Long Aotian’s Beautiful Butler Has Run Away chapter 137

Chapter 137: At the Crossroads

After Rong Xie said those words, everyone around looked at him in shock.

Shen Bingsi’s heart pounded wildly as he stared unblinkingly at Rong Xie.

This was Rong Xie’s dream. Rong Xie never lied in his own dreams, which meant he still liked him, liked him very much.

After he had done so many things to make him angry, thinking each time he was pushing him away… Rong Xie still liked him and was willing to declare publicly that they were Dao companions.

The white light from his wavering Dao Heart obscured Shen Bingsi’s vision once again.

“Even a steward…”

“So many people are after Brother Bingsi!”

“What big talk. Even Fairy Xingmiao dares not claim to be Brother Shen’s Dao companion!”

Discussion exploded instantly. Shen Bingsi wished he could slap a silencing spell on the mouths of all these eccentrics spreading rumors about him.

Just then, the main doors opened with a bang.

A figure clad in golden armor appeared inside the threshold.

The crowd surged toward the flower vines, blocking the front of the door completely.

“Sword Saint Shen is out!” someone shouted.

Rong Xie didn’t follow them over. Instead, he stood in place, exhaling gently as if he had fulfilled a long-held wish.

Shen Bingsi looked at him, wanting to say something.

Suddenly realizing Rong Xie couldn’t hear him like this, he decided that since “he” was out, he would return to “his” body to speak.

“Wait for me, I’m coming right away!” Shen Bingsi said in Rong Xie’s ear, then turned and rushed toward the golden figure in the crowd.

A sound seemed to linger in the wind. Rong Xie looked up blankly in the direction Shen Bingsi had left.

“Hm?”

Shen Bingsi pounced several times, but passed through “himself” to the other side each time.

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The “Shen Bingsi” in this dream was actually beyond his control?

Helpless, Shen Bingsi stopped.

Could it be that Rong Xie wanted to use this body to execute his own will, leaving no room for Shen Bingsi to control it?

“…”

What will of his did Rong Xie want to execute with his body?

Shen Bingsi drifted out behind “himself,” feeling the pressure from the eccentrics rushing toward him.

Half the courtyard’s eccentrics crowded around, pressing densely in front of “Shen Bingsi.”

“Who is it?”

“Who is the result?”

“Stop arguing. Listen to Brother Shen. Whoever the result is, we accept it.”

Under their gazes, “Shen Bingsi’s” eyes looked through the crowd, fixing on Rong Xie at the back. “Shen Bingsi” parted the crowd and walked all the way to Rong Xie.

Floating behind “himself,” Shen Bingsi felt very strange. It was somewhere between the satisfaction of “well done” and the displeasure of “why let a fake replace me.” Watching “his” figure approach Rong Xie, almost encircling him in an embrace, the displeasure began to gain the upper hand.

“Hey, speak if you have something to say. Don’t get so close,” Shen Bingsi warned “himself,” but no one heard him.

“The Sky Mirror’s result… is you.” “Shen Bingsi’s” voice was hoarse as he gazed intently at Rong Xie.

As soon as these words came out, the surroundings exploded again.

“What? How could the Sky Mirror’s result be him?”

“The Sky Mirror shows the person Brother Shen likes most… It seems what he said is true.”

“Brother Bingsi really has a Dao companion…”

Chaotic discussions drifted into Shen Bingsi’s ears.

He was a bit dizzy for a moment. What is all this? The Sky Mirror shows the person I like most? Why does the Sky Mirror show that? Wait, could it be… that?

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A thought formed in Shen Bingsi’s mind.

Who is the dream owner?

Rong Xie.

Who controls the dream?

Rong Xie.

Who controls the current “Shen Bingsi”?

Still Rong Xie.

Everything proceeded according to Rong Xie’s will. No matter how absurd, yes, a little reflection revealed what Rong Xie’s will was.

Rong Xie publicly declared Shen Bingsi was his Dao companion. Then the Sky Mirror cooperated by showing the person Shen Bingsi liked most. Now “Shen Bingsi” walked into the crowd, announced this result to everyone, and nailed the relationship between the two in place.

This was what Rong Xie wanted!

Shen Bingsi seemed to understand something, and his heartbeat quickened again.

If he hadn’t been patient enough to wait for this step, he wouldn’t have known Rong Xie’s true thoughts.

Now, he knew.

There would be no more mistakes. When he returned to reality, he would do the same. Although it was hard to borrow the Sky Mirror to issue a fake decree, he could use other forms. The most important thing was to do it in a public setting.

He would fulfill Rong Xie’s wish and announce their union as Dao companions to the world.

Then he could take Rong Xie back to Huanxue Villa. They could live together again. Life would return to its former bliss—no, even more blissful than before… Now he understood what Rong Xie meant to him. The preciousness of what was lost and found lay therein…

Shen Bingsi drifted, immersed in the joy of soon welcoming Rong Xie back.

Faint starlight filled the courtyard. Unnoticed, the people in the courtyard had withdrawn, leaving only “Shen Bingsi” and Rong Xie. They still stood very close, whispering something unknown, until “Shen Bingsi” drew Lightning White Orchid.

A dazzling light pierced Shen Bingsi’s eyes.

Suddenly, Shen Bingsi couldn’t feel his heartbeat.

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Intense white light filled his vision. For a moment, he lost the ability to perceive. He couldn’t hear, couldn’t smell, couldn’t understand the images his eyes saw. Everything seemed frozen at the moment it happened.

