Chapter 126: Lick It
“Electrocute me? Burn me to death?” Shen Bingsi didn’t wait for Rong Xie’s second half; he eagerly answered for him, “As long as you’re happy, handle me however you like.”
No one knew how elated Shen Bingsi was. For over half a year—a full half year—Rong Xie hadn’t given him a pleasant look, let alone actively thrown himself into his arms for a solid hug. “However, compared to other ways of dying, I’d still prefer being slapped to death by you.”
Rong Xie smelled the warm, familiar scent. Through their pressed bodies, he could hear their heartbeats, unable to tell whose was heavier. His ears burned. His loosely curled knuckles pressed against Shen Bingsi’s body, pushing him away slightly. “Nonsense…”
“It’s true.” Shen Bingsi suddenly thought of something. He let go of Rong Xie and stepped back half a foot. Carefully holding Rong Xie’s elbow, he lifted the injured right arm to examine it closely.
The pale, jade-like arm was crisscrossed with several red welts, the indentations of the chain clearly visible. At the point taking the most stress on the upper arm, a deep gash had been rubbed open, with blood pooling in the cut—a painful sight.
Although the chain was gone, one could still see traces where the blood flowing from the wound had been smeared by the chain. Rong Xie had kept it wrapped tightly even after being injured, seemingly oblivious to the pain. There were also traces of grass and dirt on the heel of his palm and elbow, evidently from bracing himself on the ground after falling.
“You really are…” Shen Bingsi’s brows furrowed deeply, his handsome face scrunching up like an old orange. He pursed his lips tight, finally spitting out the word “stupid.” He fumbled in his robes with one hand and finally found a bottle of wound medicine. Half of a fish-patterned pouch with golden light spilled out from the front of his Adjudicator robes, dangling incongruously in mid-air, swaying back and forth as Shen Bingsi bit open the red velvet stopper and poured out the pills.
Rong Xie felt uncomfortable watching it. He couldn’t resist stuffing it back in for him, muttering, “You still call me stupid? Who knew your chain was so abrasive? It didn’t even have a handle. Next time you give me something without a handle, I guarantee I’ll throw it right back at you, okay?”
Just then, Shen Bingsi lowered his head, covering the injured arm and blocking Rong Xie’s view.
Rong Xie’s hand, in the middle of stuffing the pouch, froze. He felt something hot pressing against his wound, sucking and licking along it. Prickling sensations came in waves until half his arm felt wet.
Rong Xie felt as if he had been struck by lightning. Familiar memories floated to the surface. It seemed Shen Bingsi had done the same thing to his arm before… That’s right. He should have been alert the moment Shen Bingsi took out that bottle of Yunshan Sect’s holy healing medicine. Last time on the beach, when his hand was cut by jade fragments, Shen Bingsi had treated the wound exactly like this.
But last time on the beach, there was no one around. This time, they were surrounded by people—the Lu family, the Treasure Hunting Team, and Big Brother Jiang from the Mirror Palace.
Everyone had stopped what they were doing and turned their heads. Rong Xie could feel various curious and burning gazes gathering on the two of them.
Rong Xie wished he could dig a hole and crawl into it.
“Shen… Shen Bingsi…” Rong Xie pushed at Shen Bingsi’s face, trying to shove that prickly head away from his arm. “That’s… that’s enough…”
Shen Bingsi finally lifted his head, admiring the arm he had “treated.” His recuperative abilities after breaking through were extremely strong, extending to his body fluids. Even before applying the Yunshan Sect’s little pills, the wound on Rong Xie’s arm had begun to heal, and the friction burns had faded until they were almost invisible.
Shen Bingsi poured out three small pills, melted them with spiritual energy, and smeared them evenly over the wound, which still had pink edges. The wound quickly contracted and closed, turning into a shallow scratch.
Shen Bingsi let out a satisfied “Mn.” He looked up, about to speak, only to find Rong Xie’s cheeks flushed red. Rong Xie had retreated a step at some point, maintaining an arm’s length distance, looking ready to yank his arm back and flee at any moment.
The surrounding people stared blankly in their direction, as if under a spell.
