It was a dark night with only a few lights still on along the long streets of the city. Amid the occasional barking of dogs, there was also the sound of a couple arguing loudly and a child crying.
Bang bang~~~
The mist rolled along the ground of the street. The night watchman who was knocking the gong seemed to hear the sound of horse hooves. He looked back to the end of the street with a lantern in hand. The next moment, he nimbly pounced on the curb. Several fast horses galloped away on the blue bricks of the street, turned the intersection, and stopped at a mansion.
On the back of one of the horses, an armored soldier helped an old man down, who was holding a medicine box in his hands, and was dragged into the gate of the mansion with the words "Yuwen" written on it.
Passing through the front yard with old trees and rocks, and the waterside pavilion corridor, two pretty maids carrying hot water and holding up their skirts walked past the warm yellow lights under the eaves. When they saw the old man brought by the soldier, they quickly retreated to the side of the door to let the other party go in first.
The steward guarding the door welcomed the old man in, made a gesture of invitation, and lifted the gauze curtain outside, "Master, the imperial physician from the palace is here."
"I've told you so many times that doctors can't treat this!"
At the edge of the bed with a mosquito net, Yuwen Tuo, with red eyes and fists on his knees, looked at his master who was sleeping on the couch. He turned his head and asked someone to bring back the imperial physician sent by the emperor.
Zhu Ganglie, Zuo Zhengyang and Yan Chixia were also in the room. They each checked the pulse of the unconscious body. Toad Taoist said nothing, just curled up beside the pillow in silence, watching them stretch out their hands to perform their actions.
"Brother Lu is fine, but I'm afraid his cultivation is gone."
Yan Chixia withdrew his hand, sighed, grabbed the quilt and covered the scholar. He majored in sword magic, so he could handle some minor injuries, but if it involved internal injuries, it would be difficult to deal with.
The wind blew in from the corridor and squeezed in through the window frames. The lamp on the table swayed, illuminating the sighs of several people in the room. There was really no other way to deal with such a thing.
…
As time passed, the night turned dark and the sky in the east turned pale. A maid in a plain dress held a cup of warm water and gently pushed open the door. She walked into the room, put down the washbasin rack, wrung out the towel, and went over to wash the face and body of the scholar on the bed.
The warm water soaked through his skin, and Lu Liangsheng's drowsy consciousness became clear.
… If the cultivation is gone, the magic power will also dissipate, right
In other words, I became a normal person again.
Good fortune and bad fortune go hand in hand. Well, Master should be fine now. I hope everyone is fine...
He regained consciousness, slowly woke up and opened his eyes, looking at the dome of the mosquito net, and sat up weakly. The maid who was wiping his body had just wrung out the towel and was about to wipe other parts of his body when she saw the scholar wake up and hurried out to call for help.
"No need to call anyone, I can get down to the ground."
Lu Liangsheng waved his hand to ask the maid to stop, put on his outer coat, sat on the edge of the bed and put on his shoes. As soon as he stood on the ground, his legs went weak and he almost fell down. It took the maid to support him, and he took two steps with the help of the round table before he got used to it.
"How long have I been unconscious?"
"Yes sir, just one night."
"Well, go and get busy." Lu Liangsheng nodded, sent the maid away, walked to the washbasin rack holding the edge of the table, subconsciously hooked his fingers, and used the magic of controlling water, and the warm water in the basin became calm and peaceful.
"Haha... I really have no mana left."
Lu Liangsheng looked at his face reflected in the water, laughed, scooped up warm water with both hands and poured it on his face to make himself more awake.
"Then just be an ordinary person, and go through life, old age, sickness and death. That's good too. I'll have time to read more books and teach the children in the village."
"Liangsheng."
The voice of Toad Taoist was heard from the bed behind him.
The scholar wiped the water stains on his face with a towel and turned around. He saw his master coming out from under the bed dragging the gourd. A smile appeared on his face and he hung the towel on the rack.
"Master, what's the matter?"
The Toad Taoist put down the gourd and lowered his head: "Your cultivation..."
"If the cultivation is gone, it's gone. Master, don't take it to heart." Lu Liangsheng's steps were a little weak, but he still went over to fold the bed and bedding. He picked up the master on the ground and put him aside. The master and disciple sat side by side, looking at the courtyard outside the open door.
The golden morning light brightened the courtyard, shone into the window frames and door panels, and sprinkled on the scholar's footsteps. The sleeping Zhu Ganglie raised his head, took a look, turned over and continued to sleep.
On the edge of the bed, the scholar suddenly smiled and said:
"I am just a village boy, an ordinary person. If I hadn't met my master, I would have lived my whole life in confusion. Now I have lost my magical powers, but I still have past experiences and vision. I understand many principles and know right from wrong, so I still made a profit."
The Toad Taoist priest was hanging with his two short legs and a bulging belly, and he felt bad after all.
"But it's because of your master that you lost your cultivation. In your heart, you really don't blame me?"
"Is there anyone who has never made mistakes?"
