Long Aotian’s Beautiful Butler Has Run Away chapter 106

Chapter 106: Feigning Ferocity

“Good, very good. I didn’t expect Lu Yinglin to tell you even this,” Madam Mei sneered.

Rong Xie thought to himself, It wasn’t entirely Lu Yinglin who told me; he only gave a rough idea. The one who really told me was Little Zhi. But Little Zhi is still under the Lu family’s control. I can’t expose him. I have to use Lu Yinglin and Little Ya as shields. If this matter is resolved properly, it should be what Lu Yinglin and Little Ya desire.

“But so what? In famine years, those children were meant to die. Their families sent them here to let us keep them alive. How we keep them alive is up to us; they have no complaints. On whose side is Little Brother Rong standing to raise objections?” Madam Mei plastered a sarcastic, fake smile on his face. “We of the Lu family raise children, use precious Spirit Springs to open their spiritual roots, and pile resources to teach them cultivation. What is wrong with asking for a little return? Compared to those wealthy households who give nothing yet put little maids in front of young masters to serve and teach them the ways of the flesh, at least we changed their fate, letting them step half a foot into the cultivation world. The Lu family isn’t a charity; we can’t just give without asking for returns.”

Rong Xie sighed. He hadn’t expected to persuade the Lu family’s managers to repent and give up the cruel business of modifying children into attendant boys with just a few words. He just hadn’t expected Madam Mei to be so shameless as to drop even the pretense of face.

“So, disregarding human life can be glossed over with ‘The Lu family cultivated him’ and ‘The Lu family isn’t a charity’? Little Ya’s death was just ‘he deserved it’? From what I know, Little Ya isn’t the only attendant boy from your estate who died inexplicably, is he?”

Rong Xie pointed it out sharply. This time, he had no reservations. Since he couldn’t persuade Madam Mei, he might as well blow the conflict up. Let Lu Yingqi see Madam Mei’s true face thoroughly. Maybe then he would agree to stand with Rong Xie and support sending in the Treasure Hunting Team to solve the issue.

“You!” Madam Mei’s expression changed. “Little Ya brought destruction upon himself. Don’t spit blood and slander us!”

“Of course, Madam, you won’t admit Little Ya’s death was your doing. After all, you didn’t strike the blow directly. But so what? Before you tampered with him, did you not foresee that Little Ya would suffer spiritual energy depletion? Even if you didn’t know, after Little Ya died, you didn’t learn your lesson and continued this business of modifying children. Knowingly committing the crime—that counts as sufficient evidence, doesn’t it?”

Rong Xie gave Madam Mei no time to counterattack and continued:

“Madam Mei, you could be more honest. Your act of modifying children to cultivate attendant boys really has nothing to do with charity. Those evil cultivators who catch ordinary people to refine into puppets are no worse than this. The attendant boys you produce must help young masters learn the ways of the flesh, provide spiritual energy through dual cultivation, and sacrifice their lives as pawns to blackmail the young masters into obedience. Living like this—can it really be called living?”

The Lu family members in the hall stared wide-eyed. They hadn’t expected someone to tear off their fig leaf so directly, nakedly pointing out the truth of their attendant boy cultivation. They were instantly shocked and furious, wishing they could rush up and gag Rong Xie.

However, an invisible force separated Rong Xie from them, preventing their approach. They could only thrash about at a distance. Combined with the Silence Spell, they could only make “mm-mm-ah-ah” noises, looking comical.

Rong Xie sensed Lu Yingqi acting to protect him and thought, This matter is at least seventy percent done.

Madam Mei choked for a moment, then sneered, “Living is living. What’s this about ‘counting as living’? I think Little Brother Rong lives too comfortably and speaks without knowing the pain of standing. If you’re so capable, go adopt those children yourself. If no one sends children to us, we naturally won’t produce any attendant boys.”

Rong Xie guessed Madam Mei had run out of arguments and was trying to use this matter to morally kidnap him. He nodded. “Madam Mei makes sense. Qinghe County isn’t in famine every year, yet there are so many families who can’t eat and abandon so many unraiseable children. It is indeed a major problem. We don’t have this situation in Heyang County. It seems the Qinghe Magistrate isn’t doing his job, causing the people to suffer. This matter really should be reported to the Prefecture Government, so the higher-ups can come and investigate properly.”

