Long Aotian’s Beautiful Butler Has Run Away chapter 27

Chapter 27: Image Stone

Rong Xie held his pillow, unmoving.

His brows furrowed slightly, seemingly hesitating.

“What’s wrong?” Shen Bingsi wasn’t in a hurry, patiently waiting for the timid clam to open a crack.

“Mm… you didn’t make the bed?” Rong Xie hesitated.

It turned out to be his mysophobia acting up again. Shen Bingsi couldn’t help but find it amusing.

“Making the bed is pointless now, come on.” Shen Bingsi reached out to him.

“Even so… it hasn’t been touched for a month. How much dust has settled on it? How can we sleep on it directly?” Rong Xie was very concerned about this.

At Rong Xie’s insistence, Shen Bingsi got out of bed too, and the two made the bed together, changing into a new quilt and bedsheet.

Rong Xie straightened up, admiring the freshly made bed.

The bedsheet didn’t have a single wrinkle, the four corners pulled tight. The quilt lay flat and fluffy on the sheet, having been sun-dried just two days ago, looking very inviting for sleep.

This could be called a bed. That messy pile before was simply impossible to sleep in.

Shen Bingsi looked at the taut bedding, smooth as if scraped by a shovel. Rong Xie clearly didn’t use any magic, yet in a very short time, with just a few seemingly ordinary movements, he made the bedding, quilt, curtains, and clothes look very neat and beautiful.

However, after changing and making the bed, the familiar scent was gone. Their bedding was similar to begin with, only the style of the bed and furniture differed slightly, which didn’t matter at all.

“By the way, I found this when organizing the mattress just now.” Rong Xie took out a black stone from his sleeve and handed it to Shen Bingsi.

“Hm?” Shen Bingsi took the stone, raising his eyebrows in surprise. “Isn’t this an Image Stone?”

An Image Stone was a stone that could be infused with spiritual power to record surrounding images and sounds. How much content it recorded depended entirely on how much spiritual power was infused. When the spiritual power was exhausted, it would turn into a black stone, just like now.

Image Stones were very rare and expensive. Only wealthy people like Shen Bingsi would toss them around carelessly, to the point of losing one in the bed cracks for a month without finding it, until Rong Xie discovered it while changing the bedding.

Shen Bingsi fiddled with the black stone in his palm with his thumb: “I’ve been looking for it for a long time, didn’t expect to lose it here… But it’s useless now.”

“What did you record?” Rong Xie asked.

“Nothing useful… Cui Xingmiao’s medical advice,” Shen Bingsi said.

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Rong Xie uttered an “Oh,” recalling some unpleasant memories. When Cui Xingmiao left her medical advice, Shen Bingsi did seem to be holding an Image Stone.

“Forget about this.” Shen Bingsi casually placed the Image Stone by the bedside. “Let’s get to the main topic.”

Rong Xie finally understood how the Image Stone got lost. Tossing it around like Shen Bingsi did, it would be strange if it didn’t get lost. He picked up the Image Stone and put it into a drawer in the wardrobe.

When he turned back, Shen Bingsi had already stripped down to his trousers, sitting on the edge of the bed waiting for him.

Rong Xie walked over, got into bed as before, and burrowed into the quilt. Shen Bingsi came up from behind and pulled him into his arms.

Now they were very familiar with each other’s body state and could change various positions until both were comfortable.

Feeling Shen Bingsi’s arm draped over him, Rong Xie pulled his hand out from under his arm and placed it on his arm, palm against the outside of his wrist.

This way, it was like holding Shen Bingsi’s arm in his own arms.

Comfortable nasal sounds came from behind his ear. Shen Bingsi pulled him closer into his embrace, his arm around his waist exploring upwards, his large palm covered with thin calluses pressing against his chest and abdomen through the inner clothes.

This position was very comfortable, his stomach felt warm and very safe, allowing him to sleep until dawn—Rong Xie discovered this by accident too.

He hugged Shen Bingsi’s arm with both hands and closed his eyes.

Rong Xie had a dream. He forgot the content, but woke up in a very good mood.

Chirping bird calls came from outside the window. The sky wasn’t fully bright yet, and the furniture in the room was shrouded in a layer of smoky blue morning light.

Rong Xie opened his eyes and saw the pillow pushed aside. Shen Bingsi’s arm was replacing the pillow under his cheek. His other hand was pressed against his chest, fingers loosely open, about to slide off the clothes. He held that hand tighter.

He could feel Shen Bingsi’s rising and falling chest pressing against his back, the soothing and powerful heartbeat transmitted through a layer of inner clothes.

…

What counts as reality, and what counts as illusion?

Isn’t the current experience a kind of reality? Does one have to say it out loud to count as liking? Sleeping in the same bed, waking up in each other’s arms like this, even if not called liking, is it any worse than other Dao Companions?

This is enough. Be content.

Rong Xie nestled in Shen Bingsi’s arms for a while, trying hard to recall what dream he had last night, then thought about what to do today, mulling over matters inside and out. Shen Bingsi hummed lightly and woke up too.

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“Mmh… Rong’er…” He buried his face in Rong Xie’s hair, murmuring indistinctly behind his ear, nuzzling back and forth like a large animal.

While changing clothes in the morning, Rong Xie tried several times to put on his outer trousers but failed, always leaving a section of fabric exposed.

Shen Bingsi saw this and couldn’t help laughing: “Rong’er, you’re still wearing my clothes.”

“Mmh.” Rong Xie realized what was wrong. He was still wearing Shen Bingsi’s inner clothes. He put the outer clothes aside, slowly unbuttoned the inner clothes, took them off under Shen Bingsi’s gaze, folded them, and then went to get his own outer clothes.

