Chapter 245: This Master Has an Idea

“Old Demon!”

“Old Demon, Old Demon!!”

Her tall hair bun was pressed against Lu Liangsheng’s chest until it was somewhat disheveled and flattened, yet the Tree Demon did not care about such things in the slightest. Her pretty face gently rubbed against him through the veil as she happily called out softly.

It was completely different from before.

There was a rustling sound from within the woods, and Yan Chixia, Yuwen Tuo, Li Sui’an, and Qu Yuanfeng, the three young men, walked out. Seeing this scene, they lowered their gazes and stared at their own feet.

Li Sui’an quietly tugged at the corners of the clothes of his Second Senior Brother and Fourth Junior Brother, lowering his voice.

“Does this count as Master keeping a mistress outside?”

“Hmph!” Yuwen Tuo crossed his arms and glanced at the Tree Demon buried against his master’s chest.

“There is a distinction between humans and demons. Master would not lose his sense of propriety.”

After a long while, Qu Yuanfeng nodded in agreement, but thinking of something, he hurriedly shook his head. “Then what about Grand-Master?”

Over there, on the old donkey that was munching grass, several dry coughs came from the bookshelf. The small door of the compartment creaked open, and the short figure dragged his tobacco pipe, lowered the rope, and with a plop, fell to the ground. He slowly got up, his toad eyes stern.

The three of them hurriedly shut their mouths and looked elsewhere.

In the distance, the one man and one demon who had been embracing separated.

“Don’t call me Old Demon, call me Lu Liangsheng, or Liangsheng is fine too.”

Spiritual power blossomed from Lu Liangsheng’s fingertips, combing the disheveled hair bun of the woman rubbing against his chest back into place. He patted her shoulder and straightened her, pulling a little distance between them. If this continued, he feared there would be no explaining himself in front of his disciples.

His gaze turned toward Zuo Zhengyang, who had accidentally dropped his blade over there, and he smiled as he cupped his hands.

“Qianwei Zuo, long time no see.”

“Hiss~”

There was the sound of someone drawing in a breath. Zuo Zhengyang came back to his senses, picked up the broken blade from the ground, his gaze somewhat wandering, and returned the courtesy with cupped hands.

“Young Master Lu.”

His gaze swept back and forth between the man and the demon, and for a moment, he did not know how to continue.

Lu Liangsheng smiled. “It’s all settled now. I hope Qianwei won’t take offense.” Then, he looked at the Tree Demon beside him and asked whether the five scholars she had carried away more than half a month ago were still alive.

The Tree Demon, holding up the hem of her skirt, blinked at the scholar several times, tilting her head in some confusion.

Five scholars?

What were scholars? Oh, it seemed there had indeed been five people, so they should be the scholars. She lifted a corner of her veil, revealing red lips as she laughed softly.

“They’re in a cavern beneath the well. They’ve eaten well and slept well, and I even used the roots of the nearby trees to keep them warm.”

Lu Liangsheng walked slowly toward the temple, while the Tree Demon skipped lightly beside him with graceful lotus steps. Her skirt whirled and spread out in the shape of flowers, and with a wave of her hand wearing golden finger-caps, she sent the groups of little spirits over there scattering.

Her black hair fluttered and swept across her shoulder. She turned her face and asked:

“By the way, Old Demon, what about those two fox demons?”

“It’s almost dark. Let’s go inside and talk.”

He also said the same to the people behind them, and the man and demon then walked toward the temple. Yan Chixia came over with the wooden chest on his back, looked at the half of the blade in Zuo Zhengyang’s hand, and asked:

“You all right?”

“I’m fine.” Zuo Zhengyang shook his head, withdrew his gaze from over there, and looked at the bearded man who had come to his side. “What exactly happened? I can understand Lu Liangsheng coming, but how is it that even the Black Mountain Old Demon is him?”

“This is a long story. I’ll keep it short.”

On the way here, Yan Chixia had more or less learned the reason from Lu Liangsheng. As for how he had become the Black Mountain Old Demon, it was probably because when he had instructed the Tree Demon at the time, the other party had been unclear of mind and heard him wrong, resulting in this whole farce.

“We fought for so long, and you all knew each other?”

Zuo Zhengyang looked at the blade broken into two pieces in his hand, sighed, looked toward the backs of the man and demon walking toward the temple, then made an inviting gesture, inviting Yan Chixia to enter Lanruo Temple together.

“Senior Brothers, let’s go in too.”

The three young men looked at one another, made inviting gestures, and followed together toward the temple gate. Toad Daoist’s toad eyes were stern and dignified as he looked around.

“Why didn’t anyone ask this old man?”

A scarlet long tongue licked the top of his head. The old donkey snorted and brayed at him, then happily trotted after them, swinging its bald tail.

