The crimson western clouds float over the mountaintops, the fiery sunset shines on the endless woods all over the mountains, and in the evening mountain breeze, the dense branches and leaves create ripples.
The sound of tinkling copper bells rang out on the mountain road in the sunset. A scholar in a white robe sat on the back of a donkey with his eyes closed, pondering the confusion in his heart. A blind old man with a cane counted on his fingers how many stones there were on the road under his feet and stepped over them easily.
The old donkey's hindquarters were rising and falling, and on the slightly swaying bookshelf, Toad Taoist was sitting behind a small door, looking through the gap in the fence at the mountains and fields outside in early summer.
The sunset seemed to melt the green all over the mountains and fields, turning them into a brown and desolate northwest land. The chirping of cicadas in my ears gradually became like the sounds of fighting and shouting.
"Don't leave, that purple smoke demon—"
"Surround him! This evil demon has eaten countless people. Fellow Taoists, do not let him escape and bring disaster to the world!"
"Monster! The lives of seven hundred and sixty people in Fushan Town are waiting for you underground!!"
The mountains were filled with mist and countless figures gathered together or dispersed, waving their magical weapons to cover the sky and the sun, and rays of magic light shot towards the distant mountain peaks.
boom!
Boom boom boom—
The rocks collapsed and exploded, and the entire mountaintop was flattened by the bombardment of dense Dharma light. The air waves spread in all directions, and the surrounding forests were broken in an instant and fell down in large areas.
When the smoke and dust cleared, the old man standing on the top of the mountain had his robes fluttering in the wind, his hair and beard mixed with a little dust fluttering in the wind, and he looked at the people from several major sects below without retreating at all.
"Hahaha, how could I run away—"
With a flick of his wide sleeves, a purple-gold gourd with black patterns appeared out of thin air on his outstretched palm. He uncorked it and threw it into the air. A cloud of purple smoke rushed out of the gourd's mouth and rolled down the mountain like a wave.
"My fellow Taoists, hold on to this wave of poisonous smoke. The Purple Smoke Demon Dao will be exhausted and won't be able to hold on for long!"
Sure enough, the sweeping purple poisonous smoke was controlled by everyone's magic and magic weapons to resist the barrier outside. In less than half a cup of tea, the demon on the hilltop began to tremble. The years of devouring other people's cultivation began to backfire. Blood flowed from the corners of his mouth, staining his long beard red.
However, before the monks from the sect below could rush to the top of the mountain, the view under the sun suddenly became cloudy. Everyone looked back and saw yellow sand rolling across the sky and earth in the northwest, instantly covering the crowd.
"ah-"
Suddenly, a sharp scream rang out in the vast dust. A nearby monk turned his head and saw his fellow monk in his sight. His head fell off with a scream, and blood spurted from the headless shoulders into the sky. In an instant, a black shadow like a cloak rushed towards him.
The dazed monk's vision darkened, and he felt a brief sharp pain in his chest. In his ears, he could hear countless voices shouting, which gradually became blurred.
"There's something in the yellow sand?!"
“… Oh no, the helper of Ziyan Yaodao!” “Northwest, Huangsha, it’s him—”
The monk in mid-air saw the black shadow in the yellow sand. On a path of blood splattered by the crowd below, the black shadow leaped into the sky, turned in mid-air, and flew to a nearby dry rock. With a wave of his arm, the yellow sand in the sky whistled, gathered into a ball and flew back into the man's sleeve.
The figure with its back turned sideways slowly, with stern eyes, a high nose, a wide mouth, a circle of short beard under the chin, slightly open lips, and a powerful voice.
"Old Toad, I will hold Chengyun and Juling Mansion for you, and you can handle the rest on your own!"
From the voice, there was a shawl covering the body, and the snow-white fur was fluttering in the wind. Without looking at him, one could tell who it was. The old man on the hill over there smiled and nodded.
"good."
That was the last time we saw each other.
…
The memory went back to the past, and amid the tinkling sound of copper bells, the image in Toad Taoist's mind froze on the figure on the dry rock.
The Man in White Robe is a great demon who has lived through many dynasties in the human world. He can be traced back to the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. He was originally a dead white wolf. His confused soul accidentally inhabited a shrine that was worshipped by people, absorbed the incense and offerings of the general guarding the border, and merged with the bones in the coffin under the shrine, thus achieving the combination of incense, demonic power, and the murderous aura of a military general. After more than three hundred years, he is more powerful than other thousand-year-old demon cultivators.
He even gave himself the surname Gongsun. When the Toad Taoist first asked him why he chose this surname, the white-robed young man did not explain much, but only said: "When I was a wild beast, I had a master, and I just gave it to him in memory."
"Gongsun Liao."
Amid the creaking sound of the shaking bookshelf, the Toad Taoist, who was sitting cross-legged, murmured the name softly. Looking at the mountain scenery slowly passing by outside the fence, his bean-sized toad eyes showed a complex and longing look.
The message brought by the other party meant to ask him to return to the northwest.
Outside, the sound of the copper bell stopped, and the bookshelves were noisy for a while. Then, the disciple Wang Banxia came running over and said, "Master, the master wants you to eat. I just passed by the stream and caught a fish."
The toad, who was still lost in thought, came to his senses and smelled the aroma of fried fish. His serious expression suddenly disappeared, and he pushed the small door open. He lowered himself to the ground hanging on a rope, untied the rope around his waist with a rustle, and ran over excitedly with his long tongue swinging, jumping up and down, waving his flippers and shouting.
