In Fulin Prefecture, the mountains are winding, the sunlight shines through the forest leaves, mottled on the fallen leaves, and the sound of rapid chirping birds can be heard nearby.
hiss~~
On a certain branch, a long body covered with fine scales and green patterns was climbing up and down, flicking its tongue constantly. The next moment, a big hand reached out and grabbed the seven inches below its head. A figure in a Taoist robe sat up on the branch and stretched comfortably.
"Hehe, breakfast was delivered to my door early in the morning. God has been very kind to me."
Sun Yingxian squeezed the snake's white belly scales quickly, and squeezed out the ink-green snake gallbladder, which she threw into the wine gourd. She looked at the sky, jumped down from the branch, stretched out her legs and swept the ground, leaving leaves flying and clearing an area. She picked up some dead branches and piled them up. She then slammed two fire talismans on the snake, which ignited a small fire. She then skinned the snake, cut its belly open, and skewered it on the branch.
"It turns out that practicing outside is more suitable for me. If it weren't for the chaos and turmoil, I would have entered the first level of the Golden Core... Uh..."
Gulp—
Looking at the roasted snake meat, his stomach suddenly began to ache and he made a sound. He hastily stuck the branch into the ground, took out a few blank talisman papers and the wrapped Taoist book from the yellow cloth bag, and hurriedly ran to the bushes in the distance, lifting the hem of his robe.
Holding the yellow talisman in his mouth, he untied his belt and squatted down. He had not read the Taoist book wrapped in his hand yet. He had come out of the realm of enlightenment and originally wanted to take a look at it in his spare time. However, the capital of Southern Chen was broken and the emperor was missing. The entire south was full of Sui Dynasty soldiers and even on the mountains, there were enemy soldiers or Southern Chen rebels passing by from time to time. They moved to several hilltops, which led to the scene this morning.
"I read a book while taking a shit, and then I eat meat after I finish my shit~~ It's so comfortable~~~"
Amidst the humming of a tuneless song, there were rustling footsteps in the woods on the east side of the small slope. Two figures climbed up, supporting each other. The young man in the lead climbed up unsteadily, his hair swaying in disarray, but his handsome face could be vaguely seen. He turned around and reached out to hold the woman behind him.
"Mother, be careful of the slippery moss."
The woman who came up from his hand had her plain clothes torn in several places, her black hair was disheveled and stained, her face had many stains, and her beautiful eyes did not have much spirit. She and the young man supported each other and walked into the woods in front.
"I wonder if Uncle Chen Fu and Lord Min have escaped?"
The young man escaped from Chen Jing by relying on the invisibility talisman, with his mother Zhang Lihua beside him. The two of them fled southward, not daring to take the main road, so they had to take the mountain paths, crossing the mountains from the capital, and it took them several days to reach Fulin Prefecture by eating wild vegetables in the mountains.
"Your uncle should be fine. He knows a little bit about Taoism, so it won't be difficult for him to leave. As for Minister Min, Jing'er doesn't have to worry. If he can't resist, he can just demote himself."
After entering the woods, the mother and son slowed down their pace. They were really tired, so they sat down under a tree to rest. The woman pulled up her sleeves to wipe her son's forehead.
"It's hard for you. You have never suffered this kind of hardship since you were a child."
"It's okay, Jing'er can handle it..."
The boy comforted his mother, then suddenly stopped talking, flared his nose slightly, and took a deep breath, "It smells so good."
The mother and son fled in the open air, and they had mostly dry food on them. They hadn't seen meat for a long time and were quite sensitive to it.
At this time, Zhang Lihua also smelled the aroma of meat.
"It seems to have come from over there."
Holding my son's hand and pushing aside a cluster of bushes, I saw a small bonfire burning. A branch with snake meat skewered on it was stuck in the ground at an angle. The meat was slightly yellow and covered with a layer of fat, which gave off an enticing aroma.
cluck~
Zhang Lihua was used to a life of luxury and could not help swallowing her saliva. She thought the snake was obviously owned by someone else, but there was no one else around. The mother and son were also very hungry, so she went over, grabbed the snake meat, turned around and ran away.
"Hey! Hey! What are you doing?!"
