Long Aotian’s Beautiful Butler Has Run Away chapter 153

Chapter 153: Clarifying Feelings

“It really is because of that!” Rong Xie felt a headache coming on. “That was just a… dream. How could you take it so seriously?”

Shen Bingsi was silent for a moment before looking at Rong Xie. “Was it really just a dream?”

Rong Xie’s heart skipped a beat.

“If it was just a dream, why did it feel so real?” Shen Bingsi continued asking. “Why were the Ruthless Dao Palace, the Immortality Extraction Platform, and even the rear courtyard of the Mirror Palace in it? Why were these places, which you had never seen, exactly the same as in reality?”

Rong Xie couldn’t answer.

Fortunately, Shen Bingsi didn’t press further. He began to answer his own question: “…Perhaps those dreams borrowed from my memories. That’s the only explanation. But, it was too real.”

Rong Xie turned his face away, his hand unconsciously pressing against his chest. He felt a pulling sensation in his heart. He still remembered how he felt when he had his first prophetic dream. He knew exactly what the “too real” feeling Shen Bingsi described felt like.

“A dream is just a dream; it isn’t real. How can you seek reality in a dream?” Rong Xie said blandly.

Speaking words he didn’t even believe himself, his tone became hollow. Rong Xie felt his throat go dry.

But at this moment, he could only say this. Stabilizing Shen Bingsi’s mind was the most important thing. Once Elder Bai arrived and the threat of the shattered Dao Heart was resolved, he could say whatever he wanted.

“Is that so?” Shen Bingsi’s eyes became bewildered.

He could still clearly recall the final dream, where he saw blood flowing from Rong Xie’s chest, rapidly soaking the grass of the Mirror Palace’s rear courtyard and seeping into the black soil.

His hand had passed through Rong Xie’s body, grasping nothing, leaving him helpless as that “future self” destroyed everything and strode away.

Every time he recalled that scene, Shen Bingsi felt the blood in his chest churn as if red-hot tongs were piercing through him, twisting his internal organs into knots.

Since then, he couldn’t control his flying sword. His spiritual power spiraled out of control repeatedly, the backlash stronger with each wave.

Forced by circumstance, he had used the Blade of Severing Heavens again to cut off that memory, temporarily forgetting it, which stabilized his condition.

However, this superficial stability didn’t last long.

As long as Rong Xie was by his side, he would constantly remember the image of the vibrant person lying cold on the ground, blood flooding the grass.

“Of course it is!” Rong Xie said decisively. “Real is real, fake is fake. I can tell you that the dream is just a dream. The events in the dream won’t happen. Since that is the case, why let it affect your reality? Do you know how serious the consequences of a shattered Dao Heart are?”

Dao Heart shattered. The Five Decays of Heaven and Man. Body exploding and dying.

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Every outcome was terrifying.

As he spoke, Rong Xie became agitated. He got off the couch, grabbed Shen Bingsi by the shoulders, wanting to shake some sense into him.

“Cultivators don’t dream randomly; dreams are often deeply connected to oneself. Even if what you dreamt isn’t real, it represents a degree of truth.” Shen Bingsi remained unmoved.

“Stop. Don’t think about it. At least until Elder Bai returns, don’t think about it… Don’t you know how to use the Blade of Severing Heavens? Use that. Cut off these thoughts first!”

Rong Xie exerted force with his hands, feeling like he was pinching a hard rock.

“The Blade of Severing Heavens is useless now.” Shen gazed at a corner of the couch. “Before Master left, he left a phrase: ‘The Blade of Severing Heavens is but plugging one’s ears while stealing a bell.’ I never seriously thought about what ‘plugging one’s ears while stealing a bell’ meant. Does the bell’s sound truly cease to exist just because you cover your ears? If the sound exists, it will be heard one day. At the moment it is heard, wouldn’t the results of previous cultivation collapse instantly? If that moment coincides with a formidable enemy, what would happen?”

“…” Rong Xie stared at him blankly. He had to admit, Shen Bingsi’s perception was truly excellent. His speculation almost entirely matched the prophetic dream.

“So, actually, my luck is quite good.” Shen Bingsi’s gaze landed on Rong Xie’s face again, and he forced a smile. “I realized my own feelings before things reached an irreversible point.”

