"Chairman Xu, do you see the river in front of us?
That is our northeast province's largest river, the Banau River. After flowing through the northeast province, it will continue east, passing through the Drake Duchy, the Feno Kingdom, and finally joining the Sky River. "Count Longley enthusiastically pointed at the silver river in front of them as he introduced it to Xu Yi.
Xu Yi looked up at the sparkling river in front of him that reflected countless rays of sunlight, feeling a bit strange.
"Isn't the winter in the north very cold?
Why isn't this river frozen? "
Count Longley laughed, "This is the Banau River's greatest characteristic. Although it's in the north of the kingdom, it never freezes in winter."
"The reason?" Xu Yi was a bit curious.
Although the north of the Lampari Kingdom wasn't the northernmost part of the continent, the winter temperature was negative ten to twenty degrees. Normally speaking, this Banau River wasn't that wide, so it should be frozen.
Count Longley laughed, "You'll understand the reason in a bit."
Xu Yi couldn't help rolling his eyes. He never thought that this Count Longley would have a bad habit of keeping people in suspense.
The horse carriage carried the two of them down the bumpy dirt road before finally stopping in a normal village that wasn't that big.
Count Longley had just gotten out of the horse carriage when a group of people surrounded him.
"Lord City Lord, you're here again."
"Lord City Lord, are you here to take a bath again?"
"Lord City Lord, today's weather is good, it's perfect for taking a bath."
"That's right, Lord City Lord, you haven't been here in several days. Come, come, come, come, let's eat at our house first.
I went up the mountain to hunt a deer yesterday and I still have the leg, it's good that you're here. "
"Lord City Lord, I want to eat candy … …"
… …
Seeing the villagers enthusiastically surrounding Count Longley, Xu Yi was a bit surprised.
When he was in Banta City, Samo Count could be considered close to the citizens, but he had never been like Longley Count. He could make the citizens talk to him without any pressure, like they were old friends.
Longli Count was also full of smiles as he greeted everyone in a familiar manner. He even reached out to pick up the child who asked him for candy. After calling out to Xu Yi, he walked towards the old farmer who had invited him to eat at his house.
Xu Yi followed him into the village. Every time they passed a house, someone would greet Count Longli warmly.
It wasn't until they arrived at the old farmer's house that Longli Count put down the child and stuffed him with a candy. Then, he patted his butt and chased the child back to his house. Only then did he invite Xu Yi in like a master.
When he came in, Xu Yi felt a suffocating hot air mixed with a strange smell that hit him in the face and he couldn't help slightly knitting his brows.
The old farmer walking in front had already guessed that Xu Yi would react to this smell, so he turned back to Xu Yi with an embarrassed smile, "This guest can't stand the smell in the house, but there's no other way. The countryside is like this, so I ask you to bear with it."
Count Longli on the side also explained, "It's too cold in the winter, so in order to make the house a bit warmer, this is a necessary method."
Xu Yi looked into the room and found that there was a stove in the center of this room that was less than twenty square meters. There were several pieces of firewood burning on the stove and at the same time, there was a bit of smoke coming out, making the entire room seem like it was filled with smoke.
There was an unknown fragrance coming from the iron pot on the stove that was cooking something, it really was strange.
There was a shabby bed in the corner of the house. There was a thin blanket that was black and its original color couldn't be seen at all.
There were two children wrapped in the blanket that were no more than ten years old. They looked at the two guests that suddenly came in with their round eyes. A moment later, the two children rushed out of the bed and jumped into Count Count Longli's arms, crying out in joy.
Seeing this, Xu Yi smiled at the old farmer who still had an apologetic expression, "Don't worry, even the City Lord can bear it, so of course I can."
The old farmer gave a simple smile and walked out from the back door of the house. He seemed to be shouting at someone.
Not long later, the old farmer and a farmer woman came back into the house and began to work around the stove.
At this time, Count Count Longli had already gotten along well with the two children. He sat down next to the stove with a smile and then called out to Xu Yi.
"Come, Chairman Xu, sit down.
Old Hal's stewed deer leg is a rare delicacy and I haven't eaten it many times.
Your luck is pretty good to be able to eat it today. "
Hearing Count Count Longli's praise, the old farmer called Old Hal narrowed his eyes and laughed. He kept adding all kinds of ingredients that Xu Yi couldn't recognize into the pot.
When Old Hal finally finished stewing the deer leg and put a bowl of soup in front of Xu Yi, Xu Yi still felt that today's experience was a bit strange.
He originally thought that Count Count Longli had purposely asked him to stay for a day because he had something special to discuss with him. He didn't think that he would just walk around Basaru City with Xu Yi without saying anything.
Early this morning, he had unexpectedly brought Xu Yi to this small village outside the city. Now, he was even bringing him into this poor farmer's home to taste the deer that the old farmer had hunted himself.
