As the sun sets, the magnificent glow dyes the lake and mountains red.
The Wei River has several tributaries heading southeast to Chang'an. Birds returning to their nests fly across the sunset glow. The flowing river has a ferry, and several small boats are tied side by side to the ferry bridge piles. Fishermen and boatmen returning home pack up, walk out of the bridge to greet the other side, and women squat on the river bank with wooden basins washing clothes and rice.
"Mother of the child, why are you washing? Go home and wash the rice and cook!"
Over there, the laughing village women and girls shouted back, and someone picked up a wooden basin and stood up to leave, but suddenly stopped, seemed to see something out of the corner of his eye, turned around, and shouted loudly.
"There's something in the river over there—"
A group of old men walked onto the river bank and followed the direction the village woman was looking. They turned around and saw a long bag of water rising from the red water surface in the reflection of the sunset glow, moving rapidly from west to east.
The moment the woman shouted, whether she reacted or not, a gust of river wind mixed with rolling waves rushed towards the river bank and swept her to the shore.
"Oh my god... what happened? What happened just now? It was so rough!"
Someone wiped the blood off his face and got up from the ground. All he could see were several small boats leaning against the ferry bridge, jostling and colliding with each other due to the waves. A little further away on the river, there were people who had fallen into the water and were swimming towards the riverbank, shouting and pointing in the water in panic.
"What happened? What happened? Why did the boat capsize? How did I fall into the water?"
"There is a dragon, there is a dragon in the water!!"
"Be careful, get ashore quickly!"
"That thing seems to be heading towards Chang'an."
As for the river channel to the east, after the aftermath of the wave, the rippling water surface could vaguely be seen. In the distance, a very long black shadow could be seen on the bottom of the water occupying half of the river channel, swimming away rapidly. The separated waves hit the two banks and then disappeared from people's sight.
There are many villages along the tributary river flowing eastward. In the moment when the sun sets, many people exclaimed and shouted. The birds flying in the sky were panicked and dared not land. Looking down at the river, long and thick black shadows meandered along the riverbed, along the fork of the tributary, towards the towering city wall immersed in orange light.
…
Lu Liangsheng stood in front of the lotus pond, put down the fingers that were counting the time, and turned around to see that Yang Jian and a group of civil and military officials had come back to their senses from the shock at the Zishan Temple over there.
"Master, how did this temple come down from the sky?" Han Qinhu couldn't help but ask, "Can you create another one?"
The scholar smiled and looked at the building over there that was almost touching the city wall.
"I didn't build this temple, but I kept it among the magic weapons. Using it now can also avoid large-scale construction and waste money, food and manpower."
"I see."
After getting the explanation, Yang Jian felt relieved. If someone could conjure up a building out of nowhere, he would not be a cultivator but a god. He stroked his beard, turned around to look at the ministers and laughed.
"… The words of the Imperial Master are frank, but even so, I am deeply shocked."
Over there, all the civil and military officials raised their hands one by one and echoed.
"Yes, if such a big house falls down, the noise alone will scare a lot of people."
"Shangzhuguo is right. If I hadn't been through hundreds of battles and was brave and resolute, I would have been scared to the point of peeing my pants."
Hahaha-
Yang Jian laughed heartily. Looking at the expressions of the civil and military officials, he felt quite satisfied. It seemed that Mr. Lu's performance had convinced them, and there would be no disputes over the issue of the imperial teacher.
After thinking about it, he walked between his cousin Yang Su and Lu Liangsheng and looked at the lake for a while: "Mr. Lu, it's getting late. I should go back to the palace to hold a grand sacrifice to be heard by the heavens. Mr. Lu, please choose a good time."
"I will make some calculations and then tell Your Majesty."
Yang Jian nodded. He didn't know how to calculate the time, so he naturally listened to Lu Liangsheng and was about to leave. However, he saw the scholar and his cousin standing there with no intention of leaving.
"Mr. Lu, is there anything else?"
"A friend is coming, your majesty and the officials may as well wait a little longer." Lu Liangsheng nodded and smiled, calculating the time. The old dragon should be arriving soon.
"Friend?" Yang Jian looked at Yang Su with some doubt in his eyes. Yang Su nodded and shook his head: "Your Majesty, I don't know what it is..."
Before he finished speaking, his brows suddenly frowned, then his eyes widened, and he looked at the water gate at the southern end of the Hibiscus Pond. He felt a demonic aura surging over him. The soldiers on the city wall ran and leaned over to point at the waterway outside the wall.
"What's wrong with the water over there?!"
"Why is it flowing backwards?"
"The waves are so high, pull up the water gate quickly, or it will be destroyed!"
The iron chain twisted in the gaps in the city wall, and the fence on the river below was slowly dragged upwards with a curtain of water. Soon, a large water bag rose in the river outside the city, pushing the waves to both sides. At the moment the sluice was pulled up, the water surface suddenly calmed down, with only a few huge bubbles bursting and a few wisps of white mist rising.
The connected Hibiscus Pond was still calm and peaceful in the sunset glow, without a single ripple.
"What happened just now? I seemed to hear soldiers shouting on the distant city wall."
It was difficult to see the exact situation from this side, but the voices and shouts were heard not only by the emperor but also by many civil and military officials. As they rushed to surround Yang Jian, a voice came from behind the reeds in the distance.
"Friend Lu, you seem to be in a good mood to travel around the mountains and rivers. I wonder what you want to call me for?!"
Yang Jian, who was originally observing the surroundings, frowned along with the civil and military officials around him. The reeds swayed slowly. A middle-aged man in a dark green robe and a hair crown on his head came over leisurely, his beard was standing up, and he looked at this side with a stern look but with a smile in his eyes.