The Taoist priest, who heard the noise, just unpacked the Taoist book and stood up hastily. He stumbled out of the bushes and saw two figures running away. He chased them for two steps, then hurriedly ran back holding up his trousers, wiped the yellow talismans, and then chased them out again.
"Do you have any moral sense? You even snatch wild game. Aren't you afraid of getting sick?!"
He tied his belt, put the Taoist book into a yellow cloth bag, used the escape technique, sank into the ground, raised a small bag, and quickly chased after the two thieves while turning over the fallen leaves on the ground.
Up ahead, a mother and son were running, breaking snake meat into two pieces, biting them with both the meat and bones making a crunching sound. I heard a rustling sound and looked back. I saw small bumps on the ground covered with fallen leaves, spreading from far away.
"What's this?!"
In an instant, the small mound of earth that was chasing them passed by the mother and son's feet, and then exploded, with dead leaves and mud flying in all directions. Sun Yingxian crawled out of the ground, stared at the head covered with mud and dead leaves, and flicked her robe sleeves.
"Hey! How dare you steal my... Hey, Jingqiu?!"
Through the gap in the woods, spots of light flickered and fell on the face of the frightened woman. She smoothed away her tangled and dry hair. Zhang Lihua felt a little relieved when she heard the voice. The Taoist in front of her looked quite familiar. After looking at each other, she immediately remembered the Taoist who used to be with Mr. Lu, and who had given her a piece of silk cloth.
"So you are the Taoist priest. My name is not Jingqiu, but Zhang Lihua."
Chen Jing swallowed the snake meat, looked at his mother, and then looked at the Taoist priest with a pointed chin and monkey cheeks. He was still young at that time and had a deep impression of Lu Liangsheng. After looking for a long time, he gradually remembered that there seemed to be such a Taoist priest.
Immediately, he bowed to the other party.
"Chen Jing, hello, Taoist priest. I am sorry for what I did just now. My mother and I are really hungry."
The Taoist waved at the young man without even moving his eyes.
"It's okay, it's okay. If it's not enough, I still have some dry food here."
As he spoke, he took out a few hard rice cakes from his yellow cloth pocket, stuffed them between the mother and son, rubbed his hands, stood aside, and said with a grin, "Where are you going?"
After eating the snake meat, Chen Jing was not in a hurry to eat the cake. Since there were outsiders around, he politely bowed.
"Now that the capital has been destroyed, my mother and I have nowhere to go. We want to go to Qixia Mountain and ask Mr. Lu to tell us where to go in the future."
"That's a long way to go. There are Sui soldiers everywhere along the way. If we're not careful, we might get caught."
The Taoist took two steps back and forth, glanced at Zhang Lihua with his peripheral vision, and without waiting for the mother and son to speak, he patted his chest and said, "Well, I came out to comprehend the realm and improve my cultivation..."
"Then I won't bother you anymore."
Chen Jing quickly opened his mouth, bowed, and walked away with his mother beside him. Sun Yingxian, who was standing with her mouth open but unable to speak, blinked her eyes, and quickly chased after them, walking beside them with a smile on her pointed and monkey-faced face.
"Don't bother me, don't bother me. Anyway, I have gained enough insights. It's a good opportunity for me to go back and see Old Lu."
The Taoist has one advantage over Lu Liangsheng, he knows the art of talismans. This art cannot be learned by just having magic power, one also needs to worship the founder of the Taoist tradition. By giving the talismans the magic power, others can also use it.
He took out two magic talismans, made finger gestures and muttered something. After a while, he put them on the legs of Zhang Lihua and Chen Jing. The sound of his footsteps flashed two or three feet away.
It really allowed the mother and son to personally experience the wonders of Taoism.
After getting down the mountain, the three of them took the official road to Hegu County. Before leaving Fulin Prefecture, they encountered a large number of Sui soldiers. A young man was riding a horse fast, surrounded by several generals, there was also a figure wearing Taoist robes. Sun Yingxian felt the danger from afar.
After the other party went far away, the Taoist priest poked his head out from the grass with a circle of branches on his head, spat at the departing army, spit out grass leaves, and looked around at the mother and son.
"Hey, it's not that I'm afraid of that person, it's just that there are too many of them. If you are discovered, I won't be able to take care of you."
