The drifting clouds obscured the bright moon, and the silver light on the mountain gradually sank into darkness. Occasionally, the long howl of a lone wolf could be heard in the forest, making the mountain look a bit eerie.
The wind blew his robe, and Lu Liangsheng looked at the dissipated fire and red light in his hands, and wrote a series of "imperial edicts" on his sleeves. Then he looked at the grass over there, waved his sleeves, and the grass and trees moved, revealing gullies.
There was not even a ghost in the shadow I saw before.
"It seems he's gone."
Lu Liangsheng fell silent, took off his Qiankun sleeves, and did not chase after the other party. He sighed slightly and looked around. His eyesight was very good. He could see some lights among the obscured woods.
He stood in the wind for a while, then turned and walked towards Chang'an. As he walked slowly, his figure gradually became blurred and disappeared halfway up the mountain. It was already late at night when he returned to the city and the chaos had subsided.
The burning building was put out by the yamen runners and nearby residents. On the street, soldiers on horseback shouted at the closed houses and buildings on both sides from time to time, speaking words to reassure the people.
"Tell all the people, the remnants of the Southern Dynasty lurking in the city took advantage of your Majesty's night visit to the Wanshou Temple to seduce and drive away several residents to start a rebellion. They have now been wiped out by the army that entered the city. I hope that the elders and villagers in the city will be on guard against strangers, do not open doors randomly, do not hide rebels, and do not spread rumors..."
There was still smoke from the burning house. A woman was sitting on the ground hugging her child, looking at the charred house, crying and slapping the ground. The child was staring blankly at the charred wood that was still glowing with sparks. An old woman in ragged clothes was beating her chest and stamping her feet, screaming and rushing to find her son, but was stopped by an officer standing by: "Don't go in, the roof beam will collapse, your son is gone!"
The old woman struggled for a few times, but when she heard the officer's words, the crying expression remained on her face. She couldn't breathe and fainted. People around her hurried over, even the crying woman came over and pinched her Ren Zhong point.
There was noise and chaos for a while, with more people walking barefoot on the cold streets, shouting for their missing relatives; in the collapsed attic, several yamen runners pulled the rope in their hands and struggled to pull open a crossbeam to rescue the buried woman inside; people in the neighborhood who were not affected heard the noise and came to help spontaneously, and every time a person was found or rescued, there was a huge cheer from the crowd.
Watching these scenes, Lu Liangsheng's tightly pursed lips relaxed a little as he walked through the neighborhood. No matter when or where, the people walking on this land are the most humane.
Walking through the noisy and bustling streets, he sometimes stopped to cast spells, helped put out the nearby fire, and rescued the old man with blood all over his head. Returning to the Hibiscus Pond, the air smelled bloody, but the dark zombies had disappeared. There were still traces of cleaning on the ground, and the broken tiles had been refurbished in time.
Outside the mountain gate, several torches were burning. When the horseback guards saw the figure coming, they all came down and bowed, "Greetings to the Imperial Master!"
Some people who were nosy couldn't help but ask, "Master, is that monster dead?"
"Already caught."
Hearing the answer from the Imperial Master, the guards pounded their fists excitedly and said, "He's not dead. That monster got such a good bargain!" As soon as they said this, they suddenly felt something was wrong, and quickly closed their mouths and lowered their heads.
Over there, Lu Liangsheng walked up the stone steps. Zhu Ganglie, Yang Su, Li Sui'an and Sun Yingxian were waiting there, chatting away. The Taoist saw the scholar coming back and wiped his moustache.
"Look, I said that Mr. Lu was fine. Wow, that starry sky looks amazing..."
At the side, the bearded man leaning on the wooden box turned around and approached the Taoist who was talking excitedly: "Have you noticed that Brother Lu's demeanor and behavior are a little different from the past?"
"Hey, you guys are worrying about nothing!"
Zhu Ganglie picked his nostrils to flick away a small black shadow, then picked up the nine-toothed rake and walked forward, looking Lu Liangsheng up and down, and then looked around.
