See how the thickness of the buildup on their inner walls is distributed.”
Ksaz accepted the order and turned to leave.
Shane then turned back to the well, directing the skeletons to continue scraping the crystals off the walls. Soon, the pried-off fragments were piled up as high as his waist. He also had the well water drawn up, filling row after row of clay jars.
Fifteen minutes later, Elon picked up one of the clay bowls. Looking at the water, which was noticeably clearer than before, he did not drink it directly. Instead, he walked over to Shane and handed him the bowl.
Shane looked down at the well water in the bowl, then looked at Elon, somewhat speechless. “Me again?”
“Think of the saplings. You have to experience it yourself.”
Elon maintained his warm smile, but his words were not polite at all. “Whether they live or die is entirely up to you.”
Shane stared at the well water in the bowl for a moment before finally taking it from Elon's hand and taking a sip.
It was much more refreshing than before, and the taste was no longer as sour and salty. Although a faint trace of saltiness remained, it only served to enhance the underlying sweetness.
Shane held the well water in his mouth, savoring it for a moment before slowly swallowing it. He then looked at Elon, and under the druid's expectant gaze, the corners of his mouth curled upward. “Not bad. It is indeed drinkable now.”
“Really?”
Elon snatched the clay bowl from Shane's hand and eagerly took a large gulp.
Then he froze, looking at Shane in surprise, then down at the water in the bowl, before finally letting out an ambiguous sigh. “Indeed. In fact, it's even better than I imagined.”
Holding the bowl, he turned to the residents who were still watching from a distance and handed it to Old Karl, who stood at the front. “Taste this. Is it the flavor from before?”
Standing at the front, the old man's Adam's apple bobbed. He seemed to want to refuse, but Elon's gaze made it hard to decline. He could only offer a somewhat awkward smile and take the clay bowl.
He took a sip, and then his hand didn't lower. As he gulped down more of the well water, his eyes widened. Only when he had nearly reached the bottom of the bowl did he set it down, looking at his companions and Elon in pleasant surprise. “It is! This is the taste!”
The old man suddenly grew excited, his dark cheeks flushed and shining. He pointed at the clay bowl on the ground and looked at the others. “You guys taste it too! See if it's right?”
The others exchanged glances, but ultimately unable to resist the temptation, they hesitantly stepped forward, picked up two clay bowls, and took a small sip.
In an instant, their eyes widened.
“Whoa! It's true, Old Karl is right!”
“It's become delicious! It tastes just like it did when I was a kid!”
“Mr. Druid, you are truly amazing!”
Elon smiled and waved his hands, about to push Shane forward, only to see that Shane was staring at Ksaz, who was walking over from the distance.
He watched Ksaz with deep focus. Although his face remained expressionless, Elon knew he was eager, clearly looking forward to the answer Ksaz would bring him.
Rate on N.U.
