The setting sun shone on the entrance of the village. A young man wearing a Taoist robe and carrying a yellow cloth bag ran into the village in a hurry. He bowed to the eight old men sitting side by side on the sun-drying dam and called out to each of them, "Hello, uncle, second uncle, third uncle... seventh uncle, eighth uncle."
He is a relative in the village and of the same generation as his grandfather. I heard that he once traveled around the country with his uncle, exorcising demons and monsters everywhere. He has the skills to be invulnerable to swords and guns, water and fire. He was also awarded armor by the previous emperor, Emperor Wen, and now he puts it in the most conspicuous place in the house to show off.
On the eight large chairs over there, an old man with a white beard, his muscles still knotted and bulging, opened his eyes, a gleam in his pupils, and waved his hand majestically.
"It's Xiaoyun, go back quickly."
Watching the young man leave, the old man named Lu Pan chuckled and turned to the other seven brothers, "You've only been away for a short time, but you're already homesick. My kid has learned all my skills, so I sent him out to make a living, but hey, he's back with a wife in less than half a year, and he won't leave. It's really infuriating!"
The other seven people basked in the sunshine, leaned back in their chairs and nodded in agreement.
"Not every child is like our Liangsheng. It's just that I've been out for a long time this time. I can't remember how long I haven't been back. Who among you remembers?"
"Who can remember clearly? I open my eyes and it's already daybreak. I bask in the sun for a while and it's almost setting. The day goes by so fast."
…
The eight old men's chattering faded away behind the young man. They walked through the alley behind the neighboring house, quickening their pace and shouting.
"Dad! Mom! Grandma, Grandpa!"
After entering the yard, he ran straight to the cypress tree in the yard and poured a cup of tea into his mouth. Over in the attic, Sun Yingxian rubbed her face and came down with Lu Xiaoxian one after the other. Looking at their son's appearance, the old couple looked at each other and asked, "Xiaoyun, it's only been a few days and you're back? Didn't you say you wanted to venture into the underworld? At least you have to bring a wife back!"
"Get lost!" Lu Xiaoxian slapped her husband on the shoulder. "People say Xiaoyun follows his uncle, so why would he worry about not being able to find a woman?" As she spoke, the woman pushed Old Sun aside, sat across the stone table, and pressed the teacup in her son's hand. "Tell me, why did you come back so suddenly? Did you run out of money? Don't worry, I still have some."
"no!"
Over there, the young man pushed his mother's hand away, glanced at his father, and coughed twice, "I just... I just miss home a little, so I came back to visit and leave tomorrow."
Seeing his son's glance, Sun Yingxian smiled knowingly, quickly went over to smooth things over, and helped his wife up.
"It's always like this when you go on a long trip for the first time. I told him to go cook and call his parents back for dinner. Don't lead the donkey to wander off to other mountains. He almost got lost last time."
"It's weird, just let you and your son do what they want."
Lu Xiaoxian looked at the father and son who seemed to be playing a guessing game, snorted, and turned to go to the kitchen. The remaining two waited for a moment, and when the woman at the kitchen door did not suddenly stick her head out, Sun Xiaoyun hurriedly took out the book from his arms and handed it to his father from under the stone table.
The latter took the book and patted it lightly in his palm comfortably, then quickly rolled it up and stuffed it into his sleeve. As if nothing had happened, he poured some tea and asked in a calm voice about what his son had been doing during the past few days while he was away.
"Are you used to being outside? Have you met any fellow disciples who came out of Mount Qixia?"
Sun Xiaoyun shook his head. He had only been to Hegu County and had never gone any further. He came back this time to exchange the book back. However, when he talked about the monster he encountered on the way, he gestured excitedly for a moment.
"Dad, you don't know, that rat demon is really smart. It can't beat me alone, so it actually lured me over and set an ambush. More than ten big rats came at once."
Sun Yingxian was well aware of her son's abilities. She took a sip of tea calmly and asked, "And then? Did he run away?"
"Escape? My father is the best in Chang'an, how can I escape?! Good fellows, I won by using magic to fight them..."
With a snap, he slapped him on the head. Sun Yingxian put down the cup and retracted his hand: "I don't know what you are capable of. A dozen rat spirits can chew your bones clean. Tell me, how did you escape?"
Sun Xiaoyun smiled awkwardly and scratched his fingers embarrassedly.
"Dad is the one who knows. In fact, we got help from an expert, a man who looked like a scholar." When he got excited, he raised his head and described what happened in the forest vividly, "… The man raised his hand, and a sword flew up to the sky and fell into the ground. Ouch, the whole ground was shaking, and the rats that had dug holes in the mud were gone in a moment. A few swishes, and blood gushed out of the ground like it was free."
Across from him, the teacup hovered in the air. Sun Yingxian was stunned. She raised her eyes to look at her son who was still talking across from her and interrupted him, "Scholar? Is there a bald old donkey next to you? Is there a bookshelf on the donkey?"
"Dad, did you see it too?"
When Sun Xiaoyun replied in confusion, there was a sudden sound of a porcelain bowl breaking in the kitchen. The young man got up and ran to the kitchen. "Mom, what happened?"
In the small kitchen, the woman stood blankly at the stove, as if she didn't hear the broken pieces that fell at her feet or the questions her son asked.
"Dad, my mom is... Dad?"
Sun Xiaoyun stood at the door and turned around to ask in the yard. Sun Yingxian, who was originally sitting on a stone bench, hurriedly got up, rolled up his sleeves and ran out of the yard quickly, paying no attention to his son at all, and even ignoring the greetings from the villagers. He rushed out of the west gate of the village, crossed the wooden bridge, and went up to Qixia Mountain in the west.
The cliffs in the sea of clouds, the collapsed thatched cottage, an old pine tree and a pile of graves in the distance, and the ground covered with fallen leaves, everything is no different from the past twenty years.
"Could it be that the person Xiaoyun met was not Lu Liangsheng?"
The Taoist stood in front of the cliff, feeling somewhat unwilling to give up. He roared at the surging sea of clouds outside the cliff with all his might: "Lu Liangsheng!!!"
"Lu Da scholar!"
The voice was loud and clear, and it echoed in the mountains for a long time. Except for the rustling of the forest, there was no other sound in response. Sun Yingxian's beard trembled in the wind. He closed his eyes, thinking that he was too sensitive. He was about to turn around and go down the mountain when an unexpected voice suddenly sounded on the mountain path he was going down.
"Old Sun, you are shouting so loudly, are you trying to scare the national teacher out?"
The mountain breeze blew through the woods. On the winding mountain road, a young man who looked like a scholar walked up with his hands behind his back, smiling. Amid the tinkling of copper bells, an old donkey swung its bald tail as if grinning at him. Next to him, a woman in a plain white dress also smiled at him and greeted him.
"Master Sun."
Also, the toad standing on the donkey's head poked out its webbed feet and said, "Can you give me some frogs to hang out? Bring them here too!"
Sun Yingxian stood there, looking at the same group of people as before. She smiled, but her nose felt sore and tears fell onto her collar.