Flying bees flew onto the morning glories on the fence wall, the old tree in the yard swayed its branches in the midday sun, and the light spots reflected on the water tank swayed, and Zhongzheng's voice came from the kitchen opposite.
"I am somewhat famous in Fushui County. All the men and women in the city know my name. I once called you on the street... Oh, yes, I was also present at the Chen family incident four years ago. It was Mr. Chen who personally asked me to exorcise the ghost..."
In the half-open kitchen, an oil lamp was placed in the corner of the stove. Lu Laoshi was a gentle man. When he heard the old man next to him talking about the time when he took Liangsheng out to buy a pen, he just smiled and passed the firewood into the stove.
On the other side of the stove, the woman cooking cast a suspicious glance.
"Then why did you come to my house?"
Two steps away from the door, Wang Banxia leaned against the wall, stroking his beard and nodding slightly. He looked up at the blackened beams with his pale eyes and chuckled twice.
"I have also learned the art of observing people's aura and the stars, and I know that your son and I have a destiny..."
Before he even finished speaking, Li Jinhua, who was holding the spatula, frowned. Even Lu Laoshi opened his mouth slightly and forgot to pass the firewood in his hand into the stove.
"Are you going to take my son Liangsheng as your apprentice?"
Squeak...
The kitchen door opened, and a scholar in a green robe and white clothes walked in. Wang Banxia, whose name was written on the wall, stood up straight in a hurry, then bowed.
"Cheng'en, I'm here to meet you, Master."
Well…
The spatula in Li Jinhua's hand fell into the pot with a clang. Over there, Lu Liangsheng put a handful of washed vegetables on the stove, hooked his finger, took the spatula out of the pot, put it in his mother's hand, and walked out of the kitchen while talking.
"I haven't said I'll take you in as my apprentice yet, and at your age, it's not appropriate to become my apprentice."
"Master, that's not right. Old... I'm only fifty-five. I just look old."
Wang Banxia followed out chattering non-stop, walked under the eaves following the sound, and stood at the scholar's door, his old face full of wrinkles from smiling.
“… Moreover, in the matter of cultivating the Tao, those who are more accomplished are the elders, and age has nothing to do with it.”
This old man talks a lot and has a very thick skin... Lu Liangsheng couldn't do anything about him, so he just kept muttering to himself. During his free time, he took out his old books, cleaned the dust off them, and put them back on the bookshelf one by one. He would be going on a long trip in a few days, and he didn't know how much dust would accumulate by then.
"Master, do you know that when we were in Fushui County, I called your father to stop me? In fact, I found that Master had a great aura on his head at that time, which was very fairy-like."
In the blurred vision, I could vaguely see the busy shadow of the scholar in the room, slowly walking in by feeling the door and the wall.
"Master is really a hard-working person. Do you need my help? I don't know anything else, but I know a little bit about the art of observing qi. Otherwise, why would I have called your father that day? It was because Master's great qi was lingering in..."
As he spoke in a tactful manner, his fingertips suddenly touched the paper hanging on the wall, and he let out a sudden "ouch!". Lu Liangsheng turned his head to take a look, only to see Hong Lian's extended nails poking him.
I couldn't help but smile and continued to organize.
"Hong Lian, stop making trouble. He can't see the road clearly. If he trips, he will have to live out his life here."
"Humph, this half-blind man was scared enough by me back then, he is as timid as a mouse."
Hong Lian retracted her nails into the painting, then her whole body floated out and gently landed on the ground. The cold air made Wang Banxia tremble immediately, and the familiar feeling returned to him.
"Hey hey..."
He took two steps back and nearly fell out of the door. He looked around the house tremblingly and vaguely saw a beautiful figure floating in front of him.
"Gu~"
He couldn't help swallowing and asked in a low voice: "Master, is the ghost in your room the same one as Mr. Chen's?"
"What do you think, old man?!"
Hong Lian seemed to be teasing him as she blew a breath from a distance, causing his grey hair to stick to his face.
"Um... Um... Master." Wang Banxia swallowed hard and bowed: "Is this Master's wife?"
Hong Lian, who was originally trying to play a prank, was stunned for a moment, a faint smile appeared on the corner of her mouth, she glanced at the scholar over there, hummed a little tune, returned to the painting, and started swinging lightly.
Feeling the ghost energy dissipate, Wang Banxia let out a sigh of relief.
On the bed, a Taoist Toad with closed eyes opened his eyes and laughed: "Liangsheng, this old man is really interesting."
"Hey... Master, is there someone else in your room?"
Wang Banxia didn't dare to act rashly this time, so he stood outside the door and asked in a low voice. Lu Liangsheng, who was tidying up the bookshelf, walked to the four treasures of the study and replied casually.
