"Old sir, what do you need to teach me?"
The childish voice sounded again, but Lu Liangsheng on the other end was just flipping through a book and ignored him. The child named Li Xuanba stood with his hands on his hips and frowned for a while, but when he saw no response, he began to think.
… My father always said that you have to give first before you can get something.
He clenched his little fist and slammed it on his palm, raised his sparse eyebrows, and suddenly remembered something at home.
"Old man, wait a minute. I'll go back and get something to exchange with you!"
He turned and ran to the temple gate, kicked away the half-broken stone statue that was piled there, opened the door and rushed out, shouting as he ran: "I'm here, I'm tired of playing, I'm going back first, you guys take your time looking for me!"
Lu Liangsheng heard the group of people who had originally run to the back of the temple turn back and chase the child further and further away. He stood up and found some window frame wood, put it in the small tripod and lit it. The Toad Taoist poked his head out and took a look. "Gone?"
He immediately took the quilt and spread it on the futon, and yawned comfortably in the warmth of the small tripod, "Why don't you accept that child as your disciple? He is born with supernatural powers. If he can learn martial arts, he will be in less than ten years according to his age. Even without the Xuanyuan Sword, Tuo'er may not be able to defeat him."
There was a slight sound of splashing.
The page of the book turned under his fingertips, and the dim firelight shone on Lu Liangsheng's face. A smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. He turned his head to look at his master who was pulling the quilt around him.
"That child is too perverse and naughty. He is not like Sui'an, Tuo'er, Yuanfeng and the others who can be shaped. If we really teach him Taoism, I'm afraid he will do evil in the future and it will be difficult to deal with him."
Over there, the Toad Taoist lay on his side, supporting his head with one webbed foot and waving the other casually.
"It's up to you. I'm just talking, don't take it seriously."
The wind blew in from outside, and the candles on the altar flickered. The red love in the scroll turned into a wisp of green smoke and floated out. He went over to close the temple door, walked to the broken window and looked outside to see no one. Then he came back and sat next to Lu Liangsheng to accompany him. He listened to the pages turning gently, looked at Lu Liangsheng with an old face, and unconsciously leaned his head on his thin shoulders, stroking his white hair, and felt happy in his heart:
'Even though you are old, you are still so handsome.'
The night wind whimpered as it ran over the eaves and along the long street. On the street covered with a thin layer of mist, a running child turned the corner in front of him and saw the brightly lit mansion in front of him. He rushed straight up. Several guards and servants guarding the gate of the mansion were walking back and forth with lanterns and torches. In the area illuminated by the firelight, a short figure rushed over and squeezed through the crowd. The heavy door of the mansion was slammed open with a bang. The six people who were startled reacted and were no longer panicked. They greeted each other as usual.
"Okay, the young master is back, let's go in too."
"Leave one person behind and wait for the others to come back."
In the backyard of the mansion, the little guy who was rushing around didn't care about the maids and servants coming and going in the mansion. The oncoming guards dodged hurriedly, and were blown backwards by the wind, hit the fence, and fell into the pool outside the corridor. The maid holding the soup bowl screamed and fell down, and the porcelain bowl shattered to the ground. The chaos extended straight to a door in the backyard.
The lights are bright.
In the study, there were sounds of voices, and shadows illuminated by candlelight were cast on the wall. Li Yuan walked around the desk, knocked on the corner of the desk, and looked at his two sons standing on the left and right below.
"From now on, if your mother ever mentions anything about the Yang family snatching the throne from the Yuwen family, don't say anything and pretend you didn't hear it."
"But... Dad, this is the fact."
The young man on the right was handsome, with a faint stubble between his lips, which made him look a little mature. He was the eldest son in the family. He looked at his brother next to him and whispered, "Even if you don't listen, mom will tell you."
Li Yuan sighed and pointed at him: "I know this, but what can I do? The Yang family is still my cousin. How can I sort this out? You should learn from Shimin in this regard."
In that direction his eyes were looking, there was a younger young man who smiled softly and bowed to his brother.
