Sweeping the expressions of the man and the two monsters, Lu Liangsheng frowned slightly and tapped the table with his fingertips one after another. It seems that they are all here to see me, which is a great honor for them.
After a moment, Lu Liangsheng withdrew his gaze and roughly sorted out the whole story.
"So Brother Yan had a dispute with the thousand-year-old tree demon in Lanruo Temple?"
"That monster kidnapped five scholars. Zuo Zhengyang, who was an old friend of Daoist Lu, is holding him back there."
Hearing Yan Chixia's words, Lu Liangsheng on the other side raised his eyebrows and couldn't help but look at the other party. He didn't take the red and white foxes outside the pavilion seriously at all.
The tone was a little surprised.
"Zuo Qianwei is here too? It seems that what I said back then was actually correct."
After saying that, he turned his gaze to the two demons outside. His magic power gathered in his eyes and flowed through the two of them. He pressed down his knees with his hands on the table and his face darkened.
"I met you two outside the Mountain God Temple back then, and I also heard you luring students to take the exam in River Valley County to refine Yang Yuan..."
The clear and calm tone spread slowly. The red and white fox demons crawling on the steps outside the pavilion felt the magic light hovering above their heads and trembled. The white fox wanted to speak, but just as its long kiss opened, it was suddenly closed by the magic power.
Woohoo…
The fox let out a mournful cry and shook its head continuously. The red fox next to it quickly imitated humans, put its front legs together, and kowtowed to Lu Liangsheng who was sitting in the hall.
"… More than a dozen scholars died in the Yang Yuan incident. I thought you two demons had escaped and it would be fine if we didn't run into you. I didn't expect you to be in Lanruo Temple again. What a coincidence. You two demons are full of evil spirits. I think you must have killed many people during your time in Lanruo Temple?"
Lu Liangsheng moved, stretched out his wide sleeves with the hand on his knees, and took out a thumb-sized gourd in his palm. Yan Chixia, who was standing by, took a curious look at it.
"The art of shrinking things."
In the scholar's palm, the thumb-sized gourd quickly enlarged and returned to its original size.
"White Fox..."
When the plug was pulled out, the white fox demon outside the pavilion heard the scholar's voice coming from inside, raised its head, and responded with a whimper.
Woo
The next second, the pitch-black mouth of the gourd enveloped her like a huge mouthpart. Before she could react, she was pulled into the gourd like a piece of paper in Yan Chixia's sight. The red fox demon who was bowing and kowtowing outside the pavilion had tears streaming down her face and kowtowing even faster.
"That's great! This is how a cultivator should slay demons and monsters!"
Seeing that one of the two monsters had entered Lu Liangsheng's magic weapon, he immediately pulled out a small sword from the wooden box and shot it at the red fox outside the pavilion.
Bang!
The black shadow flying in the air suddenly changed direction and nailed to the red pillar of the pavilion. Yan Chixia stood up from the stone bench and looked to the side. "Daoyou Lu, what does this mean?"
Lu Liangsheng lowered his wide sleeves, put the purple gold gourd on the table, lowered his wide sleeves and stood up.
"Fellow Daoist, please be patient. This monster has some connection with me."
When the Dharma light swept over the other party, he finally understood why he and this fox demon had an inexplicable sense of familiarity. When he was in He Liangzhou that year, the demon pill used by his master was from this demon.
He frankly told Yan Chixia the hidden truth, and the latter's thick eyebrows relaxed, and he sat back on the stone bench, "If he died outside without knowing the truth, it would be fine. But now that Fellow Daoist Lu knows about it, he has indirectly accepted her love, which is against the law of cause and effect."
Lu Liangsheng did not answer, but just nodded. After thinking for a while, he stood up and walked outside the pavilion. He stretched out his hand and stroked the head of the red fox that was lying on the ground, not daring to move.