"Liangsheng, please move aside and let me do it... Yes, yes, add more salt to remove the fishy smell and add flavor!!"
As for the thought of "returning to the northwest" that I had considered before, it had disappeared into thin air.
Lu Liangsheng had no choice but to hand the spatula to the yelling master. Banxia also came over to help and handed Toad's apron to him. The latter tied it on and focused on flipping a fish in the pot.
The scholar stepped aside and watched Banxia and the master busying themselves. Too lazy to be idle, he took "Boundless Mountains and Seas" and sat beside them to look through it. On the painting, the stagnant normal line connected to the altar of Qingcheng Mountain, but there was no logo like that of Changyang Mountain, only a small logo of the altar was lit.
Um
After staring at it for a while, he vaguely felt a force of magic power passing through the paper and transmitting to his body. The Nascent Soul stage, which had not made any progress for a long time, showed signs of loosening.
Muddy roads, old pines, and cool breezes from the sunset. Lu Liangsheng sat leaning against a tree, taking advantage of the red glow of the sunset, and used his magic power to probe the painting, trying to draw from the Wanling Formation of Qingcheng Mountain.
Not long after, a wisp of white gas visible to the naked eye flew out, merged into the scholar's body through the magic power through his fingertips, and merged with his own cultivation without any feeling of rejection.
'It actually has this effect...' He didn't intend to try it out. This method of improving his cultivation made Lu Liangsheng laugh. He inhaled a little more. The two small fires on the altar gradually dimmed. It seemed that they needed to be stored. Changyang Mountain...
The scholar cast his eyes towards the larger symbol above him, and when he probed with his fingertips, he heard a strange and furious roar in his head.
"roll!"
It was like someone was roaring in his ear, and Lu Liangsheng was so frightened that he almost threw the book away. Then he remembered that the altar contained Xing Tian's head, and naturally he would not be able to absorb his magic power easily.
"… If the mana there was extracted, it could not be the ancient god Xing Tian, right? No wonder he is so fierce."
Lu Liangsheng closed the book. This kind of thing cannot be forced. Without other people's permission, what is the difference between robbery and thief? After thinking for a while, the food was ready. Toad Taoist served the fish, took off his apron, and waved his flippers at his apprentice.
"Liangsheng, come and taste my cooking!"
Wang Banxia held the plate and smelled it, then let out a long sigh.
"Master's craftsmanship is hard to find in the world."
"Need you to tell me? Liangsheng knows this aspect of the old man."
Soon, it was dark after dinner. We went down the mountain in the night and hurried into Yancheng. It was a small county in Sichuan, unlike the capital cities of Chang'an and Tianzhi, and there were few pedestrians in the night.
In the inn with lanterns hanging, waiters were carrying dishes past the empty tables, and the shopkeeper was yawning and leaning over the counter, looking at the transactions calculated in the account; the only two tables of guests spoke with northern accents and played finger-guessing games loudly under the influence of alcohol, and the scholar and old man who walked in from outside were completely unaware.
"Sir, your dishes..."
After serving the dishes, the waiter walked back and saw an old man and a young boy coming in. He quickly took off the rag from his shoulder and wiped the table and chairs.
"Would you like to stay at the hotel or have a meal? We have rooms available, 20 cents per room. If you want to have a meal, we have marinated rabbit meat and spicy pork shreds. Both are specialties of our kitchen, and I guarantee they will be delicious."
"After eating outside, I'll have two bowls of porridge and a vegetable dish. By the way, can you help me send the old donkey outside the door to the backyard and feed it some grass?"
Lu Liangsheng bowed to the waiter and sat down at a random table. As soon as he entered the door, he was a guest. No matter how many dishes he ordered, the shopkeeper would still bring an oil lamp and place it on the scholar's table.
"You two, if it's not enough, just ask the waiter to add more food."
"Thank you, store owner."
The shopkeeper chatted with a smile and went back behind the counter. The business of the inn was not very good, but it was not bad with three tables of guests. However, the other two tables were all merchants who came to sell goods, and they played finger-guessing games and talked quite loudly.
"Drink later, let me take a break first!"
"You're such a coward! Judging from your alcohol tolerance, you must be from the north!"
“… What does it have to do with the northerners? I just want to take a break. But speaking of which, you came from Jiangdong. Did you know that a war had started in the north?!”
"I heard there was going to be a fight, so why is it happening now?"
"Oh, you don't know yet. I knew it when I entered Shu from Hanchuan. Several Turkic tribes with 400,000 troops marched south, and war broke out everywhere!"
"These Turks deserve to die. Can't we just live in peace?!"
"So, the dead Turks are the good Turks. By the way, how does the imperial court react? Are there any troops going to meet them?"
"I don't know. I heard that troops were mobilized before the New Year. There should be troops stationed at the border."
"There will definitely be a fight! With 400,000 Turks heading south, I wonder if the imperial court can withstand it."
Lu Liangsheng, who was sitting at a table not far away, was listening to the conversation between the two tables of businessmen from the north and didn't even notice that the food had been served.
The light of the oil lamp on the table flickered as he was lost in thought.
'I don't know if Qu Yuanfeng is at the front line. Although I taught him the magic circle, he is facing a Turkish army of 400,000. I don't know if he can win...'
'I hope we can win.'
For some reason, when Lu Liangsheng suddenly heard the news, he had a bad feeling in his heart. His thoughts on the Wanling Formation and the Xuanyuan Sword Scabbard turned into worry about his disciple.
After a simple dinner, I checked into a room with two beds and made a decision early the next morning.
North to the border!