"Master, did you receive my paper crane?"
The sun shone through the door. Lu Liangsheng invited the fat monk in, took out the teapot that he had prepared earlier and poured him a cup. "Have a drink of water first."
Outside the house, the Toad Taoist priest and Sun Yingxian glared at each other under the eaves. Both the man and the toad snorted and turned their heads away. The former jumped back onto the small lounge chair, picked up the cookbook and enjoyed the afternoon sunshine. The Taoist priest picked up the two old ducks and went inside, nodded to the monk who was drinking tea, and went straight to the back room.
"I did receive the paper crane from my fellow Taoist. I can still hear about it in the city. I heard about the Taoist offering sacrifices to heaven and being named a national master."
Monk Fajing was fat and had a free-spirited personality, so he felt a little awkward sitting on the wooden stool, so he simply moved it to the ground, which fit perfectly on the tabletop. He put down his teacup, looked at the scholar who was very different from usual, hesitated for a moment, sighed, and said it anyway.
"… Originally, I wanted to come here to look for you for help."
Lu Liangsheng blinked, poured himself a cup of tea, and spread his hands to the monk: "Master, please speak."
"Master, my father is missing."
Old Monk Zhenhai had profound Buddhist knowledge and had conquered countless demons and monsters in his life. Fajing felt a little embarrassed when he said this. Lu Liangsheng standing beside him frowned slightly.
"Your master is missing?"
The fat monk held the teacup and nodded. He looked at the ripples on the rim of the cup and stammered to tell the whole story.
"That day, you were supposed to go back to Wanfo Temple with me, but halfway through, you suddenly turned around and went to Qixia Mountain, and asked me to go back to the temple and wait. But after a while, you didn't come back. After that, I felt that Master's aura suddenly disappeared, so I panicked. Originally, I was going to Qixia Mountain, but on the way, I received a letter from my Taoist friend, "The paper crane has arrived. I'm looking for you in Chang'an."
"Master." Lu Liangsheng was also a little confused. On that day, he was abducted by the old monk Zhenhai and taken to Fulin Prefecture. They fought and he had never seen him again. Now there was suddenly no news from him. It was understandable that people came to ask about him, but it was a little too strange.
At the moment, he told Fajing everything that happened with Monk Zhenhai. He said that they had a fight at the foot of the mountain and then he returned to Mount Qixia. There was no way of knowing what happened next.
"That's strange." The fat monk slapped his bald head and rubbed it twice: "Master, he, Daming, has the seal of subduing demons. There are few people in the world who can defeat him. Even if we fight, if we want to leave, no one will stay. We have to leave..."
The monk stuttered, but was no different from an ordinary person in other aspects. He muttered a few words and suddenly looked at the scholar beside him: "Daoyou, did you have any strange things after that day?"
The loud voice suddenly rose, startling the Toad Taoist who was sitting on the recliner under the eaves outside so much that he almost fell to the ground. He lay down again with the recipe book in his hand, tilted his toad face, and glanced into the house.
"It's hard to say. The demon skinned the old monk and pulled out his tendons. He then washed him and put him in a steamer to eat him. You know, demons actually like old monks with profound Buddhist knowledge the most. They are chewy and can also increase their spiritual power!"
After the incident in Chang'an, Fajing also learned from his master that this toad was a great demon that had committed countless evil deeds in the past. If Monk Zhenhai had not taken advantage of his weakness and injured him, there would have been no peace in the world. But now he has reformed and no longer eats people and does evil. Fajing couldn't say anything about gloating at this time. After all, he had a stutter and couldn't win the argument in this regard. Also, out of consideration for Lu Liangsheng's face, he was reluctant to take action.
After a while, there was no more talk from Toad outside, and the fat monk wanted to speak again, but Lu Liangsheng came out of his thoughts and raised his hand to interrupt him.
"Master, follow me!"
As he spoke, he called Fajing to get up and walk towards the wooden ladder. The latter was fat and the wooden steps creaked as he stepped on them. He followed him up to the third floor.
Walking through the corridor, Lu Liangsheng pushed open the bedroom door. A potted plant on the desk suddenly moved. The roots rose from the mud, swayed the branches and climbed to the edge of the table, and turned into a woman. She casually swept away the messy books and bamboo slips, sat on them, and kicked lightly with her embroidered shoes hanging.
"Old demon, I'm bored, take me to the street to have a look."
"I'll take you there when I'm done with this."
Lu Liangsheng said something to her, walked to the corner, and took out "Boundless Mountains and Seas" from the bookshelf.