"I still owe you a favor for saving my life, but you and your sister have become demons through cultivation. You love to kill people and have committed too many evil deeds. I cannot let you go like this. I will punish you to do hard labor here for a hundred years. After a hundred years, if your demonic nature changes and you devote yourself to cultivation, I will let you go. Are you willing to accept it?"
How could the red fox demon dare not refuse? His sister was sucked into the gourd and her life was in danger. If he did not accept it, he would naturally end up like that. He kowtowed a few more times in a hurry.
"Sir, this is a great favor. I accept it."
Over there, Lu Liangsheng took out a brush and drew in the air. A magical light appeared and four white ropes circled the red fox's limbs.
"The white rope will be your yoke. If you don't remove it, you will not be able to leave Qixia Mountain. You will work for the villagers here, guide the lost travelers in the mountains, and rescue the mountain people who have stumbled and encountered wild animals. This is to repay your bad debt."
The surrounding environment gradually disappeared, the bright moon and starry sky, the pavilion on the cliff turned into spots of light and dissipated, the sunset glow came, and when Yan Chixia focused his sight again, he was already standing in the dam before. Around him, an old man with gray hair and beard was humming a tune, a young man carrying a sword holding a leaf in his mouth was thinking about something with his eyes closed, and an old donkey was leisurely swinging its tail.
However, of the two original fox demons, only the red one was left, with white ropes tied to its four claws.
"Friend Lu..."
As if in a dream, Yan Chixia turned around quickly and saw Lu Liangsheng holding a scroll, as if he had just come from outside the village. The scholar bowed and waved his sleeves towards the fox demon in front of the old donkey's hoof.
"You go ahead."
Squeak... Squeak...
The red fox hummed softly, and kowtowed a few times as if in a dream. Then, dragging its long fluffy tail, it walked towards the village entrance, looking back every few steps. The fox cried sadly, quickened its pace, and rushed to the fields outside the village.
Everyone watched for a while, and Lu Liangsheng called Li Sui'an over. The latter quickly spit out the grass leaves, held the green sword given to him by his master, and stood there respectfully.
"Master."
"Go and call back Yuwen Tuo and Qu Yuanfeng. I have to go on a long journey. You should follow me and gain some experience along the way."
Lu Liangsheng gave an order and invited Yan Chixia beside him to walk to the small fenced courtyard in the village. The latter was also a generous person and bowed.
"please!"
Over there, after listening to the master's instructions, Li Sui'an waited for the two to leave, grinning with his teeth showing, and stomped a few times on the spot excitedly. Behind the stall, Wang Banxia looked at the sunset with his eyes wide open, stroked his beard and said softly: "Junior brother, go quickly. Senior brother has a problem with his eyes, so he won't go."
Li Sui'an made a gesture to him, then spread his legs and ran out of the village. With a tap of his feet, he drew a trail in the sunset glow and floated to the rocks on the broken walls of the mountain path.
"Second Brother, Fourth Brother, Master has come out of seclusion!!"
The magic power, along with the shout, echoed in the mountains, startling a flock of birds that flew out of the woods and circled in the sunset glow.
Amid the chirping of birds, fallen leaves in the forest fluttered across the shoulders of the person sitting cross-legged on the green rock. The moment they touched the cloth, they burst into flames, and the dead leaves quickly burned up, turning into a pool of ashes. The wind blew through the forest and spread into the air.
Yuwen Tuo opened his eyes, lightning flashed in his brown-blue pupils. He heard the shouts from outside and stood up from the rock. The circle where he was sitting cross-legged was full of ashes from burnt dead branches and leaves.
"...Master, you want to take us on a long journey..."
The voice came back, and a figure walked through the woods and came to the edge of the cliff. Looking at Lujia Village in the sunset glow, his clothes were fluttering in the wind. Yuwen Tuo clenched his fists. It had been three years, and he could finally go outside and take a look.
The magic power flowed, and several afterimages of his figure suddenly appeared in the sky, drawing an arc high in the sky and falling towards the direction of the village.
