Steam was rising from the winding official road. Cicadas were chirping on the branches of the old trees beside the tea stalls. Merchants who were taking a break were clamoring for more tea. The busy waiter, who was sweating profusely, took a rag to wipe the sweat from his forehead and occasionally raised his head to look up. At the end of the road, the sound of neck bells jingled.
Mud and dust were stirred up by the donkey's hooves. A scholar in a blue shirt with a white robe underneath was leading the old donkey. From time to time, he chatted and laughed with a bearded man carrying a wooden box beside him, pointing to the outline of the city ahead.
"That's River Valley County over there. Have you been there when Fellow Daoist Yan came here?"
"Not really. I was just busy getting here. How could I be in this mood right now?" Yan Chixia put down the water bag and wiped the water stains off his beard. Under the scorching sun, he felt dry mouth and tongue, and he seemed powerless when he spoke.
Behind the two of them, Yuwen Tuo was wearing a light blue robe, clean and tidy. He didn't seem to care about the scorching sun above his head. A red and blue long sword with a dragon head and a golden handle hung at his waist, swaying gently as he walked. To one side of him, after passing Fushui County, Li Sui'an lost his spirit to go out and looked listless all the way.
Qu Yuanfeng, who was following behind the two men, was carrying a large bag. He was tall and had two or three bags hanging on his arms, but it did not affect his walking at all. A distance of more than a hundred miles was nothing for his legs.
When they were almost at the city, Lu Liangsheng invited Yan Chixia to go in together: "There is a senior scholar in the city, and I haven't visited him for many years. Fellow Daoist Yan, why don't you go with us?"
Arriving outside the city gate, Yan Chixia looked at the merchants and pedestrians coming in and out, as well as the soldiers checking people. He didn't want to cause any trouble, so he waved his hand and walked to the foot of the wall.
"No, no, I will wait outside the city. I hope Brother Lu can hurry up. I am afraid Zuo Zhengyang can't hold on."
"Don't worry about that, over there."
Lu Liangsheng comforted him, turned to look at the three disciples behind him, and gave them some copper coins.
"I will be in for a moment. You can go around and buy some snacks."
"Yes, Master!"
The three men took a few copper coins and saw the figure of the master leading the old donkey gradually become blurred and walk straight into the city gate. Li Sui'an threw a dozen copper coins in his hand, squeezed them again, and grabbed them in the air with his palm.
"Come on, when I came over there, I saw someone selling good things..."
As he spoke, he encouraged Yuwen Tuo and Qu Yuanfeng to go to a roadside stall not far outside the city. Yan Chixia sat on a wooden box with his knees bent, with his horse and sword in his hands. From time to time, he looked up at the sky, shook his head and sighed.
In the city, Lu Liangsheng led his old donkey through the busy streets. The tinkling sound of copper bells rang outside the blue brick courtyard wall. A few dense branches of ancient pines fell on the street. He walked to the tall gate of the mansion in front, loosened the reins, and passed the stone lions covered with moss on both sides.
Standing at the door, he reached out and knocked on the copper knocker on the red lacquered door.
With a soft creaking sound, the door moved a little, and the old doorman looked out and took a few glances at the scholar outside the door, thinking that he looked familiar.
"Sir, are you looking for my master?"
"My name is Lu Liangsheng, do you still remember me, old man?"
The old man inside the door opened his mouth slightly and uttered a long "oh". Once reminded, he immediately remembered the scholar who almost became the son-in-law of the mansion.
He quickly opened the door and welcomed Lu Liangsheng in. The latter bowed and thanked him. Looking at the old potted trees in the yard, they were still as lush and green as before, and many places were elegant.
"How has Master Zhou been in recent years?" Lu Liangsheng asked casually as the doorman walked down the stone steps under the eaves.
"It's okay, it's okay, but the master has been feeling unwell recently."