"That's my master."
"That's Master." Wang Banxia quickly raised his hands and bowed. "Master, please don't blame me. I didn't know you were in there. I came in right away to greet you."
The old man walked in slowly, and no one knew where the Toad Taoist was. It seemed as if his shadow on the bed sat up, knelt down and kowtowed, causing the red smiling eyes in the painting to almost bend into crescents.
The room was bustling with activity.
After lunch, in the slanting hot sun, Lu Laoshi drove his strong donkey to the donkey cart and went out to pull some firewood. Li Jinhua was worried about her husband's clumsiness, so she wiped the water stains on her hands and hurriedly followed him. Lu Xiaoxian also carried a small bag and hurried to the private school.
In the yard, Wang Banxia sat on a stone bench with a wooden stick beside him, listening to the cicadas chirping.
"Master, he must be a man with a youthful face and white hair, and an immortal figure, right?"
Sitting on another stone bench next to him was a short Taoist priest named Toad who was wearing a short coat.
"Haha... I am indeed like that. Back in the day, I rode on clouds and mist, and crossed mountains and rivers. No matter if they were cultivators of Taoism, demons, or ghosts, they would prostrate themselves on the ground when they saw me."
"Ah, Master, when you say this, Cheng En already has a picture in his mind. It is really majestic. Cheng En can't help but think of those people who gathered around the stalls to ask for divination in Fushui County. It was really a grand scene..."
He couldn't see the toad.
Know…
Know…
The summer breeze was warm, the annoying cicadas were chirping, the two old men were talking to each other, and the sun was pouring down. In the small courtyard, Lu Liangsheng was holding a book that he had not opened for a long time, bathing in the light, and carefully savoring his mentor's annotations.
Occasionally, he would reach out and take the tea brewed by Hong Lian beside him and take a sip.
Rustle…
The courtyard was quiet, with only the sound of the old tree's branches swaying gently.
For three consecutive days, Lu Liangsheng spent most of his time reading books, practicing Taoism, and going up the mountain to observe Yuelong's situation. On the morning of the fourth day, his spiritual energy was finally stuck at the sixth level and could not advance.
"It should be that some spiritual refining objects are needed, right?"
He took back the Yuelong Sword, dismantled the sword formation, and went to his mentor's tomb to light incense and candles and pay his respects. It was only ten days away from the full moon on August 15th, the Mid-Autumn Festival.
When they returned to the foot of the mountain, all the formalities had been completed. The old donkey seemed to know that he was going out. He came back from outside holding the reins in his mouth, threw the rope to the ground, and jumped and danced excitedly around the scholar.
Lu Laoshi moved the bookshelf out of the house and helped his son put the bookshelf and reins on the old donkey. Li Jinhua, with red eyes, checked her son's money.
"There are some at home. Don't treat yourself badly when you are out there. Remember to come back during the Chinese New Year."
"Got it, Mom."
Without feeling as sad as the first time he went on a long journey, Lu Liangsheng packed up his things and did not let his family, Lu Pan and others see him off. He led the old donkey to the entrance of the village. Suddenly he thought of Wang Banxia and looked back. The old man was standing in the crowd and waving at him.
"Master, go with peace of mind. Cheng'en has difficulty with his eyes and legs, so he won't go with you!"
This old man still refuses to give up. I’m afraid he will stay in Lujia Village and wait for me to come back.
Lu Liangsheng smiled, lifted up his wide sleeves and saluted to the villagers gathered at the village entrance, picked up the hanging reins, and led the old donkey, which had been paddling impatiently, to the road outside.
"Let's go!"
The scholar sat horizontally on the donkey's back, patted its buttocks gently, and shouted to the bookshelf, "Master, sit tight!"
In the compartment, Toad Taoist was rolling tobacco leaves which he had learned from Wang Chengen. There was a small pipe next to him when he heard his apprentice's voice.
The toad's eyes suddenly widened: "What?"
The Toad Taoist's body suddenly tilted, and then... his whole body flew sideways, sticking to the small wall of the cubicle with a bang, his tongue popped out, and the tobacco rolled out of his webbed feet.
Hem-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah
The donkey brayed and screamed, and there was a flash of lightning under its hooves. With a whoosh, a long cloud of dust rolled up on the dirt road and floated into the sky.
…
The white clouds were like cotton wool, and the long smoke rising from below spread in different directions, far to the southwest to the border of Fulin Prefecture.
"Minister Min!"
The horse neighed loudly, and Zuo Zhengyang, who was carrying four long swords on his back, pulled the reins and finally stopped the fleeing old man.
"Please follow Zuo back to the capital, and please don't make things difficult for me."