Long Aotian’s Beautiful Butler Has Run Away chapter 18

Chapter 18: Dual Cultivation Method

Rong Xie stared in astonishment at the drunkard who had climbed in through the window and crashed into the mirror like it was a door, finding it hard to believe this was Shen Bingsi.

The numbing effect of alcohol was negligible for a Nascent Soul cultivator. As long as they wished, the alcohol could be instantly evaporated and expelled from the body; even the strongest Shao Daozi was like plain water to them.

The mirror emitted a strange sound, almost like it was snapping, causing Rong Xie to jump up.

“Shen Bingsi, Shen Bingsi!” Rong Xie mobilized his spiritual energy to pull Shen Bingsi, preventing himself from being injured by the latter’s protective spiritual aura. To his surprise, Shen Bingsi hadn’t activated his protective aura at all, and with a pull, he tumbled into Rong Xie’s arms.

Rong Xie was almost crushed by him, his legs straining to stand straight just to hold the man up.

“The first principle of this Dual Cultivation method… is, is…” Shen Bingsi mumbled incoherently.

“What did you say?” Rong Xie helped him sit by the table, added a cushion, and made sure he was seated properly. “Wait a moment, I’ll go heat up some hangover soup.”

“Yang Spirit exits the crown… follow but do not release!” Shen Bingsi grabbed Rong Xie’s sleeve, not letting him leave. His head nodded intermittently as he chanted, “Do you know what is… hic… Yang Spirit? The so-called Yang Spirit, a man’s… a man’s… Yang…”

Rong Xie’s cheeks warmed slightly. Of course he knew what Yang Spirit was; it had many meanings, often used to refer to a man’s Yang essence. However, he didn’t want to discuss this right now. Shen Bingsi was drunk and inevitably saying some improper things; presumably, he would be very annoyed after sobering up.

“Bingsi, sit for a while, I’ll be right back.” Rong Xie tugged at the corner of his sleeve, trying to pull it out of Shen Bingsi’s hand.

Shen Bingsi, however, refused to let go. In the struggle, the sound of tearing fabric came from Rong Xie’s sleeve. He had no choice but to give up on heating the hangover soup and stood beside Shen Bingsi, waiting for him to finish his nonsense.

“The key lies in… follow but do not release… follow but do not release… follow instinct, but do not act, wait until… wait until spiritual energy has circulated… a full cycle, also do not… do not release…” Shen Bingsi mumbled incoherently, repeatedly emphasizing, “This is very… very important! Very important!”

Hearing this, Rong Xie understood. Shen Bingsi wasn’t talking nonsense; he was teaching him the Dual Cultivation method!

Rong Xie had never read any books related to Dual Cultivation; he couldn’t borrow them even if he wanted to. These books were only open to cultivators who had become Dao Companions. Therefore, he had long heard of Dual Cultivation but knew nothing about it.

Suddenly hearing Shen Bingsi talk about Dual Cultivation, Rong Xie wished he could plug his ears. Stimulating images and sounds filled his mind, making it impossible for him to think about anything else.

Now, forced to hear the text of the Dual Cultivation method while Shen Bingsi was drunk, he realized that Dual Cultivation was indeed an internal cultivation method. It wasn’t something where knowing nothing and just following instincts would lead to success.

For example, a basic prerequisite for successful Dual Cultivation: Yang Spirit must not be released.

The four phrases Shen Bingsi chanted expressed exactly this meaning.

The so-called “Yang Spirit must not be released” required both parties in cultivation to maintain a state of not releasing throughout the entire cultivation process. Once released, the Dual Cultivation failed.

“So that’s how it is…” Rong Xie suddenly realized, as if enlightened. “No wonder…”

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No wonder Shen Bingsi sighed at that moment.

No wonder Shen Bingsi didn’t continue after that.

It turned out, it turned out the reason for the Dual Cultivation failure was actually Rong Xie—

His endurance was too poor. The situation at the time was so unexpected that almost as soon as Shen Bingsi touched him, he couldn’t hold it and broke the technique. Naturally, the Dual Cultivation didn’t succeed.

Rong Xie looked at Shen Bingsi with a complicated expression.

Shen Bingsi truly wanted to teach him. These words were indeed hard to say when sober, so he used the alcohol to say them all at once. Poor Shen Bingsi was bent on helping him reach Foundation Establishment, yet he was always overthinking things.

“I understand, don’t worry.” Rong Xie gently soothed Shen Bingsi’s back.

Hearing these words, the hand gripping the corner of the clothes loosened, and his head drooped. Shen Bingsi quieted down completely.

Rong Xie observed him, a slight sourness in his heart.

Shen Bingsi slept soundly after getting drunk, not waking up until noon.

He sat up abruptly, looked around, and realized it was his own bedroom.

Relieved, Shen Bingsi lay back down and had a solid return sleep.

This time he slept until the afternoon.

“Hm? What is this?” While washing his face in front of the bronze mirror, Shen Bingsi noticed a red spot on the side of his forehead, as if he had bumped into something.

Shen Bingsi suddenly remembered that last night he had drunk too much wine and seemed to have headbutted someone’s window…

Looking at the environment where he woke up, it was very likely his own home.

Shen Bingsi circulated his spiritual energy, and the red mark on his forehead disappeared instantly.

It was all because of the “April Sky” newly brewed by the food cultivator Old Chu. Old Chu said the wine wasn’t strong but could make people relax, like boating on a lake in the warm spring of April, getting intoxicated unknowingly.

As a result, Shen Bingsi drank until he was dizzy and dead drunk, not even knowing how he crawled home…

He also didn’t know if he had acted crazy while drunk yesterday, said anything he shouldn’t have said, or done anything he shouldn’t have done.

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Shen Bingsi felt uneasy inside.

