Under One Person: The Taoist Priest Descends the Mountain

Erzhuang was carrying several bags and holding the little hedgehog in his arms.

Erzhuang opened the back door, climbed in, put the bag on the seat, and let out a long sigh of relief: "I'm exhausted."

Xia He also sat in the back row and asked Cheng Huihui, "Uncle-Master, how was the drive?"

Cheng Huihui gripped the steering wheel, her tone indifferent: "It's alright."

Erzhuang peeked out from behind: "Uncle-Master, you really know how to do it?"

Cheng Huihui chuckled, stepped on the gas, and the car drove off smoothly.

After driving for a while, Cheng Mo said, "Uncle-Master, pull over for a moment."

Cheng Huihui parked the car on the side of the road.

Cheng Mo turned to Er Zhuang and said, "Er Zhuang, follow your master closely and behave well."

Erzhuang nodded vigorously: "Don't worry, senior brother, I promise to take good care of senior uncle~"

Cheng Huihui swished its tail happily without arguing.

Cheng Mo waved to Xia He, and the two got out of the car, saying, "Goodbye Erzhuang, goodbye Uncle/Master."

Erzhuang leaned against the car window and waved to the two of them: "Goodbye senior brother, goodbye sister~~ Hehe, see you at the temple."

Cheng Mo reminded Cheng Huihui, "Uncle-Master, if you encounter any inspections, just call me and I'll contact the local 'All-in-One' service to resolve the issue."

Cheng Huihui waved her paw impatiently: "Okay, okay, let's go."

He's currently in the exciting phase of just learning to drive and just wants to drive around, not wanting to wait a moment longer.

Cheng Mo grabbed the car door: "Don't rush."

He took out his wallet from his pocket and handed it to Cheng Huihui: "Erzhuang knows how to use the bank card. There are a few thousand yuan in cash in here. You can withdraw more if you need more."

Erzhuang leaned out from the back seat: "That's enough, senior brother. This much money is enough for me to live on for several years."

Cheng Mo smiled, offered no explanation, and waved his hand, "Alright, this is really goodbye. Uncle-Master, don't drive too fast."

Cheng Huihui stuffed her wallet into her hoodie and waved her hand dismissively: "Alright, enough with the rambling. You're even more long-winded than that old Taoist priest was back then."

The car started, slowly drove off, turned the corner, and disappeared into the traffic.

Xia He watched the car drive away, a little worried: "Is Uncle-Master sure he can manage? After all, it's his first time driving on the road."

Cheng Mo patted her on the shoulder: "Don't worry, your uncle is now at the level of a race car driver."

"...Is learning to drive that simple?" Xia He turned to look at him.

"That's right." Cheng Mo said seriously, "It's just hand-eye-foot coordination. For us superhumans, it's the most basic thing."

Xia He's eyes lit up: "Then I want to learn too."

Cheng Mo nodded: "Okay, after things are settled here, we'll use the company car to come and learn."

Xia He took his arm and said, "Mmm~"

The two turned and walked towards the hotel.

……

The next day.

Cheng Mo and Xia He were strolling down the street, pondering what to have for lunch, when their phone rang.

He took it out and saw—Xu Si.

"Hello, Master Cheng, we have some information about Zhong Kui. If it's convenient for you, you can come over to Heng'an Hospital." Xu Si's voice came through the receiver, unusually serious.

Cheng Mo replied, "Okay, I'll be there in a bit."

After hanging up the phone, he turned to look at Xia He.

Xia He came out of the fitting room wearing a light blue sweatshirt and turned around in front of the mirror.

"How is it?"

Cheng Mo gave a thumbs up.

Xia He nodded in satisfaction and handed the clothes to the waiter: "This is the one, pack it up."

The waiter took the clothes and tidied them up.

Xia He linked arms with Cheng Mo and asked, "Any news?"

Cheng Mo nodded: "Heng'an Hospital, it seems someone was attacked."

The waiter folded the clothes, put them in a bag, and casually asked, "Are you from the government?"

Cheng Mo shook his head: "Why do you ask that?"

The waiter looked around to make sure no one else was nearby, then lowered his voice and said, "Since the Lantern Festival, we've had several attacks here, all in the middle of the night, involving both men and women. I heard they all lost their souls."

Cheng Mo also lowered his voice: "Is this so eerie? Have we encountered a ghost?"

The waiter nodded repeatedly, his expression a mixture of excitement and fear: "Yes, yes, that's what we all say."

She looked around and waved to the two of them.

Cheng Mo and Xia He moved closer.

The waiter said softly, "Let me tell you, my grandfather was a Nuo opera performer. Do you know Nuo opera?"

Cheng Mo naturally knew that the books Xia He had borrowed described Heng'an Nuo Opera—a representative of northern Nuo culture, a three-day opera called "Catching the Yellow Ghost" that takes place every year on the Lantern Festival, starting from the fourteenth day of the first lunar month and lasting until the sixteenth.

The most exciting day was the "Catching the Yellow Ghost." Yama, the King of Hell, ascended the platform, the judges selected the ghosts, and the five ghosts captured the evil spirit, the Yellow Ghost, representing calamity, and brought to the platform to have its intestines and skin removed, symbolizing the exorcism of evil and the avoidance of disaster.

