The morning light pushed aside the black outline, spread across the rolling hills, and wrapped Lujia Village at the foot of the mountain in a golden color.
Oh oh...oh...oh—
The rooster raised its big red comb and crowed loudly, breaking the morning silence. In the small fenced courtyard, Toad Taoist stood on the window frame, stretched lazily, and began to twist his round waist.
In the yard, the white old hen ran out of the chicken coop, pecked and scratched the ground, and clucked from time to time, staring at the toad twisting on the windowsill.
Li Jinhua yawned and walked into the kitchen. The stove was steaming and food was cooking. A smile appeared on her face. She took the incense and candles from the large table nearby and lit them, then pushed open her son's door.
"Wake up!"
He shouted at Lu Liangsheng who was sleeping soundly wrapped in a quilt, inserted the incense into the incense burner under the scroll, and bowed with his hands clasped together.
"Hong Lian, you have breakfast too."
"I understand, auntie."
The beauty in the painting blinked her eyes, and her ink-and-wash figure got off the swing and bowed to the woman. Li Jinhua nodded repeatedly with a smile on her face, and was not surprised by the toad on the window frame.
My son is a cultivator, so he has ghosts, so having a strange toad is not uncommon. I heard from the older generation in the village that those who cultivate Taoism and become immortals always have one or two followers around them.
"This toad is probably Liangsheng's little follower..."
The woman thought about it, walked to the window, suddenly stretched out her hand to twist up the flowery clothes of the Toad Taoist who was still twisting his waist, and looked at the Toad with bulging eyes.
"It's nothing rare, but it should be able to understand human language."
Soon, he threw it into the vegetable garden.
"Toad, catch all the bugs in the field!"
The spotted hen turned its neck, spread its wings, and came running over with a clucking sound. The Toad Taoist looked at the woman leaving with a twitching mouth. He propped up his chin and let the hen peck him lightly on the back.
He lifted his webbed feet and pushed away the beak that was pecking at his head: "That mother... I'm just practicing my waist, quack."
The morning sun rose, and the two doors it shone on opened. Lu Liangsheng and Lu Xiaoxian stretched lazily and walked to the water tank. The Taoist on the roof yawned and flew down, picked up their respective water bowls, dipped a twig in the water, and put it in their mouths to brush back and forth dozens of times.
Drink some water and wrap it in your mouth.
"Gurgle~~"
Huh!
Te-
The three faces turned downwards, and they spat out with a "Puh" sound, then emptied the bowls and put them aside. Inside the house, Nie Honglian put on her painted skin and walked out smiling. The three men and the ghost sat down around the stove with Lu Laoshi, who had just gotten up and went to the toilet. They were crowded together and talked about what they had seen and heard outside. Sun Yingxian gestured with chopsticks in her hand.
"… Hey, after leaving the Lu family that day, I headed north without stopping. In the capital, I met Zuo Zhengyang again. He is the captain of the police who came to our village last time. He is now very famous. He is doing very well in the capital and has even been promoted to the rank of 1,000 guards in the imperial city. And my uncle…"
The Taoist subconsciously stopped talking and avoided the name: "... After leaving the capital, guess what happened? I met a fat monk. Uncle and aunt may not know, but that monk had a close relationship with me and Lao Lu, but he stuttered and was kicked out of the temple. He told me that Lao Lu went to Northern Zhou... Then, I was kicked out again. Look, his shoes are worn out."
As he spoke, he moved back a bit with the stool in his hand and lifted his feet to let everyone see that he had not rested much during the whole process of searching for Lu Liangsheng. Lu Xiaoxian pouted and said:
"I'll make you a pair in two days."
"Hey, how can I be so embarrassed?" The Taoist rubbed his hands, sat back in front of the stove, stretched out his fingers and gestured: "Why not buy two pairs..."
The chopsticks knocked over, and Li Jinhua glared at him: "Even eating can't stop your mouth."
He then glanced over and saw a woman who was holding a bowl and putting some rice grains to her mouth and nose and sniffing it. She seemed to notice the woman's gaze and raised her face, with dimples on her cheeks, and smiled softly in response.
This made Li Jinhua feel a little overwhelmed. She kicked her son gently with her foot and lowered her voice.
"Liang Sheng, what's going on? After going out, how come Miss Hong Lian seems to have become so approachable?"
"oh?"
Lu Liangsheng seemed to be thinking about something. When he heard his mother's question, he reacted, picked up a pickled vegetable with chopsticks, put it into the bowl, took a bite, chewed it, and said:
"On the way to Bei Zhou, except for a painted skin ghost..."