“You!” Madam Mei’s face changed color. He hadn’t expected his usually invincible rhetoric to hit a wall with Rong Xie, who turned it around to threaten him with reporting to the Prefecture Government.

Madam Mei knew this business couldn’t be exposed to the light of day for judgment. When Old Master Lu was still lucid, he had bribed the Qinghe Magistrate. Successive magistrates followed the Lu family’s lead, allowing their operations to proceed without interference. Now, this confused Young Master Qi was bringing an outsider to ruin the family’s good business. Madam Mei dug his fingernails into his palms in hatred.

Madam Mei stared gloomily at Rong Xie, then turned and bent down to whisper in the Old Master’s ear: “Old Master, look at these successful descendants of yours. Once they rise to prominence, they bring people back to destroy their own nest. Doesn’t he know how our Lu family rose? Now he wants us to change the ancestral laws for him and destroy our own foundation.”

The Old Master made “ah, ah” sounds. His dull face tilted to the side, and his body suddenly began to convulse.

With the Old Master twitching, the Lu family members rushed over in a panic, pinching his philtrum and wailing “woo-woo,” creating a chaotic mess.

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Madam Mei, the only one who could speak, wailed to the heavens and earth, throwing the blame squarely on Lu Yingqi and Rong Xie with every word.

Rong Xie had seen such displays before. He also knew that as long as Lu Yingqi admitted fault, the blame would ultimately land on his head, likely with the added accusation of being an outsider who led the young master astray. It wasn’t that Rong Xie was overly experienced; it was just that such dramas had played out many times in the Shen family.

Rong Xie looked back at Lu Yingqi. Lu Yingqi frowned slightly, looking toward the Old Master.

“It probably won’t work today.”

Suddenly, a voice via secret sound transmission rang in Rong Xie’s ear.

“It would be better to stay for now. Wait for the Old Master to recover, then discuss this matter with Madam Mei alone.”

As he said this, Lu Yingqi cast an inquiring look at Rong Xie.

Rong Xie raised his eyebrows slightly.

Soon, he nodded.

The farce ended with Madam Mei helping the Old Master back to rest. Lu Yingqi released the Silence Spell on the Lu family. They looked at Lu Yingqi with eyes fit for a traitor, and their expressions toward Rong Xie were even worse.

Even so, Madam Mei sent two old women to lead the way for Lu Yingqi and Rong Xie, settling them in designated places. Lu Yingqi stayed in his own independent courtyard, the best location in the Lu estate. Rong Xie was sent to a guest room. It was unclear how long it had been since a guest stayed there; the accumulated snow hadn’t been swept, the window paper had gaping holes, and spiderwebs hung from the door beam.

Rong Xie had wanted peace and quiet, so staying apart from Lu Yingqi didn’t matter—it made private action easier. But seeing the condition of this guest room, it clearly wasn’t fit for human habitation.

Rong Xie turned around. The two old women were pulling the courtyard gate shut, their eyes gleaming ferociously. One held an iron door bolt, looking as if she intended to lock him in from the outside.

Rong Xie sighed and walked toward the courtyard gate.

The two old women panicked, pulling the door harder, as if afraid Rong Xie would suddenly rush up and knock them aside.

“You two…” Before Rong Xie could finish, the courtyard gate slammed shut in his face with a bang. The sound of the iron bar sliding into place came from outside.

As the two old women barred the door, cursing under their breath, they suddenly felt a chill on their backs.

Unnoticed, the figure that had stood in the courtyard like green bamboo appeared on the steps behind them.

The two old women stumbled in fright, pushing and pulling each other as they dodged to the side.

“Why are you two in such a rush to close the door? I was just about to say that this courtyard hasn’t been cleaned in a long time and isn’t livable. I’ll stay in your Young Master Qi’s courtyard instead. By the way, where is Young Master Qi’s courtyard? It’s all twists and turns in here, like a maze; I can’t remember the way,” Rong Xie said.

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Before Rong Xie finished speaking, the two old women had already run along the path and vanished in the blink of an eye.

Rong Xie finished his sentence unhurriedly. Only when he reached the last phrase, “I can’t remember the way,” did he step down from the stairs, walk to the middle of the narrow path between the courtyards, turn around, and walk in the direction opposite to where the old women had fled.

Although he didn’t know the layout of the entire Lu estate, he wouldn’t forget a path he had walked once. He remembered clearly how the old women had escorted Lu Yingqi to his courtyard first, then him, and the route from Lu Yingqi’s courtyard to the guest room courtyard.

