“I do not know how or why your Cultivation Method had injured you in such a bizarre way… but considering that you are a Shaman, I am not surprised. Spirits are such vile and disgusting creatures!” Queen Hua entered through the door and was followed by a five-foot tall little servant girl, who was carrying a silver platter in her hands. Well, she wasn’t wearing rags or anything and she didn’t seem distraught. I didn’t know if she got paid for her job, but if she was able to live in a palace and eat decent meals, then it was probably better than being in some shitty village.

That woman ‘looked’ like she could be a teenager or maybe in her twenties. However, even back on Earth, there were plenty of people who managed to appear much younger than they actually were. She brought the platter over to Di and placed it upon the arms of his chair, then bowed and retreated behind the old lady.

Jiang smirked at the two of us and mentioned “The Herbal Tea and Biscuits you requested have been prepared by our greatest Culinary Adept… I hope that you keep in mind that these items were not ‘cheap’. How much longer will it take for the boy’s injuries to subside?” She was wearing an azure robe that looked exactly like the one she had destroyed before. Her hands were also covered by skin-tight blue gloves.

Di snickered, taking the large lid off of the platter and pouring some tea into a cup. After handing the food and drink to me, he grumbled “Bullshit! Master Hua, Queen uh the damn Southern Islands can’t afford ta use a few fuckin Rank-F Herbs? Ya might be able ta con my stupid disciple, but I’ve known ya for far too long ta fall for that old shtick!”

The granny didn’t seem too bothered by what he said. She walked over to the side of my bed and casually pulled the blanket off of my body, then reached down and grabbed my testicles. I yelped and nearly spilled the scalding hot tea on my chest, while biting my tongue. My penis was wrapped in gauze and my asshole was also bandaged up, so it wasn’t like I was completely naked.

After she fondled my tiny balls for a few moments, she frowned and asked “You promised that you would be able to deliver enough seed for me to create a decent heir… But are you even old enough to produce anything? Aren’t you merely a child?”

I complained “Yeah, well, I’m obviously an early bloomer… I mean, my junk might not seem that impressive, but I’m only nine years old! What the hell do you expect?! Ow, shit, I’m getting a boner now and it feels like my dick’s gonna explode… Ugh, Di, what do I do in this kinda situation?!”

She immediately pulled her hand away and the old man yelled “How the fuck would I know! Ya think deep-fried dick is something I’ve treated before?! Just calm yer freakin mind! Meditate and cleanse yer impure thoughts! Whatever ya do, don’t get hard and if it does happen, definitely don’t jerk off!”

Jiang scowled, murmuring “I’ve never met such a perverted child before…” Then she turned towards that girl and ordered “Mei, I’m assigning you to watch over him for now. You shall be responsible for… making sure that ‘mister’ Ares completes his tasks. For the time being, you are also his handmaiden or perhaps, ‘babysitter’ would be a more appropriate term.”

After the Queen left, I pulled the blanket over my body again and sat upright. My ass hurt, but the mattress was really comfortable, so it wasn’t too bad. Di scanned that young woman up and down a few times and reached out, grabbing her left wrist. Her irises glowed bright-orange and she quickly pulled her hand away from him, while retreating towards the back of the room. She was wearing a white robe with golden embroidery, along with fancy jade earrings and amulets. Her long black hair was tied back in a ponytail, while her facial features were probably what most people would consider ‘beautiful’. No cat-ears or tentacles though, unfortunately.

“Hehehe~, it’s all good Kid, she’s already forty-five and only an Apprentice. That old hag wouldn’t be dumb enough ta waste yer virginity on this one. Sides, she’s only level-three… You’d probably be able ta kick her ass if she tried anything on ya.” He stood up, placed the silver platter on the bed next to me, then he walked over to the door and left the room.

I continued eating those spicy biscuits, while drinking the thick and nasty Herbal tea, while that woman was just cautiously staring over at me. She was wearing flip-flops, so it was pretty loud when she walked across the marble floor. Then she bowed towards me and said “Mister Ares, I will be your handmaiden until you leave the palace… My name is Hua Mei, please let me know if there’s anything that you need.”

“Ah, no, I’m good for now. Nice to meet you… Hmmm~, so you’re related to Octo-Granny? Wait, does that mean you have shapeshifting powers too?” She frowned when I referred to her Queen in such an obnoxious way, but didn’t complain about it.

Mei smiled wryly, holding out her right hand and muttering “Indeed, I am an Aquatic Druid… Just not nearly as amazing as Her Majesty. All of us who are allowed to live in this underwater palace are part of the Hua Family. If we went out into the Southern Islands, we would be considered royalty, but down here, we’re only servants and guards.” The skin on her palm transformed into slimy grey shark-like scales, while her fingernails seemed to disappear.

“Oh sweet! I bet your boyfriend loves that little trick, huh?” Instead of getting angry, she giggled, then sat down onto the chair next to the bed. Her hand returned to normal as she reached out and poured herself a cup of tea.

After taking a few sips, she gagged and complained “How can you actually drink this stuff? Ugh, it tastes like squid ink coffee…” However, regardless of the weird faces she was making, she still kept drinking it.

The moment she finished chugging that nasty tea, she told me “I’ve been single for almost twenty years! I didn’t always use to live here, you know? Damn it, I was a princess on Hua Ri Island for the first half of my life! They wanted to marry me off to this disgusting pig when I was a teenager, so I had an affair with one of the sexier royal guards… Ironically, that King Cao bastard cancelled the engagement himself once he found out that I wasn’t a ‘maiden’ anymore. It’s funny how men can have fifty concubines and fuck any maid or whore they want, while women are considered ‘sluts’ the moment they have sex out of wedlock!

“After that, my parents got mad at me and had my ‘boyfriend’ publically executed. In response to that, I got depressed and couldn’t cultivate properly… Once I turned twenty, no one really cared about me anymore. I dated a carpenter, a fisherman, a farmer… but it just didn’t feel right, you know? They didn’t love me and I didn’t have any special feelings for them either. Eventually, I bought a nice, secluded place by the sea and raised cute little sharks.”

I couldn’t help but ask “Then how did you end up as a handmaiden down here?”

She sighed, “I’m getting older… I might still have my youth, but it won’t be long before I’ll become barren. The other day I received an invitation from Her Majesty. It wasn’t just me, there were at least thirty other unmarried ‘Hua’ women. I was the only one who volunteered to actually… Well, you know why I’m here, right?”

“Yeah, it ain’t too hard to figure out. Unfortunately, it’s going to take a while for me to heal enough to collect any sperm donations… Wait, did you say you raise sharks?” Anyway, it turned out that Mei was actually pretty cool. I was kind of worried that Queen Hua would end up forcing some innocent girl into milking me like a cow, but I got along pretty well with my ‘babysitter’.

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