"Marinated lamb chops, top quality tender lamb, just slaughtered today!"
"White embroidered scarves are worn by the daughters-in-law of each family to make them look more charming. There are also long gowns and white veils for the elderly women in the family to choose from!"
"Dear passerby, please pick one up and take a look! It's a solid toilet with a solid handle that won't break while you're carrying it!"
…
The hustle and bustle faded away through the city gate. Coming out of Liu Gun's house, Lu Liangsheng led the old donkey out of the city gate, looked back at the city where the Hu and Han people gathered, and went back towards Chang'an with Zhu Ganglie amid the sound of camel bells.
In a hurry, they chose a sparsely traveled mountain path. The mountains and forests were undulating, and the chirping of cicadas and birds mixed in their ears. When it was noon, even if they were not tired, it was time to eat. Now that the task was completed, they were not in such a hurry anymore. The man and the two monsters chose a position close to a tree, lit a bonfire halfway up the mountain, and cooked a meal.
The pig demon who followed Liangsheng all the way became less talkative as they moved forward. When Lu Liangsheng occasionally mentioned his weapon, he would just casually say a few words, "It's almost there." He probably already knew where it was, and would go when he wanted to, thinking about the scholar painting a picture of the moon in Shaoyi for him.
After making do with the meal, Zhu Ganglie suddenly turned his head to look at the scholar who was washing the dishes.
"Did you really see the monkey?"
"Yes."
Lu Liangsheng responded, and the clear water poured out of the water bag turned into a crystal clear "water snake" that rolled over the residue in the pots and bowls, wiped them, and put them on the bookshelf.
He also told the pig demon everything he had said to the monkey on the mountain. The latter leaned against the tree with his hands on his big belly, picked his teeth, and groaned in a muffled voice.
"That monkey is very smart, don't be fooled by him."
In the mottled sunlight, a toad that was curled up in a ball and basking in the sun with bumps on its back opened its eyes, agreed with the pig demon, and slowly got up and sat aside.
"He didn't listen. How kind-hearted can a demon king who is trapped under a mountain be?"
Shuangpang hugged his chest and snorted heavily, "If I hadn't been so knowledgeable, this good guy might have helped the monkey."
Over there, the scholar, who had finished packing, turned around and looked at the two monsters who seemed to be denouncing him, and suddenly laughed.
"I have treated him sincerely. How could he have the nerve to deceive an honest man? Look, he even gave me a gift in return."
As he spoke, he gently patted the bag in his sleeve. It was bulging and very light. Lu Liangsheng sat down beside the extinguished campfire and took out the pile of hair in front of his master and the pig demon. He found that it was different from the dull and dirty hair that it had on the monkey's body before. It had become bright yellow and had magical power flowing. When he used his magical sense to probe it, he found that every hair seemed to have life and was full of vitality.
Lu Liangsheng, his master, and Zhu Ganglie looked at each other, not knowing how to respond for a moment.
"Let the Master take a look!"
The toad stared at the pile of hair, pondered for a moment, stood up, walked to his apprentice with his hands behind his back, jumped up, grabbed a hair, stood in the sun, threw it on the ground, as if he felt something, and hurriedly took a few steps back.
The hairy thread stretched and bent like an earthworm, and the front end suddenly drilled into the ground. With a bang, a cloud of smoke exploded, covering the man and two monsters.
Ahem~~
Amidst the sound of coughing, Lu Liangsheng waved his robe to clear away the cloud of smoke, revealing a silhouette less than four feet tall. When the smoke was blown away by the wind, a monkey stood there carrying a rough stick, blinking its yellow eyes and looking around.
“Hiss~~~”
The next moment, the monkey put down the stick and roared at Lu Liangsheng. After a few breaths, smoke burst out again and turned into a hair that floated down in the air.
Lu Liangsheng: “…”
Toad Taoist: “…”
Zhu Ganglie: “…”
The man and two monsters looked at each other, staring at the hair on the ground, then looked at the pile of things in their hands. Wouldn't it be like this, throwing out a bunch of inexplicable monkeys, and then disappearing inexplicably
"Come again!"
The Toad Taoist took another one and threw it over. Just like before, a short monkey jumped out, bared its teeth and roared at them, then turned into hair and disappeared.
"Haha, this is fun, fun!" The corners of the toad's mouth were almost hooked to the back of its head. It became interested, picked up the hair and threw it down again. Seeing the smoke explode, it opened its mouth, and its long tongue popped out. The moment it penetrated into the smoke, it suddenly straightened and tightened. Then, the toad's eyes widened, and with a whoosh, its entire body was dragged in, and flew out from the other end, hitting the ground with a bang.
