The window lattice reflected a warm yellow light. A Taoist was tossing and turning in his sleep on the bed in the side room. Amidst his light snoring, the sound of reading could be heard in the main room next door, clear and peaceful.
"To cultivate oneself, one must straighten one's mind. If one is angry, one cannot straighten one's mind. If one is afraid, one cannot straighten one's mind..."
The Toad Taoist was lying on one side of the window frame, slightly closing his eyes and listening quietly to his disciple's reading. He sneered at the content of the book. I have killed people and was hunted by others. I have been unjust for a long time. But why did I feel quite comfortable reading it from the mouth of this silly disciple
“…If you have something you like, you cannot be right…This is what is meant by self-cultivation, which is to correct your mind.”
Putting the book down, Lu Liangsheng picked up the brush on the inkstone and copied it on a piece of white paper. This was a habit he had developed in the past. Whenever he read some articles and had some insights, he would write them down.
There was a slight breeze blowing on the back of his neck. Lu Liangsheng paused writing and smiled as he turned his head:
"Hong Lian, go back to the painting as soon as possible. You don't have to wait for me."
A graceful figure came from behind, and gently fiddled with the wick with her fingertips to make the flame brighter.
"Sir, have you forgotten that I am a ghost? I don't need to rest. Besides, I feel like I can listen to your reading. It seems that I gradually understand the principles in the book."
Hearing this, Lu Liangsheng chuckled, staring at the words written by the pen tip, and said:
"Hearing you put it like that, it sounds like the story in a fantasy novel, where the Buddha is preaching and the spirits are eavesdropping."
In front of the window, the toad's eyelids twitched, and it moved its little webbed feet slowly and turned away.
"You think a little goblin can compete with me? You are wrong... I am not the kind of person who eavesdrops."
The scholar writing at the table did not feel tired at all at this moment. After entering the foundation-building stage, his energy was more than before, like building a high platform, solid and sturdy.
And his cultivation was gained from books and paintings.
"I remember Master once said that there are many paths. Stonemasons can comprehend through carving over the years, and some people can read the noble spirit in books. I don't like fighting and killing, so this path is the most suitable for me."
Lu Liangsheng has been insisting on this idea all the time, and he has never slacked off in the past three years. Other scholars may get tired after a few hours, but he has cultivated himself and can concentrate on studying calligraphy and painting from morning till late at night when there is no one around. This is why he has won the first place in the children's examination for three consecutive years.
Every word written by the pen tip is his understanding, and it is fed back from the formed handwriting, becoming one with the method of the righteous way of heaven and earth.
Although the feedback was very weak, Lu Liangsheng understood the principle of building blocks into a forest.
"You don't have to fight or practice meditation, and you can get instant fun from calligraphy and painting. In Sun Yingxian's words, it's just one word: awesome!"
Thinking of this, Lu Liangsheng couldn't help laughing. Hong Lian held the lamp for him. She looked at the man's smiling profile and then looked at the paper.
"There's nothing funny, sir. What do you see?"
"Just thought of something funny, that's all."
The bright moon outside was gradually obscured by floating clouds, and the pine branches in the courtyard rustled.
The bandaged black dog in the kennel shook its ears and twitched its nose twice, as if it smelled something. It came out dragging its leash and looked in the direction of the main courtyard.
A black shadow with a long tail jumped off the wooden building in the front yard and descended straight down. The wooden railings were shaking slightly, and it landed between the bonsai in the flowerbed. It quickly rushed towards the main buildings of a row of courtyards in front. The other two shadows, one red and one white, chasing behind it looked around and rushed over without fear of disturbing the family.
Yanzhi, who was running in front, was about to be caught up, so she turned into a human form while running and shouted towards the house in front.
"Master! Sir, help—"
Lanterns were swaying under the eaves, and a security guard was snoring against a wooden pillar. He sucked the saliva from the corner of his mouth, as if he heard a woman's cry, and grinned.
“Huff… Hehe…”
"Woman... so nice to hear... keep screaming... no one will come even if you scream your throat out..."
Suddenly he smelled a fragrance, and in a daze, he heard the sound of a door being slammed open. The security guard woke up suddenly, holding his long stick in a daze, and saw a woman rushing into the main room, followed by two figures rushing under the eaves, and they swung their long sticks to hit them.
At the same time, he shouted, "Who are you?!" Yanzhi, who rushed into the main room, felt a tingling sensation on her skin. She subconsciously looked up and saw a calligraphy hanging on one side of the wall glowing.
"Big sister, second sister, don't come in!!" she turned around and shouted.
The red and white figures had already rushed in. In an instant, under the gaze of the guard, the three figures flew out simultaneously. The red fox hit the eaves column in the waist, and the white fox flew directly out from under the eaves and landed in the yard, leaving a distance of half a zhang.
Yanzhi was blocked by the two monsters and just climbed over the threshold and bumped into the wooden railing with long eaves. Her skin made a burning sound and a faint smoke floated in the air.
…
In the side yard, the scholar who was writing down his thoughts stopped writing and his smile gradually faded.
Hong Lian, who was talking to him at the side, saw this and whispered, "Sir, what's wrong?"
"Heh..."
Lu Liangsheng put down his pen, looked in the direction of the main courtyard, and smiled again.
