The Taoist priest was waving his demon-subduing mirror and walking around angrily. He was about to say something, but when he heard Lu Liangsheng cough twice, he smacked his lips and stepped aside.
"Forget it, forget it. I have turned over a new leaf."
As they were talking, the door of another house slammed open and tall and sturdy men came out one after another. The leader was Lu Pan, shirtless, with a ragged woman tucked under his armpit. The woman was screaming and struggling, kicking her feet hard and even biting the big man's arm with her mouth, but not even a mark was left.
Hearing the woman struggling and shouting, the Taoist couldn't help but glance at her, then looked at the scholar, and quickly straightened his back and looked straight ahead.
Over there, Lu Pan reached out and patted the woman's head, then looked at the man in a green shirt and white robe standing in the middle of the eaves.
"Liangsheng, what should we do with this woman?"
"Let him go."
Calm and clear words came out from his lips. Lu Liangsheng looked at the old woman outside. There was no fierceness in her, and there seemed to be no demonic aura either.
Then, he waved his sleeve and threw the weasel in his hand to the ground. The weasel rolled and crawled, screaming, and hid under the old woman's skirt.
"I wonder where the immortal hometown is, young master?" The old woman bent down again holding her crutches and saw that the woman sandwiched between the big man's arms was also put back.
Lu Liangsheng raised his hand: "Qixia Mountain, Lu Liangsheng."
"Thank you for showing mercy, sir! Today, two ignorant juniors colliding with you and all of you, I will apologize on their behalf."
When the old woman saw the scholar at the door, even without using her magic power, she felt a majestic aura emanating from her, and her hunched body became even more bent.
"I have lived in this deserted house for many years, and I have some treasures in my practice room. I hope you will not despise them."
He turned his head slightly, looked at the ragged woman and the weasel that had turned into its original form, tapped his cane, and gently scolded: "Why don't you go back and bring my things to the young master?"
The man and the beast looked at the people under the eaves, and remembered what had just happened. They squeaked twice. The weasel, which had turned into its original form, stood up on its hind legs and bowed to Lu Liangsheng, imitating the way humans do, by raising its front legs and bending over.
Lu Liangsheng stared at the two demons who kept bowing, and saw that their demonic aura was only lingering in the "spiritual platform". However, the little demons in the spiritual consciousness period, just like Yanzhi in the past, knew some tricks to scare people, and they probably didn't do any real evil.
The scholar softened his tone and flicked his wide sleeves.
"No need to worship, and don't do anything scary again in the future."
After removing the fire from the weasel and watching it wailing a few times and running into the darkness in panic with the woman beside it, Lu Liangsheng turned his gaze to the old woman.
"You said you have lived in this mansion for a long time, but this is a human residence. It must have been occupied by someone before you stole in. It is not impossible for humans and monsters to live under the same roof, but casting a spell to drive others away is actually wrong."
"Young Master is well-versed in the classics, that's right."
The old woman lowered her head and looked at the scholar opposite her. She slowly turned around and scanned the surroundings with a somewhat cloudy gaze.
"But...but I...lived here and watched this house being built day by day."
She slowly turned around, with a red rope around her neck, and a wooden sign tied to it was shaking. In the candlelight, Lu Liangsheng could vaguely see the word "Qin" engraved on it, and he couldn't help but frowned.
"Your last name is Qin?"
The old woman shook her head, as if she noticed the scholar's gaze. She raised her hand and held up the wooden sign around her neck. The wood was quite old and must have been protected by demonic power, so it did not decay. Despite this, the words engraved on it were a little blurry.
"The original owner of this house was surnamed Qin, so it's been around for about a hundred years."
One hundred years
Lu Liangsheng had read many books and quite a few strange stories. Based on this statement and the wooden sign around the old woman's neck, he had a vague idea of what was going on.
"Are you waiting for someone here?"
Hearing this, the old woman who originally had no intention of saying anything else was stunned for a moment, and her eyes dropped to the ground. At this time, the two demons who had left before came back, each holding a wooden box in their hands.
"Young Master..."
The little demon caught by Lu Pan and eight others didn't dare to look up. He pressed the inlaid piece and opened the box. There were overlapping fine silk wrapped around several light yellow pills. A strange fragrance wafted out from them.
“What’s that smell?”
Lu Liangsheng couldn't smell what the smell was. The bored Taoist priest next to him suddenly put away the demon-subduing mirror, jumped down, took a pill from it and put it in his mouth.
"It's really the 'Fox-raising Pill'!"
Lu Liangsheng knew something about the so-called 'Fox-Raising Pill'. It was not only produced by foxes that had become demons, but also by impurities from the surrounding areas that were contaminated by demonic spirits. Eating it could nourish the blood, replenish the spirit, and calm the soul.
People can do it, but who would eat this kind of dirt that has been cultivated on the skin over the years? Even though it is the essence... it's disgusting if you really eat it.
Thinking of this, Lu Liangsheng was about to refuse, but the old woman who had been silent all the time walked forward and suddenly knelt down.
"This young man is a cultivator, and I have an unwelcome request."
The Taoist, who was originally happy about getting the elixir, quickly put the thing in his hand back into the box, closed it, and ran to the scholar.
"Look, he's kneeling again. Don't promise anything if there's nothing wrong. We still have to hurry on our way."
Lu Pan and his eight companions on the other side of the eaves had once seen a giant centipede kneeling in front of his nephew from afar. This time, they actually saw an old witch kneeling down, and their eyes immediately looked at Lu Liangsheng who was in the middle.
The scholar pursed his lips and stared at the old woman without any expression on his face. He couldn't do what the old monk Zhenhai did and get rid of the demon as soon as he saw it. After a moment, he still let out a slight sound.
"Get up. You have lived here for a hundred years. There is no murderous or bloody aura on your body. I think you have devoted yourself to cultivation. But why is it that now your demonic aura seems to be there and not there? If you are hiding something, I will not ask you about it."
The old woman was helped up by the two demons beside her. She was silent for a while and then spoke slowly.
"A hundred years ago, I was just a young animal that had just left its nest. I ran to a Qin family's house and stole the chickens raised in the backyard. I was originally going to be beaten to death, but I was saved by the Qin family's son, who begged his parents to raise me. Perhaps because I had few playmates, the young master took me out to play every day and even tied a tag around my neck...
Later, the young master grew up, and I also experienced a lot of worldly things, gradually I became spiritual, and I became more capable. I thought I should leave and return to the mountains to continue my cultivation, but I couldn't bear to let the young master go, so I stayed, thinking that I would become a 'guardian fairy' to protect this family. "
The old woman seemed to be lost in her memories, sitting by an old well not far away, leaning on her cane.
"Day by day, the young master grew up, read a lot of books by sages, and was good at martial arts. I don't know what kind of adventure he had outside, but he started to practice Taoism and achieved some success. He knew me and didn't chase me away. Instead, he taught me some magic. This mansion was built after the Qin family prospered, and I was the one who picked the land with him..."
At this point, the old woman was lost in memories and laughed softly, "I thought the days would go on like this, but one day, he told me that he was going out to get rid of a monster that ate countless people in the water, and asked me to take good care of this house... I took good care of it for a hundred years, and kept this house from being eroded by time and collapsed.
But... the young master never came back after he left."
The wind blew through the yard, and the dead trees swayed gently.