Know… Know…
Know…
The sun shone with scorching rays, and the summer cicadas chirped on the drooping pine branches. In the square in the distance, a group of children held up their robes against the scorching summer sun and listened attentively to the Taoist's words. Under the branches swaying in the wind, an old donkey lay on the ground on its side, squinting its eyes and occasionally shaking its tail.
The woman, in a white dress, was holding iced plum juice. She floated across the small building and handed it to the two elderly people. Her skirt turned and floated back into the room. When she opened the door, she saw an elderly man with white hair like a waterfall. He closed his eyes, smiled softly, and walked lightly. He gently poured the sour plum soup, picked up the cattail leaf fan beside him, and fanned a slight cool breeze.
"Master Toad, how long has this happened, young master?"
On the bed, the Toad Taoist priest, with his legs crossed, squinted his eyes and looked at Nie Honglian who turned her face towards him. He snorted, smelled the scent of sour plums, turned over and sat up, tickling his webbed feet.
"Bring the sour plum soup to me. I've been drinking too much soup lately and I found a way to drink soup more conveniently."
As he spoke, he pulled out two thin bamboo tubes from under the pillow, put them together with a snap, put them in his mouth, reached for the soup bowl with one end, sat back on the headboard, and leisurely shook his feet while sucking the sour plum soup into his mouth. The moment the icy, sour and sweet feeling passed over his taste buds and flowed through his body, the Toad Taoist squinted his eyes comfortably.
"Master Toad, you only know how to eat and drink, or sleep. Please help too." Nie Honglian pinched her fingers and walked back and forth on the desk on the floor with her embroidered shoes, her tone sounding quite complaining.
Over there, Taoist Toad chuckled, opened his eyes, took out the bamboo tube from his mouth comfortably, looked at his disciple who was sitting in meditation over there, and shook his head.
"My disciple no longer needs help, and I am free now. I am eating and sleeping comfortably. Little ghost girl, come here. Xiaoxian has made a few new clothes recently. Please help me choose which one looks good."
"No."
Hong Lian still looked like she was sixteen years old. She squeezed her nose at the Toad Taoist, made a face, turned around and floated away, sat down at the round table, propped up her chin, and hummed a tune softly.
Qiyou is not here now. No one knows where he went since Lu Liangsheng left. Honglian sometimes thinks that it is good to have someone to quarrel with.
In the room, the incense burner was filled with the smell of burning incense. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew in from the slightly opened window frame, and the ashes on the burnt end of the incense stick broke silently and fell into the burner. The figure in meditation opposite slowly opened his eyes, and Hong Lian, who was singing at the back, also stopped singing, stood up and floated over.
"My lord, you finally woke up. I brought you some sour plum soup. Please try it... Hey, where's the soup?"
Lu Liangsheng smiled and looked along the desk that the woman had held up with both hands. It was empty. He then looked over to the bed and saw two empty bowls. The Toad Taoist priest was looking at him with a bulging belly.
"I thought Liangsheng wasn't awake yet, so I was afraid it would get cold, so I just drank it first... burp."
"Master Toad, you!!"
Hong Lian was so angry that she stomped her feet a few times, causing gusts of cold wind to blow around the room. Listening to the noise over there, Lu Liangsheng smiled and turned his gaze back. In front of the broken incense stick, the rice grains covering the tabletop made a rustling sound, and separated into strokes, revealing the handwriting.
—Can enter the underworld again.
This is the message from King Yama Han Qinhu.
"Sure enough, it's easier to get things done in the underworld when you have your own people... Han Zhuguo has established his foothold down there so quickly." Lu Liangsheng waved his sleeves over the table, and rice grains flew up, not a single one falling into the porcelain bowl on the other side of the bed. Just as he was about to call Hong Lian to go outside for a walk, the voice of his disciple Yuwen Tuo suddenly rang in his ears.
"Master, something has happened! I will go to Wanshou Temple right away."
The voice was transmitted by magic power. Lu Liangsheng frowned slightly. He did not hear the woman's words "What's wrong?" beside him. He quickly went down the stairs and came outside.
The sky was bright. Yuwen Tuo walked up the stone steps in front of the mountain gate quickly, holding up the hem of his robe. He came to the outside of the eaves and bowed. Lu Liangsheng raised his hand falsely and asked about the content of the message he had just sent.
