It is early summer, and the green mountains are swaying in the warm sunshine. The paved mountain roads are covered with yellow mud. Packhorses carrying mountain products are slowly pulled down the mountain by merchants.
Know, know, know…
The whole mountain was filled with the sound of cicadas chirping one after another, and the sound of tinkling copper bells came from the stone path at the foot of the mountain. Among the passers-by and vendors, there was a young man in a white robe with cloud patterns, walking slowly with an old donkey with mottled and fading hair, and a blind old man following behind him.
I probably guessed that some young man from some unknown family came with his old servant to enjoy the scenery, so I just took a look at him twice and then stopped looking.
"Master, take a break. We have been walking for an hour. I am afraid your body cannot bear it."
Wang Banxia followed and whispered something behind the donkey, wiped the sweat off his face, raised his finger and pointed at the small door of the bookshelf, and quickly added.
"Master can't bear it either."
"You're lucky you can talk." In the cubicle, Taoist Toad was wearing a short coat and wiping his wet face with a small handkerchief with his webbed fingers. The cubicle was stuffy and hot, and with the old donkey's body temperature, it felt like a steamer inside.
He picked up his pipe and knocked on the small door, then called out in a Buddhist voice, "Liangsheng, find a place to rest for a while. I am thirsty."
Hum hum hum~~
The old donkey tilted its neck as if to laugh at him, sneezed, and followed its master in front of it even more happily, with the shaking bookshelf swaying back and forth on its hips.
After a moment, a hand reached out and patted the old donkey on the head. Lu Liangsheng, who was walking in front, turned his head and said, "What a temper you have, walk properly!"
Afterwards, he replied to his master's words.
"There's a tea stand in front. Let's go over there and have a cup of herbal tea to rest our feet. Master can also take a breath."
"Yes, yes, I see... Bah, I heard it!" Wang Banxia stood on tiptoe and listened with his head tilted. Amid the sound of footsteps coming and going on the mountain path, more than ten feet ahead, he could hear people shouting and merchants clamoring for more tea.
When the two men and the donkey passed by, a table of guests happened to be paying the bill and coming out. The waiter wiped the table and saw the scholar and the old man who had lodged the donkey. He came out happily to greet them, and helped them move the bookshelf down and put it next to the table that had just left.
"My two guests, please sit inside. Please sit inside. Our stall's sour jujube herbal tea is very thirst-quenching. We also have cold cakes and pork with garlic, which are very delicious. We also have green onion tofu and green bean soup as side dishes, which are all good for relieving fatigue during the journey. Please both order one portion to taste."
Lu Liangsheng invited Wang Banxia to sit down, and sat casually in one corner. He opened the bookshelf, took out the "Master" from it, and put it on the table.
"Okay, one for each."
Over there, the waiter saw a big toad wearing short gowns curled up at the corner of the table. He was stunned. Wang Banxia, who was standing next to him, pushed him lightly, nodded, stroked his beard and chuckled.
"Go get busy, man, don't be surprised."
“Hey hey.”
The waiter looked away, responded twice, wrote down the dishes, and asked the old man who had set up a stove in the corner of the stall to help pass the firewood. He lowered his voice and whispered:
"Dad, these rich young men, not only are they leading an old donkey to act elegant, but they also bring a toad with them, and it doesn't look scary at all. It's so big, but they still put clothes on it, it's really weird."
"You're too talkative."
Behind the stove, the old man threw a bean shell at his son's head, then took two bowls of cold tea and walked to the scholar's table. He placed the bowl for Lu Liangsheng first, and the second bowl for the blind old man.
Lu Liangsheng naturally heard what the waiter said. Fearing that he might disturb the other party's business, he took the tea with a smile and said, "Old man, I wonder if my toad disturbed the customers in the store?"
"Haha, sir, you are worrying too much. No, no, just drink your tea and eat your food in peace!"
The old man laughed heartily, "I have been setting up a stall here for thirty or forty years, and I have seen everything. Only that kid is making a fuss, so please don't mind it, sir."
