Under One Person: The Taoist Priest Descends the Mountain

Xia He thought it was because her perception range was insufficient, so she started walking around the valley, carefully sensing as she went.

She walked across the open space, across the grass, past the old pine tree, and past the stream.

I searched all around but found nothing.

Xia He stood by the stream, somewhat bewildered.

Did Erzhuang run away? Or was he still moving?

No, if it moves, she'll definitely be able to tell—human footsteps are different from mouse footsteps; the weight, rhythm, and the sound of them landing are all different.

But she didn't hear anything.

Xia He looked at Cheng Mo again: "Did Er Zhuang go out?"

Cheng Mo shook his head.

Cheng Huihui laughed and said, "It's right here in this valley."

Xia He refused to believe it and went around again.

This time she walked even slower, stopping every few steps to listen carefully and perceive deeply.

Still nothing was found.

Er Zhuang's Qi seemed to have vanished without a trace.

Xia He stood in the middle of the valley, hands on her hips, and shouted, "Erzhuang, you won! Come out!"

A moment later—

"Yay!"

A cheer came from the southwest corner of the valley.

Erzhuang crawled out of an inconspicuous hole in the ground, his hair covered with a few bits of grass and his face a little muddy, but he was smiling very happily and hopping over.

She ran up to Xia He, tilted her head back, and said triumphantly, "Sister, you can't find me, can you!"

Xia He squatted down to help her remove the bits of grass from her hair: "Amazing, amazing, I'm impressed."

Gao Erzhuang turned to look at Cheng Mo, his eyes sparkling: "Senior brother, you should come too! It's so much fun!"

Xia He said from the side, "If your senior brother were involved, he would have found you in no time."

Gao Erzhuang was very confident, hands on his hips: "Impossible! Senior brother definitely won't find it!"

While Xia He was searching, Cheng Mo was also using his senses.

His perception was far superior to Xia He's; he could discern the differences in the Qi of each mouse. But Er Zhuang's Qi was indeed not in the valley—or rather, not anywhere he could perceive it.

He had a guess in his mind and looked at Cheng Huihui.

Cheng Huihui held her teacup, glanced at the sky, and wagged her tail, pretending not to see him.

Cheng Mo smiled too, now that he understood.

"Then I'll count to one hundred too, Erzhuang, you can hide."

He's quite happy to play games with the kids.

Gao Erzhuang cheered and grabbed Xia He's hand, running off: "Come on, sister, I'll take you to a great place where your senior brother will never find you!"

Xia He followed her curiously.

The mice sprang into action again, scurrying about in all directions with a rustling sound, and the Qi (vital energy) once more filled the entire valley, disrupting everything.

Xia He followed Er Zhuang to the southwest corner of the valley, which was the cave entrance that Er Zhuang had just crawled out of.

The opening wasn't large, only about the size of a bucket, and it was surrounded by weeds, so it was almost invisible unless you looked closely.

Erzhuang bent down and crawled inside, then turned back and waved to Xiahe, "Sister, come quick!"

Xia He followed her inside.

The cave was much larger than she had imagined. Although the entrance was narrow, the space inside was spacious, and she could walk around by bending over without having to climb.

The cave walls were a mixture of mud and stone, with tree roots embedded in some places, hanging down from overhead. There was a damp smell of earth in the air, but it wasn't unpleasant; instead, it had a fresh, grassy fragrance.

Erzhuang walked forward with ease, his short legs moving quickly.

After many twists and turns, Xia He had completely lost her sense of direction.

After walking for about two or three minutes, Erzhuang stopped, patted Xiahe's hand, and gestured for her to be quiet.

Xia He squatted down and sat side by side with Er Zhuang in the cave.

Only two or three mice were with them, squatting there motionless, their beady eyes gleaming faintly in the darkness.

Erzhuang leaned close to Xia He's ear, his voice barely a whisper: "Sister, Senior Brother will never find this place. The latest chapter of [Chapter Title] has been updated, hurry and follow it on Kele Novels!"

Xia He squatted in the cave, carefully sensing the Qi around her.

The Qi here was no different from that outside; it flowed as it should and settled as it should, but she just felt comfortable all over.