At the same time, in another mountain where there were many wolves, Qu Yuanfeng, carrying firewood on his back and holding a few small flags, was walking and confronting several wolves. With the wind flags waving, his feet were as fast as the wind. In the blink of an eye, he passed the wolves blocking the way. The leader wolf tilted its head, arched its body, bared its fangs, and pounced forward, biting the burly and strong woodcutter.
Qu Yuanfeng unfolded the flag in his hand, and the wolf's fangs clamped his wrist, but it couldn't even break the flesh. Instead, the wolf leader was dragged several feet away.
"I won't play with you today. Third Senior Brother said that Master has come out of seclusion, so we have to go and pay our respects to him."
With a flick of his wrist, he flung the wolf far away, then turned around and took a step forward, and walked two or three feet to the village entrance, where Yuwen Tuo and Li Suian were already waiting for him. After they greeted each other, they, together with their eldest brother who was fortune-telling at the stall, hurried back to the small courtyard behind their home.
…
In the attic of the courtyard, which was already covered with traces of wind and rain, Li Jinhua came out from the backyard waving a broom and kicked the old hen that was clucking.
"I've raised it for so many years, but it's laying fewer eggs. It's not as solid as the toad opposite you. At least it can help catch insects in the vegetable garden. I'll stew you tomorrow!"
The Toad Taoist, who was lying beside the vegetable garden, looked at the cursing woman and the corners of his mouth twitched.
"Thank you so much for your praise..."
Under the old tree in the courtyard, Yan Chixia was sitting in front of the stone table, feeling a little awkward holding the tea. When Lu Liangsheng came out of the house with a bookshelf, he quickly put down the teacup, stood up and bowed.
"Friend Lu, let's not eat anymore. Let's get on the road quickly."
"Okay, but wait a moment."
Lu Liangsheng put the bookshelf in the yard and blew a whistle. The old donkey ran excitedly to its owner with the reins in its mouth, jumping and neighing, which attracted Li Jinhua to slap it on the forehead.
"Why are you jumping for joy? I'll beat you up if the tiles break!"
The woman hung a bundle on the donkey's neck, glanced at the toad on the ground, and instructed her son beside her.
"Save some food for the journey."
"Got it. Go get busy." Lu Liangsheng put the bookshelf on the old donkey's buttocks, picked up the master on the ground, and put him on the old donkey's head. "Go to the mountain road with this Taoist friend Yan and wait for me."
He found some incense and candles, and told the three disciples who had rushed back to bring back Sun Yingxian who had gone to the mountains to practice. Then he waved his sleeves, walked to the fields outside the village in the sunset glow, and walked along the mossy stone brick path. Amid the rustling sound of fallen leaves, he went to the temple with the words "Hong Lianshen" written on it, lit the incense and candles, and put them in the incense burner.
The setting sun cast its last vestiges of red on the top of the mountain.
Lu Liangsheng walked into the temple and quietly looked at the colorful sculpture on the altar with long sleeves spread out.
"I'm going on a long journey to Lanruo Temple. Maybe I'll be back in a few days, or maybe... Anyway, it won't be too long. You should practice well here and don't worry."
A faint female voice came from the colorful clay statue.
"Don't worry, Lu Lang. Hong Lian already has some magical powers and can protect Lujia Village."
The two of them spoke tenderly. Soon, the setting sun went down the mountain and darkness swept over, pushing the edge of the light. Lu Liangsheng stood up, said goodbye, walked out of the temple gate, and came to the mountain path.
The old donkey sneezed while chewing grass. In the shaking bookshelf, the Toad Taoist held a pipe in his mouth and tied the rope around himself skillfully. Yan Chixia sat on a stone by the roadside, wiping the wooden box in his arms. The three apprentices, who were carrying bags on their backs, were talking excitedly to each other. When they saw their master coming, they stood up straight.
They shouted in unison: "Master!"
"Have you called Taoist Sun?"
"He said he'd be there soon."
"Well, let's go first."
Lu Liangsheng took the reins and the old donkey followed behind. The bells under its neck jingled and rang crisply on the mountain path.