The big red lanterns swayed gently in the night wind. In the swaying light, Lu Liangsheng and the Taoist priest walked out of the Zhang Mansion together and walked side by side on the street late at night.
Bang bang…
Woof woof woof…
In the quiet streets, the sounds of night watchmen and dogs barking could be heard in the distance. Lu Liangsheng watched the stars and the moon disappear into the clouds, and thought of the scene at Zhang's house just now, and sighed.
"Even if the fox demon gave half of its lifespan to Zhang Liancheng to fill his body, he doesn't have the physique to practice cultivation. Once the fox demon's cultivation is dispersed... I'm afraid he can only live a few more years."
Sun Yingxian laughed dryly and said, "It's his own fault." Then he calmed down.
The Taoist looked straight at the street ahead and spoke again after a while.
"If the fox demon named Yanzhi hadn't stepped forward, would you have really damaged your cultivation?"
"I knew you were going to ask that."
Lu Liangsheng smiled, also looking ahead, with his hands behind his back, walking very lightly: "... Actually, I'm not sure if I would do that. At first, I wanted to provoke the fox demon. Since she dared to take the risk to come to Zhou Mansion for help, she must be loyal and righteous..."
The wind blew through the streets, and the long hair hanging on the shoulders was blown gently.
The scholar spoke calmly and shook his head.
"… But if I hadn't stood up, I might have saved Zhang Liancheng. It would have been fine if I didn't know about this, but I feel guilty for not doing anything when the person is right in front of me."
On the side, Sun Yingxian rubbed her face vigorously and tilted her head to look at him.
"Sure enough, your master is right, you are just a pushover, but..."
The Taoist hooked his hand around the scholar's shoulder and chuckled, "But he is worthy of making close friends."
The two men walked and talked arm in arm, bursting into laughter from time to time, and soon walked through the long street outside Zhang's mansion. The barking of dogs never stopped, still barking in the distance of the city.
tread…
Tap tap tap…
Lu Liangsheng frowned, stopped talking, and looked at the street ahead. The sound of horse hooves and a horseman's figure rushed through the thin mist in the street.
"It looks like Captain Zuo has returned from chasing those two fox demons. I wonder if he got any results."
"There is no evil spirit. It seems that the two foxes were not killed."
As he spoke, Sun Yingxian took out a piece of talisman paper and threw it into the air. It burst into flames and illuminated the person who was coming.
Sure enough, it was Zuo Zhengyang who rode over. He pulled the reins and stopped his horse. He looked at the two people in front of him and bowed: "It seems that Zuo has missed the good show of exorcising the demon."
As the four long knives were shaking, Captain Zuo turned over, led the horse and walked side by side with Lu Liangsheng, shaking the fox tail in his hand.
"We only had time to cut off one of their tails. Those two fox demons were really fast, and ordinary horses couldn't catch up with them at all."
The Taoist priest standing by the street spat on the ground.
"Nonsense, do you think I'm so easy to catch? I'll let you chase me on horseback up a hill?"
Still remembering that incident... Lu Liangsheng couldn't help laughing. He walked past a fork in the road and heard voices coming from far and near. A late-night stall was still set up on another street, with steam rising and a fragrant smell wafting in the air.
"Captain Zuo, why don't we have a midnight snack together?"
Zuo Zhengyang touched his stomach and said, "I'm indeed a little hungry." Then he made a gesture of invitation.
The three of them came to a noodle stall. There were many people eating supper there, and the few low stools and small tables were almost all occupied, so the three of them sat down in a corner.
The stall owner was an old man, busy scooping noodles out of the pot, and looked over sideways.
"Three of you, I only have noodles here... Oh, isn't this the Chief Constable? Still the same as always?"
Zuo Zhengyang nodded in response, "Okay!"
Turning back, he saw the gazes of the scholar and Taoist priest next to him and said with a smile, "Sometimes when we work on cases until late at night, we always come out to eat something, otherwise we can't fall asleep. I've been here a few times, so I'm naturally familiar with it. By the way, this noodle with scallion pancake tastes good. I recommend you two to try it."
"Okay, then I'll do the same as you!" Sun Yingxian was not polite and waved to the old man.
Lu Liangsheng was not picky and ordered a bowl of vegetarian noodles, but he cooked two extra bowls to take away when he left.
In public, the three of them would not talk loudly about the fox demon, but when it came to the fact that Lu Liangsheng almost lost his cultivation to save Zhang Liancheng, Zuo Zhengyang also felt that it was inappropriate.
"Life and death are determined by fate. Besides, it was caused by him. Why should you take the blame? Besides, there are so many people in this world. Can you save them all?"
Over there, the old man brought the noodles over and put them on the table.
"Enjoy your meal, three of you."
