Arriving in the courtyard, Xiǎo Bāo was panting heavily, looking around the area until her eyes landed on the Patriarch.
He was in the midst of training, surrounded by battle dummies that vanished and reappeared in rapid succession.
Blue mist swirled around his arms, crackling in the air as he unleashed powerful punches, each strike sending ripples through the dummies before they faded into mist, only to reform and circle him again.
The patriarch of the Feng family, Feng Yuanyun, stood tall—an imposing figure with a muscular build. His face was marked by scars, and his sharp golden eyes glinted.
His short black hair, streaked with white strands, clung to his sweat-soaked forehead. Wearing only ku trousers, his bare chest glistened under the strain of practicing his martial arts.
Despite knowing it was forbidden to interrupt the Patriarch's training, Xiǎo Bāo understood she had no choice. The situation was dire, a matter of life and death, and she couldn't afford to wait any longer.
"Pardon my intrusion, Patriarch!" she called out, her voice steady despite her racing heart.
When he didn't respond, Xiǎo Bāo cautiously stepped forward, feeling the dense Qi in the air pressing heavily around her.
"Patriarch, I must tell you something!" She made another attempt to capture his attention.
However, Feng Yuanyun couldn't hear her. It wasn't that he was deaf, but his entire being was absorbed in his martial arts training.
Every sense was honed in on his movements, completely blocking out the outside world. His eyes, clouded with blue mist, saw nothing but the dummies in front of him, his focus unwavering.
Xiǎo Bāo tried everything in her power to get his attention—yelling, getting as close as possible, even attempting to poke him with a stick.
But the moment the stick neared Feng Yuanyun, it burst into splinters, unable to withstand the intense Qi radiating from his body.
Desperation filled Xiǎo Bāo as she struggled against the overwhelming force that kept her from reaching him. Being a mere mortal, it was impossible for her to approach any cultivator who was training.
The dense Qi suffocated her, making it hard to breathe, and her body was far too weak to withstand the overwhelming force.
'Shit... this is taking too long.' Desperation gripped Xiǎo Bāo as she fought against time, knowing that the chances of her fellow maids surviving had plummeted to near zero.
Although she wanted to help them, she knew she couldn't do so without the Patriarch's approval; after all, she wasn't allowed in the medicine storage.
Xiǎo Bāo needed his permission first.
And so, desperate for the Patriarch's attention, she frantically searched her mind for something she could do.
Then it hit Xiǎo Bāo. 'Ah, I got it!' She dashed to a small rock, picking it up from the ground.
Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself and approached the patriarch once more, moving slowly despite the pain beginning to gnaw at her limbs.
Xiǎo Bāo, summoning all her strength, took a back step, winding up, then hurled the rock at the distant battle dummy.
Within seconds, the rock hung suspended in the air before striking the distant battle dummy that had been standing to the side, causing it to vanish in a puff of smoke.
Feng Yuanyun, abruptly pulled from his focus, caught a glimpse of one of the battle dummies disappearing—not by his hand, but by someone else's.
His attention shifted. The blue mist slipped from his arms and hands, disrupting his flow and causing him to lose valuable progress as his Sea of Consciousness was shaken.
"Damn it!" Feng Yuanyun roared, stomping his foot into the ground with such force that the entire courtyard trembled, causing the surrounding structures to sway slightly.
He reined in his strength just enough to prevent them from collapsing. After all, despite being angry, he wasn't gonna break his own property.
Feng Yuanyun maintained a semblance of levelheadedness, albeit a fragile one.
"Who wants to die!? Who interrupted me!?" he bellowed, glaring around until his gaze fell on Xiǎo Bāo, who had fallen onto the ground, struggling to get up.
A whirlwind of emotions flickered across her face as she struggled to regain her composure. 'First Young Master, I miss you…' Invisible tears appeared on her face as she thought of her crush.
No servant, including herself, in the Feng family liked dealing with the patriarch. For good reason; he was a hothead, known to cripple anyone who dared to anger him.
Which happened quite often, as dozens of new batches of servants replaced others every week or month, creating a constant cycle of fresh faces.
Gulping heavily, Xiǎo Bāo brushed the dust from her clothing, locking eyes with the patriarch as he approached, his feet leaving deep prints in the gravel.
Feng Yuanyun came to a halt before her, his figure casting a long shadow as he towered over her.
"Seeing as it's you, Xiǎo Bāo, I'll let you decide. Arms or legs? Which would you prefer to have crippled?" he asked, his tone still filled with anger, the heat of his fury far from cooled.
He had been so close to mastering the Misty Fists, a martial art technique he had been spending years to master. He could see it taking shape within his Sea of Consciousness, until it shattered before his very eyes.
'Damn it! I was so close… SO CLOSE!'
Veins began appearing all over Feng Yuanyun's forehead, about to burst. He was on the verge of becoming a raging bull, seeing red everywhere.
Before speaking, Xiǎo Bāo hurriedly took a small breath to steady her nerves. After all, their positions were as far apart as heaven and earth.
She couldn't afford to be any more disrespectful than she already had been.
With a graceful motion, Xiǎo Bāo lowered herself into a deep bow, her upper body bending at a respectful angle while keeping her hands clasped neatly in front of her.
After holding the position for a moment, she rose slightly, her eyes still cast downward. "Patriarch, I humbly greet you. Please hear me out. It's about the Second Young Master!"
Xiǎo Bāo hoped that by bringing up the situation, the Patriarch would show her mercy. If not, she was ready to come up with every excuse she could think of to save herself.
At this point, she no longer cared about racing against time; she couldn't afford to think about the other maidservants.
Xiǎo Bāo believed her own life took precedence above all else.