Verdant woods stretch all over the foothills. Birds fly across acres of fields and land at a house in the northern village. They chirp and preen their feathers. The bird's blinking eyes turn to the side, looking at a woman in a plain dress, who comes over with food and gently opens the door.
Squeak~~
Amid the unique humming sound of old wood, in the dimly lit house, Chen Jing sat behind a small table in a daze. The woman next to him put the food on the table and slowly turned around.
"Mother, you said Mr. Lu hasn't seen us for so long, will he never see us again in the future?"
"That shouldn't happen. Jing'er, don't think too much. Eat your meal quickly."
The old house in the countryside was dim. Zhang Lihua took the oil lamp and moved it over, handing over the chopsticks: "Mother knows you feel bad. After all, from an emperor to..."
"Mother, it's okay."
Chen Jing took out half of the food from the bowl and ate it with his mother. "Actually, I'm more worried that my mother won't get used to it."
"What's there to be unaccustomed to, mother?" Zhang Lihua picked up the fish from the bowl and put it into her son's bowl, picked up a piece of green vegetables with chopsticks and put it into her mouth, chewed slowly with her red lips closed, thinking of the previous embarrassment, and said with a smile: "It's much better than when we just left the capital and ran around in the mountains."
He paused for a moment and then spoke again.
"By the way, I heard from the head of the village that Mr. Lu has been very busy recently. A high-ranking official from the Sui Dynasty came here not long ago. Fortunately, we didn't go there at that time, otherwise it would have been difficult for Mr. Lu. Now he is busy building a temple. Jing'er, just wait patiently. The food lady will take care of it. We can't let you do the work..."
The mother and son had settled in Beicun for a few days. At first they were not used to it, especially when it came to using the toilet. Most outhouses in mountain villages were just a pit with rotten mats around it and a horizontal board placed over the pit. Feces and urine could be seen everywhere, which made the mother and son, who were used to the luxurious life in the palace, feel uncomfortable for a long time.
As for food, although they brought some gold and silver from the palace, in such a small place, gold and silver were not only useless but also easy to arouse suspicion from others. Zhang Lihua gritted her teeth, rolled up her sleeves and followed the women and children in the village to do some chores, begging for some millet rice and vegetables. From time to time, Sun Yingxian would send her some delicious rice. Gradually, the mother and son adapted to the local environment.
However, lighting oil lamps during the day is a bit of a luxury.
The chopsticks touched the edge of the bowl. The mother and son ate their meal quietly. When they said a few words, they heard footsteps outside.
Bang Bang—
The door was not closed yet. I walked into the eaves and the chief knocked on the door, pointing outside: "There is an old man outside the village looking for you. You two may as well come out and see if you know him."
Chen Jing exchanged a glance with his mother, put down his bowl and chopsticks, and followed the man who was hurriedly walking out of the house. Crossing the muddy path that separated the houses in the village, he saw from afar an old man in a gray robe walking back and forth with his hands behind his back, glancing towards the village from time to time.
"It's the Emperor's uncle..."
Chen Jing recognized the old man from outside the village at a glance when he saw the mother and son coming over. Zhang Lihua nodded, quickly tidied up her messy hair, and quickened her pace.
The old man over there also saw the mother and son coming over, and bowed to the village head next to him to express his gratitude. After the people left, he shook out his sleeves and bowed to Chen Jing and his mother.
"Old minister Chen Fu pays respects to your majesty and the Grand Concubine."
"Uncle, there is no need to do this. The Chen Dynasty is gone. It is better not to call your Majesty. Come with us to the house where we are staying first, and then we can talk."
After all, there were many villagers coming and going around, and it would be inconvenient for them to see such a scene. Chen Jing immediately led the old man to the dilapidated house where they were temporarily staying.
The furnishings inside were simple and many places were covered with dust. The old man saw the two chipped bowls on the table and turned his eyes away with a look of distress.
"Your Majesty and the Grand Concubine, do you want to eat this kind of food?"
Zhang Lihua went over to put away the dishes and put them aside, then lifted her sleeve to wipe the sweat off her face.
"It's good enough to have a place to stay in a mountain village temporarily, but I can't even dream of anything else."
"Alas, Your Majesty, I feel sad to see the Grand Concubine fall into such a situation." Chen Fu closed his eyes and stood there for a while. After a moment, he opened them again and looked at Chen Jing.
"Although the capital has fallen into the hands of the Sui people, the Chen Dynasty is vast, and there are still many officials and people who are loyal to the Chen Dynasty. Your Majesty, staying here is not a solution. It is better for you to follow me and go somewhere else to regroup troops and recover the capital."
