Under One Person: The Taoist Priest Descends the Mountain

Deng Youcai tiptoed to the door, peeked out to make sure the man was gone, and then closed the door.

Then he turned to Xiaolin and said, "Alright, Xiaolin, your brother is gone."

Xiaolin did not respond.

Xia He leaned close to Cheng Mo's ear and whispered, "What happened?"

Cheng Mo shrugged and whispered in her ear, "How should I know? Just keep watching."

Xia He felt a little itchy and rubbed her ears.

Cheng Mo slapped her hand away.

Deng Youcai walked up to Xiaolin, patted her shoulder, and said in a completely different tone: "Alright, stop pretending. You know what I do. There's no evil spirit on you right now."

Xiaolin still didn't move.

Deng Youcai sighed: "We've been classmates for three years, do you think I don't know you? Hurry up, let's go."

After a while, Xiaolin's eyes gradually regained focus.

But she still looked so weak, with chapped lips, looking like someone recovering from a serious illness.

She slowly raised her head to look at Deng Youcai, her voice soft and terribly hoarse: "You... you noticed everything?"

Deng Youcai plopped down on the chair next to him. Crossing his legs: "Please, I've been around for a few years now, I can still tell the difference."

Xiaolin trembled as she tried to get up and bow.

Deng Youcai shoved her back down: "Just sit down and tell me what happened. Was that really your brother? I've never seen him before."

Xia He was even more puzzled when she heard this—how come these two know each other?

Cheng Mo also perked up his ears; this was getting interesting.

Xiaolin sighed, her eyes filled with exhaustion: "He is indeed my brother... but we haven't seen each other for ten years."

Deng Youcai raised an eyebrow: "So, you came back this time because of your parents' house?"

Xiaolin smiled bitterly: "If it were just the house, I would have given it to him. He... he wants to marry me off and take my dowry."

Xia He's eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

How could there be such shameless people in this world?

She couldn't hold back any longer: "No, why are you listening to him? You're willing to give up the house, why don't you just leave?"

Xiaolin's face was bitter: "I can't leave now."

Deng Youcai seemed to only then remember that there were outsiders present, and slapped his thigh: "Oh dear, what a forgetful thing I am!"

He turned to Cheng Mo and Xia He, cupped his hands in a respectful gesture, and said, "Gentlemen, could you please lend me a hand later? Just pretend you know nothing about it, okay?"

Xia He readily agreed: "I'll help you beat someone up, that's fine too."

Deng Youcai smiled and waved his hand: "It's not that bad."

He turned back to Xiaolin and asked, "Are you unable to leave because you're possessed by a ghost? Or are you unable to let go of your brother?"

Xiaolin shook her head, her eyes a little red: "He treated me like that, how could I not let him go? If I had a choice, I wouldn't even give him the house!"

Deng Youcai nodded: "Alright, then you listen to me from now on."

Xiaolin looked at him, her lips moved, and after a long while she managed to squeeze out a sentence: "Thank you, you're talented."

Deng Youcai waved his hand: "We've been classmates for three years, this is nothing."

Xia He finally understood—the two were classmates.

But since they're classmates, why didn't this girl ask him for help in the first place? Was she too embarrassed to ask?

Deng Youcai stood up, walked over to the two gods with painted faces, and muttered to himself for a long time.

The two gods nodded and gave an OK sign.

Deng Youcai turned back and bowed to Cheng Mo and Xia He again: "Please pretend that nothing happened just now. Once this matter is settled, I will do my best to help you two with whatever you need."

Xia He assured her again, "Don't worry, we don't know anything."

Cheng Mo nodded in agreement.

But in his heart he was thinking: Could this Deng Youcai be a sycophant like Old Man Xia?

I just don't know if I'll end up with everything I could possibly want.

Not long after he finished giving his instructions, there was a knock on the door: "Master Deng! I'm back!"

Deng Youcai winked at Xiaolin, and Xiaolin resumed her dazed expression.

Deng Youcai went over and opened the door.

The man came in, sweating profusely and carrying several large bags, panting, "Master Deng, I've bought everything! Please check if it's all right!"

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He took things out one by one.

