Lu Liangsheng had only read a few medical books, but was not proficient in them. At this moment, even though he had the heart to do so, he did not dare to rashly help others with their medical treatment.
After the conversation outside stopped for a while, he stood up, took the books and walked out, saying goodbye to the old man who spoke under the eaves.
Zhou Zhen nodded, walked to the front yard with this junior, and saw him out, probably wanting to relax.
"… I wanted to talk more with Liangsheng, but something happened at home. However, I have asked the kitchen to prepare a dinner. I will send someone to look for you at dinner time. I wonder where Liangsheng is staying?"
The old man is still good...
Lu Liangsheng sighed in his heart, at least this was the case among the people he met, except of course the deceased Lu Erlai and the rich but unkind father and son of the Chen family.
Thinking of the conversation I heard in the study before, I couldn't help but speak.
"Just now... I heard Elder Zhou talking to the steward. It may sound a bit presumptuous, but I still want to ask, what happened in the mansion?"
The old man didn't seem to want anyone to know what was going on at home, but now that it was revealed, his cheeks puffed up, and after hesitating for a moment, he finally sighed.
"Something did happen at home. I have two sons and a daughter. My daughter is the youngest and she is also engaged to a family in the city..."
The old man slowly told the whole story.
About three months ago, the old man's daughter suddenly developed a strange disease. Every night when she was sleeping soundly, it was as if countless people were talking in her ears, both men and women, and there were even sounds of horses neighing and cart shafts, as if she was in a busy city.
At first I didn't take it seriously, thinking it was just a strange dream. However, on the third day, I started to have a splitting headache, I fell to the ground and couldn't get up, and my energy and spirit were mostly gone.
Hearing this, Lu Liangsheng couldn't help but think of the dream-entering technique that his mentor had used on him before.
Could it be that someone used an evil technique to absorb the Yang energy from Miss Zhou
Walking out of the corridor, he casually asked, "The steward also mentioned an old woman... What's going on with this?"
When the word "old woman" was mentioned, Zhou Zhen pursed his lips tightly, as if he was lost in thought, and it took him a long time to continue speaking.
"That old woman... No one in the mansion recognizes her. It's like she appeared out of thin air. Whenever my daughter has an attack, she will appear and walk around the house. The maids and servants in the mansion have seen her several times, and water keeps coming out of her mouth and nose."
"Have you seen Mr. Zhou?"
"I have never seen it once, but I think it was too strange, so some maids and servants made a mistake."
The old man and the young girl had walked to the courtyard while they were talking. A servant caught up with them and shouted breathlessly, "Master, the young lady is very sick this time. She seems to be crazy and is smashing things around."
"Liangsheng, please go on your own. I can't stay with you any longer now."
Zhou Zhen was also a little flustered. He called a guard and asked him to escort the scholar out of the house. Then he turned around and followed the servant back.
The sky gradually darkened and the wind started to blow. Lu Liangsheng looked at the departing figure, then looked at the book in his hand. Without waiting for the security guard next to him to speak, he quickly followed the old man.
Before reaching the side yard, from afar, one could hear a woman screaming and the sound of things being smashed. Several maids were standing outside the door, not daring to go in. One of them had blood on her head and face, presumably she had been accidentally injured by Miss Zhou.
When they saw Zhou Zhen coming, they stood on both sides in panic and lowered their heads respectfully.
"master."
At this time, Mrs. Zhou in the backyard also rushed over after hearing the news, and rushed into her daughter's boudoir with her husband. Lu Liangsheng stood far away at the door. It was naturally inconvenient to enter a girl's boudoir.
With a bang, something was thrown out and a bronze mirror fell to the ground with a clang. Zhou Zhen protected his wife and retreated to the door, still persuading his daughter in the room.
In the gap between the crowds, Miss Zhou can be vaguely seen. Her hair is disheveled and she is wearing only her undershirt and panties. She is covering her head and screaming madly. Her originally dignified face is now distorted and hideous. There is a mess at her feet, all of which are books and decorations that have been swept down.
“Ahh…”
Strands of hair were torn out between her fingers, blood flowed down the sides of her face, and she cried with a distorted face.
