As the night deepened, the bustling attic gradually became quiet. After the hazy moonlight disappeared through the clouds, the red lantern reflected the scholar's shadow dragging on the ground. The cypress trees outside the building rustled their branches in the wind. Lu Liangsheng walked past the Mingyue Tower, feeling the little people inside sleeping soundly and hearing the occasional murmurs in their dreams. With a smile on his face, he returned to another attic with a lantern in his hand.
In the warm yellow room, Toad Taoist was wrapped in a small quilt, sleeping soundly. He rubbed his exposed webbed feet against each other, then retracted them when he felt the coolness.
Lu Liangsheng blew out the lantern and handed it to Hong Lian who was singing a song. He picked up a book and started flipping through it. Behind him, she walked towards him softly, her skirt kicking up her embroidered shoes. She moved the wick and the candle flame jumped up, becoming a little brighter.
"Sir, if you have something on your mind when you come back today, if you want to tell me, I'm willing to listen." Hong Lian squatted down and placed her delicate hands on the scholar's legs. The two had known each other since they were teenagers, and they didn't think there was anything wrong with physical contact.
"There are some things."
The scholar sitting at the table turned a page, somewhat absent-mindedly, unable to concentrate on reading. He simply closed the book and put it aside. He tilted his head to glance at the sleeping Toad Taoist and pondered for a moment.
"On the way back, the energy of the demon star that I absorbed from the Golden Lake Dragon King stirred with the other energy that was originally sealed in my body, but Master didn't react at all. Lu Yuan... Moon-Watching Golden Cicada... The demon star... I don't think it's a simple connection."
At this point, Lu Liangsheng paused, moving his gaze away from the worried pretty face and looking at his master whose belly was heaving against the quilt on the bed. There were some things he was not sure about saying at the moment. After all, Lu Yuan said that he reversed time and space for the sake of the demon star, and the Toad Taoist wanted to find a new master for him.
But... why is it Toad Taoist and not someone else
There is another puzzle. The two magic weapons in the Qilin cloak are both from the Qin Emperor period... What other secrets does Lu Yuan have hidden, and is it related to the demon star
After thinking absentmindedly for a while, Lu Liangsheng held the woman's hand and said, "It's okay. Don't think too much. This national teacher won't fall so easily. He has to wait until Hong Lian cultivates a physical body. Then I'll hold your hand and take a walk in Qixia Mountain, and travel all over the mountains and rivers of Kyushu together."
Listening to the scholar talking about what was on his mind, Hong Lian lowered her head shyly, hummed softly, and walked towards the scroll on the wall, turning back every two steps. She turned into green smoke and went in, and a faint voice came out: "Young Master, go to bed early."
Lu Liangsheng smiled, blew out the candle, took off his outer green shirt and the inner white robe, lay down on the couch, and fell asleep thinking about his previous speculation.
After a long time, with smoke still lingering from the candle, Hong Lian poked her head out, floated down to the ground, walked to the bedside, looked at the sleeping face, sat down on the edge of the bed with her fingers pinched in worry, and used her magic power to gently press her fingertips on the scholar's head, hoping that he would feel more relieved the next day before dawn.
…
The night wind blew in through the slightly opened window, and the green smoke curling from the candlestick swayed, blowing over the woman sitting on the edge of the bed, and fell on Lu Liangsheng's face. As her soft fingertips rubbed her face, her eyes unconsciously moved under her closed eyelids.
"Hahaha-"
Lu Liangsheng fell into a dream, with a faint heroic laughter echoing in his ears. He suddenly came to his senses and opened his eyes. A cold wind blew on his face. He looked around and saw strange peaks and steep mountains, lonely pine trees standing tall, a sea of clouds surging around a peak, and countless black flags winding along the mountain path like a long dragon going down the mountain.
On top of the mountain, a figure was holding the jade seal in his hand and facing the sky.
"The Emperor of Mount Tai... The First Emperor?"
