Chapter 220: The Toad’s Tale of Misfortune
by Orluros“Food’s here! Make some room—careful not to splash it on your clothes!”
The ones serving the dishes were all uncles and aunts of the village, more than a dozen of them weaving back and forth between the tables. One hearty dish after another was brought out.
“There’s braised carp, steamed mutton, red-braised pork intestines… Dazhu is handling the wok today. His cooking is excellent—the dishes look good and taste even better.”
At the table, Li Jinhua picked up a piece of meat for Mingyue, who sat on a small stool with his legs dangling and gently swinging, then nudged her son with an elbow.
“What are you staring at? Hurry up and eat.”
“Mhm, I am eating.”
Lu Liangsheng replied with a smile and casually picked up a few bites of food. The joyous atmosphere filling the banquet canopy caused his cultivation to rise slightly, which struck him as rather strange. The cultivation method of [Heavens and Earth Righteous Path] had never possessed the ability to absorb the mortal world’s wordly qi.
Wait…
Could it have something to do with attaining enlightenment through books and paintings?
He had once considered cultivating all three paths simultaneously: nurturing Vast Righteous Qi within his books, painting the false into the real upon his scrolls, while Heaven and Earth Righteous Path elevated his cultivation. Now, perhaps the Heaven and Earth Righteous Path cultivation method had been influenced by the former two…
As this thought crossed his mind, Lu Liangsheng suddenly gained a vague insight. It was as though he were looking through a sheet of paper at the view beyond a window; though indistinct, he could already make out the outlines.
There were villagers from two other households seated at this table as well. As they ate and drank with increasing enthusiasm, one of the men became drenched in sweat and simply stripped off his outer garment, baring his chest as he continued drinking wine and eating meat with the others.
One of the men among them set down his wine cup and took off his own shirt as well.
“…That merchant who regularly comes to my place to buy fish passed through our village a few days ago. He stopped by my house for a drink and told me about what’s happening outside. Hah, you folks have no idea—fighting has broken out all along the rivers and waterways!”
Mountain folk lived in relative isolation, with little access to news. They relied almost entirely on merchants traveling to and fro to bring word of the outside world. Even the smallest tidbit of news would be turned over in conversation four or five times, retold again and again without anyone growing tired of hearing it.
Half a month ago, word had already spread that war was coming. As soon as the man began speaking, even the people at neighboring tables came over carrying their bowls, urging him to continue.
“Don’t stop! Was it Shopkeeper Wang who told you? What he says is usually fairly reliable.”
Seeing that even Lu Liangsheng had turned to listen, the man grinned and glanced around at the crowd gathered about him. Excited, he tightened his grip on his chopsticks and raised his voice.
“It’s that dynasty or whatever it’s called. I heard they’ve already crossed the Jiang River. Their army has come ashore and set up camp. Judging by the situation, they might even breach the capital of the Chen Dynasty before the first month is over.”
Another man drinking with him picked up the wine jar and filled his cup.
“How could it be that easy to take a capital city? I heard the walls around that capital are much taller than those of our Fushui County. They’re at least a dozen zhang high. How is anyone supposed to climb up that?!”
“That’s just people bragging. What city wall could possibly be that tall?”
“What’s it got to do with us? Let it fall if it falls. As long as we’ve got clothes to wear and food to eat, and don’t have to go back to the bitter days we used to endure, who cares who’s sitting on the throne?”
“Exactly, exactly! Today is Erniu’s wedding day. Why talk about such things? Come on, let’s keep drinking!”
Marriages had been rare in the village these past months. With such a lively occasion at hand, everyone took the opportunity to feast to their heart’s content, stuffing themselves with food and plying one another with wine.
As the noonday sun gradually tilted westward, Lu Liangsheng had eaten for nearly half an hour and felt it was about time to leave. After informing his mother and reminding the three youths over there to mind their manners, he excused himself from the banquet.
In his hand was a bowl of millet rice drenched in red-braised gravy, piled high with more than a dozen slices of fatty pork, mutton, and fish with the bones removed. One glance alone was enough to whet the appetite.
Returning to Qixia Mountain, however, he found no sign of Toad Daoist in the thatched hut. On ordinary days, the toad would already be sitting at the foot of the bed, waiting eagerly for the meal to be brought back.
“How strange.”
Lu Liangsheng set the food upon the table. “Honglian, have you seen where my master went?”
From the painting hanging upon the wall of withered vines, a graceful figure drifted out and descended to the ground.
“Toad Master slung his gourd over his back and slipped out in a most mysterious manner. I asked him where he was going, but he refused to say.”
“Hm… perhaps he grew tired of waiting and went out for a stroll.”
Lu Liangsheng looked at the steaming meal on the table and sighed. Pushing it aside, he decided to reheat it when his master returned. Then he took out his books and continued reading through and organizing the material he intended to teach the three youths.
Being a teacher… truly isn’t easy.
As for the talk of war he had heard at the banquet, it was quickly forgotten amidst the sea of written characters.
Outside the half-open lattice window, the sunlight was brilliant. The withered yellow wilderness at the mountain’s foot swayed gently in the breeze. Through the forest mottled with shifting patches of light, beyond a massive boulder, a flickering glow illuminated a cave.
Inside, the aforementioned Toad Daoist crushed one medicinal pill after another, sprinkling the powder onto the four corners of a formation drawn upon the ground.
