Hegu County is only a hundred miles away from Fushui County. The five counties under its jurisdiction are considered to be relatively wealthy compared to the southeast corner.
Lu Liangsheng, along with the Taoist priest and Zhu Ganglie, led the old donkey into the territory of Hegu County. Along the way, they saw many people carrying loads on their shoulders and children on wheelbarrows happily clapping their hands and singing nursery rhymes to their walking parents. At a glance, there were figures of people with their families everywhere.
When they arrived at the military camp outside Hegu County, someone had already gone in to inform his generals.
The gate was wide open and Han Qinhu came out wearing armor to greet them. Although the imperial preceptor had no official rank, in a sense, he was one of the people closest to the emperor. Sometimes the emperor would ask for the imperial preceptor's opinions on employing people and making policies, so naturally he had to come out to greet him at the first opportunity.
"National Master!"
Before Han Qinhu even stepped out of the gate, he raised his hands from a distance. Then, he bowed to the Taoist priest on both sides of Lu Liangsheng and the black man with a rake on his shoulder, and invited the three of them in.
"No, now that the matter here is settled, I will return to Beijing." Lu Liangsheng saluted and looked at the old general. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a head hanging on the tall flagpole in the military camp.
It was the rebel general Cao Shouren.
Thinking of our intersection many years ago, we walked together all the way to Tianzhi. He was a generous and visionary man. It was his fate to have come to this point.
With a complicated sigh in his heart, he said goodbye to Han Qinhu and prepared to leave. The latter stretched out his hand and said, "Master, I'll take you there."
Lu Liangsheng smiled and made a "please" gesture, asking Old Sun and Old Pig to go ahead first, then he led the old donkey and walked slowly side by side with the old man who looked rather ferocious.
After walking for a while, Han Qinhu, who was standing next to the scholar, spoke first, smiling:
"The Imperial Master has magical powers, so it won't take him more than a few days to get back to the capital, right?"
"That's right." Lu Liangsheng looked at the old man from the side, somewhat surprised at why he suddenly asked this question. He swung his wide sleeves slightly, brushing away a few stones on the ground in front of him, "General, do you want to send me a letter from home?"
Ha ha-
The old man smiled and waved his hand. As a veteran in the army, he had an air of heroism. He walked beside the national teacher and stroked the thick beard under his chin with his hand.
"Master, I have fought in battles all my life and never sought personal gain while on official business. Anyway, I can see my family when I return home, so why should I write a letter? Those mushy words are disgusting! I asked you just now, but I was just curious. Life is only a hundred years long, and I am about to leave. I can't help but feel a little reluctant, so I asked more questions and looked more."
With a heroic wave of his hand, the armor leaves on his arms rustled.
"It will save me from going to hell in the future and seeing those old subordinates who died in battle, and I won't even have anything to brag about!"
Lu Liangsheng, who was walking nearby, was stunned for a moment, then looked at the old man laughing and talking generously, then he also laughed and bowed to him.
"The general's state of mind is better than many people... Well, you have been fighting and killing all your life, do you have any regrets?"
"Regret? Hahaha, if I were young, I might regret this state of mind. But what's the point of regretting when I'm old? I was a pillar of the country when I was alive, and now I'm in the underworld. I'm in a high position, right? Gather the old subordinates, occupy a few hills, and become a king!"
The old man came from a prominent family. When he was young, he was bold and fond of reading. When the Northern Zhou Dynasty was still in existence, he was appointed as the governor and governor of Hezhou. He followed Yang Jian and Yang Su to pacify the Northern Qi Dynasty and establish the Sui Dynasty. He even served as the vanguard to attack the Chen Kingdom and was the first to break through the Suzaku Gate.
He has made outstanding achievements throughout his life, and now he has suppressed the rebellion, but he is old now and has lost his former aggressiveness. Instead, he is more like a heroic old man next door.
It rained heavily yesterday and the road was muddy. After walking two miles, the old man stopped and held up his hands: "Master, I will send you here. It has been a long time since someone could talk to me about daily life. Sorry for bothering me."
"You are too polite, General. Please go back."
"The journey is long, Master, please slow down!"
The two talked for a while, and then Lu Liangsheng took the old donkey and walked towards the Taoist and Zhu Ganglie who were waiting in front. He turned around and bowed to the old man again, then said goodbye and left. He passed through Fulin Prefecture and walked through Tianzhi, the former capital of the Chen Dynasty. On the official road outside the city, Zhou Yu was standing in the pavilion in a white robe. It seemed that he knew that the scholar had returned, so he showed up and prepared some wine to see him off.
City God Zhou Yu held up the wine glass with both hands and toasted with a smile: "Fellow Daoist, you have met a wise master and can finally display your talents. I cannot leave the place under my jurisdiction to congratulate you. I have prepared some wine and hope you will not despise it."
"How dare I? The governor has something on his mind."
