Chapter 27

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In the small fenced yard, the gray hen flapped its wings in terror and fled the yard. Li Jinhua, coming back holding two eggs, kicked it angrily.

“After eating so much, you only lay two eggs. Next time, I’ll pluck your feathers and stew you!”

Cursing as she walked into the courtyard, she suddenly stopped. She saw a shadow sneaking around and rummaging through Lu Liangsheng’s room.

She shouted urgently: “Lu Erlai, what are you doing?!”

Inside the room, the white arm that had extended from the painting quickly retracted. Lu Erlai, startled by the shout, rushed out of the room, waving his hands defensively. “I… I wasn’t doing anything. I was just looking at Liangsheng’s things. Things that a scholar has are just different…”

Li Jinhua put the eggs onto the ground and grabbed a broom from the wall, using it to hit Erlai.

“Only a ghost would believe you!”

She screamed at the top of her lungs to the neighbors: “Come quickly! Lu Erlai is stealing from my house!!”

“I didn’t steal… didn’t steal! Hey, stop hitting me! Ouch…” Lu Erlai retreated, shielding his face and pleading for mercy. Lu Xiaoxian, who had been sleeping soundly, was awakened by the commotion and started yelling along with her mother.

In the close-knit mountain village, the neighbors, hearing Li Jinhua’s voice, rushed out of their homes. Armed with sticks and brooms in their hands, they began to assault Erlai.

“Erlai, you’re shameless!”

“Can’t get money, so you come to steal. You never change!”

“… Beat him to a pulp!”

Sticks and brooms came crashing down. Lu Erlai pleaded for mercy a few times but it was of no use. He covered his head, knocked someone aside, and dashed out, only to fall to the ground again. He scrambled to his feet, blood smeared on his face and head.

He grabbed a stone and threw it towards the crowd standing outside the fenced yard, glaring viciously: “Just you wait!”

Seeing someone charging towards him again, he turned around and ran off in a panic with a stream of urine on his pants.

The crowd, seeing him flee, gathered around to comfort Li Jinhua.

“This Lu Erlai is just an ungrateful scoundrel.”

“…Telling us to wait, as if he knows some important people.”

“We should just go block his house, I don’t believe he won’t come back!”

A group of people left, heading towards Lu Erlai’s shabby hut with tools in hand. Those remaining asked why Lu Laoshi and Liangsheng were not home.

Li Jinhua put down her broom, saying: “Laoshi went out to herd the donkey, and Liangsheng… he said he had something to do and left.”

The group gathered and talked for a while before eventually heading home. As for the group that went to Lu Erlai’s house, after waiting for a long time without him returning, they too gradually dispersed.

From afar, hidden in the tall grass, a pair of eyes watched everyone leave. He exhaled in relief, sat back down on the ground, and lowered his head to look at a bug crawling along the tip of a blade of grass.

“Lu Liangsheng’s got money now, and everyone acts like a dog… hiss…”

Pulling at his wound, the pain made Lu Erlai grimace. He struggled to stand up and looked towards the house, thinking he didn’t dare return.

“If Lu Laoshi and Lu Liangsheng come back, won’t they come after me for payback? Might as well hide out for a while. A few hundred taels…”

Thinking of this fortune, Lu Erlai suddenly remembered a place.

“I’ll go find some help too.”

Covering the wound on his head, he quickly ran towards the outskirts of the village.

It was just past noon, and the sky was gradually turning cloudy.

Following the river that flowed past the village, near the riverbank in the northern village, someone was accompanying Lu Liangsheng, walking between the fields and along the riverbank. It was the man who was at the county yamen that day, with the village head following behind.

In the distance, some women and girls from the northern village were washing clothes by the river, occasionally glancing at the young man in the blue robe, whispering to each other, and stifling giggles.

“That’s Gentleman Lu from the Lu Family Village… He’s quite handsome.”

“…I heard that the chief registrar at the county yamen admires him very much and even gave him books, intending to make him his disciple.”

“Won’t he then become an official in the future?”

One bold girl stared directly at his handsome face, a smile curling on her lips. “I’ll go home and ask my parents to send a matchmaker to propose…”

Then, there was another round of hushed whispers.

Walking along the opposite bank, Lu Liangsheng paid no attention to the women. After observing the clear water of the river for a while, he turned to the man named Chen Tai, and the village head, saying: “I’ll just stay here and watch the river. You don’t need to follow me. I’m not some important figure.”

“No worries…” The village head chuckled but continued following him. “It’s not like there’s anything to do at home anyway. Might as well accompany a scholar and look around.”

Boom—

A clap of thunder echoed in the sky, and soon after, a light drizzle began to fall, droplets splashing onto their faces. The two men, who had been following him, had no choice but to run back.

They turned and urged Lu Liangsheng to take shelter from the rain in their village.

“No need, I’ll head back soon.” Lu Liangsheng cupped his hands to thank them for their kindness and continued walking along the riverbank. After they left, he discreetly formed a hand seal under his robe sleeve.

It was a small rain-shielding spell from the fifth chapter of <Emerald Heart Dream Nourishment>.

Raindrops fell from the sky but diverted two inches away from Liangsheng’s head, sliding harmlessly to the ground.

After circling the northern village once, he set up several small formations at the bottom of the river. According to the method described in <Emerald Heart Dream Nourishment>, each array needed to be activated individually. However, the Toad Daoist had suggested that instead of activating each one separately, he should set up the small formations now and establish a formation core in the Lu Family Village. Once the core was activated, it would control the other formation, avoiding drawing attention from others.

