"How lively is the capital?"
Lu Liangsheng sat on the steps, watching the woman tying the light blue horse to a tree. The old donkey that was originally swinging the Toad Taoist for fun stopped, stuck out its muzzle and walked over, snorting at the horse, scaring the light blue horse into trotting around the tree.
"Don't worry, it won't hurt your horse."
Only after hearing the words from the scholar under the eaves did Min Yuerou walk over with confidence. Hong Lian on the side snorted, but did not do anything hostile. She turned around and went back into the house.
"It seems that there are people who are not welcome." The woman glanced at the door where Hong Lian entered. The Taoist turned his head to look at her and laughed.
"Hey, that's not a human..."
Before he could finish his words, the door was half opened and a branch hit him on the head.
Min Yuerou smiled softly, hugged her skirt and squatted beside the fire, sniffed the pot of food cooking, and said, "It smells so good." Then she talked about what happened in the capital.
"Originally, my father wanted to come and see you, but he only found out about the emperor's death when he returned to the city last night. And in the capital... well, there are no other officials. My father had to step in and promote officials from below to stabilize the embarrassing situation of no officials in the court. He also had to preside over the emperor's funeral and the enthronement of the new monarch."
Lu Liangsheng came over, passed a dry branch into the fire, and said with a smile:
"It's reasonable. Minister Min is now the highest official in the capital. He should be the one to take charge of the situation. But the new emperor should be Chen Jing, right?"
The woman tucked a strand of her hair behind her ears. She knew nothing about this matter.
"After my father entered the palace, he had no time to come back. The city is in chaos now, and the government has to keep the people stable. The streets are full of people. Speaking of..."
She glanced at the scholar's profile, and when he looked over, she quickly lowered her head and helped pass a dry branch to him.
"Everyone is talking about what happened last night, the monsters, the dragons... many people are terrified."
Next to them, Taoist Toad came out of the yard with his flippers on his back, walked past the woman with a "pat-pat-pat" sound, and tiptoed to take a look into the pot.
"Is there another old monk in the city too?"
Although she had heard this toad speak before, Min Yuerou was still a little scared and carefully moved to the side.
On the side, Lu Liangsheng looked over and said with a smile: "Is this my master?"
The woman thought of the scholar with his robes fluttering and sword in the air that night, and then she looked at the short toad in front of her, who was standing on webbed feet and looking into the pot, with its mouth slightly open, unable to close.
"Why? Toad can't teach his apprentice?"
The Toad Taoist glanced at her from the corner of his eye. Women are naturally afraid of such creepy things, not to mention that they can talk and wear clothes. Min Yuerou immediately trembled all over and waved her hands repeatedly.
"No, no..."
"That's good. Is the old monk from the city?"
The woman whispered back, "Yes, that master is chanting sutras for people in the city to help calm their hearts."
"It's good to be there." The Toad Taoist put on his flippers and looked at his disciple beside him, and said solemnly: "Liangsheng, pack your bags and let's go quickly. When I see him, I feel uncomfortable all over!"
Lu Liangsheng was stunned for a moment, thinking that his master had something important to say, but what he heard was these words. The Taoist priest turned around, holding a wooden spoon in his hand, and knocked on the edge of the pot with his eyes wide open.
"The rice is already cooked, you guys want to leave?!"
The toad looked at him for a moment, then waved his big webbed finger: "Then let's eat first and leave later!"
The three people who were making a noise suddenly stopped making noises. The old donkey lying on its side in the yard shook its ears and raised its head. The two people and the monster under the eaves, and even Nie Honglian in the house walked out of the room.
Min Yuerou's heart suddenly tightened. She swallowed and whispered, "What's wrong?"
As soon as the words fell, a sudden gust of wind blew, and the originally bright morning sun dimmed in sight. The woman was of yin nature, and she felt a chill all over her body, and she began to tremble.
When she asked again, "What's wrong?", Lu Liangsheng stood up and walked out from the eaves. In the gloomy sky, it seemed like rain was falling.
On the weedy road outside the yard, a tall, thin figure wearing a gray robe, a pointed hat and an oil-paper umbrella was standing there. In an instant, he seemed to be floating and came over here.
Seeing Lu Liangsheng in white and green robe in the yard, he raised his umbrella and bowed slightly.
"Meet Mr. Lu."
