Volume 1: The magnificent Qixia Mountain, the young sparrows faded their spots, the phoenixes jumped on the branches and cried Chapter 005: Chicken Feathers
"Dad, you bought me some pens and ink, but what about our donkey?"
"Your mother said to buy an old donkey... that'll do."
Outside the city, Lu Liangsheng followed his father through the livestock market. Lu Laoshi replied to his son and went forward to touch the donkey's mouth that was sticking out of the fence to check the teeth. This was the mule and horse market on the outskirts of Fushui County. However, most of the livestock sold were domestic animals such as horses, donkeys and mules. Cows were basically not seen. The government had a clear regulation that oxen could not be bought and sold privately.
Over there, a merchant who had just finished bargaining with someone turned around and looked at Lu Laoshi with a smile: "My dear brother, the donkey you touched is a bit old. It can pull a mill, but it can't pull a cart for more than 20 miles. Why not take a look at the ones over here? They are all two years old."
Lu Laoshi looked at the fence the vendor was pointing to. The animals on the other side were all soft-spoken, with strong limbs and sturdy skin and flesh. They were obviously good animals for working in the fields and pulling carts.
He looked at her with envy, then shook his head and said, "Let's buy the old donkey. How much is this one?"
"Three hundred and forty coins, take it. I can't give it back. I'm going to kill it and sell the meat tonight."
"Three hundred and forty coins..."
Lu Laoshi was a little hesitant. He touched the cloth pocket sewn inside his clothes and looked at the animal sticking out of the fence. The old donkey's fur was loose and dull, and there were several whipping scars on the right rib of its back. It was skinny and looked like it would fall down at any time. Its cloudy eyes looked at Lu Laoshi who was bargaining with the merchant in front of it, and it stretched out its tongue to lick his cuffs.
"Then... that's it."
Lu Laoshi finally couldn't bear it, so he gritted his teeth, took out his money bag, counted the copper coins one by one for a long time, paid the vendor, touched the donkey's head, led it out, looked at Lu Liangsheng, and smiled bitterly: "Our house is completely empty. When you go back, don't tell your mother that you spent so much money on a donkey that is too old."
"Yes, I know."
The young man nodded, then looked at the old donkey that was following his father and stamping its hooves. He frowned slightly and said, "In Qing Huai Bu Meng, there seems to be an article about the art of returning spring. I wonder if it will work on animals. I'll take a look when I get back."
Thinking of this, the father and son returned to the market. The market had been dispersed and the ground was in a mess. In addition, it had rained the day before, so the roads were muddy and difficult to walk on. Most of the people in the same village had sold their things by now, and bought the firewood, rice, oil and salt needed for the family. They gathered together and waited for Lu Laoshi and his son to come back, then they set off for the village.
From what he saw and heard during the past two days, Lu Liangsheng felt that the outside world was very different and fresh. For a teenager who had never been exposed to the outside world, it was a shock, but it also gave him a certain amount of worldly experience.
The only regret is that I didn't go to see the opera troupe invited by Mr. Chen. On the way, I heard my father and a few people from the same village talking about how wonderful the opera was and how beautiful the female actors who sang the opera were.
"...When I was leaving the city, I inquired about it. The actress who sang for Mr. Chen was a famous actress in Hegu County and the mainstay of the Li Family Troupe. I heard that she was only sixteen years old. Her voice could charm anyone...It seemed that she was singing a new play specially prepared for Mr. Chen. It was called...something like "Wen Shou"."
"Well, let's not talk about the opera singer first. Today, when I went to the city to buy cloth for my wife, I heard that there was unrest in the northwest. Is there going to be a war?"
"It's none of our business. The government doesn't raise taxes on us, which is already a favor from God."
The axles of the wheels squeaked as the people returning to the village boasted about what they had heard in the city. After returning home, they could tell it to their wives and children to show off their knowledge.
As the sun sets, the western clouds burn red and the foothills are covered with a layer of rosy clouds.
Lu Liangsheng listened to these men talking nonsense all the way. He was sitting on the donkey cart and could see the outline of the village in the distance with a little smoke rising from the chimneys.
After entering the village, the things were divided. Lu Laoshi led the old donkey, and Liangsheng held the pen and ink. Before they reached the gate of their own courtyard, they heard Li Jinhua arguing with someone.
"You stole our chickens and you wanted to steal the last one. Believe it or not, I will beat you to death with a stick right now!"
"I just stood at your door for a while. Why do you say I stole it? If you dare to hit me, I will just lie down. I'm so lazy!"
"You're bullying my man because he's out, right? Well, let me see if you can lie down or not—"
"How dare you be so arrogant? I'll let the whole village hear it. If you slander me and dare to hit me, I'll sue you!"
The man standing at the gate of the courtyard facing inside and arguing with Li Jinhua was known to both father and son. His name was Lu Erlai. No one remembered his full name. They were from the same village and had the same surname, so they were related. However, he was a well-known idler in the village. He was used to being idle and often hung around outside other people's houses, flirting with women from time to time. He had a wife a few years ago, but later she couldn't stand him and ran away with someone else. He became even lazier now, and sometimes he would mess around with women when he met them alone, and was beaten many times for this.
No matter how gentle Lu Laoshi was, his face showed anger. Lu Erlai, who was at the entrance of the yard, noticed someone behind him and quickly moved aside. Lu Laoshi walked straight in, took the stick from his wife, and scared Erlai so much that he shrank back.
"Lu Laoshi! What do you want to do?! I didn't steal your chicken. It was your wife who saw you go out and felt lonely so she went out to have an affair with another man. We are cousins, so I am here to help you keep the chicken..."
