It was midsummer. In the scorching sun, smoke and dust rolled up from the shafts of passing carts and were swept away by a bald tail. The tinkling sound of swinging copper bells came from far away. An old donkey with hay hanging from its mouth yawned listlessly, swallowed slowly, drooped its eyes, and walked leisurely by the roadside with the scholar on its back.
Eight burly men with bare chests and backs, carrying swords and knives, followed behind, looking around with ferocious eyes. The merchants traveling between Hezhou and Chang'an were so scared that they dared not look at them for fear that they were robbers.
After passing a group of vendors, the dusty road was empty, with only the scholar and his group left. In the bookshelf behind the old donkey, the Toad Taoist pushed open the small door, stretched his muscles, glanced at the setting sky, and with his two short legs hanging, he knocked on the door frame with his pipe.
"Little ghost girl, you have been so boring along the way. Play me a little song I have never heard before."
A brush made of tangled roots lying in the upper compartment of the shelf moved, and a quiet sound came out.
“I want some too!”
The Yuelong Sword hanging outside pushed back a small part of the hilt, "The old toad can also bend, and can only make a quack quack sound~~~"
"Shut up!"
Qiyou and Toad Taoist shouted at the same time, and the Yuelong Sword slid back into its sheath. On the other side of the shelf, there were several scrolls placed vertically, and the sound of silver bells chuckled.
"Master Toad wants to listen, so Hong Lian should sing a song or two... The fragrant grass is bleakly connected to the distant mountains, and the wanderer outside the mountains..."
"You little ghost girl... You know that the Northwest is my hometown, but you still sing this song, deliberately trying to make me unhappy, quack-"
Lu Liangsheng, who was walking in front, looked back at the busy bookshelf, smiled, took out the map paper from his sleeve, his eyes stayed on a certain place for a moment, and looked up in the direction of southwest Hezhou. It was much closer from here.
"Since you are passing by here, you might as well go and see him."
He touched the monkey hair in his sleeve pocket, jumped off the donkey, led the old donkey to the intersection ahead, and took advantage of the early morning to walk through the sparse woods on the ridge. The eight people following behind him, Lu Pan, found that they had deviated from the route. Qingfeng, who was sitting on the shoulder of one of the big men, put his hand to his mouth and whispered to them: "This used to be Liangjie Mountain, and there is a big monkey trapped under the mountain."
"I'm going to visit an old friend up ahead."
As soon as the little man finished speaking, Lu Liangsheng's voice was heard, and the eight people immediately felt more at ease. In the bookshelf, Toad Taoist dragged the rope and leaned half of his body out to look outside. He identified the direction and roughly knew where to go. He lay back down, leaning against the door frame, swaying his legs, and humming along with the little tune sung by Hong Lian.
The mountains in the northwest are barren, with sparse old trees all around. Birds are hopping on the branches, chirping softly at the group of people passing by below. After climbing over two mountains and pushing aside the drooping branches, we can vaguely see a mountain range that looks like a human palm spreading out in front of us.
The mountain breeze blew, and Lu Liangsheng let go of the drooping branches and led everyone to the foot of the mountain. He loosened the reins and told Lu Pan and the other eight people, as well as Qingfeng, to wait here. He did not take the old donkey with him and walked into the sheltered forest ahead alone.
In the figure that flashed by in the glow of the sunset through the gaps between the trees, Lu Liangsheng transformed into an old man in a dark brown Taoist robe, stroking his long white beard, and walked up to the Five Finger Mountain.
Listening to the chirping of birds all around, I came to the hillside above. Several fruit trees had grown several times larger, and the tree cages were full of blooming flowers, attracting bees and butterflies flying up and down.
At the foot of the steep cliff, among a few tufts of weeds, there is a furry head covered with moss, sticking out of the mountain, motionless, as if dozing off.
Hehehe…
Seeing that he was fine, Lu Liangsheng chuckled. Hearing the noise, the monkey opened his eyes and looked over here like lightning. He recognized the old Taoist at a glance, showed a pair of fangs turned outward, and laughed.
"How many autumns and winters have passed before you remembered to come and see me?"
"There are so many trivial things in this world, but I've come to see you." Lu Liangsheng waved his sleeve to brush away a rock next to him, blew away the dust on it, and sat on it. He took out a fruit from his sleeve pocket, wiped it, then smiled and handed it to the monkey's mouth.
"Great Sage, please try it. I bought it in Chang'an when I came here."
