Wow~~~
The sound of rain drowned out the noise on the road. The sudden autumn rain caused passing merchants and travelers to scream and shout, pulling their carts and quickly rushing to find a place to shelter from the rain.
"What bad luck! It rained so hard."
"Hurry up and cover the goods... Don't get wet!!"
"Come over here, give me a hand—"
Crowds of people were running back and forth in the rain, pushing carts and cracking whips. On another road leading to Cangyu Mountain, in the lead-blue rain, a scholar in a blue shirt and white robe came over, holding an oil-paper umbrella and leading an old donkey in his hand. Next to the wobbly bookshelf, there was a Taoist priest following him.
When passing by the caravan with the wheels stuck in the mud, the wooden wheels sank into the mud and rolled over the pit with a thud. The drenched merchants wiped the rain off their faces and shouted, "It's out, hurry up!"
Some people also looked around and said, "Hey, where is the scholar who just came over?"
"What scholar? Are you dazzled? Hurry up and leave! Otherwise, we will lose money on this trip!"
The man did not give up. He pushed the cart and looked around again. The foothills and forests between heaven and earth were immersed in this water vapor. In the rain curtain, almost all of them were travelers and merchants who were hurriedly passing by in the mountains and five peaks.
Wow~~
The continuous rain curtain fell on the road, and the potholes with accumulated water caused ripples. Suddenly, a hoof stepped down, splashing water on the road surface.
The old donkey was walking slowly with the bookshelf behind him, following the master in front of him. Sun Yingxian, who was following beside him, looked back. Behind the mist, the peddler who was hurrying on his way turned around with his arms folded, and snorted at the back of the scholar in front of him.
"A nice guy."
"If it rains heavily on the road and the goods get wet, we will lose money. That means almost half a year's work will be in vain."
When Lu Liangsheng was still in the village, he saw many vendors coming and going in the village to buy and sell fish, shrimp and grain, and heard about some accidents that happened on the way, which meant that almost half a year or even a whole year's work would be in vain.
After saying this, he stopped talking about the topic and changed the subject, "Master, the work has basically been done. Do you think that in the future, will the cultivators from all sides…"
"The teacher doesn't want to talk."
In the shaking bookshelf, the Toad Taoist sat on the blanket, and outside the slightly opened door, he shook his pipe, "I'm just a little hungry, little Taoist, catch some frogs for me."
"What time of year is this now... Hey, I'll go see if I can still catch it."
Sun Yingxian had been feeling depressed staying in Chengyun Gate for a while, so he didn't care whether there were frogs or not. He rushed to the ditch outside the road like a horse that had broken free from its reins. He rolled up his sleeves and reached into the small hole at the edge of the ditch. He didn't know what he caught, but he scooped it in the water and stuffed it into the cloth bag around his waist.
"We'll go to the tea shed in front and wait for you."
Lu Liangsheng spoke with the sound of Dharma, as if he were talking normally, and called out to the Taoist in the distance. The latter raised his hand and waved it casually twice, then continued to walk along the ditch and look around.
"Master, there is a teahouse over there. Let's go there to rest for a while and drink some tea to quench our thirst."
Retracting his gaze, Lu Liangsheng said something to the bookshelf on the donkey's back, and walked along the official road with an umbrella. In the dense mist, the roadside rest houses were crowded with people, and the teahouses were surrounded by carts. The waiters who served tea and water were busy and sweating. When they saw someone coming in, they hurriedly greeted, "Sir, please find a seat by yourself. I will be here soon."
"It's okay. I'll do as I please."
After tying the old donkey under the awning outside the teahouse, Lu Liangsheng put away his umbrella, shook off the water stains outside, went in and found a table with only one customer, and politely bowed to the other party. The man should be a lone traveler. He had a knife leaning against the table leg, and when he saw the scholar bowing, he nodded as a response, and continued to eat the cake with big mouthfuls, with no intention of talking to the scholar.
Over there, after the waiter finished taking care of the two tables of guests who had arrived earlier, he came over to tell Lu Liangsheng about the food in the store. There were only some vegetarian biscuits, meat patties, and herbal tea, not much to choose from.
"Five meat patties, two vegetarian patties, and three bowls of herbal tea, that's all."
Hearing the scholar's words, the waiter was stunned for a moment, and looked hesitantly at half of the table full of cakes and herbal tea. Although others had paid for them, he still couldn't help but speak.
"Sir, can you finish it all by yourself? Life is better now, but don't waste it."
"It's okay, someone else will be here later."
Sure enough, a Taoist priest came over in the rain, carrying a yellow cloth bag, stepping on the puddles. Behind the old donkey tied to a wooden stake, the bookshelf creaked open a little. The Toad Taoist priest raised his chin at him and made a hissing sound.
"Little Taoist priest, where are the frogs?"
"We don't have any frogs, so you can take this for now."
Sun Yingxian reached out and touched the yellow cloth bag for a few times, then picked up a huge object, opened the small door and stuffed it in. She clapped her hands, strode into the teahouse, sat on the stool next to Lu Liangsheng, crossed her legs, and took a sip of the herbal tea.
"There are frogs at this time?"
"No, I just caught one..." The Taoist was holding the tea bowl, and before he could finish his words, the door of the bookshelf on the old donkey's back suddenly opened, and a dark shadow was thrown out. Falling into the rain, it turned out to be a big toad with bulging eyes, kicking its legs in panic, and crawling towards the middle of the road.
Bang!
Over there, the small door of the bookshelf compartment closed by itself. Lu Liangsheng raised his lips, but then suppressed his smile and whispered, "You found a toad for my master?"
"Except for the appearance, it's pretty much the same as a frog, so it's fine."
The Taoist priest said something in a rather casual tone with the tea bowl against his lips. At that moment, a loud shout of "Gee!" came from the dirt road outside. A knight ran wildly in the rain. On the steamy road, the crawling black shadow was instantly submerged under the horse's hooves. In the blink of an eye, the knight quickly passed the teahouse and went straight away.
This caused a group of customers in the teahouse to shout: "It's raining so hard, but you're still riding so fast, are you in a hurry to be reborn?"
"That is, what if someone is killed?"
"Even if it doesn't kill anyone, it's not good to hit flowers and plants."
Amidst the chatter, the Taoist priest also stood up and took a look. He saw the toad lying in the puddles with its intestines spilling out. He shook his head and sat back down.
“… Now we can’t make do with this anymore.”
"You..." Lu Liangsheng also saw it, and glared at him: "If you make my master angry, you're done."
As they were talking, the sound of horse hooves that had passed by suddenly came closer and closer, and then came back. A knight wearing a straw raincoat and a bamboo hat stopped his horse at the door of the teahouse, turned over, and swept around the tea shed, finally stopping at Lu Liangsheng who was sitting at a table inside.
He immediately shouted, "Friend Lu!"
Over there, Lu Liangsheng put down the pancake and turned his head, and saw the man striding in, covered in moisture. He took off his bamboo hat, revealing a face with gray beard and upturned thick eyebrows.
It was Yang Su who came from Chang'an.
"If I hadn't had some impression of your donkey, I would have almost missed you, fellow Taoist!" Yang Su leaned back his bamboo hat, sat down opposite the scholar with a majestic posture, and just picked up the third bowl of herbal tea, causing the waiter who happened to be looking over there to open and close his mouth slightly, and he didn't even react when the customer called him.
"No more, no less, just three bowls of tea. Can that young master tell fortunes?"