The moment he whispered these words, Lu Liangsheng's vision suddenly spun, and when he stabilized, he was in a spacious carriage with a light on a low table. A blurry figure was sitting in front of the light, holding a pen and writing something on a bamboo slip.
The other party seemed to know that Lu Liangsheng was standing in the corner. He raised his head and coughed twice.
"… The power of the emperor cannot be abandoned just like that. Even if I am besieged with three disasters and six calamities, and suffer the five decays of heaven and man, I will take it back! But my body can no longer endure it… Pass on my order…"
What followed became hazy and difficult to hear. Lu Liangsheng instinctively wanted to hear clearly, so he took a step forward. In his field of vision, darkness swept in and embraced him.
"Your Majesty the First Emperor!"
He shouted suddenly and opened his eyes abruptly. Golden sunlight shone into the room. He could hear Hong Lian humming a little tune in the scroll. The woman was dancing, her fingertips hooked on the puffy Qi You. Outside, there were also the sounds of children humming and shouting while exercising.
On the quiet desk, a small candle was burning and a pot of tea was boiling. The Toad Taoist was sitting on a book, holding a small bowl in his webbed hands, drinking the steaming hot tea. Hearing the scholar's shout, he turned sideways in confusion.
"Liangsheng, are you calling me master?"
The scholar on the bed rubbed his brows and sat up, put on his shoes and went down to the ground, forcing a smile: "I had a weird dream, screaming nonsense."
"That's weird." The Toad Taoist took a sip from the tea bowl and waved his flippers: "Go down and have breakfast quickly. It's rare to see you get up so late for the first time."
Lu Liangsheng put on his clothes and sat on the edge of the bed, lost in thought for a while. Then he went to wash up and poured clean water on his face. Thinking of the dream he had last night, he stared at the rippling water surface in the copper basin with confusion. Could it be that what he thought about at night would appear in his dreams
…But I have never seen the second scene.
"Young Master?" Hong Lian handed him a towel. Lu Liangsheng took it and wiped the water stains on his face. He frowned and went downstairs. Zhu Ganglie had already changed his clothes and was ready to go out. When he saw the scholar coming down, he pointed to the kitchen.
"I'll leave a portion for you in the pot, go and eat it yourself. I'm going to help in the kitchen at the City Head Restaurant and will be back at noon."
"Thank you very much."
Lu Liangsheng sent him to the door. The Taoist priest on the square had driven Lu Pan away and was just moving a low table down to teach the group of children how to hold a pen and how to start painting. When they saw the scholar standing under the eaves, they waved their hand, greeted him, and continued teaching.
"This old man, Sun, may be reluctant but he is actually very serious in teaching."
After watching for a while, Lu Liangsheng returned to the building, brought out rice porridge and steamed buns from the kitchen, sat at a round table and ate slowly, thinking about the strange dream he had last night.
eccentric
The scholar stopped chewing, raised his head slightly and looked upstairs, frowning, "I remember Master said before that he had a strange dream, will it be the same as mine?"
“Master!”
Just as Lu Liangsheng was thinking about the dream that Toad Taoist had told him, Yuwen Tuo came up quickly from the mountain gate below. Behind him, Mingyue's face flushed as she pulled at his clothes, "We should follow the rules. Can you report it first?"
Probably something urgent, the young man didn't bother to pay attention to the little guy. He greeted Lu Pan and the other eight people and Sun Yingxian over there, then hurried over to the main hall, stood outside the door, and clasped his hands.
"Yuwen Tuo greets Master!"
Lu Liangsheng put down the bowl of porridge, raised his hand and asked him to come in and sit down next to him. "I heard the soldiers guarding the mountain gate say last night that you came to look for me. You are so anxious again this morning. It's not like you. What's wrong?"
Yuwen Tuo poured himself a cup of tea and drank it, then began to speak.
"Master, something happened in the northwest. The progress is not going well. His Majesty has suffered heavy casualties... I am a little worried about my junior brother Yuan Feng. He is just an ordinary person now. If something unexpected happens..."
The young man was a little afraid to continue speaking.