Long Aotian’s Beautiful Butler Has Run Away chapter 116

Chapter 116: The Guest Takes Charge

“Blow again! Harder!” Captain Zhao commanded.

The wind-elemental rogue cultivator intensified his efforts. However, the illusion array below was vast. Like duckweed floating on water, as soon as the wind parted the fog in one spot, it closed up in another. They could only catch glimpses of densely packed spikes, unable to see the whole picture.

“I can’t… blow anymore…” The wind cultivator slumped weakly to the side, supported by a teammate.

“Hey, what do we do now? Does anyone else in the team have a different method?” Captain Zhao asked.

Rong Xie, who had been observing from the side, finally spoke up. “Fellow Daoist Ye, do you have the strength for one last gust?”

“Uh…” The wind cultivator gasped for breath. Hearing Rong Xie call his name, he replied somewhat reluctantly, “I can do one more, but I’m afraid it’ll be just that one for a while.”

“No harm, one is enough.” Rong Xie pointed a finger toward a specific spot diagonally below. “If I’m not mistaken, the iron door should be right there. In a moment, we will move over there and lower a rope. Attach a heavy weight to the end of the rope to ensure it isn’t blown about, so it hangs straight to the bottom. I’ll need Fellow Daoist Ye to blow towards that spot one more time to reveal the iron door and ensure the rope hangs directly in front of it.”

“Oh… Oh, that’s no problem,” the wind cultivator replied.

“Then let’s do as Fellow Daoist Rong says!” Captain Zhao waved his hand, and the team members moved along the top of the wall.

A team member tied a thousand-pound weight to a rope and lowered it.

Following Rong Xie’s instructions, the wind cultivator blew open the illusion array directly below the weight.

Expanding the range slightly to the left and right, they indeed saw a tightly locked iron door right beneath the illusion array.

The team member holding the rope adjusted his position so the weight hung exactly at the iron door.

Captain Zhao came to a realization. “So that’s what Fellow Daoist Rong meant! If the Lu family enters through that iron door, there must be a safe passage behind it. When the wind blew just now, we saw there were no spikes there. As long as we descend from this position, we won’t fall into the trap.”

“Big Brother Rong is so smart!” Ling Long chimed in.

“You flatter me. I just arrived here a bit earlier and gathered some information,” Rong Xie smiled. “Everyone needs to be extra careful when going down. The scented mist below is likely thicker than up here. If you feel unwell, immediately recite the Ice Heart Mantra and raise both hands so Captain Zhao and I know.”

“Yes!” “Understood!” the team members responded immediately.

“Liu Er, Cang Pu, you two take the lead.” Captain Zhao began to deploy the troops. “Ling Long, bring Ah Ying and follow close behind… Fellow Daoist Rong and I will bring up the rear.”

“Yes!”

The team members slid down the rope one by one to the base of the courtyard wall. The two vanguards went first—they took out two magical plantain fans and fanned vigorously at the black mist permeating the bottom. The mist dispersed, revealing a straight path leading directly to a well with a windlass in the center of the courtyard.

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“This is…”

Seeing the scene before them clearly, the team members couldn’t help but suck in a breath of cold air, backing away in unison. The originally orderly formation instantly crowded into a chaotic clump.

Where the mist had been blown away, countless spikes protruded from the ground. Impaled upon these spikes were small skeletons, one after another. Judging by the bone age, they were very young, no more than five years old.

It was unclear what kind of tragic inhumanity had occurred here, but one thing was certain: these skeletons didn’t run up there themselves. Children that young couldn’t possibly climb over the courtyard wall, let alone accidentally fall onto the spikes.

Witnessing this sinful scene, even the Treasure Hunting Team members, accustomed to seeing grand spectacles, couldn’t help but feel a wave of revulsion. Those with stronger reactions even began to dry heave.

A single thought arose unanimously in everyone’s mind: The Lu family deserves to die!

“Fellow Daoist Rong!” Captain Zhao, recalling Rong Xie’s words, turned his head and spoke with righteous indignation. “This counts as evidence, right? Although we haven’t seen the monster yet, we’ve witnessed so many children dying unnatural deaths with our own eyes. The evidence is irrefutable! We can notify Sword Saint Shen to intervene now, right?”

Rong Xie felt equally sickened, but he was always cautious. He knew that acting without absolute proof would only alert the enemy and lead to severe consequences.

Rong Xie didn’t answer immediately. He observed the skeletons carefully. “Wait a moment. Have you noticed that all the skeletons are in the distance?”