Walk to the fork ahead, go right, straight ahead, turn left at the seventh alley entrance, and you’ll see the central courtyard. Pass through the central courtyard to reach Lu Yingqi’s quarters.

Thinking this, Rong Xie strolled toward the left.

That’s right, he didn’t intend to return to Lu Yingqi’s courtyard.

This was a perfect opportunity. He would use the excuse of getting lost to explore the Lu family estate properly.

If… he could find the location of that well, that would be best.

The Lu mansion was like a maze, with every intersection looking similar. After walking for a while, Rong Xie found that the doors of every courtyard were tightly shut. He could sense people peeking at him from behind those doors, and figures occasionally flashed past at the intersections, but no one was willing to come up and talk to him.

Rong Xie wandered blindly for a while and finally reached a side door of the Lu mansion. Further ahead was the narrow lane connecting the front and back courtyards. Rong Xie remembered that he and Lu Yinglin had traveled through this lane in a carriage, inadvertently seeing someone carrying what looked like a servant’s corpse through a small door.

Wait, if he could find that small room for hiding corpses, perhaps he could find a clue.

Thinking this, Rong Xie passed through the side door and indeed saw a straight, narrow lane extending far into the distance. This was the length of one side of the entire Lu estate.

Rong Xie’s heart skipped a beat. His luck was good; this lane was the very one he and Lu Yinglin had traveled. He could still distinguish familiar details—the shape of a damaged wall section, a missing tile on a roof eave. This was the place.

Rong Xie composed himself, looked around to ensure no one was there, and quickly slipped into the lane.

A moment later.

Rong Xie put away his Flight Talisman and landed in front of a small door. Looking inside, the houses on both sides of the alley were dilapidated, different from the young masters’ courtyards or even the run-down guest room. This was clearly where the cooks and laborers lived. There were traces of dirty water flowing on the ground, and clumps of grass poked out from the walls.

On Rong Xie’s left was the corpse-hiding room he had seen servants carry a body into. At this moment, the black lacquered wooden door was closed, secured with a straw rope.

Rong Xie held his breath, stepped forward, and with a twist of his fingers and a flash of green light, the straw rope fell to the ground.

Creak—

The black lacquered wooden door opened, and a pungent stench of rot hit him in the face.

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Rong Xie covered his nose and mouth and looked inside. In the darkness, a living creature was panting heavily in the corner, emitting a low, threatening growl from its throat. A pair of small eyes stared ferociously at Rong Xie.

This was…

Rong Xie channeled his spiritual energy. The darkness in the room couldn’t block his vision. Squatting in the corner was clearly a Red-Maned Boar. The pungent rot smell came from the feeding trough in front of it.

Some unpleasant associations flashed through Rong Xie’s mind. He instantly felt his stomach churn and subconsciously took a step back.

The wild boar seemed to sense Rong Xie’s retreat. Its ferocious aura exploded. With a roar, it lunged from the corner, pouncing toward the door.

Rong Xie took out a prepared Spirit Talisman and threw it quickly and accurately at the boar. The talisman transformed into three iron spikes in mid-air, striking the boar’s forehead, nape, and spine—three vital points. The boar let out an earth-shaking howl and crashed to the ground, blood gushing from the three holes.

Rong Xie pinched his nose and jumped aside to avoid the flowing blood.

Rustling sounds came from the overly quiet alley. Rong Xie looked back and saw many pairs of eyes hiding behind doors and windows, looking at him with fear.

Rong Xie fought back his nausea, waved his hand to control the talisman, and pulled the three iron spikes from the boar’s body. They fell to the ground with a clang in front of his feet.

The figures behind the doors and windows shrank back, hiding in fear, but couldn’t resist peeking out.

This deterrence was exactly what Rong Xie wanted.

“Stop hiding, come out,” Rong Xie held his breath, kept a straight face, and said in a suppressed voice. “I want to find the Spirit Spring Well. Whoever knows where it is, take me there, and I will spare your life.”

Dead silence. No one moved.

Clang—

Rong Xie kicked one of the iron spikes violently. It rolled away, making a loud noise.

There was a commotion behind the doors and windows. Finally, someone walked out trembling from behind a door, shoulders hunched, not daring to meet Rong Xie’s eyes, gaze lingering on the hem of his robe: “Master… Master, appease your anger. This lowly one knows. I will take Master there immediately.”