Under One Person: The Taoist Priest Descends the Mountain

Seeing how respectful this young man was to Guan Shihua, bowing and clasping his hands in greeting, and speaking to her with such politeness...

He couldn't help but snort softly at her indifferent attitude.

He wouldn't go so far as to cause trouble for a junior over this, but he'd made a mental note of the kid.

Cheng Mo...

Arrogant brat.

Lu Ci didn't bother to look at him anymore and walked straight towards Lin Rufeng.

He needs to take that demonic sword back and destroy it; that's the important thing.

But he had only taken two steps—

Cheng Mo appeared in front of Lin Rufeng one step ahead of him.

When did this kid get there? Lu Ci paused in his steps.

Cheng Mo used his foot to lift the demon sword stuck in the ground. The sword spun twice in the air before he reached out and gripped it—

In that instant, Cheng Mo seemed to have entered another space.

All around was a vast expanse of white, nothing at all—no sky, no earth, no wind—it felt like being stuffed into a blank cardboard box.

A voice rang out: "This should be the same as Suharu."

Cheng Mo turned his head and saw a weathered middle-aged man standing next to him. The man was wearing an old-fashioned kimono, his hair was disheveled, and his eyes were empty, like a down-on-his-luck craftsman who hadn't slept for several nights.

"Huh? What did you say? What kind of gibberish is that? I don't understand."

The man continued to chatter on and on.

Cheng Mo realized, "Oh, you're that swordsmith. No, I should call you Obsession. How come your thing is so weak? Other weapon spirits communicate with each other through thought, and you're just using sound, and it's some kind of gibberish. It's really nonsensical."

The swordsmith's obsession remained unchanged.

Countless blades appeared amidst the surrounding white expanse, densely packed, suspended in mid-air, their tips all aimed at Cheng Mo.

Cheng Mo waved his hand, then realized that he also had a knife in his hand.

He weighed the knife in his hand: "Stop with the nonsense, let me beat you up."

The swordsmith, Zhi Nian, bowed to him: "If you do not need my power, then please fight me."

Cheng Mo raised an eyebrow: "Hey, you can speak human language now."

The swordsmith, Obsessive, straightened up: "Desire cannot be destroyed, but it can be overcome. If you wish to leave this place, then have a fight with me—"

"Stop talking nonsense!"

Cheng Mo casually tossed aside the knife in his hand and rushed forward in a flash...

……

in reality.

When Guan Shihua saw Cheng Mo reach out and grasp the knife, her face changed: "Oh dear! How can you be so reckless? You can't just grab that knife like that!"

Lu Ci charged forward, unleashing his Ruyi Force to snatch the knife from Cheng Mo's hand.

Xia He stepped forward, blocking Cheng Mo's path with her arms outstretched.

Lu Ci shouted, "Get out of the way!" His Ruyi Force continued unabated.

The next second—

Click.

Something broke.

It wasn't the sound of metal breaking; it was a crisp sound, like ice cracking or glass shattering.

Cracks appeared on the blade, extending from the hilt to the tip.

Light seeped out from the cracks, not a glaring light, but a soft, faint white light.

The white light grew brighter and brighter, surging out from the cracks and condensing into figures in the air.

The figures were blurry and indistinct, their faces obscured, only their general outlines discernible—some in military uniforms, some in long gowns, some men, some women, some old, some young. They stood in the white light, some looking up at the sky, some looking down at the ground, and some exchanging glances.

One of the figures turned his head and looked at Lü Ci.

Lu Ci's whole body trembled, and the Ruyi Force stopped in mid-air.

The figure nodded at him, and the corner of its mouth seemed to twitch, as if it had said something, or perhaps it had just smiled.

Then a burst of white light.

The figures vanished with the white light, like smoke blown away by the wind, or like snow melting into the sunlight.

Lu Ci stood there, the scar on his face twitching, his eyes reddening, and his lips trembling.

The Ruyi Jin had long since dissipated; he didn't even know when it had.

Xia He remained alert and vigilant, her fists clenched as she stood in front of Cheng Mo. She was frantic, desperate to know what was happening behind her, but dared not turn around—what if the scarred old man attacked her while she was distracted?