After the old man walked away, Lu Liangsheng picked up the chopsticks, picked up a bunch of noodles and blew on the hot air.
"That's why I want to take the exam. Saving people is saving one person, and saving ten thousand people is also saving one person."
Zuo Zhengyang sucked the noodles into his mouth, exhaled, and shook his head at the scholar.
"You probably want to be a saint... Don't read too many saintly books, or your brain will get damaged!"
Sun Yingxian also raised her head and nodded in agreement.
"I stand on Captain Zuo's side this time. Your mentor is a learned man with a lot of truth in his heart. If everyone were like him, with no bad people or good people, wouldn't the world become a blank slate?"
"My mentor only taught me some principles of life. It's not as exaggerated as you said."
Lu Liangsheng was not angry. He also knew his own character. He had become more gentle after reading these years. But it was not a bad thing. At least he was satisfied.
As for taking the imperial examination to become an official, it was also in the hope that in the future, he could govern an area and enable more poor families to become richer year by year like the ones in Lujia Village, without having to live a life of hunger and fullness.
Not long after, after they had their midnight snack, when it came time to pay the bill, the old man refused to take the money for the noodles from the three of them, and Zuo Zhengyang also refused to let Lu Liangsheng pay.
"What are you arguing about? I'll pay the bill later. Grab the two bowls of noodles and go back quickly, or they'll get cold on the way."
"That's fine."
Lu Liangsheng stopped arguing, picked up two bowls of noodles wrapped in oilcloth, made a false gesture, and went to the street of Zhou Mansion with the Taoist priest.
As soon as the two men left, Zuo Zhengyang took out his wallet, which contained not much small change.
"Old Man Chen, five bowls of noodles, how much?"
"Forget it, forget it. The Chief Constable helped me last time, so there's no need this time..."
When the old man said this, he suddenly exclaimed, quickly picked up a piece of silver from the soup pot, rubbed it, and looked at the captain opposite.
"One or two taels, Chief Constable, maybe your two friends..."
He looked at the two people who had just left, and hurriedly trotted out of the stall. In front of him, he could not see any ghosts on the street.
“… this this this…”
Old man Chen turned around tremblingly, holding the silver coins in his hand. He was speechless for several seconds and pointed in an empty direction. His gray beard trembled violently.
"Chief Constable... your two friends... are they human or ghost..."
"Of course it's people."
Zuo Zhengyang climbed onto his horse and raised his chin towards Old Man Chen: "Since I've given you the money, you should keep it. It's best not to use it. Maybe it can ward off evil spirits and exorcise ghosts."
When the old man came to his senses and wanted to ask more questions, Zuo Zhengyang had already hurried away.
Can it also exorcise evil spirits
Oh... those two are masters.
Old man Chen hurriedly bowed towards the empty street, holding the silver in his hands.
…
The lights in Zhou Mansion are still on.
When Lu Liangsheng came back using the magic of shrinking the earth into an inch, the mansion was so quiet that it was difficult to hear human voices, and the occasional chirping of insects could be heard among the grass.
The lights in the side yard were still on, and Hong Lian was sitting at the door waiting for him to come back.
"Sir, why are you the only one back?"
"Sun Yingxian said he was faster at climbing over the wall. How come he was slower than me?" The scholar put the noodles in his hand on the desk and tore off the oilcloth paper on it.
"Here, try it, it tastes pretty good."
Nie Honglian pressed her lower abdomen, leaned over, and took a sip of the steaming soup noodles. The color of the noodles gradually faded. She opened her red lips, curled up a smile, and looked at the scholar.
"It smells much better than incense and candles."
"Then from now on, whatever I eat, I'll leave a portion for you." Lu Liangsheng also laughed, tore off the oilcloth paper on the other bowl, and glanced around.
"Where is my master?"
At this time, from under the bed, the Toad Taoist poked his head out, his expression solemn: "What do you want to see me for?"
"I brought a bowl of noodles for Master..."
Before Lu Liangsheng could finish his words, Toad Taoist's stomach rumbled again. He crawled out from under the bed, rushed outside, and didn't come back for a while.
at the same time.
Outside the house, someone descended from the courtyard wall, and then... Sun Yingxian's angry curse was heard.
"Who the hell pulled the shit..."
The Toad Taoist priest, who was sitting beside the bowl chewing noodles, had a calm and relaxed expression on his face.
On the side, Nie Honglian covered her mouth and chuckled, leaning close to the scholar and whispered:
"Master Toad, I don't know what I ate, but I have a stomachache."
The Taoist priest came to the eaves, hopping and skipping, and sat on the ground polishing his shoes while cursing. Then he went in and argued loudly with the Toad. Lu Liangsheng hurried forward and tried to persuade him with a smile.
The light was warm yellow, casting short shadows of people on the window lattice and into the courtyard.
The small side yard is lively and warm.