Soon, when the other party was far away, the three chose a small road and sped up to Mount Qixia. The towns and villages along the way quickly fell behind them. Avoiding the noisy county town, the mountains were dotted with spots of tender green. After two days' journey, they finally arrived at Mount Qixia.
"Lujia Village is just around the corner ahead. Let's go there first."
Leaving the mother and son behind temporarily, the Taoist quickened his pace, and used his light body skills to land among the fields in a few leaps, ran along the ridges for a while, and then flew again, descending to the village like a roc spreading its wings.
"Liang Sheng?!"
"Mr. Lu!"
Rushing into the small courtyard with a fence, Li Jinhua and his wife were not there. Pushing open the door of the room where the scholar lived, he saw a small pot placed on an oil lamp. Toad was wearing an apron and standing on some books with his webbed feet, stirring the soup pot.
On the table, Toad Taoist was startled by Sun Yingxian who suddenly rushed into the room. He raised the wooden spoon reflexively and even lifted one leg.
"Old Toad, you're giving me some special treatment again. Where's Old Lu?"
Sun Yingxian poked her head into the room and looked around, then came in when she found no one there. On the desk over there, Taoist Toad put his feet down, rolled his eyes, and continued stirring the soup pot.
"You are teaching your disciples in the mountains. Didn't you go out to gain enlightenment?"
"Humph, I am so smart." The Taoist sat on the edge of the bed, leaned forward, looked at the roof and laughed: "The Golden Core Realm is just so-so, I can..."
Taoist Toad glanced at him and said: "Liangsheng is already in the late stage of Jindan."
The Taoist's smile froze, he sat up, and pointed at Toad's back: "Well, it's meaningless when you say that. I haven't been able to concentrate on my studies yet, and I haven't even read any Taoist books yet!"
He patted the book he took out from the yellow cloth pocket, opened the cover, and the four words "Five Elements Taoism" came into his eyes.
"Hiss... Five Elements Taoism, this book is so familiar, old Toad, you are so knowledgeable, have you ever heard of..."
Not far away, the toad scooped up the soup and took a sip. Its body trembled slightly, and it turned its face to the side, with its eyelids half-closed and a cold light flashing.
"Have you ever heard of..." Before he could finish his words, a whistling sound suddenly rang out. Sun Yingxian raised his face and a black shadow instantly covered his forehead.
Bang!
The wooden spoon was pressed against the Taoist's head. His body shook twice and then he fell backwards on the couch.
The Toad Taoist put down his flippers and let out a breath.
'How did Liangsheng give this book to him...'
The toad glanced around and saw a book that Liangsheng had stapled himself. The corners of his mouth curled up into an arc.
Soon, Sun Yingxian woke up in a daze and saw the Toad Taoist holding a delicate little bowl and sipping soup.
He rubbed his forehead and sat up.
"Old Toad, I just had a nightmare. It seemed like I was beaten up. Uh... Why does my forehead hurt so much? Oh, by the way, where was I just talking about..."
"Book!"
Taoist Toad looked out the window, drank a spoonful of thick soup, and looked calm and relaxed.
"Yes, I haven't read the book given by the scholar yet. After learning the magic from it, it will be easy for me to catch up with Liangsheng... catch... him."
At the last sound of the word "come", the Taoist's eyes widened. He tossed the book in his hand back and forth like a hot potato, and threw it at the end of the bed along with the cover. He stood up with a tingling scalp.
“I’m really dreaming!!”
The book was thrown at the end of the bed and was lying there quietly. The cover slipped off to reveal the four big characters "Three Years of Children's Examination".
…
The sun shone slightly, casting a red glow and falling on the courtyard on the cliff.
The three young men who were packing up the annotations on the Dharma stretched their bodies. In front of a stone table not far away, Lu Liangsheng waved his hand and asked them to go down the mountain and have dinner.
"You have academic classes early tomorrow morning, so remember to come early."
"Yes, Master!"
Yuwen Tuo, Li Sui'an and Qu Yuanfeng all bowed and said goodbye. Seeing the three of them leave listlessly, Lu Liangsheng stood up with a smile, put away the annotations, and returned to the room. On the scroll on the wall, Hong Lian's voice suddenly rang out.
"Young Master..."
A graceful figure in a red dress with long sleeves landed softly behind the scholar, lowered her body, and bowed.
"I have something to say to you, sir."