The sun rose through the gaps in the clouds, and pushed away the city wall inch by inch along the foothills, the long river, and the fields, sprinkling the sparkling water of the Hibiscus Pond, where ducks flapped their wings, creating ripples.
In the Wanshou Temple, shouts of “Huha” were heard, and eight shirtless men were punching vigorously.
The morning sun pushed through the open window frame in the attic. The candlestick on the desk was hung with residual wax. A wisp of green smoke slowly rose from the burnt wick. The crawling toad turned over, rubbed his eyes and sat up, looked at the empty room, and turned his eyes to the desk. The scholar was putting down his brush, stretching his muscles and bones, and stretching comfortably.
"Liangsheng, where are the old pig and the monkey?" The Toad Taoist stood up, twisted his waist, jumped to the desk, grabbed the edge of the table, and climbed up with his webbed feet hanging outside. He kicked hard a few times and sat on the windowsill, curled up in the sun, and exposed the dense bumps on his back.
Light dust is flying.
Lu Liangsheng yawned, picked up the paper covered with words with a weary look, and blew away the ink stains that had not yet dried. "It's still before dawn, and Old Pig has gone back to the restaurant in the West Market to continue working as a chef. The Great Sage's magic power has been exhausted, and he has turned back into hair..."
He pointed his finger at the inkstone, where a strand of golden monkey hair lay quietly in the sun.
"You left without even saying goodbye to me... Aa ...
As he was talking, the Toad Taoist yawned, stretched out his webbed feet and looked at what his disciple had written. "Liangsheng, what did you write? Now that I have recovered my Taoism, I may be able to help you."
"Some articles of incorporation were signed."
Lu Liangsheng shook the paper. On it were all the ideas he had come up with last night regarding the Demon Suppression Division over the past two years. When recruiting disciples, they would only look at their moral character and not their aptitude for cultivation. The techniques and knowledge of exorcising demons would be passed down, and in the future these people would pass them on to more ordinary people. This way, they should be able to deal with the demon star fragments scattered across Kyushu.
"In fact, it's mainly about recruiting people... As for magic, we have Sun Yingxian and I, and at worst we can bring Yan Chixia in as well. We can summarize some magic that can be used by them."
Taoist Toad listened to his apprentice's story, sat up, leaned against the window frame and nodded: "Well, I know a lot of magic, but I am best at recruiting people, so why not..."
"Master, it's better for the government to accept ordinary people into Wanshou Temple. It's better for you to be a master." Seeing that Toad was interested, Lu Liangsheng couldn't help but interrupt him even though he was calm. "It's best if the people accepted into Wanshou Temple are orphans. This way, it can help the government solve some of the resettlement problems. Secondly, it can help these people concentrate on their cultivation."
The scholar had his own considerations. There must be many orphans in various parts of Kyushu. These people often either worked for wealthy families or were slaves. The more miserable ones might be buried in the ground and turned into bones before they even reached adulthood. If a group of them were adopted by the government and taught Taoist magic and living skills, and some of them were kept after they grew up, and the rest were released outside, then the task of exorcising demons would no longer rely solely on those who practiced Taoism.
"But if this is the case, the expenses will be huge. The emperor needs to build a Grand Canal to connect the north and the south, support the army, and stabilize the security of the states..."
Over there, the old toad watched his apprentice holding the piece of paper in deep thought, sighed, and lay back down again. He turned to face the sun outside the window, smacked his lips comfortably, and felt drowsy in the morning sun.
I am recovering my demon elixir, but I still have nothing to do... It is so peaceful.
Cicadas were chirping under the mottled shade of the trees. In his drowsy dreams, the glorious days of galloping and looking down upon the world seemed to have returned. Countless monks who were chasing him looked timid and afraid to take a step forward, and their limbs could not help twitching and shaking a few times.
Then... the dream broke into countless pieces, and the magic weapon that blocked out the sky and the sun turned into a row of pitch-black flags. The monks chasing him put on armor one by one, holding long spears and swarming towards him.