Lu Liangsheng became the national teacher, offered sacrifices to the heaven, and was tied to the dynasty. The city gods of the world had a sense of each other, and the two were old friends. Now that he was going back to Chang'an, he came here to practice.
After chatting and laughing for a while in the pavilion, Lu Liangsheng did not delay any longer. He took the two jars of wine from Zhou Yu, said goodbye and left, and hurried to the section of the river where the old dragon was.
The swaying willows brushed across the water. There were few boats passing by on the river, and those that occasionally passed by were mostly lone boats paddled by nearby fishermen. A few ospreys were preening their feathers on the bow of the boats, and when they passed a certain place in the river, they flapped their wings in panic, and only calmed down again after they passed by.
Taking a jar of wine, Lu Liangsheng broke the mud seal and walked to the shore, toward the river, pouring the white wine into the river, causing Zhu Ganglie to bite his fingers, and anxiously waved his sleeves and turned away.
"It's such a waste to just give it to that old dragon. He didn't even let me have a taste first. Oh, really."
"You should accompany me for a walk. You should have some drinks. I'm just offering you some flowers to show my appreciation."
After Lu Liangsheng poured a jar of water, a series of bubbles gurgled up in the middle of the river in front of him, pushing ripples and swimming quickly towards this side. The turbid water surface suddenly turned dark blue, like a long dark cloud covering it.
The dragon in the water has its own magical power, which can separate the water that does not belong to the river. The jar of Drunken Blue Porcelain poured into the river was silent for a while, and the water surface suddenly broke open with white waves splashing, and the old dragon poked out half of its head.
"Fellow Daoist, you are so thoughtful. Are you going back?"
Lu Liangsheng and his group wanted to go back, but it was not convenient for three people and a donkey to ride on their backs. They couldn't just make a raft and squeeze on it.
"The three of us will go by land, and you can go back to Chang'an by the waterway we came from."
"Well, then I'll listen to you, fellow Taoist."
The old dragon didn't say much. It retracted its head into the water, made a big hole in the water, and dived to the bottom of the river. Under the water where others could not see, the long dark blue shadow meandered and swam, quickly disappearing in this area of water.
"You've drunk some wine, swim slower, be careful not to hit the reef!" The old pig shouted towards the river, picked up the empty wine jar on the ground, smelled it, and threw it back into the water. Seeing that the Taoist still had a jar in his hand, he quickly winked at him, probably meaning 'Watch out, don't let the scholar cause trouble.'
After sending the old dragon away, Lu Liangsheng turned around and snapped his fingers at the two of them.
"Let's go back to Chang'an."
The old donkey, who seemed to be able to understand human language, neighed excitedly and followed its master with light kicks of its hooves. The bookshelf behind him creaked and shook. The Toad Taoist pushed open the small door, looked at the rising morning light, drooped his sleepy eyes, stretched out his webbed feet and tied the rope.
Behind, the Taoist priest was holding a leaf of grass in his mouth and the jar of wine, whispering to the old pig in a low voice and gesturing with his fingers. As he was talking, he saw from the corner of his eye that the scholar walking in front of him suddenly staggered, took a few unsteady steps, and finally stabilized himself by holding onto a tree next to him.
"Master Lu, you drank too?"
Amid the voices of the man and the demon, on the bookshelf, the toad climbed up onto the donkey's back holding a rope, and Qiyou turned into black smoke and fell to the ground, then ran over.
When he went to help the scholar and shouted "Old monster, what's wrong with you?", Lu Liangsheng held onto the tree trunk, his body began to shake violently again, the blood color drained from his face, and beads of sweat oozed out.
"Red... red light..."
Lu Liangsheng gritted his teeth and squeezed out these words, reached out and grabbed Qiyou's shoulders, turned around and looked back. In the sky, white clouds were floating, and the red light had grown huge at some point, and at the front of its long tail was a huge sphere.
His magic power seemed to be affected and he uttered two words with difficulty. Lu Liangsheng could not hold on any longer and leaned into Qi You's arms, becoming confused and dazed.
"Hurry back to Chang'an... The catastrophe of heaven and earth is coming."
…
at the same time.
To the northwest of the bustling Chang'an, between numerous mountains, there is a foothill with a scenery that remains unchanged all year round. The forest is like a blanket, waterfalls hang high on the mountain walls, and occasionally cranes cry across the sky. In the distance, there are towering trees with sparkling fruits under their lush branches and leaves.
When the breeze blows, the baby-like fruits sway gently, and a burst of childish laughter can be heard.
hehe…
… hehehe…
The laughter spread to the deep and narrow path. On the top of the bluestone, several palaces and towers stood. In the middle of the main hall, incense coils were hung high and burning. Under the colorful shrine, a figure was sitting cross-legged holding a whisk.
At a certain moment, he opened his eyes, stood up, walked out of the palace door with his sleeves clasped behind his back, looking at the red light in the sky, his long gray beard swaying in the wind.
"The demon star is finally here."