It was a cave, but it felt like sitting on a wide-open meadow. A gentle breeze blew in from somewhere, carrying the scent of grass and earth on my face, neither too hot nor too cold.

She closed her eyes and vaguely felt the warm sun shining on her, warming her from head to toe. She felt lazy and relaxed, like taking a nap in a chair on a spring afternoon.

Xia He vaguely understood—there might be a unique formation set up here, "borrowing" the natural world outside.

She was enjoying this moment when her ears twitched.

It was Cheng Mo's voice, very soft, as if it came through several layers of walls, and it was hard to hear what he was saying.

Then came the sound of footsteps, so light they were barely audible; had she not been so calm at the moment, she would not have heard them at all.

The sound circled several times in the cave, sometimes so close it seemed to be right next to your ear, sometimes so far away it seemed to be on the horizon.

Xia He couldn't tell where Cheng Mo was, nor did she care to. She simply closed her eyes, feeling the wind in the cave, smelling the scent of grass, and listening to the faint sounds.

I don't know how much time has passed.

"Come out—I surrender—"

Cheng Mo's voice suddenly became clear, as if he were shouting from the cave entrance.

Erzhuang cheered and grabbed Xiahe's hand, running back. They twisted and turned, going left and right, and after a while, Xiahe had completely lost her sense of direction.

Suddenly, a bright light appeared before their eyes, and they emerged from another hole.

The sunlight shone down, making Xia He squint.

She straightened up and glanced back—

The cave entrance is in the northeast corner of the valley, which is not the same place as the southwest corner where we entered earlier.

Erzhuang jumped up in front of Cheng Mo, hands on his hips, face tilted back: "Senior brother! How was it! Weren't you impressed by my superb hide-and-seek skills!"

Cheng Mo gave her a thumbs up, his expression genuinely sincere: "Erzhuang is really amazing."

"Hahaha—" Erzhuang put his hands on his hips, looked up at the sky, and laughed loudly, his voice full of energy.

She laughed for a while before stopping, then walked up to Cheng Mo, looked up at him, and asked, "Senior Brother, do you want to know how I hid it?"

"Let me guess," Cheng Mo said, stroking his chin. "Did you learn to mimic the scent of mice, and when you blend in with them, I can't tell the difference?"

Gao Erzhuang shook his head, looking disgusted: "Senior brother is so stupid. If you do it that way, Sister Xia He won't be able to hide."

"Right, right, I was stupid." Cheng Mo tapped his head. "Then I'll guess again."

He looked at Xia He, who smiled and raised an eyebrow at him, showing no intention of helping at all.

Cheng Mo turned back to look at Er Zhuang: "Is there a super awesome place that can completely hide your Qi?"

"Senior brother is amazing! He guessed right!" Erzhuang clapped his hands and jumped up, then turned and ran back. "Come on, I'll take senior brother to see!"

"Your senior brother shouldn't go," Cheng Huihui said slowly, reclining in the armchair and holding a teacup. "He might tear the hole open."

Erzhuang stopped, looked back at Cheng Mo, then at the cave entrance, and gestured with his hand to show the diameter of Cheng Mo's shoulder and the cave entrance: "That's right, Senior Brother is too tall."

Cheng Mo wasn't annoyed. He turned to Xia He and asked, "What kind of place is that?"

Xia He thought for a moment and then expressed her feelings.

"It's really amazing. It's a cave, but it feels like sunbathing on a grassy field. And it doesn't seem like there's a single path leading to the end; it keeps changing."

She looked down at Gao Erzhuang and asked, "Is that right, Erzhuang?"

"Yes." Erzhuang nodded, then shook his head. "But it doesn't change all the time. It changes about once every half hour. We have to follow the method taught by our master to find the way in and out."

Cheng Mo and Xia He both looked at Cheng Huihui.

Cheng Huihui stroked his beard, his tail swaying slowly behind the chair: "I discovered that place by chance. First, we need to locate our current position, and then use some mathematical methods to calculate the entry and exit paths."

He tapped Erzhuang with the tip of his tail: "This girl is smart, she learned it in just two days."