Shen Bingsi tidied himself up simply, walked out the door, and strolled around the yard. Several times when passing the kitchen and study, he peeked through the cracks in the door.

Finally, on his third trip towards the study, Shen Bingsi saw a white figure appear at the corner of the corridor outside the study, holding an axe.

Shen Bingsi felt a surge of joy and started to walk up, but suddenly felt something was wrong.

…Wait, an axe?

What was Rong Xie doing with an axe?

Several possibilities immediately came to mind.

The root of all pointed to the steaming bathroom. In the tub, his always gentle and compliant best friend desperately pushed him away, eyes red from crying, yet he gave him no room to buffer, until he went limp in the water, eyes full of numbness.

Shen Bingsi closed his eyes briefly.

He discovered he wasn’t as brave as he imagined. He couldn’t accept Rong Xie looking at him with disgust and fear. When they met the next morning, he kept staring at the lamb soup noodles, daring not look at Rong Xie’s expression.

…

What must come will come. Regardless of what his best friend decided to do, he would not retreat.

Shen Bingsi walked up to meet him.

“You’re up?” Rong Xie stopped and looked at Shen Bingsi warmly. “Is your head still dizzy? Yesterday…”

Rong Xie’s voice was like trickling spring water, slowly flowing through Shen Bingsi’s heart. He barely heard clearly what Rong Xie said, but Rong Xie’s attitude made the heavy worries in his heart disappear without a trace. He felt he had come alive again.

“Mm, what are you doing with an axe?” seeing Rong Xie pause, Shen Bingsi asked.

Rong Xie was helpless; he had just explained: “You broke the latch on the window yesterday. I split a piece of wood temporarily to see if it fits.”

“Oh…” Shen Bingsi felt a throbbing pain in the healed part of his forehead. “So that’s it.”

Holding the newly split wooden strip, Rong Xie went to the window inside the room. He measured it against the latch position and muttered to himself, “Close enough… just this side is too rough, need to smooth it with a file.”

“Let me see.” Shen Bingsi leaned in, reaching around Rong Xie’s arm, and directly pushed the wooden strip in his hand towards the window. Their hands touched; Rong Xie stiffened for a moment, quickly withdrew his hand from the wood, and subconsciously turned his body sideways to give Shen Bingsi space.

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Shen Bingsi paused slightly, his hand still steady as he pushed the wooden strip to fit into the groove for the window latch. Just as Rong Xie said, the surface was too rough to fit.

“No need for a file.” Shen Bingsi withdrew his arm and held the wooden strip in front of him. In a flash of sword light, the strip was shaved into a perfectly smooth rectangular block, its six sides as smooth as if waxed. Shen Bingsi placed the strip into the groove; it fit perfectly, seemingly even better than the original latch.

“…Amazing!” Rong Xie praised.

“Anything else broken? Let’s fix them all together,” Shen Bingsi put away his flying sword, patted the non-existent dust from his hands, and asked cheerfully.

“And the mirror, a piece caved in. I’ll take it to the craftsman in town to fix another day,” Rong Xie continued.

“I’ll fix it.” Shen Bingsi looked around. “Which mirror?”

Rong Xie opened the door, revealing the full-length mirror behind it. The two looked again and again at the mirror with a large concave piece in the middle. The reflections in the mirror became very distorted, like two deformed people with small heads and big bodies standing side by side, their small heads squeezed together.

“Let’s replace it,” Shen Bingsi said after observing for a moment.

The work was done.

Shen Bingsi lowered his arms, not knowing what to do. He turned half a circle and clasped his hands behind his back.

Under the closed doors and windows, in the limited space, he and Rong Xie stood side by side. Just a slight turn and they could see each other, yet they stood frozen, just staring blankly at the two deformed people “head to head” in the mirror.

Shen Bingsi took a deep breath. No matter what, he should tell Rong Xie about that matter. That way, they could continue their cultivation.

“I have something to…”

“Bingsi, about that…”

The two spoke almost simultaneously and stopped simultaneously.

The two small heads in the mirror turned to face each other, the concave mirror effect making their nose bridges seem embedded together.

“What did you want to say?” Shen Bingsi asked.

“I… nothing, you go first.” Rong Xie clasped his hands in front of him, his left hand rubbing his right index finger.

“I want to…” We still need to persist in cultivation, the first principle of the Dual Cultivation secret method is that the Yang Spirit must not be released—these words had never been so hot on his tongue, rolling around his mouth but refusing to come out. After holding back for a while, Shen Bingsi said, “I want to make a trip to town, take the mirror with me, and get one of similar size. Do you want to come along?”

“Okay…” Rong Xie nodded.

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Another silence.

“What were you going to say just now?” Shen Bingsi pressed.

He had some unrealistic fantasies in his heart, hoping Rong Xie would proactively ask him why the Dual Cultivation failed and if there was any remedy. That way, he could naturally tell him the crux of the problem. As long as they studied and communicated more together, they could overcome these issues, and then push the boat with the current to schedule the next “study and exchange” time.

Rong Xie turned his face away slightly, looking at the ground, as if Shen Bingsi’s overly naked gaze would burn his face.

“The Head Steward of the Shen family has been contacting me frequently lately, saying he wants to send servant boys over. I found the roster and looked at it; the conditions are quite good.”

Rong Xie said thoughtfully.

“Why don’t we pick a few to stay at the Villa and help me manage daily affairs? In the future, when they become proficient, I can also teach them to inventory the heavenly treasures. That way, we won’t have to borrow people from the inner sect.”

“Besides, I also want to focus on studying…”

Shen Bingsi felt something shatter with a “crack.”

“Why?” His face darkened. “Why let those Shen family people in? They only cause trouble and can’t help at all. I don’t agree!”