Xiang exited the inn and looked down the road. Somewhere in the middle of all those crowds and merchants lied the bathhouse. It wasn't going to just walk over to her, so she made her way down the road.
As she navigated the crowds, she was bumped into a lot and almost knocked down a few times. She could have sworn somebody felt her up but identifying the perpetrator would have been impossible in this crowd. There were too many potential suspects. All she could do is hope that person's day was made and that it wouldn't happen again.
It seemed to take forever, but she finally emerged from the crowd. She looked both ways and there it was. The bathhouse was to her left. "Thank goodness." She hurried in.
Upon setting foot inside, she noticed an immediate difference. The air was crisper and smelled fresher. A smiling woman stood behind a desk with a door on either side of her. The one had a picture of a woman hanging above it, the other had a picture of a man. Through another door to the far right she saw people hard at work cleaning clothes.
"Welcome to Izuna's Bathhouse and Cloth Cleaner," the woman said. "We charge twenty coins per hour in the bath and ten coins per outfit to be wash."
Xiang walked over, fishing out thirty coins from her coin sack as she did, and paid the woman.
The woman gestured to her left and handed her a tablet with a number on it. "You may go through there and change into a robe if you wish. The bath is down the hall from there. Make sure to remove the robe before entering the bath. And naturally, there is to be no clothing of any kind in the water. Leave any clothing you want washed in the sack conveniently located at the foot of your changing station. Don't forget to grab a wash cloth. And feel free to leave your belongings with us for safe keeping. Enjoy."
Xiang handed over her coin sack, then stepped through the door. There were numbered booths with robes and sacks lined along the walls off to the left. There were a few women changing, but it was empty for the most part. She walked over to the booth with her number and shed her clothes and slipping on her robe. She then put her clothes in the sack. She also put her boots in as well because she didn't like the smell coming from them. After that, she proceeded to the bath.
The bath was large, circular pool that smelled of jasmine. Xiang could sense the water was enchanted with a combination of magics. At the far side of the pool, she saw two women; one wearing a white robe and the other wearing a black robe. From that, she could deduce what magic the were using. The one in the white robe was a likely a light wizard who probably had cast Cleanse to give the water a cleaning properties without the use of soap, and Purity, to keep the water clean and clear. The woman in the black robe was a standard wizard, probably casting extremely low-level elemental spells to regulate the temperature.
The bath was quite active, with a number of women conversing, washing themselves, wading around, and just sitting there doing nothing. She shed her robe and stepped in so she could do the same. The water was warm and had a refreshing feel to it. It was like chocolate for the body.
She noticed a few of the women look her way. She could from their muscular physiques that they were warriors. They waded on over and talked about workout regiments.
Xiang's own workout back in Shao village was an intense one. 50 chin ups and pull ups. 100 pushups. 100 crunches. 200 squats. Then, there was all the farm work. She'd round it round by getting knocked around by her martial arts instructor. She'd do this at least three times a week. She wondered if she'd be able to make time to do all that during her travels. She could do without being knocked around by an instructor, though.
She talked to the warriors for a while, washing herself as she did. Eventually, she got out and went to her stall. There was a brand new cloth sack there, which she assumed meant the clothes were clothes. She looked inside saw all her all her clothes neatly folded. She pulled out a boot and gave it a test smell. "Like new." Satisfied, she started pulling out her clothes to get dressed.
Then, something made her gasp. "My undergarments...where are they?"
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