"What happened?"
"In the past two days, there have been reports of rebellion in various places. Your Majesty is extremely angry and has lost his temper."
After saying that, Lu Liangsheng took out the copied news from his sleeve and unfolded the note, which summarized the content that had been transmitted to Chang'an in recent times. First, the rebels such as Li Mi and Cheng Yaojin of Wagang attacked Luoyang. Three days after arriving, Wang Shichong of Luoyang rebelled and joined the Wagang bandit army, and marched non-stop all the way to Chang'an through Hangu Pass.
At the end of May, Liu Wuzhou of Mayi rebelled, attacked Taiyuan, and marched south across the Taihang Mountains. The Sui army that was resisting nearby collapsed at an alarming speed and has now entered Jin, where it has joined forces with the Liang army that was also rebelling in Xiazhou.
On the second day of June, Dou Jiande left Hebei and passed Luokou Warehouse with great force. He planned to bypass Tongguan along the north bank of the Yellow River and cross the Jing River to attack Chang'an.
The sudden news of rebellion in various places, accompanied by the frantic transmission along the way over 800 miles, made the people even more panic-stricken. They fled their homes that were about to become battlefields with their families. All officials got up at night, dressed neatly and ran to the palace. Emperor Yang Guang, who originally knew the real situation, saw these battle reports that came in one after another like snowflakes, and still screamed in anger: "Ah--", kicked down the dragon table with one foot, and became dazed.
…
White clouds are like cotton wool, floating across the blue sky.
Amid the annoying sound of cicadas, Lu Liangsheng put the paper down and carried it behind him, raised his head and took a deep breath. The purpose of those gods coming to the world was achieved. They led the rebellious army to attack one city after another. It was not about occupying them at all, but leaving behind a mess and ruins. With the city in chaos, the people were faced with a city that had lost order, and all kinds of tragedies would happen.
"… Lou Jin Gou Li Mi, Jiao Mu Jiao Dou Jiande, Mao Ri Ji Wang Shichong, Kui Mu Lang Meng Hai Gong, Yi Huo Snake Liang Shidu, among the twenty-eight constellations, there are quite a few rebel kings who have taken the bodies of various places, and there are also other gods from various tribes. It seems that they are going to cause trouble in Chang'an, the human world."
Spots of sunlight flickered through the gaps between the trees. Amid the murmurings, Lu Liangsheng flicked his sleeves, turned and walked to the attic, then called out to Sun Yingxian who was in the square over there.
"Old Sun!"
The latter turned his head and looked over: "What's the matter?"
"Set up the formation, and go to hell!"
He walked into the building, returned to the room, grabbed the Qilin cloak, put it on, took the three ghost incense sticks that had been prepared long ago, went down to the hall again, and moved several tables and chairs in the hall with a creaking sound, making room for himself.
"Do you want to call back Old Pig to escort you down?"
The Taoist shook out a roll of yellow cloth and rolled it to the ground, revealing the Five Directions and Five Ghosts Formation. He put up the flag and said something, and over there Lu Liangsheng lit a long incense stick, inserted it into the incense burner, held it in his hand, and sat cross-legged in the center of the formation.
"No need, just stay by my side."
It would take who knows how many days to reach the underworld, so without further delay, he closed his eyes, his figure floated up, the outline of his soul entangled with the burning incense, transformed into a ray of golden light and sank into the ground.
Compared with the discomfort before, Lu Liangsheng has been able to adapt to the underworld again. He spread out his hands, and an old paper umbrella floated in the air covering his body, and floated towards the gates of hell.
When the outline of the city wall that stretched from sky to earth became vaguely visible, the neighing of a war horse suddenly came from the distance.
Xilulu-
In the dimness, the scarlet horse raised its hooves and stood up. A cold wind blew, and a green robe was shaken open above it.
A general wearing an outer robe, golden armor inside, with long flowing beard and a face as red as a date, stood there with a dragon sword in his hand, squinting and nodding, also looking at Lu Liangsheng under the umbrella.
After a moment, he slowly raised his hand, gripped the knife and clenched it tightly.
"Ghost King of the Lower Realm, Guan Yu greets the Imperial Master of the Great Sui Dynasty!"