Under One Person: The Taoist Priest Descends the Mountain

"Little Taoist priest," Xia He nudged him with her elbow, "what are you thinking about? You look so serious."

Cheng Mo's thoughts were pulled back, and he smiled at her: "I was thinking about the place called Qian. It is far from the Central Plains, and many of the strange arts passed down from ancient times have not changed much during the dynastic changes in the Central Plains, and have retained their earlier appearance."

Xia He blinked: "So?"

"So," Cheng Mo said, "as practitioners, it's never a bad thing for us to travel around, see more, and learn about these things. It broadens our horizons."

For example, the origin of entertainers is Nuo opera in witchcraft. Like entertainers, Nuo opera also portrays gods, but how can a person portray a god?

Only God can act as God.

The human body inherently possesses two deities: the primordial spirit, also known as the three souls, which governs innate spiritual intelligence; and the conscious spirit, also known as the seven spirits, which governs acquired thoughts.

Thus, the two inner deities mobilize the essence of their three souls and seven spirits to imitate and conform to those ancient images, thereby obtaining the divine charm.

Everyone possesses these three souls and seven spirits, which is similar to the Three Corpse Gods, but there are also differences.

The Three Corpses are the manifestation of desires, tending towards turbidity; the Soul and Spirit are the foundation of the spirit, closer to purity and clarity.

Even if one cannot perceive Qi for the time being, if one can touch the soul and perform the divine essence through the method of performing the divine, one may be able to use this as an opportunity to reflect on oneself and find clues to the existence of Qi.

Xia He tilted her head and looked at him: "But, my middle school teacher once said, 'Don't bite off more than you can chew.' If you learn so many strange things, I'm afraid it will ultimately delay your proper cultivation."

Cheng Mo nodded: "What your teacher said makes sense, but sometimes, when one path is blocked, you have to look in another direction. Only by drawing inferences from one instance to another and integrating the strengths of different schools can you truly understand yourself."

Xia He looked worried: "Little Taoist, you can't learn those strange things just because you can't sense the Qi. Some witchcraft can really kill people."

Cheng Mo laughed: "Hey, you're worried about me now? Think about how you practice the Longevity Kung Fu first. Did you practice properly as I told you last night at the hotel?"

"I'm being serious!" Xia He glared at him.

"Isn't practicing martial arts the most important thing?" Cheng Mo retorted.

Xia He choked, her cheeks puffed out slightly, and she turned to look out the window, ignoring him.

The main reason is that last night, while lying in bed, I was lost in daydreams and completely forgot about practicing my martial arts.

Cheng Mo looked at the back of her head and slowly added, "Starting today, I will supervise your practice every day. Once in the morning and once in the evening, without fail."

Xia He's shoulders stiffened slightly. She didn't turn around, but the tips of her ears turned a little red.

No, I'm getting the wrong idea again.

……

Tongren, bordering Chongqing, is the eastern gateway to Guizhou and has historically been the place with the most cultural exchanges between Guizhou and the Central Plains.

Inhabited since the Stone Age, this place is renowned for its calligraphy and boasts the best-preserved primeval forest at its latitude. Leaving aside its mysterious legends and witchcraft, it's also an ideal travel destination.

Sure enough, as soon as we got off the bus, several tour groups were gathering in the station square. Most of them were energetic middle-aged women wearing brightly colored sun-protective clothing, making a lot of noise and creating a lively atmosphere.

One of the tour guides stood out—blonde hair tied in a ponytail, a whistle around her neck, and a small flag in hand, she called out in a clear, loud voice, "Aunties, gather here! Our bus will be here soon! Let's take attendance!"

Xia He nudged Cheng Mo with her elbow and whispered, "Hey, little Taoist priest, look at that tour guide, isn't he the one who stopped us at the hotel entrance this morning? How come his arm is all better?"

Cheng Mo glanced at him and whispered, "Doesn't this just prove that he was trying to extort money from us this morning? Don't pay any attention to him. The more you talk to this kind of person, the more they'll try to take advantage of you."

Xia He wholeheartedly agreed: "Yeah, let's ignore him."

The two quickly left the station and blended into the crowd.

