Chapter 53: A Quarrel
“Hey, do you guys feel like the atmosphere in the villa has been weird lately?”
“Now that you mention it…”
In the front courtyard of Huanxue Villa, Shen Yan and Dragon Shaoye chatted while chopping firewood.
“What atmosphere?” Fang Renji looked up, glancing fearfully at Shen Yan and Dragon Shaoye. “Could it be…”
“Could it be… you noticed it too?” Shen Yan and Dragon Shaoye were a bit surprised. Their little brother was always a few beats slower than normal people. If even Fang Renji noticed, it meant things had become serious to a certain extent.
“Could it be…” Fang Renji swallowed hard. “That Huanxue Villa is actually haunted?”
“…”
“Pfft!”
Dragon Shaoye couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
“Haunted? No! We’re talking about Brother Rong and the Villa Master!”
“Huh?” Fang Renji was bewildered. “What’s wrong with them?”
Dragon Shaoye sighed helplessly. “You really haven’t felt anything at all.”
Fang Renji shook his head.
Dragon Shaoye looked at Shen Yan. “Yanzi, you say it.”
Shen Yan had been frowning the whole time. Even with Fang Renji’s interruption, he didn’t smile.
After deliberating for a moment, Shen Yan said, “The Villa Master hasn’t come back for half a month.”
The last time Shen Bingsi appeared at Huanxue Villa was half a month ago.
At that time, Shen Bingsi and Rong Xie had just finished a trip lasting nearly a month and went directly to rest in the rear courtyard upon returning.
Very early the next day, Shen Bingsi left on his sword. The fluctuation of spiritual power produced the moment the Shengxie Sword broke through the sky above Huanxue Villa woke Shen Yan from his sleep. He glanced out the window just in time to see the Shengxie Sword trailing a golden arc as it flew toward the main peak.
At first, Shen Yan didn’t think it was strange. After all, the Villa Master was both the Adjudicator of the cultivation world and a pillar of the Lingjing Sect. It would be strange if he could spare so much time to travel and play.
But as time passed, the Villa Master still didn’t return. When asked, Brother Rong didn’t know what he was doing or when he would return.
This was very strange.
“The Villa Master is elusive like a divine dragon showing its head but not its tail. Brother Rong not knowing his schedule… is normal, right?” Fang Renji scratched his forehead.
“No, it’s not normal. Before, even if Brother Rong didn’t know where the Villa Master went, he would know what he went to do—whether it was a mission or sect business. This time, Brother Rong doesn’t even know that. And what’s even stranger is that he doesn’t care.”
Rong Xie didn’t care. That was the fatal point.
“Think about the last time the Villa Master went out to handle matters. He said he’d be back in a few days, but when the time came and he didn’t return, what did Brother Rong do?”
“Prepared a welcome banquet in advance, contacted the Villa Master via transmission three times a day…” Fang Renji tasted the difference.
“And this time?”
“…” Fang Renji fell silent.
This time, he didn’t even take out the Transmission Jade, let alone mention a welcome banquet. When Shen Yan and the others occasionally brought it up, he just glossed over it with a calm expression and moved on to other things.
Although Fang Renji was slow, he just didn’t overthink things. He still observed these daily occurrences.
For a moment, all three little ones fell silent.
“Could it be… Brother Rong quarreled with the Villa Master?” Fang Renji whispered.
Dragon Shaoye sighed heavily and tilted his head to look at Shen Yan. “Yanzi, see what I mean? This time it’s serious. Even Brother Renji noticed.”
“Really…” Seeing Shen Yan’s solemn expression, Fang Renji immediately became anxious. “How could they quarrel? Brother Rong and the Villa Master are clearly so close. No one understands the Villa Master’s temper better than Brother Rong. How could they quarrel?”
“You don’t understand. The closer the relationship, the more earth-shattering the quarrel, because they know each other too well. A casual sentence can poke the other’s sore spot…” Dragon Shaoye explained to Fang Renji with the air of someone experienced.
