Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 67: Nightmare in the Village
The old woman carried firewood on her back and led the way with a hunched back.

Lu Zheng walked behind and offered his hand to help carry the firewood.

The old woman felt a lightness on her back and quickly looked back, only to find that Lu was helping her lighten the burden.

She said quickly, "Oh, young master, you are so delicate and tender, you are not meant for rough work. Don't help an old woman like me carry firewood. It would be bad if you hurt your hands!"

Lu Zheng smiled and said, "Auntie, you're joking. I'm a scholar with a good reputation, so I look fairer. I'm not a spoiled child. Usually when I'm alone at home, I chop wood, carry water, cook, and do all the heavy work."

"Really?" the old woman said in disbelief. "You, a scholar, have hands that are precious. How can you do rough labor?"

Lu Zheng said, "I only know a few words. My ancestors for generations were ordinary people. They worked and farmed. I can't forget my roots."

Lu Zheng continued, "Auntie, this bundle of firewood is not light. Why don't you ask your family for help?"

The old woman said with a smile: "They all have work to do. I am old and can't sit still, so I wanted to go up the mountain to collect some firewood. As I was picking, I ended up carrying a huge load..."

Lu Zheng couldn't help but say, "This person has been busy all his life, and even when he's old, he can't rest. If he does, he'll feel uncomfortable. He should be thinking about doing something."

"Well, that's right!" said the old woman. "Next door, Li Erhu became successful and brought his parents to town to live a better life. But they couldn't get used to it and decided to come back to the village to farm. That's when they felt comfortable."

Lu Zheng said softly, "Auntie, you should save some strength so that you can hold your grandson."

The old woman smiled until her eyes narrowed. "The kids at home are all grown up. Why do they still need someone to hold them? They're all very naughty."

"It's normal for children to be a little naughty. Jumping around helps them grow strong and stay healthy." Lu Zheng said.

An old man and a young boy chatted with each other, talking about everything from family matters to things happening in and outside the village.

An Jing followed behind, feeling a little out of place.

She didn't expect that Lu Zheng could talk about so many topics with an ordinary citizen.

He even talked about how to catch mice that stole food from home, how to spank naughty children to prevent them from getting hurt, and what fruits and vegetables to plant and how to pinch the tips and flowers to increase the yield... He could explain all kinds of things in a clear and logical way.

An Jing found it interesting and felt that he had learned a lot.

The three of them walked slowly to a house in the village.

The old woman pushed the door open and entered the yard. Lu Zheng helped unload the firewood and then piled it up under the eaves.

After a while, the old woman brought two rough bowls filled with sweet and cool well water.

"Thank you, Auntie!" Lu Zheng took the bowl with a smile.

An Jing also hurriedly thanked him and took the bowl.

Lu Zheng picked up the bowl, tilted his head back and started to drink it up in big gulps. He drank the whole bowl of water and wiped the water stains from the corners of his mouth with his sleeves.

The old woman smiled and said kindly, "You are really thirsty. Do you want me to scoop you some more water?"

Lu Zheng waved his hand and smiled, "No need, I'm already full of water if I drink any more!"

An Jing looked at the water in the bowl that still had some dust on it, hesitated for a moment, tapped the wall of the bowl with his fingers, removing the dust imperceptibly, then poured some water into the bowl without touching it, and all of it fell into his mouth, appearing much more elegant than Lu Zheng.

Lu Zheng was smiling, he could tell that An Jing probably came from a noble family and had never suffered any hardship.

Lu Zheng chatted with the old woman for a while, asked her some questions, and then left the house with An Jing.

Under a big tree in the village, several children were squatting there playing the game of catching pieces.

The stones, which were ground from tiles, were square in size, angular, smooth and shiny. I don't know how long these children had treated them as treasures.

Lu Zheng stopped and stood aside to watch.

The children were immediately curious and nervous when they saw the two fair-skinned strangers. When it was one of them's turn to grab the fish, he quickly lost his grip due to nervousness.

Lu Zheng smiled and squatted down, "Let me play with it?"

Seeing this, the child pushed a handful of stones in front of Lu Zheng.

The other children also stared at him with curiosity.

Lu Zheng casually threw a stone, then threw a stone more than ten feet high, then easily picked up a stone on the ground and caught the flying stone steadily.

Repeat this process, one, two, three...

Until Lu Zheng finally finished perfectly and collected all the stones in his hands without making any mistakes.

The children were stunned, thinking that they had met an unparalleled master of playing with toys.

After Lu Zheng showed his divine power in front of others, he was satisfied and returned the handful of stones to the child.

"Little boy, you still need to practice. Your hands are not steady. Is it because you are picky about food and don't eat enough, so you don't have strength?" Lu Zheng said with a smile.

The child blushed when he heard that and argued, "I'm not picky about food. I can eat a whole bowl in one meal!"

Lu Zheng laughed and said, "Is it because you didn't sleep well that you didn't grow taller? Did you have any nightmares last night?"

The child nodded and said, "Yes! Last night I even dreamed that Sanniu's big yellow dog was chasing me and biting me!"

When the other children heard this, they also told about their own dreams.

Some dreamed of a lot of delicious food, some dreamed of their parents running away, and some dreamed of a big monster and were scared to wet the bed...

It is normal for people to dream, but if you can still clearly remember what you dreamed about after waking up, it proves that you did not sleep well and lack energy.

There are nightmare ghosts that are good at leading people into dreams, causing them to feel extremely happy, extremely sad, or extremely fearful, with their emotions fluctuating and their minds unstable. They like to suck people's essence.

Lu Zheng didn't expect that the nightmare here would not even spare ordinary children.

It’s no wonder that these children, although of the same age, are smaller and weaker than those in other villages, and lack energy and vitality.

Or maybe it's because the elderly and children are easier to deal with than young and middle-aged people.

Moreover, as long as the child does not have any major physical problems and just has nightmares, adults will not care too much.

So much so that for such a long time, the people of Yinshi Village had no idea that there was a ghost hiding in the village.

Lu Zheng looked at the children, smiled slightly, stood up and walked away slowly.

He walked around the village slowly. The sun was strong during the day and ghosts were hard to come by, so he found no trace of the nightmare.

Lu Zheng couldn't find any excuse to stay in the village, and was afraid of alerting the enemy, so he took An Jing and left Yinshi Village, waiting for the opportunity in a mountain outside the village.

An Jing actually already knew where the nightmare existed, but he didn't say it directly. He wanted to see how Lu Zheng would find it.

She couldn't help but ask, "Mr. Lu, have you found the nightmare?"

Lu Zheng thought for a moment and said, "Ancestral hall."

Huh? An Jing was surprised. He didn't expect Lu Zheng to find the nightmare so quickly.

"How do you know there is a ghost there?" An Jing was curious.

They had never been to the ancestral hall in Yinshi Village, but just passed by and took a look.

(End of this chapter)