"Liangsheng, do you know the whereabouts of the master and his disciple?"
"I already know."
"What will happen when the time comes?"
"Let's wait and see. If it's a misunderstanding, it needs to be resolved. But if Sui An has been wronged and tortured... we'll see then."
"Nice guy..."
The dusky light fell over the mountaintops and shone over the gurgling river. Lu Liangsheng, who was chanting some spells and performing the magic of searching for gods, tilted his head to look at the river surface reflecting the setting sun and looked at his master sitting on the donkey's head.
"Master, what did you say just now?"
Sitting cross-legged on the donkey's head, the toad with its webbed feet pulling the donkey's ears squinted its eyes and said, "The teacher said nothing."
Lu Liangsheng shook his head, turned around, raised the spell in his sleeve to his forehead, and his spiritual awareness spread along with the magic power, passing through rivers, forests, and over the mountains and rocks within a hundred miles. There was no trace of any cultivators, but he sensed a few mountain spirits and monsters in the wild mountains and wilderness. They seemed to have sensed someone looking at them with magic, and hurriedly dug out caves and crawled in.
Lu Liangsheng retracted the spell, calmed down, adjusted his breathing and consciousness, absorbed the spiritual energy from the mountains to nourish his body, while opening his eyes to look at Shelong who was looking at him from the side.
"When you left, were you sure that the Canglan Mountain Sword Sect was nearby?"
Over there, Shelong looked at the rising and falling waves of the Canglan River and felt it was difficult to answer. He ran all the way out and only remembered that it was in the mountains in the middle and upper reaches of the Canglan River. If he really wanted the specific location, he had never been to the sword sect's base.
"I'm not sure, but it should be nearby. As long as we find the pool where the girl bathed that day, it won't be difficult to find the sword sect."
The pool...
Lu Liangsheng looked towards the nearby mountains, pondered for a while, then looked at the mermaid struggling in the river and waved at her.
Crash...
Amid the splashing water, a huge fish tail slapped up the waves. The little mermaid in the water rolled up a hole and dived to the bottom of the water. After a moment, her wet head appeared on the river bank with a splash of water.
"grumble?!"
She looked at the scholar with joy and stretched out her hand to ask him to come down and swim with her. Lu Liangsheng squatted by the water, dodged her without leaving a trace, and tidied her messy hair.
"You are a water creature. Can you sense the large pool of water in the nearby mountains?"
When the mermaid heard the words coming from her heart, she nodded, turned her body in the water, sank into the water, and splashed water on the four scholars who were washing their faces and wringing handkerchiefs on the shore. The four scholars were splashed with water, but they dared not say a word.
Lu Liangsheng, who was standing on the shore, roughly guessed that the mermaids dived into the riverbed to explore the surrounding mountains and water veins. It seemed that this was a talent unique to these aquatic creatures.
Soon, the water surface broke and the little mermaid emerged from the river. She swam back excitedly, raised her webbed hands, and pointed to the southeast, chirping.
"There... is a big pool of water. The water flows down from the mountain and then flows from the pool to here."
Although I don’t know if it is that place, I at least have a specific direction.
Lu Liangsheng patted the mermaid on the head, stood up and turned to the old donkey, took the reins, called the four people who were wiping their robes behind to follow closely, raised his hand and flicked, the branches of several large trees hanging by the river suddenly stretched out and stretched towards the river surface. At the same time, several trees on the opposite side also stretched out branches, entangled together, forming a wooden bridge.
The four scholars swallowed their saliva, supported each other, and followed carefully behind, for fear of falling into the turbulent river. The Toad Taoist, who was sitting in the small compartment of the bookshelf, stared at the choppy water and subconsciously touched the rope around his waist, then he breathed a sigh of relief.
The mountain breeze blew, the river water flowed, careful instructions were given, the old donkey neighed, and a group of people walked noisily across the wooden bridge and came to the other side.
As we walked towards the direction of the pond, the setting sun hung on the top of the mountain, dyeing the rolling hills red. In the unknown mountains, there were forests of Pinus massoniana and Cunninghamia lanceolata. In the mottled glow of the sunset, the mossy stone steps were filled with fallen leaves. Extending up was the mountain gate covered by tree branches, and on the shabby plaque on the door were the words "Canglan".