Lu Liangsheng also laughed, bowed to him, and walked around to the other three tables.
"Well, there are people in this world who like to walk their dogs and carry their birds, but I prefer toads. I hope you won't blame me."
Most of the guests at the three tables over there were passers-by and vendors. They had traveled far and wide and were well-informed. It was not surprising for them to see a big toad lying on the table opposite them after just a few glances.
Someone returned the greeting and laughed:
"It's alright. The world is vast. We are all welcome to eat together. Sir, you eat yours and we eat ours. Who says that toads can't be at the table? Hahaha!"
These words caused laughter from the people around. On the table, the Toad Taoist, who was curled up in a ball, rolled his eyes, crawled over and lay beside the bowl, gulping down the herbal tea.
"Oh my, that toad actually rolled its eyes!" "It can even crawl to drink water by itself. Sir, do you want to sell this toad? I'll buy it for 200 coins."
“… Four hundred!”
"I'll give you one or two taels! Toads are meant to attract wealth, a few hundred coins, are you willing to pay?"
The teahouse was filled with laughter, causing the Toad Taoist to almost choke on his mouthful of water. He bulged his eyes and glared at the group of rough men, "Damn it! How dare you tease me?"
Lu Liangsheng knew that these people were just talking to liven up the atmosphere, so he responded with a few words. The dishes were ready and were served one by one. He hurriedly picked up a piece of white meat dipped in soy sauce with his chopsticks and gave it to his master.
"Master, don't be angry. They are just rough guys walking around outside, and they talk like that."
The Toad Taoist lay down and responded vaguely while holding a piece of meat in his mouth.
"I know. How can I bother with them?"
At this time, over at the stove, an old man who had taken a break wiped his hands, sat down aside, pounded his legs, and looked at the people laughing and chatting in the teahouse. Wrinkles appeared on his old face, and he started to laugh along with them.
"Toads are not rare, but a toad this big is rare. If I had a hundred taels, I would be willing to buy it."
A table of guests took a sip of herbal tea, put it on the table and said with a smile:
"Old man, do you have any idea?"
"It's not easy for a wild animal to grow this big. It must be very spiritual." The old man said, put his legs away and asked the waiter, that is, his son, to bring a bowl of water for him to drink.
"You have traveled a lot, how could you not know this truth? I tell you, there are spiritual creatures in this mountain, but it's a pity that ordinary people can't see them."
Lu Liangsheng, who was eating, stopped eating, raised his head and smiled: "Shopkeeper, what does that spiritual object look like? Have you seen it?"
The guests at the three tables were also intrigued by the old man. They were all people who had been making their livings outside, and listening to these strange and bizarre things was the best way to relieve their boredom.
"Yes, tell us about it." "What does the spirit creature look like? Is it a beast that has become a spirit?"
"Could it be that she is a beauty? Haha!"
The old man drank up the cold water, stood up and put it on the stove, shook his head and smiled: "What beauty? That's a snake. I have been setting up a stall here for many years. Have you heard of the strange things that people around you say?"
"Strange?" Someone thought for a moment and slammed the table: "When I went up the mountain, I heard people in the village below talking about a big snake in the mountain. It has a very long body, its tail is at the top of the mountain, and its head is at the bottom of the mountain. It was drinking water by the river, right?"
"Yes! It's this snake!" The old man walked past the stove and came to the middle of several tables. He became interested, pinched the tip of his whisker, and squinted his eyes as if he was reminiscing.
"You don't know. They just heard about it. I saw it with my own eyes. It wasn't as long as they said, but it was more than ten feet long. When the sun shone on it, its scales were all white. People couldn't open their eyes when they were shot. It flashed and disappeared in a flash."
A gentle breeze blew along the mountain path. The old pines swayed, and spots of light shining through them fell into the teahouse. Lu Liangsheng held the tea bowl to his lips, closed his eyes, and listened quietly to the old man's story.
Know, know, know…
The cicadas' chirping was annoying. Inside the teahouse, everyone held chopsticks and tea bowls, listening to the old man's story, gradually becoming absorbed in it.