Fine rain fell on the green seedlings in the fields, and misty water vapor slid diagonally from above the people to the ground. The old woman's hair was completely white, and her eyes were not working well. She squinted and raised her face tremblingly. She recognized her son's voice and reached over with a slight tremor.
"Liangsheng, don't move. Let me touch you."
The rough palm touched the smooth skin. Li Jinhua's cloudy eyes flashed with tears. She could no longer hold back her tears and burst into suppressed tears. She whispered again to confirm: "Liangsheng?"
Lu Laoshi, who was standing by, also wiped the wetness from his eyes, came over to hug the mother and daughter, and whispered, "It's Liangsheng, our son is back."
The villagers who had run over from behind gathered at the entrance of the village and watched closely. Some of them knew the handsome young scholar, while others didn't. They stared at him for a long time without reacting.
"Is this my uncle Liangsheng? He's even younger than me..."
"That's right. When Dad got married, he was so young. Now that you're married and have a wife, he's still so young. Oh, I envy you so much just thinking about it."
"Dad, stop talking. Be careful that Mom hears you and sends you to sleep in the cowshed again."
"She dares?!"
"Hey, you two should stop talking. Liangsheng is back, so don't just stand there and watch. Tell everyone to bring out one or two dishes. We'll have a feast tonight. I have a few jars of wine. Let's drink together!"
…
Lu Liangsheng held his parents and sister in his arms and stood in the rain for a while before the family separated. He looked into his mother's cloudy and slightly narrowed eyes and said, "Mom, when we get back later, I'll treat you."
"Okay, okay, okay." Lu Laoshi's face was flushed with joy. His son, whom he hadn't seen for many years, was back, and his wife could see again. He was so happy that he led his family to the village. He excitedly shouted to the villagers who were making way for him at the entrance of the village, "Everyone, look carefully. This is my son, Lu Liangsheng! The younger people in the village have never seen him, but now they can! But you elders, if you run into him in the future, you have to call him uncle or grandpa!"
Most of the people in the village are relatives, and the younger generation felt embarrassed to call out their names because the scholar who came over was younger than themselves. Then they were slapped and pulled by the ears by the adults in their family, and then they hurriedly called out.
"Uncle Liangsheng."
Lu Liangsheng smiled at them and didn't care. After all, some of these young people had studied in private schools. Now that twenty years had passed, most of their appearances had changed. He could still recognize some of the older generation. The eight figures in front had thick white beards and muscular bodies that did not look like old men. They stood in a line with smiles on their faces, their muscles bulging.
"Liangsheng, do you still recognize us?"
"How could Liangsheng not recognize eight uncles?" Lu Liangsheng showed a gentle smile, raised his sleeves and shook them, and respectfully saluted to the eight of them. These eight elders had followed him the longest, from Qixia Mountain all the way to Chang'an City. I heard from the Taoist that over the years, they were the ones who contributed the most when those kids were strengthening their muscles and bones. This salute must be paid respectfully.
She chatted and laughed with everyone in the village at the entrance. When it got dark, she returned home with her parents and sister. They lit the oil lamp and put it on the table. After crying for a while, Li Jinhua and Lu Xiaoxian calmed down and went to the kitchen to prepare dinner. However, the neighbors brought their own meals, which made the family less busy.
After having dinner under the eaves, Lu Liangsheng held up the oil lamp and took his mother to sit in the room. Many villagers stayed in the yard, or leaned against the windows, holding their breath and watching the scholar squatting in front of the bed, gently kneading the area around the old woman's eyes with his fingertips, regulating her qi and blood meridians. A trace of magic power seeped through the cortical blood vessels and entered her eyes. The separated spiritual consciousness felt a blockage, and roughly guessed that it was these impurities that made his mother's eyes not see clearly.
At first she felt a little uncomfortable, for one thing she was afraid of the pain, and another thing she could feel there were many people outside staring at her. She nervously grabbed the quilt with one hand and pinched the corner of Lu Liangsheng's sleeve with the other. In less than a moment, as her son's fingertips gently rubbed her, she felt warmth deep in her eyes, and a hot current swirled around them. She didn't know whether it was the return of her son whom she hadn't seen for twenty years, or the warm current that made her feel soothed and relaxed. She slowly lowered the hand holding the corner of her sleeve to the bed, and a slight snoring sounded as she gently kneaded her fingers.
Lu Liangsheng withdrew his hand, stood up, pulled the quilt over his mother and gently covered her with it. He touched her wrinkled face before leaving the house and talking to the villagers who were still waiting outside. It was late at night when the villagers moved their stools and gradually dispersed. Sun Yingxian sent his wife back to the room first, and took Xiaoyun over to sit under the cypress tree, watching Lu Liangsheng, who was holding a branch as thick as his arm and whittling it across from him, revealing a hint of his outline.
I couldn't help but ask, "When are we leaving?"
Lu Liangsheng didn't say anything. He just raised his head and glanced at the room where the oil lamp was still on. He continued to concentrate on sharpening the wooden stick. Sun Xiaoyun at the side wanted to speak, but Old Sun pulled his sleeve, signaling him not to say anything more. After a while, he changed the subject.
"When you become an immortal, how will the old toad and Hong Lian cope with it? Will they go with you? If possible, you might as well bring your parents along."
