Chapter 181: A Warm Night

The dense stars adorned the night sky, blinking one after another.

Th-three… three monsters were just slaughtered like that?

Min Yuerou sat in one corner of the drying yard together with seven guards. She watched the large iron pot boiling vigorously. Several women gripped their spatulas and flipped the contents up and down. The chopped chunks of centipede flesh gave off sizzling crackles as they were fried, waves of fragrance spreading through the air.

“Ugh—”

The young woman covered her mouth, nearly retching. She had likely never seen insects eaten before and felt a surge of nausea. The seven guards around her were all rough men. Instead, they watched with great relish.

These centipedes that had cultivated into demons were rare enough, and each hundred-legged body was nearly as thick as a child’s arm. Pressed onto wooden boards, the legs were chopped off one by one, piling up until they overflowed the washbasin and slipped onto the ground.

Many of the village elders and children held small sticks to help dig out the tender meat inside, then mixed and kneaded it into meatballs. The three centipedes had no shortage of legs—nearly a dozen people were busy at the same time.

Once the meat from the shells was taken out of the pot over there, the meatballs here were hurriedly carried over and stir-fried together with chicken and duck meat. Only this way would there be enough to eat—after all, farmers had large appetites.

Clang, clang, clang—

Before long, Lu Pan lifted a copper basin and struck it hard, shouting at the top of his lungs.

“Time to eat!”

Plate after plate of fragrant dishes was brought to the large round tables. The women who had already taken seats shouted loudly for their men to hurry over and sit down. Not far away, the children who had been chasing and playing were also called back by the adults. They sat beside their parents, and upon smelling the dishes fried with seasonings, clamored for food.

Along one side of the more than ten large round tables, Lu Liangsheng’s family also occupied a full table. Sun Yingxian, Lu Xiaoxian, Lu Laoshi, Li Jinhua, the Toad Daoist—all were there. Even the old donkey stood nearby, chewing on fodder and joining in the liveliness, occasionally lifting its upper lip to bare its teeth and snorting a few times.

Before long, most of the dishes were served. The Daoist swallowed, lifted his chopsticks, and reached out.

“Let’s eat, let’s eat!”

Smack!

A pair of chopsticks reached in from the side and tapped his chopstick tip. Li Jinhua swept her gaze around, then tilted her head to look at her son.

“Where’s Honglian?”

Lu Liangsheng was the first to snatch a piece of centipede meat from the platter. He put it into his mouth and chewed. The texture was like shrimp. Setting his chopsticks down, he glanced to one side.

“She said she’d come over in a bit…”

Just as he said this, the sudden clash of gongs, small drums, and the wail of a suona burst forth, drowning out the noisy shouts around the meal.

Clang, clang… dong-dong-dong…

Boom, boom…

The abrupt peal of bronze gongs and drums made the villagers who had been eating heartily in the drying yard lift their heads in curiosity.

“What’s going on? Where did a troupe come from?”

“Why does it sound so familiar…?”

“Look over there!”

Lu Qing stood up with his bowl in hand and pointed. In that direction, white mist surged and rolled. His expression froze for a moment, as though he had seen this scene somewhere before.

“…Er, the Chen household,” Lu Xi lowered his voice and reminded him. “It’s that female ghost by Liangsheng’s side.”

One villager after another stood up, following the direction Lu Qing was pointing. The thin mist spread to either side, veiling several houses. A stage seemed to appear out of thin air, from which rang the clang-clang of operatic music. Several elderly male-role performers drew out their arias—“wa ya ya…”—waving long sleeves, lifting their legs high, swaying and weaving past one another.

Clang, clang, boom, boom—

At the very center, a woman in a flowing white dress, her head adorned with a jeweled hairpin and floral crown, trailed long sleeves as she swayed gently, stepping lightly.

“Perched clouds beneath azure skies at Qixia,

Yellow blossoms blanket the earth,

The west wind tightens,

Northern geese fly south…

Ringed by mountain hues,

With one sweep of the robe in the fading glow,

The demon is slain…

A cold light flickers in the shadows,

As though a sword immortal has arrived—

How could these…

Big or small demons and ghosts

Possibly withstand it…

On Mount Qixia, there is Young Master Lu.”

“Bravo!” “Wonderful singing!”

“Keep going!”

A wave of cheers rose. Many villagers rarely had the chance to hear a grand opera, and what was more, this was performed personally by the female ghost at Liangsheng’s side. It was said that in life she had been a famed huadan(the lead singer). In times like these, if one weren’t from this village, there truly would be no chance to hear such a performance.

Mm… a final masterpiece.