"There are unexpected guests."
…
The night wind blew the lanterns under the eaves, and the reddish light swayed in the air.
The guard stared blankly at his hands and the long stick in his hands.
"How come I didn't know I had become so powerful?"
Turning around to look again, I saw that two of the three people who flew backwards stood up. Their faces were covered with fur, they had long snouts and sharp fangs, and their eyes were green in the light of the lantern.
Yanzhi covered her previous wound, endured the burning pain all over her body, and whispered to the guard:
"What are you looking at? Run!"
After saying this, she didn't dare to stay and turned around and ran away to the side.
The two demons glanced at the guard and ignored them, turning around and chasing after Yanzhi. The guard reacted and ran away, shouting, "There's a demon—" "Master, everyone, get up quickly, there's a demon in the mansion!!!"
In front, the guards and servants who were patrolling on the side came over with lanterns in their hands after hearing the news. They bumped into a woman who was rushing over. The latter walked past without stopping, as if nothing had happened.
"Who was that just now?"
As one of them reacted and picked up the lantern, two inhuman figures flashed past him, causing him to scream in fright.
"A vixen!!"
His eyes rolled back and he fainted.
The guards and servants who came upon hearing the news rang the gongs, bang bang bang... They ran around shouting with weapons in their hands, and for a moment, the whole mansion was in chaos.
"There's a thief!"
"No, it's a monster—"
"It was three women. I saw them running towards the young lady."
In the backyard, Zhou Zhen, wearing his clothes, had come with his men and shouted to the servant who was running away, "Go and report to the authorities!"
After everyone had gone far away, Mrs. Zhou, who was following behind, hit him and shouted at the others.
"Go and invite Master Lu quickly!!!"
From far and near, the sound of gongs and people shouting could be heard from the side yard.
Lu Liangsheng stood under the eaves with his sleeves folded behind his back. Behind him, the Taoist priest came out, rubbed his blurry eyes and yawned.
"What's going on? Is it on fire?"
"A monster has come to the Zhou residence. The words to protect the house written to Mr. Zhou during the day have been disturbed."
Lu Liangsheng clenched the pen tightly, turned sideways and reached out with his other hand to grab a scroll from the bookshelf. It flew over and fell into his hand.
"Go and have a look."
…
The trees at the back of the courtyard made a loud bang and leaves began to fall.
Yanzhi curled up under the roots of a tree, with blood stains on the corners of her mouth. As she looked slightly sideways, she saw two figures, one red and one white, approaching from both sides.
"Big sister, second sister, please let me go. There is a master in this house. The calligraphy and painting just now should be his. I think he has been alarmed now. You are also injured. Let's go..."
A slender figure walked over, and under her skirt were fox paws. Fox Bai spread out his hands: "Humph, go? Give us Yuan Yang."
On the other side, the red fox covered his mouth and chuckled.
"Sister... I think you are the most seriously injured, right? If the master comes, how can you not run? But before you leave, I still want to tell you that foxes and humans are the same. You must know what is good and what is bad. Stealing will result in your hands being chopped off. We are all sisters, and chopping off your hands is too cruel. It is better to use your demon pill as compensation."
As soon as the word "compensation" came out, his figure turned into a shadow and moved closer. He grabbed Yanzhi on the ground by the neck and lifted her up, then pressed her against the tree. The tree shook violently and the leaves fell.
Yanzhi had her neck pinched and could only utter broken words.
"... Second sister, there really is a master here, I am here to ask him to save Lian Cheng... Please let me go, Lian Cheng is running out of time..."
Her tears also slid down and fell on the back of her red fox plush hand.
At this time, the lights of torches and lanterns in the mansion were already surrounding this side. When they saw the three people over there, they didn't dare to go forward easily. With the help of the light in the hands of the crowd, the sharp-eyed people found the shadows of the three people on the ground. They immediately turned pale and said tremblingly.
"Look at the shadow..." "It's really a monster..." "Can't get through?"
All of them were so frightened that they dared not move.
The white fox glanced around, turned around and looked at Yanzhi with contempt in his eyes.
"Where is the master you mentioned?"
He completely ignored the humans in the mansion, walked over, stretched out his sharp claws to grab Yanzhi, and pried open her mouth.
"Spit out the Yuan Yang for me!"
As she let out a fox cry, the words of another Taoist were heard not far away. Lu Liangsheng slowly walked out of the darkness, looked at the fox demon at the edge of the light, his eyes fixed, and he suddenly swung his robe sleeves and threw the scroll out.
Sensing the evil spirit, the righteousness of heaven and earth surged in his body, and he rushed out with a roar, carrying the voice of a scholar.
"How dare you trespass into the Zhou residence!"
The words were like thunder, making the eardrums of the people around them buzz. Above the night sky, a scroll unfolded, and behind Lu Liangsheng, a huge outline appeared. It pressed down its palms, causing the ground to shake, and it lowered its body and opened its bloody mouth.
roar-
The fishy wind rolled over like a huge wave, and the people and the fox demon who were blown by it instantly raised their arms to block it and took two steps back.
Tap tap tap…
Amid the ferocious roar, a pair of feet flew, took out a bronze mirror from his pocket, and roared.
"Let go of that woman, come at me if you dare—"