The sunlight shone through the gaps in the clouds in the east. Fajing stood by the roadside and thanked a businessman. He looked into the distance and saw a sparkling river like a jade belt winding down the village. Behind him, the Qixia Mountain was covered with clouds and the morning light looked like golden air rising.
"Okay, the place..."
The fat monk raised his seal and bowed towards the mountain village in the distance. The two young men beside him were also a little intoxicated by the morning scene in front of them. They came back to their senses when they heard Fajing's voice: "Let's go."
The boy with brown and blue eyes restrained his previous expression, snorted coldly, folded his arms and followed the fat monk. On the contrary, the other child looked around curiously.
"Master, what kind of person is Mr. Lu?"
“With knowledge... and accomplishments..." Fajing’s monk robe was open, fluttering on both sides, the Buddhist beads on his fat chest rustled, and his big round face smiled like Maitreya.
"Haha... He has a rare virtue."
The monk turned his head to look at Yuwen Tuo who was walking silently, and repeated softly: "Virtue is very important."
In response to him, Yuwen Tuo snorted again.
On the dirt road leading to Lujia Village, on one side of the three people, there was a young man carrying a wooden sword and holding a leaf in his mouth, looking over curiously.
"Are you looking for Mr. Lu too?"
The monk nodded: "Yes."
"Hmm... I remember Mr. Lu is over there!" Li Sui'an pointed to the mountainside west of the village, "Let me tell you, Mr. Lu likes quietness. At this time, the mountain is full of spiritual energy, which is helpful for cultivation!"
"oh?"
Fa Jing stopped and looked at the young man carefully. He was wearing a brown and yellow short coat, had a handsome face, a leaf between his lips, and a clever look between his brows.
"Little donor... No, you are lying."
He spoke gently, and then took Yuwen Tuo and the young man who had spoken before to the village entrance. Li Sui'an's "Hey hey" sounds followed behind.
While he was still saying, "Why don't you believe it? It's true...", an old man with a goatee was doing boxing slowly in the sun in the village where the sun was shining. Behind him were eight burly men from Lujia Village, with their chest muscles exposed, waving stone locks and millstones, and the wind was filled with whistling sounds.
The old man slowly threw his last punch, then stopped and took a breath. He looked towards the entrance of the village with lifeless eyes, and felt a peaceful Buddhist aura. His beard trembled slightly, and he stroked the tip of his beard, smiling.
"Master, what business do you have in Lujia Village?"
The eight people who were holding stone locks and swinging millstones stopped their arms, flexed their chest muscles, tilted their heads to look at the four people who entered the village. The three teenagers looked directly at the big monk who was also puffing his chest.
Lu Pan casually dropped the grinding wheel weighing dozens of pounds in his hand and smashed it to the ground with a dull "bang" sound. He brushed the dust off his hands and looked alert.
At the entrance of the village, Fajing chanted the Buddha's name.
"I am here to see you, Daoist friend Lu. I hope you can help me."
At one side, Li Sui'an spit out leaves, folded his arms, approached the two young men Yuwen Tuo, and raised his chin.
"See? Another senior expert who can recognize that this fat monk is a monk even though he is blind. Look at those eight strong men over there. Wow, their muscles are stronger than those of the generals. You two should not pee your pants when you see Mr. Lu."
"Yeah... it's quite powerful. I hope I can be like this in the future." The young man who followed Yuwen Tuo had a pale face and a thin body. He looked at the eight people over there and said, "I wonder if Mr. Lu can make me as strong as this."
"Humph." Yuwen Tuo glanced at the eight people and the old man, then stopped looking at them. He said coldly, "A blind man without any cultivation, a bunch of reckless men, what's so great about them?"
However, he did not mention Lu Liangsheng whom he was about to meet. After entering Qixia Mountain, he could feel that there were magic arrays connecting the mountains, and spiritual energy was gathering in the fields and rivers below. Without some ability, it would be impossible to set it up.
While he was thinking, the old man over there had already communicated with the fat monk and was walking in front to lead the way. Over the fence and courtyard wall, blooming morning glories stretched out of the wall and swayed in the wind. Butterflies and bees danced among the flowers. A few birds flew over everyone's heads and landed on the branches of the cypress in the courtyard, blinking their eyes and looking down.