"Dad... Mom... Rong'er is in so much pain... It hurts so much... Ah ah—"
She fell to the ground, her face covered with tears, snot and dust, and she began to wriggle like a maggot, making Zhou Zhen and his wife and the maid outside turn pale.
"My daughter... my Rong'er, you old man, please find a solution!"
"I am not a doctor, how can I help you?!"
"What should I do... Miss has become like this, what should I do..."
…
Amid the panicked words, Lu Liangsheng carefully examined the twisting figure, the loose hair, the wide-open eyes, with more white than black, and the pupils out of focus.
"…Maybe she is possessed by evil spirits. Let her be quiet for a while."
Under the wide sleeves, he made a finger gesture and pointed into the room. A warmth spread to the woman twisting on the ground. After struggling and screaming for a few times, she gradually calmed down.
"Rong'er!"
Mrs. Zhou shouted and rushed in. Lu Liangsheng withdrew his spell, turned around and left quietly, all the way out of the Zhou Mansion and back to the Furui Inn.
Amid the noisy sound of people eating in the hall on the first floor, I went up to the third floor and opened the door, and saw Sun Yingxian sitting at the table. Toad Taoist was standing at the table with his frog webs extended. The two were playing finger-guessing games, and there was a jar of wine next to them.
"you… "
Sun Yat-sen knocked off the mud seal on the jar, poured two bowls of wine, and laughed.
"The two of you are really bored. This Taoist Toad Master is drinking and playing finger-guessing games. It's just starting. Do you want to join?"
By the window, Nie Honglian walked over and closed the door, looking at the night street outside.
"Didn't you say you would have dinner there before coming back? Why are you here so early?"
Lu Liangsheng put down the books, went to wash his hands in the copper basin, turned around and sat down at the table, picked up the chopsticks and picked up a fried bean.
"…Something happened over there. It seems that Mr. Zhou's daughter was possessed by evil spirits, so naturally she didn't have dinner."
As he said this, he looked at the Taoist priest and said, "This is what you are good at. Come with me to help?"
"No, I won't go. This kind of rich lady is untouchable, and she has to perform magic from a distance of two or three meters. She looks down on people!" Sun Yingxian seemed a little unhappy about this. It seemed that she had encountered this kind of thing before.
At the moment, he was still drinking and playing finger-guessing games with Toad Taoist. He didn't take Lu Liangsheng's suggestion seriously at all, but he still added a sentence.
"Besides, you have a good relationship with that family, so it's only natural for you to take action. Who knows, it might even lead to a marriage... Ouch!"
Bang!
The bronze mirror on the dressing table suddenly flew over and hit Sun Yingxian on the head. The latter held her head, jumped up from her seat, and looked around.
Nie Honglian looked at the nails intently, turning them over and over again.
"Some people, be careful with what you say... You never know what will come flying at you next time will be a knife."
"You!" The Taoist was so angry that he couldn't speak. He snorted and sat down again. Just in case, this time he faced the direction of the female ghost so that it would be easier to stare at her.
Lu Liangsheng looked at them unhappily, and held back what he was about to say. He could only look at his master, and the Toad Taoist simply waved his hand.
"Such a trivial matter is worthy of asking a master to take action?"
After drinking a little wine, the Toad Taoist became more excited and urged Sun Yingxian to play finger-guessing games again.
The room was filled with the loud shouts of a man and a toad. The female ghost stood in front of the window, waving her long sleeves and humming opera music. Occasionally, she poked her head over the wall, causing screams from next door.
Lu Liangsheng lay in bed, thinking about what happened in Zhou Mansion before, and the old woman that Zhou Zhen talked about... After a while, there was a knock on the door.
The room suddenly became quiet. Sun Yingxian, with a flushed face, opened the door with a smell of alcohol. An old man in blue clothes was standing outside the door. He looked inside and clasped his hands.
"Excuse me, Mr. Lu Liang, is Lu Lang here?"
Sun Yingxian turned around and shouted towards the bed, "Looking for you."
Afterwards, he returned to the table. The scholar had already walked to the door and bowed to the old man in green: "I am Lu Liangsheng."
