The tattoo on Luda's back

  Yang Jiaoren, although a eunuch, had none of the petty airs of the usual eunuchs; on the contrary, he was extremely generous and open-handed. Without waiting for Wu Song to nod his head, he at once promised to come over and exert himself to secure an official position for him.

  The original intention of the Emperor Taizong was to borrow Wu Song's prestige as a tiger general, break through the Western Xia State Commander Wenyi Anmai's 10,000-strong cavalry army, and also to promote Wu Song. However, Yang Jie spoke on behalf of Wu Song, but he became more and more displeased with Wu Song, only giving him the position of Du Tou, leading a hundred infantrymen.

  Zong Shi Dao threw Wu Song into the infantry camp, thinking to himself: "The court is fiercely divided, with Sima Guang in power. The three factions of Lu, Shu, and Yan are vying for power and profit, causing chaos everywhere. Even the military has eunuchs stirring up trouble. This Wu Song looks like a good man, but unexpectedly he's also a eunuch faction member. In my army, don't think about getting ahead!"

  Wu Song had no concept of how many officials and soldiers he was facing, his experience as a leader was limited to being class monitor in elementary school, where he had to deal with twenty or so misbehaving kids every day. The fewer people the better for him.

  Yang Jie was a man of great integrity and did not ride ahead, but instead came to the infantry camp to stay with Wu Song. Wu Song happened to know very little about the hidden doors and asked Yang Jie for guidance. Yang Jie said: "The hidden doors are all lower-ranking doorways, the first major school is the Yin-Yang School founded by Guiguzi, which understands the eight trigrams of yin-yang, the four images, and the five elements. The fortune-telling masters you see on your travels are mostly from the Yin-Yang School, but although they are numerous, they are extremely scattered."

  The second is Gongshu Family, skilled in making mechanical beasts and puppets, self-proclaimed as Yan Shi. During the Three Kingdoms period, Gongshu Family was suppressed by Shuijing Xiansheng and Zhuge Wuhou, and for a long time, no one from the family appeared, but the power of their mechanical beasts is too strong to be underestimated. As for the other families, they are all over the place, with some running brothels, others selling songs, and others performing acrobatics, all just trying to make a living on the rivers and lakes, not worth mentioning.

  Wu Song asked him some questions about his cultivation, and Yang Jiaolong answered them all. The two of them chatted happily. Wu Song was puzzled in his heart - this Yang Jiaolong didn't seem to be as despicable as the legends said, he was very righteous and easy-going, so how did he become a treacherous official later on?

  He suddenly thought of something and said: "Brother, I heard that there is an officer named Luda under the command of General Xiao Zhong. Can you introduce me to him?"

  Yang Jiao heard him call him "brother" with the slang of the rivers and lakes, and he was overjoyed, patted Wu Song's shoulder hard, and laughed: "He is a fool, his mouth is not very clean, why bother with him?"

  Wu Song laughed and said, "I've heard that he's just like my brother, a hero, so I'd like to meet him." Lu Da was the one person in Water Margin that Wu Song admired most. Although the Liangshan uprising claimed to be doing justice on behalf of Heaven, what they actually did were killings and arson. The only one who acted chivalrously was this Flower Monk.

  Yang Jiao ordered someone to call Lu Da, and Lu Ti came down from his horse with a very unwilling face. From more than ten feet away, he muttered "Eunuch". Yang Jiao and Wu Song both had extremely keen hearing, and they heard it clearly. Yang Jiao was furious, and Wu Song also felt wronged on his behalf.

  Eunuchs are originally incomplete men, most afraid of being called "eunuchs", Lu Da happens to call them out in person, isn't this adding fuel to the fire?

  He hastily stopped Yang Jia, who was on the verge of a rampage, and asked Lu Da: "Ti Xie, do you have a embroidered flower pattern on your back? Can I take a look?"

  Naruda's face turned red with anger, and she scolded: "You two eunuchs, neither old nor young, only know how to flirt with me!"

  Yang Jian coldly smiled and said: "So you're also not quite right, actually having a peach blossom embroidered on your back, clearly showing a fondness for severed sleeves!"

