Long Aotian’s Beautiful Butler Has Run Away chapter 17

Chapter 17: In the Bath Tub

“I know you don’t like me, and doing something like this between best friends is inevitably awkward.”

Shen Bingsi spoke as he held Rong Xie in his arms.

“Just treat it like being bitten by a dog. People walk on the road, it’s inevitable they’ll get bitten by a dog. You can’t stop walking just because you’re afraid of being bitten, right?”

As Shen Bingsi spoke, his arm reached behind Rong Xie, his fingers deftly and swiftly unhooking the ties of the binding undergarment.

Rong Xie’s clothes, three layers inside and three outside, were mostly purchased by Shen Bingsi. He knew their structure and size better than Rong Xie himself.

Once the waistband was undone, the ties of the undergarment loosened completely. The pant legs fell loose, and the collar of the top became wide and slack, no longer clinging to his collarbones, sliding down one shoulder.

Rong Xie was frozen stiff the entire time, the tip of his nose only an inch from Shen Bingsi’s chest. Just by lifting his brows slightly, he could see Shen Bingsi’s upright neck and the oblique muscles bulging with exertion. Rong Xie didn’t know where to look, nor did he dare to move. When his waist loosened and the fabric fell away from his body, he panicked, covering his chest and pushing against Shen Bingsi with one hand.

“W-wait a moment… I-I still have something to say…” Rong Xie’s voice was as faint as a mosquito’s buzz, and the hand pushing against Shen Bingsi was weak and powerless. He didn’t even dare to press firmly; the contours of the muscles under his palm were too defined, rising and falling with Shen Bingsi’s breathing, their presence so strong it felt like they would sear his palm.

“No need to say anything, I know it all.” It was nothing more than words of dislike or rejection. Shen Bingsi didn’t want to hear them a second time. Since he had decided to do it, he would see it through regardless of the cost, even if it meant being hated by his best friend.

Shen Bingsi pressed his shoulder to one side. Rong Xie felt his knees suddenly buckle, his feet leaving the ground, his body losing balance. He gasped in alarm, instinctively hugging Shen Bingsi’s neck as he was scooped up horizontally into the air and carried into the bath tub.

“No… mmph!” Rong Xie clung tightly to Shen Bingsi’s neck, squeezing his eyes shut. But in the next moment, his body was submerged in the hot water. Although the entry was gentle, the sensation of being enveloped by hot water still made him uncomfortable, as if his body was no longer under his control.

When deep enough in the water, Shen Bingsi let go. Rong Xie fell into the hot water, choking on two mouthfuls before Shen Bingsi caught him by the chest and fished him out.

“Silly, can’t even stand?” He seemed to be smiling.

“M-my legs are weak…” Rong Xie tried to grab the edge of the wooden tub, his ears burning shamefully.

Shen Bingsi laughed again. His hateful laughter came from behind Rong Xie’s ear. At some point, he had also entered the tub and moved behind Rong Xie, with only a layer of soaked undergarment separating them.

This was no different from wearing nothing at all. Rong Xie could feel his practically bare back pressed against Shen Bingsi’s chest. It was hot, and that soft touch was frightening. Further down, his soft lower back inevitably sank against the well-defined abdominal muscles.

After so many events and clarifying his own feelings, Rong Xie had actually planned to half-assent. But putting it into practice was not that easy.

He instinctively wanted to flee. The sensory impact was too intense, unimaginable in his thirty-plus years of plain living. Shen Bingsi’s body frightened him. He clawed at the edge of the tub several times but failed to stand up. With a gentle scoop, Shen Bingsi pulled him back into his embrace.

“…It doesn’t matter even if you hate me. Just don’t look at me.” Shen Bingsi spoke to himself, pulling out a wet cloth from somewhere and blindfolding Rong Xie. Wet, hot water trickled down Rong Xie’s nose and cheeks.

This only made things worse.

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“Shen Bingsi, calm down, listen to me…” Rong Xie reached up to pull off the wet cloth. The loss of vision made his other senses sharper. The presence of Shen Bingsi’s body was magnified a hundredfold, making it even more unbearable.