On the other side, Min Yuerou’s face turned deathly pale, her body trembling slightly. Back in Fushui County, when she had been younger, she already knew of the Chen household’s affairs. In the dead of night, she had often heard this very opera. During that period, she had been forced to squeeze into the same bed with her mother for two or three months…

Out of the corner of her eye, she instinctively glanced toward the table over there. Seeing the scholar eating merrily with his family, she swallowed with difficulty.

‘How is it that what follows Lu Liangsheng around is either a talking toad or a female ghost… No wonder Father sent me to seek him out. I’m afraid only he could suppress that so-called Venerable Master.’

The banquet in the drying yard was extraordinarily lively. Even Old Master Lu was being fed chunks of meat by others, tapping his walking stick and swaying his head as he listened. Taking advantage of the moment while Li Jinhua was engrossed in the opera, the Toad Daoist opened his wide toad mouth—swish—and swept up a piece of centipede meat. After chewing twice, he spat it aside, then reached out with his webbed hand to tug at his disciple’s sleeve.

“Get a piece of braised pork for your master. Make it fatty.”

Lu Liangsheng laughed, picked up a piece with his chopsticks, and flicked it straight into the toad’s mouth. The Toad Daoist sprawled contentedly on the table, squinting his eyes as he slowly ground and savored it.

Back when I was a demon, when did I ever have it this comfortable…

At another round table, Wang Banxia—his face washed clean of bloodstains—thanked someone for placing meat into his bowl. After taking a bite, he still couldn’t help but speak up.

“Would one of you kind souls send me to Fushui County tomorrow?”

All around him, the atmosphere was lively. A table of ten or so people lifted wine bowls and drank wildly, yet not a single person paid him any attention.

---

As time passed, the night grew ever deeper, until the east finally turned fish-belly white with dawn.

Inside the small fenced courtyard, Min Yuerou had not slept all night, nor had she eaten anything. Thinking of the centipedes from the previous evening, she still felt the urge to vomit. Those things had eaten people…

Her face pale, she walked out of the room. Lu Xiaoxian, who had slept in the same room, yawned and got up as well. As they stepped out, the door beside them also opened. Lu Liangsheng stretched lazily, feeling refreshed, while the Daoist leapt down from the roof. The three of them stood together by the water vat to wash up.

“Pah—”

Then all three spat at the same time, expelling the cold water from their mouths.

Watching this scene, Min Yuerou found it amusing. She couldn’t help but curve her lips into a smile. All of a sudden, she realized that this place was actually rather nice.

“Cock-a-doodle-doo— cock-a-doodle-doo—!”

The shrill crowing of a rooster rang through the blue-vaulted sky. In the east, the fish-belly white split open into gold, spreading from the distant mountain foothills and instantly filling the woman’s eyes. In a heartbeat, heaven and earth were steeped in this wash of morning light.

After breakfast, Min Yuerou was still worried about her father’s affairs and did not wish to delay any longer. Especially after resting here for a single night, her utterly exhausted body felt as though nothing was wrong at all—so much so that she had the illusion she could dash straight back to the capital in one breath.

“Um… Auntie, where is Lu Liangsheng?”

After finishing breakfast, she suddenly realized that Lu Liangsheng—and even that lecherous Daoist—were nowhere to be seen. She hurriedly went to ask the woman in the kitchen who was washing bowls and chopsticks.

“Could you tell me where he is?!”

“Tsk, tsk, truly good-looking.” Li Jinhua looked the young woman over, liking her more the longer she watched. She wiped her hands on her apron. “I don’t know where Liangsheng went exactly, but he should be up in the mountains.”

As she spoke, she linked arms with Min Yuerou and walked her to the courtyard entrance, pointing down a road in the village. “Go straight down from here, then head up the mountain. Follow the small path in the hills and keep going upward. When you see a welcoming pine tree, you’ll have arrived.”

“Oh…”

Min Yuerou seemed somewhat afraid of the way Li Jinhua looked at her. She quickly called her guards and passed through the village, heading up the western path toward the mountains. Sure enough, just as the woman had said, after walking some distance along the mountain trail, she could see from afar the canopy of an old pine.

Before long, she brought the guards over. A toad carrying a gourd on its back, dressed in a short, floral-patterned robe, stood atop a large rock with its webbed feet planted firmly.

To one side, the Daoist sat cross-legged, his gaze fixed straight ahead on a sword formation.

Morning light streamed down into the formation. Lu Liangsheng stood at its center, both hands pressing on the sword hilt, his robes stirring gently without any wind.

Beneath his palms, Veiled Moon quivered faintly, letting out a soft, ringing hum.

A second spiritual sword’s spiritual essence flowed into the blade, followed closely by a third, a fourth…