“Mn?” Captain Zhao had only taken one glance and hadn’t looked again. Hearing Rong Xie, he turned back to scrutinize them and found it was true. “They are indeed in the distance. Is there a reason for this?”

“If they are in the distance, it’s hard to judge if they are real or fake,” Rong Xie said. “Don’t forget, we are inside an illusion array.”

“You mean…” Captain Zhao thought for a moment and shouted, “Ling Long, send Ah Ying to check if those skeletons are real or fake!”

Suppressing her discomfort, Ling Long sent out Ah Ying. The Eagle-Headed Falcon, unaffected by the illusion array, spread its wings and flew over the spikes. Extending its iron claws, it grabbed a skull, flapped its wings to return, and dropped the skull into Ling Long’s arms.

“Oh my god!” Ling Long cursed. “I told you to throw it to Big Brother Zhao, why did you throw it to me!”

“That thing… isn’t a skull.” A team member beside her took a closer look.

“If it’s not a skull, what is it?” Ling Long looked down as she spoke. “Eh…?”

The head-sized object in her arms really wasn’t a skull, but a flower bud the size of a human head.

The bud was withered, looking like solidified, dried blood scabs layered upon one another to form a sphere.

From a distance, it looked like a skull, but up close, it didn’t look like one at all. It was light in her hands, and with a little pressure, it crumbled into flakes, drifting away like dust.

“This… could it be a rose bud?” Ling Long exclaimed in surprise. “Big Brother Rong, Big Brother Zhao, this isn’t a skull, it’s a rose bud!”

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“So it’s a rose bud. Why does it look so much like a skull?”

“In that case, those aren’t children’s skeletons either, just some flower buds and leaves.”

“Look closely, those spikes don’t seem to be hidden weapons intentionally placed there, but rather plants growing from underground…”

Upon closer observation, everyone calmed down from their state of public outrage.

It turned out they weren’t looking at a scene of human tragedy, but just an ordinary patch of rose bushes.

Although it was hard to imagine the Lu family planting so many strange varieties of roses here without malice—and layering illusion after illusion over them—it was clearly not enough to expose Madam Mei based solely on this evidence. Madam Mei could easily turn around and accuse them of trespassing.

“Fortunate that Fellow Daoist Rong is cautious…” Captain Zhao had said this phrase so many times his mouth was getting calluses.

“Let’s continue forward. The key is to find evidence of the attendant boys’ modification,” Rong Xie said. “We shouldn’t stay here long. Captain Zhao, mind your incense.”

Unknowingly, the black mist had surrounded them again. The emerald-green scented mist compressed rapidly, barely covering the Treasure Hunting Team members.

“Plantain fans!” Captain Zhao reminded them while injecting spiritual energy into the censer, increasing the concentration of the scented mist according to the method the Scent Cultivator taught him.

The team members clearing the way swung their plantain fans again, fanning away the black mist. The group arrived safely at the well in the center of the courtyard, stood around it, and peered inside.

Captain Zhao and Rong Xie squeezed to the front and looked down. “Dry?”

They had expected a Spirit Spring well with magical water at the bottom, but there wasn’t even a drop of water. They could easily see the bottom of the well.

“There’s something fishy about this well,” a team member analyzed. “Why set up a water-drawing windlass next to a dry well? I think the bucket on this windlass is just big enough for a person to sit in. If we lower it with a rope, there must be a hidden world down there!”

“Reasonable analysis,” Captain Zhao nodded. However, he turned his head and looked at Rong Xie inquiringly. “What does Fellow Daoist Rong think?”

This time, Rong Xie’s thoughts aligned with theirs. However, the well was a bit too small. If they went down like this and someone blocked the well opening, they wouldn’t be able to retreat.

“No worries,” Captain Zhao laughed. “We go down these kinds of robber tunnels—oh no, water wells—all the time. We’re experienced. Usually, we send a scout to probe the depth first before deciding how many people go down.”

“Okay, we’ll follow Captain Zhao’s arrangement,” Rong Xie said.

Captain Zhao called over two team members and told them to send “scouts” to probe. The two produced two cages from somewhere—one containing a pigeon, the other a rat.

They first lowered the pigeon cage into the well, opened it with a mechanism, and then pressed their ears against the well wall to listen for a while.

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They did the same with the rat cage.

Finally, the two straightened up and reported to Captain Zhao that there was indeed a hidden space below the well, though not very large. There was plenty of air, and both the pigeon and rat were alive and well.

“It seems we are getting close to the truth.”

Rong Xie and Captain Zhao exchanged a glance, seeing the excitement in each other’s eyes.