Lu Laoshi raised the stick and pointed it at him: "Get out of here!"
Li Jinhua next to him was also fierce. She picked up a stone from the ground and threw it at him. The two bastards dodged and retreated: "Haha... That's all you can do. You must have eaten your own chickens and are blaming me for it, hoping to get one for free..."
As he was speaking, he felt someone rushing towards him. He looked sideways and saw Lu Liangsheng had already raised his foot and kicked out.
With a bang, the lazy man felt a sudden pain in his hip, staggered, and fell to the side.
"If you don't get out of here, I'll beat you to death!" Lu Laoshi also rushed over.
The second scoundrel was so scared that he got up from the ground, pointed at the father and son at the entrance of the yard with a dusty face, said a few harsh words, and ran away in a panic.
The matter was temporarily settled, but the loss of a chicken made Li Jinhua sit under the eaves, choking and crying. Lu Laoshi went over and sat down with her, gently stroking her back to ease her breath: "It's gone, it's gone. Buy another one next time. Look, our donkey is back too..."
Lu Liangsheng looked at his parents for a while, said hello to his sister, asked her to go over and help comfort them , then turned and went out. Lu Erlai's home was on the north side of the village. It had two thatched houses with several holes in the mud walls, through which one could see inside. The door was also loose and tilted to one side.
Lu Erlai probably hadn't returned yet, and there was no one in the house. Lu Liangsheng walked in, and there was nothing inside, just a stove, a wooden bed, and a wooden table with a missing leg.
"Um?"
While patrolling the surroundings and walking to the stove, Liangsheng suddenly exclaimed in confusion, squatted down, and picked up a few feathers and two bones from the ashes on the stove.
"And you said you didn't steal..."
Holding the chicken feathers in his hand, he stood up and left. Not far away, he saw Lu Erlai humming a tune on a path in the field. He came back staggeringly and whistled at a few women washing clothes by the river, which made someone curse at him.
"Hmph." Lu Liangsheng glanced at it, then looked down at the chicken feathers in his hand. He returned home. His mother had calmed down by now, with a slightly red eye. She and Lu Laoshi were clearing the place where the firewood was piled to build a shed. Xiaoxian was helping at the side, her little face covered in sweat. When she looked up, she saw her brother going straight back to the room, and tilted her head in confusion.
in the room.
"Nan Shui Shi Yi" and "Qing Huai Bu Meng" were taken out and placed on the bed. Lu Liangsheng flipped through them page by page. The sound of turning the papers stopped after a moment, and a somewhat blurred handwriting was reflected in the boy's eyes.
"… Someone in Huaijiang roasted several birds. The next day, hair grew all over their bodies. It was extremely itchy. He pulled them out, but the hair grew back. It took several days for the hair to go away… It's called the hair plucking technique. It's done at midnight facing the moon, facing south…"
"There are many strange and punitive tricks in Nanshui Shiyi, and some of them are vicious ways to kill people. Although Er Lai is hateful, he won't kill anyone... That's it."
After making up his mind and writing down the above method, Lu Liangsheng had dinner and after his parents and sister went to bed. He looked at the moon, then pushed the door and walked out with the chicken feather in his hand.
The cold wind of the night blew through the barren mountain village. From a certain courtyard, there were a few sounds of dogs barking and people coughing. Most of the people who had worked all day had fallen asleep. A figure walked in the darkness, looked at the sky, estimated the time, and came to the outside of the thatched hut that he had been to before.
Lu Erlai's snoring could be clearly heard through the window frame covered with cobwebs.
Outside the window, a black shadow approached, bowed to the bright moon, muttered something, then placed the chicken feather by the window and blew gently.
The chicken feathers swayed, floated up, and flew into the window with the breeze.
On the wooden bed next to the window, the lazy man who was sleeping soundly rubbed his legs, and a piece of chicken feather fell silently on his face. Perhaps it was a little itchy, so he scratched a few times, turned over in his sleep, and slept soundly.
Outside the window, Lu Liangsheng looked for a moment, then turned and left. He returned to the house, feeling a little dizzy, but without thinking much, he fell asleep.
The next day.
Lu Liangsheng had just woken up. He felt like he had caught a cold. He felt weak all over and his head was a little dizzy. When he got up to wash, he suddenly started a commotion.
Xiao Xian ran back quickly from outside, her face flushed, and she pointed outside breathlessly: "Brother... go and see that Lu Erlai who had a fight with our family yesterday... hehe... hahahaha——"
At this point she actually started laughing. Li Jinhua, who was busy in the kitchen, came out and said, "What are you laughing at? Tell me now."
"He He……"
The little girl tried hard to hold back her laughter and calmed down: "He has so many chicken feathers all over his body!"
"It serves you right!" Li Jinhua cursed, wiped the water stains on her hands, and hurriedly followed her daughter out. She had to see how that guy got into trouble.
“It really works.”
Lu Liangsheng wiped his face and became more sober. "What the master taught me is really good... What should I say in reply?"
We left the yard and followed my mother and sister to the center of the village. The voices became noisy, noisy, and full of laughter.
“Aaaaaa——”
In the middle of the crowd, Lu Erlai rolled on the ground in fear and screamed heartbreakingly. Pale yellow chicken feathers grew out of his skin, covering his entire body. He was so itchy that he scratched at them with his hands and pulled out a few tufts, tearing his skin and causing blood to flow everywhere.
But soon, the pulled out chicken feathers grew back again.
"Help me... Someone please help me... It's so itchy... It's so itchy..."
He pulled hard and knelt on the ground, asking for help from the villagers who were watching the show, but no one paid any attention to him.