"I am a servant in the Zhou Mansion. The master has prepared a banquet and would like to invite Mr. Lu to come over for dinner."
"Well, I'll go right away!"
Lu Liangsheng let the old man go first, returned to the house to get the brush he carried with him, and then reminded the Taoist: "Don't let my master drink too much, otherwise there will be trouble."
The Taoist waved his hand impatiently.
"Just go ahead, I know what's going on."
After the people left, he stood up, put one foot on the stool, and rolled up his sleeves: "Old Toad, come! If I don't get you drunk today, I won't be named Sun..."
"Haha... I have never lost before!"
…
The night wind blew across the long street, and the old pines sticking out of the courtyard wall swayed rustlingly.
Lu Liangsheng knocked on the gate and was quickly invited in by the steward. Voices gradually came from the front hall and a maid serving food walked past the light of lanterns under the eaves.
The round table in the hall was filled with sumptuous dishes.
"Liangsheng is here... He was entangled with some things at home in the afternoon. Come, take a seat." The old man in the hall felt much more relaxed because his daughter's condition had calmed down.
As soon as the two sat down, a maid came over to pour wine.
Lu Liangsheng took the lead and raised his glass: "Mr. Zhou, it's a bit awkward for you to say this. I will have many things to ask you about in Hegu County and in my studies in the future."
He toasted, clinked his glass with the old man's, and drank it all in one gulp.
"Very good... It's a wonderful thing to have a young talent like you around to discuss academic matters." Zhou Zhen put down his wine glass with a smile and asked the maid to fill it up. He continued, "Back then, I also drank and talked with your mentor like this. In a blink of an eye, several years have passed, and he and I have both grown old..."
As he said this, he sighed and drank the full glass in one breath. It seemed that he had drunk a lot by himself before Lu Liang was born.
"I used to laugh at him, but in the end, I envy Uncle Hua Gong, who has no children and no worries... The only daughter I love so much has suffered such a hardship. I really don't know what I have done to offend God."
On the opposite side, Lu Liangsheng waved away the maid, took the wine jug, and poured wine for the old man himself.
"Mr. Zhou envies my mentor, and my mentor may also envy Mr. Zhou for having both a son and a daughter and a harmonious family. However, Miss Zhou's matter may turn around soon."
"Haha, then I will borrow Liangsheng's good words."
The old man drank another cup and spoke his mind for a while. Then they became more and more talkative. The old and the young sat around the round table and talked about the imperial examination and academic matters.
Soon, the dogs in the mansion suddenly barked a few times.
Inside the hall, the flames flickered in the lampshade, and flying insects buzzed around it. Lu Liangsheng turned his head to look at the wall, and at the invisible direction beyond the wall.
He put down his wine glass and said to the old man with a drunken smile: "Mr. Zhou, I will withdraw for the time being and come over later."
On the opposite side, the old man was also drunk and thought that the young man was going to the toilet, so he called a servant to lead the scholar.
Walking outside, the cool night breeze blew on his face, and Lu Liangsheng's expression became gloomy, and he no longer looked drunk.
"Mr. Lu, this way please."
Seeing that he didn't move, the servant quickly ran to the front and made a gesture of invitation against the wall.
Lu Liangsheng nodded and followed him to the back of the hall.
…
The branches of the trees in the courtyard were rustling in the wind. In the window frame lit by a warm yellow light, Zhou Rong was moaning in her sleep, and her head, with her long black hair, was slowly swaying.
"... Don't come to me..."
"Don't come over here..."
“Help… Help…”
Mrs. Zhou, who was guarding the bed, was awakened and called softly, "Rong'er." When she got up to see her daughter, she suddenly heard a slight noise outside. A moment later, the dogs in the yard were barking wildly.
Turn around and look.
The branches hanging down outside were reflected on the paper window, and the shadows swayed wildly like demons.
Rustle…
rustle…
In the darkness, footsteps were heard approaching the window frame. A bloated figure, leaning on a cane, walked slowly towards them. With every step, there was a sound of water spraying.
The face cannot be seen in the shadow, drops of water fall to the ground, wetting the floor tiles, and as the footsteps come, a series of shallow footprints are left.