Meanwhile, at Lu Yingqi’s main house.

Several gray figures flew onto the surrounding walls, approaching the main house silently.

Outside the door, two fierce-looking older female servants rolled up their sleeves, stepped over the threshold, and strode into the courtyard.

Their gaze followed the gray-clad figures hiding on the roof. Only when those shadows blended into the green tiles of the roof and became motionless did they step forward, bow towards the main house, and say in unison: “This old servant greets Young Master Rong! Madam Mei invites Young Master Rong to the main hall for the family banquet and has specially sent this old servant to welcome you.”

The room was quiet for a moment before a lazy voice drifted out. “Mn? Invite me? I’m not hungry, so there’s no need.”

“This…” The two servants exchanged a glance. “Young Master Rong should still make a trip. When the master treats guests, regardless of hunger, one should show their face so the master doesn’t get the wrong idea.”

A scoff came from the room. “Are you two teaching me what to do?”

“We wouldn’t dare,” the servants explained. “It’s just that Madam Mei sent us to invite Young Master Rong. If Young Master Rong doesn’t show his face, we cannot report back.”

As the two servants spoke, they exchanged secret winks. They had experienced Rong Xie’s formidable nature yesterday and came prepared today. Unexpectedly, today’s Rong Xie had changed tactics; he was fighting a war of words from inside but refused to show himself.

Madam Mei’s order to them was to lure Rong Xie out first, confirm it was him, and then surround and kill him on the spot. This person was too great a hidden danger and knew too much; he absolutely could not be left alive.

As for Lu Yingqi, Madam Mei would find a way to explain it later.

The two servants came only to lure him out and confirm his identity; the actual killing was left to others. Who knew such a simple step would encounter problems?

“Heh, whether you can report back or not is none of my business. I’m not your father.” The voice from the room was clearly the gentle one from yesterday, yet the words spoken were exceptionally arrogant. The two servants, despite their age, hadn’t expected to be taken advantage of in terms of seniority like this.

“Since Young Master Rong doesn’t want to go, at least come out and meet us to explain it face-to-face. Avoiding us like this is simply too rude!” one of the servants retorted aggressively.

Surprisingly, this provocation actually worked.

Footsteps approached the main door, and “Rong Xie’s” voice came from behind it. “Coming out, coming out. I was bored to death inside anyway.”

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The main door opened in response. The two servants beamed with joy and hurriedly looked inside.

Standing inside the door was a handsome young gentleman with picturesque features, still wearing the plain long robe from yesterday. He stood inside the threshold, in no hurry to come out, letting the two servants look their fill before saying:

“However, so many of you came at once—do you all want to see me? Since you want to see me, why not come down and meet together? What are you doing squatting on the roof so sneakily?”

The two servants froze, the smiles stiffening on their faces.

One servant cursed in a local dialect and signaled the gray-clad men to attack. The gray shadows on the roof suddenly revealed themselves, gathering several magic spheres in their palms.

With a loud boom, countless beams of golden light radiated outward with “Rong Xie” at the center. They pierced through the roof and accurately hit the gray-clad men in ambush. The attackers didn’t even have time to scream before they rolled down from the eaves, landing with crashing sounds on the open ground below the steps.

The two servants were dumbfounded. They hadn’t expected the elite troops sent by Madam Mei to be taken out so easily. They were only here to identify the target and collect the corpse; now, the pressure was on them.

The plain-robed gentleman inside the threshold dusted off his sleeves and leisurely lifted his leg to step over the threshold.

The two servants involuntarily took a step back. Just as they were about to beg for mercy, they suddenly heard a cracking sound from the roof. Then, under their expectant gazes, the entire section of the eaves crashed down, landing with a boom right where the plain-robed gentleman was standing.

Dust and smoke rose everywhere.

The two servants looked at each other in pleasant surprise, unable to believe their luck was this good—that fellow surnamed Rong had actually smashed himself to death.

“Quick, quick go report to Madam Mei! Tell him the deed is done!”

“This is perfect. We don’t even need to make up a reason. Our people kindly helped him fix the roof, but he knocked them down and collapsed the house on himself. Tsk tsk, who could have predicted this?”

The two servants conferred and turned to report, only to suddenly discover a familiar plain-robed figure standing behind them.

“Rong Xie” curled his lips in a smile. “Indeed, who could have predicted this? I thought I was only responsible for the inside, didn’t expect to have business outside too. Come, let’s go to the banquet and ask your Madam—what does he mean by wanting me dead?”

Translator’s Thoughts: Can we talk about how unhinged Shen Bingsi is? 😂 Lol