Chapter 866: [Offering] (Part I)

From Five Contemplations Hall to the water source is about two and a half li. Going there was easy, but on the way back the two large buckets were filled with mountain spring water, each weighing about one hundred catties. Although these guards were fit, after walking a short distance some felt exhausted. Monk Mingsheng walked in front, arms outstretched, holding a bucket in each hand, moving swiftly. Regardless of the ups and downs of the mountain path, the pair of buckets remained balanced, not a drop of the mountain spring water spilled.

Hu Xiaotian followed closely behind. At first he hadn't mastered the balance, spilling a few drops of mountain spring water, but he quickly grasped the trick, striding with large steps, moving swiftly. His internal energy now surpassed Monk Mingsheng's; although the bucket pair was heavy, for Hu Xiaotian it posed no burden at all.

Those guards lacked such ability—let alone holding their arms outstretched, just carrying the buckets with both hands already exhausted them. Recall that since leaving the imperial city last night they hadn't rested properly; tonight they not only had to stand watch but also chop firewood for their livelihood, toiling all night. Before dawn, Hu Xiaotian forced them to come fetch water, and they didn't even have a carrying pole; the buckets were twice the size of ordinary ones. The guards silently cursed Hu Xiaotian as a perverse extortionist, showing no sympathy for their hardship.

Zuo Tang, not paying attention, slipped with his foot, falling to the ground with the bucket, spilling all the water inside.

Hu Xiaotian stopped, turned, and looked. Seeing Zuo Tang's sorry state, he felt no sympathy and almost laughed out loud. He said to Monk Mingsheng, 'Master Mingsheng, how do you deal with such a situation?'

Mingsheng replied, 'Go back, refill the buckets, and bring them back.'

Hu Xiaotian gave the guards a smile that didn't reach his eyes and said, 'Listen up: since you've come to Heaven Dragon Temple, you must follow the temple's rules. Anyone who spills water midway, failing to meet the standard, must go back and refill. Only when it meets the standard is the task considered complete.'

Hearing this, the guards wished they could rush forward and tear him apart, but because of his official position none dared to openly defy him; they could only grit their teeth and endure. Zuo Tang struggled to his feet from the ground, picked up the two empty buckets, and turned back to fetch water again. This round trip would consume considerable energy.

Today Hu Xiaotian gave the guards a vivid lesson: what it means that the body is the capital of revolution—without a body, one only has to suffer bullying. If you let others work while you do nothing, that's bullying with power; but now Hu Xiaotian leads by example, so although the guards harbor a thousand dissatisfactions, they have nothing to say.

Monk Mingsheng and Hu Xiaotian arrived first at the reservoir. They poured the water in. Seeing Hu Xiaotian's face unchanged and his breathing steady, Mingsheng inwardly marveled—no wonder Hu Xiaotian, so young, could become the leader of these men; he truly possesses extraordinary ability. Looking at the guards: the nearest one was still half a li from the reservoir, each already exhausted, after a few steps they would plant the pointed-bottom buckets into the ground. Their arms still needed to maintain strength, and several, unable to keep balance, tipped the buckets over, forcing them to go back for water.

Hu Xiaotian asked, 'Master Mingsheng, how many trips do you make for water each day?'

'Three trips per person!'

Hu Xiaotian picked up the buckets and headed toward the spring, raising his voice to the crowd: 'Listen up: three trips per person!'

By the time daylight fully brightened, three guards had still not completed their water‑fetching task. These three, having fallen repeatedly, were covered in mud and in a miserable state. Zuo Tang simply sat down midway, panting, and said, 'I can't carry them anymore—even if you killed me, I still couldn't.'

For someone like Zuo Tang, Hu Xiaotian also had a method: 'You can't carry them? Then you're forbidden to eat for a day; tomorrow you keep carrying, and you'll eat only when the task is done.' This wasn't some devious trick he invented—it's simply the rule of Heaven Dragon Temple. Upon hearing the ban on eating for a day, Zuo Tang's inner fire was indeed sparked; without a word he grabbed the two buckets and brought them to the reservoir.

Seeing the guards who had stood watch the previous night subjected to such torment, another shift that had slept soundly and escaped the hard labor felt secretly relieved—but Hu Xiaotian wouldn't let them idle. He left four to handle cooking and sent the remaining six to experience the hardship of fetching water.

Arriving at the kitchen, he saw the two imperial chefs had already prepared the emperor's breakfast. Smelling the tempting aroma, Hu Xiaotian felt his hunger sharpening, so he picked up a pair of chopsticks and sampled every dish of the emperor's morning meal.

The two imperial chefs stared, dumbfounded, and couldn't help reminding him, 'Sir Hu, this is prepared for the emperor.'

'I know!' By then Hu Xiaotian had already finished the basket of vegetarian buns, then reached out and lifted a bowl of some unnamed soup, drinking it down in three gulps. He smacked his lips and said, 'The taste is good; it should be non‑poisonous.'

The two imperial chefs found themselves laughing and crying at his antics, thinking, 'If you want to eat, just say so—yet you even suspect there's poison in it.'

Hu Xiaotian reached for another basket of steamed dumplings; the chefs, alarmed, quickly shielded them with their hands, saying, 'Sir Hu, if you eat more there won't be enough for the emperor!'