  Ruda flew into a rage, charging over with his crescent-moon spade. Yang Jian struggled free from Wu Song's grasp, wanting to pull out the White Bone Fan, but fearing it would be recognized as an evil object, he thought that relying solely on brute force wouldn't work against him, so he hid behind Wu Song instead.

  Wu Song saw Lu Da raise his shovel and was about to strike indiscriminately, so he hastily said: "I know the origin of your embroidered shoes!"

  Naruto immediately put away the crescent shovel and said, "Fart! This embroidered dress of mine was made by a master from Yan'an Prefecture, and it cost two taels of silver. What kind of origin could it have?" He suddenly winked at Wu Song and turned to leave.

  Wu Song let out a breath, and as expected, Lu Da was rough but had his subtleties. He discovered the strange flower pattern on his back and didn't want others to know, so he gave himself a secret signal.

  Yang Jie was indignant: "I told you, this guy is a fool. We came to him in vain and were ridiculed instead. Brother, he ridiculed me as a eunuch and didn't care about you being implicated. I want to ask Xiong Shi Dao, can this governor still control his subordinates?" After that, Yang Jie rushed to the front of the team, ignoring Wu Song's obstruction, and argued with Xiong Shi Dao until they were both red-faced.

  Zhong Shidao was worried about how to deal with the Western Xia army, and naturally had no good face for him. Yang Jia was so angry that he wanted to ask for a holy order, and Zhong Shidao finally softened up and scolded Lu Da severely. Yang Jia vented his anger, but didn't know what to do with Zhong Shidao, so he put the fire in his belly on Wu Song's body, and was even more displeased with Wu Song.

  The army of General Shi arrived at Qinghe County and set up camp outside the county, setting up a large camp and cooking food. Wu Song asked for leave from his superior to go into the city and inform Bai Yulian and Pan Jinlian, so they wouldn't worry.

  Just as he entered the process, he heard someone behind him calling out: "Wu Du Head slow down!" He turned his head to look back and it was Lu Da walking quickly towards him with an embarrassed face, saying: "Where is Wu Du Head going?"

  "My home is here, I have an elder brother at home, and a wife and concubine. Now that I've joined the army, I naturally want to let them know."

  Lu Da's face was strange, and he muttered: "So you're not a eunuch..." Seeing Wu Song's displeased expression, he hastily smiled and said: "You say you know the origin of my embroidered flowers, is that true?"

  "What's embroidered on your back, then? Tell me, what kind of flower is it?"

  Lu Da shook his head and said: "A grindstone-sized flower, how can I recognize it?"

  Wu Song was eager to know what kind of monster this guy was reincarnated from, and his heart moved again. He asked: "Is there a word next to the flower embroidery?"

  Ruda was overjoyed and said: "There are words! There are words!"

  "What is written above?"

  Lu Da twisted and turned, hesitated for a while before saying: "I don't recognize..."

  Wu Song spat out blood, and Lu Da said again: "However, I myself drew a picture of the flower and the words." After speaking, he took out a crumpled piece of paper. Wu Song took it and saw that on the paper was drawn a strange flower with countless petals, layered and blooming outward, which must have covered more than half of Lu Da's body!

  On the back of that paper was written a simple and incomprehensible phrase, which left Wu Song speechless for half a day. The phrase read: "In life, I have not cultivated good karma, occasionally killing people and setting fires."

  These ten words are incredibly simple, yet Lu Xun couldn't recognize them!

  It's certain that Lu Da didn't finish primary school, and he's a flower demon reincarnated. Specifically what kind of flower, Wu Song couldn't tell. Wu Song had no choice but to tell the truth, Lu Da shook his head and said: "I've visited all the florists in Yan'an Prefecture and the capital these years, and no one recognizes this flower. To be ashamed, I actually can't remember when this tattoo was embroidered on my body, as if it grew out by itself after waking up from a dream..."

  The two were at a loss, when suddenly they heard a voice behind them say calmly: "I recognize this flower."