Wisps of gray clouds obscured half of the bright moon, and the stars gradually disappeared from the night sky. In the rising Qingming Mountain, two paper lanterns swayed, and the light illuminated the figures of two people walking through the remote and barren mountain village.
Woof woof woof—
There are not many thatched huts and courtyards, and occasionally you can hear the barking of a yellow dog in the courtyard.
The two people holding lanterns did not enter the village. Instead, they walked around the village entrance and continued to walk through the forest in front. Their steps seemed slow, but they were actually very slow. In a blink of an eye, they had entered the woods. There was a slight sound of "crackling" when a dead branch was stepped on, startling the old crows on the branches, which screamed and flew away from the treetops, scaring the shorter figures of one of them to stop.
"Master, there is a village, why don't we go in? At least we can rest our feet."
"Everyone is asleep, how can you disturb their sweet dreams? If a cultivator can't even endure this little bit of suffering, what's the point of cultivating the Tao?"
"So where are we going to sleep tonight? It's almost dawn."
The two people illuminated by the dim firelight through the paper lanterns were an old man and a young boy. They had Taoist buns on their heads and wore well-worn Taoist robes. The young Taoist's robe had several patches on it, and some parts were washed white.
At the side, an old Taoist priest who was also walking with a lantern in his hand looked around, found a place at random, pulled out the long sword behind him and stuck it into the ground, hung the wine gourd on his waist by the hilt, lay down casually, crossed his legs and prepared to sleep.
"With the sky as your blanket and the ground as your mat, you can sleep soundly wherever you go. My dear disciple, go to sleep quickly, as you have to do it early tomorrow morning..."
The old Taoist priest stopped talking suddenly. The apprentice, who was no more than eleven or twelve years old, came over reluctantly and sat down slowly. He said, "You just know how to tell lies to fool people..." Before he could finish his words, the old Taoist priest sat up and covered his mouth with his hand. He waved his sleeves and swept away the two lanterns. The lights in the inner room went out instantly, and the surroundings suddenly fell into darkness.
"Don't make any noise, there's an evil spirit!"
The old Taoist priest, who was covering his apprentice's mouth, lowered his voice and said something, then flipped his other hand, and several yellow talismans flew towards the trees a few steps away. The vermilion rune power flashed silently, and a circle was vaguely formed in the air that was invisible to the naked eye.
"Master, what's going on? Where are the monsters?"
The disciple, whose mouth was released by the Taoist master, squatted aside, looking around. Just as he was about to stand up, his master pressed his head down again. The next moment, he heard a rustling sound in the woods outside the barrier, and the sound of wind like the flapping of wings flew over from the side not far away and fell to the ground.
"Take a break here, and then continue on your journey."
When the master and disciple who were hiding in the grass heard this, they thought it didn't seem like there was only one monster, so the old Taoist didn't dare to act rashly. Sure enough, another sharp voice sounded a moment later.
"… Can we make it to the event this time? What are we going to do?"
The moonlight shone through the gaps in the forest, and one could vaguely see a winged monster talking to another monster. The young Taoist priest was so frightened by the other monster's spread bat wings that his face turned pale. The master at the side, upon hearing the word "grand event", frowned and leaned forward slightly, wanting to hear more clearly.
Over there, a monster that looked like it had bat wings laughed hoarsely twice.
"Why not? The demons from the northwest are gathering together, so we can definitely join in the fun. I heard that the Purple Star Demon Dao has recovered from his injuries and returned to the northwest. He is almost in Chang'an..."
The words gradually became quieter, but the four words "Purple Star Demon Taoist" made the old Taoist who was eavesdropping twitch his eyelids. When the two demons said a few more words, hurriedly got on their way, and disappeared on the demonic wind, the Taoist got up and waved his hand to retract the magic circle that he had set up to conceal his aura.
"Purple Star Demon Dao..."
Muttering the name, he picked up his apprentice and dragged him back. The young Taoist turned around to pick up the lantern, followed behind with a small bag, and asked, "Master, what happened? Who is the Purple Star Demon Taoist those two monsters were talking about?"
After asking twice, the old Taoist didn't answer. He walked quickly under the moonlight and went down to the foot of the mountain. Next to a big rock, he took out a few yellow talismans from his waist and spread them out. He bit his fingertips and wrote and drew on them. Then, in front of his disciple, he folded them into a paper crane.
"go!"
With a spread of his palm, the still paper crane seemed to come alive, its paper wings slowly flapping, and it flew away from the old Taoist's palm, rising into the night sky, and turned into a stream of magical light towards the east where the sky was gradually turning pale.
The morning light breaks through the clouds and pushes away the darkness, illuminating a misty mountain in the north. Birds fly across the rolling sea of clouds and land on old trees on the winding mountain path. Blinking their eyes, they see a large green rock protruding from the forest in the distance. An old man with white hair and beard sits cross-legged with his eyes closed. Behind him, there are winding stone steps and a towering mountain gate that rises higher than the trees. On it are inscribed the words "Chengyun".
Clouds were everywhere, and spreading over the stone steps was an open platform. The floor tiles were white and black, forming a huge yin and yang. There were several buildings nearby. The golden morning sun extended over and sprinkled on the mountain wall. There was a huge carving of words, the word "Tao" was painted with red paint of unknown material.
In the sunlight, it looks majestic and solemn.
On both sides, there are densely packed holes, which are not connected to each other. Sometimes, you can see smoke drifting out, and you can also see figures sitting cross-legged in meditation, with a clear mind.
There was magic power flowing in the distant sky. Someone in the mountain gate below raised his head, his robes fluttering. He spread out his palms and let the paper crane with magic power descend. After a moment, it turned into a yellow talisman in his hand with two lines of handwriting on it. He took a look at it, hurried to the main building, bowed to his fellow guards, stepped inside, and called out respectfully.
