Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 332: People Do Not Respect God
In the morning, the sun is shining brightly.

High in the sky, Lu Zheng and Qing Wan rode the clouds and controlled the wind.

Qingwan sat on the clouds, holding a jade talisman in her little hand to control the clouds and determine the direction.

This place is tens of thousands of miles away from Yunmengze, and it is not easy to fly all the way there.

And you also have to identify the direction, otherwise if you are slightly off in direction, you may end up in the wrong place.

Lu Zhengze was meditating and regulating his breathing, absorbing the energy of heaven and earth to nourish his energy and replenish the consumption of himself and his small world.

Too much righteousness and spiritual energy had been consumed in the previous battle, and it was difficult to replenish them at once.

Lu Zheng had to spend more time on cultivation to restore himself to perfection as soon as possible.

Qing Wan was concentrating on controlling the clouds, and occasionally throwing a few peas down.

According to Qingwan, it is about sowing seeds. If you plant more peas everywhere, there may be mutated plants among them, and then they will multiply and grow.

The two flew all the way until the sun set.

Lu Zheng opened his eyes slightly, looked at the afterglow of the setting sun, then looked out at the earth and found that there was no one around.

"Where are we?" Lu Zheng asked.

Qing Wan scratched her head and said, "I don't know. I didn't see any cities along the way. It should be Pingzhou in Chu State. I flew about four or five thousand miles. This jade talisman still has about half of its spiritual energy..."

Qingwan wasn't very sure and could only guess the place.

There were no reference points when flying in the sky, and Qing Wan didn't know exactly where they were.

Lu Zheng nodded slightly and said, "Let's fly a little further and find a populated place to spend the night. I'll ask for directions."

After all, we were unfamiliar with the place, so we had to walk for a while and stop to ask for directions to avoid flying off the track.

Qing Wan couldn't help but nodded in response, then sped up.

After a while, the two saw a village in a mountain.

A village almost entirely built with stone, located in a rather dangerous terrain.

The village looks quite big, with hundreds of houses and many cultivated fields scattered throughout the mountains. It looks like a mountain village with a large population.

In the mountains outside the village, you can see some people gathered together, holding tools, and seem to be tinkering with something in the mountains.

Lu Zheng took a look and said, "Let's go there!"

Upon hearing this, Qing Wan changed the direction of the cloud and flew towards the mountain where the village was located.

Because of the cover of the formation, the people in the mountains did not see the cloud flying over and landing on the ground.

Qing Wan put away the jade talisman, and the white clouds on the ground gradually dissipated.

The two walked along the mountain path and headed for the mountain village.

On a meadow, some villagers gathered together and talked a lot.

"Uncle, is there really water here?"

"It's hard to say, but it looks like there's water here. Let's try digging..."

"Dig, dig! If you don't dig, there's no water to drink. You can't go to the river more than ten miles away to fetch water every day..."

"Those damn ghosts and gods still won't let us go."

"It's a pity that I don't have that much ability, otherwise I would have gone to the city and smashed them to pieces."

"There must be some demons causing trouble during this period. Don't let me catch them!"

……

Some villagers cursed and started digging with farm tools.

After hearing the villagers' conversation, Lu Zheng and Qing Wan looked at each other, with a strange expression in their eyes.

The Chu people here don’t seem to be very friendly to ghosts and gods?
Both of them were curious and turned to go to where those people were.

Lu Zheng and the other man did not hide either. As they walked, they brushed against the weeds, making rustling sounds.

A villager heard the sound and turned to look at Lu Zheng and the others. He was stunned at first, then his eyes showed vigilance, "Who are you?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the other villagers looked sideways, stopped what they were doing, and cast unfriendly glances at him.

Lu Zhengzheng remained calm, smiling and bowing, saying, "We are cultivators, wishing to seek the Way in the west of Chu. We passed by here and saw some people living in the mountains, so we came to ask for directions."

Lu Zheng's words carried an invisible righteous force that made people trust him.

But even so, some villagers remain wary.

An elderly man looked at Lu Zheng and the other man, his cloudy eyes showing a strange color. "Cultivators? What can you do?"

"The Master said..."

As soon as Lu Zheng opened his mouth, literary energy emanated from his body, which was very obvious.

"Hey, a scholar?"

Some villagers were slightly surprised, and all of a sudden, everyone's eyes looked at Lu Zheng differently.

Seeing this, Lu Zheng smiled and thought that these mountain people seemed quite knowledgeable.

A man looked at the old man and asked in a low voice, "Uncle, are they really scholars? Could they be transformed demons?"

In a place like theirs, two fair-skinned and good-looking people and a little girl suddenly appeared. It was obvious that they came from unusual backgrounds.

The old man looked at Lu Zheng and the other man, unsure for a moment.

Seeing this, Lu Zheng asked Qing Wan to take out a cultural treasure.

Qing Wan flipped her little hand, and a piece of writing she had written unfolded, and then a literary aura was released, and there was also a saying of a sage written on it.

