Under One Person: The Taoist Priest Descends the Mountain

(P.S. This chapter is free. It mainly contains discussions about cultivation and plot development, so I won't waste your coins.)

in the hotel.

Cheng Mo exited the interior scene.

Xia He leaned closer: "How did it go? Did you get the answer?"

Cheng Mo nodded: "It's basically clear now. There are two locations, one is moving, and the other is stationed in the suburbs."

Xia He asked with a hint of anticipation, "Shall we go now?"

Cheng Mo shook his head: "Let's practice our skills, rest for the night, and go again tomorrow."

Xia He was taken aback: "Huh? Shouldn't we be rushing over to get there first?"

"There's something wrong with your thinking," Cheng Mo said, looking at her. "What are we going there for?"

"Destroy the sword," Xia He blurted out. "That's what Master told us to do."

Cheng Mo nodded and then shook his head: "This was arranged by Master, but it's not our main purpose."

Xia He didn't understand: "What's our main objective?"

Cheng Mo: "Let's watch the show."

Xia He: "..."

Cheng Mo added, "To be precise, it's about observing how these extraordinary people react when faced with a knife."

Xia He was completely bewildered: "??"

Cheng Mo laughed: "Have you ever thought about why a big shot like Lü Ci would want to come?"

Xia He thought for a moment: "Didn't they say his brother died by that knife?"

Cheng Mo Xiaoxiong shrugged: "So what? The person holding the knife is already dead. It's just a knife, not a real living thing."

Xia He asked thoughtfully, "You mean, Lü Ci is stuck in past hatred and can't get out of it?"

Cheng Mo nodded: "It is said that cultivation begins with cultivating the mind. Lü Ci's mind is not strong enough. Even at over a hundred years old, he still cannot see through things or let go. In the end, all that he sought in his life was nothing but emptiness."

"That's ridiculous," Xia He said irritably. "He's one of the Ten Elders, the patriarch of the Lü family, one of the four great families in the world of supernatural beings. The family has been around for so many years. Even if he's gone, there are still the descendants of the Lü family."

Cheng Mo didn't respond to that.

He was thinking about something else entirely—the descendants of the Lü family? Ha.

What Lü Ci truly valued was the Lü family. He imprisoned Duanmu Ying and refined the Lü family's Soul-Brightening Technique. But how could he know what tricks Duanmu Ying had up her sleeve behind the Soul-Brightening Technique?

He didn't say these things aloud, but simply shook his head and changed the subject: "We don't know what the other superhumans in the country are up to, so let's not talk about that for now. Let's talk about Japan."

Xia He's attention was diverted: "What's going on over there? Haven't they shown up yet?"

"The Japanese are masters of patience; ninjas are masters of patience, and samurai are masters of patience too." Cheng Mo's lips curled up. "They didn't make a move before because they didn't have definite news about the demon sword. Now... they've definitely started taking action."

Xia He frowned: "If that's the case, shouldn't we set off sooner? This is a rare opportunity to take down those Japanese devils."

Cheng Mo waved his hand: "That knife won't be so easy for them to get their hands on. If we go and join the melee now, we don't know if we'll fall into a trap. It would be funny if it turned into our own people fighting each other."

He paused for a moment, then said, "What I want to talk about isn't our involvement, but these little devils."

Xia He asked, puzzled, "What's wrong with the Japanese?"

"A bunch of delusional fools," Cheng Mo scoffed. "It's just a knife; it might have some value as an antique. But many of the Japanese devils are counting on that knife to rebuild their glory."

Xia He asked, "How did you know?"

Cheng Mo shrugged: "Didn't Master say before that we were going to help the Tang Sect to fight the Bihe Ninja? After the war, many of those guys are hiding around here."

Xia He glared at him: "Then why didn't you tell Uncle Gao and the others before?"

"The arrangements have already been made; there's no need for me to explain."

Cheng Mo gently patted her: "That's not the point. Why do you keep interrupting me?"

Xia He stuck out her tongue: "Okay, okay, Teacher Cheng, please start the lesson."

Cheng Mo rolled her eyes at her: "What do you think those little devils are after?"

Xia He looked at him and kept her mouth shut.

Cheng Mo poked her forehead: "Now the teacher will call on you to answer a question."

"Huh?" Xia He covered her forehead. "Oh, it's just for the knife."

"What can you do after you get the knife?" Cheng Mo pressed. "What can you do in He Ren's current situation?"

Xia He thought for a moment: "Uh... how about creating a new demon to gain more influence in their country?"

"So what? At the national level, the gap between us and the Japanese is getting smaller and smaller; surpassing or even crushing them is only a matter of time. And from the perspective of the supernatural world..."

Cheng Mo laughed out loud: "Heh, I'm not bragging, but even if you tied up all the young Japanese kids now, they wouldn't be enough for me to beat up."

Xia He loved seeing his confident demeanor.

Cheng Mo said meaningfully, "So, after they got the knife, all they did was remind us of the national and personal grudges from many years ago, adding unnecessary trouble."

Xia He agreed with his idea, but still had to retort: ​​"That's just your idea. Just like shamans worship their ancestors, that's their belief."