After walking a short distance, Xia He looked back but couldn't see Wang Zhenqiu anymore. She turned back and asked curiously, "This place is quite remote, why are there so many tour groups?"

Cheng Mo glanced at her sideways: "You'd better not let the locals hear you say that, or you'll get beaten up. Tongren has historically been a bridgehead between Guizhou and the Central Plains, a port for both land and water transport, and a hub for merchants. It can hardly be considered remote."

Xia He chuckled, "I was just making conversation. Where is this so-called 'hereditary art' you mentioned? How do we find it?"

She made up her mind that she had to stay close to the young Taoist priest the whole way, and she couldn't let him be fooled by those superstitious things.

Cheng Mo shrugged: "I don't know exactly where it is, but logically speaking, this kind of tradition is unlikely to be in a bustling area. Let's wander around and if we come across a wedding or funeral with a religious ceremony, we can try our luck."

Xia He immediately clapped her hands: "Mmm! This is good!" Her eyes lit up.

Cheng Mo thought to himself: What's wrong with this girl? She gets excited whenever she hears about a banquet.

In terms of the bustling atmosphere of high-rise buildings, Tongren is naturally inferior to Qianyang, the provincial capital. However, the old-fashioned buildings on both sides of the street are still relatively well preserved, with blue bricks and gray tiles, upturned eaves, and an ancient charm that has gradually faded from the provincial capital.

However, looking at the increasing number of construction sites and fences around him, Cheng Mo thought that these scenes probably wouldn't last much longer.

He recalled that when he came here on a business trip in his previous life, the city had been completely transformed and looked like a modern city.

This is certainly a good thing for the convenience of the locals, but the disappearance of the ancient charm of the streets and alleys is always a bit of a regret.

"Little Taoist priest, look!" Xia He suddenly tugged at his sleeve, pointed to a road sign, and exclaimed excitedly, "There's a Zhongnan Gate here! Is it the gate from your house that's running over here?"

Cheng Mo turned his head and said irritably, "That's Zhongnan Mountain, the 'Zhong' in 'end point,' while this is Zhongnan Gate, the 'Zhong' in 'middle.'"

However, Xia He's shout reminded him.

Searching aimlessly for the inheritance of witchcraft in ordinary residential areas is indeed like finding a needle in a haystack. Perhaps some old crafts are hidden in well-preserved ancient city blocks like Zhongnanmen.

He remembered watching TV before and it seemed to have been mentioned that the Nuo opera here had been listed as an intangible cultural heritage.

Since it's about preservation, there needs to be successors and places for performances and demonstrations, right?

"Let's go and have a look around inside Zhongnanmen first."

The two hailed a pedicab on the street.

The man pedaling the bicycle was a kind-hearted middle-aged man. As soon as he heard that they were going to Zhongnanmen, he immediately began to give them a warm introduction.

"You two are here for tourism, right? Our Zhongnanmen Gate is quite old, dating back to the Ming Dynasty. There are many old houses inside from the Ming and Qing Dynasties and the Republic of China era. It's now a national key cultural relics protection unit! It's very worthwhile to see!"

The car traveled through the not-so-wide old street, a gentle breeze caressing our faces.

Before long, a tall stone archway appeared ahead, with the three large characters "Zhongnanmen" engraved on it.

The driver said as he pedaled, "This archway was almost collapsing a few years ago, but it was just renovated. Look how impressive it is now!"

After paying the fare, the two got out of the car.

Xia He pulled Cheng Mo to the archway, looked up at it twice, and said with some regret, "I should have brought my dad's old camera with me. It would have been so much better to take pictures."

Cheng Mo patted her shoulder and pointed to the street extending from the archway: "Don't just look at the archway, look at the alleyway over there, aren't there a lot of tables and benches set up? Doesn't it look like they're going to hold a banquet?"

Xia He burst out laughing, her pink hair trembling. "A feast? You're dreaming, little Taoist! Didn't the driver just say this is a national key cultural relics protection unit? How could we let them set up a feast here!"

As she spoke, she grabbed Cheng Mo's arm and pulled him towards the alley entrance: "Come on, come on, let me show you with my own eyes, this is definitely not a banquet!"

Cheng Mo was pulled along by her without arguing.