Lu Liangsheng was familiar with the routes in the mansion, so he didn't need the doorman to tell him where to go. He found his way on his own. On the way, he met some familiar maids and servants from the mansion, who all ran away in surprise and joy.
"Hey, come and see who's here." "Oh, isn't this Mr. Lu?!"
"I'm afraid I can't call you Master anymore..."
"What's that called?" "I don't know, don't talk, Master Lu is coming."
"Aren't you still calling me Young Master?!"
…
Amid the chattering of the maids and servants, she watched a graceful scholar walking under the eaves in the distance. He asked a few words to others, then turned and went to the study.
Lu Liangsheng knocked on the door, and a familiar voice came from inside: "Come in."
Creak.
The door opened, and an old man in clothes, who coughed a few times, raised his face from the desk. His hair and beard had turned almost completely white over the years. When he saw the figure coming in, his cloudy eyes lit up. He put down the brush in his hand, pulled the clothes on his shoulders, and walked quickly away from the desk.
"Why are you here, Liangsheng? Come and sit down."
The scholar and him had a teacher-student relationship, so he invited him to sit down, took the teapot, and poured tea: "It's been a long time since I last saw you, Liangsheng. I hope you are doing well now."
"Greetings should be asked by the younger generation."
Lu Liangsheng took the teapot from him, filled a cup, and presented it to the old man respectfully.
This made Zhou Zhen tap his fingers a few times, then he took the cup with a smile and took a sip.
"Stop talking about this kind of pedantic etiquette. Sit down now. Don't talk while standing."
An old man and a young man sat down together. Lu Liangsheng sat opposite the old man and looked at him carefully. Since the death of his mentor, the old man in front of him has aged a lot in the past few years, and his eyes no longer have the majesty that they sometimes showed in the past.
The purpose of coming here this time was to see him and chat about family matters. After they talked for a while, Lu Liangsheng stood up and squatted in front of Zhou Zhen, asking him to stretch out his arm and put his fingertips on his pulse.
"Master Zhou must have been overworked these days, and his liver is irritated. Plus, he is old and weak, and he caught a cold from staying up late."
Sitting on the brown lacquered wooden chair, Zhou Zhen smiled and waved his hands: "The country is destroyed and the dynasty is over. I am also worried that the new dynasty will be unkind to the people of my old dynasty. Therefore, I often write articles to call on scholars to run more and redress the injustices of the people. Who would have thought that my body could not withstand the torment."
Suddenly, a warm air spread on his wrist. The old man stopped talking, opened his eyes wide and looked at the scholar in front of him. He felt the warmth spread through his arm and his whole body, and the feeling of drowsiness and headache disappeared immediately.
"Master Zhou, please enjoy your remaining years in peace and the people of this land will be safe."
Lu Liangsheng retracted his hand, put down the old man's sleeve, stood up, returned to his seat, took a sip of tea and said, "The unification of the world will only benefit the people. Master Zhou is famous, so why not let the big families in Jiangnan open their minds and accept the new dynasty more."
"This is difficult."
Zhou Zhen shook his head. "It's hard to say what the situation is. In addition, Emperor Chen is still alive and lobbying everywhere, which will inevitably cause some big families to waver."
What the old man said was not without reason. Such mundane matters were sometimes more complicated and difficult than practicing Taoism. Lu Liangsheng smiled and did not continue talking with Zhou Zhen.
After sitting in the study for half an hour, he asked to leave. After all, he had important things to do, so Lu Liangsheng did not stay any longer. The old man sent him out of the house and returned to the study. He sat quietly on the chair, looking at the two cups of tea on the table with the remaining heat, and thought of the old friend who had passed away.
'Mr. Shuhua, you have a good student.'
There were also whispers of loneliness. Ever since his daughter re-selected her husband's family and got married, she seldom came back. Only his old wife was left to accompany him, and the house always felt empty.