Zhao Dajiang and the few Treasure Hunting Team members who had been controlled by the Albizia flower illusion had regained their senses with Big Brother Jiang’s help and climbed up from the ground. They were standing closest to the pair, forming a circle, staring dazedly at them.
Shen Bingsi raised an eyebrow. “What are you looking at! Haven’t you ever seen someone treating a wound?”
The crowd opened and closed their mouths, hesitating to speak. In the distance, several Lu family members had their heads together, whispering something.
With the Lu family’s minds full of servant boys and furnace cauldrons, Rong Xie didn’t need to listen closely to guess what they were gossiping about.
Rong Xie silently withdrew his arm and lowered his sleeve to cover the shameful wet marks. Although it was hidden inside his sleeve, he still felt somewhat embarrassed.
However, he knew Shen Bingsi didn’t mean it that way. Shen Bingsi was open and aboveboard; he was just exceptionally affectionate with his best friend. Even if Rong Xie rolled in the dirt, Shen Bingsi wouldn’t hesitate to lick his wounds without disdain.
Just watch. Shen Bingsi was about to clarify. He was about to bring out his “open and aboveboard” speech—
“This is what best friends do!” Suddenly, a voice full of righteousness spoke loudly. It was Zhao Dajiang. “Without a doubt, this is what best friends do! Best friends treat wounds like this—open and aboveboard, with a clear conscience! Only those with dirty minds see everything as dirty!”
“…” Rong Xie fell silent. He hadn’t expected these words to come from Captain Zhao’s mouth. But it wasn’t surprising; Captain Zhao had been lectured by Shen Bingsi like this once in the underground Dragon Cave. Having learned from experience, it was normal for him to reflexively speak up to vindicate Shen Bingsi at this moment.
“…” The Lu family members couldn’t continue their gossip. Anyone criticized so righteously in public while whispering would lose the mood to continue.
“…” Shen Bingsi opened his mouth, feeling a wave of annoyance at having his unspoken words twisted.
After refuting the Lu family’s filthy thoughts, Zhao Dajiang turned back, bowed to Shen Bingsi with an ingratiating smile, then turned to Rong Xie, apologizing profusely with a look of shame. “Fellow Daoist Rong, I don’t know what came over me just now. My body moved on its own and… I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
“It’s fine. Madam Mei’s illusion technique is too pervasive.” Rong Xie glanced at Madam Mei. Big Brother Jiang had already bound him with a spell and was guarding him on the side. Only his eyes could move, and he was glaring hatefully in their direction. Rong Xie withdrew his gaze. “It’s not your fault, Big Brother Zhao. Even I nearly fell under his control.”
“Sigh! I should have held onto the censer. I’m afraid it was at that moment…” Zhao Dajiang remained very self-critical, muttering to himself.
“It’s all resolved now. The culprit is caught, and the truth is out. Once he’s handed over to the Mirror Palace Adjudicator, I’m sure this case will be properly settled.” Rong Xie smiled. “Big Brother Zhao, shouldn’t you be thinking about how to celebrate when we get back?”
“Eh, you’re right!” Zhao Dajiang breathed a sigh of relief, a look of release appearing on his face. Still, he called the other three team members who had been under the illusion to apologize to Rong Xie, promising to treat him to a good meal in Shengjing as compensation when they returned to Lanyuan.
The time that followed was spent discussing the aftermath.
The principal offender had been apprehended, and Big Brother Jiang was responsible for taking him back for interrogation.
However, there was a group of accomplices. The entire Lu family was implicated, and it wasn’t realistic for Big Brother Jiang to take them all back alone. Whether these people fell under the jurisdiction of the cultivation world or the mortal world, and who should judge them, remained undecided.
Big Brother Jiang was an experienced Adjudicator, after all. For such pending matters, he adopted a “seal on the spot” measure—he had a magical artifact resembling a Golden Bell Cover. When enlarged, it could cover a city. Within the covered area, people could live as usual but couldn’t step outside the boundary, like birds in a cage. Their every move would be under the artifact owner’s control, eliminating the fear of destroyed evidence or collusion.