The old man's eyes lit up. Ordinary demons wouldn't dare to use such a treasure. The two people before him must be scholars. The old man couldn't help but say, "The Master said, 'To learn and to practice what one has learned is a great pleasure.'"

As soon as he finished speaking, the old man also revealed some literary air. Although it was not much, it proved that he had entered the Confucianism and Taoism and was a real student.

Lu Zheng's eyes flickered slightly, and he bowed again and said, "So the old man is also a fellow traveler. I'm so sorry for the disrespect!"

Qing Wan next to her also cupped her hands, with a look of surprise on her face.

The old man smiled and returned the greeting. "I only know a few characters. I'm not as capable as you young people. Where are you two from?"

Lu Zhengdao: "An Guoren."

The old man was surprised when he heard this. "An people, how did you get here?"

"Traveling around to study..." Lu Zheng smiled. "We've come a long way, and there's no one around. I don't know where we are, so I came to ask for directions."

The old man said slowly, "This is Changning County in Pingzhou. If you want to go to the county seat, go fifty miles north..."

Lu Zheng recalled the map he had seen before and determined the approximate location.

"Thank you for letting me know." Lu Zheng thanked him.

Lu Zheng paused, then continued, "It's getting dark, and everyone is still busy. Is there anything we can help you with?"

The old man's eyes flickered when he heard this, and he raised his hand and said, "It's none of your business, so leave here."

Lu Zheng raised his hand and took out some copper coins. "You've been tired from the journey. Can I stay here for one night?"

When some villagers saw Lu Zheng taking out the money, their eyes changed, but no one spoke.

The old man politely declined, saying, "We are country folk, ignorant of etiquette, and fear we may not be able to provide adequate hospitality. You two should go elsewhere. Since you are able to come from Anguo, I believe you are quite capable and should be able to reach the county town before dark."

Seeing the villagers' attitude, Lu Zheng didn't want to force them, so he turned around and left with Qing Wan.

When the villagers saw Lu Zheng and the other man walking away, they immediately started to murmur.

Someone said, "Uncle, are they really from Anguo? How can such a small girl be a scholar?"

The old man heard this and said, "I'm afraid so. Anguo values scholars. It's not a problem for a little girl to have literary temperament. They shouldn't be those monsters. Those things can't make up such words, and they also look like they are not ordinary people at first glance."

Some villagers tutted their words, "Don't they seem really capable? If we let them help..."

The old man sighed and said, "I can help you temporarily, but I can't help you forever. This is our village's business, why involve others?"

The old man refused Lu Zheng and the other man. Firstly, he was somewhat suspicious of their origins, and secondly, he did not want two outsiders to be involved in the affairs of their village.

The old man said, "Keep digging. We must find a water source as soon as possible. We can't lose our way..."

Everyone couldn't help but look solemn, and then continued to work hard.

"Are we just leaving like this?" Qing Wan took small steps, looked up at Lu Zheng, and whispered, "Those people look a little strange."

Lu Zheng said calmly, "Isn't that strange? They're just preoccupied and don't really welcome outsiders. Let's find a place to rest nearby. We've been traveling all day..."

Lu Zheng was somewhat curious about this village, so he naturally wouldn't leave just like that.

They spent the night in the wild and would not affect the villagers, so they should not be driven away.

"Oh." Qing Wan nodded in response.

The two found a place in the mountains and started cooking.

The location they chose had a good view, allowing them to see the villagers working on the grass.

Qing Wan stood on tiptoe, staring intently, and said softly, "They're digging a well, but it looks like they haven't found any water..."

The villagers dug a dozen feet deep on the grass, but there was no moisture and the soil was still dry.

The old man came to the bottom of the pit to check it out and couldn't help shaking his head and sighing.

Someone nearby asked, "Do you want to dig deeper?"

The old man patted the dirt on his hands and said, "Let's change places."

Some villagers were furious. "There must be a demon causing trouble underground. Why don't we just go catch the demon and find it out..."

"How do we catch it? Can we catch a monster that can burrow underground?" someone couldn't help but ask.

Everyone was silent for a while. If they had such ability, why couldn't they find the underground water source?

Suddenly, someone exclaimed in surprise, "Hey, those two people haven't left yet, they're still making a fire on the mountain..."

The villagers turned around and saw flickering flames on a nearby mountain, and vaguely visible two figures, one large and one small.

The old man came out from the bottom of the pit, looked at where Lu Zheng was, and couldn't help frowning.

But he didn't say much and directed everyone to continue looking for water.

At this time, the sky had darkened.

Someone simply lit a torch to illuminate the area.

Lu Zheng looked at the villagers from afar and ate his dinner leisurely.

Qing Wan closed her eyes and practiced to conserve her energy.

Suddenly, both of them realized something.

Qing Wan couldn't help but open her eyes and subconsciously looked at Lu Zheng beside her.

"There is evil spirit!"

Qing Wan said softly, her eyes twinkling.

Lu Zheng took a slow bite of his food and mumbled, "Catch it."

Qing Wan's eyes lit up, and she suddenly jumped three feet high and rushed into the forest.

(End of this chapter)