Lu Liangsheng shook his head, stopped his sword, blew away the debris on the stick, and smiled bitterly, "When I came back, I had already thought about it. Master, Hong Lian, and even Lao Lu can stay in the boundless mountains and seas, but people can't enter."
The stopped sword continued to carve. Lu Liangsheng said this, smiled slightly, and continued speaking.
"Okay, Old Sun, don't talk about this anymore. You can continue to take care of the house for me from now on... Maybe in a hundred years, I will come back again?"
"You are talking about useless things again." The Taoist raised his hand, but he was the most susceptible to this kind of talk, so he casually let the matter go. However, he was still a little worried. He looked around and lowered his voice and said, "If you leave, what about the fox in Xiaoquan Mountain? Over the years, her Taoism has become more and more profound. If she becomes a demon in the future, I may not be able to deal with her."
"No, Yanzhi is very smart, she won't do anything rash. Mingyue worships me as her master. In this Qixia Mountain area, people are naturally surnamed Lu. How could she do anything rash? Even if I go to heaven in the future, she won't dare to do it."
Sun Xiaoyun looked around, not knowing what his father and uncle were talking about. He was confused. He only heard mention of the vixen over at Koizumi Mountain. It seemed that the uncle really raised her there, but did he have a son
… Could it be? When the young man touched his chin thoughtfully, he was hit on the cheek by the wood chips that flew back. It happened that Lu Liangsheng's eyes met with his. It seemed that Lu Liangsheng saw through his thoughts. He lowered his head in horror.
The wooden stick that the small sword had shaved off gradually took on the shapes of a human and a donkey, becoming clearer and clearer. Lu Liangsheng blew on it, cut off the excess parts, keeping the base, and played with it in his hand, talking casually.
"In fact, it's not just Yanzhi. You should take care of the old hen in the house from now on. If you can't control her, I'll let Yanzhi discipline her. A newly-formed demon is prone to messing around and doesn't know the etiquette of the human world."
The two chatted until the middle of the night. The drizzle was still falling. When the roosters crowed in the backyard, Lu Liangsheng looked at the wood carving in his hand, slowly got up, walked to the room opposite, pushed the door open, and saw his father and mother sleeping soundly. He put the wood carving on the table in front of the window, walked to the bed, lifted the hem of his robe, and suddenly knelt down.
"Mom and Dad, I'm gone. I may not come back in the future. It is my greatest honor to be your child in this life."
Boom.
He kowtowed hard once, raised his head, and kowtowed hard again. After three kowtows, Lu Liangsheng got up from the ground, tucked down the corners of the quilt for the old couple, turned around and went out. He looked through the slowly closing crack in the door, at the old man sleeping peacefully on the couch. Until the door was closed, he walked to the old donkey and took the reins.
"elder brother… "
Lu Xiaoxian stood on the second-floor fence, her tears seeping through her wrinkles and sliding down the corners of her eyes. Lu Liangsheng looked at her, forced a smile, his voice trembling a little.
"You stay home and take good care of your parents. If I know you are being unfilial in heaven, be careful or I will come down to earth and beat you!"
As he said this, he turned his head away, no longer looking at his sister who was crying with her hands covering her mouth, and whispered to the Taoist priest beside him: "Take good care of her."
After saying this, he pulled the reins and walked out of the yard, disappearing into the night in a blink of an eye. Lu Xiaoxian upstairs came to her senses, stumbled downstairs, ran out of the yard and chased after him. Looking at the empty dam, she cried out heartbreakingly.
"elder brother!!"
The voice spread far away. Lu Liangsheng walked onto the road outside the village, gritted his teeth, and went to the Qixia Temple without looking back. He took out Hong Lian's bones from the statue and put away "Boundless Mountains and Seas". When he came out, he saw many torches coming out of the village over there. He could vaguely hear people calling his name. Some sadness surged in his heart, and his nose and throat began to ache. He loosened the reins, walked towards that side, lifted up his wide sleeves, and bowed down.
I also bowed to the winding Qixia Mountain in all directions, as I might not see it again in the future.
Hong Lian, who was beside him, followed him, bowed and saluted. After the young master calmed down, she asked, "Young master, where are we going from now on?"
"Hangzhou, set up the last eye of the Wanling Array."
Lu Liangsheng gritted his teeth and looked away. He took Hong Lian's hand, waved to the old donkey chewing grass to leave, and also saw Yanzhi waiting to see him off on the roadside. He nodded to her and slowly walked to the end of the official road. In the east of dawn, slightly white clouds dispersed, and the golden morning sun pushed the edge of the sky, shining on the man and woman holding hands, leading the old donkey, and the yawning toad on the bookshelf, gradually fading into the magnificent light.
…
The sunlight shone into the small courtyard with a fence and fell on the head of the bed through the window lattice. In the warm atmosphere, the old woman opened her eyes. The dust on the roof became clear in her eyes. She put on her clothes and worn shoes. When she saw the puppet on the table, a smile appeared on her face. Just like the tough woman back then, she pulled her husband out of the quilt by the ear and went to the kitchen to cook, cursing.
Then, he walked under the eaves and shouted outside: "Dinner is ready!"
The sunlight shone through the window lattice, and the dust flew and fell on the wooden sculpture on the table. It was a young man in a flowing robe holding a scroll, leading an old donkey, and a girl sitting on the donkey's back, tapping her embroidered shoes. A toad sat on the edge of the bookshelf, stretching lazily...