It was snowing heavily and the whole mountain and field were covered with white.
A small bunch of dry grass was exposed among the snow, and then the donkey's tongue stretched out and rolled it into its mouth along with the snowflakes and slowly chewed it.
The old donkey, which had been cast a warming spell, swung its bald tail comfortably and nibbled on the grass leaves that emerged from the snow. From time to time, it hummed and hawed, raised its head and stepped on the shallow footprints of the two people in front of it. After a trot for a while, it continued to look for dry grass.
After leaving the territory of Liyang City, the wind and snow grew stronger, and could form frost on people's faces. Lu Liangsheng cast spells on the Taoist to avoid water and wind. These were all in "Qinghuai Bugeng". He had read the whole book, but it was a pity that the pages that met Pu Du Ci Hang on the eve of the incident four years ago were burned by a fire. It was a pity that there was no way to know what spells were recorded in them. It was indeed a pity.
"Old Sun, what do you think those people are doing by stealing children and women?"
The wind and snow rushed over, but before it touched the scholar's robe, it immediately deflected and flew away. Lu Liangsheng looked at the vast flying snow in front of him, all the way to the east and then to the south, thinking about this confusion.
"It can't be that these ascetics are still doing anything for us, right?"
Hearing the scholar's words, the Taoist priest beside him seemed indifferent, rubbing his hands and breathing tremblingly, he replied:
"How would I know? Anyway, it's not uncommon for these unorthodox monks to do unorthodox things... Oh, I'm freezing... Why did you choose to go out in this weather? Wouldn't it be better to stay at the fat prefect's house? At least it won't be too late to leave until winter is over."
Lu Liangsheng turned to look at him and waved his wide sleeves.
"Isn't it cold now?"
A warmth rose from the Taoist's feet and spread throughout his body, bringing an indescribable comfort.
"Why didn't you show me this magic trick earlier?!"
Sun Yingxian completely let go of her hands, put them lazily behind her head, took small steps easily, and whistled a few times.
"The old toad is still comfortable. He can lie down anywhere he goes."
The old donkey swayed slowly, and the bookshelf creaked and rubbed. Toad Taoist became sleepy after the snow, so he made a small bed in the small compartment and put in a quilt and blanket.
Looking through the gap in the fence, the toad was covered with a mattress, resting on a soft pillow, snoring soundly. Occasionally, he lifted up his webbed feet to scratch his face, stretched out his feet from the quilt to feel the coolness, then quickly retracted his feet, turned over, and snored softly.
There are few travelers on this snowy day. If someone saw this scene, they would probably be surprised that a scholar, a Taoist priest, and an old donkey could travel in such weather.
After leaving the territory of Heliang Prefecture, to the south is Yuqing Prefecture, but the two did not go there. Instead, they went east along the boundary between the two states and returned to the capital. Next month is February, and Lu Liangsheng will participate in the Spring Examination of the Ministry of Rites.
As we headed south, the snow gradually subsided, and we saw many villages and farmlands along the way. Further ahead, there was a large river flowing directly southward. This river was the same one that passed through Wangjiazhuang, but it was probably hundreds of miles away from here.
It was a cold winter with heavy snow and the river had already frozen over, but two families were busy on the shore.
"Xiaochu, try harder, the net will be fixed soon."
On the shore, an old man wearing a hat shouted to the young man on the ice, probably his son. The old wife next to him blew on her red hands and continued to sort out the fishing nets.
Ding ding... Ding ding dong dong...
As if hearing the sound of a copper bell, the old woman and another family looked in the direction of the sound. The wind and snow were intertwined. A scholar was leading an old donkey from afar, coming from the western village road. There was also a Taoist priest with a wine pot hanging next to him. At first glance, it was not surprising, but when the old woman got closer, she vaguely saw that the two people and the donkey seemed to have no snow on them.
The old man wanted to take a closer look, but his vision blurred and he saw the two people and the donkey approaching. The scholar walking in front raised his hands to him.
"My dear father-in-law, we are passing by here and are very hungry. We hope to buy some food from your house to fill our stomachs."
Lu Liangsheng spoke in a humble and polite tone and took some silver in his hand. The old man opened his eyes wide and looked hard. The handsome scholar standing there had clean and tidy hair and a robe without any trace of snow. How could he not know something at such an old age
The other family saw that the scholar had money in his hand and were about to speak when they were scolded by the old man.
"We have food at home, but we still come to the river to break ice and catch fish!"
Then he stood up and bowed to the scholar and the Taoist priest in return.
"Scholar, and Taoist priest, every household in the village has been affected by the severe drought in Heliang Prefecture. There is nothing to eat. You two may want to go to the next village to have a look."
Lu Liangsheng looked at the other villagers, smiled and nodded.
"Thank you for your advice, old man."
After saying this, he led the old donkey in another direction.
The family on the shore watched the scholar disappear in the wind and snow. When the sound of the copper bell gradually faded away, they could not help but complain to the old man.
"Others have already taken the money, but you still refuse them. It's not like you don't have food at home."
The old man over there spat and continued to help his wife sort out the fishing nets.
"Can you see the scholar and the Taoist priest clearly? There is no snow or mud on their bodies in such a heavy snow. No matter if they are human or ghost, it is better for us not to touch them."
"Is it really... really that suspenseful?"
"Hehe, this person, if he lives longer, he will understand everything clearly."
…
At this moment, a Taoist who was walking south along the Liujin River was so angry that he kicked a stone and it fell into the river.
I turned around and looked at the scholar leading the donkey.
"Money doesn't work? Someone clearly wanted to speak up, but if that old guy hadn't gotten in the way..."
Seeing how angry he was, Lu Liangsheng didn't know whether to laugh or not.
"In fact, it should be that the old man was close to us and saw that there was no snow on us. He became suspicious and did not dare to contact us. It seems that in the future, when you use magic to travel, you should withdraw your magic power before asking people and pretend to be an ordinary person."
At this moment, they walked for a long time and there were few people along the way. Sun Yingxian was just saying, "Okay, okay, I'll do whatever you say..." When he looked around, surprise suddenly flashed in his eyes.
He changed the previous words and pointed to the river road a little further away, where the outlines of the houses were mixed in the wind and snow.
"Old Lu, it looks like there's food."
When it was more than fifty feet away, I could see the building in front of me clearly. It was a house with a shed outside. From a distance, I could see a few tables and chairs in the shed.
"etc."
Lu Liangsheng suddenly stopped and grabbed the anxious Taoist.
"How can there be a store in such a remote place?"
The surrounding rivers were frozen, the reeds were withered and covered with snow, and even though there would still be pheasants coming out to dig for food in the past, after the thunderbolt, Lu Liangsheng became very sensitive to all the fluctuations around him.
On the side, the Taoist also frowned and looked over there.
"It might be a shady shop, but eating is more important. Why don't we go over and take a look?"
"Um."
Along the way, the dry food had long been used up, not to mention that He Liangzhou didn't have much to eat. Even if it was a black shop at this time, Lu Liangsheng and the others didn't care much, because being hungry was a big deal.
"Before you go over, wait a moment, just in case."
In the Taoist's sight, he saw Lu Liangsheng pull out the last two scrolls and spread them on the donkey's back. He was holding a brand new brush, which was given to him by the prefect of Liyang City when he knew that he was also a scholar, as well as an inkstone and pen holder.
Lu Liangsheng pursed his lips and recalled some scenes in his mind. He shook his wide sleeves, dipped the tip of the pen in ink, and dropped blue ink.
The outline of the inn and restaurant ahead is shown...