“Shaoye.” Shen Yan stopped him with a word.
“See? Yanzi just knows I like to talk, so he specifically stops me when I’m talking.” Despite complaining, Dragon Shaoye stopped.
“Brother Rong is different from us. He isn’t someone who engages in verbal battles, nor would he get angry with the Villa Master over trivial matters. Something serious must have happened. I’m worried…” Shen Yan stopped mid-sentence, suddenly looking up, his frown unnaturally relaxing as he called out, “Brother Rong.”
The other two little ones, who had huddled their heads next to Shen Yan, scattered instantly upon hearing this. They pretended to be working, scraping the bark off chopped firewood.
“Mmhmm, Brother Rong!” “Brother Rong is here!”
When Rong Xie came out from the middle gate, he saw the three little ones looking at him with unnatural expressions. He didn’t think much of it, assuming they had been caught slacking off.
“Shen Yan, are you guys going to town today?” Rong Xie asked.
Shen Yan immediately stood up, clapping the dust off his hands. “Does Brother Rong have any instructions? I can go right now.”
“No need to make a special trip… I just wanted to see if there were any letters sent to the villa.” Rong Xie hesitated.
“Ah, I just remembered, I do need to go to town. A section of the fence at the pasture is broken; I need to tell Third Master Qiu.” Shen Yan slapped his forehead.
“That’s perfect. When you go, ask the guards for me if there are any letters from Lanyuan or the Capital. The recipient is… Rong Er.” Rong Xie said.
“Understood!”
“By the way.” Rong Xie stopped Shen Yan, fished out three letters from his chest, hesitated for a moment, then handed them to him. “Please mail these three letters for me as well.”
Shen Yan took them and looked, his expression changing slightly, but he said nothing and agreed.
Half an hour later, Shen Yan and Dragon Shaoye arrived at the Mountain Protection Array Guard Post.
The Guard Post also managed the sending and receiving of letters. A large courtyard halfway up the mountain was built specifically for this purpose. The courtyard was bustling with activity. Besides various letters needing inspection, “headless” letters without clear recipients or addresses, and letters waiting to be sent, there were messengers of all sizes parked there—carrier pigeons, falcons, cranes…
Processing letters only took up a small part of the miscellaneous disciples’ work time. Most of the time, they were feeding birds, cleaning up feathers and droppings, and letting the messengers out for air in shifts to prevent them from fighting or eating each other.
“Sending or receiving?” the disciple processing letters asked impatiently.
“Sending! Here are three letters from Huanxue Villa,” Shen Yan said.
Hearing it was a letter from Huanxue Villa, the disciple perked up a little. “Where to?”
“The Capital.” Shen Yan took out the three letters and handed them to the disciple one by one, reading out a recipient for each. “Shengping Bank, Yuanbao Auction House, Shengshi Brokerage.”
“…Whoa.” The disciple took them and looked. “Planning to sell off family property?”
Shen Yan and Dragon Shaoye’s faces changed.
The disciple had only made a casual remark and forgot it immediately after speaking.
“Anything else? If not, don’t stand there blocking the way. Next—”
“Wait,” Shen Yan snapped back to reality. “We also need to check for incoming letters.”
“Letters for Villa Master Shen? None, none.” The disciple waved his hand.
“No, for Rong Er of Huanxue Villa.”
“Rong Er?” The disciple thought for a moment. “That name sounds familiar.”
In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, relying on his super memory, the disciple dug out a stack of letters addressed to Rong Er from a pile of headless letters. However, they weren’t addressed to Rong Er of Huanxue Villa, but Rong Er of the Guard Post.
“Next time, tell that Rong Er of yours to leave the correct address. Leaving it as ‘Guard Post,’ what is that supposed to mean? The Lingjing Sect is so big; how are we supposed to find him!” the disciple grumbled.
Shen Yan and Dragon Shaoye hummed and hawed in agreement, thanked the disciple, and left the Guard Post courtyard.
