Rustle…
The cypress trees swayed gently in the yard. Chen Jing walked into the yard and smelt a faint fragrance. Behind the fallen leaves that crossed his field of vision, through the open window frame, there was a small pot boiling. The toad he had seen before was stirring something in the pot with a wooden spoon.
"The aroma is coming from the pot..."
Although he was curious, Chen Jing did not ask too many questions at this time. He looked at Mr. Lu's back in front of him, and repeated the speech he had prepared in the future tense over and over in his mind, and quickly repeated it in preview in his mouth.
Seeing the back figure stop, the boy hurriedly said: "Lu..."
On the other side, Lu Liangsheng raised his hand to interrupt him, took the kettle and poured a cup of tea, and asked Chen Jing to come and sit opposite him.
"Come sit down and talk."
The sound of water stopped, and with a light wave of his hand, the teacup on the table moved horizontally in front of the boy. Lu Liangsheng put down the kettle and said:
"I know what you want to do here. I didn't plan to see you at first, but you stayed outside all night. I thought I was testing you, so I let you in. It's better to talk to you face to face."
The young man who was about to take the tea with his fingertips stopped immediately and looked at Mr. Lu opposite him. From time to time, dead cypress leaves fell and floated on the table.
"Mr. Lu..."
After all, he was still a young man. Chen Jing was quite shocked and felt a little depressed, but he pinched his legs hard and spoke again.
"Mr. Lu knows why Chen Jing came here. He must have known that the Northern Zhou Dynasty had fallen and the Sui army was about to march south. By then, the Chen Dynasty would be destroyed and the people here would be in danger of losing their lives."
While listening to the young man's words, Lu Liangsheng poured himself a cup of tea, raised it to his lips and took a sip. After the other party finished speaking, he nodded, agreeing with part of the content.
"I do know about the news that the Sui army is heading south, and I also know that the Chen Dynasty cannot resist the fierce northern army. Unfortunately, I cannot help you."
Chen Jing lost his temper and stood up from the stone bench.
"Mr. Lu, why?!"
“Hehe…” On the opposite side, Lu Liangsheng chuckled, put down the teacup in his hand, stood up and took two steps, looked up at the cypress tree above for a long time, and spoke his words.
“… My fate with Chen is over.”
Then, he turned around and looked at Chen Jing, who opened his mouth slightly but couldn't say anything, and didn't know what to say next.
"Chen Jing, you should go back. Don't waste your time trying to turn the tide on me."
"gentlemen."
At this moment, Chen Jing's eyes were slightly red: "... Sir, I don't blame you for rejecting me, but can you tell me a reason?"
"There are some things I'm saying that you may not like to hear. The world has been divided into the north and the south for too long. If it can be unified now, it will be a good thing. The people will live in peace and stability and suffer less."
Lu Liangsheng sighed, turned towards the roof and suddenly said, "Old Sun, I've heard enough. Let me lend you something."
On the roof, amid the sound of tiles being pressed down, Sun Yingxian poked her head out to take a look, then fell down to the ground, came close to the scholar, and whispered, "What do you want to borrow?"
"Invisibility charm."
"You know the art of invisibility, why are you asking me to borrow it?!"
"I can't draw talismans..."
Seeing the scholar reaching out his hand, the Taoist curled his lips, rummaged through the yellow cloth bag at his waist for a few times, and finally took out a few crumpled talismans and slapped them into Lu Liangsheng's palm.
"That's all. I've lost money just by eavesdropping on the conversation..."
Over there, Lu Liangsheng used magic to push the wrinkled parts of the talismans and put them in Chen Jing's hands.
"Take these talismans back with you. If the war goes badly, stick them on you and your mother. Maybe you can escape danger and flee the city. If you have nowhere to go in the future, you can settle down in Qixia Mountain. Sir, I will ensure that you will be safe for the rest of your life."
The young man looked at the yellow talisman in his hand, took a deep breath, slowly stepped back, stood at the entrance of the yard, looked at Lu Liangsheng, pursed his lips, and nodded heavily.
Then, he raised his hands and said, "Thank you, sir. Goodbye!"
He was not a person who did not know the seriousness of the matter. Since Mr. Lu was unwilling to come out to help, he could not bring people to kidnap Mr. Lu and take him to the capital. Uh... there was no guarantee that they could win even with more people. If he really angered Mr. Lu, it would definitely not be good.
