Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 84: Monster Hunting in the Mountain Village
Lu Zheng was walking on a mountain path, taking out a copy of "Mencius" and reading as he walked.

Although he did not take the imperial examination, he still had to read these books of sages. There were great truths in the books that must be learned.

As he walked, Lu Zheng felt someone following him.

He looked back and saw a young man carrying a large cloth bag walking slowly not far away, keeping a distance from him.

Lu Zheng had some impression of this person. He had given him a cultural treasure at the dock before.

When the man saw Lu Zheng looking back at him, he couldn't help but grin.

Lu Zheng said, "It seems that Brother is also taking this road. I am too slow and blocked his way. How about you go first?"

Lu Zheng could see that if he hadn't been in front, this man would definitely not be carrying such a large bag and walking so slowly.

The man waved his hands repeatedly when he heard this and said, "I dare not walk ahead of the scholar. I am not in a hurry to go home. The scholar can just walk slowly. I feel at ease if I can walk with the scholar for a while."

Lu Zheng smiled slightly and said, "I want to go to Dali Village. Where is your home?"

The man was stunned for a moment, then said happily: "I am going back to Dali Village. Why did the scholar want to go to our village? Our village is very remote and the mountain road is not easy to walk on."

Lu Zheng explained, "When traveling to study, it's natural to visit various places in the county. Since we're going the same way, let's go together. It's a good opportunity to chat and learn about the situation in your village."

"Good good..."

The man looked delighted as he strode to Lu Zheng's side carrying something on his shoulder, a step behind him.

He usually worked in the town and knew the hierarchy, so he didn't dare walk side by side with Lu Zheng.

"What does the scholar want to ask?" the man asked curiously.

Lu Zheng said, "I want to know about the living conditions of the villagers. Please tell me anything."

The man didn't hide anything and said, "Our village is remote, but everyone's life is pretty good..."

As the two walked and talked, Lu Zheng also roughly understood the situation in Dali Village.

I saw the man carrying something, panting and sweating profusely.

Lu Zheng stretched out his hand and said, "Let me help you get it."

The man was shocked and said, "Oh, how can I let the scholar help me carry things? This bag is heavy..."

Lu Zheng took the big cloth bag without saying a word and lifted it. It was indeed quite heavy, probably about fifty or sixty kilograms, but it was nothing to him.

Seeing Lu Zheng easily lifting the cloth bag with one hand, the man said in surprise, "Scholar, you are quite strong."

Lu Zhengdao said, "People who practice cultivation naturally have more strength. I'll help you hold it, so we can walk faster."

The man wiped the sweat off his face and said embarrassedly, "I'm really sorry to bother you, scholar."

"It's just a piece of cake." Lu Zheng said with a smile.

The two of them sped up and climbed over several mountains. The mountain road became increasingly difficult to walk on.

Some paths are even covered with weeds, making it almost impossible to find the way.

Fortunately, there was a man to guide the way, so we didn't go astray.

Lu Zheng couldn't help but ask, "Your Dali Village is indeed a bit remote. Do any monsters usually come to disturb the people?"

The man said, "It's said that this kind of thing has happened before, but I haven't seen it myself. There are several hunters in the village, all of them quite skilled, who often go hunting in the mountains. Some even have tiger skins hanging in their homes! In recent years, even wolves, tigers and leopards are rarely seen in the surrounding mountains, and those monsters and other things have never been seen."

"Is that so?" Lu Zheng nodded slightly.

The man said, "It's only two miles to the village. Scholar, please stay at my house as a guest!" "Of course. Sorry to bother you." Lu Zheng said with a smile.

The man said quickly, "What are you talking about? It's a blessing for my family that the scholar can come to visit us! He even wrote a calligraphy for me and helped me carry things. I can't be ungrateful and must treat him well."

Before we saw Dali Village, some farmlands and lush plum trees appeared on the mountain.

There are some big green and yellow plums on those plum trees.

Dali Village is not named after a surname, but because there is a kind of plum tree planted in this mountain village. The plums it produces are bigger and more delicious than those in other places.

The man ran excitedly to a plum tree, broke off a few branches with fruits, and then ran back to hand them to Lu Zheng.

"Try this, Scholar, these are our plums, they are much better than those grown outside!"

Lu Zheng didn't hesitate and picked a few green and yellow plums that were bigger than walnuts.

The plums in this season are considered late plums and are rarely sold in markets outside.

Lu Zheng took a bite and found the flesh to be crisp, sweet and indeed delicious.

"Not bad, tastier than ordinary plums." Lu Zheng commented.

The man said, "The plums in our village are not bad! We just can't sell them. The mountain roads are difficult to travel. If you carry a basket of plums to the town to sell them, most of them will be rotten by the time they reach the ground. You won't make much money from going back and forth... If you like, Mr. Scholar, eat more. We have plenty of plums in our village, more than you can eat."

While eating plums, Lu Zheng said, "If you want to be rich, you have to build roads first."

The man sighed and said, "There are only so many people in our village. Building a road is not an easy task. It's great to have a small road leading to the outside world."

"That's a problem." Lu Zheng said, "I've been to some villages, and the roads there aren't easy to walk on."

The man said leisurely, "In this world, we ordinary people don't seek to be rich or famous. We just want to live a stable life. We don't want a good road or anything like that."

Building roads is time-consuming, labor-intensive, and costly, and ordinary people simply cannot afford it.

It is impossible for the government to spend a lot of money to build village roads just for a few ordinary villages.

Not only will they not receive such treatment, but during the slack season every year, some people will have to perform labor service to repair county roads.

Lu Zheng sighed, "People's lives are so difficult..."

The two walked for a while and saw a village at the foot of the mountain.

Lu Zheng stood on a mountain path, eating crispy and sweet plums and looking at the scenery up and down the mountain in the distance.

Next to him, the man was eating plums to quench his thirst and introducing the layout of the village to Lu Zheng.

Lu Zheng said, "Where are the Datura flowers in your village?"

The man was stunned when he heard this and asked in confusion: "What flower?"

Lu Zheng squatted down, drew a flower pattern on the ground with a branch, and explained.

The man suddenly realized what was going on and said, "It's the morning glory. There are so many of them on the hill opposite. I don't know when they appeared... You can't smell them too much. They'll make you drunk. They once killed a village sheep. Since then, no children have been allowed to go there... But some people in the village use them as medicine. They're very effective at killing rats and other pests."

The man pointed to a hill opposite.

"Scholar, do you want to find this kind of flower? I'll take you to see it later." The man said excitedly again.

Lu Zheng nodded and said, "Okay, but let's go to your house first, so as not to make your family wait anxiously."

The man chuckled and said, "I just came back from work. They don't even know I'm back today!"

(End of this chapter)