Chapter 86 The Girl in the Painting:.

Shen Bingsi returned to Huanxue Manor, went straight to the bedroom, and searched through every cabinet and opened every drawer.

"Huh...nothing?"

He needed to find the Image Stone. He was in a hurry. The damage from the backlash had not yet been repaired, and he had not used the Blade of Heaven. Every moment of delay was disadvantageous to him. But he needed to find the Image Stone first, use it to record his feelings at this moment, and then use the Blade of Heaven.

This is the best solution Shen Bingsi can think of right now.

Using the Heaven-Severing Blade, his thoughts would be cut off, and his emotions would cool down. He wouldn't even know what he would say or do. In this situation, he would most likely do nothing. By the time he remembered to go find Rong Xie again, it would be too late.

Without the Heaven-Severing Blade, he cannot stabilize his Dao Heart, and the damage caused by the backlash cannot be repaired. Every time he uses his spiritual power, it will damage his meridians and internal organs. If he continues to court death like this, he will probably collapse before he even finds Rong Xie.

Shen Bingsi couldn't tolerate such a cowardly failure happening to him, so he came up with a solution—first, he would store his thoughts in the Image Stone, then use the Heaven-Severing Blade to cut off those thoughts, and once he calmed down, he would execute the thoughts in the Image Stone, so that neither side would be delayed.

Shen Bingsi's idea was simple: he wanted to win Rong Xie back, no matter what method he used, whether it was through evil deeds or scheming. Rong Xie had to come back, back to Huanxue Manor, back to his former state. He had let Rong Xie live a carefree life outside for too long, so long that things were starting to get out of control, and Shen Bingsi was about to reach his breaking point.

"Where did the Image Stone go?!" Shen Bingsi angrily flipped up the mattress. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him. He remembered that the last time he put the Image Stone in the bedroom, it made Rong Xie unhappy. He told him that he was never allowed to bring the Image Stone into the bedroom again, not even in the Golden Fish Pattern Bag.

Oh right, it was on that occasion that he followed Rong Xie's instructions and stored all the image stones in the drawers of his study!

Shen Bingsi suddenly realized what was happening and rushed into the study, almost knocking over the large hardwood desk. Finally, she found the image stone in the drawer.

At the same time, a piece of paper, which was tucked in some crack of the drawer, floated out, wobbled, and landed on the floor.

Shen Bingsi lowered his head, his gaze fixed on the paper. Even though he had many things to do, the portrait on the paper seemed to have a magical power, attracting Shen Bingsi to stare at it intently.

Shen Bingsi bent down and picked up the paper.

The paper depicted a young woman with large eyes and an indescribably strange appearance. Shen Bingsi felt uncomfortable after just one glance, yet she was involuntarily drawn to her.

She had a stern face, as if someone had upset her. Her already large eyes were now wide open, and her thick eyebrows gave her a spirited and unruly look, not at all gentle.

This is……

Shen Bingsi found it hard to believe, but she also had a vague feeling that this was the case.

This painting was done by Rong Xie. Although Rong Xie doesn't paint often, Shen Bingsi recognized his brushstrokes.

Moreover, this painting appeared in the study. Who else but Rong Xie would paint in the study? The three younger ones wouldn't dare.

In short, this is Rong Xie's painting of Shen Bingsi.

Yes, it's him.

Although she didn't know why Rong Xie had painted her as a woman, Shen Bingsi was certain that this was her.

He isn't face-blind, especially when it comes to his own face. He's quite confident in his appearance. If he weren't good-looking, Rong Xie wouldn't have turned down his best friend and insisted on liking him. Liking someone is always somewhat related to physical appearance.

The monstrous waves in his mind continued to ravage Shen Bingsi's will. Double images appeared before his eyes again, the scene distorted and swirling, making it difficult to discern the faces and words beside them.

But Shen Bingsi was no longer as anxious as before. He held the painting, did nothing, and quietly waited for the dizziness to pass.

Although her mind and body were not feeling well, Shen Bingsi was in a very good mood. A tingling, numbing sensation filled her chest and spread all the way to her throat, even the back of her tongue tasted sweet.

Rong Xie secretly drew him.

Rong Xie secretly drew his portrait without telling him, and hid it to admire it himself.

This kind of secretly hidden feeling, this emotion that isn't shown off, is definitely more real than those so-called crushes used to appease neighbors, right?

Shen Bingsi didn't know what liking someone meant, but according to common sense, Rong Xie must have liked him a lot when he painted this picture. Judging from the clarity of the ink marks, it must have been painted over the past few months. When Shen Bingsi placed the image stone half a year ago, this painting wasn't there, which further proved that his guess was correct.

In other words, at least for the past few months, Rong Xie must have liked him very much, even to the point of obsession. Otherwise, he wouldn't have secretly drawn his portrait here. Rong Xie's indifferent attitude after leaving Huanxue Manor made Shen Bingsi think that he was lying to her, that he didn't like her at all, and was just making an excuse to go out and start a family.

Now, seeing this painting, Shen Bingsi's confidence has returned.

Rong Xie was indeed infatuated with him, and not just in a normal way.

Not only did they draw him, they also wrote down his temperament, habits, daily quirks, favorite colors, and catchphrases next to him.

"Impatient," "Walks with a brisk pace," "Sword fanatic," "Likes to eat while taking a bath," "Loves vibrant colors," "Speaks out for justice," "Talks nonsense," "What are you going to do?"...

Finally, there were two black marks that had been crossed out, but Shen Bingsi could clearly recognize that the original words were "angry" and "cute".

"How...how can you use such rubbish words to describe a man?" Shen Bingsi muttered to herself.

