The mountain breeze blows, and the forest makes a soft sound in people's ears.
Min Yuerou looked at the toad lying motionless on the ground. She stopped sobbing and blinked her wet red eyes, looking at the scholar next to her.
On the side, Lu Liangsheng raised his hand to cover his forehead and turned his face away speechlessly.
"Master, you think the fire is not burning strong enough..."
After being tricked by the Toad Taoist, it was obvious that he had to marry Min Yuerou. What should he do now? He was not good at talking about love with women. He had been with Hong Lian for a long time before he got to this point.
Could it be... When he looked at the woman, she was also looking at him. Min Yuerou saw his expression, pursed her lips, and staggered back two steps. She was now several meters away, moved her lips, and sniffed with difficulty.
"No need to say, from your expression, I know what it is..."
Holding the scabbard, she turned around and ran down the mountain. Lu Liangsheng chased after her and pulled her hand: "Yue Rou!"
"Don't come over here, I don't want to see you!"
The receding figure cried out in suppressed tears, wiped his tears and ran away. Lu Liangsheng stood where he was, just watching the crying figure quickly run to the mountain path and hide behind the woods.
"Liangsheng, I am going to tell you that you are wrong."
At the entrance of the cave, Toad Taoist sat up at some point, rubbed his belly which was hurt by the fall, brushed off the dust on his clothes, and waved to the scholar.
Lu Liangsheng withdrew his gaze from the forest, sighed, walked away, pursed his lips, and walked back to sit next to his master.
"Master, please tell me."
Two figures, one big and one small, sat side by side at the entrance of the cave, watching the branches swaying in the sunlight and the birds flying by. After a while, Toad Taoist spoke.
“… I remember when I first became spiritually conscious, there was a little girl who often came to the mountain to collect firewood and chop wood. She also often came to the pond to wash her hands and feet. I was at the bottom of the pond and watched her. She was so beautiful…”
The yellow autumn leaves reflected in his eyes caressed him gently, and the toad sighed, "... Later, I gained magical powers and became bigger. I crawled out of the pond and often lay on the rocks where the girl had been. Until later, when she got married, I never spoke to her, not even a word."
Lu Liangsheng looked at the Toad Taoist: "Then why didn't Master talk to her?"
"Silly disciple, the master is a demon, a toad demon."
The Toad Taoist laughed, stretched out his webbed feet and pressed them on his short legs, and looked at the autumn mountain scenery with his bean-sized eyes.
"If you talk to her, she will be scared and won't dare to come here again. But because of this, she will never know that there was a toad watching her at the bottom of the pond."
"The tragedy that happened in Luohe back then was actually caused by Master's anger because of Master's wife, right?"
The Toad Taoist next to him laughed and waved his flippers.
"What I want to say is not this, but fate!" He stood up and patted his apprentice on the back: "You must cherish it and don't repeat my past. Fate is something that you may never have again if you miss it. No matter if it's a demon, a ghost, or a human, the most important thing is to catch it in your own hands and keep it by your side."
The Toad Taoist stretched lazily towards the sun and scratched his nostrils with his webbed feet.
"Hey, why am I telling you this? Just think about it yourself."
The scholar watched his master walk into the cave. When the huge rock closed with a loud rumbling sound, he stood up, bowed, and walked towards the mountain path.
… The word love is more distressing than passing an imperial examination.
I walked all the way back to Lujia Village at the foot of the mountain. After passing the small courtyard with a fence, before entering the gate, I saw Li Jinhua standing under the eaves with her sleeves rolled up, and the old donkey was lying in the shed with his long ears limp, not daring to say a word.
On the other side of the eaves, Qiyou, Daoren, Zhu Ganglie, and Lu Xiaoxian were also sitting under the eaves with their heads drooped. Lu Laoshi was silently weaving a basket. He glanced at Lu Liangsheng who came in and said in a gentle voice:
"Liangsheng, what happened to that girl from the Min family? She came back crying, packed her things and left."
The woman under the eaves glared and put her hands on her hips: "It must be you who bullied the girl! Why don't you go and apologize to her?"
Li Jinhua has liked Min Yuerou since she first saw her. Not only does she come from a noble family, she is also well-educated and well-mannered, without any airs of a wealthy family. And the fact that she has followed him all the way here makes her a perfect candidate for a daughter-in-law that is hard to find even with a lantern. Even the lukewarm Lu Laoshi stands on his wife's side on this matter.
"If you ask me, Liangsheng, you should just go and get Miss Min back. It's too dangerous for a girl to go on the road alone."
The old man stopped what he was doing and glanced at his wife who was standing next to him with her hands on her hips in anger: "Your mother said that for your own good."
"Dad, I know what you said."
Without waiting for Lu Liangsheng to explain, Li Jinhua scolded him, "You know nothing. Even if you are a cultivator, you are still my child."
"But... Hong Lian..."
"What happened over there? One thing is one thing. If it was Hong Lian today, I would catch you and tell you the same thing!"
"No, mother, listen to me."
"You're not married yet!"
"Why are you bringing this up again? I know."
"You know nothing. Your father and I are old!"
"mother!"
"You don't have any children yet!"
"… "
The Taoist wanted to speak, but before he could open his mouth, Lu Xiaoxian beside him stepped on him hard, and he closed his mouth and swallowed the words. Only Mu Qiyu was still smiling and winking at the scholar. Seeing Lu Liangsheng being beaten up and not daring to talk back, he was so happy that he fell off the stool, cried out "ouch" because his butt hurt, and when he saw the woman's glance at him, he sat back quickly without looking away.
On the other side of the field of vision, Lu Liangsheng knew that his mother was fierce. Even though she was respected by others and even the current emperor had to show respect to her, her mother was still the most important person at home. Moreover, he had done something wrong in this matter...
He didn't dare to speak and just bowed.
"Mom, Liangsheng will go get Yuerou back right away, don't be angry!"
He ran quickly to the courtyard gate and the entrance of the village. The straight dirt road extended to the mountain road outside the village. Merchants, travelers and pilgrims were coming and going. Among them was a woman in a dark red dress, carrying a bag and holding a long sword, and leaving along the mountain road to the north.
Amid the sound of cart shafts and human voices, Min Yuerou turned her head, looked at the outline of the mountain village in the distance, and sniffed.
"What's so great about that..."
She muttered something and continued to walk north, kicking up her skirt. The fields and foothills were withered and yellow, and the sound of birds chirping could be heard. On the hillside ahead, there was a temple with thriving incense. The long sound of the afternoon bell could be heard. A donkey cart passed by Min Yuerou, and suddenly a woman's figure was revealed standing on the side of the road.
"Ms. Min, wait a minute."
Hearing this, Min Yuerou turned her head and saw Nie Honglian standing on the side of the road. She was wearing a white dress and had dimples on her cheeks. She was walking slowly towards them.
"Can I talk to Miss Min?"
"Yes... yes." Min Yuerou hesitated for a moment, but still nodded.
Hong Lian smiled and made a gesture of invitation, then walked ahead. Min Yuerou looked around, as if the passers-by couldn't see her, so she didn't say anything more to avoid being looked at strangely, and followed with her bag on her shoulder.