Chapter 85 Snow Man:

But he couldn't help but look back.

He has run away too many times; now, he has lost the right to run away.

He knew perfectly well that as long as he used the Heaven-Slaying Blade, as long as he ran away from here without looking back...

Things will develop in the direction he least wants to see.

No one will wait for him in the same place.

Shen Bingsi gritted her teeth, forcibly swallowing the blood stuck in her throat, and turned her head with a stiff expression.

Rong Xie looked at the child in front of him with surprise.

He appeared out of nowhere, with a pigtail on his round head, his stubborn little face tense, biting his cheek like a little adult, his big, clear eyes rolling upwards, staring resentfully at Rong Xie.

The child's appearance reminded Rong Xie of the first time he met Wang Mu. This was probably how free-range children were: they had their own ideas, wouldn't obediently listen, and their way of getting adults' attention was to cause trouble and be naughty. If you criticized them, they wouldn't admit their mistakes, but would instead glare back defiantly.

Rong Xie used to dislike children like this, finding them difficult to manage. But after meeting Wang Mu, he discovered that these children weren't difficult to get along with; their aggressive behavior was simply due to a lack of love.

If you give them enough attention and listen to them, they will come to you like a pet that has been stroked.

Having made up his mind, Rong Xie tentatively asked, "You... need something from me?"

The child continued to stare at Rong Xie with wide eyes, until Rong Xie was about to waver—this child was probably not just being mischievous, but really had some mental issues—the child finally pulled 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 glanced to the side, his cheeks still bulging from clenching his teeth, "Manager Wang told me to give this to you."

“Manager Wang…?” Rong Xie suddenly noticed that the child’s clothes seemed to be the uniform of the servants at Lan Yuan Villa, but the child was too young for Rong Xie to think of that. “You came from Lan Yuan Villa?”

"Hmph." The child snorted dismissively through his nostrils.

"Thank you for your trouble." Rong Xie really didn't know what he had done to offend this child. However, his attention had already shifted to the ledger. This was the ledger of the orchard's income and expenditure from the previous year. The economic gains were recorded clearly, which would be very useful for his work planning for the next year. He couldn't wait to take it back to his room to study it.

Thinking this, Rong Xie casually took out two copper coins and handed them to the child, saying, "Here, take these and buy some sweet cakes."

The child didn't take the food, but stared at Rong Xie with resentful eyes. It was hard to understand how a child could have so much resentment in his eyes, as if Rong Xie had done something heinous to him.

"What...what's wrong with you?" Rong Xie asked hesitantly. "Did I do something wrong to upset you?"

The child remained silent, but his eyes reddened. He glared resentfully at Rong Xie, then turned and ran away.

Rong Xie felt a shiver run through him. For some reason, he suddenly remembered that night in the Shen family's back garden, when Shen Bingsi had just found out he was going to sell the photovoltaic magnolia and yelled at him with red eyes.

He lost his grip and two coins fell into the snow. Rong Xie snapped out of his daze and bent down to look for the coins. He hadn't received his monthly pay yet, and two coins were still money. He depended on them to make a living, and he couldn't let them go to waste. Rong Xie put the account book in his pocket and bent down to pick up the two coins. By the time he had the money in his hand, he had completely forgotten about the child who had run away with red eyes.

Shen Bingsi still ran away.

He slipped and fell several times on the ice. When he finally ran out of Zhuli Lane, his clothes were covered in snow and mud. He was like a real child, running wildly in the crowd. No one found it strange. They would just curse, "Whose brat is this?" when they bumped into him.

The only thing he did right today was to become a child again. The north wind blew past his ears as he screamed and yelled, his voice echoing across the bluestone street. Passersby cast sympathetic glances at him instead of stopping him and tying him up as if he were a madman.

He was indeed as helpless as a child. Rong Xie had someone he liked, and he didn't know what to do: one moment he wanted to run up 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 down and beg Rong Xie to stop making trouble and come back with him. "It's just 'liking' someone, right? I can learn." The next moment he wanted to simply set fire to Lan Yuan Villa so that no one would introduce girls to Rong Xie or give him money, and he would naturally come back. The next moment he wanted to simply hide away. As long as he didn't listen or look, he could pretend that nothing had happened.

Several thoughts tugged at Shen Bingsi's body, as if trying to tear him apart.

"puff--"

He spat out a mouthful of blood, crimson specks splattering all over the ground.

Shen Bingsi knelt in the snow, supporting herself with her hands, staring blankly at the specks of blood on the snow.

At some point, his contortionist technique failed, and his long arms emerged from his short sleeves, his shoulder seams ripping open, and every piece of cloth on his body making a tearing sound as his body expanded under the strain.

Shen Bingsi couldn't care less about any of that. He spat out two more mouthfuls of blood, wiped his mouth, and staggered to his feet, looking around.