There was nothing to hide. He told the story of meeting Wang Chongwen on the streets of Shunyuan County while buying paintings, just like telling a story about a strange mountain adventure. The honest Lu Laoshi's eyes widened after hearing it, and he even forgot to eat.
"Oh, there are so many ghosts outside? Will there be ghosts coming here too?"
At the side, the Taoist patted his chest and put his arm around Lu Laoshi's shoulder carelessly.
"Don't worry, I'm here. No matter if they are male or female ghosts, they can't come. I will take care of them all."
Hong Lian rolled her eyes and coughed dryly, causing Lu Xiaoxian to cover her mouth and laugh.
After a lively breakfast, Lu Liangsheng asked his parents and sister not to rush out and brought some things to them. Watching his brother push the door and enter the house, Lu Xiaoxian quietly pulled on the corner of Li Jinhua's clothes.
"Mom, what gift do you think my brother will give us? Will it be a pretty dress?"
"You can make those things yourself, so why do you want to do it? I just don't know what your brother is wasting money on. When he got to the north, he had to sell paintings to make a living."
During our previous chat, I learned that Lu Liangsheng had no money and had to live on the streets selling calligraphy and paintings. I felt very sorry for him and complained about him a lot during the meal.
As he was talking, in the opened door, Taoist Toad stared blankly at the purple-gold and black-patterned gourd being tilted in his disciple's hand, and two light red pills rolled out of it.
He anxiously put up his flippers, stood on tiptoe, smacked his lips, and couldn't help but speak.
"Not much, not much, three grains will be enough... And most of them are ingredients for the rice, don't make a mistake!"
"Understood, Master."
Lu Liangsheng was already familiar with how to use the gourd, but unfortunately it was the Toad Taoist's life-saving magic weapon and he could not control it. He could only use it as an ordinary magic weapon to store some pills. He looked at the three pills in his palm and walked out of the room.
"Dad, Mom, and Xiao Xian, take these three pills."
The three of them looked at each other and guessed what Liangsheng would give them. They never expected that it would be three pills. Lu Xiaoxian reacted the fastest and took one from his brother and smelled it.
"Brother, is this pill your immortal family's treasure?"
"Well, it can prolong your life. I can't say it can make you immortal, but it's no problem for you to live to over a hundred years old."
After hearing what their son said, Li Jinhua and Lu Laoshi, who had originally held the medicine in one hand, suddenly held it in both hands, feeling uneasy and not knowing whether they should swallow it.
You know, even the emperor may not be able to get the thing that can prolong life, so putting it in the hands of ordinary people like them in remote villages is like holding burning charcoal.
"Liangsheng, this is not appropriate..." Lu Laoshi was a gentle man. He looked at the elixir in his hand, then looked at his wife, frowned, and did not dare to put it in his mouth.
Lu Liangsheng smiled, reached out to take the pill in his hand, and quickly put it into his mouth. The pill melted in his mouth without giving him a chance to react.
"This... are you eating it now?" Lu Laoshi put his fingers into his mouth and felt around, then swallowed. He could feel nothing except a mouth full of fragrance.
“It smells so good!”
Lu Xiaoxian over there also ate it in one gulp. After all, it was given by her brother and she didn't steal or rob. So she didn't have to worry as much as her parents did. She shook her two pigtails, closed her eyes, took a deep breath and said something, which made Li Jinhua next to her hit her with her hand.
"Girls, be more reserved, or you won't be able to find a husband!"
That is, looking at the pills in my hand, my husband and daughter have eaten them, so I can't fall behind, right? Slowly putting it into my mouth, a refreshing and cool fragrance rushed from my mouth to my nose, and a soothing breath quickly spread throughout my body, as if the flesh under my skin was gently moving.
The effect of the medicine will not be stimulated all at once, so naturally there is not much change in the three people at the moment.
Li Jinhua came to her senses and saw her husband and daughter staring at her. Her face turned red and she waved at them vigorously. She walked to the kitchen and said:
"Okay... okay, everyone should just do their own things and don't bother Liangsheng anymore."
The father and daughter dispersed with a laugh in the back. Xiaoxian went to the back of the house to fetch firewood. Lu Laoshi squatted in the donkey shed, looking at the old donkey and his own strong donkey, thinking about something.
Outside, Lu Liangsheng took out the easel, brush and ink from the house, dressed in white and blue robe, walked out of the village, walked up to Qixia Mountain, and sat down in front of his teacher's tomb.
The sun shines down, the mountains are winding, and the sea of clouds is surging.
Looking at the scenery, the scholar in white set up his easel and ground ink. The wind blew, caressing his silk scarf.
The old pine tree next to me swayed gently, and its branches and leaves rustled.