Soon, Rong Xie realized where the wet cloth had come from.

It was the waistband of his undergarment.

With the waistband gone, Rong Xie’s undergarment fell open, and he felt a chill on his upper body.

Rong Xie hurriedly pulled off the blindfold, wanting to gather his clothes, but saw the undergarment floating on the water like a withered lily. His slender upper torso was completely exposed, his sun-starved skin forming a stark contrast with Shen Bingsi’s.

His hair had also come completely undone in the struggle, strands scattered everywhere—some clinging to his shoulders and neck, some floating in the water, and others diving deep, worming into the crevices between skin.

Rong Xie felt a “boom,” and his face burned all the way down to his neck.

“No… I can’t… I can’t…”

Rong Xie shook his head, paddling his hands wildly in the water.

Deciding to half-assent in theory was completely different from half-assenting in practice. Rong Xie now only wished for something sudden to happen, to call Shen Bingsi away, or for the bathroom roof to collapse. If the sky fell, the tall one would hold it up anyway…

What was he thinking? The version of him in “Offering the Dragon Aotian to the World” could do it, so why couldn’t this version of him? It didn’t make sense, it shouldn’t be like this, he…

“Be good, Rong Er, stop moving,” Shen Bingsi had to grab Rong Xie’s wrists as he kept struggling, folding them against his chest in a restraining hold. “If you keep rubbing, I’m going to come out.”

Come out? What come out? Come out what? Rong Xie felt like he had been struck by lightning. His mind went blank, but he truly didn’t dare move anymore, sitting obediently on Shen Bingsi’s lap.

“Good, from now on, listen to me,” Shen Bingsi’s hot breath drilled into Rong Xie’s ear. “The most important thing in the Dual Cultivation method is…”

Whatever he said, Rong Xie didn’t hear a single word. They had never been pressed together so closely. Even when playing in the pond as children, they hadn’t felt each other’s heat and contours so clearly. Without him noticing, Shen Bingsi’s body had grown to an extent Rong Xie didn’t recognize.

Shen Bingsi’s husky complaint echoed in Rong Xie’s mind—”If you keep rubbing, I’m going to come out.”

Oh heavens, save him.

The ear became quiet suddenly; Shen Bingsi stopped talking.

Rong Xie listened carefully; there was only the noise of his heart pounding and pulse striking his eardrums. Why did Shen Bingsi stop talking? Did he notice he was distracted?

In an instant, Rong Xie froze all over, like a frightened small animal. Something that shattered his past concepts had happened. He could only freeze in place, vainly hoping to escape this ordeal in this way.

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Shen Bingsi remained silent. This silence became terrifying due to his continuous movements. Rong Xie would rather he continued explaining, or said some comforting words, but he didn’t.

“Mmh…” Rong Xie trembled unbearably, weakly pushing against Shen Bingsi’s arm under the water. He couldn’t withstand this impact. It felt like time had stopped, and his ability to think had halted. He desperately wanted to flee, to escape upward, but his body was firmly imprisoned in Shen Bingsi’s grasp.

“No… I can’t…” Rong Xie began to sob.

A certain line of defense was completely breached, and Rong Xie wept as he went limp in Shen Bingsi’s arms.

Shen Bingsi seemed to sigh.

Rong Xie spent the rest of the time in a daze. He felt Shen Bingsi change the water, wash his body, wrap him in a dry bathrobe, and carry him all the way back to the bedroom.

As soon as he was back on his own bed, Rong Xie wrapped himself in the quilt, like the meat inside a fresh meat steamed roll—it had to be wrapped tight to not fall apart.

Shen Bingsi seemed to sit by the bed for a while.

Rong Xie fell asleep quickly. When he woke up, there was no one by the bed.

Perhaps because of too much stimulation yesterday, he slept very soundly, without a single dream. When he opened his eyes, the window paper was already white.

“Mmh, what time is it…” Rong Xie propped himself up from the bed, feeling a wave of soreness and weakness in his waist and abdomen, almost lying back down.

“Hm?”

He recalled fragments of last night, details magnified infinitely, and his neck burned again.

Rong Xie, you are truly amazing.

