After the spring sowing, the news that Lu Liangsheng was going to build a new temple broke the tranquility of the village. Lu Taigong, who was sometimes lucid and sometimes confused, stood on the millstone on the drying dam with a crutch, mobilizing the villagers, young and old.
The village has become much richer in recent years, but most people still maintain their original diligence. Some even go to the city or learn some skills from people with skills nearby.
The villagers who were skilled in bricklaying and plastering gathered together and, after discussing with Lu Laoshi, decided to build the new temple on the site of the original dilapidated mountain temple. Firstly, the original foundation was still there, so it would be much faster to rebuild the bricks and plaster, which would not take too much time and would save money. Secondly, Lu Liangsheng requested that a temple be built as soon as possible.
The original mountain temple just fits the bill.
The spring days were gradually getting warmer. When Lu Liangsheng went there, construction had already begun. The desolate old temple was demolished, leaving only the foundation piles, and the weeds around it had been trampled flat.
"Let's cut down those trees over there!" "And those two over there are blocking the rising sun!"
"Hurry up, you who are making mud over there!"
Amid the noise and shouting, the women and children from the village not far from the old site were talking and laughing as they mixed the mud and water and carried them to their backs in baskets. The old men, who were strong in body, could easily carry the dozens of kilograms of mud. Fortunately, the distance was not far, and they arrived in about ten feet.
Those who knew how to work as craftsmen laid the mud bricks up bit by bit, and would use a brick knife to glance here and there from time to time. Lu Laoshi and a group of villagers cut off the tops of several felled trees, rolled them to the temple, planed out the shapes of wooden beams, and repainted them. It was a scene of bustling activity.
After casting a small spell to relieve everyone's fatigue and reading for a while, Lu Liangsheng returned to the village and walked back to the small courtyard. The bookshelf was already ready. Apart from the Yuelong Sword, there was only Hong Lian's scroll.
Hong Lian's hometown was not far away. It was in a village 20 to 30 miles north of Hegu County. If she hurried at full speed, she could reach Hegu County in more than half an hour. So she did not tell her parents, master, and disciples about it.
After leading out the old donkey and putting the bookshelf in place, a muffled sound came from inside. Lu Liangsheng frowned, went over and opened the small door of the compartment with a creak, and saw the Toad Taoist with his face pressed against the wooden wall. He then sat back quickly, picked up the pipe and put it in his mouth.
He exhaled a puff of smoke and glanced at his apprentice with his toad eyes.
"I'm just tired of staying here, and I want to go out for some fresh air. I'm not here to accompany you, so don't think too much."
Next door, Hong Lian's weak voice came from the painting: "Thank you, Master Toad."
"Hmph, why are you thanking me, old man?"
The Toad Taoist lay down on his side, propped up his face, and waved his flippers: "Close the door for me."
Outside, Lu Liangsheng smiled, closed the small door, led the old donkey and walked out of the yard. The jingling sound of bells rang out along the mountain path and faded away to the other end in the blink of an eye.
Passing by Fushui County, I went to the former Chen Mansion. The gate was desolate, with a pair of majestic stone lions, one of which had a broken ear. Lu Liangsheng used the wall-penetrating magic and sleight of hand to get in, but there was hardly a single person seen inside. After Chen Yaoke's death, Chen Yuanwai also died of fright and excessive grief. Because of the haunting, no one ever moved into this house again.
The huge empty courtyard was overgrown with weeds. Lu Liangsheng came to the side yard and, under the guidance of Hong Lian, took out the corpse from the soil. A skeleton was wrapped in tattered costumes. Several bones were smashed and there was a cut on the forehead bone.
Hong Lian turned her face away and said with a sound like sniffling:
"They were afraid that I wasn't dead yet, so they hit me a few more times when they buried me..."
Lu Liangsheng fell silent, spread out a white cloth to wrap Hong Lian's body, cast a shrinking spell, and put it on the bookshelf.
"Let's go..."