As soon as they entered the courtyard, Fajing chanted the Buddha's name. On the stone bench under the tree, a boy with a copper ring around his neck was holding a red rooster bowl and tilted his head to look at them.
"Who are you looking for?"
"Mingyue, this master is here to find his master." Wang Banxia naturally knew the boy's identity, and said with a smile. Everyone was still thinking about the word "master" from his mouth, and they saw the child on the stool put down the bowl and spoke crisply towards the kitchen.
"Sir, there's a fat monk outside looking for you."
Squeak~
The kitchen door opened and Lu Liangsheng came out holding a bowl. He was stunned when he saw the fat figure in the yard and a young man with a wooden sword on his back. Behind him, Li Jinhua, the Taoist priest, and Lu Xiaoxian stuck their heads out. Hong Lian showed half of her body in the middle of the door, which scared the three young men.
"Why is Master Fa Jing here?" The scholar put away his bowl and chopsticks and made a gesture of invitation, "Please wait under the tree for a while."
Fa Jing walked over with a smile and waved his sleeves: "Daoyou Lu, please go ahead."
Under the eaves, Lu Liangsheng smiled and nodded, glanced at Li Sui'an who was jumping and waving, turned back to the kitchen to put down his bowl and chopsticks, and when he came out, the Taoist boy Mingyue had already boiled the kettle on the small stove. Seeing the master coming, he picked up his bowl and chopsticks and ran quickly to the kitchen.
Yuwen Tuo calmed himself down and just stood by the vegetable garden, watching Mr. Lu, who was dressed as a scholar, chatting and laughing with the monk under the tree. He didn't even notice a grain of rice on his cuffs. He looked so weak and frail, not at all like a Taoist master.
"You don't understand." Li Sui'an, who was standing next to him, probably saw what he was thinking and nudged him with his elbow: "The more ordinary it is, the more profound its cultivation is. Have you ever seen a Taoist master who is so arrogant and domineering all day long?"
"Now that you put it that way, it seems to be the case."
Yuwen Tuo nodded coldly, "However, how can you tell that Mr. Lu must have a high level of cultivation?"
"I didn't say I could tell." Li Sui'an casually stretched out his arm, embraced the other person, patted him on the shoulder, and raised his chin: "Because that's my master!"
"you… "
Yuwen Tuo looked at him speechless, and suddenly he saw a black shadow crawling out of the vegetable garden in his peripheral vision. The dense bumps on its back reflected the morning light, making him feel uncomfortable. He kicked the thing back with his foot.
…
"After leaving Heliangzhou, I went to Northern Zhou. The customs and habits there are different from those in the south, and they are also very interesting..."
"Well, I met Taoist Sun on my way back to Tianzhi City. Unfortunately, he was accompanied by a group of children without relatives, so he couldn't accompany him."
"group?"
"Yes, some have been placed in the Wanfo Temple, but the rest don't want to. Over there, that child with brown-blue eyes has caused unrest in the temple, so we have to find a new home for him..."
"hehe… "
The cypress branches and leaves swayed gently, casting sparkling spots of light on the stone table below. The monk and the scholar chatted and laughed for a while.
Puff puff puff…
The water on the small stove has boiled and is steaming.
Lu Liangsheng rolled up his sleeves, picked up the kettle to brew tea for the two of them, and pushed the teacup in front of the fat monk.
"Master, are you here just for these three children?"
"Yes, two..." Fa Jing picked up the tea, took a sip as if he didn't realize it was hot, "The young man carrying the sword came here on his own. He has traces of a sword cultivator on his body."
Lu Liangsheng glanced at the three young men who were whispering to each other and said with a smile, "I taught him, but I didn't expect him to come here on his own."
"He is sincere!" The monk said these two words heavily, affirming Li Sui'an.
At this point, his purpose was actually very clear. Fa Jing paused, stood up with his fat body, and bowed towards Lu Liangsheng with his seal vertical.
"I hope Brother Lu will take them in."