The furry head looked at the red fruit, was silent for a while, opened its fangs and mouth, bit off a piece of it hard, and the sweet juice flowed out. The monkey closed his eyes comfortably and chewed the flesh slowly, feeling the squeezed juice covering every part of his tongue.
"Delicious! Delicious! Have another bite!"
Lu Liangsheng sat beside the monkey holding the fruit and raising it to its mouth, while the monkey took a bite of it and ate it up with relish. He then took out a comb from his sleeve and combed the monkey's messy hair, starting with a casual cut.
"In the past two years, I have been to Mount Li several times, and my mother is doing well."
"She is naturally fine. No one in heaven or on earth dares to touch her."
The monkey spat out the fruit core in his mouth and sank it directly into the mud in front of him. He turned his head slightly and glanced at the scholar who had transformed into an experienced Taoist priest with his apricot-yellow eyes.
"I, Old Sun, and you get along well. How about we become brothers? You won't have to be so humble when you meet my adopted sister in the future."
"Don't move!"
Lu Liangsheng straightened the monkey's moving head, combed the dry and tangled hair with a wooden comb, and said softly: "The etiquette cannot be violated. If I become your brother, how can I see Zi Yuanjun?"
"Trouble, trouble, rules again." Monkey shook his head irritably, gritting his teeth and saying, "There are rules in heaven, and there are rules below, too. I, Old Sun, wish I could smash all these things to pieces with a stick!"
Hiss~~
With a hiss, the monkey head glared at Lu Liangsheng fiercely and pushed the wooden comb on his head back: "Go away, if you want to follow the rules, don't come over here."
Lu Liangsheng fell silent. Seeing that he was angry when he disagreed with something, he put away the comb, stood up, took two steps, and raised his hands to the monkey:
"Then I will go first."
"return!"
The monkey at the foot of the steep cliff saw him really leave, and became anxious and shouted loudly: "It's not dark yet, talk for a while longer, don't go, don't go, I was reckless just now, I apologize to you."
Lu Liangsheng walked back and sat next to him, but did not comb his hair. The man and the queen just watched the sunset passing by the top of the mountain. Occasionally, a bird flew past their sight and landed on the distant foothills.
The rosy glow of the sunset shone on the cliff, casting the shadows of a man and a monkey gradually lengthening in the remnant of red as they chatted intermittently.
"Last time, you told me that the world is prosperous and you would take me to see it in the future. Is that true?"
"I don't lie."
"Two days ago, the evil spirit in the northwest was overwhelming. You came here again. Is it because of this? Come, pluck a hair from the middle of my neck. When you are in danger, use this hair to call my name."
"Um?"
"Nerd, just pull it out when I tell you to!"
Seeing him raise his chin, Lu Liangsheng had no choice but to reach out from the tangled mass of hair, follow the monkey's instructions to find the spot, and pull hard. He heard a "hiss" and a gasp, followed by a loud curse.
"You nerd, I told you to pull them out, not to pull out a bunch. It hurts so much. Go away! I get angry when I see you."
Over there, Lu Liangsheng looked at a tuft of golden, soft monkey hair in the palm of his hand and didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Several tufts of hair were stuck together, and when he pulled them out, they were all clumps apart. He had no way to deal with it.
"Then... I'll take my leave."
Seeing that the Monkey Head had chased them away, and it was getting dark, they had to rush to a nearby town to stay. Lu Liangsheng bowed to the Monkey Head, lifted his robe and returned to the mountain road they came from. At this time, the voice of Sun Wukong was heard from far behind him.
"We've known each other for so long, and I, Old Sun, still don't know your name!!"
The setting sun was red, like a robe draped over the receding figure. In the rosy glow, Lu Liangsheng stopped, looked back at the lonely monkey head on the steep cliff in the distance, revealed his figure, lifted up his wide sleeves, and bowed to the other party.
"Qixia Mountain, Lu Liangsheng!"
The scholar gathered himself together, stood up, and walked down the mountain to meet Lu Pan and his eight companions, as well as Hong Lian, whose body floated out of the scroll, and then headed towards the nearest town.
Ha ha ha ha-
A mournful laugh came from the foothills behind him. Lu Liangsheng was leading the old donkey and looked back. Birds were startled and flew everywhere in the woods. Hong Lian was standing nearby, blinking curiously.
"Sir, who is that?"
"A monkey was pinned down the mountain."
Lu Liangsheng spoke softly, and in the distance, among the five peaks in the mountains, the laughter suddenly turned into a sound that resounded.
"I am Sun Wukong from Huaguo Mountain."
The voice came from far away, as if it was getting to know the scholar again.