Then he sat cross-legged nearby, his webbed hands resting on his knees, his gaze fixed upon the black-patterned gourd at the center of the formation. As the gourd absorbed the medicinal powder, he finally rose to his feet, exhaled a breath of turbid air, and wiped the sweat from his face.
“At this hour, Liangsheng should have returned by now. I’d better hurry back… and there’s also my fragrant braised pork waiting for me!”
Slurp!
He swallowed a mouthful of saliva, slung the gourd onto his back once more, and turned toward the boulder. With a casual wave of his webbed hand—
The giant boulder remained completely unmoved.
Toad Daoist lowered his hand and examined it. Sensing that only the faintest thread of spiritual power remained circulating within him, he immediately slapped his forehead.
“…I used all my spiritual power repairing the gourd and forgot to leave enough to open the door… Damn it all!!”
His webbed hands dropped behind his back. With a grave expression, he stared at the stone door, slowly raising his toad face, his bean-sized eyes narrowing.
It seems this old man can only resort to another method. Though it is somewhat embarrassing…
His narrowed eyes suddenly widened. His short legs bent and tensed. In the next instant, he kicked off the ground and hurled himself at the boulder.
“Someone help! This old man is trapped inside!!”
His webbed hands slapped frantically against the stone door as he shouted at the top of his lungs.
“Liangsheng—!”
“Can you hear your master’s voice?! Your master is in here!!”
The hoarse cries reverberated within the cave, but not the slightest sound escaped beyond the stone door. A gentle breeze swept past. The brilliant sunlight gradually took on a crimson hue.
Far away, at the thatched cottage beside the cliff, the glow of sunset streamed through the lattice window and fell upon sheets of paper covered with dense writing.
Lu Liangsheng set down his brush and stretched lazily. Catching sight of the sunset glow, he paused for a moment. Then his gaze shifted to the meal that had long since gone cold on the table.
Frowning, he rose to his feet.
“What’s wrong with Master?!”
His hand emerged from his sleeve, fingers forming a hand seal, yet he sensed not the slightest trace of demonic aura.
It’s been blocked.
At that moment, Honglian also emerged from the painting. Seeing Lu Liangsheng’s furrowed brow and the meal that had long since gone cold upon the table, she immediately realized something was wrong.
“Has something happened to Toad Master?”
“I don’t know. We’ll search the mountain first.”
Without another word, Lu Liangsheng flung open the door. His figure instantly transformed into a blur beneath the rosy evening glow and shot toward the mountains. Honglian likewise knew what she ought to do. Taking up her painted skin and putting it on, she hurried down the mountain.
What if Toad Master had gone to visit Auntie and the others?
As they split up, Lu Liangsheng raced through the mountain paths, using the formations he had previously arranged throughout the area to search in all directions. Only the faintest wisp of demonic aura remained, likely left behind by his master.
Following that faint trace, he arrived before the stone cave where master and disciple had first met.
The demonic aura ended here.
Master went inside?
Lu Liangsheng stepped forward. Through the narrow cracks between the stones, he vaguely heard something resembling the buzzing of a mosquito.
“…Liangsheng… your master is about to starve to death…”
“Will someone passing by please move this stone away…”
“This old man still hasn’t eaten braised pork… still hasn’t attended the banquet… croak…”
Inside the cave, a dim yellow lamp burned quietly.
The black-patterned gourd had been tossed aside. Toad Daoist sat slumped against the stone door with his legs stretched out, his pale belly exposed. Weak and exhausted, he called out every now and then. His voice had already become hoarse from shouting.
After a while, his belly swelled as he drew in a deep breath, then slowly let it out in a weary sigh.
“So hungry…”
With a heavy, muffled creak, Toad Daoist suddenly felt the stone door beginning to move. His toad face instantly lifted, and delight burst forth in his eyes.
“I knew Liangsheng wouldn’t abandon his master!!!”
He hurriedly scrambled to his feet. As the slowly opening stone door widened, a strand of crimson sunset light shone in from outside. “Liangsheng!”
He had only just opened his mouth when the smile on his face froze. In his delighted eyes, a foot rapidly grew larger and larger.
“Master!!”
Squish.
As Lu Liangsheng stepped inside and called out, he immediately felt something soft beneath his foot. Lowering his gaze, he hastily moved aside. There was Toad Daoist sprawled on the ground, twitching violently. His tongue had even lolled out, hanging from the corner of his mouth.
A webbed hand trembled as it slowly rose. “Your… your master… is… here… Did you… bring… the braised… braised pork?”
After saying that—
Thud.
The hand dropped limply back onto the ground.
The last trace of sunlight vanished beyond the horizon. Back in Lu Family Village, the wedding feast had long since dispersed. Honglian rode a gust of yin wind, slipping past the women and children tidying the drying yard, and returned to the small fenced courtyard. Pushing open the room where Lu Liangsheng had once lived, she found no sign whatsoever of Toad Master.
I wonder whether Young Master has found him.
Murmuring softly to herself, she left the room. Just as she was about to look for Lu Xiaoxian and ask whether she had seen the toad, her drifting figure suddenly stopped beneath the eaves.
She slightly turned her head.
From the room occupied by Li Jinhua and Lu Laoshi came the hushed voices of husband and wife in conversation. Amid the indistinct words, she vaguely caught the phrases “Liangsheng” and “marriage”.
Honglian flicked her long sleeve and silently drifted toward the window lattice.
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