Long Aotian’s Beautiful Butler Has Run Away chapter 85

Chapter 85: The Man in the Snow

But he couldn’t not look back.

He had run away too many times. Now, he had lost the right to flee.

He knew clearly that if he used the Heaven-Severing Blade, if he ran away from here without looking back…

Things would develop in the direction he wanted to see least.

No one would wait for him in the same place forever.

Shen Bingsi gritted his teeth, forcefully swallowing the mouthful of blood stuck in his throat, and turned his head with a stiff expression.

Rong Xie looked at the child before him in astonishment.

He didn’t know where this kid had run out from. A round head sporting a horn-braid, a stubborn little face pulled tight, cheeks puffed out like a little adult, and large black-and-white eyes rolled upward, staring at Rong Xie with deep resentment.

The child’s appearance reminded Rong Xie of how Wang Mu looked when they first met. Free-range children were probably all like this: they had their own ideas, wouldn’t obey obediently, and their way of grabbing adult attention was to cause trouble. Even if criticized, they wouldn’t admit their mistakes, but would instead glare back with a look of defiance.

Rong Xie used to dislike such children, finding them hard to manage. But since getting to know Wang Mu, he discovered that such children weren’t hard to get along with; their baring of fangs and claws was simply because they lacked love.

As long as you gave them enough attention and listened to them, they would lean in like a groomed small animal.

Having made up his mind, Rong Xie tentatively asked, “Do you… need something from me?”

The child continued to roll his eyes and stare at Rong Xie, staring until Rong Xie began to waver—this child might not just be naughty, but actually have something wrong with his head—when the child finally fished a small booklet out of his clothes and handed it to Rong Xie.

Rong Xie took the booklet, surprised. “This is… an account book?”

“Hmph.” The child looked away, his cheeks still puffed round from clenching his teeth so tightly. “Steward Wang told me to give it to you.”

Sponsored

“Steward Wang…?” Rong Xie suddenly noticed the clothes the child was wearing seemed to be the uniform for servant boys at the Blue Plateau Manor. It was just that this child was far too small, so Rong Xie hadn’t made the connection. “You came from the Blue Plateau Manor?”

“Hmph.” The child let out another indifferent sound through his nose.

“Thank you for your trouble.” Rong Xie really didn’t know how he had offended this child. However, his attention had already shifted to the account book. This contained the clear records of the orchard’s income and expenses from the previous year, which would be incredibly useful for his work planning for the coming year. He wished he could immediately take it back to his room to study.

Thinking this, Rong Xie casually took out two copper coins and handed them to the child. “Here, take this and buy a sugar cake to eat.”

The child didn’t take them. He continued to stare at Rong Xie with those resentful, upturned eyes. Who knew how a small child’s eyes could hold so much grievance, as if Rong Xie had committed some unforgivable crime against him.

“You… what exactly is wrong?” Rong Xie asked hesitantly. “Did I do something wrong to make you unhappy?”

The child still didn’t speak, but the rims of his eyes turned red. He shot Rong Xie one last resentful glare, then turned and ran away.

Rong Xie’s heart gave a jolt. For some reason, he recalled that night in the Shen family’s rear garden, the way Shen Bingsi had shouted at him with red eyes when he first found out Rong Xie was going to sell the Radiant White Orchids.

His hand slipped, and the two copper coins fell into the snow. Rong Xie snapped back to reality and looked down to find the coins. He hadn’t received this month’s wages yet; two coins were still money, and he relied on this to live. He couldn’t just lose them for no reason. Rong Xie tucked the account book into his robe and bent down to pick up the money. By the time he had the coins in hand, the red-eyed child who ran away had been forgotten.

Shen Bingsi ran.

He slipped several times on the ice. By the time he ran out of Bamboo Lane, his clothes were covered in clumps of snow and mud stains. He was running wildly through the crowd like a real child. No one found it strange; only when he bumped into someone would they curse about whose damn kid this was.

The only thing he did right today was turning into a child. The north wind blew past his ears as he shouted and screamed at the top of his lungs. The sound of his yelling filled the bluestone avenue. Pedestrians on the roadside cast sympathetic glances at him instead of stopping him and tying him up like a madman.

He was indeed as powerless as a child. Rong Xie liked someone else, and he didn’t know what to do. One moment he wanted to run to Rong Xie, grab him, and question him: Didn’t you say you liked me? Why did you turn around and like someone else? The next moment he wanted to kneel and beg Rong Xie to stop making a fuss and come back with him; if it was just “liking,” he could learn. Then he thought he should just set fire to the Blue Plateau Manor; that way, no one would introduce girls to Rong Xie, and no one would pay him, so he would naturally come back. Then he thought he should just hide; as long as he didn’t listen or look, he could pretend nothing had happened.

Several thoughts tore at Shen Bingsi’s body as if trying to rip him apart.

Pfft—

Sponsored

A mouthful of blood sprayed out, scarlet dots splashing all over the ground.

Shen Bingsi braced his hands on the ground, kneeling in the snow, staring blankly at the bloodstains.

At some point, his Bone Shrinking Technique had failed. Long arms extended from the short sleeves, and the shoulder seams burst open with a rip. Every piece of fabric on his body emitted the sound of tearing under the unbearable burden of his expanding body.

