Chapter 811
Lure the snake out of its hole
The father and daughter, huddled together, were already awaiting their fate. They kept their eyes tightly shut, but unexpectedly, nothing happened for a long time.
Lu Zhenyuan slowly opened his eyes and saw that the large wooden stick that had just been thrown at them was now hovering motionless in mid-air. Overjoyed, Lu Zhenyuan said to his daughter, "Wan'er, Wan'er, open your eyes and see! We're all alright!"
Upon hearing her father's words, Lu Wan'er opened her eyes and saw that the large wooden stick, which had been suspended in mid-air, had not fallen on the two women as it had originally intended. Instead, it remained suspended motionless in mid-air. Overjoyed, she burst into tears and excitedly said to her father, Lu Zhenyuan, "Father... Father, we're still alive!"
Hearing his daughter's words, Lu Zhenyuan nodded to her with great relief and said, "Yes, yes, we are still alive and well!"
After a moment of excitement, the father and daughter realized the key to the problem: why did the wooden stick that had been violently thrown at them suddenly stop in mid-air? Could it be that the father and daughter were not destined to die?
Or was that magical stick enchanted, capable of deciding the fate of the father and daughter at any moment?
Just as the two were lost in thought, the thick wooden stick moved away from above them and gently landed on the ground in the corner.
When Lu Zhenyuan and his daughter Lu Wan'er saw the wooden stick turn and land on its own, they were both stunned. They stared at the stick as if they were looking at something very magical. At that moment, they felt that the thick wooden stick seemed to have thoughts like a person.
Seeing that Lu Zhenyuan and his daughter Lu Wan'er were out of danger, Li Qingshi and Sun Weiwei, who were standing to the side, felt relieved from their previous extreme tension.
However, Li Qingshi and Sun Weiwei's thoughts at this time were different from those of Lu Zhenyuan and Lu Wan'er.
Because Lu Zhenyuan and Lu Wan'er had never witnessed the power of the Mountain God before, they only thought that the thick log that had just fallen was magical, and did not realize that the magical thing was not the log itself but the Mountain God.
However, Li Qingshi and Sun Weiwei were different. As loyal followers of the Mountain God, they had received his favor many times. When they saw this miraculous operation, they knew that the Mountain God was helping them.
Li Qingshi and Sun Weiwei quickly and excitedly said to Lu Zhenyuan and Lu Wan'er in unison, "Grandpa Mountain God, it was Grandpa Mountain God who saved us!"
After saying this, the two knelt on the ground and kept kowtowing to express their gratitude.
The father and daughter, Lu Zhenyuan and Lu Wan'er, who were completely bewildered, were instantly shocked when they heard Li Qingshi and Sun Weiwei say this. Could it be that the Mountain God was so powerful that he could give that huge wooden stick a human-like consciousness? This was too astonishing!
The father and daughter quickly followed suit and knelt on the ground, kowtowing to the mountain god and expressing their gratitude.
After moving the wooden stick that was about to hit Lu Wan'er and Lu Zhenyuan away, Xu Bo'an said to the four people who were thanking him on the ground, "This place was just burned by a fire, so it is not safe to stay here for long. I will take you to a safe place first!"
Because of the urgency of the situation, after hearing the voice of the mountain god, the group quickly nodded in gratitude and then hurriedly packed their belongings.
Then Xu Bo'an reached out and placed the people in his palm, safely leading them away from the already burned and dilapidated house.
Xu Bo'an realized that it was too late to find a suitable place for the group to rest in the short term, and that they all had burns of varying degrees, so he decided to take them directly back to Lu Zhenyuan's residence in Qingyun Road.
Thinking of this, Xu Bo'an said to the group, "It's getting late, and I've looked around but there's no suitable place to rest. I'll take you directly to General Lu's house to save you the trouble of traveling. Just give me directions in a bit!"
The group was deeply moved to hear that the Mountain God was going to personally escort them home. Lu Zhenyuan and Lu Wan'er, in particular, were astonished to hear his words, as it was their first time meeting the Mountain God.
In their minds, gods were high above, beings unattainable to mortals like themselves. They never imagined that the mountain god would care so much for the people and would personally escort them home. This was a treatment they could never have dreamed of!
