Mountain people in the northwest live in villages one after another. In the early morning, curling smoke fills the green forests at the foot of the mountain. Farmers who go out to work stand in the fields and look to the northwest in surprise. Between the winding mountains, the brown and yellow barren land is covered with a layer of "green". Many villagers who saw this scene dropped their hoes, ran back to the village, and rushed outside with their wives and children.
Twenty or thirty households gathered at the entrance of the village, looking in amazement at the dense forest that had suddenly grown on the distant mountains. Some people who believed in gods knelt down and kowtowed towards that direction.
"What's going on... there was nothing yesterday..."
"There must be a god in the mountain. Didn't you hear thunder and wind blowing over there in the second half of last night?"
"What if there is a monster?"
"Would a monster be so kind as to plant trees on all the surrounding mountains?!"
"Oh, look, those trees are still growing... We are almost reaching another mountain."
"This is a magical spell, this is the manifestation of the gods, everyone hurry up and pray, maybe our mountain will be covered with forests, benefiting our descendants, everyone kneel down and pray quickly."
The villagers gathered at the entrance of the village were persuaded by the old man. After hesitating for a while, they saw someone in front of them kneeling down and kowtowed. They followed suit, put their hands together, knelt on the ground, and chanted prayers towards the northwest, hoping that the village could also receive the blessings of the gods and sages.
The prayers of more than a hundred people seemed to be heard. When someone opened his eyes, he saw that the nearest mountain had become lush and green. Various trees were swaying their branches slightly in the wind. Along the brown and yellow land outside the mountain village and farmland, saplings and green grass broke through the ground, growing tall and thick in the blink of an eye. The shade of the trees covered the heads of the villagers gathered at the village entrance.
Many people opened their eyes and watched this scene, and suddenly burst into tears, "Thank you, God, for your mercy—"
The villagers' cries of gratitude were heard by Lu Liangsheng, who was far away in the mountains in the northwest. Looking at the tall trees and vegetation that spread for dozens of miles, full of vitality and no longer desolate and barren as before, he felt a little sad in his heart. He never thought that the demonic power contained in the Wan Yao Pill could cover such a far distance.
It felt a bit pity for Toad Taoist and Gongsun Liao who were squatting at the entrance of the cave watching the show.
"I spent so much effort to refine it, and it almost capsized, but your disciple actually used it like this..."
"Yes, if I were given it, I could at least have a few meals... It's a pity, but if I didn't eat, I might be able to break through the demon king realm..."
As he was talking, he realized there was nothing more to see, so he got up and went back into the cave.
Outside.
Lu Liangsheng stood on the edge of the cliff and stretched his muscles, put away the easel and put it on the bookshelf, chatted with Hong Lian Qiyou, turned around and called his master to prepare to go down the mountain. Now that the matter was done, it was time to return to Chang'an and stop by Wuse Manor to see who had taken over the old manor.
The rest of the monsters in the mountain were either dead or escaped. The Toad Taoist looked at the corpses of animals that had revealed their true forms on the ground, slurped his saliva greedily, and happily found firewood from the cave, lit it, and put on a small pot.
When Lu Liangsheng came over, he was just skinning a big snake and putting it into the pot. He was looking through the recipes around the pot when he heard footsteps. He saw his apprentice with Hong Lian and Qi You, carrying a bookshelf. He was stunned for a moment: "What's going on? Are they leaving?"
The scholar took a look into the pot. It was so full of white snake meat that it was almost unable to fit in. If it was an ordinary snake, it would not be a big deal, but this snake should be conscious and able to talk and communicate like humans. If he wanted to eat it, he would find it hard to swallow. Lu Liangsheng retracted his gaze and nodded.
"Well, we still have to go to Wujiang Mountain, and then it's time to go back to Chang'an."
Taoist Toad looked at the pot of snake meat with envy. His eyes lit up and he simply took the whole pot in his hands. He turned around and called Gongsun Liao who was standing in front of the broken stone chair: "Now that this hole of yours is gone, come with me to live in Chang'an. You can go out and have fun anytime. It's better than here."
