"My benefactor, why are you here?"
The graceful figure came over with her skirt dragging, bowed, reached out to touch her son's little head, smiled at the figure coming towards her.
Over there, Lu Liangsheng loosened the reins and pointed to the magic circle set up behind the waterfall.
"It's a rare trip back home, come and take a look."
He took the master from the donkey's head, jumped, and landed lightly on the wet green rocks beside the pond. He stretched out his hand and the rushing water curtain broke with a "splash", and a scroll with a painting of thousands of troops and horses flew into his hand.
Although it was a magic circle, it was not a magic weapon after all. The cave behind the waterfall was damp, and the blue ink maintained by the magic power on it was still no match for the natural world over the years, and some places had become somewhat blurred.
The scroll was thrown into the air and floated in the air. A fox demon named Yanzhi helped to grind the ink. Lu Liangsheng opened the cover of the brush and dipped it in the ink.
Go down to the painting, carefully outline the blurred areas, and add some details.
"Yanzhi, I may come back less often in the future, so you need to take care of this place more."
Yanzhi stood by with her hands folded in front of her abdomen, looking at her benefactor's focused profile, then looked at her son who was squatting in front of the old donkey and handing him grass. She smiled and nodded.
"Don't worry, benefactor. Yanzhi is reluctant to leave here and will take good care of her."
"Well, with your words, I feel relieved."
Lu Liangsheng stopped writing and stretched out his hand into the air. He cast a spell to draw a ray of spiritual energy from the spirit gathering array and pulled it onto the painting. The outlines of the galloping and charging soldiers became clear and solid. After stabilizing it for a moment, he raised his hand again and flew behind the waterfall.
The morning sun rose above the clouds. Taoist Toad lay on Qingyan and stretched lazily. Mingyue, who was brushing the old donkey's hair not far away, paused with her small hands stroking the donkey's mane, suddenly picked up the small gourd at her waist, shook it twice with a "clang" sound, and turned her head to look in one direction.
A crisp opening.
“Who’s there!?”
Lu Liangsheng, who was talking to Yanzhi, vaguely felt a familiar aura. When the woman heard her son's voice, she quickly turned around, took two steps forward and asked, "Mingyue, what's the matter?" From afar, she felt a powerful divine force that made her body tremble.
The woman stumbled backwards and was supported on the back by Lu Liangsheng. She felt the warm magical power spreading throughout her body and finally she was able to steady herself.
"My benefactor..."
She hesitated for a moment, and Lu Liangsheng had already walked ahead. In the woods, there was a rustling sound of grass and branches. After a moment, a young man in a black robe with red patterns walked out slowly. The only person in this world who could have supernatural powers was Yuwen Tuo.
Mingyue's eyes widened and she shouted in surprise: "Senior Brother Yuwen!"
The old donkey standing in front of him flapped its ears, crawled on the ground again, and chewed the grass bite by bite, but his eyes were always keeping an eye on the young man walking out of the woods.
"Master."
The sun was pouring down, and the shadows of the trees fell on the stern face. Yuwen Tuo raised his hands and bowed.
"Tuoer..."
Lu Liangsheng knew that he was working for Master Wuyuan, but after all, he was his disciple. But what was he doing in Qixia Mountain at this time
Yuwen Tuo on the other side was always smart, so he naturally understood the meaning of his master's expression. He pursed his lips, hesitated for a moment, and lowered his head slightly.
"Master, I came to Qixia Mountain for no other reason than to bring something to you."
"What?"
Lu Liangsheng frowned slightly, and saw his disciple across from him slowly raise his hand and put it into his wide sleeves. There was a bright divine light in his palm, and he was carefully protecting something.
The Toad Taoist priest, sitting on his flippers, couldn't help but straighten his back. The divine light that was held in his palm dissipated, revealing a baby who was less than three days old. The skin was crystal clear and fair, with a luster that seemed as delicate as a baby's. Yanzhi was so frightened that her face turned pale and she clenched her palms. Although it was a fox demon, she was also a mother and could not bear to see such a thing.
“You… you…”
For a moment, he was so excited that he couldn't utter complete words. He wanted to go forward, but was stopped by Lu Liangsheng. He could not sense any death energy or blood from the baby, but instead a faint fairy energy.
“Is this a fruit?”
"Master has a keen eye."
Most people, including monsters, thought it was a baby when they first saw it. Yuwen Tuo lifted the fruit with both hands and made it float into the air.
"Master, this is a gift from Master Wu Yuan to me. If a mortal eats one, he will live a hundred years longer, and a cultivator can increase his cultivation by hundreds of years. But it is not suitable for me, so I want to offer it to Master and Grandmaster to enjoy."
Lu Liangsheng looked at the floating 'baby' fruit, sitting cross-legged with eyes closed and lips pouted, its small hands and feet were quite cute, and the scholar's brows tightened even more.
"Master, I have no use for this. All things in the world are shaped like primates. This creature is shaped like a baby. Tell me, how did it grow?"
With a light shout, he swept it away to the side of the green rock with a flick of his sleeve.
The Toad Taoist stared at the fruit that fell on the green rock, bounced, and then floated up. He glanced at his disciple and grand disciple who were talking over there, stared at the fruit, and hesitated.
"Such a magical thing cannot be wasted. It smells so sweet just by smelling it."
He took a deep breath, smacked his lips, and his long tongue slid out, dragging on the rock, drooling.
there.
Lu Liangsheng took two steps forward, but the Toad Taoist on the rock beside him didn't notice him at all, his eyes were fixed on Yuwen Tuo opposite him.
"… Your master can't use it either. Although he is a demon, he no longer commits evil. He cultivates his character and lives a natural life. If you don't tell me where this thing came from, he will never use it. Take it away."