Rong Xie secretly praised himself in his heart.

Dual Cultivation was nothing special after all. Half-assenting wasn’t impossible.

But why didn’t he feel full of spiritual power? He heard that after successful Foundation Establishment, there should be an endless stream of spiritual power in the dantian sea of qi, flowing unimpeded through the meridians, and the five senses should be significantly enhanced compared to before…

Why did he only feel sore in the waist and abdomen, his body seemingly weaker than before?

A little later.

Shen Bingsi bought lamb soup noodles from the inner sect food shop. Rong Xie served them, a bowl for each, making do for lunch.

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The two sat in the flower hall, eating around a small table. Windows on three sides were open, green trees had quietly formed shade, and the wind blew from the lake, bringing the scent of sunshine.

Seeing Shen Bingsi suddenly, Rong Xie was still very awkward, not daring to look at him, let alone sit face to face. But he was hungry, and with the aroma wafting over, he couldn’t care about much else.

After enjoying a delicious meal of lamb soup noodles, Rong Xie felt his strength return. He looked up, suddenly mustering some courage, and blurted out, “Yesterday… was it considered successful?”

Shen Bingsi froze for a moment, recovered, and said, “Not successful.”

“…Ah, how could that be.” Rong Xie couldn’t believe it. They had gone that far yesterday, and it still wasn’t successful?

“Mm,” Shen Bingsi said slowly, seemingly deep in thought. “Actually, it’s nothing. Practicing a new mental cultivation method doesn’t guarantee success on the first try either.”

“Is… is that so?” Rong Xie noticed Shen Bingsi’s attitude was very serious, just like… they were really discussing an internal cultivation method.

Rong Xie felt a little disappointed. Even though they were so close, he couldn’t perceive Shen Bingsi’s heart, as if they were far apart.

“But you already did very well,” Shen Bingsi reached across the small table and patted the outside of Rong Xie’s forearm. “Taking the first step means being very close to success.”

After speaking, Shen Bingsi stood up, gathered the bowls and chopsticks, and went to the kitchen to wash dishes.

The afternoon sun was clearly very nice.

But Rong Xie couldn’t muster the strength to take a walk.

He came out of the flower hall, went straight back to the bedroom through the small side door of the corridor.

Lying lazily for a while, he couldn’t sleep, unable to stop replaying what happened earlier in his mind.

Details came like snowflakes. Rong Xie thought of Shen Bingsi holding his arm tightly, the low laugh behind his ear, that husky complaint. His heart trembled uncontrollably, a tingling sensation spreading from his chest to his whole body.

In these sensory-impacting memory fragments, one was like a soft thorn embedded in his breath, hard to notice, but painful when detected. It was near the end, when Rong Xie released, Shen Bingsi sighed behind him.

Why did Shen Bingsi sigh?

Why sigh at that moment? Was it… because he performed poorly?

Rong Xie tossed and turned for an hour. Not only did he not fall asleep, he made himself even more exhausted. His heart pounded, and his eyes felt swollen. He crawled out of bed, went to the bronze mirror, and looked—sure enough, his eyes were red again, like a rabbit’s.

After such a terrible night, Shen Bingsi probably wouldn’t propose Dual Cultivation to him again. Indeed, who would want to Dual Cultivate with a best friend? Both were hard men; you have what I have. Shen Bingsi must have been very troubled when he reached down.

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Red-eyed, Rong Xie rushed to the study, angrily opened the Tura Paradox fragment, and started reading with abandon.

Cultivate what? No more cultivation. He would use his remaining bit of ordinary life to do something he liked.

After nightfall, a single lamp burned like a bean.

Rong Xie’s heart finally calmed down, reading the text on the ancient book with focus and joy.

Suddenly, the study window went thump, as if something had hit it.

Rong Xie looked up in confusion and saw a black shadow climbing over the window sill, movements very clumsy, slipping down several times.

The smell of alcohol drifted in with the wind.

“Y-Yang Spirit exits the crown—follow but do not release!” Shen Bingsi shouted slurringly. “Secretly circulate the microcosmic orbit! Do not leak on the road!”