Lu Liangsheng did not refute his master's words. The demon king in front of him did not eat humans. Apart from sneaking into the painting to cause trouble for the spider spirit, he would not cause any trouble at will. Gongsun Liao, who was standing over there, turned around and walked out of the cave with the master and disciple.
"I have slaughtered all the monsters in the northwest. There won't be any monsters left that can talk. So I have to go to Chang'an. However..."
Having said that, Gongsun Liao lowered his eyes slightly.
"Maybe I need to go to the desert first. I want to be quiet for a while."
He then bowed to the Toad Taoist, and then turned to Lu Liangsheng. When the scholar returned the greeting, his body turned and turned into a piece of yellow sand, flying into the sky and heading farther west.
Not long after Gongsun Liao left, there was a rustling sound at the edge of the cliff. Lu Pan and his eight companions who were climbing below were sweating profusely and finally poked their heads out of the cliff. When they saw Lu Liangsheng standing at the edge of the cliff, smiles immediately broke out on their faces.
"Liangsheng, this cliff is really hard to climb, but fortunately it's not too difficult for the eight of us."
"Which one... Uncle Pan, we are just about to go down."
The smiles of Lu Pan and the other eight froze, and they subconsciously turned their heads to look down. The mountain walls were steep and surrounded by clouds, and the huge rocks on the treetops were like beans dotted on the ground.
"Gu~~"
The eight people's Adam's apples rolled and they swallowed their saliva. They were about to speak when Lu Liangsheng on top laughed and waved his robe sleeves to brush them away. Lu Pan, Lu Xi, Lu Qing and the other eight people's eyes suddenly became blurred. The foothills in the distance and the steep cliffs in front of them were spinning around. They quickly closed their eyes, and in less than half a breath, they felt their feet firmly planted and heard the donkey's bray of "Ahem-er-hem". They dared to open their eyes then. In their sight, the old donkey was looking at them with its tail wagging and its neck tilted.
Lu Qing raised his head and looked at the solitary peak shrouded in mist. He smacked his lips and said, "It took me most of the night to climb up there, and it took me less than a few breaths to get down..."
"So, our whole night of climbing was in vain?"
"Going back, there's one less place to brag about. What a pity."
…
"Hong Lian, you and Master should go down first."
He handed the bookshelf to Qingfeng to take down the mountain. He watched the woman and the Toad Taoist holding the pot float out of the mountain, descending to the bottom and gradually turning into a small dot. Lu Liangsheng faced the mountain breeze and turned his head slightly: "You haven't left yet?"
Behind the pile of broken rubble, a red fox with its tail dragging came out cautiously. Without any sound, it transformed into a dignified woman and bowed to the scholar opposite.
It was the matchmaker from before.
"gentlemen… "
The woman spoke timidly, glanced at Lu Liangsheng, whose eyes were slightly cold, and quickly lowered her head again: "Sir, please don't blame me. Hongniang stayed here just to ask you for something."
His hair was stroking, and Lu Liangsheng turned around: "What's the matter?"
Red Fox suddenly bent her knees, knelt on the ground, and bowed down: "Hongniang has followed Madam Gu for many years. Although she has a bad temper, she has taken good care of me. She is not like my sister who would kick me when I am down. Now that she is gone, Hongniang wants to take the bones she wrapped up back to White Tiger Ridge for burial."
"White bones?" Lu Liangsheng frowned slightly.
Hearing the scholar's questioning tone, Hongniang did not hesitate and quickly explained: "Back then, Hua Hongyi took me away from Qixia Mountain and came to Baihu Ridge. There was a girl who was murdered in the forest. She had been dead for many years and only a skeleton was left. Madam relied on the skeleton to attach the painted skin so that she could walk on the ground. Yesterday, when she attached herself to the demon king, she shed the skeleton in the cave so that she could use the painted skin to confuse the demon king..."