Dusting off his hands, Lu Liangsheng stood up, ready to return home. Meanwhile, a few women from the village, along with the village head, still worried about the young man being outside in the rain. They hurriedly brought paper umbrellas from their homes. But when they saw the young scholar walking not far from them, they were stunned.

“Village head, look, Lu Liangsheng’s clothes still seem dry…”

“…Could he have taken shelter from the rain earlier?”

“Even if he did, he wouldn’t be completely dry, would he?”

Several women from the village and the village head watched curiously as Lu Liangsheng’s figure disappeared into the distance. When they returned home and shared what they had seen, others were astonished as well, some even speculating whether Lu Liangsheng might be a celestial star reincarnated.

Naturally, Lu Liangsheng was unaware of the gossip behind his back. Upon returning to the Lu Family Village, he heard that Lu Erlai had come to his house to steal. No matter how mild-tempered he usually was, this news stirred up his anger.

After checking the house and finding that the hidden silver was untouched, he and his father, Lu Laoshi, went to Lu Erlai’s dilapidated hut. They waited for a long time, but he never returned.

“Let’s let him go for today. Dad will come back tomorrow and give that scoundrel a good beating”

Lu Liangsheng glanced at the shabby hut, snorted, and returned home with his father. However, there was also something odd going on at their house. Li Jinhua stood at the kitchen door with a puzzled expression.

“How strange…”

Seeing Lu Xiaoqian skipping back from outside, she asked: “Daughter, did you start cooking the rice?”

The little girl stood still, blinked, and shook her head.

“No, I just got back.”

Now Li Jinhua felt a little scared, but then she heard the voices of the father and son coming back. “Did I start to cook the rice and just forget?”

Shaking her head, she turned and went back into the kitchen.

……..

After dinner, the night had grown late. Lu Liangsheng repeatedly recited the mantra taught by the Toad Daoist, slowly comprehending the first lines. Then, he took some time to copy down a few pages from the book given to him by the chief registrar.

“That day, the mountain god’s inscription helped us deal with the centipede spirit because it was infused with spiritual incense. If I visit other temples and record some of their inscriptions, perhaps they would be useful too.”

He glanced over at the sleeping toad resting on a wooden pillow.

“Master said that everyone in this world walks their own path. I don’t like fighting and killing, but could I forge a path using the brush and ink? Scholars can write with noble righteousness, and painters…”

Painting…

Writing…

Brush…

Wait a minute…

Suddenly, Lu Liangsheng stood up, pulled out a blank sheet of paper, and dipped the tip of his wolf-hair brush in some ink. He recalled a spell from <Emerald Heart Dream Nourishment>.

Quickly flipping through the book, he found the passage.

With a smile on his face, the tip of his brush moved across the paper as he channeled his cultivation power, and gradually, a faint glow emanated from the brush.

With smooth strokes of green ink, he drew rippling water, lotus leaves stained with dewdrops, and fully bloomed petals. Beneath the shimmering water, the tip of his brush sketched out a carp, while in the distance, a scholar and a beautiful woman stood in a pavilion.

The brush flowed, drawing a soft breeze and a single leaf drifting in the wind.

“Done!”

Lu Liangsheng set down the brush. Following the spell from <Emerald Heart Dream Nourishment>, he took a sip of cool water and sprayed it onto the paper.

The next second.

The falling leaf stirred, causing ripples on the water’s surface. The previously still water began to flow, and the carp’s tail started to swish as it moved back and forth. On the blooming lotus flower, a drop of dew slid off the leaf.

In the distance, the scholar and the beauty in the pavilion appeared to be whispering or even engaged in a tender exchange.

The entire scene on the small sheet of paper had come to life.

“This is an illusion, nothing too surprising. It’s just more sophisticated than mere sleight of hand.”

The Toad Daoist on the bedside woke up. For a great demon like him, such spells were of little consequence. He continued: “However, as your cultivation improves and you dedicate yourself to this path, even illusions can become reality.”

“So, this is the ‘Dao’ that Master mentioned before?”

Lu Liangsheng had a simple and honest nature and was much more knowledgeable than before. With just a little hint, he can draw inferences from one instance to another.

After a while, the spirit energy on the drawing paper was exhausted, and the vibrant image reverted to its original form. Lu Liangsheng, thoroughly entertained, tried it a few more times. On one occasion, he drew a large black dog, which leaped out of the paper and started barking wildly at him. This commotion woke Li Jinhua and Lu Laoshi, who came out to investigate, thinking a neighbor’s dog had somehow gotten into their home.

“If I draw a beautiful girl…”

Lu Liangsheng glanced at the female figure on the scroll, then smiled and shook his head. “…on second thought, it’s best to avoid uncontrollable matters.”

After experimenting with the spell, he used the remaining time to take out and read <Meng’s Sayings>. Whether or not he participated in the examination was of little concern, gaining knowledge from reading was still good. Moreover, reading helped sharpen his mind, which was beneficial for his cultivation, making comprehension more efficient.

After all, it is necessary to fully understand the meanings contained in various techniques.

After reading for a long time, Lu Liangsheng unconsciously fell asleep at his desk, holding the book.

As the night grew hazy, the bright moon hid behind the clouds, and the warm yellow light illuminated the silhouette of a person reading by the window. The green trees in the courtyard swayed gently in the wind, their leaves rustling.

In the warm yellow room, a pair of embroidered shoes silently moved across the floor, placing a light jacket over the sleeping young man, flicking their nails at the wick.

Flames sprang up again, lighting up the room.

Nie Honglian floated over to the desk and sat down, gently kicking her embroidered shoes as she quietly watched the sleeping face.
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