Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 167 The wind blows from east to west, north and south

Huang Shu climbed onto a roof and looked towards the village. He saw Lu Zheng surrounded by a group of villagers.

Lu Zheng was taking the pulse of an old man when he felt something faint. He raised his eyes slightly and saw Huang Shu's figure in the distance.

His eyes moved slightly, and he just nodded slightly at Huang Shu without making any other reaction.

Huang Shu bowed to Lu Zheng and quickly went down from the roof, not daring to disturb Lu Zheng.

At this time, some villagers had already discovered the officials.

Some people couldn't help but step forward to ask with trepidation.

Normally, these government officials wouldn't come to places like this. If they did, it would definitely be bad luck...

An officer said they were passing by here while investigating a case and asked if there were any ghosts or monsters nearby. He also wanted everyone to pay attention to ghosts or monsters that might be disguised as humans.

If there is anything unusual, be sure to report it to the authorities.

The villagers felt relieved when they learned that they were not required to pay grain or perform labor service.

I also heard that there were demons causing trouble, and they were painted-skin demons that could disguise themselves as humans, which made me a little scared.

A villager hurriedly said, "Please ask the two officials to go around the village and see if there are any evil spirits that have sneaked in."

An officer said in shock, "I'm not a noble. With these gentlemen here, why do you need us..."

They were just government messengers. Although they had some martial arts skills, they did not dare to be arrogant in front of people like Li Zhao.

Zhang Bo asked the villagers and learned that there was nothing unusual in the village or the surrounding area recently.

The officer said, "In that case, shall we take our leave?"

As he spoke, the officer looked at Li Zhao, as if asking what Li Zhao meant.

Li Zhao smiled and said, "We've come such a long way, we need to rest for a while. Come on, I'll buy you a drink."

"Thank you, sir. We are on duty and dare not drink!" the officer said hurriedly.

Li Zhao was drunk and said slowly, "I've been careless. Let's have some apricots. Oh, there's something I need you to record."

Li Zhao called the officials to go to Xinglin.

When the villagers saw this, they didn't dare to follow.

The shepherd boy finally arrived at the village entrance, leading the black cow. Seeing Li Zhao and the others, he greeted them with a smile, "Are you going to pick apricots? Buy some from me!"

Li Zhao smiled and said, "Then buy yours. Go get your best wine as well."

Li Zhao reached in and threw out a piece of silver.

The shepherd boy was quick to catch the silver and said with a grin, "Okay, gentlemen, wait a moment!"

Li Zhao brought a few people to the Apricot King Tree.

Li Zhao looked at Zhang Bo beside him, "Is this the place? Are they still there?"

Zhang Bo looked at the apricot tree and said, "Please come out and see me, so that the government can record you."

The fox demon underground was shocked when he heard this. How come the government officials came so quickly?

Unable to hide, the fox demon had no choice but to open the cave entrance, revealing a fox head.

A pair of narrow eyes looked around, and then the fox demon's gaze fixed on Huang Shu.

"Huh? Huang Shu?"

The fox demon looked at Huang Shu with surprise in his eyes.

Huang Shu stood up and said, "Red Fox, why are you in a place like this?"

Li Zhao next to him smiled and said, "You two are old acquaintances."

Huang Shu explained, "When I was practicing in the mountains, I moved around a lot. I met this fox before and we got along quite well. I didn't expect him to come here."

Red Fox said quietly, "I didn't expect you to be with these people."

Huang Shu said proudly: "Now I work in the government office and eat the government food!"

"What's going on?" The red fox was surprised.

Huang Shu bowed in the direction of the village and said leisurely, "Thanks to Master Lu's enlightenment, I have broken through my own constraints. Now, even if I transform into a human, it is just around the corner!"

"Mr. Lu? Is that Lu Zheng?" Red Fox looked shocked.

"Of course!" Huang Shu nodded heavily. "What's wrong with you?"

"This... is hard to explain in a few words." The red fox said embarrassedly.

Zhang Bo, who was standing next to him, explained the situation to the officer and Huang Shu.

Several people were surprised to learn that the apricot tree in front of them had become a wild god.

Only after Huang Shu finished telling the story did he understand what was going on.

Li Zhao looked at an official and said, "Record this matter and keep it in a file."

"Okay." The officer responded quickly.

It's just a record. The matter has been handled, so they don't need to do anything extra.

Huang Shu looked at the red fox and said with a smile, "Are you interested in working with me?"

The red fox's eyes flickered, "Is this okay?"

You can eat the food of the government and don’t have to hide in the mountains to avoid the troubles of people who practice cultivation or demons and ghosts.

Of course, the red fox would be more than happy to have such a good thing.

Li Zhao said, "Since Brother Lu can spare your life, it means that you are still a demon that can be created. If you are willing, I will settle this matter."

The red fox was overjoyed and quickly climbed out of the cave, prostrating himself and saying, "I'm willing!"

"Okay, okay." Li Zhao smiled happily. "Take it back and let father take a look at it. I'll arrange something for it to do."

The officer beside him quickly agreed. Li Zhao glanced at the illusory apricot monster, said nothing, and turned away.

