Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 128: Old Friends in a Foreign Land
In the peach blossom forest, fallen petals are colorful.

Qingwan sat under a peach tree, holding a big peach and eating it happily.

There was a classic book in front of her.

After finishing reading a page, Qingwan waved her little hand and turned the book to the next page.

She ate peaches while reading a book and muttering to herself, her little face showing a serious look.

Next to Qing Wan, Lu Zheng was leaning against a peach tree, also flipping through a book. It was a medical book left behind by the reclusive scholar.

That senior not only had his own unique insights into Confucianism and Taoism, but also had some knowledge of other areas.

Lu Zheng had read almost all the books in the wooden house and copied down some important knowledge.

Although it was rude to take things without asking, Lu Zheng felt that given the senior's personality, he would not mind him looking through these books.

Rather than burying these books in the peach blossom forest, I think the senior would be happy to let him learn and use them to govern the world and save people.

Lu Zheng has been staying in this peach blossom forest for a few days. He reads some books every day and also takes some time to teach Qing Wan. His life is quite fulfilling.

Under his patient teaching, Qingwan was no longer as ignorant as before and understood a lot of things.

At least she wouldn't always stare at Lu Zheng curiously while he was doing things, and then look at him with confusion.

In the past few days, Qing Wan also took Lu Zheng on a tour of the entire peach blossom forest.

Lu Zheng discovered that this peach blossom forest was indeed extraordinary and could be considered a natural formation.

If you don't understand the formation and are not familiar with this place, it will be difficult to enter the depths of the peach blossom forest.

Now Lu Zheng is familiar with this place and will no longer get lost. He can enter and exit the peach blossom forest smoothly.

The sun sets in the west, and the setting sun is like blood.

Lu Zheng rubbed his eyebrows, closed the book, and prepared to go back to cook.

Qing Wan, who was standing next to him, saw Lu Zheng's actions, yawned, looked tired, and closed the book.

As a little girl, it is very tiring for her to learn so many things in a day.

Lu Zheng smiled and helped Qing Wan put away the books, then walked back to the wooden house.

Qingwan followed slowly behind.

Lu Zheng came out of the wooden house and quickly made a fire to cook.

Qing Wan ran to the field and helped Lu Zheng pick some vegetables, including the pea seedlings she had grown.

She knew that Lu Zheng liked to eat these dishes, so she did not hesitate to use her spiritual power to ensure that Lu Zheng could eat fresh and tender dishes for every meal.

After finishing her own work, Qing Wan sat upright next to Lu Zheng, holding a spirit stone and inhaling it, then returned the spirit stone to Lu Zheng.

Then she stared blankly at the burning stove.

Lu Zheng moved the firewood in the stove from time to time to make the fire burn more vigorously.

"I'm leaving, leaving here." Lu Zheng suddenly said softly.

This peach blossom forest is indeed suitable for seclusion, but it is not the place for him to stay.

I've lived here for some time and it's time to leave.

Otherwise, Lu Zheng felt that if he continued to stay like this, he would probably not be willing to leave.

Qing Wan tilted her head and stared at Lu Zheng, "Leave? Where to?"

"The world is big, you can go anywhere..." Lu Zheng smiled slightly and said, "What about you?"

Qing Wan said without thinking: "I'll go with you!"

She had only stayed here before because she was afraid of the strange world outside.

But Qing Wan felt the aura she liked from Lu Zheng, just like the old man before, or even stronger.

So she didn't want to stay here alone and wanted to leave with Lu Zheng.

"Okay." Lu Zheng smiled and nodded.

Lu Zheng doesn't mind having more friends during his travels, and they are really "little" friends who don't interfere with what he does.

Lu Zheng was also very curious about how much such a little guy would grow up to be.

Of course, there is another more important reason.

It was hard for him to refuse a goblin who could provide him with unlimited food.

"When are we leaving?" Qing Wan asked.

Lu Zheng said, "Tomorrow morning, do you have anything you want to get?"

Qing Wan thought about it and shook her head, "No! Will we come back in the future?"

"If I have time, I will come back to visit." Lu Zhengdao.

"Oh!" Qing Wan nodded slightly, then said, "I'm sleepy. I'll go to sleep first so I can travel more tomorrow!"

"Okay." Lu Zheng said.

Qingwan took small steps to the field, then climbed onto a small bed woven from pea seedlings and fell asleep.

Lu Zheng ate his meal, rested for a while, and then returned to the house to read and study.

It was not until late at night that he packed up his things and lay down to rest.

Early the next morning, the two people, one big and one small, got up early.

Lu Zheng cleaned up the wooden house inside and out, then went to the grave under the peach tree to pay his respects, and then left with Qing Wan.

When leaving the peach blossom forest, Lu Zheng picked a lot of peaches and put them in his storage bag.

After leaving the forest, Qing Wan stood on Lu Zheng's shoulder and looked at the scenery outside curiously.

She had been outside before, but she didn't dare go too far.

Lu Zhengze looked back at the peach blossom forest. He didn't know when he would come back after leaving.

"Which way are we going?" Qing Wan asked excitedly.

