Walking alone with a sword, slaying ghosts and gods

Chapter 4: The Ruler is the Ruler, the Subject is the Subject, the Father is the Father, the Son is the Son

"My Lord! Why are you leaving so early?"

"…Prince, you said: The king is the leader of the ministers. If the king is not upright, the ministers will flee to other countries. The country is the leader of the people. If the country is not upright, the people will rise up and attack it. The father is the leader of the son. If the father is not kind, the son will flee to another place. The son is the hope of the father. If the son is not upright, the righteousness will destroy his relatives. The husband is the leader of the wife. If the husband is not upright, the wife can remarry;"

"Prince, you said you would lead us to build water conservancy projects so that the water from the miasma river can also be used to irrigate farmland. You said that in the future, every family would have food to eat, every child would have books to read, the elderly would be well cared for, and the young would be well educated... Wuuwuwuwu, Prince, we brothers would risk our lives to follow you, but, but why did you leave so early, Prince?"

Lu Cheng, who was sleeping on the beam of the dilapidated temple, was awakened by bursts of crying. He had just arrived in this world and was extremely insecure.

So even in a deserted temple, he would create confusion by placing a set of quilts in a hidden corner of the temple, and then he would jump onto the beam and clear out a place to sleep.

Although it is a bit narrow, it is at least somewhat defensive.

When he woke up, he immediately grasped the hilt of the sword placed next to his hand, but after a moment, Lu Cheng, who was tense all over, gradually relaxed.

He turned his head and saw outside, in the early morning, when it was still light, an old man in ragged clothes was kneeling in front of the statue in the temple and crying.

"My Lord, did someone murder you? If you are still alive, please tell me in your dreams. Even if I become a ghost, I will not let the person who murdered you go."

"Prince, Prince..."

Men don't shed tears easily, but they are not too sad. The ragged old man knelt there and cried for a long time, until a middle-aged man outside the temple walked in timidly and called out softly:
"father?"

"…I'll be right out."

"No hurry, Dad, no hurry." The middle-aged man seemed to be extremely afraid of his father and immediately retreated.

"My Lord, this is the white flour steamed bun that you were reluctant to eat when you were alive. Today, you and I will each have half. Unfortunately, I, Li Meng, will no longer be able to sweep the temple for you. Please don't be angry with me."

As he spoke, the old man took out a white flour steamed bun from his arms and broke it into two pieces. He placed one of the pieces on the long table in front of the statue, then turned around and left.

"Li Meng?"

Because of the following scene, Lu Cheng developed some interest in this old man.

He looked at the gray sky outside, did some calculations, and felt that it was too early to get up even if he wanted to go farming.

Li Meng walked out of the dilapidated temple, looked at his eldest son who was lowering his head, then looked at the large rattan basket beside his eldest son's feet, smiled, and then reluctantly curled up his body and sat down in it.

He was tall but very thin, and the middle-aged man was also tall and strong, so it was not difficult for him to carry him on his back. The two of them walked away from the village.

However, neither of them noticed that a young Taoist with a pale face and coughing from time to time had followed behind them.

Lu Cheng, who was following behind the two men, originally just wanted to satisfy his curiosity, but as time went on, the middle-aged man carried Li Meng into the back mountain, and Lu Cheng, who was following behind, gradually changed his expression.

"…There are many southern barbarians gathered there. They don't practice virtue, don't take care of their parents, and don't love their children. It is said that they do everything from raising Yin to feeding poison." The young Taoist's face became uglier as he recalled what the old man Hu had said before.

He came from an era of great material abundance. Even though he knew some things about ancient times through various channels, he still found it difficult to accept them when he experienced them personally.

I followed them from dawn till noon, and the two people in front had already walked into the mountains.

Lu Cheng could hear the conversation between the two from time to time, so he didn't believe that the middle-aged man would throw his biological father off the mountain, so he never took action.

However, white bones have appeared from time to time in the bushes and grass on both sides of the deep mountains.

"Li Jian, take this half piece of white flour bun back and give it to my grandson. Don't give it secretly to your wife."

"Dad, that's for you to eat."

"Put me down. I'm so tired that my bones are almost broken. I've never enjoyed any blessings from you in my life. Now I have to let you carry me back and suffer all the way."

"……father."

Li Jian was also very tired at this time. He put down the wicker basket behind him. Li Meng climbed out of it and stretched his arms and legs.

"My grandson is a good guy. As for your woman, she may not be able to stay with you forever. Humph, it's useless to say this to a loser like you. I know you won't listen."

"In fact, when the prince died, I deserved to die. I threw my father down here with my own hands because he threw my grandmother, the only one who was kind to me, down here. When it was his turn to die, he kept crying and wailing. I tied him up with rattan, threw him down, and kicked him. It was the prince who came and educated me, allowing me to think like a human being and live for decades."

"Your Majesty, I will come down right away to serve you. Hahahahahahaha"

After saying that, Li Meng laughed loudly and jumped up from the cliff. He did not hesitate at all. The figure disappeared in an instant, and only the loud laughter was still echoing in the mountains.

"father!"

Li Jian ran two steps, then covered his face with his hands, curled up on the ground and cried.

Lu Cheng stood in the morning mist at the back for a long time. He never took action. One reason was because of what Li Meng said, and the other was because Li Meng jumped off the cliff too decisively without any hesitation.

In the afternoon, after returning to the dilapidated temple, Lu Cheng sat on the ground and stared at the stone statue in the temple for a long time, then he suddenly stood up and walked out of the temple.

He wanted to know more about the man who had been in charge of this place and what had happened here.

The moment he walked out of the temple today, Lu Cheng noticed that there were five big characters written on the plaque in front of this simple temple: Wang Lingguan Temple.

(End of this chapter)