“So much saliva…”

The toad looked at the viscous, stringy saliva clinging to his webbed feet, and both of his cheeks puffed up. After grumbling and cursing several times, he rubbed them against the grass on the ground. Seeing that everywhere around him was empty, with everyone having gone into the temple, and hearing a long wolf howl from afar, he immediately spread his webbed feet and dashed forward, dragging his tobacco pipe behind him.

“Wait for this old man!”

He climbed the stone steps, then with a smack fell onto the ground. Completely unconcerned, he climbed back up. “Wait for this old man!” He jumped onto the threshold, kicked his dangling legs several times, then finally flipped himself over it.

The daylight descended, and darkness shrouded the mountain foothills. On a distant cliff where the precipice was broken and jagged, the black shadow of a wolf raised its head toward the bright moon in the sky.

“Awooo—”

The long wolf howl came from the distant night. An old crow swooped down and landed on the stone stele of ‘Lanruo Temple’, its blinking eyes gazing toward the temple gate glowing with dim yellow firelight.

Two fires burned brightly, and the small pot bubbled and boiled, steam rising from it. Toad Daoist, wearing an apron, stood on tiptoe atop several pieces of brick and stone, stirring the soup pot with a wooden spoon. Five scholars, their faces sallow and their bodies emaciated, slumped weakly beside the other fire, listlessly watching the small pot set over the campfire. Smelling the fragrance of rice, they could not help swallowing their saliva.

“In this lifetime, this is probably the best-smelling fragrance I’ve ever smelled.”

“That toad, if it fell in, wouldn’t that count as an extra ingredient?”

“Shh, we are indebted to others at this moment, so we must not speak carelessly. Toads can’t be eaten, not without at least skinning it first.”

As soon as Ma Liu finished speaking, something flipped through the air and flew over. His gaunt, long face turned back just in time, and with a smack, a wooden spoon landed directly against his face. His head tilted to the side, and he fell unconscious to the ground with a thump.

The remaining three, including Ning Caichen beside them, were instantly jolted awake, hurriedly raising their bamboo-pole-like arms, cupping their hands and bowing.

Over there, Toad Daoist, who was stirring the soup pot, snorted coldly, sprinkled some seasoning from the pocket of his apron, jumped down from the bricks, and came over with a slap-slap. He took the wooden spoon from Ma Liu’s face, wiped it on his apron, pursed his toad lips, and raised his face to look over the four people before him who were like little mountains.

“If it were the temper this old man had back then, I would have swallowed you in one bite. But rest assured, today this old man is eating vegetarian.”

“Yes, yes!”

“We were so hungry that our heads were spinning, and we were talking nonsense.”

“Vegetarian food is good. It helps with the bowels and regulates the stomach and intestines. We like eating it too…”

Seeing the four scholars cup their hands and bow, Toad Daoist finally carried the wooden spoon and turned back. By the corner of the wall, Zuo Zhengyang and Yan Chixia were drinking wine. Looking at the departing toad, then at the man and demon over there who were still talking, they could not help feeling a headache coming on.

Toad Daoist climbed back onto the bricks and resumed stirring the soup pot. Not far away, Lu Liangsheng snapped off a dry branch and tossed it into the fire. His gaze turned toward his three disciples wandering around the temple, and after giving them several instructions, his eyes returned to the veil of the Tree Demon Granny before him.

“Those two fox demons were secretly harming people here and absorbing their yang essence, so when I was at Qixia Mountain, I subdued one and dissolved the other.”

The Tree Demon split several long tongues and danced them in the air together with the old donkey, flipping them back and forth. Hearing Lu Liangsheng’s words, she finally withdrew them, tilted her head, and pondered for a moment.

“Never mind them.”

After saying that, she opened her mouth and continued sticking out her tongue, splitting it into several strands and playing around with the old donkey.

“Uh…”

Lu Liangsheng was stunned for a moment. He had originally thought she would care about those two fox demons, but from the looks of it now, she had no intention of looking after them at all. No wonder the two fox demons had been committing evil right under her nose.

She had recovered some of her consciousness, but it seemed that if she wanted to return to how she originally was, it would probably take at least thirty to fifty years.

“Right, what about the few old men who were left here before?”

“Eaten by wolves…”

Over there, the Tree Demon in the black dress danced her tongues around and thought for a moment. “After Old Demon left, they ran away. I went to look for them, but they had already been eaten by wolves. I buried their bones beneath a tree… Mm, I don’t remember which tree I buried them under.”

Puff, puff.

The soup pot was boiling. Toad Daoist wiped the sweat from his face and looked at everyone around him waiting for the meal to be ready, unable to help feeling somewhat weary.

This old man really worries too much.

He sighed and was about to call everyone over for the meal when the expression on his face suddenly froze. He slapped his forehead, quickly jumped down from the bricks, and walked over to his disciple.

Staring at the Tree Demon as her tongues danced wildly, he folded his webbed hands across his chest, his toad eyes narrowing as he lowered his voice.

“Liangsheng, this master suddenly has an idea.”