The monkey's hair flew and fell to the ground, smoke rose, and a monkey with fluffy and messy hair rushed out of the mist, threw away the stick, jumped onto the corner post of the bed, crossed its legs and scratched its face.
"To make a long story short, why did you ask me, Old Sun, to come out?"
When Monkey finished speaking, Lu Liangsheng poured a glass of water, sat on the edge of the bed and handed it to him.
"I encountered something today. I heard someone say that the earth is round. Did you know that when the Great Sage galloped across the heaven and earth?"
When I asked this monkey about this, he once said that he could cover unimaginable distances with just a somersault, so riding on clouds and mist was no problem for him.
The monkey took the bowl, as if he had not drunk for a long time. He took a sip, then drank it all in one breath and threw the bowl to Lu Liangsheng.
"I don't know, I don't know. I, Old Sun, can get there in the blink of an eye. Who has time to check whether the ground is round or square? If you stand on it and don't fall, then it's fine. It's useless to ask these questions..."
When Lu Liangsheng went to pour water, the conversation behind him suddenly stopped. He turned around and saw only a piece of monkey hair lying quietly on the corner post of the bed.
'It lasted so short...'
The door creaked open, and a figure came in with the cold wind. The oil lamp standing beside the table swayed gently. Hong Lian walked over with lotus steps and watched Lu Liangsheng take out a hair and throw it on the ground.
"Sir, where did you get this hair?"
The answer she got was a shrill voice coming from a cloud of rising smoke.
"It's my old Sun's hair!"
A monkey over three feet tall carrying a stick jumped onto the end post of the bed. When he saw the graceful woman standing beside him, he was stunned.
"Hey, not the one I saw last time."
Lu Liangsheng knew who he was talking about, but there was no need to explain it right now, so he continued with what he was saying.
"That person mentioned that the ground is round. I think since it is round, it must be from this end all the way to the end..."
In the room, Hong Lian listened to the young master talking and found the little monkey quite interesting. She sat on the edge of the bed curiously. After all, this was the first time she saw the young master talking to a monkey.
Lu Liangsheng handed the bowl of water back to Monkey Head and said:
"… I will return to the starting point from the other end. Then I remembered that the Great Sage has great power and can easily do such a thing, so I asked this question."
Hearing the compliments, Monkey Head raised his chin slightly while holding the bowl.
"Okay, okay, I, Sun, do have the ability to reach the sky and earth... I even flew from the palm of the Buddha to the horizon with a somersault..."
At this point, the monkey's eyes suddenly widened, and he bared his teeth and let out a low "ho ho" growl, as if his emotions were suppressed to the extreme. He roared "Ah--" and smashed the bowl to the ground.
The door creaked slightly and Zhu Ganglie poked his head in. He had just said, "What happened..." when he saw the monkey at the end of the bed, slammed the door shut, and there was a sound of footsteps coming up the stairs.
Lu Liangsheng and Hong Lian looked at the pig demon with some confusion as it ran away silently. When they turned their attention back, the monkey at the end of the bed turned into a hair and fell there.
They had no choice but to call him out again. As soon as the monkey's head fell to the ground, it started screaming and screaming, jumping and hitting the stick in its hand.
Lu Liangsheng and Hong Lian looked at each other, then walked over and squatted down: "Why is the Great Sage so angry?"
"That old man lied to me!" The monkey swung his stick and hit his palm again and again. He took two steps back and looked at the scholar, pointing to the west: "According to what you said, I, Sun Wukong, flew out of his palm a long time ago, but just circled and came back again!"
Lu Liangsheng had heard some stories about monkeys in the past, so he naturally understood this part. Now that he mentioned it, it really supported the theory that the earth might be round.
After all, the scholar had a strong desire for knowledge, and the monkey was even more furious, so the man and the monkey were discussing and cursing on the ground, which made Li Jinhua and his wife, who were already lying down, think that the monkey from the mountain had run into the yard, and they came out to look for it.
The night gradually deepened. In the lighted room, Hong Lian almost dozed off with her chin propped up. She fiddled with the wick to make the flame brighter, and watched Lu Liangsheng take out another monkey hair and throw it on the ground. She let out a bored breath, turned her skirt, and went into the scroll on the wall to play on the swing.