Rong Xie is getting more and more reckless.

He's clearly read so many books and knows so many literary terms, yet he chose to use this strange word to describe Shen Bingsi, which shows how much he likes her, to the point of talking nonsense.

Shen Bingsi felt his neck getting hot. He loosened his collar and fanned himself. The children's clothes were indeed too tight for him. It was also possible that the backlash was surging up again. However, he did not feel uncomfortable at all. On the contrary, he felt light and airy, as if he had been drinking.

Shen Bingsi's gaze never left the paper; he looked at the painting and the words again and again.

“Actually, you could also describe it as cute,” Shen Bingsi pondered. “After all, the painting depicts a woman—does he really like me as a woman that much?”

Suddenly, a brilliant idea flashed into Shen Bingsi's mind.

This idea struck like lightning, instantly piercing the darkness.

The previous confusion, frustration, and helplessness were all pierced by the lightning, and could no longer deceive Shen Bingsi's eyes.

Shen Bingsi picked up the image stone, solemnly placed it on the table facing herself, and then infused it with spiritual power to start recording.

...

That night.

After using the Heaven-Severing Blade, Shen Bingsi's feverish mind cooled down. He frowned as he examined himself in the mirror, unable to believe that this disheveled madman was actually him. What was he thinking during the time when his Dao heart was wavering?

Indeed, the path of cultivation is like rowing against the current; if you don't advance, you fall behind. A lack of ambition is extremely dangerous. The Path of Ruthlessness is unlike any other; even a slight deviation in one's mind can lead to unimaginable consequences.

For example, right now.

Shen Bingsi, having regained her magical power, instantly teleported into the bathroom. Her dual spiritual roots of water and fire were activated simultaneously, and puffs of steam rose up, quickly filling the small space inside the bathroom. Shen Bingsi entered the bathtub and thoroughly bathed and relaxed, adjusting her physical body to its optimal state.

He emerged from the bathtub expressionlessly, changed into a bathrobe, dried the water off his body and hair, and walked out of the bathroom into the moonlit courtyard.

As Shen Bingsi walked along the corridor, she pondered what to do next.

His current situation is not optimistic. The best option is to go into seclusion for a long period of time to stabilize his Dao heart and completely repair the damage caused by the backlash.

But……

One idea keeps popping up persistently.

Because it did not involve emotions or affect one's Dao heart, the Blade of Heaven-Severing did not cut it off.

This fish that had slipped through the net was exceptionally resilient, constantly thrashing about in Shen Bingsi's sea of ​​consciousness, reminding her to go look at the image stone, to quickly go look at the image stone!

By the time Shen Bingsi realized what was happening, he was already standing in front of the study door.

Forget it, I'll look at the image stone first, then go into seclusion.

Shen Bingsi came to the desk and saw a crumpled piece of paper on the table with a black stone on top of it.

Shen Bingsi lowered her eyes. The paper was upside down, and she could vaguely see something drawn on the front, which looked like a portrait.

The black stone pressing down on top is the image stone.

Shen Bingsi placed her hand on the image stone and poured spiritual power into it, and a light screen appeared in mid-air.

Inside the light screen, figures with the same face but completely different appearances and expressions were speaking urgently.

Shen Bingsi's brow twitched, and she reached out to peel off the paper that was tucked away.

"...You want me to become like this? To go find Rong Xie?"

Upon seeing the front of the paper, Shen Bingsi's lips twitched.

"Yes, Shen Bingsi, this is your only chance. Rong Xie likes you like this." The Shen Bingsi in the image seemed to have anticipated that the real person wouldn't obediently comply, and threatened fiercely, "You can refuse, and Rong Xie will marry the girl from Nanzhou. When you go next time, you can hold their child for them—you don't want that, do you?"

Shen Bingsi closed his eyes briefly, but the sea of ​​consciousness he had just cleansed was now turbulent again. He forced himself to suppress his emotions, and when he opened his eyes again, his black pupils turned icy cold.

From a purely rational perspective, Shen Bingsi felt that this was extremely foolish. He could not possibly become a woman to please anyone, nor did he believe that doing so would salvage the current situation.

However, he had no other choice.

Cutting off thoughts doesn't mean erasing memories; it just means breaking down memories related to distracting thoughts into fragments. However, some memories, even after being cut off, can still be clearly recalled by Shen Bingsi—such as the girl in the pale yellow jacket in Zhuli Lane, and Rong Xie's own words, "She is from Nanzhou."

"...I hope this really works." Shen Bingsi lowered her eyes, her fingers brushing across the screen. When she passed the word "cute," her fingertips trembled almost imperceptibly.

“It will definitely work.” Shen Bingsi in the video guessed her thoughts again and said excitedly, “Don’t you want to know just how much he likes you? Don’t you want to see how infatuated he is with you?”

The inflammatory words failed to stir any emotion in Shen Bingsi's eyes. He didn't want to see any of that; he only wanted Rong Xie back by his side, with only him in his eyes forever, and no one else able to occupy Rong Xie's heart.

The recording by the image stone ended, the light screen flickered twice, and then disappeared.

The study was plunged into darkness until the first ray of golden light shone from the desk. Then, a second ray, a third ray… The golden light pierced through Shen Bingsi’s skin, intertwining with each other, like a celestial maiden holding golden threads, skillfully outlining a new silhouette. Soon, the golden threads tightly wrapped around Shen Bingsi’s figure, gradually shrinking and shrinking until a tall but not overly slender young woman appeared where Shen Bingsi had stood, wrapped in a loose bathrobe, looking coldly at the mirror.

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