Chapter 497: A Bloody Incident Sparked by a Snake
The two girls had been bathing and splashing playfully in the stream when the sudden appearance of a “snake” startled them out of their wits. Everything happened so abruptly that they completely forgot the most basic thing—that they were not wearing a single thread of clothing.
In their panic, they forgot to cover themselves.
They simply rushed out of the water as they were.
Especially Li Shu, who was running in front.
Zhu Ping’an saw everything.
Completely.
She was utterly naked.
Without the slightest cover, she appeared directly before Zhu Ping’an’s eyes.
This was the first time Zhu Ping’an had ever truly seen a woman’s body.
And the first one he saw was Li Shu—an unparalleled natural beauty, the very embodiment of feminine allure—emerging from the water in such a breathtaking scene.
For someone like Zhu Ping’an, who had absolutely no experience with women, it was like a level-zero beginner who had just entered the game server suddenly encountering the ultimate final boss of the entire game.
He had no resistance whatsoever.
Her skin was so fair it seemed to reflect the moonlight.
So beautiful it was dazzling.
The graceful curves of her body were almost hypnotic.
In that instant, nothing in the world—no staged fantasy or vulgar entertainment—could compare to the overwhelming allure of the scene before him.
Zhu Ping’an’s bloodshot eyes stared straight ahead.
Even when droplets of water splashed into his eyes as Li Shu emerged from the stream, he still didn’t blink.
For that brief moment, Zhu Ping’an forgot everything.
He even forgot how to breathe.
In his mind, there was only Li Shu’s delicate, water-dappled body—running, leaping, filling every corner of his thoughts.
“Ah! The snake! The snake!”
Li Shu screamed as she rushed past him, trembling violently as she grabbed the back of Zhu Ping’an’s clothes and hid behind him.
Soon afterward, the chubby little maid burst out of the stream as well, equally naked and screaming in panic.
She hurried behind Zhu Ping’an too, standing on the other side of him—one girl on the left, one on the right—both shaking with fear.
Because they were so frightened, both girls clutched tightly at Zhu Ping’an’s clothes and pressed their bodies against his back.
Their trembling bodies rubbed slightly against him.
For a moment, it felt as if every nerve ending in Zhu Ping’an’s body had suddenly concentrated in his back.
He could clearly feel the soft warmth of the two trembling girls pressed against him.
Soft. Supple. Youthfully delicate.
If earlier it had been his eyes, now it was his sense of touch—and even his sense of smell.
The differing curves and softness pressing against his back told him clearly that this was not a dream.
Nor was it some wild fantasy.
This was a real, unmistakable physical contact.
The faint fragrance coming from Li Shu’s body was indescribably pleasant.
In Zhu Ping’an’s entire life, no delicacy he had ever tasted could compare to that scent.
One breath of it—
And it would never be forgotten.
His breathing grew rapid.
His entire body suddenly burned with heat.
Something inside Zhu Ping’an seemed to awaken.
It felt almost as if a snake had slithered into his robe, instantly lifting the long garment outward.
“There’s a snake! There’s a snake in the water!”
Li Shu said nervously, grabbing Zhu Ping’an’s arm and shaking it.
If not for Li Shu’s shaking and her raised voice, Zhu Ping’an himself didn’t know what he might have done under the surge of overwhelming instinct.
One thing was certain—
He definitely would have done something.
But now, under Li Shu’s urgent voice and shaking, Zhu Ping’an snapped back to his senses.
The moment he realized what had just gone through his mind, he felt both ashamed and embarrassed.
His face flushed bright red.
To avoid making a fool of himself, he hurriedly forced his gaze away and focused on the stream.
“Where?” Zhu Ping’an asked, though he couldn’t help turning his head slightly.
His eyes landed briefly on Li Shu again, and his voice came out hoarse and uneven.
“Over there!”
Li Shu immediately pointed with her slender, jade-like finger.
Zhu Ping’an’s gaze lingered on her for a moment before finally following the direction she indicated.
Under the moonlight, something curved floated in the stream, drifting slowly with the current.
At first glance, it did look somewhat like a snake.
But when Zhu Ping’an looked more closely, something seemed off.
The “snake” appeared to have two heads.
That made no sense.
Snakes only had one head.
Unless there were two snakes tangled together—but this clearly wasn’t the case.
A single body with two heads was impossible.
With that thought, Zhu Ping’an examined it more carefully.
Under the moonlight, he soon recognized it clearly.
It wasn’t a snake at all.
It was a dark tree branch.
Most likely a branch that had broken upstream and fallen into the water, drifting down with the current.
Its twisted shape and dark color made it very easy to mistake for a snake—especially for two girls bathing in the water who suddenly saw it drifting toward them.
Zhu Ping’an thought Li Shu’s mistake was completely understandable.
After all, people often mistook harmless things for threats—like seeing the shadow of a bow in a cup and thinking it was a snake.
“Don’t worry,” Zhu Ping’an said gently. “It’s just a branch.”
But even as he spoke, his eyes once again drifted uncontrollably back to Li Shu.
“A branch?” Li Shu’s voice rose in disbelief.
“You’re lying, Young Master!”
The chubby maid didn’t believe him either.
Earlier she had been helping scrub Li Shu’s back. When Li Shu shouted about a snake, she had nearly fainted from fright herself.
In her mind, it had clearly looked like a snake approaching them.
“It’s a branch,” Zhu Ping’an said firmly, nodding.
After saying that, he broke off a longer branch from a nearby tree.
Standing at the edge of the stream, he extended it into the water and hooked the snake-like object out.
Under the moonlight, four irregular wet marks could be seen clearly on the back of Zhu Ping’an’s clothes—two large ones and two smaller ones.
“Look,” he said, holding up the object. “See? Just a branch.”
Li Shu finally nodded in relief, patting her chest as she let out a long breath.
As she moved, Zhu Ping’an’s eyes widened involuntarily, his gaze following the motion.
“Oh… it really is a branch.”
The chubby maid stared at it with her mouth wide open.
Once they confirmed it wasn’t a snake, the tension instantly vanished.
Then suddenly—
The maid noticed something.
Zhu Ping’an seemed to be staring at her young mistress the whole time.
A strange thought flashed through her mind.
She looked at Li Shu.
Then looked down at herself.
Her eyes suddenly widened.
And then she let out a scream far louder than when she had first seen the “snake.”
She dropped into a crouch instantly like an ostrich burying its head in the sand.
“Miss! Miss! Our clothes! We’re not wearing any clothes!”
The maid shrieked repeatedly, crouching low while covering her chest with both hands. Her face turned crimson red with embarrassment.
She wished she could dig a hole and disappear into the ground.
“Clothes?”
Li Shu blinked in confusion.
Then she saw the maid’s posture—
And suddenly realized everything.
A piercing scream tore through the moonlit night.
“You shameless scoundrel!”
“Pervert!”
“Disgusting!”
“Shameless!”
For the rest of the night, Zhu Ping’an endured Li Shu’s furious glares and scolding insults.
Meanwhile, as the chubby maid echoed her young mistress’s complaints, a curious thought kept circling in her mind.
Just now…
It seemed that the young master had been looking only at Miss.
He hadn’t really looked at her at all.
The maid secretly glanced at her mistress’s chest.
Then looked down at her own.
Her confusion only deepened.
Mine is clearly much bigger than Miss’s…
So why didn’t the young master look?
Did he prefer smaller ones?
But Aunt Liu and the others always said men liked bigger ones—the bigger the better.
If she had known the young master preferred smaller ones…
She wouldn’t have eaten so many papayas.