The two exchanged a heavy look.
If the disciple’s remark about “selling off family property” was just unintentional teasing, then the stack of letters in their hands was solid evidence.
The letters were all stamped with the same seal: Capital Lanyuan Brokerage. Below were two lines of small characters: Shengshi Estates, Lanyuan Landscapes.
Although Shen Yan and Dragon Shaoye hadn’t dealt with such a high-end brokerage, they knew what a brokerage was. Combined with “estates” and “landscapes,” this was obviously an agency for buying, selling, and leasing houses.
A question flashed through both their minds simultaneously—why was Brother Rong looking at this?
Could it be that Brother Rong wanted to buy an estate in Lanyuan?
But even if Brother Rong wanted to buy an estate in Lanyuan, it shouldn’t have reached the point of selling off family property, right?
The Villa Master didn’t look that strapped for cash.
Unless… the Villa Master didn’t plan to pay.
“Hiss… why do I feel like this is bad news?” Dragon Shaoye scratched his forehead.
“The situation might be more serious than we imagined,” Shen Yan said solemnly.
“Then what do we do now? Hide these letters? Say we didn’t receive them?”
“No,” Shen Yan rejected Dragon Shaoye’s unreliable suggestion. “Let’s go back first, give the letters to Brother Rong, and then… let him know that no matter what happens, we stand by his side.”
“Thank you for your trouble.”
Shen Yan and Dragon Shaoye returned to Huanxue Villa, gave the letters to Rong Xie, and reported on the mailing situation.
Rong Xie finally got the letters from Lanyuan and breathed a sigh of relief. He thought something had gone wrong during delivery.
It turned out there was a problem with the address Shen Bingsi left.
It wasn’t inherently a problem, but since Shen Bingsi hadn’t notified the Guard Post after returning, the guards didn’t pay attention, nearly delaying Rong Xie’s affairs.
There would only be more incidents like this in the future, not fewer. After all, he couldn’t count on Shen Bingsi to help him anymore.
“Brother Rong, can I ask you a question?” Shen Yan’s voice came from beside him.
Rong Xie stopped in surprise. He had headed for the rear courtyard as soon as he got the letters and didn’t expect Shen Yan to follow him.
“What is it?” Rong Xie turned around and saw Shen Yan looking hesitant.
“Brother Rong, you…” Shen Yan gritted his teeth. “Are you leaving?”
“What?” Rong Xie was stunned.
The emotions in Shen Yan’s eyes were complicated: worry, anxiety, and a trace of melancholy.
Rong Xie glanced at the letters in his hand and seemed to understand something.
Shen Yan was sharper than he imagined. Since Shen Yan knew, the other two little ones must have been informed too. It was difficult to hide things from people around you.
“It’s a possibility.” Rong Xie sighed.
“When?” Shen Yan asked immediately. “Are you going to this place—Lanyuan?”
“…I can only say it’s a possibility.”
“Then, can I go with you?” Shen Yan asked again.
Rong Xie laughed involuntarily. “What would you go for?”
Shen Yan fell silent. He knew the idea was silly. He was sent by the Shen family, his monthly salary was paid by the Villa Master, and if he wanted to develop in the cultivation world, he had to rely on the Villa Master’s recommendation…
“Don’t think so much about it; nothing is set in stone,” Rong Xie softened seeing Shen Yan like this. “Just preparing for a rainy day. I can’t be a butler here forever. When I can’t work anymore, I need a place to retire. You guys are still young and have plenty of time. Learn more and share my burden sooner, so I can rest sooner.”
“Is… that so?” Shen Yan felt something was wrong but couldn’t put his finger on it.
“Of course.” Rong Xie patted Shen Yan’s shoulder. “Don’t overthink it. Go do your work.”
Rong Xie turned and entered the middle gate, opening the letters as he walked.
Shen Yan stopped outside the middle gate, watching Rong Xie walk away.
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