The smoke cleared, and the monkey carrying a stick was seen pinching the Toad Taoist's tongue.
"You're playing with me, Old Sun!!"
After a moment, Lu Liangsheng also reacted and was about to cast a spell. The monkey turned into smoke and then into a strand of hair, floating to the ground.
"I knew this monkey was smart. He knows every hair."
Zhu Ganglie, who was standing by, saw something. He looked at the pile of hair in the scholar's hand and felt his scalp tingling. If this pile of monkey hair fell to the ground...
Where is my pig mother? A bunch of monkeys popped out.
As this thought came to his mind, he subconsciously moved to the side. The Toad Taoist was lying on the ground with his tongue hanging from his mouth and his limbs twitching from time to time. He was picked up by Lu Liangsheng and laid down in the compartment of the bookshelf.
"Is the one above a clone?"
The scholar came back and looked thoughtfully at the pile of hairs caressing in the wind. He picked up a strand and spread it on his palm. Since he had nothing to do, he studied it carefully.
Lu Liangsheng closed his eyes, a wisp of spiritual consciousness floated between his eyebrows, and probed into the hairs in his palm. What he saw was the magic power flowing in the hairs, and a vitality. He could not feel anything else.
'Is his magic too profound for me to sense?'
His spiritual consciousness swept through the hair that had been magnified dozens of times, and when he "looked" at it from top to bottom, suddenly, he seemed to feel a burning pain in his sea of consciousness. Indistinctly, he saw a huge alchemy cauldron with a yin-yang shape on its body, emitting yin and yang energy. There was a hole above the cauldron, and he could see the fire shining from inside. The burning pain was coming from the fire.
"Such a strong fire..."
Lu Liangsheng claimed that he was not afraid of ordinary flames, but when facing this fire, he immediately felt like retreating. He withdrew his spiritual awareness from the hairs, and fine beads of sweat covered his face.
"What did you see?" Zhu Gangli stood up and walked over.
Lu Liangsheng wiped off the sweat and felt the cool wind on his face. He felt a little relieved. He stared at the pile of hair intently and frowned slightly.
"Fire, and there is also an alchemy furnace, but that fire is not ordinary fire. Could it be the Samadhi True Fire that people in the cultivation world often talk about?"
The so-called Samadhi is the pure Yang Qi in the elixir, which is called the true fire. If the heart is regarded as the master fire, the kidney as the minister fire, and the penis as the people fire, it is the Samadhi true fire... When the inner elixir is on fire, ghosts and gods dare not approach, and water and fire cannot harm it.
It was Lu Liangsheng's first time to come into contact with this kind of fire, and he was full of curiosity. However, if he really wanted to learn how to use it, he was afraid that it would be impossible to do it without a high level of cultivation and years of experience in cultivation.
"Human power has its limits, so don't force it."
He gave up the idea of trying to find the feeling of the fire and cultivate the Samadhi True Fire. After all, Lu Liangsheng also had the Indigo Thunder Divine Fire, and one of the divine fires was also powerful, but he just didn't want to use it.
He gathered up the monkey's hair and set out again, following the determined direction, all the way to Chang'an. He did not walk very fast, and whenever he came across a village market on the way, he would stop to buy some food.
Dusk was hanging over the mountaintops and had not yet fallen. As they walked up a mountain path, they gradually saw more people and fields in the distance. Lu Liangsheng led his old donkey and Zhu Ganglie over there and bowed to an old farmer who was carrying a hoe and returning home, asking him where he was.
Seeing that it was a scholar leading an old donkey, the farmer didn't think much about it. However, he was a little scared when he saw there was a tall, fat, black man next to him.
He raised his finger to the east and said, "After crossing the mountain in front, you will reach Baihu Ridge. My lord, please do not go there. There are monsters there. It is better to avoid it."
monster
Lu Liangsheng was slightly stunned, but then he replied: "I see, thank you for your advice, old man."
After thanking the old farmer for showing the way, the scholar looked up. The rolling foothills within sight were all painted red by the setting sun. The mountains were winding and steep, and it was difficult to walk on them. There were few birds singing among the dead branches and cliffs.
In a cave somewhere in the mountains, inside the pitch-black cave, a fire suddenly lit up, illuminating a large chair made of bones. On it, a figure sitting quietly felt a familiar aura, his eyelids trembled slightly, and slowly opened, a smile forming on his red lips.
“You’re here.”
He stood up, and his cloak fluttered open, and a cold wind blew towards the cave entrance.