The weather was gloomy. After entering Hezhou, a continuous spring rain began to cover the foothills.
On the muddy mountain path, an old donkey carrying a bookshelf happily stuck out its tongue to catch the falling rain, stepping on the flying mud that fell on the robe and shoes of the scholar next to it.
Lu Liangsheng lowered his eyes to take a look, then he knocked the rolled-up bamboo slips at the old donkey.
“Don’t be impatient.”
All the way out of Weishan Town, I walked slowly for most of the half day, taking care of Lu Pan and others behind me, and by the way, I flipped through the three volumes of "Records of Protecting the Spirits of All Rivers and Mountains", analyzing how many similarities there are with the All Spirits Formation in "Boundless Mountains and Seas". After all, no matter how many immortal spells there are in the world, there will always be people who think of the same thing, and it is not surprising that they create something similar.
Among these three volumes of letters, the first volume that Lu Liangsheng is currently reading has at least two places that are similar to the magic arrays in "Boundless Mountains and Seas". He hasn't finished reading it yet. If he finishes reading the entire first volume, and then counts the upper, middle, and lower volumes, I'm afraid there will be more.
Then there are big problems with these three volumes.
A drop of water fell on the tip of his nose. The scholar raised his head and looked at the misty mountains. The eight people including Lu Pan behind him were more than ten steps away. So he slowed down and landed on the side of the bookshelf behind Lao Lu.
"Master, according to the time, we should be entering the territory of Hezhou. Do you remember where Luohe Town is exactly?"
In the swaying bookshelf compartment, Toad Taoist picked out a small robe with flowery sleeves. After hearing the words that came in, he put it aside, hugged the rope around his waist, leaned against the swaying wall, and glanced at the mountain scenery outside the gap through the small door.
"How would I know the details? I was so angry that I wouldn't bother to remember the place name. I just flew over and landed in the town from the sky. But I think it's not far away. It's in Hezhou anyway. Maybe I can find it if I walk a little further..."
"Master, are you so sure?"
"How could your master talk nonsense? Back then, your master could fly into the sky and hide in the ground, and he could even climb mountains with one kick..." The Toad Taoist paused and said, "... Well, it's better to find someone to ask for directions."
Asking for directions
Lu Liangsheng turned around. Amid the sound of his master's eloquent conversation, he looked into the distance and saw faint green smoke rising from the mountainside.
Raindrops were dripping from the dense branches, winding along the muddy mountain road. There was a thatched house and a small courtyard on the mountainside, with smoke rising from the roof. There was a child's voice standing on the steep slope of the mountainside, calling his father to come home for dinner.
The man who had answered the child's call packed up his hoe and mud, picked up his kettle and walked onto the ridge of the field, where he heard the tinkling sound of copper bells.
The farmer with the straw hat turned his head and saw an old donkey slowly walking towards the end of the muddy loess mountain road. Next to it was a scholar in a green shirt and white robe, swinging the reins in his hand. There was also a Taoist priest who didn't look like a good person running back and forth on both sides of the muddy road, looking around. Behind the two men and the donkey were eight burly men with open chests and thick black hair.
This group of people didn't look like good people at all, so the farmer quickly picked up his hoe, turned around and walked towards home. Lu Liangsheng, who was coming from a distance, saw the farmer carrying the hoe and walking up the ridge and towards the slope.
"Big brother, can you please tell me the way?"
Hearing the words, the man carrying the hoe, who was in his thirties, bowed and saluted when he saw the scholar who was the leader of a group of people in the field.
The farmer glanced at the eight ferocious-looking men behind him, forced a smile, and put down his hoe.
"Sir, what do you want to call me for?"
Although there are some brutal and fierce people in the mountains, there are also honest and kind men. Seeing that he was nervous, Lu Liangsheng guessed something and smiled and said a few polite words to him to ease the atmosphere.
"I am from Fushui County, Qixia Mountain. I stopped you just to ask for directions."
It turned out to be asking for directions...
The farmer was relieved. Seeing that the scholar spoke gently and politely, he also put down his guard and walked over: "Where are you going, sir?"
"Brother, you must have lived here for generations. Have you ever heard of a place called Luohe Town?"
The farmer was stunned for a moment, then nodded.
"I know where it is, but why do you want to go there, sir?"