Not long after, we left the county and followed the official road to Hegu County in the north. The original Li family troupe was still there, but unfortunately after that incident, business was not as good as before, and the people in the troupe left one after another and went their separate ways.
In the busy market, among the pedestrians, Lu Liangsheng was standing in the distance, leading his old donkey, looking at the troupe owner Li Yunxiu, who was sitting in a daze at the door of the opera troupe.
"He also counts as one. Does Hong Lian want revenge?"
"No, it's fine to leave him like this. What's the point of revenge..."
Hearing Hong Lian's voice, Lu Liangsheng led the old donkey and squeezed through the crowd to leave. Li Yunxiu, who was far away at the door of the opera troupe, seemed to sense something. She looked at the market with a blank look. Crowds of people passed by, and only the tinkling sound of copper bells disappeared among the passers-by.
Walking through Hegu County, the distance of twenty or thirty miles was not long. Even if one deliberately slowed down the pace, one still arrived at the village where Hong Lian lived as a child at noon.
After so many years, the small mountain village has become more dilapidated. Most of the young and strong have gone to nearby towns to make a living. The elderly, women and children who stayed behind were surprised to see Lu Liangsheng, dressed in a blue and white robe, leading an old donkey into the village, and they stood far away to watch.
"This young man is so handsome, what is he doing in our village?" "I don't know... maybe he has taken a fancy to a girl."
"What nonsense! That dress looks very expensive. How could a rich man fall for a wild girl from the village?"
"What if they like big hands and feet, and strong waists?"
"Hey, look, what is he doing with an umbrella? Oh, he even put a toad on his shoulder. This scholar must be abnormal."
…
As the villagers watched from afar and chattered among themselves, Lu Liangsheng took out an oil-paper umbrella from the bookshelf, opened it, let the old donkey wander by itself, and walked with his master in the direction indicated by Hong Lian.
The old house that had collapsed is now gone. The new owner built a small courtyard here, and a family of three is having a lively meal in the courtyard.
"It's just like when I was a child, I sat in the yard with my parents. Sir, let's go. From here are the graves of my parents and brother."
"Um."
Lu Liangsheng held an umbrella and turned away from the low mud wall. He walked through the fields a short distance away and came to a small slope with trees. There were grave flags planted on the graves.
Most of the villagers were buried here, and the earlier the death, the more likely they were buried inside. Passing through several tombs built with earth mounds, Hong Lian floated out from under a paper umbrella and knelt down in front of three graves, two large and one small.
"Dad, Mom... Yuner is back to see you."
It was difficult for the sunlight to shine through the dense branches and leaves. Hong Lian knelt in front of the tomb and gently knocked her forehead. Ghosts have no physical form and no tears, but she could still hear the choked sobs.
Hong Lian said everything she wanted to say in front of her parents' grave when she came back for the first time before her death. Now she was just kneeling there crying, and Lu Liangsheng held an umbrella for her and watched her quietly.
The toad on the scholar's shoulder opened its mouth slightly and let out a sigh. When it saw his disciple looking at him, it quickly folded its flippers, nodded its head and puffed out its chest.
"What are you looking at? I am just moved by the scene."
"Let's go out and wait. Let Hong Lian stay here with her parents."
Lu Liangsheng looked at the kneeling figure and said something softly. He used his magic power to hang a paper umbrella above the crying figure, then walked outside and sat down on the ridge of the field. He also had parents, so seeing this scene, it was inevitable that he felt uncomfortable.
However, after sitting for a while, a cold wind blew behind her. Hong Lian held up a paper umbrella and looked at the surprised Lu Liangsheng and smiled.
"It's enough to have seen it. There's nothing to linger here. Sir, please take me home."
The home she was referring to was Lujia Village.
"Okay, I'll take you home."
Lu Liangsheng nodded and said softly.
Birds flew across the bright sunshine, grass leaves were gently caressed, bells tinkled, and villagers standing in the village chatting saw from afar a man and a woman holding paper umbrellas and leaning against each other on the back of a donkey. The old donkey slowly moved forward with its leisurely hooves, heading towards Qixia Mountain.