The branches and leaves of several large trees extend to the mountain path, exuding a sense of quietness and desolation.
The mottled glow of the sunset glow swayed on the ground along with the branches swaying in the wind. Occasionally, rustling footsteps could be heard. A figure carrying water walked up the stone steps over the fallen leaves. The front gradually became wider, and within the field of vision were a few dilapidated wooden buildings with faded red pillars.
In the middle of the wooden buildings, there was a wide square paved with rock bricks. There were many broken bricks and stones. Figures carrying water looked with envy at the young men and women who were dancing with long swords or practicing meditation.
The wind blew through the woods, making a rustling sound.
The dusk in the west gradually faded, and the men and women who practiced martial arts put away their swords and left one after another. Soon, lanterns were raised on each building. In the wooden building in the middle, the lit lanterns were hung on both sides of the hall door. Two women in the same robes carried the evening dishes and meals and walked under the eaves through the lights. When they pushed open the door in front of them, there was a loud bang and the broken porcelain fragments fell to the threshold, shaking a few times with the remaining strength.
The two women quickly put down their dinner, stepped back quickly, looked at each other, stuck out their tongues, and did not forget to close the hall door.
Inside, there was a voice filled with anger, loudly scolding.
"Let him go? How can we let him go, Master? That kid peeked at Yun'er bathing, how can we let him go so easily!"
The indignant figure looked across, where a middle-aged man in an open robe frowned, looked at a puddle of water on the ground, bent his knees, and slowly got up.
"Junior brother, I have already asked that person. Maybe it was really an unintentional act. We can't keep someone in prison for the rest of his life, right?!"
“Master… Senior Brother!” The man who had spoken earlier had a thin face and a long beard. He looked at the moving figure with bloodshot eyes.
"Since Senior Brother doesn't consider his daughter, he should at least consider Canglan Mountain, right? That kid has mastered the sword control technique of my Canglan Sword Sect. That was the unique method of my senior uncle back then. Even the head master didn't know it. How could he know it? When asked who his master was, he only said it was Lu Liangsheng, not my senior uncle at all. So there is only one possibility, that my senior uncle was killed on the way when he was away from home, and the sword technique fell into the hands of others."
"What if it's Master's successor?"
The person walking slowly was Wei Huang, the current leader of Canglan Sword Sect, and the person speaking was his junior fellow apprentice Ren Yinyang. The former had his hands behind his back and looked quite hesitant.
"… Junior brother, don't be reckless. You've been practicing a little too hard lately. You'd better take a good rest for a while. As for the man named Li Sui'an, I still think we should let him go. Canglan Mountain is becoming increasingly desolate, and people are no longer asking about the outside world. We don't know what kind of person Lu Liangsheng is to have such a disciple. It would be safer to send someone out to investigate."
"As cowardly as a mouse!"
Ren Yinyang punched the table next to him and stood up from his chair. "That's why my Canglan Mountain is declining. I can't even learn the sword-wielding technique and I'm still timid!"
"Junior brother, don't talk nonsense!"
On the other side, Wei Huang glanced at the door, went over to get the wine jug, poured wine in it and handed it to the opposite side. Ren Yinyang looked at the wine that was offered to him, turned around, opened the door of the hall and strode outside, and the voice followed.
"Just drink slowly. The other two elders and I will never let that man go!"
"Junior brother..."
Wei Huang walked to the door, looked at the figure walking away outside, raised his hand and drank the wine in the glass. He didn't know what had happened to his junior brother in the past two years. In less than a year, his cultivation had improved a lot, but his temper had become more and more violent. He would beat people if he disagreed with them, which made the only dozen disciples in the sect afraid of him.
"Dad..."
Suddenly, a crisp sound was heard, and a door inside the hall opened. A slim girl with a pretty face flashed out, shaking a bell on her wrist and trotting over.
"Did you have another fight with your uncle?"
"Children should stay out of adult matters."
Wei Huang looked at his daughter, patted her shoulder, and said with some regret: "I mentioned it just now. Your uncle doesn't agree to release him. With the addition of the two elders in the sect, I'm afraid that kid will be locked up in the Demon Cave."
A pretty girl stood aside, twiddling the corner of her clothes, biting her lip, and said "oh", then fell silent.