From a refugee to a martial artist

Chapter 107: Lao Bie Keng Poetry Society

It is already mid-May.

It was noon and the sun was at its highest.

After walking a few hundred steps into the mountains, the heat receded, and there was a sense of coolness in the shade of the green forest.

The birds were singing, Xiangling's voice was crisp, she kept eating eggs, and asked, "You haven't forgotten to study recently, have you?"

"Never put the book down." Meng Yuan said.

"That's right." Xiangling was very mature, speaking in a teacher's tone, "If you don't read for three days, you will become as dumb as an old sow."

She tilted her head and rubbed Meng Yuan's ear with her hairpin, "You answer it!"

"..." Meng Yuan thought about it, but couldn't really continue, so he said, "Let me think about it."

"Alas." Xiangling sighed, "Little gelder, you must have neglected your studies."

She stared with wide eyes, stuffed the remaining half of the egg yolk into Meng Yuan's mouth, and taught him: "I write at least three poems a day now, sometimes five! You have to... open your mouth!"

Meng Yuan vaguely remembered that on the way back from defeating the Earth-shaking King Kong, Xiangling asked him about poetry.

Although the journey was long at that time, the two of them had a very pleasant conversation. After Xiangling saw his ability to recite poems impromptu, there was a light in her big eyes. She was extremely envious and kept praising him.

As time went by, Xiangling went to school and became more and more capable. She also learned the skill of reciting poems impromptu, and even surpassed others.

In comparison, Meng Yuan is just a crude warrior, while Xiangling is on the verge of becoming a poet.

Meng Yuan opened his mouth and the egg yolk was stuffed into it.

"If you really can't learn it, that's fine." Xiangling was considerate. "My godmother said that being able to eat and drink is better than anything else!"

She kept pulling along the way and soon saw a bare hill.

Then the Old Turtle Pit appeared before our eyes. In mid-May, the wind was warm, and the Old Turtle Pit was surrounded by birdsong, flowers and frogs. There were huge lotus leaves and water chestnut leaves floating in the water.

Xiangling was very happy. She jumped off Meng Yuan and quickly returned to her nest.

After a while, he came out with an oil paper bag and placed it on a blue stone beside the old turtle pit. When he opened it, he saw some dried fruits and a few dried flower petals.

Then Xiangling fell onto the lotus leaf again. She was very nimble and she jumped around happily to pick lotus leaves.

"Pastoral poetry is free from worries." Dugu Kang watched from afar and sighed, "Morning bells and evening drums cannot wake up the fame-seekers of this world; the chanting of sutras and Buddha's name cannot bring back those who have lost their way in the sea of ​​suffering."

As he spoke, he put the wig on his head.

"When will you give me the map of heaven?" Meng Yuan never forgot the agreement.

"Master Meng, why are you in such a hurry?" Dugu Kang smiled calmly, "It won't be too late to talk about it after you enter the seventh rank."

"Master Liaokong, are you going to go back on your word?" Meng Yuan laughed.

"Don't slander me." Dugu Kang argued, "We agreed before we set out that you and I would discuss the Dao and exchange wits. When you reach the seventh level of martial arts, I will naturally give you the map. The map of the secrets of heaven is indeed precious, but it is not that precious. You and I are close friends, so why not give you a piece of it to protect yourself?"

"I have reached the seventh level." Meng Yuan said.

"..." Dugu Kang stopped and looked Meng Yuan up and down. He pointed at him, "You, you, you..."

"When will you give it to me?" Meng Yuan smiled.

"You tricked me! You guys deceived me!" Dugu Kang smacked his lips, but still said stubbornly, "Wait until we get back."

The two were chatting, and Xiangling came back happily carrying three lotus leaves.

She placed three lotus leaves on the bluestone, apparently to be used as cushions, showing her attentiveness in entertaining guests.

"Little gelder, Mr. Du, please take a seat." Xiangling acted like she was hosting the party, but then she sighed, "It's a pity there's no wine, otherwise we could play drinking games!"

"I don't drink." Meng Yuan didn't want to lead the child astray.

"I also don't drink alcohol." Dugu Kang also sat down.

"You two can't do that!" Xiangling hugged her upper limbs together, stared with her big round eyes, and said seriously: "Without wine, the taste of writing poetry is half gone!"

After entering school, I didn't learn anything good, but I learned all the bad habits.

Xiangling said very seriously, "Today our Laobiekeng Poetry Club is established. I am the president and the little gelder is the vice president. There will be many more members in the future!"

She tilted her head, looked at Dugu Kang, and said, "The little gelder taught me how to write poetry, so there is no problem for him to be the vice president. As for whether classmate Du can join the society as a member, I need to test your knowledge again!"

"..." Dugu Kang was stunned. He looked at Meng Yuan and saw that Meng Yuan turned his head away. He also saw that Xiang Ling looked very ambitious, so he asked, "Miss Xiang Ling, what kind of poem should we write in our poetry club? Feel free to test me."

"Let me think about it." Xiangling lay on Meng Yuan's legs, then climbed on his head. After a long while, she said happily, "Let's talk about food!"

What's so difficult about this? Dugu Kang did it effortlessly, but considering the performance of the two people in front of him, he still frowned and looked thoughtful.

After a cup of tea, Dugu Kang saw that Xiangling did not look impatient, but nodded slightly, like a teacher encouraging a student. He wanted to laugh even more, so he said, "Got it!"

