Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 85 Mandala

The two walked down the mountain and soon entered Dali Village, coming to a small courtyard with an earthen wall.

The courtyard gate was wide open, and three half-grown children were squatting outside playing.

When they saw Lu Zheng and the man coming over, they were all slightly stunned, and then ran forward.

"Daddy!"

The children shouted in unison, running to the man and jumping around with joy.

The man smiled, touched his child's head, and said, "This is the scholar, kowtow and call him uncle!"

Hearing this, Lu Zheng quickly said, "You shouldn't do this! Your father is joking, don't listen to him."

The three children couldn't help but look at Lu Zheng, looking at him curiously.

Seeing that Lu Zheng didn't like this, the man hurriedly said, "Then call me uncle, why are you all so rude!"

The three children quickly called Lu Zheng "uncle".

The man opened the cloth bag again, took out a small paper bag, and handed it to the oldest child. "I bought some candy for you. Go share it with the others. Don't eat it all at once."

The three children got what they wanted and left happily to share the candy.

At the gate of the courtyard, a woman in coarse clothes stood there quietly, looking at the man with tenderness and joy.

"Wife, I'm back!" the man strode over.

Lu Zheng also said, "Hello, sister-in-law."

"Hello, sir." The woman said a little restrainedly.

The man said to the woman, "This is the scholar from our county. A distinguished guest has come to visit us. Hurry and make a good meal. Kill the fattest chicken. I also bought some rice, flour, and meat to cook as well..."

A child heard this and cheered, "Chicken! Chicken!"

Lu Zheng originally wanted to say that there was no need to go to so much trouble for him, but when he saw the happy faces of the children, he swallowed his words.

Ordinary people rarely eat meat, and can only have a feast of fish and meat during festivals and New Year.

It was a rare occasion for the whole family to get together happily, so he didn't want to say anything to spoil the fun.

The woman carried her things and hurried back to the kitchen to prepare food.

The man quickly invited Lu Zheng to come in and sit down.

"My home is in a mess, I'm sorry for putting you in such a difficult position," the man said a little embarrassedly.

Lu Zheng smiled and said, "I'm not that particular. I often sleep outdoors lately. I can find a place to spend the night."

The man said, "It's even worse than ours! I don't even dare to sleep in the wild, but you are capable, so you are not afraid of anything."

At this time, the three children also ran into the house and returned the paper bag to the man, with some candy left in it.

It can be seen that this family has done a good job in educating their children.

Lu Zheng looked at the children and asked, "Can you read?"

The man said, "There is no teacher in our village, but there are some older people who can read and write. They learned a few words from us and can read but not write."

Lu Zheng nodded and said, "It's a good thing to learn more words. I have nothing else to do anyway, so how about I teach you how to read and do arithmetic?"

The man said happily: "This is their blessing!"

The three children were curious and nodded in agreement.

Lu Zheng took out a pen and paper, first drew a picture, then wrote the words, using pictures to match the words. It was simple and clear, and he would learn it in no time.

After teaching some common characters, Lu Zheng also taught the arithmetic of multiplication and division.

Not only did the three children study hard, but the man next to them also listened attentively and learned a lot.

At this time, the woman also prepared the meal.

Lu Zheng handed the man two pieces of paper covered with words. "Keep them here. You can read them more often. Children will learn more knowledge and become smarter. You can also show them to other families in the village and teach them."

The man quickly took it with both hands and said gratefully, "Thank you, Mr. Scholar!"

"It's just a small matter." Lu Zheng smiled and said, "The children seem hungry, let's eat first!" A child was already smelling the aroma of chicken and swallowing his saliva from time to time.

The man carefully put the paper away and then ordered the dishes to be served.

Lu Zheng and the man sat in the main room and had their meal.

The woman took her three children to the kitchen to eat.

It has been a long-standing rule that when guests come to the house, men sit at one table and women and children sit at another.

Lu Zheng didn't know what to say. If he really wanted to invite his classmates to eat, he wouldn't mind, but the other party might feel uncomfortable.

Lu Zheng scooped a small bowl of rice and chewed it slowly.

Seeing that Lu Zheng didn't eat much, the man couldn't help but ask anxiously, "Is the food not to your liking?"

Lu Zheng smiled and said, "No, it's just that I ate too many plums just now, and my stomach is still a little full, but I'm not hungry yet."

The man was stunned when he heard this, remembering that Lu Zheng had indeed picked a lot of plums to eat before.

He felt relieved and couldn't help but smile and said, "If you like eating plums, I'll take you to pick some good ones later!"

"Okay." Lu Zheng nodded.

Although Lu Zheng didn't eat much meat, he ate a little of each dish and drank half a bowl of chicken soup. He was quite satisfied with the meal.

After dinner, the man took Lu Zheng up the mountain to look for datura flowers.

Soon, the two came to a flower valley in the mountains.

The man raised his hand and pointed to something not far away, saying, "Are those the flowers the scholar is looking for?"

Lu Zheng looked closely and saw countless datura flowers in full bloom, covering a large valley.

Even from a distance, he could smell a special floral fragrance, which had a slightly intoxicating effect.

Lu Zhengdao said, "I'll go over and take a look. You just wait here for me."

The man heard this and said, "The scholar, be careful, don't let the flowers make you drunk."

Lu Zheng smiled and said, "How can this little flower fragrance make me drunk?"

After saying that, Lu Zheng strode towards the datura flowers.

He came closer and looked at it carefully, and could vaguely sense the presence of a demonic aura.

Seeing this, Lu Zheng pulled away the flowers and grass and went deeper into the bushes.

After just a few steps, a cloud of pollen blew towards me.

Lu Zheng raised his hand to cover his nose, turned to the side, and continued walking inside.

All I saw were the flowers and plants swaying, and an even richer fragrance emanating from them, as if trying to intoxicate people.

Lu Zheng was not affected at all and let the fragrance of the flowers envelop him.

At this moment, several vines suddenly sprang out from the grass and swept towards Lu Zheng.

Lu Zheng's expression was calm. He quickly raised his hand and drew his sword, slashing across with the sword, cutting off all the vines.

Suddenly, the vines lay motionless on the ground.

Lu Zheng used his sword to cut off several mandrakes in front of him, clearing a path.

Deep in the flower bushes, a tall datura stood there, with bowl-sized datura flowers in full bloom, emitting an enchanting fragrance, and a subtle demonic aura flowing around it.

Lu Zheng came close to the mandala and looked up to observe it.

"Sir, why don't you show up? Do you want me to destroy your real body before you show up?" Lu Zheng said in a cold voice.

"Who are you? I have no grudge against you, why are you attacking me?"

A voice emerged from underground.

Lu Zheng asked, "The people living down here have no grudges against you, so why are you sucking their energy?"

(End of this chapter)