Cheng Mo acknowledged this point, but said, "All beliefs must serve the present and oneself. When one's strength is insufficient, it is the right thing to do is to honestly do one's best and wait for future opportunities. You say they are so tolerant, wouldn't it be better to tolerate for another one, two, or three thousand years?"

Xia He remained silent.

Cheng Mo changed the subject: "Of course, that only applies to ordinary people. We cultivators are different."

Xia He: "??"

Cheng Mo tested him, asking, "Have you read the Tao Te Ching?"

Xia He wanted to glare at him again: "Nonsense."

Xia He: "??"

Cheng Mo tested him, asking, "Have you read the Tao Te Ching?"

Xia He wanted to glare at him again: "Nonsense."

Cheng Mo smiled: "The Tao Te Ching says, 'The highest good is like water. Water benefits all things without striving. It dwells in places that others disdain, therefore it is close to the Tao.' What does that mean? Water flows downhill, and people strive to rise higher, but those who cultivate the Tao should go downhill, not strive, not grab, and not compete with external things."

He pointed at Xia He, then at himself: "We are cultivating ourselves. The body is the foundation, the mind is the foundation. If we cultivate the foundation well, external things come and go as they please. What do they have to do with us?"

Xia He thought for a moment: "It doesn't seem to matter."

"The hardest thing in life is not to see others clearly, but to see yourself clearly." Cheng Mo stretched out his two index fingers and made a "人" (person) shape with them. His two thumbs were connected, forming a house shaped like a heart.

"It's just a knife, but because so many people have died by it, this broken knife has become a trinket."

"Lu Ci thought it was to avenge his brother, but in reality it was to save face for the Lu family."

"Those little devils couldn't see what they had in their hands. They thought that getting a knife would allow them to regain their glory, placing their hopes on external things. If the knife is powerful, then the person is powerful? What if the knife is gone? Does that mean the person is useless?"

"In fact, they don't even understand who they are right now."

Xia He listened without saying a word.

There's a saying in the *Tao Te Ching*: "He who knows others is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened. He who overcomes others has strength; he who overcomes himself is mighty." Being able to see through others is cleverness. Being able to see through oneself is true understanding. Being able to defeat others is skill. Being able to defeat oneself is true strength.

Cheng Mo pointed out the window: "Outside, some people want to defeat others, some want to see through others, but how many are thinking about themselves? How many are wondering whether they should keep what's in their hearts?"

Xia He seemed to be deep in thought.

Cheng Mo sighed: "When my master asked me to go down the mountain to cultivate, I was not willing at the time. I felt that the world was just like that, all about scheming and making a living, nothing more than fame and fortune... Now I see, it really is just like that."

Xia He suddenly smiled.

She recalled a line from the Tao Te Ching: "Be alarmed by favor or disgrace, and regard great calamity as your own body."

What does it mean to be alarmed by both favor and disgrace? It means to be alarmed by both being favored and disgraced—because one takes oneself too seriously.

If you take yourself too seriously, you'll start taking external things too seriously. If someone steals your knife, you'll feel humiliated; if you get it back, you'll feel honored. You'll be easily startled and completely swayed by external things.

Lü Ci was one of them.

He felt humiliated that the sword was in the hands of the Japanese. If he were to snatch the sword back and destroy it, that would be a great honor.

But a knife is just a knife.

The knife itself has no honor or disgrace, no hatred, no value. It is the human heart that attaches honor, disgrace, hatred, and value to the knife.

Then people are led by the nose by what they themselves have added, chasing after the knife all over the world.

The Zhuangzi also says: "The blind cannot appreciate literature, and the deaf cannot appreciate the sound of bells and drums. Is it only the physical body that can be deaf and blind? Even knowledge can be deaf and blind."

A blind man's eyes cannot see the text, and a deaf man's ears cannot hear the bells and drums. But what people don't know is that the human mind can also be blind and deaf at times.

These people are simply mentally blind and deaf.

They cannot see the true nature of the knife, nor can they hear the voice in their own hearts. They think they are chasing the knife, but in reality, they are chasing their own obsessions.

What is obsession? That is what a knife is.

When the obsession changes, the knife changes.

The knife is still the same knife.

The "demon" of the knife lies not in the knife itself, but in the human heart.

Those people weren't chasing a knife; they were chasing the demons within their own hearts.

Xia He understood—

The young Taoist priest's journey down the mountain wasn't just about cultivating himself; he also took her with him.

This is what one should look for when engaging in worldly spiritual practice.

What we see is not just the spectacle, but the myriad aspects of human nature.

Watch how they are led astray by external things, watch how they add their obsessions to their knives, watch how they lose themselves in the pursuit.

As I watched, I realized—a knife is just a knife, but people's hearts are the play. What I wanted wasn't the knife, but the lives of the Japanese soldiers.

Xia He stood up and stretched: "Let's practice, little Taoist. You've been busy all day; you need to relax with some practice."

Cheng Mo smiled and said, "Okay, let's go together."

The two assumed their fighting stances and moved slowly.

Pink mist slowly diffused and enveloped the entire room.