Besides the suspects, there were the victims.
Over the decades, who knew how many children the Lu family had tricked or bought under the guise of adoption? Some of these children had grown up, unaware of their origins. Others were still young and had hope of finding their families. Properly arranging for all these victims wasn’t something that could be done in a moment, and it required the cooperation of Lu family insiders. Big Brother Jiang couldn’t handle these matters immediately.
Captain Zhao volunteered to take charge of this. The Treasure Hunting Team had been staying in the surrounding villages and knew many tragic stories of family separation. The villagers had provided them with information in the hope that they could bring the children back. Now that the opportunity was here, Captain Zhao naturally wouldn’t wash his hands of it.
However, he could only rescue a small portion of the children. He didn’t know what to do about the silent, massive group accumulated over decades.
“In a large family like this, there must be a steward. They hold the roster of family servants and likely the roster of attendant boys too. Finding these rosters and cross-referencing them should make things clear,” Rong Xie mused. “But rosters can be forged. For those who died obscurely, they might try to cover it up. We need to cross-check with the expense ledgers. As long as a living person is here, they incur expenses. There is no record more truthful than a ledger.”
Rong Xie’s words enlightened everyone. Big Brother Jiang showed approval, indicating the method was feasible.
“Usually, our Recording Officer handles these matters. She isn’t here right now. I have to take the principal offender back for interrogation and report the situation to the Sky Mirror before I can send her to handle the aftermath,” Big Brother Jiang said.
“In that case, I will stay and help Captain Zhao with the aftermath,” Rong Xie said. “That way, when the Recording Officer comes to take over, she won’t have to start from scratch.”
“Then I won’t go back either.” Shen Bingsi raised a hand to Big Brother Jiang. “Returning to report can be done with or without me, right?”
Big Brother Jiang raised an eyebrow, seeming somewhat resigned. He glanced at Shen Bingsi, and Shen Bingsi looked back. The two exchanged a brief communication via sound transmission. Big Brother Jiang shook his head and relented. “Fine. Shen Bingsi stays here; he can help keep an eye on things. I’ll contact you after I return. Don’t go missing on me.”
“Don’t worry, don’t worry.” Shen Bingsi waved his hand, signaling Big Brother Jiang to leave.
Big Brother Jiang took out the Golden Bell Cover and tossed it into the air. Ripples of golden light spread out, melting into the sky above the dusky Lu estate.
Afterward, he marked Zhao Dajiang and Rong Xie so the Golden Bell Cover wouldn’t restrict them. Shen Bingsi, being from the Mirror Palace, wasn’t subject to the restriction anyway.
Big Brother Jiang called Shen Bingsi aside and asked a few more questions before escorting Madam Mei out. Their figures left a long afterimage in the air, as if space momentarily shortened and lengthened. In the blink of an eye, the afterimage vanished.
Everyone stared at the spot where Big Brother Jiang’s afterimage had been, sighing in amazement. This was the travel technique of a Distraction Stage grandmaster—twisting space to pull the destination to within a single step: Shrinking the Ground into Inches!
Behind the crowd, Rong Xie withdrew his gaze and turned to Shen Bingsi, who was standing beside him with arms crossed. He whispered, “Why did you stay too?”
“Hm?” Shen Bingsi crossed his arms, frowning slightly. He felt Rong Xie’s tone sounded like he was chasing him away, even though Rong Xie had actively hugged him just moments ago. “Can’t I stay? I thought you had a lot to ask me, like—how I defeated Lu Yingqi.”
Rong Xie had been thinking about who to ask to help request leave from the Lanyuan Villa for him since Shen Bingsi wasn’t going back. Hearing Shen Bingsi mention “Lu Yingqi,” Rong Xie was startled, the hairs on his back standing on end.
“Wait—Lu Yingqi. Where is Lu Yingqi? Why didn’t he come back? What did you do to him? You didn’t—”
Beat Lu Yingqi to death, did you?!
Author’s Note: Rong Xie: The sky has fallen. After all my calculations, Lu Yingqi’s great calamity turned out to be this. [Crying loudly]
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