"What about the corpse demon? I, Old Pig, didn't catch up in time. Maybe I can just use a rake to deal with it."
Lu Liangsheng greeted a few others, turned around, and raised his sleeves: "Stay in here, I'll let him out later, and then you can fight."
“…” The old pig stared at the slightly shaking Yin-Yang sleeves for a moment, put down the fingers that were digging his nostrils, and waved them quickly.
"I'm just talking, do you take it seriously? If I smash you with this rake, your temple will be destroyed. I think you'd better forget it."
At the side, Sun Yingxian, Yan Chixia, and Li Sui'an rolled their eyes. They always boasted about how powerful he was, but they had never seen him fight. Even if he did, he would be defeated in no time. Apart from the transformation spell, they had never seen this old pig use any decent skills.
"And your majesty?"
At this time, Lu Liangsheng lowered his sleeves and looked around. Except for a dozen soldiers who helped fill the broken floor tiles, he did not see the emperor and his guards.
Looking back, I saw the Taoist priest standing with his legs crossed and shaking.
"And your majesty?"
"He was escorted back to the palace by that dude." The Taoist sighed and shook his head. "He usually lives a life of luxury, but when faced with this kind of thing, he couldn't stand the shock. After you left, the emperor was sweating all over and was very weak. He left that dude, the Prince of Jin, behind and went back."
"Don't you see how old His Majesty is?"
Lu Liangsheng shook his head, explained, and walked to the attic where he usually lived. He would have to release Chen Fu from the Qiankun sleeve later and sort out the whole story. Thinking about stepping over the threshold, going up to the attic, putting the Xuanyuan Sword on the pedestal, turning around and looking back, in his sight, a short figure suddenly jumped out from the bed, stepped on the edge of the bed and jumped up.
The purple gold gourd with black patterns was held high above the head.
"Hey, evil disciple, look at the gourd—"
The gourd hit his forehead with a bang. Lu Liangsheng's body shook, and his soul became a little unstable. His body swayed a few times and then returned to normal.
"Master, you..."
Lu Liangsheng blinked and looked at the Toad Taoist who jumped back onto the table, "… what are you doing?"
After saying that, he rolled his eyes and fainted to the ground.
"Old demon—"
A wisp of black smoke floated out of the sleeve and turned into a graceful woman on the ground. Qi You hurriedly stepped forward and squatted, probing the scholar with her fingertips, then tilted her head to look at the toad on the table. She narrowed her beautiful eyes and pouted her red lips, as if she was about to get angry.
"Hehe..."
The Toad Taoist put down the gourd, sat on the edge of the table, and tapped his flippers: "What do you know? I am trying to wake him up, otherwise... Hey hey... You silly girl, listen to my explanation... Put your hands down..."
In the bright candlelight, the woman's figure was projected on the wall. Her arms grew thicker and then she struck out with a bang.
The light in the room went out instantly, the curtains were pushed open with a snap, and a wave of air rushed out.
…
The night clouds moved away, revealing a half moon.
In the dim moonlight, the foothills are rolling and the moonlight shining through the woods is eerie and hazy. In the darkness in the distance, rustling footsteps can be heard passing through the silver light cast on the ground. In front of the figure is a ruined temple with a light of fire.
In the temple, Zhang Lihua sat by the fire with her skirt pulled up, lost in thought. When she heard a figure approaching the door, she quickly stood up to greet him.
"Jing'er."
The woman rubbed her son's body and felt relieved to see that he was not injured. However, Chen Jing had a strange expression on his face. He walked to the fire and sat down in silence, feeling a little uneasy.
"Jing'er, what happened outside? Don't be like this, it will make mother worry."
Crackling…
Sparks popped out of the dead branches and floated up with the heat wave. Chen Jing stared at the swaying flame, pursed his lips, and was silent for a long time. There seemed to be tears in his eyes that moved and slid down the corners of his eyes.
"Mother... Master... is dead."
Outside the temple, the wind whimpered as it ran through the woods, making a rustling sound.