Long Aotian’s Beautiful Butler Has Run Away chapter 158

Chapter 158: Sudden Changes

“Senior Brother Lu.” Rong Xie paused.

Without even lifting his head, Lu Yingqi said, “If you are here to beg me to let you go, then there is no need to speak.”

Rong Xie choked, then smiled bitterly. “A master’s command cannot be disobeyed, I understand. However, I still want to send a message to the people outside, asking them to help me find Elder Hong. This doesn’t violate Elder Bai’s orders, does it?”

“It doesn’t,” Lu Yingqi replied flatly, returning his sword to its sheath. “This barrier also won’t block sound transmissions.”

“That’s great.” Rong Xie breathed a sigh of relief.

“Is there anything else?” Lu Yingqi asked, noticing that Rong Xie was still standing there.

“Could I ask Senior Brother Lu to go over and take a look at Bingsi? It’s inconvenient for me to check on his current condition. If Senior Brother Lu could lend a helping hand, we will definitely repay you with all our might,” Rong Xie requested.

Lu Yingqi glanced at Rong Xie. “Alright.”

“Thank you, Senior Brother Lu!” Rong Xie beamed. Then, remembering something, he added, “Xiao Zhi has the heavens on his side… He will be fine!”

Even Rong Xie felt this consolation was incredibly hollow. Lu Yingqi simply nodded, put away his flying sword, and walked toward the study.

Rong Xie used his sound transmission jade pendants to contact Captain Zhao and Wang Mu respectively. The aftermath of the Qinghe Lu Family incident had been dealt with, and the two adjudicators had returned to the Mirror Palace. Captain Zhao had also led his team back to the capital for some rest and reorganization. Captain Zhao promised Rong Xie that he would help look for clues about the Hehuan Jiao in his spare time.

Wang Mu had been keeping watch over Lan Yuan’s residence. With the pocket money Rong Xie had given him, he didn’t have to worry about meals. Rong Xie asked him to seek out Lu Yinglin and pass along the agreed-upon contact method, requesting Lu Yinglin to take action and probe the Hehuan Jiao’s whereabouts once more.

In truth, Rong Xie didn’t entirely believe that Lu Yinglin knew absolutely nothing about the Hehuan Jiao. Perhaps he had some reservations or unspeakable difficulties that prevented him from telling Rong Xie. But right now, the situation was urgent, and Rong Xie couldn’t afford to care about all that. He had to grasp whatever connections he could.

Having contacted everyone he could, all that was left was to wait for their replies.

Bang!

A loud crash came from next door, sounding like something heavy had fallen from a height. This was followed by a series of noises, and then the main door burst open with a boom.

Startled, Rong Xie hurriedly looked outside, only to see a blurry phantom dart out the door and vanish from sight.

There were only three people in the main house, and only one of them could treat Elder Bai’s barrier as if it were nothing.

Lu Yingqi had run out!

Rong Xie stepped over the threshold and arrived in the main hall in a single stride. He arrived just in time to see a hole in the barrier over the doorway, which was rapidly repairing itself. By the time Rong Xie reached it, the hole was almost completely sealed.

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Through the gap, he only caught a glimpse of the courtyard gates thrown wide open and the silhouettes of many people. The next second, the hole was fully repaired, transforming back into an impenetrable barrier!

“What happened?” Shen Bingsi leaned out from the doorway of the study, struggling to stretch his neck to watch the commotion.

“…” Rong Xie was also at a complete loss.

Seeing that there was no more commotion to watch, Shen Bingsi straightened up.

“How… how are you feeling?” Rong Xie asked, carefully maintaining his distance.

“Pretty good.” Shen Bingsi reached out and grabbed at the air. A golden light flashed through his hand and then vanished. He muttered resentfully, “I might need to regulate my breathing a bit more.”

“No rush,” Rong Xie said. “I’ve already asked people to scout for news about the Hehuan Jiao.”

“Mm.”

“Did Senior Brother Lu say anything about your condition?” Rong Xie asked.

“He’s not a medical cultivator; what could he possibly see?” Shen Bingsi dismissed the thought entirely. Then, rubbing his chin, he added, “But don’t you think there’s something off about Lu Yingqi?”

“What is it?”

“Lu Yingqi is so nervous about that attendant of his. According to Madam Mei, the two of them have done everything except officially become Dao Companions. So why isn’t Lu Yingqi’s Dao Heart wavering?” Shen Bingsi asked indignantly.

“This… might have to do with the cultivation methods of the Wuqing Dao Gong,” Rong Xie guessed. “Their method is all about clearly separating emotions from cultivation… Speaking of which, didn’t you also separate them very clearly before?”

Shen Bingsi hadn’t expected a casual comment to boomerang right back at him.

“I, that was… cough, cough, cough…”

Shen Bingsi wanted to explain, but when he thought about it carefully, it was true. Countless times, when Rong Xie showed genuine emotion, he had spouted the most hateful, heartless words, watching the hopeful light in Rong Xie’s eyes dim bit by bit.

He remembered that night on the southern island. Amidst the darkness and surging tides, Rong Xie stood in the water, looking at him with deep disappointment.

A surge of metallic taste rushed up his throat, and the spiritual energy he had just regulated started to run wild again.

“Quick, go sit back down! Stop overthinking!” Rong Xie commanded.

Shen Bingsi retreated behind the door and stood there.

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Seeing Shen Bingsi’s shadow cast upon the floor, a wave of sour sorrow rose in Rong Xie’s heart.