Lu Liangsheng knew that the town was massacred by his master and the entire population was wiped out. It must have been horrifying, so it was understandable that the other party showed such an expression.
"I just heard about some things in the past and wanted to go and see it."
At this time, in the thatched hut on the steep slope, a child with two pigtails shaking came out jumping and stood on the top and shouted again.
"Dad, come home and eat soon. Mom is getting angry."
"Coming soon!"
The farmer turned around and shouted, then watched the little girl go back, then turned back, took off his straw hat, squatted on the high ridge of the field, moved closer to the scholar below, and lowered his voice.
"Sir, you can't go there. My ancestors told me that a whole town of people died there overnight. The ground was covered with blood and even the bodies could not be found."
"Does the Naluohe Town still exist now?"
"The people are long gone, but the houses are still there, but most of them have collapsed and are overgrown with weeds. When I was a kid, I went there once with my friends from the same village out of curiosity. We went there during the day. There were gusts of cold wind, and I always felt like there were eyes watching me everywhere. It was so scary!"
Seeing that the scholar showed no fear, the farmer stood up and pointed forward.
"Since you want to go, I can't persuade you. Just keep going along this road. When you reach the bend, turn north and climb over the hill in front of you. You will see a road. Go further and you will see a half-buried stone tablet. That's it."
Lu Liangsheng thanked the farmer and followed the direction he pointed out. He walked along the muddy road, climbed up the mountain, and looked down. In the gaps between the dense woods, he could see several small paths interweaving at the foot of the mountain. When he reached the foot of the mountain, at the intersection, the Taoist walking in front found half of the stone tablet buried diagonally in the soil, with only the word "Luo" and half of the word "He" left outside, covered with moss and mud.
'It's probably just ahead.'
After walking along the road where the stone tablet was located for about half an incense stick of time, the outline of a town could be seen in the distance.
The sun is pouring down.
Lu Liangsheng, along with the Taoist priest and Lu Pan and eight other people, walked into the place. Houses were leaning to one side and the broken walls were scattered all over the ground with broken bricks and tiles. There were empty spaces with fallen and shattered bricks, overgrown weeds and the sound of insects.
"Liangsheng. What are we doing here? Catching ghosts or monsters?"
Lu Pan was also tired from walking, so he put down the bag on his shoulders and sat down on a pair of broken bricks and tiles. The other seven people nodded and looked around, which was nothing but ruins.
"Is there anyone you know here?"
"It's probably terrible. There's nothing here. Even if there are living people, they've probably moved away long ago."
Lu Liangsheng walked silently past the eight people, leading his old donkey. He looked at the collapsed houses around him. The fallen beams were tilted on half of the wall. The broken window frames were covered with cobwebs swaying in the wind. From time to time, old crows made strange calls on the dilapidated walls, which made people feel uneasy.
The Taoist priest at the side was making finger gestures and looking around. Lu Liangsheng, who was walking in front, came to an open area in the town and stopped.
"Master, this is it?"
The old donkey following behind also stopped and banged open the small door of the bookshelf on one side.
"Wait for the master to come down first..."
The Toad Taoist slid down the rope to the ground, untied the rope, put on his flippers and walked to the side of his apprentice and stood still. He raised his toad face, looked around, then slowly closed his eyelids, and his mind seemed to piece together the original appearance of the town.
"It's here. There's a street under your feet. It's very prosperous, and over there..."
The round webbed head pointed in a direction, and next to here, there was a collapsed courtyard wall covered with vines. "That's the man's house. The gate was collapsed by the master."
Lu Liangsheng also looked at the ruins that his master pointed at and pursed his lips.
"Master, now that you are back, what are your feelings?"
"What are you feeling? Many years have passed, and the resentment from my early years has disappeared." The Toad Taoist held up his drooping frog webs, probably not wanting to look anymore, and turned his gaze in other directions.
Lu Liangsheng looked at the dilapidated walls reflecting the sunlight and the desolate ground covered with weeds. He suddenly raised his hands and bowed to the people around him, took off his robe, walked to the bookshelf, and changed into underwear.
"Mr. Lu, what are you doing?" The Taoist came back from somewhere else.
The scholar took off his robe, smiled at him, walked to the nearest ruins, and picked up a stone.
"Atonement."