Deer Pear Maiden

When Lu Li had registered for the exam in Southern Sun Town, no one had asked him this question. The two sects did not share information either. Seeing that expression on the other party's face, Lu Li immediately felt as guilty as a thief.

After all, he had killed disciples of Azure Sun Hall and killed river bandits too, one bad deed after another.

Surely not? With the current state of affairs between the two sects, it'd already be good enough if I didn't offer up the fact that I killed an Azure Sun Hall disciple as a token of allegiance.

Could you really have a grudge against me?

Lu Li was thinking this when, before he could speak, the servant's furrowed brows gradually relaxed again.

"Must've seen wrong. This one's called Duan Li. Hah, I was planning to head to the downstream purchasing station to buy some miscellaneous ore. Senior Brother recommended a seller to me, and that fellow is called Duan Li too. Apparently, he's become one of the downstream mine bosses now."

"Ahem, look at the mess this has become. Heh heh heh."

Lu Li gave an awkward laugh. He had only blurted out that fake name at the time—Elder Duan's surname combined with his own given name. Who could have known it would cause such a farce?

The person you're looking for is Young Master Duan Li, the mine boss. What does he have to do with an unknown nobody like me, Lu Li? Really now.

After some profound reflection, Lu Li decided that whenever he made up a false name in the future, he absolutely could not use any character from his real name. Not even one with a similar pronunciation.

Lu Li was thinking this when, before he could speak, the servant's brows furrowed once more.

"Hm?"

"Wh-what is it?"

"No, that's not right. I feel like I've heard the name Lu Li somewhere before. Which Lu, which Li are you?"

The other man's repeated bursts of surprise and questioning set alarm bells ringing in Lu Li's mind again. He even had the urge to rush out the door and flee this place.

In the end, Lu Li did not choose to run. Instead, he forced himself to remain calm and, with thoughts racing, came up with an explanation.

"Lu, as in the deer that runs through the woods. I take my father's surname."

"Lu, huh? Mm, that is indeed a surname. And Li?"

"Li..." Lu Li caught sight of the cloth bag in his hand, with half a pear sticking out of it, and said, "Pear. Li, as in this pear."

As he spoke, Lu Li took out a pear and reluctantly offered it to the servant.

"You've worked hard, esteemed artificer. Have a pear."

The servant accepted the pear and inspected it from top to bottom, clearly pleased. His brows relaxed again. He set the pear aside, and his attitude immediately improved considerably.

"That's quite a lovely name for a young lady."

A young lady?!

Where is there a young lady? I just sound a little young and have a somewhat pale face! Which one of your eyes saw me as a young lady, hey?!

Lu Li roared inwardly, Elder Duan's teasing laughter filling his mind.

"Ha ha ha, a young lady! Who would have thought? I thought I'd taken in a male disciple, but who knew it was a little girl? Ha ha ha..."

At this moment, Lu Li's fists itched. He wanted to hit someone, wished he could slap these two people a hundred times each.

Yet he could not refute them. He had no choice but to endure it.

Judging from this, the other party definitely knew something. Otherwise, he would not be asking in such detail. Now that the man had misunderstood Lu Li's gender, it was instead another layer of protection for him.

"Age."

With an expression that was thirty percent bashful and seventy percent aggrieved, Lu Li said word by word, "Th-this young lady is sixteen this year."

"Mm, taking the Pincersmith Seal examination at sixteen? Not bad, not bad. Young and accomplished. Which art are you taking, and which grade?"

"This, young, lady, intends to take them all."

"What do you mean, all of them? When I ask which art, you answer pincering or welding. When I ask which grade, you answer which of Heaven, Earth, and Human. Do you understand?"

"I mean I'm taking all six examinations."

The assessments would be held at the end of the month, while Lu Li only had one month to refine the Azure Underworld Painted Skin. These examinations could not be taken by skipping grades; they had to proceed level by level, from Human to Earth to Heaven.

Therefore, he had to pass them all in one go. There was no way back.

"Why don't you listen to what you're saying?"

"That's exactly what I mean. What's the problem?"

"Miss, I don't have time to joke around with you."

"I-I mean, this young lady isn't joking with you either. Hmph."

"This woman... Do you think you can take these whenever you want? Every examination requires a fee. The Human grade costs two taels of silver, the Earth grade five taels, and the Heaven grade eight taels."

"Mm, I know."

"The examinations here must be taken in sequence. If you fail either of the first two Human-grade assessments, you will not be permitted to take the remaining four. And the registration fees you paid will not be refunded."

"I know that too."

Miss Lu nodded slightly. He placed the three spirit stones he had prepared beforehand onto the desk. Registering for all six assessments had cost him an entire kidney's worth of money. It truly was not cheap.

Only then did the servant look Miss Lu up and down, calculating inwardly. Her clothes were ordinary, but her appearance was excellent and her bearing refined. And she kept calling herself "this young lady." Perhaps she was the daughter of some wealthy family, who had disguised herself and sneaked out to have some fun.

If they had been children from poor families, there was no way they could have such fair, clean skin. She simply did not match the person he was looking for in the slightest.

A young lady like this certainly would not be short of money. Signing up for the assessment was probably just for fun, to see the world a little. Whether she passed or not was another matter; tossing three spirit stones into the water for a bit of amusement was still understandable.

He was merely a lowly attendant. Faced with a wealthy young lady like Miss Deer, he would not dare offend her even if given ten thousand times the courage.

Once he realized this, the attendant immediately became solemn and respectful. He swiftly entered her information, then respectfully saw her out of the Artificer Association.

Yet after Deer Pear had left, the attendant suddenly noticed the pear she had left on the desk. He secretly wondered what she had meant by giving him this pear.

Why would a rich young lady give him a pear? By rights, she had no need to curry favor with him.

Thinking back to her initial flustered expression, he could not tell whether it had been shyness or an attempt to conceal something.

Deer Pear, Lu Li—those two names were far too coincidental. What if they really were the same person?

After turning it over in his mind, he picked up the sound-transmission stone on the desk and tried to contact someone else in the city. Before long, the sound-transmission stone connected.

"Brother Zhu, I hope you've been well. We haven't seen each other in days—have you missed your little brother?"

The sound-transmission stone immediately responded. The other party's voice was deep and powerful, sounding like that of a burly man.

"Spit it out if you've got something to say!"

"Someone came to the Artificer Association today to sign up for the assessment. Her name just happens to be the same as the person you're looking for—both are called Lu Li."

"Where the hell is that little bastard now?"

"Hey, listen to me first. The names aren't the same. Her Deer is the deer in little deer, and her Pear is the pear we eat."

"Bullshit! I think it's him. I already found out that Duan Li is him too—they're all the same person."

"Oh, Lord Zhu, I reckon this person might have quite the background. He may not be the one you're looking for, so don't act rashly. Besides, Maple Fragrance City is White Moon Palace territory, not like when you were at Azure Sun Hall. I'm contacting you in secret here."

"Just tell me where he is. My second brother went to collect a debt a while ago and got killed. Even if this brat didn't do it himself, he definitely can't be unrelated to it."

"He left and headed east through the city. The one with the fairest, cleanest face is him. And that promised reward..."

"Don't worry. Once I catch him, you'll get what's coming to you."

"Thank you, Brother Zhu Yi—"