At Xiaoquan Mountain, the continuous spring rain stopped, and the remaining raindrops streaked across the tips of leaves and fell onto the wet ground. There was a crisp sound of dead branches breaking. An old donkey walked along the familiar path with its hooves swaying and its tail wagging. In the shaking bookshelf, Taoist Toad pushed open the small door.
"Liangsheng, now that you have entered the country, why are you still like this? It makes me feel uncomfortable."
At one side, a wisp of floating green smoke took shape and solidified into Hong Lian's figure and appearance, leaning over and floating beside the figure walking in front.
"Sir, is there anything wrong with what you say?"
"Let's talk about it on the way."
The sun dappled his shoulders. Lu Liangsheng looked at the wrinkled back of his hands, smiled, and wiped the long beard from his chin. "From now on, I can also call myself an old man, haha."
Seeing that they were about to leave the forest, and vaguely hearing the sound of a waterfall, Lu Liangsheng pushed aside the hanging branches and asked, "Master, is the mermaid doing well here?"
"It's good to have me here." On the bookshelf, the Toad Taoist climbed onto the donkey's back and sat down at the donkey's head: "Liangsheng, shall we go back to Chang'an directly from now on?"
Lu Liangsheng hesitated for a moment, but still walked out of the forest behind him. He looked at the rising water vapor in the air and saw the shadows of fish splashing down from the river above, accompanied by the sound of splashing water.
"Well, put her back to the East China Sea. It's time to go back to Chang'an. Your Majesty should have started to build the Grand Canal in the next few years. I don't know what to do about the matter of the demon star, and the group of gods in the sky have also descended to the world. There are a lot of things that need to be done when I go back."
With a sigh, Lu Liangsheng took the reins and turned the corner hidden by the woods. Over there was a waterfall with steam rising. A clear female voice was shouting, wagging her tail in an effort to swim upstream and onto the waterfall. A red fox crawling on the edge of the pond shook its furry ears. When he tilted his head, he saw an old man with a slightly hunched figure, white hair and beard, wearing a gray wide-sleeved robe, walking towards him slowly but actually quickly. Behind him was the old donkey and the Toad Taoist above his head.
Yanzhi stared at the former, slowly propped up her limbs, felt the familiar breath, swung her fluffy tail, jumped to the ground, and turned into a dignified woman with a high bun and a plump figure, and bowed to the old man who came over.
"My name is Yanzhi, and I am here to meet you, sir."
For a monster, physical appearance is not the first priority. The familiarity of the old man in front of him made his first reaction to know who had returned.
"Get up." Lu Liangsheng raised his hand to let her get up. Listening to the bursts of "Hey" shouts coming from the waterfall, he walked past the fox girl who had stood up and waved to the mermaid swimming against the waterfall to come down. He said to Yanzhi behind him in a calm voice:
"You have worked hard over the years. I am here today to take her away."
"yes."
Yanzhi turned around and looked at the little fishman who jumped into the pool and swam to the shore. Her lips trembled slightly. She hesitated for a moment, then bowed slightly. "Yanzhi has been practicing here for a long time. I haven't seen Mingyue for many years. I miss him. Can you ask him to come back to Qixia Mountain?"
This red fox is not an ordinary livestock without consciousness. It is natural that the mother and child are connected after not seeing each other for a long time. How could Lu Liangsheng not understand this? However, he still has to wait until he returns to Chang'an to arrange things.
"Well, I'm not unreasonable. When we return to Chang'an this time, I'll let Mingyue come back. Now that a few years have passed, she should have grown a lot and be able to come back on her own."
"Thank you, sir."
Yanzhi wiped the tears from her eyes, she was so happy, and bowed again, letting Lu Liangsheng wave his hand before she stopped. After that, they chatted casually for a few words, talking about some things in the mountains, and then cast a spell to wrap some pond water on the mermaid, put it on the donkey's back, pulled the reins, and called out: "Let's go!"
