It was late at night, and the side yard gradually became quiet.
The Taoist rinsed his mouth several times, then went back to the house and fell asleep. Lu Liangsheng read a book for a while, but he couldn't calm down.
He walked out of the room, jumped directly, stepped on the opposite wall, turned around and threw himself on the roof, swept away the fallen leaves on the tiles with a flick of his sleeves, and sat down quietly.
The bright moon came out of the night clouds again, and its clear light shone on his face. He looked a little absent-minded, thinking about everything that had happened in the past few days, and also missed Lujia Village a little.
"Sir."
A gentle voice came lightly, and Lu Liangsheng knew who it was without turning around. Nie Honglian, dressed in a red dress with long sleeves, floated over, landed beside him, and sat down.
Following the scholar's eyes, I looked at the bright moon in the sky.
"I heard from Taoist Sun before that you almost sacrificed your own cultivation to extend the life of that Zhang Liancheng?"
"You didn't do it, so why are you talking about it?"
Lu Liangsheng couldn't help but smile. He knew that doing so would make people around him worried, but the teachings of establishing words, mind, and conduct in the book had a great influence on him. He wanted to learn the way of cultivation from calligraphy and painting , so he always wanted to try...
"I also know that Zhang Liancheng has nothing to do with me, but I can't see his parents kneeling down to beg for mercy. I also have parents."
Speaking of her parents, Nie Honglian sat there with her knees bent and hugged her arms, looking at the scholar's profile. Then, she looked up at Qingyue and smiled.
"Speaking of my parents, I almost forgot about them...Now, there is really no one left at home."
After saying this, he suddenly laughed out loud.
"Oh... why are you saying all this? My lord, the night is so beautiful tonight. Let me dance for you."
At the side, Lu Liangsheng was slightly stunned. A red sleeve came and brushed across his face. He couldn't help but smile, and saw the beautiful figure next to him had floated away.
Under the moonlight, a woman in a red long skirt has a graceful figure with fluttering red sleeves. At this moment, her waist sways, and her embroidered shoes kick open the hem of her skirt. She leans slightly, and the red gauze of her sleeves slides across her elegant lips. Her eyes look around, looking at the scholar sitting on the roof, with a hint of confusion and charm.
Lu Liangsheng looked at the woman dancing in the air.
"I didn't expect Hong Lian is not only good at opera... She must have put a lot of effort into this dance."
At the beginning of the dance, below, the Toad Taoist climbed up the eaves pillar with difficulty, grabbed the eaves, kicked his feet in the air a few times, puffed up his cheeks, and finally climbed up after a lot of effort.
When he came up to the roof panting, Lu Liangsheng put his hands on his knees, let his sleeves hang on both sides, gently swaying in the wind, and watched this pleasing dance under the moon.
"Liangsheng."
The voice of the Taoist Toad sounded behind the scholar. Lu Liangsheng turned around and saw the Toad walking towards him with a calm face. He stood to one side, looking at the female ghost in the sky and the bright moon with his flippers folded over his back.
"It has been a long time since I have looked at the moon like this. No matter when I look at it, it is always so beautiful."
“Master…”
As soon as Lu Liangsheng opened his mouth, he was interrupted by the Toad Taoist, who waved his webbed feet and laughed:
"… I remember the first time I saw the moon, I was still very young. In the blink of an eye, hundreds of years have passed. Grudges, love and hatred, killing, or being obsessed with spiritual practice and not caring about worldly affairs, in fact, they are all inseparable from wisdom.
It's not the wisdom you hold in books, but how to live. Liangsheng, you must remember that the one who survives in the end is the wisest person. I can't tell you the great truths of your academic mentor, but living longer than him is definitely the most useful. The world is dangerous, and you still need to be more mature than others and have more wisdom to "live". "
Looking at the silhouette standing under the moon with his hands behind his back, Lu Liangsheng bowed.
"Master said it, Liangsheng knows it."
The scholar took a deep breath, the clear light shone on his face, and he smiled.
"...In fact, I just told Hong Lian that Zhang Liancheng's matter was also because he couldn't bear to see the old man kneeling. Liangsheng also understands what Master said about the wisdom of living."
He lowered his head and looked at the Toad Taoist who was looking at him.
"Master, have you ever felt appreciated by others? I remember three years ago, Grandfather came to my house at night and expressed his gratitude. He even knelt down in front of my parents... Since that day, I have felt that if I only do great good deeds but not small good deeds, it would be better not to do any good deeds at all."
He looked up at the night sky. Hong Lian had a graceful figure. Her long sleeves spread out at both hands were slowly turning, and her whole body was spinning.
Under the soft moonlight, the dress was like ripples on the water, fluttering and spreading continuously, and her hair danced wildly, occasionally flashing a touch of charm and delicacy.
…
In the backyard of the Zhou residence, Zhou Zhen, who could not sleep because of his daughter, sat up, put on a single piece of clothing, lit a candle, and looked at his wife quietly.
Zhou Rong, who was in the side room, slept soundly. Occasionally, she dreamed of peach blossoms flying all over the sky, and a smile unconsciously appeared on the corners of her mouth.
The moonlight is as quiet as water, with occasional ripples.
In another house far away in the city, in the warm yellow light, Zhang Liancheng, who had just woken up, weakly held the hand of his beloved woman, and they knelt together in front of their parents.
Zhang's mother sobbed as she helped the two people who were holding hands up. The stubborn old woman cursed for a while, but finally nodded reluctantly.
…
"Sometimes I want to be selfish and do my best, but I often find that doing my best is too difficult for a cultivator. I can treat my enemies as human beings, but I can't treat people who need help as human beings... There is always a hurdle in my heart that I can't get over, and I can't move my feet."
"This world is not peaceful to begin with, and the heaven and earth can be cruel sometimes. If the cultivators in the world don't do something, they are really living in vain. The clothes they wear, the food they eat, and even their bodies and souls, don't they all come from this world?"
Lu Liangsheng probably couldn't explain anything too profound, so to sum it up, it could be summed up in one simple sentence.
"If I encounter something unfair, I will take care of it. If I encounter something that the government cannot touch, I will also take care of it!!"
"You are too young. Don't put too much hope on becoming an official. It's dark."
The Toad Taoist sighed: "I can't argue with you. I have to suffer a loss before you wake up."
After saying this, he turned around and walked towards the courtyard below.
"Master, don't you want to sit for a while?" Lu Liangsheng turned around and called him.
Over there, the Toad Taoist raised his webbed feet and waved his hand, "Master is going to rest now, please think carefully about this."
After walking a few steps, he suddenly stopped, looked at the dark ground below, and the corners of his mouth twitched.
"It's so high, how did I get up here?"
On the rooftop, Lu Liangsheng watched the last dance end and clapped his hands. At some point, Taoist Toad came over and sat next to him.
"Master, aren't you leaving?"
Taoist Toad looked at Qingyue seriously and said, "Master, I suddenly feel that it is still early. Let's sit for a while and look at the moon."
"Master, I will keep in mind what you said before."
When Lu Liangsheng saw Nie Honglian floating down, he looked at her and said something to the toad.
"Then Master, please see. Hong Lian and I will go down first."
The Toad sitting on the roof was still nodding at the words "... keep it in mind", but when he suddenly heard the second sentence, his eyes suddenly opened and he felt something was wrong.
When I stood up and looked back, a man and a woman had already descended from the courtyard and entered the house, talking and laughing.
"Wait... come back..."
The Toad Taoist sat on the roof, his mouth twitching slightly and his mouth open blankly.
You don't care about your master anymore? How the hell am I going to get down?