When going out, Shen Bingsi seemed very happy. He said their progress had pushed forward a big step, as Rong Xie could already change clothes naturally in front of him.

Actually, this wasn’t anything to make a fuss about, Rong Xie thought. When they were kids, they even went into the river naked to catch fish together.

“By the way,” before going out the main gate, Shen Bingsi suddenly remembered something and turned back to ask, “Is your spiritual power still enough?”

“I’ve been conserving it recently, so of course it’s enough,” Rong Xie answered.

With the three little ones helping with villa affairs, and Shen Bingsi’s pre-written talismans when needed, he hadn’t used his own spiritual power for magic for a long time.

“That’s good,” Shen Bingsi nodded. “So, Cui Xingmiao’s medical advice was useful after all?”

“Of course.”

“Then I have to thank her. I happen to be going to Shengjing recently… Is her secret recipe effective too?”

Rong Xie was confused: “What secret recipe?”

Shen Bingsi laughed: “Looks like it’s not effective.”

Rong Xie was still very confused. When did Miss Cui prescribe him a secret recipe? How come he didn’t know?

“The last one,” Shen Bingsi reminded him, “the secret recipe where she sent me away.”

Rong Xie suddenly remembered. Cui Xingmiao stayed behind to talk privately with him at the end, and Shen Bingsi still thought she was prescribing him a secret recipe.

“Oh… that…” Rong Xie glossed over it lightly. “Just some health maintenance recipes.”

“What recipes? Did you get the medicine? Which ingredient is missing? I can bring it back on the way,” Shen Bingsi asked a series of questions.

Rong Xie was caught off guard: “Actually, it’s not any critical recipe, just some folk remedies for nourishing the body and replenishing qi. They didn’t sound rare to me; we have those medicines at home.”

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“Oh… I see.”

Shen Bingsi didn’t ask further. He told Rong Xie when he would be back and left.

Rong Xie watched him leave and breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, Shen Bingsi didn’t ask more, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to cover it up.

Having promised the little girl, he certainly couldn’t tell.

At noon, the three little ones returned from Welcome Town.

To prepare materials for building the chicken coop and cow shed, they had been running to Third Master Qiu’s place recently. Although tired, it was fulfilling.

“Brother Rong, we brought lamb soup noodles from town. Let’s eat together for lunch!”

“It’s from that Old Mi’s place with the super long line. We queued for a long time!”

The three little ones shouted as soon as they came back.

Hard to refuse such kindness, Rong Xie ate lamb soup noodles with them at the stone table in the front courtyard.

“Mmh, mmh, delicious, delicious. Running around every day just for this bite.”

“Awesome!”

Shen Yan and Long Shaoye slurped down their food, wiped their mouths, and saw Fang Renji and Rong Xie still drinking soup slowly.

The two started chatting casually.

“I saw that person again today. No mistake, it was him!” Long Shaoye vowed.

“Hm? Who?” Shen Yan asked.

“That kid from Nanny Wang’s family. Remember him? The one who barged in halfway through our exam.”

Rong Xie looked up: “Wang Mu?”

“Yes, yes, that’s him!” Long Shaoye nodded vigorously.

Rong Xie was puzzled: “They haven’t left yet?”

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It had been so long, yet they were still in Welcome Town? Head Steward Shen had long returned to the Shen family. Shen Bingsi told him to go back and mail the deeds of sale, and not long after, they received the spirit falcon sent by the old patriarch.

“Don’t know. I saw him several times. He seems to be doing chores in the inn’s kitchen,” Long Shaoye said. “But I didn’t see Nanny Wang.”

Rong Xie couldn’t help worrying. Could it be that Nanny Wang left Wang Mu alone in town to infiltrate the Lingjing Sect and went back herself?

Unlikely, that would be too careless. Wang Mu was only eight… although many entry-level disciples were also this age, they at least had proper food and lodging. Wang Mu had nothing.

“If you see him again, persuade him to go home and practice his handwriting first,” Rong Xie said.

Shen Yan and Long Shaoye indicated they understood.

The next day, the two brought back Wang Mu’s reply, saying he didn’t want to enter the Lingjing Sect, just wanted to do chores. Welcome Town was more fun than the Shen Clan Estate, and the innkeeper covered food and lodging, so he stayed. His mother couldn’t persuade him, so she went back alone.

He was doing fine and told Brother Rong not to worry.

Wang Mu’s reply sounded a bit like a little adult, surprising Rong Xie.

However, since the innkeeper kept him, Rong Xie said no more.

On the third day, the day Shen Bingsi said he would return, Rong Xie led the three little ones to deep clean the front and back courtyards inside out, even polishing the bluestone slabs in the courtyard until they shone, just waiting for Shen Bingsi to come back for dinner.

But after waiting and waiting, no one appeared.

Rong Xie took out his Transmission Jade, hesitating whether to contact Shen Bingsi, when he felt a vibration in his palm. Golden light spread from the jade. He hurriedly infused spiritual power into the jade to open the connection.

“Rong’er,” Shen Bingsi’s voice suppressed annoyance, “dealing with some troublesome matters, I’ll be back a day late.”

“What… is it a mission?” Rong Xie worried.

“No.” Shen Bingsi seemed to want to say something but suppressed it. “Not anything dangerous, just a bit troublesome. Don’t worry, I’ll deal with it cleanly soon.”

Deal with it cleanly.

Shen Bingsi rarely used such words. Usually, it was just “resolved” or “completed.”

It sounded like this matter was truly troublesome.

“Alright, no rush. Take your time dealing with it,” Rong Xie said gently.

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Ending the contact, Rong Xie went to notify the three little ones to start dinner.

Learning that the Grand Villa Master would be out for another day before returning, the three little ones were as happy as if they had picked up an extra day off.