After all, Chen Chao belongs to Chen Jing. He took it from his father, but threw it away from himself. The young man felt unwilling to accept it.
But when he thought about the purpose of his escape, he became hesitant.
"Jing'er."
Zhang Lihua clutched the corner of her clothes. She knew the struggle in her son's heart, but if he stayed in this place, he might no longer have the chance to restore the Chen Dynasty.
In the dim light, Chen Jing sat on a bench, his fists clenched and pressed against his knees, trembling slightly. It was not until his mother's voice called him that he raised his face and slowly stood up.
"Let's go, let's go."
He repeated it twice in a low voice. Seeing his mother wearing old clothes and looking pale, Chen Jing took a deep breath, looked at the old woman, and raised his hands: "I will listen to my uncle."
Soon, we packed our bags and left the house, stepping onto the dirt road outside the village. In the distance, a figure riding a donkey passed by the mountain road ahead and disappeared around the corner in the blink of an eye.
"It's Mr. Lu..."
Chen Jing wanted to go to Lujia Village to say goodbye, but was urged by the old man, so he had to go in another direction. He looked back from time to time at the outline of Lujia Village. When it was almost out of sight, he put down his bag, bowed towards the village, then turned around and disappeared with the old man and his mother in the afternoon sun.
…
Behind him, the old donkey returned to the small fenced yard like lightning, ran back to the shed with its hooves spread out, and the bookshelf fell to the ground. The Toad Taoist pushed open the small door, ran quickly to the vegetable garden with puffed up cheeks, held on to a wooden fence, and vomited with a "wow".
The sound of vomiting attracted the gray-haired figure who walked out of the kitchen and turned his long neck to look over.
"You evil beast, come back..."
A toad and a chicken rolled into the vegetable garden. The Toad Taoist, with his tongue hanging down, weakly crawled out of the vegetable garden. His webbed feet suddenly tightened, and he stared with his eyes wide open, squeezing out a sentence, "That mother..."
His feet were pecked again and he was dragged in, leaving a deep groove on the ground.
Lu Liangsheng walked along the mountain road and came back to his thatched cottage. He waved his robe to summon a piece of soil and the mist outside the cliff condensed into water droplets. He used his magic power to restore the long object wrapped in white cloth in his hand to its original size and gently put it on the ground.
Using the soil from Mount Qixia mixed with water droplets condensed from the clouds, he smeared Hong Lian's corpse bit by bit, shaping the outline of a person, and looked at the woman standing at the door and smiling at him.
Lu Liangsheng also laughed. He kneaded and patted the mud with his fingertips, stroked out the facial features and neck, and slowly moved down to shape a slender figure. According to the woman's appearance and clothes, he pinched out a dress, used the Five Elements Fire Technique to dry it, and then painted it with paint.
The scholar dipped the clay sculpture in ink and dotted the dark pupils in its eyes, making the whole sculpture come alive.
"From now on, she is Hong Lian, and Hong Lian is also her."
Lu Liangsheng put down his pen, sat at the door with the woman, and looked at the motionless clay sculpture in the yard. He said softly: "Your body is in there. You must stay with it from now on. Maybe in the future, your body will become a Dharma body with flesh and blood... just like you were when you were alive."
"How long will that take?"
"Maybe one or two years, maybe twenty or thirty years." Lu Liangsheng held Hong Lian's hand, which was as soft as air, with a smile on his face: "I will be with you in Qixia Mountain, waiting for the day when you come out."
He patted his knees, stood up from the stool, used magic to shrink the clay sculpture and took it away, opened the paper umbrella and looked back at Hong Lian.
"It's time to go down."
The light of the sky was moving, slanting towards the top of the mountain and turning into a bright red glow shining down.
"The beams are put up—"
Loud shouts rang out among the newly built temple. A large log that served as the main beam was carried by eight burly men and slowly lowered to the dome. Lu Laoshi rode on the roof and smiled as he looked at the brand new mountain temple, which was being rushed to completion by a group of villagers, young and old.
One by one, the young men with muscular arms and sweat all over their bodies lined up in front of the steaming pot to get a bowl of broth. They squatted on the ground with the steamed bun handed to them by Lu Xiaoxian, took a bite, and then poured down the hot soup. It was a refreshing feeling.