"Friend Lu, who is this person?" Yang Su asked.
"friend!"
Lu Liangsheng told everyone not to panic, turned around to greet the middle-aged man, and bowed: "I apologize for making you rush here."
Being sent here, he still had to say some polite words, but seeing the scholar being so humble, Qiantan Old Dragon felt relieved and replied with a smile.
"No need to, Fellow Daoist Lu, how can I repay the kindness owed to Long Jin?"
Then he asked, "I wonder what important matter Fellow Daoist Lu wants me to come here for?"
Important matters? Of course there were important matters. Lu Liangsheng had not originally wanted the old dragon to show his power. When he was in the carriage, he suddenly thought that the dragon lived at the bottom of a narrow pool. After all, the chance was not great. If it lived in surging rivers and lakes, it might turn into a dragon earlier.
After thinking for a while, Lu Liangsheng slowly spoke and expressed his thoughts.
"I called you here not because I have something important to do, but because I thought that you live in a deep pool in a mountain stream, and rely on stealing some Yang energy to practice. This is not right, and it will make you sick. After a while, you will be discovered by the Taoists, and they will think that the evil dragon is causing trouble. It just so happens that I will be appointed as the Imperial Master of the Great Sui Dynasty today, and I will set up a place for offering sacrifices and praying for blessings here, and this lake is connected to the Weishui River and the Jing River. I want to invite you to live here, and bless the people along the shore."
These alone were certainly not enough to lure the other party out of the deep pool where they had lived for so long. Lu Liangsheng paused and added, "The person behind me is the Emperor of the Great Sui Dynasty. If you have done great deeds in the future, I will ask His Majesty to confer you a title of honor. Even if you cannot become a dragon of the Wei River, you can at least catch a dragon king of the Jing River."
"Dragon King?"
Interest suddenly flashed in the old dragon's eyes. As a dragon, the biggest dream is to transform into a dragon. If he can be crowned by the emperor on earth and have a temple built to worship him as the Dragon King, that would be even more amazing. With this plaque from the emperor, he might even be able to go to heaven and get a job in making clouds and rain.
Then he extended his hand and bowed to Lu Liangsheng.
"Thank you for this opportunity, fellow Daoist."
He took a deep breath, and with a flushed face, he bowed to the emperor and the civil and military officials over there, then threw his wide sleeves behind his back and stepped into the reeds.
"Who is the person Mr. Lu is talking to?"
Over there, Yang Jian watched Lu Liangsheng walk slowly over and talk to him for a while. The other party had a straight posture and was quite imposing. Before Yang Su beside him could open his mouth to answer, he saw that person actually bowed towards him and walked back to the reeds when he came out.
"Your Majesty, I am not sure of the other party's identity, but he is definitely not an ordinary person."
When Yang Su finished speaking in a low voice, Lu Liangsheng had already walked back and asked hurriedly, "Daoyou Lu, who was that person just now?"
The scholar looked at the emperor, who also seemed to be asking questions. Lu Liangsheng pursed his lips, turned his gaze and looked at the sparkling lake.
"The length of the fish scales in the water."
"Bo~~"
The sound of water splashed, and Yang Jian, Yang Su, and the civil and military officials on the shore heard the sound of waves splashing. Following the scholar's line of sight, they looked at the undulating water surface and saw that a circle of ripples had appeared at some point, rolling and spreading out in all directions.
Amid the rolling water, one could vaguely see a round, thick body rising out of the water, twisting and turning, revealing densely packed ink-black scales, and then in an instant, it sank back into the lake.
hiss-
The crowd on the riverbank all gasped. The Imperial Master actually led the dragon into the city? This was only a rumor.
Just a glance revealed that the body was probably as thick as a large ship. Many of Yang Jian's ministers bowed and congratulated loudly.
The emperor's gray beard stretched out with laughter, and the imperial teacher even invited a dragon. From now on, who would dare to say that I came to the throne in an illegitimate way
The abdication of the Northern Zhou emperor was forced, so naturally he was criticized. Now that Lu Liangsheng has invited the dragon, who dares to say that he has no dragon energy? Is he not the true dragon emperor
The old man with a rosy face walked back and forth in the lotus pond for a while and talked to Lu Liangsheng. When it got dark, he excitedly took the imperial sedan back to the palace. He even said that he would come here early the next morning to stroll around and see what the dragon looked like.
By the time the emperor left, it was already dark. Gao Ying, Wu Jianzhang, Han Qinhu and a group of other civil and military officials also said goodbye and left one after another. Lu Liangsheng breathed a sigh of relief.
Huh~~
"Becoming a national teacher... Why do I feel like a folk charlatan who is fooling people..."
When he turned around and was about to call the Taoist and the others, he found that a group of people had already run up the stone steps of Zishan Temple with their luggage.
"Hmm... Where's Master?"
The scholar murmured something, and in the darkness, a short figure rushed out from the reeds. The Toad Taoist came out holding an egg, and ran forward from his feet. The next moment, several wild ducks with black backs and hard feathers quacked and spread their wings, rushing out of the reeds, chasing the Toad madly towards the temple.
Wow!
In the darkness of the night, the lake water lapped against the shore, and the moonlit lake surface occasionally rolled up waves. The long body rolled, and it excitedly tumbled at the bottom of the lake, splashing water. Hearing the movement on the shore, a huge black shadow broke through the water surface and nodded at the scholar, and a prodigal son sank back into the water.
The night wind blows and the reeds sway.
Lu Liangsheng bowed, then he composed himself and hurried to catch up with his master, disappearing into the night.