In the sonorous and powerful words.
The Toad Taoist standing on the green rock opened his mouth wide and was about to wrap the fruit in one bite, but when he heard the words, he glanced at the fruit in front of him, his expression became serious, he closed his mouth, put up his flippers, nodded and looked at the waterfall, the corners of his clothes swaying slightly in the wind.
“Master!”
Yuwen Tuo in front of the forest over there did not take the fruit back. He clasped his hands, shouted, and bowed heavily. Without waiting for Lu Liangsheng to speak, he turned around and rushed into the woods, startling a flock of birds, and his aura instantly disappeared in the mountains.
When he thought that Yuwen Tuo was the reincarnation of the divine artifact Kunlun Mirror, but after getting the Xuanyuan Sword from Yang Su, he opened his past life memories and worked for Master Wuyuan. When he thought of the other party's Taoist child, he would also know the words himself. Until yesterday, he heard his mother say that his name was changed by an old Taoist priest.
The scholar looked at the "baby" floating on the green rock, wondering if it had anything to do with him.
Then, he shook his head and put the thought aside.
"How can it be related to me... I have a clear origin, I was born and raised in Mount Qixia, and my parents are both locals."
Suppressing this thought temporarily, Lu Liangsheng put the fruit away and wrapped it with magic power to prevent the fairy spirit from dissipating over time.
"Master, let's go."
He lifted up his master, who was still nodding his head, and placed him on his shoulder. He said goodbye to Yanzhi and her son, and went to the other two nodes of the magic circle in the mountains to repair the scroll.
The light of the sky was moving, passing across the green mountains. Outside Qixia Mountain, a streak of light left the range of the spirit gathering formation and fell somewhere in the mountains outside. In the splashed dust, there was a big rock in the distance. Hua Hongyi, dressed in red, with her white arch of foot raised, glanced lazily at it.
"What do you think? Your master will definitely not accept it."
When the dust cleared, the young man standing there was seen with a blank expression on his face, laughing softly with his hands covering his mouth.
"It seems that what I said was right. On the other hand, without the Xuanyuan Sword, how strong are you?"
Yuwen Tuo turned his head slightly, glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, took a step forward, and walked straight down the mountain.
"You'd better not ask about my affairs. If Master hadn't insisted on taking you with him and felt that you could still be used, I would have beaten you to death to avoid being an eyesore."
"Yo..."
On the big rock, Hua Hongyi rubbed the uneven surface of the rock with the tip of her shoe and winked: "...Didn't you almost make my soul fly to annihilation when we were in the blood spirit formation? But... "
The woman paused, stood up from her side, and waved her red sleeves: "However, I have completely absorbed the Ginseng Kingdom, and this lady is not afraid of you."
On the downhill path, the departing figure paused. Yuwen Tuo turned his head to the side, his eyes full of coldness, which made Hua Hongyi stunned and close her mouth before he started walking down the mountain again.
Occasionally, when I am at a high point, I turn my head and look back. In the gradually slanting light of the sky, I can see the rolling mountains of Qixia, the curling clouds and mist, and the village in the distance where I once learned my skills.
An indescribable feeling surged in his heart. Yuwen Tuo stopped, without even looking at the woman who followed him, he clasped his hands heavily and bowed towards that direction.
…
The sunlight gradually turned into orange, and the rosy glow spread among the clouds.
The sound of birds singing crisply at the foot of the mountain created a bustling atmosphere. Lu Liangsheng led his old donkey down from the northern mountain. As the rosy glow of the sunset came in, acres of fields spread out in sight. The yellowing crops rippled in the wind and were pushed away into the distance.
The busy farmer stopped working with his hoe, straightened up, wiped the sweat off his face, and smiled as he looked at the jumping children on the ridge of the field, carrying a kettle and handing them a bowl of cool water to quench their thirst.
Soon, he looked up and saw water splashing on his rough face. In the fading red glow, drops of rain fell from the sky. He laughed loudly, picked up the hoe, picked up the child, and ran to the village before the heavy rain fell.
Snap…
The raindrops fell on the dry ground and on the walls of the houses, leaving traces of rain. Lu Liangsheng led the old donkey and returned to the village with the villagers who were running back.
The morning glories climbing up the fence swayed in the rain. The Taoist held a pair of new soles in his hands, looked at them again and again, put them in his arms, and flipped through the Taoist book with contentment.
Zhu Ganglie sat behind the fence, propped up his chin and looked at the delighted Old Sun. He took out the scroll that he had treasured in his arms and slowly unfolded it, revealing a woman's face with thin eyebrows like black ink and a smile on her lips.
Birds hiding from the rain landed on the cypress trees in the yard and chirped crisply on the branches. A light was lit on the opposite window. Hong Lian opened the window and smiled at the scholar leading the donkey into the yard.
In the fenced courtyard, raindrops hung on the eaves, falling in the night.
The scholar let go of the old donkey, came to the kitchen, asked his parents to sit down, and talked about the next itinerary. Afterwards, he wiped the tears from the corners of the two elders' eyes, got up and went back to the room, and started flipping through the book in the warm yellow light of the fire.
The firelight flickered slightly, and Hong Lian lit the lamp on the desk, illuminating the shadow of the person reading and casting it on the window frame.
The night was quiet, then turned dark. As night passed and day came, a hint of paleness appeared in the eastern sky. Soon, Lu Liangsheng walked out of the room, raised his sleeves and bowed towards his parents' bedroom, which had not yet had the lights on.
Taking the reins handed over by the old donkey, the Taoist and Zhu Ganglie, who had been waiting outside the yard for a long time, came to the mountain road outside the village and said goodbye to the woman in the temple.
It's heading north back to Beijing.