As he asked, the old man suddenly became suspicious, examining them both, “You two are looking for Liao Zhong. Do you know him? How could you two young people know him?”
Luo Yingbai noticed this point and cunningly said, “No, we don’t know him. A friend asked us to deliver something, but my brother and I got lost.”
The old man relaxed, “Oh, I see. I was wondering how you would know Liao Zhong. He’s over seventy and just returned a couple of years ago.”
Luo Yingbai said, “Hmm, over seventy?!”
Misunderstanding his surprise, the old man continued, “Hard to believe, right? Looks like he’s only in his thirties. Actually, he’s seventy-nine this year, turning eighty next year. He disappeared for over forty years and came back looking exactly the same. Isn’t that scary? He’s become a monster!”
“…That is indeed terrifying.”
Luo Yingbai asked, “Sir, do you mean Liao Zhong disappeared over forty years ago and recently returned, looking unchanged… so his family must have all aged?”
An old man sighed.
Who would have thought he would suddenly disappear? Not only did the company collapse without management, but he also owed a mountain of debt. His wife struggled to raise the two children. In the end, one got addicted to drugs, and the other went to prison for murder.
As he spoke, Luo Yingbai understood why Liao Zhong hadn’t finished answering his last question at the Liao household. Just as Yin Ming said, Liao Zhong had indeed been a successful winner in life in this world before. Unfortunately, after leaving, only a few months had passed in the real world, but here, forty years had gone by. When he returned, his beautiful wife was now old and frail, his once-smart and lovely sons were now drug-addicted and imprisoned, and his vast family fortune was destroyed. No wonder he was in such a hurry to escape.
The old man said: “He was crazy, shouting about wanting to leave every day. His wife certainly wouldn’t let him, so they started fighting.”
But Luo Yingbai asked: “But if he wants to leave, how could he leave, and where could he go?”
The old man’s face suddenly turned ferocious when he heard the word “leave”, and he suddenly shouted: “Can’t leave! People who come here can never think about leaving!”
They had been talking softly and were very close. His sudden loud shout made Luo Yingbai’s head buzz, and he was startled. Xia Xianning, who had been silently listening, suddenly reacted quickly and shouted: “Watch out!”
He immediately embraced Luo Yingbai, turned sharply, facing the old man with his back, and waved his hand back, chanting: “The essence of the Tao, mysterious and profound, retreat!”
At that moment, the old man’s body suddenly expanded to twice its size and exploded like an oversized firecracker.
In the critical moment, Xia Xianning used a clever trick, extracting the air around him to create a vacuum, which slightly delayed but prevented the explosion from expanding. He bore the impact with his back.
Xia Xianning’s feet almost stamped two deep marks on the ground, managing to stand firm without being knocked down. However, his body still leaned forward slightly, inadvertently touching Luo Yingbai’s hair with his lips.
Luo Yingbai thought he had just been bumped on the head, while Xia Xianning was immediately stunned.
Fortunately, Luo Yingbai quickly pushed him away and hurriedly checked Xia Xianning’s back: “Xianning! Are you hurt?”
Xia Xianning was covered in paper scraps with no external injuries, though his internal organs were aching from the shock wave. He remained expressionless: “I’m fine.”
Luo Yingbai said: “Really? Why is your face so red?”
Xia Xianning said: “…It’s hot.”
“Is that so?” Luo Yingbai added, “You’re too reckless! I’m older, so next time don’t rush forward.”
He complained, then immediately surveyed the surroundings, noticing the old man had disappeared, leaving only a thin layer of powder. Fortunately, Xia Xianning had acted quickly, and the noise hadn’t attracted more attention.
Luo Yingbai said: “I was careless. It seems we can’t casually mention leaving here.”
Xia Xianning seemed to unconsciously touch his lips with his finger: “Everyone here appears normal. No one knows about this taboo. It’s not your fault.”
Luo Yingbai couldn’t help but laugh. They often teased each other, but no matter what either of them did, they would never truly blame each other – a tacit understanding between master and apprentice.
At this moment, the door of the small dilapidated house opened, and Liao Zhong tumbled out. Luo Yingbai wondered if he would recognize him, but Liao Zhong didn’t even glance at them, quickly trying to escape. Immediately, an old woman rushed out, grabbing his collar and pulling him back.
This elderly woman was hunched, her back shortened, face wrinkled, so thin she looked like a skeleton. Yet she moved swiftly. The 1.8-meter-tall Liao Zhong had no chance to struggle in her hands and was dragged back inside.
He desperately clutched the doorframe: “Please, give me a chance! After all these years of marriage, can’t you leave me a way out?”
The old woman slapped him hard on the head, cursing: “Ptui!”
Liao Zhong was like paper; her slap instantly collapsed half his face.
Luo Yingbai noticed he was wrapped in transparent tape, clearly having been torn and reattached multiple times.
Liao Zhong screamed. The old woman beat and scolded him: “How dare you? When life was good, you sweet-talked me. Now that I’m old and our son is useless, you want to escape? As long as I’m alive, you’ll never leave. You’ll stay with me!”
Standing far away, they didn’t move. Xia Xianning whispered in Luo Yingbai’s ear: “We can’t take him today.”
To avoid disturbing the couple, he spoke very close to Luo Yingbai, almost able to smell the shampoo in his hair.
Luo Yingbai nodded. He could now see that the tape on Liao Zhong wasn’t ordinary – it was covered in incantations, effectively sealing six of his soul fragments. He and Xia Xianning would need someone with a deep emotional connection to Liao Zhong to come and call him.
Luo Yingbai drew a red rune in the air with his finger, snapped, and quietly marked Liao Zhong’s body.
Xia Xianning said, “Let’s go.”
Luo Yingbai replied, “How are we going? You lead the way.”
Xia Xianning said, “I’m not sure how to get out; we can only try. Will you follow wherever I lead?”
Luo Yingbai laughed, “Of course. Right or wrong doesn’t matter, we’ll just walk, even to the ends of the earth. Because you’re Xianning.”
A barely perceptible hint of a smile flashed in Xia Xianning’s eyes.
Even though he knew Luo Yingbai often spoke nonsense, he still found these words cute.
“Let’s try retracing our steps first.”
Though they said they would retrace their steps, the original path was long gone. The scenery and location here seemed to change constantly. Fortunately, Xia Xianning had an extremely strong sense of direction. Luo Yingbai didn’t know how he did it, but Xia Xianning walked straight ahead without wavering, his steps firm and without hesitation.
When Xia Xianning was reliable, he gave an incredibly dependable feeling. Luo Yingbai simply stopped looking at the path and followed behind, admiring the scene around him.
Suddenly, Xia Xianning stopped, and Luo Yingbai, unable to brake in time, bumped into his back and was steadied by Xia Xianning.
“What’s wrong?”
Xia Xianning tilted his chin towards the front.
Luo Yingbai looked up to see a sudden sea of flowers before them, and in this world, these flowers were actually real!
The flowers in front of them were vibrant and brilliant, over half a person tall. The sun’s light spilled over the flowers, creating an indescribably romantic beauty. Waves of fragrance drifted from the flower sea, intoxicating.