The sound of hoofbeats went in the opposite direction of the road at the foot of the mountain, over Xiaoquan Mountain, and headed east. After crossing several large mountains, we arrived at the edge of the Wanling Formation. It was already early morning two days later.
Wow~~
The gentle sea breeze with a faint fishy smell rolled up the waves and splashed them on the beach. It was the first time that Hong Lian saw the vast ocean. She screamed excitedly, "Ah!", floated out of the bookshelf, threw away her embroidered shoes, and stepped on the soft and wet shallow water on the beach with her fair feet. She scooped up a few shells, her skirt flying in laughter. Lao Lu also jumped up and down behind her, stretched out his tongue, rolled over a shell on the ground, and ground it into pieces in his mouth with a crunching sound.
“Chichi~~~”
The mermaid with her fish tail wagging was impatiently moving away the sea water on the beach. She stretched out her hands and lay on her back in the sea water. Her long hair was still pushed by the waves. She opened her eyes wide, looked at the blue sky and white clouds, and smelled the scent of the sea water.
This is her home.
The waves pushed some white foam onto the beach, leaving shallow watermarks. Lu Liangsheng faced the sea breeze, his pale hair and beard shaking. He put his hands behind his back and watched Hong Lian, the old donkey running, and the little mermaid tumbling up and down in the sea and singing happily.
At the same time as the steps, the Toad Taoist was also watching this scene, "Liangsheng, can you now tell me what you said at Xiaoquan Mountain?"
Hearing this, the walking figure stopped. With his white beard fluttering in the wind, Lu Liangsheng pursed his lips and looked at the end where the sky and the sea met. For a moment, he didn't know how to start the conversation. After thinking for a while, he opened his mouth and spoke.
"Master, I don't know how to tell you. Mastering the Kongtong Seal is not easy, especially for a mortal body. A cultivator is also a mortal body in front of a divine weapon..."
"Is that why there is birth, aging, sickness and death?"
"Birth, aging, sickness and death?" Lu Liangsheng was stunned for a moment, then he understood what his master was referring to and nodded: "The Kongtong Seal was originally in the possession of the Human Emperor. The First Emperor went out to sea to find it, not only for the power to confer the title of God, but also for immortality. However, there are only a few immortals, even the gods in heaven are not immortal."
His voice floated in the wind.
“… All the way back from the west, I have been thinking about it. After returning to Qixia Mountain, I saw my hometown, recalled my past experiences, and the people and things around me. Suddenly, I understood something.”
The Toad Taoist withdrew his gaze from the distance, raised his toad face and looked at his disciple: "What do you understand?"
"It's just what Master said, birth, old age, sickness and death."
The sea breeze rustled his robe, and Lu Liangsheng fell silent after he finished speaking. Looking at Hong Lian in front of him, who was holding a conch shell to her lips and shouting at him, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.
He spoke again and continued, "It is not so easy to be immortal. It is not something that can be achieved by eating a few natural treasures or obtaining something. Immortality is against the way of heaven. Only by experiencing birth, aging, sickness and death, and completing this circle, can you understand what immortality is."
Taoist Toad pondered these words carefully and felt that they made a lot of sense.
"Who told you this? I don't believe your own thinking."
Next to him, Lu Liangsheng opened and closed his mouth silently and pointed to the sky: Heavenly Way.
"That thing can talk?"
"Why not? You said a lot in Guixu."
The toad tilted its head and looked up at the sky, then hurriedly chased after his disciple: "Wait a minute, Liangsheng, what else did it say? Tell me quickly."
"… He asked me to think about it, and also said that after the matter was accomplished, he would let me ascend to the Heavenly Pavilion in my physical body."
"Really? Master doesn't believe it!"
"So what do you think it will say, Master?"
"How would I know..."
A master and a disciple walked along the beach, one behind and one in front, leaving behind a series of human and toad footprints of different sizes.
The waves rolled in and then calmed down as before.