"Master, that idea is really good. I have come back after going around in circles!"
The crowd of people watching the show dispersed, and the carriage rolled along the long street towards the Hibiscus Pond. In the slightly swaying carriage, a young man in tattered clothes took a sip of tea, put down the low table, waved his hand, and continued talking.
"From Miaojiang, we kept going south, but before long, we saw nothing but the sea. When we got to the sea, it was endless, with no end in sight... If you don't believe me, ask him!"
Lu Liangsheng turned his eyes away and looked at the young man in animal skins who was being pointed at by his apprentice. He had a slightly dark skin under his messy hair and a handsome face, but he looked quite old. It was hard to tell his exact age. He did not speak Chinese very fluently. When he saw his companion's master looking at him, he lowered his head quickly and cupped his hands, imitating Li Sui'an's previous action.
"Shelong, Wuman tribe, Ailao people in the south of Erhai Lake."
With his eyes lowered, he was actually also looking at the young man standing opposite him, who was not much older than him. The robe he wore had patterns of the sun, moon and stars on it, and was more beautiful than the colorful cover woven by the girl from Erhai Lake. He felt an unknown aura coming from his body that made him feel uncomfortable, and he even felt that there was more than one aura.
Lu Liangsheng had no idea where the southern part of Erhai Lake was. He had only read about Shu in the books he had read, but from the description given by the other party, it should be in the south-west.
The man was wearing a fur coat and had loose hair. He had a cold and evil aura about him, perhaps it was the witchcraft of the tribe.
"Each place has its own way of cultivation. Just because it is different from the Central Plains, it cannot be classified as evil."
Lu Liangsheng smiled and raised his hand, telling the other party not to be so polite. The latter then breathed a sigh of relief. When he came to the outside world, he also heard about the prosperous world of Central Plains with many big figures and various rules.
Fortunately, the person in front of him doesn't look like the one in the rumors.
"Don't be so reserved. Just use the same strength you used to hit me last time. My master is very easy to talk to."
Li Sui'an patted his shoulder, turned his face towards Lu Liangsheng, and was about to raise his chin, but when he saw the master's gaze, he immediately closed his mouth and smiled awkwardly, "Sometimes... you can be quite majestic, especially... this robe."
Creak, creak... Amid the groaning sound of the turning axles, Lu Liangsheng poured a cup of tea for Shelong. The sternness in his eyes eased. He looked outside the curtain and saw that it was still early to reach the Hibiscus Pond. He tapped the table with his fingertips and asked Li Sui'an to continue.
"Go on to tell me about your journey south to the sea. I am quite interested."
Hearing his master speaking, Li Sui'an on the opposite side could no longer hold back the urge to pour out everything he had seen and heard along the way. He quickly stood up and squatted, holding down the low table with one hand and waving his other hand to gesture.
"Master, I don't know. The sea to the south is too big. If there weren't a few islands along the way and we had water, we would have died of thirst on the way... But food is easy to solve. Once we encountered a big fish with a hole in its head that was spewing water. We thought it was a monster, so we rushed at it with our sword, but I couldn't even get hit by the sword and it turned upside down."
"Later... the further south we went, the colder it got. Fortunately, I have great magical powers and can keep out the cold..."
In the red sunset glow, the conversation continued as the carriage passed through the noisy long street and all the way to the Hibiscus Pond. The soldier driving the carriage outside said, "Imperial Master, we have arrived at the Wanshou Temple."
Li Sui'an, who was just saying "What a snowy place...", was the first to rush out, pulling the Wuman named Shelong to one side, and waiting respectfully for the master to come down.
Then, he looked at the lake reflecting the sunset glow, "There's a lake. I finally have a chance to take a bath in it!"
Lu Liangsheng, who had just gotten off the car, patted him on the head.
"There's a dragon in there, be careful or it might eat you."
After thanking the soldier, he walked towards the mountain gate. The disciple following him on the side looked back at the lake and hurried to follow.
"Where did the dragon come from?"
“… This temple is so magnificent. Was it built by the emperor?”
"How high is the rank of the Imperial Master?" and other such questions.
In the birch forest beside the mountain steps, the grass rustled and shook. The old donkey stuck its head out to take a look, then rushed out with a kick of its hooves, rubbed itself affectionately in Lu Liangsheng's hand, glanced at Li Sui'an standing nearby, let out a deep breath, and followed behind its master, shaking its bald tail.
When he returned to the temple, he saw from afar eight big men sitting in a circle and talking and playing with stone locks in the square. Li Sui'an ran over with his green sword in hand and joined them in laughter and play.
"Sui'an was practicing in Mount Qixia and was very familiar with them."
Lu Liangsheng turned his head away and explained to Shelong who didn't know what to do next. Shelong nodded blankly. At first, he didn't know how Li Sui'an's master was. Now that he came here, he felt the demonic energy rising to the sky...
He was skilled in witchcraft and sorcery, and was extremely sensitive to monsters. He could clearly feel a monster coiled underneath the lake outside. And right now in this temple, especially in the attic on one side, there were two more.