Rong Xie felt a buzzing in his ears, blocking out all sound.

He had waited a long time, always waiting for this moment. He hadn’t believed he would ever wait to see it, yet right here in the Ruthless Dao Palace at Zhilan Ridge, in someone else’s study, he finally heard that sentence.

He should have been happy, but for some reason, he felt terribly sad. An unreal sense of happiness mixed with the panic of impending loss.

Shen Bingsi stopped smiling quickly. He bent over, covering his mouth as he began to cough.

Rong Xie immediately stepped forward to support him, murmuring, “Don’t say it, don’t think about it anymore…”

Isn’t this what you wanted? A voice inside him said. Shen Bingsi’s Dao Heart shattered for you; doesn’t that prove he likes you too? Isn’t his response exactly what you wanted?

“No, it’s not…” Rong Xie let go as if electrocuted, shaking his head and backing away to the edge of the couch until the wooden rim blocked his path. Losing his balance, he slumped onto the edge of the seat.

Shen Bingsi was still coughing, more and more bloody foam spilling from between the fingers covering his mouth.

Rong Xie wanted to support him, to help him, but he couldn’t go over. His very presence here was disturbing Shen Bingsi’s mind.

What should he do now? Rong Xie, who had been clear-headed before coming, suddenly felt entangled in a chaotic mess.

Just then, footsteps sounded from the outer room. The main door opened, and Xiao Zhi exclaimed, “Elder… Elder Bai, you’re back?”

Rong Xie immediately stood up from the couch and walked quickly to the door.

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Shen Bingsi’s coughing stopped, and he looked toward the door.

“Mn. Where is Lu Yingqi?” Elder Bai’s voice drifted in. “Who is in the study?”

“It is…” Xiao Zhi hesitated.

Suddenly, the door sounded again, and Lu Yingqi’s voice joined in: “Master.”

“Yingqi.” Elder Bai’s voice became much kinder, though it still carried the weariness of his recent debate with his colleagues.

“My friends are in the study,” Lu Yingqi said.

“Friends?” Elder Bai seemed surprised. “It wouldn’t be Shen Bingsi, would it?”

After saying this, Elder Bai gave a dry laugh. He had just heard news at the Council of Elders that the Guardian Mountain Array had been smashed by an unidentified fireball, and a Lingjing Sect disciple had come looking for someone, claiming the fireball was Shen Bingsi.

“…” Lu Yingqi had never been good at lying. Rong Xie could imagine his expression right now.

“What?” Elder Bai’s voice rose. “It really is Shen Bingsi?! Tell him to come out! He harmed you like this, yet he dares to come here? I’ll skin him alive!”

“…”

The atmosphere outside was tense with swords drawn. Suddenly, Rong Xie felt someone pat him lightly on the shoulder.

Rong Xie turned around and saw Shen Bingsi standing behind him.

Shen Bingsi’s lips were a bit pale, and his spirit was low, but otherwise, he looked fairly normal.

“Let me go out and talk.”

“No.” Rong Xie immediately pushed him back, shoving him down onto the couch. He grabbed a small blanket used for covering legs nearby and spread it over him. “Wait here. I’ll talk to Elder Bai.”

Shen Bingsi looked at the small blanket on him and didn’t move.

Having settled Shen Bingsi, Rong Xie breathed a sigh of relief. Just then, the door behind him rattled, and Elder Bai stormed in, a step ahead. Xiao Zhi tried to block him from behind but failed.

Elder Bai looked at Shen Bingsi, then at Rong Xie standing in front of the couch. His hands began to tremble. “Good, very good! The two main culprits are both here! You surnamed Rong, what grudge or grievance does our Yingqi have against you that you harm him so!”

“Master,” Lu Yingqi walked up from behind. “This isn’t Junior Brother Rong’s fault. Regarding the Lu family matter, it was my lax discipline and turning a blind eye that allowed it to develop to today’s state.”

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“What?” Elder Bai turned back in astonishment.

“Doesn’t Master often say that the ultimate cultivation of the Ruthless Dao is the ruthlessness of the Heavenly Dao?” Lu Yingqi said indifferently. “Since the Heavenly Dao is ruthless, what do kinship and family matter? Should one choose to shield family just because they did wrong?”

