Chapter 125: Returned
Rong Xie did not answer Big Brother Jiang’s question.
He struggled to get up from the ground, but his legs were so weak they refused to support his body.
Just then, an invisible force gently lifted Rong Xie’s arms, providing him with support and allowing him to stand with its aid.
Rong Xie didn’t even have time to say thank you. He grabbed Big Brother Jiang’s official sleeve and pleaded urgently, “Quick, go find Shen Bingsi! I beg you, go find Shen Bingsi immediately!”
“Hm?” Big Brother Jiang’s smile faded slightly. “What happened to Shen Bingsi? Why isn’t he here?”
“Shen Bingsi and Xuantian’s One Sword, Lu Yingqi, were dueling. I saw them both draw their bound life swords. They were in the air…” Rong Xie tried his best to describe the scene, but having just endured a violent shock, his breath hadn’t recovered, making his speech disjointed.
Fortunately, Big Brother Jiang was quick on the uptake. He slapped his forehead and said, “Don’t panic. Shen Bingsi should be fine. This chain is still intact on your wrist, which means he hasn’t suffered any major harm. When did the duel happen? How long has it been?”
“I don’t know… maybe the time it takes to drink a cup of tea,” Rong Xie said uncertainly. “Big Brother Jiang… when you came over, did you not feel the shockwave?”
“No, I used ‘Shrinking the Ground’ to get here… it’s similar to fixed-point teleportation,” Big Brother Jiang explained. “I’ll go find him. He should have fallen nearby.”
Big Brother Jiang released his spiritual consciousness. Very quickly, he sensed something, turned his head, and walked toward the outside of the courtyard.
Rong Xie followed Big Brother Jiang’s retreating figure with his gaze. Only now did he realize the extent of the destruction caused by the duel between two Nascent Soul cultivators—
Half of the high courtyard walls had collapsed. The good news was that most of the debris had fallen outward, with only a small portion landing inside, sparing the people in the yard. Even so, the members of the Treasure Hunting Team were scattered all over the ground, to say nothing of the Lu family members.
“Cough, cough… Fellow Daoist Rong, are you alright?” Zhao Dajiang crawled up from the ground, helping up the team members around him as he spoke.
“I’m fine,” Rong Xie replied. Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through his arm. He let out a soft hiss and frowned, looking down. His right arm, wrapped in the silver chain, had several distinct bloody scrapes—wounds caused by the friction of gripping the chain tightly during the tremors. A drop of blood slid down the silver chain and landed with a plat on the dirt by his feet.
Rong Xie’s heart skipped a beat, and an ominous premonition clouded his mind.
He turned his head to look at Zhao Dajiang, his gaze freezing on the latter’s empty hands. “Big Brother Zhao, where is the censer?”
Zhao Dajiang had just pulled the last team member to their feet and was telling them to stand together. Hearing Rong Xie’s question, he suddenly remembered the item. He slapped his thigh. “Oh no! Where is my censer?!”
The team members scrambled to search and finally found the overturned censer on the ground. The incense had long since extinguished, and ash was spilled everywhere…
“Aiya!” Zhao Dajiang was filled with remorse. He hurriedly took the half-empty censer from a team member and held it up to the Incense Cultivator. “How did this happen? It won’t lose its effect, will it?”
“…” The Incense Cultivator felt her scalp tingle. “Big Brother Zhao, the incense fell out. Of course it has no effect…”
“What do we do? Will lighting it now still work?” Zhao Dajiang panicked and shouted, “Everyone, hold your breath! Don’t breathe!”
The team members covered their noses and mouths, but holding one’s breath was not a long-term solution. Before long, their faces turned red from the effort.
“Never mind, you don’t need to hold your breath.” Rong Xie looked at Madam Mei on the ground. The silver chains still firmly bound his upper body. He couldn’t use any spells and had zero defense. The shockwave earlier had knocked him unconscious, and he still hadn’t woken up. He shouldn’t have any chance to cause trouble… right?
“The courtyard walls have collapsed, so the incense scent won’t settle in the yard so easily. Besides, Madam Mei has been locked by the chains the whole time; he shouldn’t be able to use his magic,” Rong Xie said. “For safety’s sake, let’s leave this dangerous place as soon as possible. Someone help me carry Madam Mei out.”