The evening spring breeze blew across the mountain village with a little warmth. Mr. Lu, leaning on his pear wood walking stick, had forgotten the way home. In front of the fortune-telling stall, the white-haired and bearded Wang Banxia walked in front like a master. He led the way and sent the old man home. Then he sat on the doorstep and chatted about family matters. They looked at the sunset outside the yard, listened to the sound of the old man's family washing rice, and prepared to have a meal.
Soon, Lu Liangsheng walked past the door holding an umbrella. Villagers came back from the mountain temple one after another and greeted him.
"Liangsheng, the temple is finished!" "Yes, I promise you will like it!"
"By the way, why are you building a temple?"
"It's useful. Thank you all for your hard work. Liangsheng will reward all the aunts and uncles at home someday."
Lu Liangsheng responded with a smile, spoke a few words to his parents, then walked through the rosy glow holding a paper umbrella, came to the mountain god temple, stepped onto the newly paved stone steps. The altar in the first place inside was still empty, so he released the red clay sculpture and used his magic power to suspend it and place it on the altar.
Hong Lian stood under the umbrella without saying a word and remained motionless at the temple gate.
Lu Liangsheng came back from inside, took her hand, walked outside and sat down in front of a broken log lying on the ground, looking at the stretch of Qixia Mountain shrouded in the glow of the sunset.
"I will wait for you until the day you come out. If you feel lonely, tell me in your dream and I will come over to sit with you. When you become a god, we will ride on the donkey together and travel the world together!"
Hong Lian, who was under the umbrella, did not say anything. She just held the man's hand tightly, tilted her head slowly towards his shoulder, and looked at the Lujia Village where the mud road extended in the distance.
"Does Lu Lang keep his word?"
"Haha... keep your word!"
The refreshing sunset enveloped Qixia Mountain. There were only two people in front of the temple, watching everything quietly until darkness spread to one side of the sky.
Hong Lian stood up and walked into the temple gate, slowly turned around, bowed to Lu Liangsheng at the door, with beautiful dimples on her cheeks, smiled sweetly, and turned to the clay sculpture on the altar.
"Lu Lang, it's getting late, let's go back."
"I'll see you again tomorrow! I'll give you a delicious tribute."
Lu Liangsheng waved his hand, smiled, then turned and left. Early the next morning, he picked up a bamboo basket and brought the white flour buns made by Li Jinhua to the tribute table. He also brought pen and ink to the statue, rolled up his wide sleeves, and wrote on the two long plaques with the tip of the pen: The brilliant rays of light have lasted for thousands of years, and the divine power has shaken the universe.
It is hung on both sides of the temple gate, and there is a short plaque on the door with the words "Red Compassionate God" written on it.
The temple is becoming more and more presentable.
Time passed slowly. The tiles on the newly built temple roof were covered with dead leaves, and the new incense burner was also covered with a lot of candle ashes. As spring passed and summer came, the dense woods were filled with the sound of cicadas.
Lu Xiaoxian put on beautiful clothes and sat in the main room, staring at the matchmaker who came to propose marriage. Sun Yingxian was lying on the treetop, tilting her head to glance at the main room with displeasure, making finger gestures and casting spells, kicking the other person's stool, looking extremely embarrassed, before turning back to rest her head on the back of her head and continuing to read the Taoist book.
Seeing the uninvited matchmaker fall, Lu Laoshi laughed and wanted to clap his hands to cheer, but his wife kicked him and he almost cried in pain.
Outside the courtyard, three taller boys ran out of the village quickly with books in their arms, ran up Qixia Mountain, and bowed breathlessly to the Toad Taoist who was cooking breakfast on a big rock with a wooden spoon in his hand and an apron on his back.
"Master, good morning!"
Then, they ran to the thatched cottage in front, sat down in a row, placed the four treasures of the study on the table, and read aloud with the books in their hands.
Birds flew over the thatched cottage with soft chirping, and the old pine trees were singing happily. The pine branches were swaying and dancing. Under the pine tree, Lu Liangsheng, dressed in white clothes with cloud patterns, sat on a stone bench, holding a scroll. He faced the sea of clouds, reading the classics, and occasionally corrected the mistakes made by the young man in the yard over there.
On a hot summer day, in the slightly opened window, a stack of painted skins in a sealed bookshelf slowly moved. A gust of wind blew in, transforming into a graceful figure with fluttering sleeves. She walked towards the window with lotus steps, propped up her chin, listened to Haoran's voice, blinked her eyes and looked at the scholar under the old pine tree, her red lips hooked out of charm.
Still looks so beautiful.
The green mountains gradually turned yellow and withered, and were covered with white snow. Winter passed and spring came again.
Time flies, passing from green to yellow and winter to white.