Guan Shihua wiped the sweat from her forehead and muttered, "Goodness..."

A large hand landed on Xia He's shoulder.

Xia He was startled and turned around to see Cheng Mo's expression as usual, as well as the fading light and figures.

At this moment, Xia He realized that she had thought too one-sidedly about that sword. The demon sword Hirumaru was not just a sword. Too many souls had died under this sword and could not find peace. How could the living not remember it?

Cheng Mo was also watching. The points of light were bright and warm, like stars or fireflies. They floated in the air above the wasteland for a while before disappearing completely.

He sighed, took two steps forward, and tossed the knife, now shattered into several pieces, to the nearby NaDuTong employee: "Give this knife to your General Manager Gao, let him handle it."

The employee hurriedly accepted it, nodding repeatedly, "Thank you, Master Cheng! Thank you!"

The others reacted quickly and stepped forward, inserting the closed-jaw needles into Lin Rufeng and Liu Yunwei's cervical spines, then lifted the two up and ran towards the convoy.

Xia He grabbed Cheng Mo's arm, her smile so bright it could light up the entire wasteland: "Little Taoist! That's wonderful~"

Cheng Mo smiled at her gently: "Let's go back."

Xia He nodded vigorously: "Mmm!"

Cheng Mo turned to Guan Shihua and cupped his hands in greeting: "Grandma Guan, I'll be visiting Changbai Mountain in a few days. Please don't mind if I disturb your peace and quiet."

Guan Shihua waved her hand with a smile: "Oh, no, no, I'll prepare some delicious food for you then."

Cheng Mo glanced at Lü Ci, but didn't say anything more to him. He led Xia He toward the motorcycle lying on the ground.

Lu Ci watched the two figures leave, his expression not good.

Guan Shihua walked over to him and said slowly, "You're getting on in years, don't bother with the younger generation."

Lü Ci snorted coldly: "Why should I bother arguing with him?"

"Your face is practically glued to the ground." Guan Shihua shook her head. "Let's go, let's go back and have a couple of drinks."

Cheng Mo pretended not to hear the conversation between the two elderly people behind him and helped the motorcycle up.

Xia He saw the damage on the car—the front was crooked, one of the headlights was broken, a large piece of paint was scratched off the fuel tank, and the exhaust pipe was dented—and immediately felt heartbroken: "Grandpa Xia, really, he doesn't take care of the car at all."

Cheng Mo got into the car, started the engine, and it hummed a few times, much louder than before: "Next time we run into him, we'll make him pay us back."

Xia He sat in the back seat and hugged his waist: "Yes, make him pay for it, make him pay for a new one."

"One isn't enough, at least two are needed."

"Yes, yes, one motorcycle and one car."

Cheng Mo twisted the throttle, and the motorcycle sped away.

……

Fengtian, Nadutong Office Building.

Gao Lian breathed a long sigh of relief as he watched the footage transmitted from the scene.

In any case, the main culprit has been caught.

He returned to his office, leaned back in his chair, and rubbed his temples.

Next, we'll wait to return and interrogate Lin Rufeng; we must find out the whole story.

Who was that dead sorcerer? When did they begin their scheme...?

I also need to think about how to write the report to be submitted to the board of directors.

Regardless, Lin Rufeng was someone Gao Lian had arranged, so he had to be careful with his words.

It can't be said that he arranged for Lin Rufeng to be used as bait—that would be tantamount to admitting that he knew about it. It should be said that it was Lin Rufeng's personal action, and he only pursued him afterward.

But you can't be too clear about it either. If you're too clear, no one will believe you.

Gao Lian sighed, picked up a pen, and wrote a title on the paper:

Report on the Hirumaru Demon Sword Incident

He stared at the line of text for five minutes, but couldn't write a single word.

He put down his pen, picked up his phone again, and made a call to Harbin: "Release He Yunchong."

That kid was just unlucky; he got dragged into this without doing anything.

The person on the other end of the phone responded.

Gao Lian hung up the phone, thought for a moment, and then dialed another number: "Release Gao Dazhuang too, let her go back to school."

A helpless voice came from the other end of the phone: "Mr. Gao, your daughter has been yelling for half an hour."

Gao Lian was silent for two seconds: "...Let her curse, release her after dark."