Now is not the time to give up. He has to go back, he has to do something... Damn it, where is this place?!

Shen Bingsi found herself standing on a vast expanse of white snow. The Blue Plain Villa and the blue stone avenue were nowhere to be seen. All that remained in her vision was a raised ridge between fields.

And he was standing in a snow-covered field.

Shen Bingsi glanced down at the bloodstains on the ground, feeling dizzy. He expressionlessly pulled his leg out of the snow pit and stumbled back.

Just then, a scream came from the edge of the field.

Shen Bingsi raised her head blankly and saw two women walking on the ridge of the field. The older one protected the younger one behind her and threw something to her.

Before Shen Bingsi could even see clearly, he was slapped across the face. The cool snow shattered and slid down his neck. His body temperature was already high, so the snow quickly melted into water, soaking the veins in his neck.

"Pervert!" the woman on the ridge cursed, her voice tinged with a strange excitement.

“Auntie, this fool looks so pitiful, why did you throw him away?” the young woman behind the woman said softly.

"Who told him not to dress properly? He's showing too much skin, ugh, I'd say he did it on purpose..." The woman turned back and started whispering to the young girl.

Shen Bingsi then realized that her bone-shrinking technique had failed, and she was still wearing the boy's clothes, so she must look terrible.

He looked down—it wasn't just ugly, it was a disaster. The children's clothes were stretched to the point of being almost torn apart, hanging on his body like a little vest. The situation below was even worse; the thin, narrow trouser legs were wrinkled and tucked up to his thighs, as if he had come out of bed in his trousers halfway through his nap at home.

Something seemed to be swaying in her field of vision, two of them. Shen Bingsi reached out to grab them, and her scalp tingled a little when she touched them. It turned out to be the pigtails she had worn when she was a child. As Shen Bingsi grew up, they also became thicker and longer, hanging frilly below her shoulders.

Shen Bingsi: ...

Shen Bingsi dared not imagine what he would look like now. He, who never cared about other people's opinions, was now filled with a sense of fear. If no passerby had reminded him, and he had walked directly in front of Rong Xie like this, their last bit of friendship might have been broken.

The backlash was incredibly powerful.

He dared not entertain any other thoughts, immediately sat down on the spot, meditated to regulate his breathing, and introspectively examined all parts of his body.

After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Shen Bingsi exhaled and opened her eyes.

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

The brief meditation was very helpful, and Shen Bingsi's mental state improved considerably. At the same time, the introspection also allowed him to understand his own condition.

The situation is very bad.

The backlash wasn't just a matter of spitting out a couple of mouthfuls of blood; it shook the foundation of the Ruthless Path and caused substantial damage to Shen Bingsi's spiritual root. For a short period of time, he was unable to mobilize his spiritual power normally, whether actively or passively. That's why his Bone Shrinking Technique and protective spiritual power became ineffective.

Fortunately, the damage was only temporary. He could recover some of it after a short rest. Shen Bingsi's protective spiritual power had returned, and he would be able to fly on his sword in a little while.

However, while this backlash can be reversed, the next one may not be so.

Shen Bingsi stood in the snow, looking back towards the Blue Plain.

Previously, he was confident that as long as he sent a message to Rong Xie, Rong Xie would come and wait for him at the place they had agreed upon.

Now, however, he was no longer confident. Even if he took the initiative to go there, Rong Xie would not go back to Huanxue Manor with him.

Should we... go there?

Shen Bingsi is not afraid of failure; he just doesn't want to fail for no reason.

Going back again would only mean repeating the same mistakes.

"..."

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

With a flash of golden light, the Victorious Evil Sword was unleashed, and Shen Bingsi rode the flying sword towards Huanxue Manor.

This matter requires further consideration.

...but he didn't have much time left.

At dusk, a shooting star streaked across the twilight and plummeted straight into the backyard of Huanxue Mountain Villa.

The ground shook. The three servants, who had just had their new dining table installed, almost ate their food up their noses.

"What's going on? Has the earth turned upside down?"

"No, it's the Master of the Manor who's back!"

"No way, if it were the manor lord, he would have already walked in through the gate by now. There's no sound at all in front of the gate!" Long Shaoye craned his neck to look at the gate.

"..." Shen Yan looked in another direction, "Because the manor lord did not enter through the main gate."

"Huh?" Long Shaoye followed Shen Yan's gaze and looked over to the backyard.

Shen Bingsi always enters through the front door, even when returning to her own home. This time, however, she went straight to the backyard, which is quite strange.

Long Shaoye and Shen Yan exchanged a glance.

Could it be... that he got humiliated by Brother Rong?

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Bingbing isn't so easily defeated; she'll come up with a brilliant idea. [doge emoji]