Lu Zhenyuan's eyes were red with emotion, and tears were about to fall. He knelt on the ground and said to the Mountain God, "This humble one thanks the Mountain God for his great kindness and virtue!"
Seeing Lu Zhenyuan's moved expression and the several burns on his legs, Xu Bo'an said to Lu Zhenyuan, "I am the Mountain God, and it is my duty to protect the people. General Lu, your leg burns are severe, so please don't kneel anymore!"
After Xu Bo'an finished speaking, he carefully examined the burns on Lu Zhenyuan's legs. If they weren't treated promptly, there was a risk of infection. So he returned to the mountain god temple, grabbed a handful of incense ash, and placed it in front of the group, saying, "These medicinal powders can treat your burns. Quickly apply them to the burned areas, and you'll see results soon!"
Lu Zhenyuan hadn't recovered from the touching words of the Mountain God before he heard the Mountain God bestowing divine medicine upon them. At this moment, he was so moved that he couldn't express it in words.
Seeing the good medicine that the mountain god had sent down, the group began to apply it to the burned areas as instructed by the mountain god.
Because Li Qingshi, Sun Weiwei, and Lu Wan'er's burns were not serious, with only some burns of varying degrees on their arms, the burns on their arms disappeared at a visible speed after the powder was applied.
Lu Wan'er was incredibly surprised to see that the burn scar on her arm had disappeared so quickly and healed completely. She excitedly shouted, "My scar is healed! My scar healed so quickly!"
Lu Zhenyuan's injuries were much more severe than the other three. After applying the medicinal powder, his injuries were healing at a visible speed, but the healing time was slower than the others.
However, in less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the severe burns on his legs had miraculously disappeared. Seeing this, Lu Zhenyuan was even more shocked.
Normally, such a serious injury would require him to stay in bed for a month or even longer to recover. But now, his leg burns have healed so quickly and visibly in less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. This completely overturned his understanding of the world.
Then Lu Zhenyuan was very excited and got up to try walking a few steps. He found that his legs were almost completely healed and he could walk normally!
Then he quickly knelt on the ground and said to the Mountain God with great emotion, "This humble one thanks the Mountain God... This humble one thanks the Mountain God!" When Xu Bo'an saw Lu Zhenyuan's moved expression as he knelt on the ground, he thought that someone had deliberately tried to harm Lu Zhenyuan by causing this fire, and felt that he should remind him.
Otherwise, if the person who framed him knew that Lu Zhenyuan was still alive, he would definitely not let him go and would continue to harm him.
As the saying goes, "It's easy to dodge a spear in the open, but hard to guard against an arrow in the dark." If Lu Zhenyuan doesn't know that someone is deliberately trying to harm him, he will find it very difficult to avoid being plotted against in the future.
Xu Bo'an learned from Li Qingshi that Lu Zhenyuan was a very honest and upright official who cared deeply for the people. Xu Bo'an didn't want such a good person to be targeted by such schemes again, so he kindly reminded him.
Xu Bo'an then said to Lu Zhenyuan, "General Lu, I suspect that this fire was deliberately set in an attempt to harm you. You'd better be careful in the future!"
After hearing the kind reminder from the Mountain God, Lu Zhenyuan said gratefully to the Mountain God, "Thank you for your advice, Mountain God. I will be more careful in the future!"
Seeing that everyone's injuries had improved and that he had already given them the necessary advice, Xu Bo'an said to Li Qingshi and Lu Zhenyuan, "Alright, it's getting late. Get ready, I'll take you home now!"
After seeing the group shoulder their packs, Xu Bo'an reached into the void and placed each of them in his palm. Then, guided by the group, he headed towards the direction of Qingyun Path.
At first, Lu Zhenyuan and Lu Wan'er were a little scared, but after Li Qingshi and Sun Weiwei explained, and with them now completely used to it, they felt as free as birds flying in the air.
Not long after, Xu Bo'an arrived at Qingyun Road under the guidance of the others.
Since it was already very late at night, the daytime bustle of Qingyun Road had long since faded away, and the streets and alleys were quiet, with the city pitch black.