Now, at least I have something to save my life.
On the way out, they met three teenagers and an old man who were chattering towards them. When they heard the word "teacher", they slowed down.
One of the boys shouted, "Why are you the eldest brother?"
"Haha." The old man in the middle had lifeless eyes and looked at the sky with his hands behind his back. "Of course I came to Lujia Village first. I am also talented and... I am several generations older than all of you. If I don't take the position, who will?"
"snort."
"No! Let's just decide it by rock-paper-scissors!"
Chen Jing passed by them and realized that they were Mr. Lu's disciples. He looked at them with envy. He waited until they turned to the small courtyard with a fence before he left the village, put the yellow talisman in his arms, took the reins from the guard, and climbed onto the horse.
"Let's go back to Tianzhi."
On horseback, he turned his head and looked again at the mountain village that was getting farther and farther away. Since Mr. Lu was unwilling to come out to help, he could only rely on himself.
…
In the small courtyard with a fence, Lu Liangsheng packed up the tea set and returned to the house. He watched his master tie on an apron, stir the pot with a wooden spoon, and scoop a little from time to time to lick it to taste.
The Taoist followed him in and said, "You don't help others, and you even give away my talismans. I don't know what to say to you."
Over there, Lu Liangsheng took out a few robes from the closet and put them in the compartment of the bookshelf. He stood up and walked to the desk and took out the inkstone from under his master's feet. The Toad Taoist who was tasting the soup suddenly lost his balance, and his white belly pressed against the edge of the pot and he danced with joy. The apprentice reached out and held the back of his collar, preventing him from falling into the boiling soup.
He put the toad down, gathered up the four treasures of the study, put away the next layer of his robe, and then he spoke back:
"If they are destroyed, then they are destroyed. I have known the mother and her son for a while. If they can survive, it is their own good fortune."
"Whatever you say makes sense. It's up to you. Hey, what are you packing for?"
"Go out and go to Qishan Cave Mansion."
On the desk, Toad Taoist picked up the wooden spoon and turned his head: "Master, you are leaving before you even drink the soup you just made?"
Lu Liangsheng blew away the dust from several books.
"Going early and coming back early is a good opportunity for Sui'an and the others to get familiar with the environment and build the house. It can also be considered a test of their patience."
The Taoist priest shook his head and said, "I will not go with you this time. Your cultivation level has improved a lot after you went out for a while. It's too discouraging. I'd better stay here and cultivate with peace of mind until I reach the Golden Elixir stage as soon as possible. I haven't even opened the Taoist book you gave me yet."
As he spoke, he went to help the scholar clean up. He reached out to take the scroll on the wall, and heard Hong Lian's voice: "Take your hand away, I'll do it myself."
"I just wanted to..."
"You can't even think about it!"
Hong Lian snorted, and the scroll on the wall folded up, detached, flew to the bookshelf, and was firmly inserted into the shelf.
Lu Liangsheng smiled but said nothing. In fact, going to Qishan was only one of his goals. He also wanted to visit Yang Jian or the commander of the army and ask them to kill as few lives as possible.
When he reached the door, he turned around and asked the Taoist priest to help look after the house, and then he went to the master who was still sitting at the desk with his arms folded and looking angrily.
"Master, let's get going."
snort!
The Toad Taoist sat there and turned in a different direction, "Wait for me to make the soup..."
Looking back, the apprentice was no longer at the door. Then he heard a whistle in the yard, and the old donkey rushed out of the donkey shed with the reins in his mouth, came to his master and wagged his tail wildly.
After the bookshelf was in place, Lu Liangsheng raised his hand to the sky, then took the reins and led the old donkey towards the courtyard gate. From the distant Qixia Mountainside, a sword shadow flew over.
It inserted itself directly into the bookshelf, letting out a faint groan of "Ah...", causing the Hong Lian scroll next to it to fly up and hit it hard.
"Wait a minute, Master, the soup... the soup is not finished yet!!"
In the yard, the sound of frog webs running across the ground could be heard. The Toad Taoist held up a steaming pot and ran out of the door with his webbed feet spread out. The white hen spread its wings and chased after him along the fence.
Toad held up the pot and shouted breathlessly:
"Liangsheng, the master hasn't even mounted the donkey yet!!"
Running fast, he crossed the drying dam and ran out of the village...