The remaining warmth of the tea and the hot steam drifted out of the door. The treetops swayed in the wind, and birds with cicadas in their mouths flew to the treetops. In the city, a figure leading an old donkey walked through the bustling long street, walked out of the city gate, and snapped his fingers in the ear of Yan Chixia, who was dozing off and nodding his head.
"Wake up, it's time to go."
Not far away, the three disciples who were wandering around to watch the fun also came back. Li Sui'an put some snacks he bought into the small compartment of the bookshelf. Taoist Toad looked at the candied fruits and molasses, and the corners of his mouth were grinning to the back of his head.
"This disciple is still a good person."
Tied with a rope, he pushed open the small door of the compartment and sat on the edge, dangling his two short legs and swaying gently, humming a tune, 'Leading the old donkey... followed by three apprentices, one cold, one stupid, and the other the smartest...'
While humming, he quickly picked some snacks and stuffed them into his mouth.
There was food and drink along the way, and there was also Li Sui'an, a knowledgeable and interesting boy. It was quite comfortable, much better than following an apprentice.
After that, the pace quickened. After passing Tianzhi, the former capital of Southern Chen, the road became increasingly rugged and the surrounding mountains became steeper.
Summer rainstorms sometimes come suddenly. After an afternoon of rain, the rain stopped and the sky cleared up. Lu Liangsheng and others arrived in Heliangzhou at this time. When they passed by a certain area, Yuwen Tuo, who was always silent and cold, suddenly stopped and took out incense, candles, and paper money from his bag.
This was bought with the copper coins given by the master before. No wonder Li Sui'an bought snacks while Qu Yuanfeng kept the money without spending a penny. Only he spent it, but he didn't let anyone see it. Until now, everyone knew what he bought.
"My parents brought me back to visit relatives, and that's where they met with an accident."
Watching the burning incense sticks stuck in the ground, Yuwen Tuo pushed aside a thick stack of yellow paper, lit it, and burned it towards an open space. His voice was choked with sobs and tears flickered in the corners of his eyes.
After throwing the last piece of yellow paper into the fire, he raised his head and looked at Lu Liangsheng who was beside him.
"Master, do you know who killed my parents?"
Lu Liangsheng shook his head and helped him up.
"This, Master, I don't know. The monk who sent you here that day has seen those murderers, but they were all masked."
“But Tuo recognized the Southern Chen accent that day.” Yuwen Tuo clenched his fists. Although the three years of studying had enlightened his mind, the hatred for his parents had added a lot of hostility to his brows.
"If you planned the crime, how could you let someone catch you?"
Lu Liangsheng also had his own opinion on this matter, and it was not impossible to tell it to his apprentice now. Yuwen Tuo was no longer the twelve or thirteen years old he was before, so it would be better to talk it out rather than create a rift between the master and the apprentice.
"What I am worried about is the strategy of putting the blame on someone, which will reveal that he is not acting carefully. Words can never be used as evidence. He can imitate what he said, and I can imitate what he said. Therefore, I guess that the real perpetrator is definitely not from the Southern Chen side."
After hearing this, Yuwen Tuo fell silent and thought, while Li Suian patted his shoulder.
"Master is right. This kind of thing is too fake at the beginning. It can only deceive you when you are a child."
"Well, I save that."
Immediately, he bowed to Lu Liangsheng and said, "Tuo, thank you for your guidance, Master. After that, I want to go to the Great Sui Dynasty to visit other relatives at home."
"Um."
On the other side, Lu Liangsheng nodded, took the reins, and pulled the old donkey to continue on the road.
"I brought you out here to give you some experience. Let's go after Lanruo Temple."
Ding ding ding…
The setting sun shone over, casting the shadows of a group of people slanting across the ground. They walked towards the ferry under the bright red glow. Soon, the ferry went north towards Jinzhou Shangyong. Yuwen Tuo gradually got rid of his previous sadness, and smiled a little along the way. With five people, one toad, and Old Donkey included, it was very lively.