Hu Xiaotian glared at him fiercely: 'How dare you speak like that? His Majesty charged me with ensuring his dietary safety; no matter what you prepare, I of course must first taste it for poison, making sure it's harmless before sending it to the emperor. Do you think I just want to eat?' He glanced at the emperor's breakfast—damn, there are twenty‑ or thirty‑varieties of morning pastries alone; can the old emperor really eat all that? Blast it, the old fogey comes here and still expects to be pampered, talking about eating vegetarian and chanting Buddha, while whether you eat or use things, it's worse than in the palace—on the contrary, we have to eat coarse grains and swallow vegetables.

Hu Xiaotian pointed at the dumplings the chefs were guarding and said, 'What are you nervous about? I originally didn't want to taste them, but now I suspect this basket of dumplings has a problem—hand them over, I'll give them a try.'

The two imperial chefs had never dealt with someone like Hu Xiaotian, a lazy good‑for‑nothing; just now they had seen him tormenting the guards and were feeling schadenfreude, but in the blink of an eye they found themselves being made things difficult by him.

One of them, named Huang Luosheng, said, 'Sir Hu, if this reaches the emperor's ears, I fear it won't be good.'

Hu Xiaotian smiled indifferently and said, 'You sound like you're threatening me.'

'I wouldn't dare!'

Hu Xiaotian snorted coldly, 'I regard the emperor's safety as more important than my own life—filled with fervent loyalty, evident to heaven and earth; I fear no one's words!' The fellow then lifted a plate of golden‑brown pumpkin pancakes and, while speaking, stuffed two into his mouth.

The two imperial chefs were at a loss; seeing that threats didn't work, Huang Luosheng could only try to reason with him: 'Sir Hu, please spare us today, and from now on could you make us an extra portion each day…'

Hu Xiaotian replied, 'It's not for me—I declare that I, too, act out of responsibility to the emperor; only after I've eaten something and found it harmless do I dare to send these foods to him. Think about it: if something really went wrong, not only would you be in trouble, but even I and my brothers wouldn't have enough heads to lose.'

The two imperial chefs wiped the sweat from their brows, seeing that Hu Xiaotian would finally let them off with the remaining pastries, they hurriedly packed everything into the food boxes. Hu Xiaotian held the plate of pumpkin pancakes, eating until his mouth was full of oil, and while eating he praised, 'These pumpkin pancakes are fried to perfection—crispy outside, glutinous inside, fragrant and delicious.'

The two imperial chefs counted up; at this point Hu Xiaotian had demolished quite a few of the twenty‑nine baskets of dim sum, and there was no time to make more. They stared at each other, unsure what to do.

Hu Xiaotian said, 'Never mind, I'll take care of this.'

He went out, circled around, soon returned holding a basket containing several kinds of coarse‑grain steamed buns, which he placed directly into the empty steamer.

Huang Luosheng trembled as he said, 'Sir Hu, won't you taste these?'

Hu Xiaotian glared at him and said, 'Are you asking me to take a bite of the emperor's morning pastries first?'

Hu Xiaotian, accompanied by four guards carrying the food boxes, headed for the emperor's residence to deliver the meal. Twenty‑nine baskets of dim sum—if the old emperor ate them all he'd likely burst from overeating. Hu Xiaotian silently cursed the emperor for wasting grain. Upon reaching the gate of Universal Worthy Court, he was met by Qi Dainei and a group of guards, who greeted him with beaming smiles: 'Sir Hu, you've come so early?'

Hu Xiaotian said, 'I'm bringing the emperor his meal, worried he might be hungry.'

Qi Dainei looked at the food boxes and said, 'Leave them to us!'

Hu Xiaotian replied, 'That won't do—the emperor's order is for me to supervise the entire process; it's not that I distrust you, but if anything went wrong midway, it would be hard to explain.'

Qi Dainei chuckled and said, 'Sir Hu, how can you not trust even your own people?'

Hu Xiaotian smiled and said, 'It's not that I'm overly suspicious; it's that nothing concerning the emperor can be taken lightly.' At that moment Yin Zheng and another young eunuch came forward to greet them.

Yin Zheng smiled and said, 'Sir Hu has arrived; hand over the items to me. The emperor said that if Sir Hu comes, he should be invited to come inside together.'

Hu Xiaotian gave a look, his subordinates handed the food boxes to Yin Zheng and company, and Hu Xiaotian followed them into Universal Worthy Court. He found the grounds lush with trees and flowers, rows of cultivated bamboo lining the paths; walking through felt like entering an elegant garden. Heaven Dragon Temple truly treats people differently—its reception standards for the old emperor are indeed distinct.

Yin Zheng led Hu Xiaotian to the door of a meditation chamber, gently knocked, and a middle‑aged man opened the door, eyeing Hu Xiaotian warily.

Hu Xiaotian only knew this person was an expert sent by the Heaven Mechanism Bureau; seeing that he had neither shaved his head nor changed into monastic robes, he couldn't help but reflect, 'Same people, different fates'—the old emperor simply hadn't regarded these palace guards in his sight.

From inside came the aged voice of Long Xuan'en: 'Let him in.'

The middle‑aged man then stepped aside from the doorway; Hu Xiaotian followed him inside and saw Long Xuan'en sitting cross‑legged on a futon, with a wooden fish placed before him, presumably for chanting sutras.

Hu Xiaotian was about to perform the kowtow, but Long Xuan'en said, 'No need for excessive ceremony; this is not the palace, and before the Buddha there is no distinction of ruler and subject.' (To be continued…^~^)