He clapped his fat hands and chanted, "A piece of tofu is square, like white jade falling into a basket. The best flavors in the world are common, and the most common ones are the most delicious."

"You're quite capable!" Xiangling's eyes lit up. "You're really good at it! I'm getting hungry just by listening to you!"

"Great!" Meng Yuan praised casually.

"You can be a member now!" Xiangling nodded in praise, then looked at Meng Yuan and said, "It's your turn, little gelder." "..." Meng Yuan looked up and saw clouds flying in the sky, so he said, "Suddenly I saw white clouds flying in the sky, and from a distance they looked like a pile of sheep. Everyone rushed back to light the fire and set up the pot, and the fragrance was so good that they forgot who I was."

"You did a great job!" Xiangling tilted her head back, using her two little paws to look at the clouds in the sky, "I'm drooling just listening to this!"

"It's your turn." Meng Yuan smiled.

Xiangling became much more serious. She scratched her ears, looked at Meng Yuan, then at Dugu Kang, then looked around, and finally looked at the old turtle pit.

After a long pause, Xiangling said happily, "I have one too!"

She was seen singing happily: "The old turtle pit is booming, lotus roots, fish and shrimps are growing inches long. Xiangling came to the pit and asked, why are there no egg yolks!"

"Wonderful! Wonderful!" Dugu Kang couldn't help but applaud.

"What a wonderful poem!" Meng Yuan did not hesitate to praise it.

"Hehe, you two did a great job!" Xiangling waved her hands modestly, but she was obviously so happy that she couldn't help jumping twice.

Three lousy poets sat opposite each other and praised each other, all of them sincerely.

After discussing for a while, they finally voted Xiangling's egg yolk poem as the best, Meng Yuan's white clouds poem as the second best, and Dugu Kang's tofu poem as the third best.

"As long as you study hard, one day you will be able to speak eloquently like me." Xiangling didn't learn much, but she learned all the skills of the teacher, and taught Dugu Kang earnestly.

"I appreciate your advice." Dugu Kang is a non-competitive person. He just accepts whatever others say.

"Oh my! I've really made it!" Xiangling put her hands on her hips, "If my godmother knew I was doing such a big thing, I wonder how happy she would be!" She climbed onto Meng Yuan's shoulders and said, "Little gelder, shall we go and burn paper for my godmother?"

"Okay." Meng Yuan flicked the cloth flower on Xiangling's head and asked, "Do you want to go to the city and take a look?"

"I haven't learned it yet." Xiangling quickly protected her hair.

"It's okay, I can take you into the city now." Meng Yuan said with a smile.

"Really?" Xiangling asked with eyes wide open.

"I can find you a job." Meng Yuan smiled.

"Looking for a job?"

Xiangling was stunned. She stared with her big round eyes and said blankly, "Can a little elf like me do errands and get paid?"

"Your vice president is very successful now." Dugu Kang said sourly.

"Then forget it." Xiangling shook her head quickly, looking like an experienced person. "My godmother said that if you want to succeed, you have to be able to endure hardships. You work in the Demon Suppression Division. If you want to succeed, you have to go out every day. It's very dangerous!"

Xiangling grabbed the corner of Meng Yuan's clothes and said seriously: "Little geld general, you'd better not be successful. Let's be useless together!"

"I have never been a successful person. I was only helped by a noble person. I just live my life in vain." Meng Yuan said.

"You can get money just by living a lazy life?" Xiangling became more alert, as if she had seen a lot of things. "You better be careful! My godmother and I were arrested for just a few eggs!"

How can that be the same? Meng Yuan smiled and pinched her neck, "Let's go burn paper for your godmother first."

"Okay!" Xiangling tightened her small bag, "I carry all my poems with me! Let's burn some for godmother."

The three of them packed their bags again, and Xiangling simply hid in Meng Yuan's clothes, leaving only her head exposed.

After going down the mountain, they came to the pasture, took the horses, and headed southeast.

"Run slower, don't crush the pony." Xiangling hid in Meng Yuan's clothes, with only her head sticking out, and did not forget to teach Dugu Kang.

“……”Dugu Kang didn’t know what to say, so he could only agree.

When you arrive at the Canglang River, you will see a small hill with Chongxu Temple on top.

There was absolutely no way Dugu Kang would go, and Xiangling's words of advice were useless.

There was no other choice, so Meng Yuan took Xiangling and took the path behind the mountain to where her godmother was attending class.

When you come to the back mountain, you will see the river like a long silk ribbon.

There were actually two people waiting outside this small courtyard, and they were familiar faces, Zhang Guinian and Zhang Lingfeng.

"Uncle Zhang, you guys..."

"What Uncle Zhang?" Zhang Guinian glared and interrupted Meng Yuan, "I've told you so many times, you have to refer to your position when you're doing your job!"

Meng Yuan glanced behind Zhang Guinian and saw Zhao Jingsheng and Ke Qiuxian in the distance, each holding a whisk and whispering about something.

They seemed to have noticed Meng Yuan coming and nodded slightly from a distance.

Meng Yuan bowed to them from a distance, then looked at Zhang Guinian and said, "Yes, Captain Zhang."

"Yes, Captain Zhang." Xiangling also saluted obediently, then stretched her neck, leaned close to Meng Yuan's ear, and whispered, "This man has such a high official power, he looks like he's not easy to mess with."

Her voice became smaller and smaller. "I don't want to be a clerk anymore. He is more vicious than the teacher."

"..."Meng Yuan reached out and pressed Xiangling's two little ears onto his head.

(End of this chapter)