Watching Li Sui'an chatting and laughing with the eight people, he subconsciously turned his head above the attic and saw a window pushed open. A woman with her hair tied up in a bun leaned half of her body out and waved at him with a smile.
What Shelong saw was a demonic aura lingering around, and he couldn't help but feel frightened. He clutched the corner of his clothes tightly and swallowed his saliva.
"Don't be afraid."
Probably seeing his nervousness, Lu Liangsheng smiled and waved at Qiyou, and whispered something to him from the side. The disciple who had been greeting Lu Pan and others came back, and they returned to the attic together. Since he became the national master, there were no other staff in the temple, so he took the two of them around the building to familiarize themselves with the environment.
"There are no servants in the temple. You can fetch water and wash yourself. I have some clothes and will bring them to you later."
"Thank you, Master!"
"Thank you... State... State Master." The Wuman heard the soldiers call him that on the way.
Lu Liangsheng nodded, not wanting to disturb them to rest. He walked to another door and knocked. Seeing no response, he pushed the door open. It was empty inside. The Taoist and Monk Fajing were not there. He probably thought they had gone out, so he turned around and went back upstairs to the bedroom.
I looked out the window and saw the red clouds in the sky and the red light behind the clouds.
He sat behind the desk and continued flipping through the books, looking for some clues. Lines of words flashed across his eyes, and he quickly turned another page. There were densely packed words, but there was no answer he was looking for.
"Why can only I see..."
"Because you are tied to the Sui Dynasty, only you can see it. Think about how powerful I was in the past. Now that I have recovered my demon pill, I just feel that something is wrong at this moment."
Lu Liangsheng turned around and saw the Toad Taoist priest coming in from the door with his white belly bulging and flippers on his back. He walked to the window, jumped with his two short legs, climbed up the edge of the bed and kicked a few times before climbing up and sitting down.
"But if we really want to find out, we should go find that master. Then we can find out. What's the point of flipping through books here?"
"Wait until everyone comes together, and then flip through the book when you have free time." After hearing what his master said, Lu Liangsheng lost the mood to flip through the book. He closed the book and put it aside.
"... After all, Master Wu Yuan has a high level of cultivation, so he must be prepared."
"Humph... Can someone who hides his head and shows his tail be considered sophisticated?"
Toad snorted coldly, stood up, walked along the edge of the bed to a position close to the window frame, put up his flippers, and looked up at the sky outside the window.
"You think your master has been roaming the world for many years, and has seen all kinds of monsters and demons. If you really have the ability, why would you hide? Look at your master, he fought his way through the mountains to the south. Liangsheng, this is called profound!"
Lu Liangsheng looked him up and down and said, "Master, you are being hunted."
"It's still the same!" The Toad Taoist turned around and hugged his flippers: "You are incompetent. Who is chasing you? Are you bored?"
Lu Liangsheng, sitting in front of his desk, tapped the table with his fingertips, as if thinking about something.
Seeing that he was silent, the Toad Taoist over there walked to the corner of the table, jumped up from the edge of the bed, put on his flippers and stepped on a pile of books to walk to the window frame.
Looking at the square bathed in the rosy glow, the crowd gathered there nodded slightly and took a breath.
"Don't worry, I will help you. However, Liangsheng, you still need to find more time to improve your cultivation."
"The luck of the dynasty depends on me, so it shouldn't be too difficult to improve my cultivation."
Lu Liangsheng stood behind his master, looking at the sunset glow outside the building. Li Sui'an was standing on a stool, gesticulating and telling Lu Pan and others about what he had seen and heard along the way.
In my peripheral vision, four figures walked up the stone steps leading to the mountain gate below. The Taoist with a pointed chin and monkey cheeks was arguing with the fat monk next to him with a red face. The other party's occasional words made him so angry that he shouted and jumped.
"Can you speak faster? I'm about to pee."
One thin and one fat walked to the front.
On the stone steps behind, a one-armed figure wearing dark brown leather armor and a green single garment strode up. The thin knife at his waist swayed lightly with the leather reins, and behind his back, there were two majestic long swords.
Next to him was another man with thick and matted beard, dressed in a dirty red warrior's uniform, carrying a black wooden box on his back and holding two jugs of wine in his hands.
When he saw Lu Liangsheng standing at the window, the one-armed man in the straw hat lifted up the hat, revealing his face full of short stubble, and started laughing.
In fact, they had been in the city for many days.
…
Wow!
Wow-
As the sun sets, crows fly over the city walls and land on the eaves of the west tower to preen their feathers. As the time for closing the city gate approaches, the number of pedestrians and vendors entering and leaving the city gate gradually decreases.
The bright red glow of the sunset illuminated the official road, and a fat shadow was stretched diagonally on the ground. A dark man carrying a rake was walking from the west in the distance, and he saw the word "Chang'an" on the city wall.
He put the rake down with a bang, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and let out a breath.
"Fortunately, I am not slow on my feet, so I can finally take a break."