Shen Bingsi couldn’t care about that. He vomited two more mouthfuls of blood, wiped his mouth, and staggered up from the ground to look around.

Now was not the time to admit defeat. He had to go back; he had to do something… Damn it, where was this?!

Shen Bingsi realized he was standing in a vast expanse of white snow. The Blue Plateau Manor, the bluestone avenue—they were all gone. In front of his vision, there was only a raised ridge of a field.

And he was standing in a crop field covered by white snow.

Shen Bingsi looked down at the blood on the ground. His vision spun. Expressionless, he pulled his legs out of the snow pit and stumbled back the way he came.

Just then, a scream came from the ridge.

Shen Bingsi looked up numbly and saw two women walking on the ridge. The older one shielded the younger one behind her and threw something at him.

Before Shen Bingsi could see clearly, his face was hit and knocked to the side. The icy snowball shattered, sliding down his neck. His body temperature was naturally high, so the snow quickly melted into water, soaking the tendons of his neck.

“Pervert!” the woman on the ridge cursed, her voice laced with a trace of bizarre excitement.

“Auntie, that fool looks quite pitiful. Why did you throw that at him?” the younger woman behind her asked softly.

“Who told him not to dress properly, showing bits here and there? Bah, if you ask me, he’s doing it on purpose…” The woman turned back and began chattering and discussing it with the younger woman.

Only then did Shen Bingsi realize that his Bone Shrinking Technique had failed, but he was still wearing the child’s clothes. His current appearance must be very unsightly.

Sponsored

He looked down—it was more than unsightly; it was a disaster. The child’s outfit was stretched to the point of disintegration, hanging on him like a small vest. The situation below was even worse; the thin, narrow pant legs had scrunched up onto his thighs, making it look like he had walked out halfway through sleeping in his underpants.

Something seemed to be swaying in his vision—two things, actually. Shen Bingsi reached out to grab them, and his scalp stung slightly. It turned out to be the horn-braids he had tied on top of his head when he transformed into a child. Because Shen Bingsi had grown big, they had also become thick and long, dangling frizzily below his shoulders.

Shen Bingsi: “…”

Shen Bingsi dared not imagine what kind of visage he presented right now. He, who usually didn’t care about others’ opinions, now felt a sense of retrospective fear. If the passersby hadn’t reminded him, and if he had walked directly in front of Rong Xie like this, the last bit of their friendship might have shattered right there.

The power of the backlash was actually this severe.

He dared not entertain any other thoughts and immediately sat down on the spot, meditating to regulate his breath and looking inward at his body.

After the time it took to burn a stick of incense, Shen Bingsi exhaled and opened his eyes.

The snow around him had melted. In the middle of the white ground, only his patch was black.

The brief adjustment was very useful; Shen Bingsi’s mental state had improved significantly. At the same time, the internal observation allowed him to understand his condition.

The situation was very bad.

The backlash wasn’t something that ended with spitting up two mouthfuls of blood. It had shaken the foundation of the Ruthless Path and caused substantial damage to Shen Bingsi’s spiritual roots. For a short time, he couldn’t mobilize his spiritual power normally, whether active or passive. That was why the Bone Shrinking Technique and his protective spiritual energy had failed.

Fortunately, the damage was temporary. With some regulation, he could recover a portion of it. Shen Bingsi’s protective spiritual energy had returned. If he waited a little longer, he would be able to fly on his sword.

However, this backlash could be recovered from, but the next one might not be.

Shen Bingsi stood in the snow, looking back toward the direction of the Blue Plateau.

In the past, he was confident that as long as he sent a message to Rong Xie, Rong Xie would come and wait for him at their agreed spot.

Sponsored

Now, he had no such confidence. Even if he walked over proactively, Rong Xie wouldn’t return to Huanxue Villa with him.

Should he… go over?

Shen Bingsi wasn’t afraid of failure; he just didn’t want meaningless failure.

Going back again would just be repeating the same mistakes.

“…”

Shen Bingsi gritted his teeth, withdrew his gaze, and turned in another direction.

With a flash of gold, the Shengxie Sword was summoned. Shen Bingsi mounted the flying sword and flew toward Huanxue Villa.

This matter required a long-term plan.

…But he didn’t have much time left.

At dusk, a shooting star tore through the twilight, falling straight into the backyard of Huanxue Villa.

The ground shook. The three servant boys, who had just switched to a new dining table, almost ate their food into their noses.

“What happened? An earthquake?”

“No, the Master is back!”

“Can’t be. If it were the Master, he would have walked in through the main gate by now. There was no movement at the main gate at all!” Long Shaoye stretched his neck to look toward the gate.

“…” Shen Yan, however, looked in the other direction. “Because the Master didn’t use the main entrance.”

Sponsored

“Eh?” Long Shaoye followed Shen Yan’s gaze. It was the backyard.

Shen Bingsi always used the front door. Even when returning to his own home, he would enter through the main gate. This time, however, he had gone directly to the backyard. That was very strange.

Long Shaoye and Shen Yan exchanged a glance.

Could it be… he hit a wall with Brother Rong?