The buzzing of cicadas echoes with the swaying treetops in the wind.
Hong Lian behind the window frame floated closer, looked outside, and was a little absent-minded as she watched the focused profile behind the easel.
The brush and ink were splashed, and the blank scroll was dotted with blue ink, outlining a huge outline.
“… I don’t know whether that person’s cultivation is profound or not.”
As the pen tip moved, Lu Liangsheng also had other thoughts. If the other party had a high level of cultivation and was a powerful figure, it would be the stupidest thing to do to take the risk alone. Besides, this was his first time competing with a powerful person, so he did not dare to be careless.
"Well, call Sun Yingxian over."
Thinking of this, Lu Liangsheng put down his brush, took out a yellow talisman from his sleeve pocket, shook it in the air, and the yellow paper burst into flames.
Floating in the air, the moment it lands.
The pine trees on the other side of the courtyard wall rustled softly, and the treetops swayed wildly. A figure fell down with leaves on his body, dusting off his body.
Lu Liangsheng's mouth twitched as he looked at the Taoist priest with branches wrapped around his head.
"…you nearby?"
"I'm going to take a nap up there." Sun Ying pointed nonchalantly at the pine tree behind the courtyard wall.
He took a look into the house, took out a piece of cake from his cloth bag, sat down and drank it down with the tea beside him.
"Didn't the old toad come out to bask in the sun?"
Lu Liangsheng tapped his head with the tip of his pen: "Is it appropriate to say that in front of his apprentice?"
He turned the tip of his brush, dipped it in the inkstone, and continued painting. He turned his back to the Taoist priest, and spoke as he moved the brush tip around.
"Master has gone somewhere with the gourd in his arms... By the way, I asked you to come here for tonight. I want you to hold back the man behind the scenes, and I will go find him directly."
"You want me to fight him?" Sun Yingxian's eyes lit up and she licked the crumbs on her hands. "That's not a bad idea."
"Let me think about what to prepare."
"I don't know if cinnabar and talisman paper are enough... Well, there is also black dog blood. If the other party uses the silhouette technique again, it will come in handy... Where can I find black dog blood..."
The Taoist stroked the short beard on his chin, turned his head, and saw the big black dog with its tongue hanging out.
The black dog seemed to sense something. It opened its eyes and saw a human shadow covering it. Across its field of vision, a human with a pointed chin and monkey face showed a terrifying smile.
He let out a "woo" sound.
He immediately clamped his tail between his legs and trembled.
…
The light from heaven poured down into the city, passing through the rows of houses. On the other side of the city, in a large mansion, the scent of incense burning in a wing room floated out of the window.
As two figures walked over the corridor, a door creaked open and a maid walked out lightly, straightening her skirt with a blush on her cheeks. When she saw the two people coming, she bowed to one of the older men who had gained some weight.
"master."
With a low call, the maid lowered her sight and saw a golden-threaded footstep kicking a long blue skirt approaching. She raised her face slightly and saw an old man in a long robe with square hole patterns.
The visitor looked at the maid and then cast his gaze towards the tightly closed door over there.
"Are you satisfied with the service provided by the real person?"
The maid blushed and nodded: "Yes."
The old man waved his sleeves, asking her to leave, then walked to the door and knocked twice.
Before the second knock was over, the door opened silently. The room was filled with smoke. In the dim light, a Taoist priest in a yin-yang Taoist robe and with his hair combed high and pinned in it sat cross-legged on the couch, muttering to himself while making finger gestures.
As if she knew who was coming, she stopped trembling her lips and opened her eyes: "Master Zhang."
The old man changed his expression outside the door and hurried forward to bow.
"Zhang Dongming, I have met the real person."
On the opposite side, the Taoist let go of his feet and landed on the ground. He picked up the duster beside him and swept it, and the door closed by itself. No matter how many times the old man next to him saw it, he would be amazed every time.
But at the moment, he felt a little impatient, and spoke without waiting for the Taoist to speak first.
"Master, how long will it take to get the elixir? My son's health is getting worse day by day. If we delay any further, I'm afraid he won't be able to wait."
The Taoist had a thin face but a full beard. He pinched the tip of his beard with his fingers and looked at the old man.
"Your son's vitality was only damaged by the fox's charm. His yin is strong and his yang is insufficient. He can still hold on for a month or so. Mr. Zhang, don't worry. My magic was broken yesterday. I think Zhou's mansion has also invited a master. When night falls, I will fight with him again."
Zhang Dongming didn't know what to say.
He and the Zhou family were in-laws, as the daughter of a famous scholar in Hegu County was engaged to his son. But three months ago, for some reason, the only son of the family often studied at night, and the servants who passed by his room reported that they could often hear women's voices in the house.
