Boom—
Boom...
White clouds are moving, birds are flying in flocks, and the deep and powerful bell sounds are echoing from the distant Jingci Temple to the West Lake. Pilgrims gather outside the mountain gate to burn incense and worship Buddha, praying devoutly. Tourists who want to enjoy the beautiful lotus pond are walking between the pavilions and covered bridges. The back of a woman in a white dress shows her graceful figure, and she is quite eye-catching on the bridge.
The sound of the bell is distant and pleasant to the ear.
Lu Liangsheng retracted his gaze and tilted his head to look at the tall tower in the distance. Then he raised his hand to the little green snake beside him who wanted to shout, "Sister!" and interrupted, saying, "No need to call her. I'll be leaving soon."
Thinking back to what Fahai and the green-robed monk had said before, they were chasing after two snake demons. Aren't they right in front of us? As for the little green snake, Lu Liangsheng still believed that she hadn't done anything evil, but it would be better to find out.
"Where are you practicing now? Why did you and your sister come to Hangzhou?"
Xiao Qing over there looked up and thought about it. It seemed that it was not impossible to say it, especially since the scholar in front of her was her great benefactor in the past. If it weren't for his guidance, she might still be a little snake in a pond, with at most some spiritual awareness.
"In reply to your question, sir, Xiaoqing is now practicing with elder sister. It was you who suggested me to come to the south. I didn't expect to meet elder sister later. However, Xiaoqing was not willing to come to Hangzhou, but elder sister said she had a favor to repay, so I had to follow her."
"You should always remember to repay a favor. I think your sister is also a person of affection and righteousness." Lu Liangsheng nodded and saw that her eyes were clear. The woman in the white dress on the square bridge did not have any vicious aura. After saying this, he pondered for a moment and spoke in a gentle tone.
"Then have fun here. When you get bored, go back to the cave to practice. If you encounter a reasonable but stubborn monk, don't pay too much attention to him. Just leave quickly and don't force yourself to fight him."
"Thank you, Mr. Xiaoqing knows about it."
Hearing this, Cen Biqing looked at the scholar in some confusion. After chatting for a while, she vaguely heard the woman on the bridge calling her. Lu Liangsheng happened to say goodbye. All living beings in the world have their own way of living, and one cannot always stare at and control each other.
"Sir, why don't you come with us?" Knowing that Lu Liangsheng was leaving, the little green snake felt reluctant to see him in such a hurry. She often heard her sister say that one should repay a favor. She had never repaid the favor for her advice back then, so she had some thoughts in her mind.
On the other side, Lu Liangsheng probably saw what she was thinking and smiled, "No need, just practice well." After that, he took Hong Lian and the old donkey and turned to go somewhere else.
"Sir, you are so polite."
Xiaoqing muttered to herself twice, looked back every two steps at the figure of the man leading the donkey who was gradually going away in the crowd, sighed, and slowly returned to Duan Bridge. A woman in a white skirt approached quietly, her white skirt swaying slightly like a lotus in a pond, her delicate eyebrows were slightly frowned, and there was a smile on the corners of her lips, she had an elegant and attractive temperament.
The woman followed Xiaoqing's gaze and gently pushed with her slender fingers: "Xiaoqing, what are you looking at? You are so engrossed in it. I have called you several times."
"No… nothing."
After waving her hands in panic, Xiaoqing came to her senses and saw the woman blinking her eyes. She immediately stopped and pushed her gently before saying, "What are you talking about, sister? That gentleman is my benefactor... Back then..."
"Xiaoqing, look, sister is waiting for someone over there!"
In the sudden words, the woman in the white dress seemed to see something out of the corner of her eye. She turned sideways to face the other side of Duan Bridge, and joy suddenly appeared on her face. Behind the carved stone railing over there, a young man in green clothes and brown jacket was admiring the scenery of the lotus pond. The woman raised the corners of her mouth slightly, and moved closer to Xiaoqing beside her.
"It would be abrupt if we went straight over there. Xiaoqing, how about we suddenly have some rain?"
Little Green Snake: “…”
…
There was a faint sound of thunder in the sky. The dense forests and intertwined branches swayed slightly in the wind. Amid the rustling sound, pedestrians and tourists passed by the blue brick stone steps. Lu Liangsheng led Hong Lian to visit a few more places and led the old donkey to Xizhao Mountain. In front of Leifeng Pagoda, scholars and elegant guests looked at the tower, fanned themselves and chanted poems, laughing heartily. There were also ordinary tourists sitting on the bluestone nearby to rest and pointed and talked. The scholar who led the donkey handed the reins to the female family member and said, "Hong Lian, wait for me here."
