"ah-"
The Taoist's voice broke the silence of the early morning. Lu Liangsheng sat up suddenly, startled by his voice. He got out of bed and pushed open the window. Qi You also came over and looked down.
Old Sun stared at a pile of chicken, duck and fish bones with a broom in his hand, then turned around and yelled at the scholar and the woman standing at the window with their hands on their hips.
"It's fine if you didn't invite me to dinner, but why did you leave a bunch of these things for me?"
Well…
Looking at the Taoist who turned back to sweep with a broom, Lu Liangsheng showed astonishment on his face. Before, Sun Yingxian came back and told him not to disturb him when he was resting and not to call him when he was eating, but as a result, he forgot about it even when it was time for dinner.
That's my fault.
The scholar chuckled at Qiyou twice, turned around and was about to call his master. On the bed, the small quilt was tilted to one side, and the Toad Taoist was lying there with his tongue hanging crookedly on the small pillow.
Lu Liangsheng called out softly, "Master?"
The toad closed its eyes as if it was still dreaming, its short limbs moved, bending forward and backward, its webbed feet stretched out and it paddled backwards with all its might, its tongue flailing.
"... Water... So much water... How could I be afraid of water... Swim... Get ashore quickly."
Probably still dreaming.
Lu Liangsheng gave up the idea of waking up his master, walked out of the room and went downstairs, cooked breakfast as if he knew the routine, grabbed a paper crane stored on a tripod nearby, cast some magic power on it, and then threw it, letting it fly to various rooms upstairs to wake everyone up.
I just packed up and went outside to help the Taoist priest. Then we had a fight together. When I returned to the building, everyone was getting up.
The Toad Taoist sat at the table with drooping eyelids and sleepy eyes, looking at the food in front of him and nodding his head.
"Master?"
After being reminded by Lu Liangsheng beside him, he came back to his senses and ate a few bites. After breakfast, the magic circle that Lu Liangsheng had previously arranged in Chang'an still needed to be perfected. He took the Toad Taoist who was still sleepy and led the old donkey out of the mountain gate.
After walking through the long and bustling street and exiting the east gate, he went straight up Mount Li and found the cliff that the woman in yellow had pointed him to that day. There were signs that several rocks engraved with magic patterns had been moved, which must have been moved by Yang Su before.
The mountains were undulating and covered with a thin layer of mist. Lu Liangsheng put the toad on a stone nearby. The toad opened its mouth and yawned, then curled up to bask in the sun on its back. It looked at its busy apprentice, then slowly closed its eyes and continued to doze off.
When early autumn comes, there are always a few days like this.
Over there, Lu Liangsheng didn't pay attention to his master's condition. He raised his sleeves and pinched his fingers. The rocks on the ground made dull sounds and kept changing their positions, leaving chaotic traces.
The formation is difficult at first, but once you are familiar with what to connect with, it becomes relatively simple. Mountains, water, and people, where mountains are soil, draw the spiritual energy of the heaven and earth to generate the magic power of the protective formation...
Click~
There was a sound of dead branches breaking behind him, and Toad Taoist opened his eyes. An unfamiliar old woman came over with a basket. She was wearing a coarse cloth dress and a soap cloth scarf on her head. She didn't even look at the scholar over there or the big toad coiled on the stone. She bent down and pushed aside a layer of fallen leaves, picked a mushroom and put it in the basket, then continued to search slowly.
“Liangsheng…” The Toad Taoist stood up, and all his sleepiness disappeared.
Lu Liangsheng naturally saw it as well. He stopped casting the spell and bowed to the old woman.
"Liangsheng has seen my mother..."
"Just know it in your heart, no need to say it out loud."
The old woman put the mushrooms away, covered them with a piece of blue cloth, sat on a big rock, put down the basket in her hand, and pounded her knees gently, looking like a woman in her seventies or eighties.
"She's building something next to my house, so she has to come out and take a look. That girl likes to help others, but since it's you, I won't chase you away."
"yes."
Even though Lu Liangsheng is no longer the same person he used to be, he still feels a little awkward in front of this old woman. Even if it was Duke Yue who came over, he would probably have to bend his waist and get down on his knees. After all, the demon monkey under the Five Elements Mountain wouldn't dare to speak loudly when he heard her name.
Monkey... Lu Liangsheng reacted, lifted up his sleeves, reached in and pulled out a few strands of light yellow monkey hair.
"The Monkey King's spiritual consciousness can be up there... why not let it out to talk to you... to me."
The old woman glanced at the scholar holding a few tufts of hair and turned her body in another direction, "Take it back. I get angry just looking at him. Listen carefully. The weather has not changed yet. You should be careful."
As he spoke, he stood up on his knees and placed the basket in his hand on the stone. A bare branch had appeared next to him, so he took it in his hand and slowly walked away in the direction he came from.
"Your basket..." Lu Liangsheng picked up the basket and took two steps after him.
The old woman walked away with the rustling footsteps on the fallen leaves, but she didn't pay any attention. She only heard her voice: "Child, take it back and stew it for yourself."
The Taoist Toad's eyes lit up, and his mouth opened wide. His long tongue slid from the corner of his mouth. He excitedly asked his disciple to open the basket so that he could have a look.
However, the old woman stopped and turned her face slightly.
"Don't give it to that toad. His fate is not over yet. He will suffer more later."
The toad, standing on one leg on the stone and stretching out his hand as if to pounce, suddenly froze in place, looked at the basket in his apprentice's hand, withdrew his hand angrily, sat back down, supported his chin, looked at the old woman going away, and nodded his webbed head on his face.
"mean!"
Seeing that the old woman was no longer visible, the toad's eyes turned, and while the apprentice was bowing and not paying attention, it stretched out its long tongue, reached into the basket, touched a piece of mushroom, rolled it up, and pulled it back into its mouth.
Lu Liangsheng turned his head and said, "Master, you..."
"She gave it to me, so it must be... um... a good thing... I... um... didn't take it..."
With a large piece of mushroom in his mouth, Toad Taoist moved his limbs to the side, chewing slowly and calmly.
As it turned away, there was a "pop" sound in the air, and the toad suddenly tilted sideways, with its face twisted and distorted as if it had been slapped. A mushroom covered in saliva rushed out of its mouth, rolled to the ground, and disappeared in an instant.
"Master, are you okay?"
Lu Liangsheng put down the basket and came over. The Toad Taoist climbed up with the support of his friends. A clear handprint was visible on the side of his face. He angrily picked up his flippers and sat on the stone.
… I didn’t get to eat it, I failed… It seems like I’ve regressed.
Afterwards, Lu Liangsheng sorted out the magic array here and went to the Weishui River again. Unfortunately, there was no river god in the water. Instead, he saw many people from nearby villages and towns sawing beams, laying bricks and tiles to build a temple. After asking, he learned that it was a Dragon King Temple, probably built for the old dragon.
The Toad Taoist climbed on the scholar's shoulder, still thinking about what happened before, and finally yawned lazily.
"Take a nap first and talk about it after you wake up."
Lu Liangsheng leaned over and looked at the busyness over there for a while, then left to continue his own work. It was already afternoon when he finished everything. When he returned to the temple, everyone lazily moved a few chairs to the outside of the eaves and basked in the sun comfortably.
The Taoist took up two chairs, stretched out his legs and crossed them, flipping through the handwritten copy he got from Chengyun Sect. His fingertips were wet with saliva, and when he turned a page, he saw Lu Liangsheng coming back with his old donkey and greeted him casually.
"By the way, Old Lu, the old emperor in the palace just sent someone to ask you to go to the palace. It seems that some general is returning in triumph."