My Lady

The days passed one by one.

In the blink of an eye, He Pingsheng had been on Bamboo Peak for more than half a month.

Nothing unusual had happened during that time, but after more than half a month of nourishment from meat and spirit rice, along with carrying water on foot every day, He Pingsheng had gained weight and filled out.

He had grown considerably sturdier.

Naturally, carrying water no longer took quite so much effort.

To put it simply, he could now easily manage twenty trips a day.

But to conceal the effects of the golden rice, He Pingsheng still had to put on a half-dead expression of exhaustion every day.

That day, the weather was fine, and the blue sky was crystal clear.

As usual, He Pingsheng carried water from Mountain Spring to the dining hall. Before he reached the large vat, he spotted a crowd gathered outside the dining hall from a distance.

Their colorful clothes caught the eye.

He Pingsheng looked them over and saw that many unfamiliar people had suddenly appeared.

There were personal disciples wearing the distinctive Daoist robes of the Great Void Sect, as well as Servant Disciples like He Pingsheng.

Everyone clustered together, pointing and talking among themselves.

Now and then, a woman's stern voice rang out.

He Pingsheng had no intention of approaching, but before he could empty his water into the vat, he heard a woman say, "You there... the water carrier. Come here!"

Only then did He Pingsheng turn to look. A gap opened in the dense crowd, revealing a woman in pink Daoist robes glaring at him, her almond-shaped eyes wide with fury.

In front of the woman in pink, Boss Zhang lay on the ground like a dog, with quite a bit of blood at the corner of his mouth.

This...

What happened?

Had Boss Zhang been beaten?

"M-my lady..." He Pingsheng set down his carrying pole, approached the woman respectfully, and cupped his hands in salute.

The Great Void Sect had strict rules. Whenever Servant Disciples encountered inner disciples, they had to bow in greeting, and sometimes even kneel and kowtow.

Whether they knew a male disciple or not, they had to respectfully address him as "my lord"; female disciples were addressed as "my lady."

"Are you the servant responsible for carrying water?" The woman in pink Daoist robes stared at He Pingsheng, her expression frosty.

He Pingsheng took a deep breath and answered cautiously, "Yes, this lowly servant is responsible for carrying water!"

Shing! Without another word, the woman drew the sword at her waist with a sweep of her hand and flicked it forward, pointing its blade at He Pingsheng.

Before the sword reached him, a sharp gust of wind swept toward him.

Frightened, He Pingsheng stumbled back three or four steps.

The woman said, "I'm going to ask you a question. If you dare deceive me, I won't spare you today!"

"Yes, yes, yes..." He Pingsheng lowered his head again.

The woman said, "The water from our Bamboo Peak's Mountain Spring has always been clear, cool, and sweet, the finest among the Great Void Sect's nine peaks. Even Heaven One Peak can't compare with us. Tell me, why has the water become increasingly filthy lately?"

"It's completely ordinary, and hard to swallow!"

He Pingsheng's face immediately fell. That's right!

When he first arrived, he too had thought the water tasted wonderful, but lately it had grown increasingly unremarkable.

He Pingsheng wanted to know the answer himself!

"Well... this lowly servant doesn't know either!" He Pingsheng did not know, so he could only tell the truth.

"Hmph!" The woman snorted coldly, two sharp gleams shooting from her eyes. "You filthy wretch! Have you been bathing in the spring while fetching water, fouling our Bamboo Peak's immortal spring? If so, I'll kill you!"

He Pingsheng was instantly terrified. "I've never done such a thing! Please investigate carefully, my lady!"

Before the woman could speak, Boss Zhang sprang up from the ground in a rage, rushed over to He Pingsheng, and kicked him.

Thud! He kicked He Pingsheng to the ground.

Boss Zhang raised his fists and hammered viciously at his head several times. "You damned bastard! You resented being made to carry water, so you dared contaminate the source! I'll beat you to death, you fool who doesn't know what's good for him!"

Thud, thud, thud...

Boss Zhang struck him several more times.

Only when blood flowed freely from He Pingsheng's mouth and nose did he finally stop, seething. "Rest assured, my lady. I'll chop this cur up and feed him to the dogs later!"

After saying that, Boss Zhang viciously kicked He Pingsheng several more times.

Although He Pingsheng had grown stronger lately, he was still only a fourteen-year-old boy. How could he compare with Boss Zhang, a man in his thirties with a face full of brutish flesh?

He could not possibly fight back. All he could do was curl up.

The woman's expression eased somewhat. "Chopping this cur up would be fine. Replace him with someone who knows how to behave. But that's your Servant Class's own business!"

Hearing these people truly deciding whether he would live or die, He Pingsheng panicked. He scrambled up from the ground and hurriedly said, "Please judge fairly, my lady! This lowly servant carries water all day and has no time to bathe over there. Please look into it, my lady. This really has nothing to do with me!"

Just then, another woman in blue robes hurried over from the distance.

"Junior sister, what are you doing?" the woman in blue asked. "Are you about to cause trouble again?"

The woman in pink said, "Second senior sister, you're here..."

"It's nothing serious. These filthy, disgusting Servant Disciples dared bathe in the spring behind the mountain and contaminate the immortal spring. That's why the water has tasted different lately. I came here to uphold justice and kill this filthy wretch!"

"You mustn't!" The woman in blue looked alarmed. "You absolutely must not do that!"

Seeing hope of rescue, He Pingsheng quickly took two steps toward the woman in blue. "Please judge fairly, my lady! This lowly servant has never bathed in that pool!"

"I drink this water myself. Why would I foul it and disgust myself?"

The woman in blue nodded, then shifted her gaze from He Pingsheng to the woman in pink. "Junior sister, even if someone had bathed in the pool, it most likely wouldn't change the taste of the water. If you want to know what really happened, you'd better go to Mountain Spring and take a look yourself!"

"You mustn't accuse someone without cause. Though they're all lowly Servant Disciples, life isn't easy for them either!"

"Hmph..." The woman in pink snorted, feeling thoroughly embarrassed.

The woman in blue said, "How about this? I'll go with you to Mountain Spring and take a look... You few come along too. Let's see exactly what's strange about this water."

He Pingsheng did not know how to address these two women, but clearly the woman in blue had more authority.

Everyone followed the two women toward the back of the mountain.

As he walked, He Pingsheng limped, his entire body aching.

His face was mottled with bruises.

Even so, He Pingsheng still carried the two empty buckets.

After all, he would still have to work later!

Otherwise, the consequences would be even worse.