Xu Bo'an followed the directions given by the group and led them to the Lu family's residence, where he then put them down.
When Lu Zhenyuan and Lu Wan'er saw that they had arrived at their residence, they knelt on the ground and kowtowed to express their gratitude.
After delivering them safely, Xu Bo'an said to them, "Alright, we're home now. It's getting late, so you should get some rest. I'll be leaving now."
Upon hearing the words of the Mountain God, the group knelt on the ground and said in unison, "Respectfully seeing off the Mountain God!"
After a long while, none of them heard the voice of the Mountain God again, and they knew that the Mountain God had left. Only then did they stand up.
After Xu Bo'an left the bonsai world, it was already late. Knowing that he had to leave for Jiangzhou Province early the next morning, he went to bed early.
Inside the bonsai world, Li Qingshi and Sun Weiwei had just said goodbye to Lu Zhenyuan and Lu Wan'er and were about to leave when Lu Zhenyuan called them back and said to them, "Grandpa Mountain God just reminded me that the reason we encountered the fire today is because someone is plotting to harm me. This means that those who want to harm me have been watching us for a long time. If you leave now and they find out we are still alive, they will definitely kill us tonight."
Why don't you stay here tonight? Since someone wants to harm me, let's turn the tables on them. Tomorrow morning I'll have someone spread the news that I'm dead. Those who want to harm me will be very arrogant when they know I'm dead. Nine times out of ten they'll punish everyone in the Lu family as quickly as possible!
Who knows, they might slip up soon, and then I'll know who's trying to harm me!
Hearing Lu Zhenyuan's words, Lu Wan'er agreed and said, "Father's idea is brilliant! Before we find out who these people are, we shouldn't reveal that we're still alive. Otherwise, if they try to harm us again in the future, we won't be able to defend ourselves, and then we'll probably only have death as our only option!"
Li Qingshi and Sun Weiwei felt that their godfather Lu Zhenyuan's analysis made a lot of sense, so they agreed to stay at the Lu residence tonight and wait to lure the snake out of its hole tomorrow.
After arranging rooms for Li Qingshi and Sun Weiwei, Lu Zhenyuan and Lu Wan'er went back to their own rooms to rest.
After returning to his room, Lu Zhenyuan knew that his wife was already asleep. He tiptoed to the bedside and was about to take off his clothes to get into bed when he suddenly saw a dark shadow on the ground. Moreover, the shadow was clearly a sword.
Before Lu Zhenyuan could think, he turned around and saw his wife holding a long sword, thrusting it straight at him. In the instant Lu Zhenyuan turned around, his wife recognized her husband and quickly pulled back the sword she had swung.
She quickly put down the sword she was holding, rushed towards Lu Zhenyuan and hugged him tightly, crying as she said to him, "Master, why didn't you say goodbye when you came back? I thought there were bandits in our house! Do you know how scared I was just now?"
Lu Zhenyuan hugged his wife and comforted her, "Ying'er, it's alright. With me here, no one will dare to do anything to you!"
Lu Zhenyuan's wife was named Cui Wenying. Her father was also a court official, but unfortunately, he later died of a serious illness. Cui Wenying, who came from a well-off family, had also practiced martial arts and was quite skilled. Logically speaking, she shouldn't be so weak in this situation and should be able to face it calmly.
But that's how people are often. They can be very strong when they're alone, but they immediately become vulnerable in front of their closest and dearest people. Because they feel that the people they trust most are protecting them, they will unconsciously shed their hard shell.
Lu Zhenyuan and Cui Wenying have been married for about twenty years. They have always treated each other with respect and affection. In these twenty years, neither of them has ever said a harsh word to the other. Their relationship is very good. So when Cui Wenying saw Lu Zhenyuan, she immediately became weak and helpless.
After comforting his wife, Lu Zhenyuan told her everything that had happened on the road, including how the mountain god had saved them and how someone had tried to frame him.
Upon learning this, the lady felt a sense of relief at having survived the holiday and a heartfelt gratitude to the Mountain God.
After discussing tomorrow's plans, the two went to bed to rest, waiting to lure the enemy out the next day! (End of Chapter)