“I wonder if something happened to that attendant of his,” Shen Bingsi said a moment later, having suppressed his internal breath. Recalling Lu Yingqi’s reaction just now, he added, “He was using his spiritual energy to help me suppress the backlash, but suddenly his expression changed. He rushed out without saying a single word. I figured since he left a wisp of his spiritual consciousness on that attendant, maybe something went wrong with him, and Lu Yingqi sensed it, so he hurriedly charged out to save him.”

“Rong’er, tell me, if he’s panicking like this, how can his Dao Heart still be stable? I don’t think he’s doing much better than I am…”

“Rong’er?” Shen Bingsi waited for a while without getting a response, so he peeked his head out again to look.

He saw Rong Xie standing in the main hall with a lost expression, deeply engrossed in thought.

Shen Bingsi walked out of the study, striding toward Rong Xie.

Hearing the footsteps, Rong Xie looked up to see Shen Bingsi standing in front of him, staring at him with a serious expression.

“Why did you come out? Go back inside quickly.” Rong Xie hurriedly tried to push him away.

Shen Bingsi caught Rong Xie’s hands. “What are you thinking about?”

“I…” The tension in Rong Xie’s heart snapped, and he said blankly, “I don’t know…”

Shen Bingsi stared at his face. “Then don’t think about it. Didn’t you tell me not to overthink? If you can’t figure it out, thinking about it is useless.”

“But… if I hadn’t done anything… you wouldn’t have ended up in this situation…” Rong Xie raised his hands to cover his face.

Shen Bingsi took a step forward and pulled Rong Xie tightly into his embrace. Strangely, he didn’t think about anything; he just acted purely on instinct, and to his surprise, he didn’t suffer any backlash.

“What situation? The situation of no longer being a fool who deceives himself?” Shen Bingsi’s voice carried a hint of self-mockery.

Realizing what was happening, Rong Xie struggled, gently trying to push Shen Bingsi away, but he was held even tighter.

“It’s fine, hugging like this doesn’t affect anything,” Shen Bingsi’s voice sounded right next to Rong Xie’s ear. At the same time, his hand rested on the center of Rong Xie’s back, slowly stroking it in a comforting motion. “You’ve already done very well. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t even know there were so many ways to counter a shattered Dao Heart. As long as there’s a method, I can definitely get through this trial. That’s how cultivation is—one trial after another. Where is there anyone who casually breezes their way to the Soul Split stage?”

“You’re still thinking about reaching the Soul Split stage?” Rong Xie laughed despite himself, quickly blinking away the moisture in his eyes. “You’d be lucky not to drop to the Golden Core stage…”

“If it drops, it drops. The worst-case scenario is I cultivate all over again,” Shen Bingsi held Rong Xie’s upper arms, straightened his back, and looked into his eyes with a bright smile. “Even if I drop to Qi Condensation, I can still cultivate my way back to Nascent Soul. What, you don’t believe me? When the time comes, let’s have a race to see who reaches Nascent Soul first.”

“…Alright.” Rong Xie felt an empty spot in his heart being filled by something warm and resolute.

Shen Bingsi’s gaze lingered on Rong Xie’s face. The two stared at each other for a long time. Finally, Shen Bingsi raised his hand and tucked a stray strand of Rong Xie’s hair behind his ear. As his finger brushed against the cool, soft shell of the ear, the coppery taste of blood surged up again.

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This time, Shen Bingsi coughed up a solid few mouthfuls of blood before finally settling down.

He stood back behind the study door, which now had a wooden latch across it—latched by Rong Xie’s own hands, serving both as a barrier against Shen Bingsi and a reminder to Rong Xie not to lose control and draw him out again.

“You just said… Lu Yingqi left because he received news about Xiao Zhi?” Rong Xie conjured some water spiritual energy to wash his face, now completely calm.

“Mm,” Shen Bingsi’s muffled, unhappy voice came from behind the door.

“Could something have happened to Xiao Zhi?” Rong Xie grew anxious. He wanted to go to the door and check, but the barrier blocked his view entirely. “That Shang Qian clearly wasn’t going to be easy to deal with. Elder Bai said he was going to some Tianji Tan, but did it end up being useless?”

“Don’t worry. Once I finish regulating my breath, I’ll shatter this damn barrier—”

Before Shen Bingsi could finish his sentence, the sound of fracturing echoed from the barrier.

Rong Xie watched in astonishment as the barrier before him flared with a blinding white light, fracturing into thousands of pieces in an instant before vanishing with a loud boom.

“This is…” Rong Xie’s heart clenched. “Could Elder Bai have also…”

For a barrier to shatter and vanish without being attacked could only mean one thing: the person who set the barrier no longer had the spiritual energy to maintain it.

Had Elder Bai encountered some unexpected misfortune?

But this was Xuantian Zong’s territory, and Elder Bai was, after all, an Elder. Who could possibly bring harm to him?

Several thoughts flashed through Rong Xie’s mind in an instant. The next moment, a streak of white drifted into the room.

“What, were you hoping this old man would die?” Elder Bai’s exasperated voice rang out.

Rong Xie’s heart immediately dropped back into his chest. He had almost forgotten—another reason a barrier might vanish was if the caster manually canceled it…

But Elder Bai didn’t give Rong Xie a chance to reply. He grabbed Rong Xie by the arm and dragged him outside. “Do you still remember the formation I taught you in the Zhengxin Hall?”

Rong Xie was startled. “You mean… the one that traps souls?”

“Shh, keep your voice down!” Elder Bai glanced left and right, then turned back, glaring darkly at Rong Xie. “Now, the time has come to put you to use. Didn’t you want to see whether the closely guarded secret of our Dao Gong actually works?”

“What?”

“Come with me!”

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Author’s Note: Yes, this chapter has them too. [Dove]