"Uhhh—"
The Toad Taoist suddenly yelled, jumped up from the spot, sat back on the windowsill, and instinctively wiped his toad face, "You scared me to death."
Over at the desk, Lu Liangsheng's voice came: "Master, what's wrong?"
"fine."
The Toad Taoist turned around and looked at the eight people who were still exercising under the scorching sun outside. He casually stretched out his webbed feet and scratched his buttocks. "Master was bitten by an insect, nothing serious."
He murmured something, and all his sleepiness disappeared. He curled up again, looking at the bright sunshine and the caressing woods outside, thinking about the dream he had just had in a daze.
… Damn it, what kind of dream did I have
Inside the window, Lu Liangsheng, who was sitting at the desk, folded up the papers and put them in a book. He began to understand what he had just been thinking about. Seeing his master sitting on the windowsill in a daze, he stood up and went to the bookshelf, took out "Boundless Mountains and Seas", and shook the seal downwards.
A black shadow fell to the ground with a thud. The woman with long hair in a purple hat and two white legs exposed lay on the floor on her side. Feeling the surrounding furnishings, she stood up from the ground and saw the scholar standing in front of her and bowed her head respectfully.
"Mrs. Zhu has met you, sir."
"I called you out for something. I want your help."
"Sir, please... speak."
"You can weave cloth, right?" Lu Liangsheng looked her up and down. He had previously thought of adopting an orphan. As for food, clothing and other expenses, he would try not to add burden to the court. Zhu Erniang was just a spider spirit, and weaving a web was probably the same as weaving cloth. As for food, well, isn't Old Pig the stuff of a chef... Master is fine too.
"Weaving...weaving? Sir, are you asking me that?"
Zhu Erniang was a little dazed. She slowly raised her hand and pointed at herself in disbelief. She thought the scholar in front of her let her out for some other purpose, but she didn't expect it to be this. She even looked down at the long legs covered by the chest with some suspicion.
Lu Liangsheng didn't think as much as she did. He estimated the time and decided to go to the West Market to talk about this matter with Lao Zhu.
"Yes or no? I have to go find Zhu Ganglie later."
When she heard the word "pig", Zhu Erniang's face changed drastically. She reached out and grabbed Lu Liangsheng's sleeve in a panic, nodding repeatedly: "Yes, I can not only weave cloth, but also spin silk... The kind that ordinary swords and knives can hardly cut. Just don't let me run into that wild boar."
How did this old pig scare her like this
Now that everything had a beginning, Lu Liangsheng also had a purpose. He set up a bedroom and a weaving room for Zhu Erniang under the attic, then took Hong Lian to the street and found the restaurant where they had dinner last night. He found Zhu Ganglie who was cooking a pot of stew in the kitchen and told him the whole story.
Lao Zhu put down the kitchen knife and wiped the grease on his hands on his apron. "Three meals a day is no problem for Lao Zhu, as long as there are enough ingredients. Okay, the kitchen is important. You go out first. When you are done, I will come back to discuss the details with you."
Probably because he didn't want Lu Liangsheng and Hong Lian to see him cooking, he kicked the scholar out and went back to the street. Lu Liangsheng simply took Hong Lian for a walk, picking out some things that girls would like, and bought one for Qiyou as well. They had been with him for so long and had worked hard for him, but he had never given them any gifts.
Near noon, from afar, the sound of desolate ox horns could be heard coming from the imperial city, and the rhythmic beats of drums could be faintly heard from the four gates of Chang'an.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
On the long street, many people stopped and looked around.
"What happened?" "Is there an enemy attacking the city? Go back and check!"
The people gathered in twos and threes and whispered to each other. Hong Lian sensed the evil spirit in the sound of the drums and held the hand of the scholar beside her tightly.
"Sir, what happened?"
Lu Liangsheng comforted her, "It's okay." With a slightly furrowed brow and locked eyes, he looked in the direction of the imperial city. Thinking of what the emperor said last night, he seemed to be very anxious.
"This is a war drum... there will be a war soon."