As the group left Xinglin, they saw a shepherd boy and a middle-aged woman coming over, both of them holding a jar of wine.

The shepherd boy put down the wine jar and glared at him, "Where did you catch that fox?"

The red fox was so eye-catching that the shepherd boy spotted it at a glance.

Li Zhao smiled and said, "In the woods, is this your mother?"

The shepherd boy nodded heavily and turned to look at the woman, "Mother, this is the money given by this young master!"

The woman stepped forward and took out the silver, saying somewhat reservedly, "You are all nobles. The wine in my house is worth very little. I cannot accept this silver. Please take it back, sir!"

Li Zhao couldn't help but say, "Aunt, what are you talking about? We are not freeloaders! If this gets out, will we scholars still have any face? Just keep it and buy some things for the family."

"That's too much silver." the woman said hurriedly.

"It's unreasonable for me to take back the money I gave out." Li Zhao smiled and touched the shepherd boy. "This kid is smart. We all like him. We can't let him suffer."

Upon hearing this, the woman could only thank him profusely and put away the silver.

Li Zhao had a smile on his face. He had spent much more money on brothels in the past, but he had never felt as happy as today.

Li Zhao looked down at the shepherd boy and said, "Let's go back to the village! I'll ask Brother Lu for some calligraphy and painting so you can learn to read."

……

After Lu Zheng finished his various affairs, he finally had some free time to talk to Huang Shu alone and learned about the recent events in Kaiyang County.

Lu Zhengdao said, "Since you're willing to work for me, that's fine... Have you encountered any difficulties?"

Huang Shu quickly said: "No, everyone is very nice to me."

"Where's Liu San? Is he still in the county government office?"

Lu Zheng thought of the gambler he had met before.

Huang Shu said with a smile: "He is still there. The county government has been very busy lately, and he also has to practice martial arts. He has no energy to think about the gambling house."

"I hope he can reform himself." Lu Zheng nodded.

"When will you return to the city, sir?" Huang Shu asked.

Lu Zheng smiled and said, "The county government is busy arresting people and demons everywhere now. I'm afraid there's no need for me to do much... Once we've visited the remaining villages and towns, we can go back. It should be soon."

Huang Shu said, "I guess by then the county government will have finished its work. I'll treat you to a good time together!"

"Okay." Lu Zheng smiled slightly and said, "Do you remember where we met before?"

"I remember. What's wrong?" Huang Shu nodded.

Lu Zheng said, "I once said I killed a tiger demon. Go to its cave and collect the treasures..."

Lu Zheng handed Huang Shu a storage bag and gave him some instructions.

Huang Shu carefully put away the storage bag and kept Lu Zheng's instructions in mind.

After chatting for a while, there was nothing much to do in the village.

The group prepared to leave Xinghua Village.

When they heard that Lu Zheng and his friends were leaving, all the villagers came out to see them off.

Lu Zheng smiled and looked at the shepherd boy. "Learn to read and write well in the future, so that you can become a capable person."

The shepherd boy nodded heavily upon hearing this, indicating that the words and pictures drawn by Lu Zheng were easy to recognize and he would definitely be able to learn them.

When everyone left Xinghua Village, they came to a fork in the road, so Lu Zheng said goodbye to everyone.

"You are all going to Yao Town, so I won't be going with you... I wish Brother Zhang success in the Autumn Examination. Brother Li, you should also return to the academy safely and don't worry your elders and the dean at home."

Li Zhao said quietly, "If I had known Brother Lu was going out to study, I should have followed him..."

Li Zhao felt that the few days of studying abroad with Lu Zheng were more exciting than the previous month.

Lu Zheng smiled and said, "Maybe there will be plenty of opportunities in the future."

Everyone said goodbye to each other and went their separate ways.

Lu Zheng walked along a mountain road for a while, found an open place, sat down and recorded what he saw and heard in Xinghua Village.

Qing Wan jumped out of Lu Zheng's arms and practiced magic on the side.

After a while, Lu Zheng finished recording and took out the green bamboo picture to look at it.

Qingwan jumped to the side of the painting and looked at the yellowed and lifeless green bamboo, a melancholy look on her face.

"Is this painting broken?" Qing Wan whispered.

This was originally a painting she used for spiritual practice, but it was used by that apricot tree and turned into this.

But Qingwan was not a stingy person, she just felt it was a pity to lose the painting.

Lu Zheng gently stroked the scroll and whispered, "Fortunately, it's not completely ruined, just lacking some of its vitality."

Lu Zheng thought about it and a poem popped up in his mind.

An inspiration suddenly struck him, and he took out the Donghu brush. The righteous energy in his body poured into the tip of the brush, and light flowed.

He insisted that Qingshan would not relax, and Ligen was in the broken rock.

Chima Manto, Nishi-North-South-North.

Suddenly, the green bamboo picture shone brightly, and a colorful aura spread out.

From the surrounding heaven and earth, a large amount of spiritual energy and vitality poured into the painting.

The originally withered bamboo painting has regained its vitality, and the spiritual charm it contains is even richer than when Lu Zhenggang first got the painting.

You can almost see the green bamboos seeming to break out of the painting, so real.

(End of this chapter)