At first I thought my son was doing something philandering, but that was not a big deal, as every man has three wives and four concubines.
Later, I found that my son's complexion was getting worse day by day. He became very thin, his cheeks were sunken, and his eyes were lifeless. I consulted a doctor, who said that he was weak and had no energy.
However, the patient did not get better after taking the medicine, and instead suddenly fell ill. One day, the old wife remembered the rumors among the servants, and got up in the middle of the night to check. Through the window lattice, she could hear the sound of gunfire. She poked a hole in the window paper and looked inside, only to find a beautiful woman leaning against her son, and on the wall behind them, there was the shadow of a tail shaking.
He invited a wizard from a Taoist temple outside the city over overnight. After investigation, the wizard said that the Yang Yuan was severely depleted and needed a magical medicine to recover. Otherwise, even if he was cured, he might not be able to have children in the future.
Zhang Dongming is his only child. If he has no offspring, his Zhang family will be completely extinct.
A few days later, the Taoist named Mingyang came back and said that he had found the elixir. He then realized that it was in the home of his children's in-laws. After such an incident, he naturally did not dare to tell others that his son was obsessed with a vixen. It would be a small matter if it got out, but he was afraid of angering the prestigious Zhou Zhen and causing him to break off the engagement. So he had to grit his teeth and let the Taoist cast a spell in secret, which led to the current situation.
The old man sighed and cupped his hands: "Then I'll have to trouble you, Master."
"You're welcome, Mr. Zhang."
The Taoist shook off the dust, opened the door and walked out, telling the steward outside the door to set up the altar. He looked at the sky with hawk-like eyes and grinned.
"… You ruined my plan. Humph, I'll let you know how powerful I am. I'm determined to get that person."
Walking to the backyard courtyard, the sky gradually darkened and the old trees in the courtyard swayed.
When Yangming walked to the altar, the incense and candles on it ignited by themselves, illuminating his long and thin face. He waved away with his wide sleeves: "Let's go meet the Taoist friend over there!"
A piece of white paper flew out, bringing up a cold wind.
…
The skylight tilted and gradually darkened. In the side yard of the Zhou residence, a black dog with bandaged limbs curled up in its den whimpering and trembling. Sun Yingxian held half a bowl of black dog's blood and wiped the sweat off her face.
The figure at the easel over there was still writing furiously. I couldn't help but walk over and take a look.
The dark ink left its mark on the paper from the tip of the pen, outlining a huge, crouching beast with a human face and a tiger body, a wide nose and a bloody mouth, fangs densely covered like rakes, and extremely long mane that stood up backward like steel needles, giving it a ferocious and terrifying appearance as if it was ready to devour anyone.
"It looks scary..." Sun Yingxian commented.
Lu Liangsheng closed the "Illustrated Records of Mountains and Seas" and looked at the ferocious beast depicted on it, but he had a different feeling. A green gas that others could not see in the painting floated out and penetrated into his chest.
The righteous path of heaven and earth began to operate on its own, as if it was merging with the green energy.
As if they had telepathic connection, Lu Liangsheng put down his brush and, despite the Taoist's objection, took out some cinnabar from his cloth bag, threw it into the teacup to dissolve it, and dipped the tip of his brush in it.
"Hey, this cinnabar is not ordinary, don't waste it!" Sun Yingxian picked up the teacup as if it were a treasure and quickly took out yellow paper and a paintbrush.
Before he even started drawing the talisman, he stared blankly at the scholar who had already raised his hand, the red tip of his pen glowing.
"What do you want to do?" the Taoist couldn't help but ask.
Lu Liangsheng did not answer. The tip of the pen that was shining with light seemed heavy and trembled slightly in his hand. Then, he slowly touched the center of the beast's eyes, revealing a pair of scarlet pupils.
Open your eyes!
Next second.
There was a faint growl coming from the painting, a roar like the howl of a tiger or the moan of a pig squeezed out of the throat.
At that moment, the old pine tree outside the courtyard wall startled a flock of birds, which circled in the dark sky but did not dare to land. Inside the house, Nie Honglian felt that the air became oppressive. Even the short figure who was fiddling with something under the bed put down the gourd, crawled out a little, and looked around the room.
Outside the house.
Sun Yingxian stood there with a tingling scalp, and her hands holding the bowl began to tremble unconsciously. The thing in the painting didn't look like a human beast at all.
"What is this... this... thing called?"
The scholar over there turned the page with his finger and wrote the two words "Taowu" in a corner of the painting. At that moment, a cold wind blew from the distant sky.
The flowers and plants around the side yard were swaying wildly. The two people in the yard turned around and saw a huge ghost with a green face and fangs floating down from the wall behind them.
Lu Liangsheng put away the scroll and turned his head to call into the house.
"Hong Lian, come out for a moment."