Under the tall hat, the man's face was covered by a black cloth, so his features could not be seen. However, judging from his gloomy aura and the faint scent of sandalwood, Lu Liangsheng roughly knew where he came from.
"I wonder which chief judge you work for?"
"The Quick Report Department is under the jurisdiction of the Quick Report Envoy."
Yinchai is a general term; even the ghosts who patrol day and night and capture souls can be called Yinchai. They are equivalent to the head constables, constables, and yamen runners in the human world. They naturally appear respectful when facing Lu Liangsheng, who once had fame in the human world and was a cultivator.
Under the eaves over there, Min Yuerou saw the scholar standing alone in the yard as if talking to the air. Her face turned pale. Even though she had seen monsters before, it was dark and she could not see clearly. Now that there was no one in the place, she couldn't help but feel even more creepy.
"Master Toad, who is Mr. Lu talking to?"
"Hmph." The Toad Taoist glanced at the courtyard, held the small bowl, stretched out his two short legs, and dug up the food. "It's just a strange mistake, nothing to be surprised about."
A strange thing
Min Yuerou shuddered instantly and quickly turned her head back, not daring to look. Ghosts and monsters are different. From childhood to adulthood, the descriptions of monsters were mostly seen in books and listened to as stories, but ghosts left a deep shadow from the vivid stories told by adults at home since childhood, and she had a great taboo.
But I could still hear the scholar's words in my ears.
"Then why are you looking for me here?"
Under the shade umbrella, a tall and thin figure dangled on the ground with his toes, floated backwards to one side, and replied hoarsely.
"The City God would like to invite you to meet him, sir."
The City Gods are divided into three levels: capital, state, and county. This City God is the white-clothed figure I saw last night. After all, he is a god, so it would be bad to offend him.
However, this is the first time that I have met the underworld official as a living person.
Lu Liangsheng bowed in return: "Then please wait a moment."
Having said that, he went back to the eaves and told the Toad Taoist and Sun Yingxian about the situation. Naturally, he could not eat the meal, so he asked the Taoist to leave a bowl for him so that he could eat later. Then he said goodbye to Min Yuerou, brushed off the dust on his body, and without taking the Yuelong Sword, he made a gesture of invitation to the Yin messenger who was waiting outside the courtyard.
"Sorry for the wait, let's go."
The scholar was gentle and polite, which made the Yinchai feel good about him. As they walked beside each other, he couldn't help but move his umbrella a little closer to shield him. Suddenly, he felt something was wrong and took it back.
Uh... I've developed a bad habit of holding an umbrella for the City God.
Yin energy permeated under the feet of the man and the ghost. When they passed a place, the sunlight behind them shone down again, as if only this part of the world was yin. Lu Liangsheng felt fresh, probably because of the umbrella of the ghost.
Walking through the eastern suburbs, there were messy and broken roads. Far and near, many laborers were supervising and repairing the roads. It seemed as if Lu Liangsheng was invisible, and he continued to walk on the mud, sand and gravel.
There is a branch road to the south of the official road. The City God Temple is just two miles away. There are many dead leaves falling on the red walls and black tiles, and the long stone steps are covered with moss. When you go in, yellow paper incense sticks are lit and inserted into a three-legged bronze tripod. The incense is burning and it seems that there are a lot of incense.
More than a dozen believers were cleaning. When they saw new pilgrims coming in, they stepped forward to help and directed them to the place to burn incense.
Under the guidance of the ghost, Lu Liangsheng stepped over the threshold and walked into the City God Hall. The clay sculptures and altars he saw outside suddenly became quiet as soon as he entered.
The ghost messengers in official robes were walking around, and the heads of various departments were handling cases. Only five of the seven judges were handling official business. They would occasionally glance over and continue with their own work, as if they were as busy as working in a government office in the world of the living.
"Haha, Mr. Lu."
At the first place, a clay statue was shining with divine light, and a figure walked out with a smile.
The man had a jade-like face, a white silk scarf and a slender figure. He walked quickly in front of Lu Liangsheng and raised his hands.
"The God of Heavenly Rule, Zhou Yu."
Lu Liangsheng was stunned for a moment, and immediately thought of this name. He shook out his sleeves and bowed in return.
"Qixia Mountain, Lu Liangsheng, greets Governor Zhou."