Only “Shen Bingsi” holding the back of Rong Xie’s neck, the intimate embrace of the two, remained in Shen Bingsi’s vision.

Intimate?

No, not intimate.

Although “Shen Bingsi’s” movement looked gentle, almost wrapping Rong Xie entirely in his embrace, only Shen Bingsi knew he wouldn’t hug someone like that.

His heartbeat struck his eardrums like a war drum. The massive sound hammered directly on his ear canals. Shen Bingsi roared and rushed toward “himself,” but his hoarse voice couldn’t penetrate the wind in the dream to reach anyone’s ears.

“Where is Lightning White Orchid?”

“Where did you put Lightning White Orchid?”

In such an intimate embrace, there was no room for an Lightning White Orchid.

That two-foot-long small sword, just unsheathed, was held in “Shen Bingsi’s” hand.

“Shen Bingsi” held the sword in one hand and embraced Rong Xie with the other. There was no space between them for a sword. So, where did he put the sword?

A chill surged from his bones. Shen Bingsi passed between the two, and simultaneously passed through Lightning White Orchid.

He saw where Lightning White Orchid was.

“Little Disciple, come here.”

On the steps, an old immortal with white hair and beard, exuding an ethereal aura, sat there waving to Shen Bingsi.

Shen Bingsi ran over quickly. “Master!”

“Mn,” the old immortal looked at Shen Bingsi, seeming to ponder something. Shen Bingsi had always respected this master highly. He heard he was the most powerful Great Elder of the Spirit Mirror Sect’s inner sect, cultivating the Ruthless Path. He was handpicked as the final disciple by him during the inner sect assessment… Cultivating with this Great Elder was a great blessing. But for some reason, Shen Bingsi always felt a layer of separation between them. Every time he saw him, all joy and anger would dissolve into nothingness, naturally preventing any feelings of admiration. The Great Elder looked at him and asked calmly, “The Ruthless Path has two gates: one severs appetite, the other severs romantic love. Which do you choose?”

Shen Bingsi was stunned. He instinctively wanted to say “sever romantic love.” To him, romantic love was the root of all evil to be avoided. He was happy to cut it off. However, he still considered it. “Whichever is more powerful, I choose that one!”

The Great Elder continued as if he hadn’t heard his answer. “Actually, no matter which gate you sever, it is the same gate. Different paths lead to the same destination. What is severed is not a specific object, but the movement of the heart. When the heart moves, the will moves; when the will moves, action follows. As long as the movement of the heart is severed at the source, there will be no deviant actions. Only such a person can wield the Heavenly Dao’s rules and assimilate with heaven and earth.”

Shen Bingsi only half-understood. Since both gates were equally powerful, he chose the one he was good at. “Then I choose to sever romantic love! I don’t need such things anyway.”

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The Great Elder scrutinized him for a moment, then stood up. His robes fluttered slightly, as if infinite spiritual power flowed slowly around him. His figure became tall, and a hand pressed on top of Shen Bingsi’s head. “Is it that you don’t need it, or you don’t understand it? Let Master see.”

Spiritual power surged, pouring illusions directly into his Sea of Consciousness.

Moments later, Shen Bingsi woke up with clenched teeth. Unknowingly, his face and body were covered in sweat. Extremely painful memories made his face pale, and he felt nauseous.

The Great Elder, however, looked satisfied. “So that’s it. It seems… you are truly excellent material for severing love and emotion. You know what sins desire brings. This realization is already close to the awareness of the Severing Heavens Blade. From tomorrow, Master will teach you the first level of the Severing Heavens Blade: Severing Thoughts.”

“Yes… Master!” Shen Bingsi endured the chills and bowed to the Great Elder.

“My Dao takes Severing Thoughts as its foundation, rising step by step, eventually cutting off all emotions. Without emotions, there is no movement of the heart, thus reaching the highest level of the Ruthless Path.” The Great Elder’s gaze became distant, looking at the peaks looming in the mist. “However, this path is easy to speak of but hard to walk. A person without emotions is more fearsome than wild beasts in the mountains. You will become lonelier as you walk. You will not love anyone, and no one will love you.”

“Love?” Shen Bingsi hadn’t detached from the illusion yet. He said with disgust, “I don’t need that kind of thing.”

He paused, then asked, “What about friends? I have a very good friend. Will he leave me too?”

The Great Elder’s brow furrowed slightly. His gaze fell on Shen Bingsi’s face, seeming to scrutinize something. After a moment of silence, he said, “If you do not love him, then it doesn’t matter.”

“Of course I won’t love him,” Shen Bingsi said firmly. “I wouldn’t defile him with such stupid feelings… We are eternal best friends!”

“That is best. That is best.” The Great Elder’s brow relaxed, his expression becoming calm again. “As long as you don’t love him, it doesn’t matter. Friendship doesn’t necessarily have to be maintained by emotions.”

Shen Bingsi breathed a sigh of relief. In that case, he had no worries.

“You must remember today’s words,” the Great Elder said. “If one day your Ruthless Path achieves great success, the threat will not come from outside, but from within. The human heart is subtle and fickle, and you are too lonely. You might change your feelings for him. At that time, you must remember today’s words.”

“Otherwise, for you and for him, it will be a disaster.”

“You will have only two paths: one is a shattered Dao Heart, the other is killing the heart to prove the Dao!”