Previously, Rong Xie couldn’t leave because Madam Mei was fixed in place by Lu Yingqi’s barrier. Now that Big Brother Jiang had shattered Lu Yingqi’s barrier, Madam Mei could be moved, so naturally, Rong Xie didn’t have to stay chained to the spot with him.
“Quick, carry him!” Zhao Dajiang hurriedly ordered his team. Eager to make up for his mistake, he was the first to rush over, grabbing one side of Madam Mei and hoisting him up like livestock. Two other members rushed over to support the other side. The three of them huffed and puffed as they carried Madam Mei out.
The Lu family members had no fight left in them and couldn’t stop the Treasure Hunting Team at all. They could only watch helplessly as they broke out of the courtyard gate and reached the circular clearing outside.
“Keep moving, don’t stop,” Rong Xie said. On the surface, he was as calm as water, his voice steady. But his free left hand was clutching the fabric over his chest, his palm pressed against his heart. “The further from here, the better. The Mirror Palace’s representative has arrived. Once he finds Shen Bingsi, he will come back for us.”
Hearing this, the team members’ confidence surged, and their steps became lighter.
Zhao Dajiang turned back, a relieved smile on his face. “Was that the Adjudicator from the Mirror Palace just now? I didn’t expect this operation to attract two Adjudicators. Our little Treasure Hunting Team has really handled a major case this time! —Sword Saint Shen is alright, isn’t he?”
Rong Xie’s expression froze for a moment. He didn’t answer immediately. Under Zhao Dajiang’s puzzled gaze, Rong Xie looked down at the silver chain wrapped around his right hand. “…The chain is still here. His colleague said he should be fine.”
“Since the other one said he’s fine, then he must be fine. Fellow Daoist Rong, don’t worry too much…” Zhao Dajiang said soothingly. Suddenly, he noticed Rong Xie’s arm. “Fellow Daoist Rong, you’re bleeding.”
“Mn, just a few scratches. It’s nothing.”
“How is it nothing? Why don’t I hold the chain? My skin is rough and thick; it won’t break.” Zhao Dajiang offered enthusiastically, reaching out to take the chain from Rong Xie.
“No need, I’ll do it.” Rong Xie sharply dodged Zhao Dajiang’s hand. “Thank you for your kindness, Big Brother Zhao, but Shen Bingsi entrusted this matter to me. It wouldn’t be right to pass it to someone else. Besides, this Madam Mei is extremely cunning; I don’t want to fall short at the last moment.”
“Yes, yes, Fellow Daoist Rong makes sense.” Zhao Dajiang nodded, then sighed. “I just wonder when Sword Saint Shen will appear. His cultivation isn’t as high as Young Master Lu’s. In a head-on duel just now, even if he luckily won, I’m afraid… sigh, he might not be able to come over for a while.”
Rong Xie’s eyes dimmed slightly. He wanted to say something, but suddenly heard the team members in front shouting, “Sword Saint Shen! It’s Sword Saint Shen!” “Sword Saint Shen has returned!”
For a split second, Rong Xie thought he was hallucinating.
In the afterglow of the setting sun, two cultivators dressed in identical Adjudicator uniforms walked over from the alley entrance. Backlit by the light, their faces were unclear for a moment, but one of them was waving from afar. That exaggerated motion and arrogant gait—it was clearly Shen Bingsi.
Rong Xie suppressed his wildly pounding heart and gripped the chain even tighter. Accompanying the surprise was a surge of suspicion: How could Shen Bingsi return unharmed? He didn’t look like he had just survived a life-and-death duel at all. Did Big Brother Jiang heal him? Or had something happened that Rong Xie didn’t know about?
Regardless of the truth, they would know once they came over and asked. Until he confirmed the person was truly Shen Bingsi, Rong Xie would not easily let go of the chain in his hand—
Almost at the exact moment Shen Bingsi appeared, Zhao Dajiang, who was closest to Rong Xie, slammed into him first, violently trying to snatch the chain from his hand. The three team members carrying Madam Mei in front also stopped and began tearing at the chains on Madam Mei’s body.
Rong Xie turned his body, shielding his right arm in his embrace, and cast a defensive spell to block Zhao Dajiang’s impact. As he did this, his gaze swept over the faces of Zhao Dajiang and the three members. Sure enough, they wore numb expressions, their eyes lifeless, like puppets being controlled.