Lu Liangsheng reached out and pulled his master over, getting closer to him. "When I first learned magic, I used it indiscriminately a few times. One time, when I went to the city with my father to buy pens and ink, I used magic to force him to buy something. Back then, my master cultivated from a toad to become a demon, but without anyone to guide him, he did many wrong things. At least, my master now is not the purple star demon Taoist, but a person who pays attention to food and clothes!"
"Just don't blame me in your heart."
The toad let out a light breath, stretched out its webbed feet behind it, and, with its belly sticking out, sat with its disciple to look at the morning sun outside.
Not long after, Lu Liangsheng suddenly said, "Master, let's go back to Qixia Mountain."
"Now? Your injury..."
"It's all right now."
Lu Liangsheng stood up from the bed, found pen and ink in the room, spread out a piece of paper and wrote a letter, leaving it for Yuwen Tuo.
'… Your master has lost all his cultivation, but I am not disappointed. You don't need to worry. Your master has nothing to teach you. All I can do is to take good care of your junior brother. When he wakes up, don't tell him what happened yesterday. Let him rest well and find another opportunity to serve the country in the future.
Before leaving, what I am most worried about is you. Don't use your divine power carelessly, and don't bear grudges against those sects because of what happened yesterday.'
He wrote each word in a very elegant manner and blew away the ink on it. Then he called the pig demon and took the Toad Taoist priest out of the room. Seeing that there was no one in the corridor, he went to the donkey shed in the side yard. The bookshelf was still hanging on the donkey's buttocks.
Seeing his master coming, the old donkey raised his head excitedly, trotted over with the stamp of his hooves, and rubbed the scholar's clothes affectionately.
Lu Liangsheng smiled, but took off the reins around its mouth, nose and neck, threw them on the ground, and reached out to pat it gently on the head.
"Go away. I have no more magical powers. I am no longer qualified to be your master."
He went over to take the bookshelf down and put it on his back. The old donkey stretched out his head, opened his mouth, grabbed the bookshelf, and shook his head vigorously, shaking his mane.
Son ah hum ah~~
He turned around, turned his back to Lu Liangsheng, and gestured to put the bookshelf back.
Seeing the old donkey's actions, Lu Liangsheng laughed and reached out to stroke its mane: "Are you willing to be a mortal's mount even if it's wronged?"
The old donkey lowered his head and bit the reins, then stretched out his head and handed them to the scholar, and whispered to the Toad Taoist, asking him to quickly climb up the bookshelf.
"This beast..."
Toad's eyes were red and wet, and he climbed up along the rope hanging from the bookshelf compartment while cursing. After tying it up, Lu Liangsheng took the reins and left through the back door. When he met the servants in the mansion, he just said a few perfunctory words to them and walked straight up the long street. When Yuwen Tuo, Yan Chixia and Zuo Zhengyang arrived after learning about the situation, the man and his donkey basked in the morning sun and walked through the bustling streets with the black man beside them, and they had already headed for the east gate.
"Master..."
Yuwen Tuo looked at the note in his hand, feeling indescribable discomfort. Zuo Zhengyang and Yan Chixia took the note from him, looked at it, sighed, bowed to the young man and said goodbye.
"Since your master said so, I think he is open-minded. Just follow what the letter says. Don't worry, and don't look for trouble with those sects. Use your divine power with caution."
Zuo Zhengyang nodded: "... Your master, I miss Fushui County a little bit, so I'll go back and take a look."
"Thank you both."
Yuwen Tuo bowed and thanked them, then escorted the two men out of the palace. He happened to meet Yang Jian and Yang Su who were leaving the palace in Qiaozhuang, who came with more than a hundred guards and learned that Lu Liangsheng had left.
"Gone?"
Yang Jian suddenly turned his horse's head, raised the whip and hit the horse's buttocks, and shouted: "Gee!" He chased after him on his horse towards the east. Yang Su and others hurriedly caught up, galloping through the downtown area, scaring the crowd to avoid it. A man pushing a cart fell sideways to a roadside stall, and a waiter holding soup was hit and fell sideways to the curb. A customer who had just walked out of the store was immediately drenched.
More than a hundred war horses galloped along the way, causing chaos in several streets. After rushing through the city gate, they saw a figure in a white robe walking slowly on the official road, leading an old donkey.
Xilulu-
Yang Jian pulled the reins, the warhorse stood up, looked at the figure in the distance, and shouted loudly.
"Mr. Lu—"
The sound came from afar. In the sunlight, the figure pulling the donkey slowly stopped and turned around. Yang saw Yang Jian and his men riding horses towards him.
Lu Liangsheng shook out his sleeves in a casual manner and cupped his hands, just like the scholar he had been before.
"Your Majesty."
The approaching warhorse slowed down, and without waiting to stop, Yang Jian turned over and walked to the scholar's side holding the reins.
"Mr. Lu, let's go for a walk together."
"please."
Lu Liangsheng pulled the reins, smiled and spread his hands as a sign of invitation, then walked with him, chatting as they walked forward.