Cheng Mo nodded and pointed at Xia He: "Her grandfather also performs Nuo opera, but he's from Guizhou Province."

Xia He nodded and smiled at the waiter.

The waiter seemed to feel a sense of camaraderie and started talking: "Oh, what a coincidence! Let me tell you, we usually catch yellow ghosts during the Lantern Festival here, but something happened this year."

"What is it?"

"Normally, the capture of the Yellow Ghost should be completed before noon the next day. But that day, there was still one Yellow Ghost missing when it was noon. It didn't appear until the time when Yama ascended the platform and was about to be disemboweled."

She swallowed hard and said mysteriously, "Later, my grandpa told us that it was someone they found temporarily to play the Yellow Ghost. They still haven't found the person who played the Yellow Ghost."

Cheng Mo mimicked her mysterious tone: "That yellow ghost, could it really turn into a ghost and harm people?"

The waiter nodded repeatedly, his face flushed with excitement: "Yes, yes, yes! That's what everyone we know says! But the officials don't believe us, insisting there are no ghosts."

Xia He suppressed a laugh and pointed to the counter: "Um, could you pay my bill first? We still need to go to the hospital."

The waiter said "Oh, oh" twice and quickly went to operate the cash register.

After paying the bill, she handed the bag to Xia He and asked in a low voice, "You really didn't go to the hospital to investigate this matter?"

Xia He patted her on the shoulder: "Don't worry, we're not investigating this."

The two turned and walked out of the clothing store.

The waiter watched them leave and muttered to himself, "What do I have to worry about? This person is really strange."

……

Cheng Mo and Xia He took a taxi to Heng'an Hospital.

Several Nationwide bread trucks and two government vehicles were parked in front of the hospital.

Cheng Mo made a phone call to Xu Si.

"I'm not over there right now. Wait a moment, I'll have someone come down to get you," Xu Si said.

A moment later, a young man in gray overalls ran out of the building.

"Master Cheng? Miss Xia? Fourth Brother sent me to pick you up."

The two nodded and followed him toward the inpatient department.

Once we reached the third floor, the corridor was quiet, with only the occasional nurse pushing a cart passing by.

As I walked to the door of a hospital room, I happened to run into two men in hats coming out of it.

The company's employees knew them, and the two sides nodded to each other in greeting.

Uncle Hat glanced at Cheng Mo and Xia He, said nothing, and turned to leave.

Cheng Mo asked, "Hat Uncle has already been involved in this?"

He recalled what the clothing store clerk had said about the government refuting rumors; it seemed that the Zhong Kui incident had caused quite a stir.

The employee nodded and sighed, "This matter has now reached the Municipal Public Security Bureau. Those two people were from the Municipal Bureau, specifically in charge of this case. When that person was discovered yesterday, a passerby called the police, and Uncle Hat arrived at the scene first."

He then led the two into the ward.

It was a double room, but only one person was staying there.

Several medical instruments were placed next to the hospital bed. The electrocardiogram monitor was beeping, two bottles of medicine were hanging on the IV stand, and there was an oxygen cylinder on the shelf next to it.

A man in his forties lay on the bed. He was pale, with bloodless lips, sunken eyes, and prominent cheekbones.

Cheng Mo walked to the bedside and observed carefully.

This person's breathing was slightly weaker than normal, with shallow chest rise and fall and a slow frequency, only about ten times per minute.

He then looked at the data on the electrocardiogram monitor—his heart rate was slow, his blood pressure was low, but his blood oxygen saturation was still within the normal range.

Cheng Mo reached out and sent a wisp of Qi through his hand.

It was as if a large portion of this person's energy and spirit had been drained away by something...

A person lives on their vitality and spirit. These three things are like the three legs of a tripod; if any one is missing, it will collapse. Right now, all three legs of this person are weak, barely keeping them from falling, but they can't stand steadily.

Moreover, this person is an ordinary person, not an extraordinary individual.

Ordinary people's energy and spirit are not as strong as those of extraordinary people. After being drained like this, it is already a miracle that they are still alive.

Cheng Mo withdrew his hand, turned his head and asked, "Were all the people who were attacked before in the same situation?"

The employee nodded.

Xia He asked, "What about the people who were attacked earlier? Why aren't they in the same hospital room?"

The employee sighed: "Two people have been confirmed to be in a vegetative state and have been taken home by their families. These two were initially placed in the same ward, but after a few days they both became vegetative, so they were no longer placed in the same ward."

Cheng Mo and Xia He exchanged a glance.

How can it have this effect?

Cheng Mo asked, "What's the logic behind that?"

The employee shrugged: "We don't know either. The doctors said it might be a mutual influence, but they don't understand the specific mechanism. Anyway, that's the arrangement from above, so we just follow it."

Cheng Mo then asked, "Any leads on the attacker?"

The employee walked to the window and pointed outside: "We checked the surveillance footage along the way, and that person has already left Heng'an. Our people are searching along his route, and so far we can only confirm that he entered the neighboring Zhang County."

Cheng Mo took out his phone and called Xu Si.

beep-

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