"Master."
In front of the portrait of the person in front, incense is burning, and an old man with white hair is cleaning the incense burner and paying homage to the ancestor.
"It's not proper to be so flustered in front of our great master." The old man moved the stove, turned around and wiped the ashes off his hands, then asked, "What's the matter?"
"Outsider, use the Flying Crane Technique to send a message. The Purple Star Demon Dao has appeared."
The old man who had just sat down stopped holding the tea, and even the doorman guarding outside the door glanced inside when he heard this.
Purple Star Demon Dao...
Bang!
The old man put the teacup heavily on the table, closed his eyes, and after a moment, he stood up and walked straight past the doorman who reported the news, walked out of the room, put his hands behind his back and looked at the huge "Tao" character on the mountain wall.
"The chaotic times have just ended, and evil spirits are rampant again. We have been slaying demons and monsters, and have never enjoyed peace. Where is Cheng Yun?"
On the distant mountain wall, numerous voices came out of the cave and mixed together.
"We are here!"
The old man waved his sleeves, and a magic sword flew out from the building and hit his back, and he shouted:
"Follow me to slay demons and monsters—"
The powerful Dharma sound echoed throughout the mountain gate. The densely packed holes instantly lit up with rays of Dharma light, which shot out from inside like meteors.
…
Rays of magic light streaked across the morning sun and shot towards the sky. Messages were also flying towards other Taoist temples with this light as the center. The news that the Purple Star Demon Dao who had caused chaos in the past had reappeared was like pouring a bucket of water into a boiling oil pan, making it boil.
In the southeastern Lihuo Sect, one figure after another emerged and quickly went down the mountain following several elders of the sect. In the central continent, the Juling Mansion hidden from the human world also responded to the call of their fellow believers and rushed to Chang'an.
The news that the once notorious Toad Demon had reappeared spread among the monks. Those who knew and those who didn't spread the word, or rushed to help, traveling in twos and threes. As they passed by the foothills, a burly figure with a big beard and a wooden box on his back, lying on a rock and basking in the sun comfortably, was also invited.
"What on earth is that monster that has attracted so many people of the same path to go there?"
"Brother, don't you know? That Purple Star Demon Daoist was a disaster in the past. He massacred the people of an entire town and later ate countless cultivators. Several major sects spent a lot of effort to injure him. Now that he has come out again, we naturally have to go over and help him subdue the demon!"
"What kind of spirit is that monster?"
"I heard it too. It looks like a toad."
The bearded man who was traveling with them stopped and frowned even deeper.
"Toad... I remember that Fellow Daoist Lu also has one, could it be..."
Several people who were traveling with him stopped and looked back at him: "My fellow Taoist, what's wrong? Do you have any questions?"
"Nothing."
The man was none other than Yan Chixia, the lone chivalrous warrior. He shook his head and said, "Nothing, I just like to be alone. This place is not far from Chang'an, so I can go there alone. Goodbye, everyone!"
After bidding farewell to these cultivators, Yan Chixia changed direction and avoided their route. Naturally, he needed to find Lu Liangsheng to resolve the doubts in his heart.
I hope it’s not the toad next to Brother Lu…
His pace gradually quickened, passing through the mottled paths left by the fallen leaves in the forest, heading towards Chang'an.
The sun spread over the clouds, far away from the territory of the former Northern Qi Dynasty, among the endless mountains where the Buddha lay, the morning bell rang long and far away.
Dong~~Dong~~~
The sound of the bell is rich and simple, echoing in the mountains. Immersed in the sound of the bell and the burning sound, pilgrims and tourists come and go on the bluestone-paved mountain paths in the mountains, admiring or devoutly worshiping the countless Buddha statues on the cliffs.
In the Wanfo Temple where people were coming in and out, the monk Fajing, who looked like Maitreya, was guarding the tightly closed door. At a certain moment, the Zen door opened, he opened his eyes, stood up and looked back, and an old monk with a thin figure and pale beard walked out slowly.
“Master!” Fa Jing clasped his hands and bowed.
“Fa Jing!” The old monk named Zhenhai held up the fearless seal on his chest with one hand, and took the purple gold bowl in front of the Buddha statue with his other hand and held it in his palm. There was an irresistible majesty in his gentle tone. Just one glance at him, he was like the angry Vajra in Buddhism.
"Follow me out of the temple."
"yes!"
The fat monk tilted his head, followed his master away in confusion, and then went down the mountain. However, he had not been out for a long time, and Fajing felt somewhat relieved. He wondered if donor Lu was still traveling. If he met him, he would chat with him all night.
…Well, there is also Taoist Priest Sun.
Perhaps he thought of something interesting and smiled slightly, but he quickly concealed it and followed his master all the way to the west.
…
At the same time, at the west gate of Chang'an, there was a bustling crowd, with loud hawking and shouting to attract customers. Lu Liangsheng, leading his old donkey and Zhu Ganglie, walked through the prosperous long street. He did not dare to stay at the Min Mansion, so he found an inn at random, washed up, changed his clothes, and went to Mount Li in a clean and refreshed manner to pay a visit to the Old Mother of Mount Li, so that he would not feel impolite.
Inside the wobbly bookshelf, the short figure's eyelids twitched.
"Liangsheng, finish your business quickly and return to Qixia Mountain. My eyelids have been twitching a lot recently. I always feel like someone is thinking about me."
The Toad Taoist had his entire body wrapped in bandages, including one wrapped around his head and tied into a bow. He propped up his chin and looked out at the green summer foothills.
I had a bad feeling in my heart.
... After this trip, I am covered in wounds. If I don’t go back to recuperate, I’m afraid I won’t be able to make it through until my demon pill is repaired.
Quack~