It turns out that there are such twists and turns here. Thinking about Hua Hongyi's performance at sunrise just now, Lu Liangsheng was silent for a moment and raised his hand towards the red fox crawling on the ground.
"Then go ahead and find Hua Hongyi's body and bring it back to Baihu Ridge for burial. From now on, as I said before, find a good forest and practice in peace. If our master knows that you continue to do evil, I will put you into the gourd like your sister Baihu and turn you into thick water. Do you remember this?"
"Hongniang has made note of it." The red fox bowed its head, stood up and looked ahead. The cliff was empty and Lu Liangsheng was no longer there.
"Thank you, Mr.!"
Hongniang thanked him again and walked into the cave. Based on her familiarity with Hua Hongyi, she found a human skeleton hidden in the stone chamber. She squatted down, held it in her arms, and brushed away the dust on the bones.
"Madam, Hongniang is here to take you home."
He returned to the cave entrance carrying the corpse horizontally, flew out of the cliff in the other direction, and landed in the lush greenery among the distant mountains.
Down the mountain.
Lu Liangsheng stepped on the last cliff and landed lightly on the ground. He saw the old donkey running towards him happily and rubbing against its owner's sleeves. Qi You was so angry that he slapped its nose with his hand.
"That's mine!"
The scholar next to him glanced around and found that Lu Pan was holding the pot, but the Toad Taoist was missing.
"Where is my master?"
Hong Lian pursed her lips and chuckled, her fingertips quietly pointing to the bookshelf on the side of the donkey's buttocks in her sleeves. In the slightly opened small door, the Toad Taoist was lying lazily on his side, taking a puff of his pipe and humming.
"You little ghost girl, laugh if you want to, don't point your finger at me." After saying that, he yawned and smacked his lips: "It's still so comfortable. Liangsheng, while I'm not hungry, go wherever you want to go quickly."
"OK."
Lu Liangsheng responded with a smile, took the reins, and called out, "Let's go."
"Yes!" Hong Lian replied with a smile, and turned into a wisp of green smoke and disappeared into the painting hanging on the bookshelf. Lu Pan looked at the iron pot in his arms, and called the other seven people to follow him in a daze.
Cry—
The breeze transformed into a goshawk that flew in the sky and cried loudly. The old donkey unwillingly raised its head and made an unpleasant cry, "Ahem, hem", and followed the figure soaring in the sky to the Wujiang Mountain.
The light from the sky passed through the clouds and fell on the rugged foothills below. The towering peaks seemed to be flattened, and there was no forest or wilderness. The birds flying across the sky overlooked a Taoist temple standing at the foot of the mountain. There were towering trees with lush branches and leaves, and spots of light swayed on the ground.
Ding ding ding~~
The wind chimes under the eaves of the Taoist temple swayed gently. In the midst of the silence, three figures stumbled back in from outside in a panic. They did not enter the house, but just sat under the eaves, wiping the sweat from their faces.
"It's just that the demon king summoned all the demons for no reason and it's not a good thing... He actually wants to kill us to get the elixir."
"… Alas, if the three of us hadn't been a bit capable, I'm afraid there wouldn't even be any bodies left."
"Hmph, wait until we recover our magic power, then-"
Among the three figures under the eaves, the burly and strong man waved his hand heroically, and suddenly remembered the Taoism of Gongsun Liao, the cultivation of Taoist Zixing, the monkey in golden armor, and the elegant scholar. His tone suddenly changed, and he waved his fingers to the surrounding buildings.
"Recover my magic power, settle down here, practice hard, and don't ask about the outside world. This is the first time for me, the three demons, to be born. Although I have encountered bad luck, I am blessed to have this place, haha!"
The two demons looked at each other, nodded in unison, and clasped their fists: "Big brother is right!"
Ding-ling-clang-clang-
Amid the gentle ringing of wind chimes, there was also the sound of a ringing copper bell coming from the foot of the mountain in the distance.