Lu Zheng looked at the direction and headed towards Dajiang's location.

The two of them walked in the mountains, Qingwan's eyes were full of curiosity, and there was a strange light flashing in them.

From time to time, she pointed to some plants she had never seen before and asked Lu Zheng about them.

Lu Zheng tried his best to give an answer, but there were many plants that he didn't recognize, so he naturally didn't say anything.

"Lu Zheng, what kind of tree is that?" Qing Wan pointed to a tree not far away and asked humbly.

"I don't know." Lu Zheng said.

"Huh, you don't know again." Qing Wan glared.

Lu Zheng smiled and said, "I am not very knowledgeable. There are billions of things in the world. How can I know them all?"

"How much is a billion?" Qing Wan asked.

"a lot of……"

Lu Zheng began to teach Qingwan arithmetic, but after a while, Qingwan became confused.

Lu Zheng did not insist on Qingwan memorizing things by rote. He told her to learn slowly and she would understand something over time.

After crossing several mountains, bursts of noise came from the front.

"What's that sound!" Qing Wan stood on tiptoe, wanting to see what was going on.

"The sound of water." Lu Zheng explained.

After going around a mountain, a big river appeared in front of them, flowing endlessly and with huge waves crashing against the shore.

Qing Wan's eyes lit up, "It's so big..."

"River." Lu Zheng said, "A stream, a river, a big river... This is a river, Hongjiang."

"Why is it called Hongjiang?"

"It was named this way because it flows through Hongzhou. Once it leaves Hongzhou, it has another name, many names," Lu Zheng explained.

"Another name? Why is there another name?" Qing Wan asked puzzled.

It didn’t have a name before, but this river actually has many names.

Lu Zheng smiled and said, "It's probably because the river is very long. People in one place gave it one name, and people in another place gave it another name. Later, everyone realized that it was actually just one big river, but everyone was used to calling it that, so there was no unified name."

"Oh!" Qing Wan seemed to understand but not quite.

Lu Zheng added, "Just like your name is Qing Wan now, others who don't know you might call you by another name. A hundred people might give you a hundred different names."

Qing Wan immediately understood, and then exclaimed in surprise: "That's too many names. My name is Qing Wan!"

Just now Qing Wan thought that the more names she had, the better, but when she thought about having a hundred names, she felt a little scared because she wouldn’t be able to remember them all.

"Okay." Lu Zheng smiled.

Walking along the riverbank, Qing Wan looked at Hong Jiang curiously, her eyes flickering, "There seems to be something in the river, a lot..."

"It's a fish..."

Lu Zheng continued to teach Qing Wan scientific knowledge, just like taking care of a child, but this little person learned faster than a child.

After walking for a few miles, the Hongjiang River became calm and a pier appeared not far away.

"There's someone in front!" Qing Wan said curiously and a little timidly.

Lu Zheng had told her before that many people outside don’t like demons and ghosts.

Lu Zheng said softly, "They are all ordinary people. You have to hide and don't scare them."

"oh oh."

Qing Wan directly lifted up Lu Zheng's coat and then put it into her chest pocket.

Lu Zheng couldn't help but ask, "Didn't I leave room for you in my bag?"

"It's warm here." Qing Wan said softly.

Lu Zheng shook his head slightly, a hint of helplessness flashed in his eyes, and continued on his way.

When he arrived at the dock, he asked someone about his current location.

Then he spent money to buy a small boat and prepared to row it to Changchuan County by himself.

The boat is not big and doesn't even have a sail. It is only slightly better than a bamboo raft, just a small boat.

Seeing that there was no one around, Qing Wan came out again, jumped onto the boat, and stared at the river.

She couldn't help but reach out to touch the surface of the river.

"Don't fall into the water." Lu Zheng couldn't help but remind him.

As soon as she finished speaking, Qing Wan fell into the water with a small splash.

The next moment, the little man jumped back into the boat from the water.

"There are big fish in this water!" Qing Wan said excitedly.

"Stay away, don't get swallowed." Lu Zhengdao.

"They can't beat me!" Qing Wan said seriously.

Lu Zheng said no more and continued rowing.

Soon, the two of them came to a wider river by boat.

Boats of all sizes travel back and forth on the river.

There are even large ships that are nearly 100 meters long, luxuriously decorated, magnificent and eye-catching.

In comparison, the two people's boat seemed extremely small and simple.

Qing Wan's eyes sparkled, "It's so huge! Can we go up and take a look?"

Lu Zheng looked at the large ships in the distance and whispered, "They're probably private boats. We can't just go aboard. But we can go over and ask later. We might be able to get on board if we pay some money."

"Okay! Money, do you want a lot?"

Qingwan now understands the concept of money.

Before, Lu Zheng spent a lot of money to buy a small boat, so to go to a big ship like that, he would definitely need more.

"I'm not short of money." Lu Zheng said.

"Brother Lu!"

Just then, shouting came from one direction.

Lu Zheng glanced sideways and saw several people standing on a boat, all of whom were familiar faces.

The person waving at him and calling out excitedly was Li Zhao.

(End of this chapter)