"This Count Count Longli, has he made up his mind or is he still hesitating?"
Xu Yi had questions in his mind, but he didn't show it on his face. He thanked Old Hal, took the bowl of soup, blew on it, and took a sip.
A mouthful of fragrance exploded in his mouth and Xu Yi couldn't help but give Old Hal a big thumbs up.
"Delicious!
No wonder sir City Lord specially brought me here, it was because he was hungry! "
Receiving Xu Yi's generous praise, old Hal's eyes narrowed into two slits from his smile. It was unknown where he went, but he took out a bag that seemed to be made of lambskin. He took out a bowl and opened the lid of the lambskin bag, causing the fragrance of wine to fill the air. It was filled with fine wine.
"Come, eat some deer meat and drink some wine. That is the best enjoyment."
After Longli Count Longli came here, it was like he was a completely different person. He didn't look like a noble at all. He took the bowl of wine from Old Hal's hands and raised it to toast Xu Yi.
Xu Yi clinked their bowls and drank in one gulp. He found that even though the taste of this wine couldn't compare to the wine of the Sachi Manor or the wine from the dwarves' wineries, it was still pretty good.
Thus, the four adults and two children gathered around the stove. Even the children sipped their wine and ate the venison soup heartily. In a short while, they had finished the entire pot of venison, not even sparing a single drop of soup at the bottom of the pot.
After eating and drinking to his heart's content, Longli Count Longli rested for a bit before calling out to Xu Yi again.
"Let's go, Chairman Xu. In this kind of weather, after eating, we should go take a good bath. It is definitely a good enjoyment."
Xu Yi was still puzzled, but he didn't plan on asking.
Today, Longli Count Longli didn't plan on saying anything until the last moment. Of course he would patiently wait and wouldn't rush him.
If Longli Count Longli's thoughts were as he guessed, then this matter was indeed a very difficult decision for Longli Count Longli. It was normal for him to be hesitant.
After leaving Old Hal's house, Longli Count Longli didn't immediately head up the mountain. Instead, he returned to the carriage and took out two bags. He threw one to Xu Yi and carried the other. He led the way to a small mountain outside the village.
It was good to walk a few steps after eating, but it was a bit strenuous to directly climb the mountain.
Xu Yi's stamina wasn't good to begin with. Under these conditions, he was out of breath after climbing a section of the mountain, causing Longli Count Longli to laugh loudly.
"Chairman Xu, I heard that you are a magician. Are all magicians as weak as you?"
Xu Yi rolled his eyes, but he didn't have the strength to refute.
At the very least, he had met many magicians, but he hadn't seen any magician with especially good stamina.
It was a good thing that this mountain wasn't very high and they hadn't reached the top yet. Longli Count Longli stopped and led Xu Yi down a small path on the side of the mountain.
After walking for a while, there was the sound of water splashing in front of them. There was also a thick mist of water vapor floating in front of them.
Seeing this scene, Xu Yi was shocked.
Why did this look so much like the thing he would occasionally experience on Earth?
After walking for a while, the water vapor became even thicker, but they could clearly see that there was a pool of water over a hundred square meters on the side of the mountain.
The water in the pool clearly had a certain temperature. In this cold weather, it emitted a thick heat that dyed the surroundings of the pool like a paradise.
That's right, this was actually a hot spring!
Seeing Xu Yi in a daze, Longli Count Longli laughed and said to Xu Yi, "Chairman Xu, you are a southerner, so this should be your first time seeing our specialty hot spring right?"
Xu Yi wanted to say that he had experienced this many times on Earth, but he still nodded in acknowledgment.
"Since it is your first time here, then you have to properly experience it.
Let me tell you, in this kind of weather, soaking in a hot spring is simply the greatest enjoyment. "
After saying this, Longli Count Longli didn't hold back at all. He didn't seem to have any reservations as he skillfully took off all his clothes and directly entered the hot spring pool.
Seeing Longli Count Longli waving at him from the hot spring, Xu Yi helplessly shook his head. He also quickly took off his clothes and entered.
It had to be said that in this kind of cold weather, soaking in this kind of natural hot spring and being able to enjoy the scenery from a high place really was a great enjoyment.
However, because of Longli Count Longli's intentions in bringing him here, Xu Yi couldn't easily enjoy it.
The two of them chatted while soaking in the hot spring.
After a while, Longli Count Longli suddenly sighed, "Even though Old Hal and the others are right next to this kind of natural enjoyment, they have to worry about how to eat their fill every day. They don't have the mood to think about this kind of enjoyment at all.
Chairman Xu, what do you think? "
Xu Yi withdrew his gaze from the village at the foot of the mountain and turned to look at Longli Count Longli.
This fellow had been keeping him in suspense all day, was he finally going to talk about the main topic?