After saying that, he walked into the tower gate alone. The inside of the tower was not very spacious, and the walls were covered with colorful paintings, mostly of Buddhas and goddesses flying in the sky, or sitting on auspicious clouds to show the world. On the other side, a red lacquered staircase with hollow carvings spiraled down along the wall, and many tourists walked up and down on it.
Brushing past people, Lu Liangsheng walked to the center and stood behind a believer. He casually bowed to a golden Buddha statue on the altar. A faint light of Dharma appeared in his eyes as he scanned the surroundings. Soon, he walked behind the curtains on both sides of the altar. When there was no sight, his figure gradually became blurred and transparent. The sound of his footsteps mixed with the voices around him as he walked to the back of the statue. Under the flat floor tiles, there was a hole visible to the naked eye.
The scholar frowned slightly.
'The core of the Wanling Formation here is actually below...'
Thoughts flashed through his mind, and Lu Liangsheng used the wall-walking technique. He stepped on the floor tiles and passed through them quickly. The noise above gradually became quiet.
While falling, Lu Liangsheng made some finger gestures and slowed down his speed. The vertical hole was not deep. When the soles of his shoes touched the hard surface, he had reached the bottom. It was pitch black in his field of vision and it was difficult to see anything. The walls on both sides of the hole were slippery and only one person could pass through.
After walking along the cave for about ten feet, it became wider. A ray of sunlight shone in from the cracks in the rocks above and fell on a square stone platform. Lu Liangsheng waved his sleeves to wipe away the stone platform, and the cold wind that blew away swept the dust all around.
In a ray of light, light dust is flying.
On the stone platform, just like the All-Spirit Array that he had encountered before, it was full of magic array carvings. In the middle and back, there was a shrine quietly placed. After a moment, Lu Liangsheng said, "Excuse me!" He walked forward and gently opened the small door of the shrine. Inside was a stone sculpture whose appearance could not be seen clearly. It was too old and perhaps had lost its magical power, and had long been weathered and blurred.
'This is trouble.'
The statue in the shrine and the engravings of the magic circle complement each other. If one of them is lost, it cannot be reactivated. This is something Lu Liangsheng has never encountered before.
… Go out for now, Hong Lian is still waiting outside.
Thinking about it, the scholar bowed towards the shrine. He did not stay any longer and returned along the long road to the tower. He appeared behind the statue and walked out leisurely. Suddenly he found that there were fewer tourists in the tower. Hong Lian was standing under the eaves leading the old donkey. It was raining heavily outside.
"Sir, the weather was fine just now, how come it suddenly went down?" Hong Lian complained as she looked at the overcast sky. The drizzle continued to fall, and it didn't look like it would stop for a while.
Lu Liangsheng looked up at the sky, squinted his eyes, and said softly: "Calling the wind and rain, someone is using supernatural powers."
Then, he looked in the direction of Jingci Temple.
"I'm afraid the ceremony over there can't go on." As he said this, the scholar took a paper umbrella from the bookshelf, opened it, shielded the woman from view, and they embraced each other, stepped out of the roof together, and walked in the rushing rain.
Nie Honglian tilted her head, leaned on the scholar's shoulder, and said jokingly, "I'm afraid the monks don't care, but the pilgrims will be miserable."
Raindrops were hitting the woods. As they walked down Xizhao Mountain, Hong Lian was still chatting and laughing. Lu Liangsheng, who was walking on the side, suddenly stopped, held the hand of the woman next to him, and the two of them stood there holding each other. The old donkey also stopped, flapped its long ears, and curiously stretched its neck from behind, sticking out its donkey face to look around.
In front of him, there was a figure wearing a cassock, holding a golden bowl in one hand and twirling Buddhist beads in the other. He walked like a dragon and a tiger in the rain. He caught a glimpse of the man and woman holding an umbrella over here. He paused, rolled up the Buddhist beads and hung them between his thumb and thumb, and saluted Lu Liangsheng with a vertical seal.
"This donor, please leave early today."
After he finished speaking, passers-by exclaimed, jumped up, stepped over the lotus leaves in the pond, and flew to the woods ahead. Lu Liangsheng smiled, holding Hong Lian's hand and continued to move forward.
The direction they were heading was exactly the forest that the monk had gone to.