As it was late at night and everyone was asleep, Lu Liangsheng and Toad Taoist did not stay in Zhou Mansion for too long. They went back along the courtyard wall they came from and hurried through the street. In the distance, a group of horseback riders holding torches disappeared from the intersection at the end. The man in the lead vaguely carried several long swords on his back and looked quite familiar.
"The one who just passed by seems to be Captain Zuo..."
After taking a look, Lu Liangsheng brought the toad quietly back to the third floor of the inn, opened the window and jumped in. The Taoist was still sleeping soundly on the table. The female ghost was singing a song with her fingers raised. When she saw the scholar coming back, she floated closer.
"Sir, did you gain anything from this trip?"
Over there, the window was closed. Lu Liangsheng took off his mask and pointed at Toad who was sitting at the desk drinking water.
"… It was a little man that got into people's ears, but the master gave it to me as a midnight snack."
The Toad Taoist rolled his eyes and lay down: "You can't blame me for this. I am a toad now. When you flicked that thing away, I naturally subconsciously rolled it into my mouth. But... that little guy tastes good."
The female ghost floated away with a look of disgust on her face, but she was still a little curious.
"Does that little guy look like us?"
Lu Liangsheng hummed, thinking back to the contents of "Nanshui Shiyi", and answered casually: "I guess Miss Zhou's headache is related to that little guy."
In fact, he gradually had some clues about the whole thing. According to Toad Taoist, the old woman who was spraying water was someone else's spell, trying to take something from the Zhou Mansion, and the little man was causing Zhou Rong a headache. There must be some connection between the two.
Unfortunately, his knowledge on the path of cultivation was still somewhat shallow, and he did not know the origin of the little man. "Nan Shui Shi Yi" only told short stories about magic.
"Liangsheng, there's no need to think so hard. In fact, I already know the origin of that little guy." The toad lying on a book opened his eyes, looked at his disciple who was thinking hard beside the bed, and sat up.
"Master knows?"
The toad stood up, straightened his collar, and put on his flippers. He looked at the candle and said calmly, "Master, you have cultivated so much in the past. There is nothing in the world that you don't know. I was surprised when I first saw it, but after I took a bite, I knew what it was."
"Pah pah..." The frog's webbed feet stepped on the bright table and took a few steps, then continued to speak.
"The spiritual energy gathered under the room of Miss Zhou, giving birth to these little people. I guess the person behind the old woman came for them. He sprayed water to encircle the area and trapped the little people. The trapped spiritual people became irritable, so they took their anger out on Miss Zhou."
The scholar beside the bed pondered for a moment following his master's words and nodded in agreement.
"As Master said, that makes sense."
According to Taoist Toad, no matter the origin of the little man or the purpose of the person behind the old woman who sprayed water, there is a clear thread to follow.
After a while, Toad Taoist jumped to the bedside and patted the back of his disciple's hand.
"Don't think too much. Now that the old woman's magic has been broken, the ignorant young man who cast the magic behind the scenes will definitely come again. Let's go again during the day tomorrow. If we can stay in Zhou Mansion for a long time, we can understand the matter."
"Master actually wants to try the food at Zhou Mansion..."
The Toad Taoist turned away with his hands behind his back, half-closed his eyes, and looked away: "Humph, my master is that kind of person."
After chatting for a while, the master and disciple felt sleepy and fell asleep under the quilt. The next morning, before they woke up, they heard a scream "Ah--" in the room.
Lu Liangsheng and Toad Taoist were awakened by the shock. They saw Sun Yingxian looking at her face reflected in the bronze mirror. Her face was covered with bruises, her eye sockets were swollen, and her eyes were narrowed into slits.
"Old Toad, were you serious last night?!"
"I never lie!"
"If it weren't for Lu Liangsheng, I would not respect the elder today!"
The toad carried one webbed finger on its back and raised the other one to make a hook: "Come on!"
"Call me your mother!!"
The two started bickering early in the morning. Lu Liangsheng walked around them and went to the copper basin to wash. Nie Honglian had prepared the water early, and after the scholar finished washing, she handed him the towel.
The long street outside became noisy and lively. On the opposite building, a scholar who had also gotten up stretched himself, opened the window, and was stunned. A towel flew into the hands of one of the scholars through the open window opposite. He quickly slammed the window, turned pale, and went back to bed, hiding in the quilt, shivering.
On the busy street below, a group of people walked into the Furui Inn and called the waiter: "Excuse me, which room is Lu Liangsheng staying in?"
Then, he went straight to the third floor according to the room number provided by the waiter.
At this time, in the guest room, Lu Liangsheng finished washing up, returned to the bedside and took out the "Illustrated Records of Mountains and Seas" to read it. After the man and the toad finished arguing, he prepared to go downstairs for breakfast.
The book in his hand was originally read to kill time, but Lu Liangsheng was gradually fascinated by the various monsters and regional customs in it. Ever since he learned to read and write, he has been very hungry for the things in the books.
"Taowu... if he were to appear alive, he would scare many people."
Lu Liangsheng looked at the picture of the monster above, and was about to take a blank scroll. But before he spread it out on the desk, there was a knock on the door behind him.
"Excuse me, does Mr. Lu live here?"
The man and the toad who were bickering over there stopped. The Toad Taoist snorted, jumped onto the bed, climbed up with his short legs, and curled up into a heap.
Sun Yingxian covered her bruised face, went over to open the door, and waved to the blue-clothed servants outside.
"Inside."
Among those people, the leading manager apologized and hurried to the door to bow.
"I am a servant in the Zhou Mansion. My master asked me to come here to help Master Lu move some luggage."
Moving luggage
Lu Liangsheng was slightly stunned. It seemed that he had no plan to move out of the inn, nor had he settled down in the city. He put down his brush for the time being and smiled as he looked at the servants from the Zhou Mansion who came into the room.
"I am Lu Liangsheng. I wonder what Mr. Zhou said to you to come and move things?"
The four servants looked at each other, obviously confused. The leader spoke up, "The master only asked us to come here, saying that the young master is an old friend and student. He has just arrived in the county city and is not familiar with it. It is not appropriate for him to live alone outside. It is also inconvenient for his studies."
This is a strategy of killing first and reporting later...
Lu Liangsheng looked at them with a smile. If he refused, it would make him seem too old-fashioned as a young man, and it would also offend the old man.
Suddenly he made eye contact with the Toad on the bed, walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed, raised his hand and said, "Then you can move it. There aren't many things. Put them all in those two bookshelves. There is also an old donkey in the backyard of the inn. Bring it into the house as well."
While giving the instruction, Lu Liangsheng reached his other hand behind his back and clapped his hands with the Toad Taoist priest in tacit understanding.
After packing up everything, Lu Liangsheng looked at Sun Yingxian and said, "Come with me, okay? Stay for a few days. If you don't get used to it, you can come out later."
"No, no!" Sun Yingxian shook his head repeatedly, leaning against the wall with the leftover wine from last night in his hand, "I have my own freedom, which is different from yours. I get a headache when I go into that scholarly mansion, so forget it."
As he spoke, he took out a few sheets of yellow paper from his bosom and slapped them on the table. He took a sip of wine, walked out of the room, and the sound came over.
"Burn some paper if you have any questions."