Red cloth, black cloth, cinnabar, yellow paper, incense, candles, rooster, black dog blood, two bottles of strong liquor... nothing was missing.

Deng Youcai took it, checked it over, and nodded: "Okay, it's all set."

He placed the items on the incense table and then nodded to the two deities.

The two gods picked up the drum and began to beat it.

dong dong dong -- dong dong dong --

The drumbeats were deep and resonant, each one striking a chord in people's hearts.

Deng Youcai stood in front of the incense table and began to mutter something in a low voice. His voice grew softer and softer, and eventually it became a string of syllables that were completely incomprehensible.

Then he started singing—

"Ah—the sun sets and darkness falls, the city gates are closed and a cigarette is lit."

The main road was cut off from carriages and horses, and the side road was deserted from pedestrians.

Nine out of ten houses were locked, but one door was left open.

The windows were open and closed, waiting for the old immortal to come and play with them...

This is divine music.

As Deng Youcai sang, he burned yellow paper, and the ashes floated up and swirled in the hall.

The drumbeats of the two gods grew increasingly urgent, boom boom boom boom boom, as dense as raindrops.

Deng Youcai's voice grew louder and louder—

"With his left hand he picked up the King Wen Drum, and with his right hand he picked up the King Wu Whip."

The King Wen Drum is no ordinary drum; it is not the same drum as the other drums, nor is it the same whip as the other whips.

The drum is made of paulownia wood from the deep mountains, and the whip is made of the tendons of an old dragon from Changbai Mountain.

"One knock, three shakes, enough to disturb the celestial beings above..."

He sang with great intonation, his tone rising and falling.

The two gods' drums moved in sync with him, sometimes fast, sometimes slow.

Cheng Mo and Xia He stood aside, watching with great interest.

Cheng Mo carefully sensed the Qi around him.

As the drums and chanting began, the cigarettes on the altar started to drift rhythmically, swirling around Xiaolin.

Halfway through his song, Deng Youcai suddenly shouted, "Open!"

The candle flame on the incense table suddenly jumped, leaping up a flame half a foot high.

Then, everyone saw it—

A faint black shadow floated out from Xiaolin's body.

The dark shadow was blurry and its shape was indistinct; it circled once in mid-air.

Then another clump appeared.

Another group.

One after another, clumps floated out of Xiaolin's body. Each clump was different; some floated fast, some floated slowly, some floated high, and some floated low.

After those gray shadows floated out, they began to drift towards the man.

The man's face turned pale, and he was so frightened that his legs went weak. He had to hold onto the wall to avoid falling.

He could feel that chilling aura, like someone blowing cold air on his neck.

The man trembled and shrank back, pleading, "Deng... Master Deng! Please keep an eye on them, and don't let them come here again!"

Deng Youcai focused solely on his actions and completely ignored him.

The drums of the two gods continued to beat, boom boom boom boom, each beat more urgent than the last.

The shadowy figures multiplied, eventually numbering seventeen or eighteen.

The man had already curled up in a ball, covering his head with his hands, muttering, "Don't come any closer, don't come any closer..."

Cheng Mo ignored him, his attention was entirely focused on the gray shadows.

The Qi of these "yin entities" is very special; it is different from the Qi of nature and also different from the Qi of the Liu family when they controlled corpses.

If used in combat, it can disrupt the enemy's mind or directly charge, making it an effective means of attack.

The most interesting thing is that this was all done by Deng Youcai himself; he didn't actually invite any spirits to possess him.

This gave Cheng Mo a new understanding of the shamanic lineage—

Previously, he had always thought that the shamanic lineage relied entirely on spirit possession, but now it seems that their own cultivation is not bad, and they are not completely subservient.

That makes sense. If Guan Shihua could only rely on being possessed by a deity, she wouldn't be able to keep her position as one of the Ten Elders.

A few minutes later, Deng Youcai stopped what he was doing.

He was covered in sweat, his face was a little pale, and he leaned on the incense table to catch his breath.

The gray shadows gradually disappeared.

The man asked cautiously, "Master Deng, are you done?"

Deng Youcai ignored him and went over to check on Xiaolin's condition.

Xiaolin slumped in the chair, looking even weaker than before.

Deng Youcai's brows were so furrowed they could trap a fly.