Rong Xie didn’t know when Madam Mei had cast the hallucination spell, but clearly, the people closest to Madam Mei had fallen victim to it.
Rong Xie quickly pulled a talisman from his pouch, activating several at once. A torrent of water erupted, washing away the team members trying to snatch the chain with brute force. Lightning followed close behind, electrocuting Zhao Dajiang—the one with the highest cultivation—until his soul seemed to leave his body.
Zhao Dajiang was a Foundation Establishment cultivator after all. He recovered quickly, pulling his bound life artifact—a large blade—from the void and hacking toward Rong Xie’s arm.
A golden light flashed. The large blade flew out of Zhao Dajiang’s hand, and he himself was dragged backward rapidly, as if someone had grabbed him by the back of his collar. For a burly Foundation Establishment body cultivator like Zhao Dajiang to be dragged away so easily, the force must have been tremendous.
With a muffled thud, Zhao Dajiang slammed into something, his head tilted, and he fainted. Simultaneously, three consecutive bangs rang out as the other three controlled team members were knocked out in the same manner, scattered across the ground.
With no one holding him, Madam Mei fell to the ground with a crash, kicking up a cloud of dust. Someone flew in, extending an arm to embrace Rong Xie. Their protective spiritual energy turned into a gale, blowing the dust away in the opposite direction so that not a speck landed on the two of them.
“Rong’er,” Shen Bingsi’s voice came from above. Rong Xie felt a warm embrace wrapping tightly around him from behind. Shen Bingsi grabbed his elbow and said in a muffled voice, “You’re hurt. Why didn’t you let go?”
Rong Xie’s body relaxed naturally. He wanted desperately to collapse into Shen Bingsi’s arms and put all his weight on him. But he couldn’t do that.
Rong Xie drove his elbow hard into Shen Bingsi’s abdomen, sparing no strength. His right hand coiled the chain tight, while the fingers of his left hand spread open. Purple lightning crackled in his palm as he spun around and pressed it toward the vital point on Shen Bingsi’s neck with a snap.
Caught off guard, Shen Bingsi took the hit. The side of his cheek was quickly scorched and smoking, the smell of burnt meat drifting into the air. Rong Xie successfully broke free from his embrace and backed away two steps.
Shen Bingsi covered his slapped, crooked face aggrievedly and straightened his body. When he lowered his hand, the restorative power of a newly advanced mid-Nascent Soul stage cultivator rapidly regenerated the burnt flesh on his cheek. A red light flashed, and young, taut skin once again covered the smooth contours of his face, looking even more radiant than before.
“…” Rong Xie watched Shen Bingsi warily, as if looking at a monster.
“I am the real Shen Bingsi. I haven’t been controlled.”
Shen Bingsi glanced at Zhao Dajiang and the team members lying at Rong Xie’s feet, then looked at Rong Xie’s hand, bloody from the silver chain. How could he not understand what Rong Xie was thinking and what he was protecting? A pang of heartache struck Shen Bingsi. He regretted giving the chain to Rong Xie and telling him to hold it tight and wait for his return.
Shen Bingsi reached out toward the silver chain. The spiritual artifact recognized its master and automatically dissolved into silver smoke, dissipating from Rong Xie’s arm. It merged with the chains binding Madam Mei, condensing into a silver-white token that reattached itself to the Adjudicator’s black belt.
“Is this… an illusion?” Rong Xie stared blankly at the spirited Shen Bingsi, now changed back into his Adjudicator robes.
“No,” Shen Bingsi strode toward Rong Xie, one hand cradling the back of his head amidst his soft hair, pulling him into his arms. “I broke through. I’m back.”
Shen Bingsi turned his face, pressing it tightly against Rong Xie’s forehead, which was slightly sweaty from nerves. He said muffledly, “I’m sorry. I came back too slow and made you worry. Next time…”
The stiff body in his arms gradually relaxed. Shen Bingsi felt a tug on the front of his clothes; Rong Xie’s hand was gripping his robe, his palm trembling slightly.
Slowly, that hand pulled him closer, and the person in his arms hugged him back.
“There won’t be a next time. If you dare scare me again, I’ll…”
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