Hearing Lu Yingqi speak like this, Elder Bai was left speechless.

After a long time, he sighed. “Indeed, Shang Qian is far inferior to you. If there is one person in this generation who can prove the Great Ruthless Dao, no one but you comes to mind.”

“Cough, cough.” A cough of disapproval came from the couch.

Elder Bai’s mood, which had just calmed down, surged again upon seeing Shen Bingsi on the couch.

“Shen Bingsi, what are you coughing for!”

“Elder Bai’s cherishing of his disciple is understandable, but to say that only Lu Yingqi can prove the Dao is a bit absurd,” Shen Bingsi said.

“Shen Bingsi!” Elder Bai blew into his beard and glared. A ball of light formed in his hand, looking as if he was about to slap Shen Bingsi dead on the spot.

Rong Xie blocked Shen Bingsi on the couch and bowed to Elder Bai. “Elder Bai, please don’t lower yourself to his level. He just has a tough mouth…”

“Hmph.” Elder Bai flicked his sleeve. “No matter what you say, this old Daoist won’t forget that it was you who incited Yingqi to investigate the Lu family case, resulting in this unmanageable mess! Now the Council of Elders wants to thoroughly investigate our Ruthless Dao Palace. Yingqi cannot leave this place. Before the investigation concludes, he cannot commit any act of defiance against the Council. Therefore, please get out of here immediately. Don’t wait for this old Daoist to make a move!”

“What? They still want to investigate…” Xiao Zhi looked at Elder Bai. Hearing this result, his eyebrows drooped, and he wrung his sleeves in worry.

Rong Xie hadn’t expected that even with Elder Bai stepping in, they couldn’t settle the Xuan Tian Sect’s Council of Elders.

“Since that’s the case…” Rong Xie pondered. “Perhaps we can help. Senior Brother Lu can’t go out, but Bingsi and I can. For instance, going to the Mirror Palace to gather information, or catching Shang Qian by the ponytail…”

Rong Xie was forced into a corner, racking his brains for ideas. As he spoke, Elder Bai’s expression indeed became less ugly, and his emotions stabilized.

“Oh? You would be so kind as to come specifically to help?” Elder Bai asked suspiciously.

“We do actually have a small request,” Rong Xie said.

Elder Bai looked him up and down and snorted coldly. “Speak.”

“This disciple heard that Elder Bai’s junior brother once cultivated the Ruthless Dao as well, but now cultivates a different path. This disciple wishes to know how that Martial Uncle managed to have his Dao Heart shatter without suffering any backlash?”

“Hm?” Elder Bai realized something was wrong halfway through listening and flew into a rage. “You are asking me about that traitor’s affairs?!”

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“Master, please do not get angry.” Lu Yingqi stepped up, blocking half of Elder Bai’s body to prevent anger from rushing to his head and causing him to attack Rong Xie.

Xiao Zhi also retreated to the side in fear. He hadn’t expected this to be what Rong Xie wanted to ask Elder Bai. He hurriedly shook his head at him, signaling him to stop speaking.

“Wait.” Elder Bai suddenly sensed something. He looked toward the couch, but Shen Bingsi’s figure was half-blocked by Rong Xie. He couldn’t see Shen Bingsi’s face. A thought popped into Elder Bai’s mind. “Could it be that the Great Adjudication Officer Shen is about to have a shattered Dao Heart?”

The room fell silent.

Elder Bai suddenly laughed loudly. “Hahahaha! Heaven’s justice is clear; retribution is unfailing! Great Adjudication Officer Shen, you have this day too? What, can your master at Wushang Immortal Mountain not help you, that you have to travel a thousand miles to seek out my Ruthless Dao Palace?”

“…” Not only was Shen Bingsi speechless, but even Rong Xie was somewhat speechless seeing Elder Bai laugh so happily.

“Fine, I can help you.” Elder Bai narrowed his eyes, looking straight through Rong Xie as if he were air, gazing at the person behind him. “However, you must admit with your own mouth that your Wushang Immortal Mountain sect is inferior to my Ruthless Dao Palace! How about it? Do you dare admit it? As soon as you admit it, I will immediately tell you how that traitor dealt with a shattered Dao Heart!”

Author’s Note: stuck for two days [Angry] dropping a big red packet for this chapter (it’s not that big actually…