"Brother, family affairs are complicated, so don't cause trouble for Dad. Besides, the Northern Zhou royal family is still there, and my mother's relatives are all alive and well. Just think of it as a new head of the family."
"Listen, it feels good to say this."
Li Yuan stroked his beard in admiration. Just as he was about to continue speaking, hurried footsteps were heard outside the door. The two brothers standing at the door dodged to the left and right tacitly. The door was slammed open and a thin figure rushed in, shouting at the top of his voice.
"Dad, where's your sword? Give it to me!"
Li Yuan, who was originally in a good mood, suddenly slammed the table in anger, "What are you yelling about!!" But then he softened his tone and asked, "What sword?"
The person who came in was Li Xuanba, who lived in the same temple as Lu Liangsheng. He restrained himself a little in front of his father and brother, bowed to his two brothers on the left and right, then ran to his father and spread out his hands: "It's the sword with the tiger head on the hilt, give it to me quickly."
Li Yuan naturally understood that the sword was given to him by the imperial master of the time. It was extremely sharp and could cut through iron like mud. He had always kept it carefully and rarely showed it to others. His family members had seen it, but they were not allowed to touch it.
Probably thinking that the third son wanted to see his hard work, Li Yuan hadn't wiped it for a long time. He turned and walked to the bookshelf against the wall, turned the mechanism and opened a secret door, causing the three sons in the room to tiptoe curiously and stretch their necks to see what else was hidden in their father's private vault.
"Don't look at it! And don't tell your mother!"
Li Yuan glared at them with his side profile, and walked in, deliberately blocking the sight of his three sons. He came out after a moment, holding a long sword with a golden handle and a tiger head and a scabbard made of marigold in his hand. He stroked it lovingly, then turned around and walked behind the desk to show it off.
"Alas, time flies by so fast. Do you know the origin of this sword? Back then, when my father was still in Chang'an serving the late emperor as a guard, he went hunting outside the city one day when he had some free time. He met a master. I thought he was a poor scholar caught in the rain, so I treated him to a roasted rabbit. I never thought that he would give my father this magical weapon."
"clang~~"
When the sword was drawn out of the scabbard, the four people in the room immediately felt a chill. Li Yuan held the hilt of the sword, and the blade reflected his increasingly old appearance, and he couldn't help but sigh.
"Time flies, and people grow old without realizing it, but that master still looks the same. One year, my father went back and saw the master again. He still looked as young as before, which made people very envious."
Li Shimin frowned: "Dad, are there really people who never age?"
"Of course I don't have any. I wouldn't fool you." Li Yuan thought of the rare opportunities that ordinary people have, and couldn't help laughing, "Haha... Things in this world are beyond your imagination. This sword was given by an immortal. Dad used this sword to achieve his goal..."
Before he could finish his words, his hands suddenly felt empty and the sword had passed into the hands of his third son, Li Xuanba.
"Great Virtue! What are you doing?! Return the sword to your father quickly!"
Li Yuan knew his son's temper very well. Not only was he born with supernatural powers, but he also never knew how to control his strength. If he swung the sword recklessly and hit someone, someone would be killed or injured. He yelled in panic, but Li Xuanba didn't listen. He pushed away Li Shimin and Li Jiancheng and turned around and ran away.
"return!"
Li Yuan was so frightened that his hairs were sweating. He turned around and ran out of the room. Just as he reached the door, he saw Li Xuanba running back. He breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Hurry up and give me the sword..." Before he could utter the last word "I", his other hand was empty, and even the scabbard was snatched away.
"Dad, my two brothers, you should rest early and don't have to wait for me!" Li Xuanba raised the sword and scabbard in his hand, spread his legs and ran away.
"you… "
Li Yuan looked at his empty hands, shaking with anger. He turned to look at his other two sons and pointed in the direction where Li Xuanba ran away, "Hurry up and take people to chase him!"
The two brothers looked at each other, suppressed their smiles and nodded vigorously, then lifted their robes and ran to call for help.
Alas~~
Li Yuan, who was standing under the eaves, became angrier and angrier as he thought about it. He stomped his feet hard, slapped his thighs, and sighed with a bitter face.
"Why did I give birth to such a son? What a sin!!"