"I said goodbye to your master in Fulin Prefecture and then returned to Qixia Mountain. Two monsters came to cause trouble. One of them was called Hua Hongyi. I was a Painted Skin Ghost in a family named Wang. But later I used him to pretend to be the evil spirit Honglian. I didn't expect that after listening to my teachings, he cultivated into a monster by chance."
When I told the monk what happened that day, it was the Painted Skin Demon that came to Qixia Mountain and caused a big commotion. The fat monk mentioned it at this time, and coupled with the disappearance of old monk Zhenhai, it seems even more strange when I think about it now.
It's impossible that Hua Hongyi would go all the way from Baihu Ridge in the northwest, across the river, to Qixia Mountain just to cause a scene.
The only person who knew the other party's purpose was Zhu Erniang, who was captured by the people of Lujia Village and her master that day.
Thinking of this, Lu Liangsheng unfolded the book, looked at the living-like painting, made a hand gesture and hooked it, which brought out a wisp of black smoke, and led it to the side of the big round table in the room. It landed on the ground and transformed into the outline of a woman lying on the ground. Her dress was tattered, revealing her round and white thighs. The purple clothes that extended up to her were disheveled, her hair was scattered and blown off her shoulders, and her face was bruised. It seemed that she had been beaten severely.
As soon as the woman saw Lu Liangsheng, who was wearing a robe with the sun, moon and stars in it, she tucked her feet together, quickly stood up and knelt on the ground, sticking her butt out respectfully and kneeling on the ground with her forehead touching the bottom.
"Mrs. Zhu greets Mr. Lu."
"Stand up and talk." Seeing the monk next to him close his eyes, Lu Liangsheng waved his sleeves and conjured up a dress to put on the ragged woman. He asked her to stand up and then went to sit on the wooden bench next to him.
"I remembered something today. Before you came to Lujia Village, did you meet an old monk?"
After saying that, he emphasized his tone and added: "It's best to tell the truth."
"yes."
Zhu Erniang looked at the "Boundless Mountains and Seas" on the table hesitantly, twiddling her fingers, lowered her head and whispered, "Hua Hongyi and I did meet an old monk that day. It can't be said that we met him, in fact, we went to him and captured him on the way, and then went to Qixia Mountain."
Fa Jing, who was standing at the door, opened his eyes, and his fat figure squeezed in, his voice ringing like a huge bell.
"Impossible, my master, how can a little demon like you catch him!"
When he was anxious, he stopped stuttering, and the step he took made the beams, doors and windows vibrate.
"Who is behind this? Tell me the truth!!"
Zhu Erniang was shocked by his angry Buddhist shout and stumbled back a few steps. She pressed against the wall, pursed her lips but did not speak. Seeing her expression, Lu Liangsheng guessed the reason and reached out to stop the fat monk, motioning him to come.
"Zhu Erniang, even if you don't tell me, I can probably guess who it is. But the old monk is so powerful that you and Hua Hongyi can't even shake him in the slightest... let alone capture him alive."
"It is... It is a magic weapon of Hua Hongyidai, it is a painting."
After hearing what she said, Lu Liangsheng knew almost everything. He stretched out his hand and put Zhu Erniang back into the book, closed the book and put it back on the bookshelf. The monk followed anxiously and asked, "Daoyou Lu, what's going on?"
"Yes, Master Wu Yuan."
He invited the burly monk to walk out of the room, go downstairs one after another, and return to the hall to sit down again. When talking about the reason, Lu Liangsheng was a little surprised.
"I don't know what that person wants to do with the old monk Zhenhai. His magic weapon actually has a painting..."
When Lu Liangsheng thought about the red light in the sky outside besides this Master Wu Yuan, he felt a headache. In the past two days, he had been looking through all the ancient books about the stars, and even brought half a cart of books from the palace, but still found nothing.
Now that the old monk Zhenhai has been captured, I'm afraid I really have to go to Wuse Village in advance.
Over there, Fa Jing probably also learned about the power from the scholar's words, so he stayed in Wanshou Temple temporarily, waiting for the others to join him. During this time, he also discussed some matters of cultivation with the Taoist and Lu Liangsheng, and guided Lu Pan and the other eight people in the body-building method. Occasionally, he would also stroll around the ancient capital of Chang'an.
Three days later, Li Yuan rode to the mountain gate on the almost completed Baiyan Long Road. He got off the horse and walked into the temple. He bowed to Lu Liangsheng who was reading a book in the waterside pavilion.
"Master, His Majesty asks you to go to the palace."