After a long time, the firelight gradually dimmed, and Lu Liangsheng just felt a little tired. He looked at the blue sky coming through the paper window. He had unknowingly discussed with the monkey all night, from the theory of the earth's roundness to the magic of practicing Taoism, and benefited a lot from them.
After giving a long yawn and picking up the monkey hair piled on the ground, Lu Liangsheng lay down on the bed. In less than half a minute, he fell into a deep sleep.
The cold wind blew under the eaves, and the cypress trees in the courtyard could be heard rustling with the sound of snow falling from their branches. A faint light was lit in the window lattice, and the light shook for a moment. A slender figure floated out from the scroll on the wall and landed softly on the ground.
"I don't even know how to undress and turn off the lights. I'm afraid I won't be able to get out of bed tomorrow."
She quietly took off the clothes of Lu Liangsheng on the couch, slightly opened her red lips, and blew out the oil lamp. In the dark sky outside the window, Hong Lian curled the corners of her mouth, suddenly leaned over and kissed the sleeping face lightly, revealing her beautiful dimples, and shyly returned to the painting.
…
A pale yellow chicken claw stood on a snow-covered broken log, and a big red rooster opened its voice in a high pitch toward the pale eastern sky.
Oh oh oh… Oh oh—
The golden light broke through the clouds, pushed away the darkness along the white foothills, and enveloped the distant mountain village.
The village, which had been silent all night, suddenly began to liven up with the crowing of chickens and barking of dogs, and the voices of people. Further down the river in the winter mountain village, another mountain village right next to the river also became bustling.
Lujia Village does not accept passing merchants or pedestrians for accommodation. After the prosperity of Honglian Temple, the number of people coming and going became more frequent. Some of them could not go back from far away, so most of them stayed overnight in this village. After a few years, the village head came up with an idea. He built one or two more rooms in every household, specifically for those who stayed overnight.
The price is not expensive, and most business travelers would rather walk one or two more miles to stay here. After all, demons and monsters dare not come to the Qixia Mountain area. If you are lucky, you can see the mysterious scene of subduing demons and monsters, so more people come here to stay.
As the sky brightened, the merchants and travelers who stayed in Beicun all got up, had breakfast at their hosts' homes, and then continued on their journey.
Amid the noise of horses and donkeys neighing, three figures dressed as bandits came out of the house. They stretched comfortably, raised their heads and exhaled a breath of white air.
"It's so damn comfortable!"
The companion next to him came out of the host's house, took a big white pancake in his hand, took a bite, squatted on the doorstep, and looked at the merchants gathering in the village to prepare to leave.
"I thought it was just a poor mountain village, but I didn't expect it to be so lively."
Another person came from behind, snatched half the pancake from his hand, broke off a piece and put it in his mouth.
"That's why I said that Mr. Lu might have really come from heaven, but I don't know where to find him. Now that the snow has stopped, Your Majesty might arrive earlier. If you don't see Mr. Lu, it will be hard to report to your majesty."
Cough cough!
The man who was stretching suddenly coughed twice at him and gestured in a direction with his eyes. The honest-looking man knew what he meant and hurriedly got up from the ground. He saw a handsome young man in a robe with a cloud-patterned velvet collar and a sword hanging from his waist walking towards him with a smile, and half a step behind him, there was an old man with a dignified face following him.
The three of them hurriedly put down what they were holding, stood up straight, and clasped their hands together.
"Greetings, Your Majesty..."
"Don't bow here!"
The young man raised his hand, pressed their etiquette, looked around, pulled the three people into the next room, and stretched out his hand to warm the small stove.
Laughing:
"After the heavy snow stopped, my master and I rushed here overnight. By the way, did you see Mr. Lu when you came here first? Can you give me a visiting card?"
The master he was talking about was the old man following behind him. As soon as he entered the room, he closed the door.
He sat on the other side and continued the young man's words.
"… Let's take a look at Mr. Lu and see if he is worthy of being invited by His Majesty himself."