Under One Person: The Taoist Priest Descends the Mountain

Xia He watched Zhong Kui's retreating figure, then turned to Cheng Mo and asked, "Why didn't you chase after him?"

Cheng Mo pulled her along, slowly following behind: "He doesn't walk fast, he can't run away."

Xia He was puzzled and turned to look at him: "Little Taoist, what are you trying to do? Shouldn't you be hurrying to capture it so you can go back and report?"

"Catching Zhong Kui and Wei Zhongxian won't be enough to explain our mission," Cheng Mo shook his head. "We'd be better off observing this Zhong Kui carefully. Don't you think his condition is quite peculiar?"

Xia He thought for a moment, then suddenly realized: "Oh, so you were just testing me just now."

"Yeah." Cheng Mo nodded. "That guy's Qi is vast but chaotic, and his methods are incomprehensible. But he must have a unique power, something like a soul-snatching ability, that allows him to steal a person's essence and spirit."

Xia He exclaimed in surprise, "Isn't that the ability of underworld ghost messengers?"

"Isn't Zhong Kui just a ghost messenger?" Cheng Mo said.

Xia He was taken aback: "Was this ability granted by the divine weapon, or did Zhao Dezhu develop it himself?"

"have no idea."

"So, we'll just follow them like this?"

Cheng Mo watched the figure walking further and further away and said, "Let's take a look first. It doesn't cost anything to look."

The two of them followed Zhong Kui from a distance.

The thing didn't seem to notice them following it; it kept walking forward without turning its head.

After walking for a while, Cheng Mo suddenly squatted down.

Xia He also lowered her head.

The two looked at the ground.

The ground was a dirt road, loose and soft; you should be able to leave footprints when you step on it.

But Zhong Kui did not appear in the places he passed through.

Xia He shivered.

"The previous victims were all attacked at night," she whispered. "Could he really have become a ghost?"

Cheng Mo glanced at her sideways: "So what if it really is a ghost?"

He pointed to himself: "Didn't I just knock him away? What's there to be afraid of if you can hit a ghost?"

Xia He thought about it and agreed.

She had a moment of madness and connected this thing to the ghost movies she watched as a child—the ghosts in those movies are intangible, untouchable, can pass through walls and disappear without a trace.

But this guy in front of me, one punch and he's sent flying, and he even cries out in pain when he hits a pillar.

Xia He straightened up: "Let's go, let's go up and beat him up again!"

Cheng Mo waved his hand: "I don't usually beat people up."

"He scared me," Xia He said matter-of-factly.

Cheng Mo rolled up his sleeves: "Watch me beat him to death!"

Xia He chuckled.

The two did not chase after them, but continued to follow from a distance.

A village appears ahead.

There is a large locust tree at the entrance of the village. Its canopy is so big that it completely blocks out the moonlight, making the ground pitch black.

Zhong Kui stopped at the village entrance, stood under the big locust tree, looked up at the canopy, and remained motionless.

The costumes hung down, tattered strips of cloth fluttered in the wind, and the facial makeup was obscured by the shadows of the trees.

The village dogs seemed to sense something and started barking.

One, two, three... more and more dogs started barking, the sounds growing louder and louder, some barking, some howling, some whimpering, all mixed together, exploding in the night sky.

The lights were on in a few houses at the village entrance.

A man pushed open the window, stuck his head out, and cursed, "Which bastard is yelling like that in the middle of the night! Are you trying to wake your dad?! If you yell again, I'll break your legs! You son of a bitch!"

He cursed a string of words, spitting out a long distance.

Zhong Kui looked at the window and turned his head slightly away.

The barking grew fiercer; several dogs barked together, their cries urgent and intense, as if they were trying to break free of their chains and pounce.

The man finished cursing and was about to retreat when he suddenly stopped.

He saw the shadow under the big locust tree at the village entrance.

A person stood under the big locust tree, dressed in a theatrical costume, with disheveled hair and a face covered in colorful patterns that shimmered in the moonlight.

The man paused for a second, rubbed his eyes, and took another look.

boom!

The window is closed.

The lights went out.

The houses that had just turned on their lights all turned them off.

Only the dogs continued barking, each bark more urgent and fierce than the last, echoing through the night sky.

Xia He tugged at Cheng Mo's sleeve: "Little Taoist priest, are we just going to watch like this? Aren't we going to stop them?"

Cheng Mo looked at the motionless shadow under the big locust tree: "He didn't hurt anyone."

"I'm afraid it will be too late when he hurts someone."

Cheng Mo thought for a moment and said, "Then let's stay close."

He actually had another thought in his mind that he didn't voice—

He wanted to see how this exorcist would treat ordinary people.

And what would ordinary people's reaction be if they saw someone in theatrical costume standing at the village entrance?

Will he do what that man did, yell and then close the window? Or will he grab a hoe and hit someone? Or will he kneel down and kowtow?

These things cannot be found in the documents; you can only know them by seeing them with your own eyes.

However, since Xia He had already reminded him, he still planned to intervene, just in case someone actually died.

"Walk."

He pulled Xia He towards the village entrance.

The two had just taken a step when Zhong Kui, the demon spirit, moved from under the big locust tree.

He left the big locust tree and walked towards the village, heading straight for the house where the person had just opened the window and started cursing.

Xia He pulled Cheng Mo along and quickened their pace; the two were only about ten meters away from Zhong Kui.

Zhong Kui turned around, the mask on his face flickering in the moonlight.

"It's you again? Are you trying to stop me?"

Xia He and Cheng Mo spoke almost simultaneously.

Xia He: "Don't hurt people!"

Cheng Mo shook his head: "You go about your business, don't worry about us."

"It's you again? Are you trying to stop me?"

Xia He and Cheng Mo spoke almost simultaneously.

Xia He: "Don't hurt people!"

Cheng Mo shook his head: "You go about your business, don't worry about us."

Xia He suddenly turned to look at Cheng Mo: "Little Taoist priest!"

Cheng Mo chuckled dryly twice.

Zhong Kui looked at the two of them and let out a snicker.

"You're not a ghost."

He turned around and took two steps to the front of that house.

The door was made of wood and painted red, but over the years it had faded to a dark red. Two door gods—Qin Qiong and Yuchi Gong—were pasted on it, their edges curled up and making a clattering sound in the wind.

Zhong Kui raised his hand and knocked on the door.

Dududu.

There was no movement inside.

He knocked three more times.

Dududu.

The man's voice came from inside, trembling violently: "No...nobody's here! There's nobody here!"

Cheng Mo and Xia He stood behind each other, exchanged a glance, and both saw the other's lips twitch.

Zhong Kui stood at the door, tilted his head and listened for two seconds, then turned and left.

He went to the second house.

Xia He squeezed Cheng Mo's hand and asked in a low voice, "What happened?"

Cheng Mo shrugged and lowered his voice, "See? I told you he wouldn't hurt anyone."

Zhong Kui walked to the door of the second house.

The door to this house is made of sheet metal, dusty and gray, with a circle drawn on it in chalk, inside which is the character "福" (fortune/blessing), pasted upside down.

He knocked on the door.

Dududu.

There was no sound inside.

Xia He's hands tightened unconsciously, her nails almost digging into Cheng Mo's palms. Her eyes were fixed on the mottled wooden door. If Zhong Kui dared to force his way in, she would immediately swing the little Taoist over and use him as a meteor hammer.

Zhong Kui stood in front of the door, tilting his head as if listening to the sounds inside.

The night wind rustled the locust tree leaves as it passed the village entrance, and in the distance, a dog that hadn't been leashed started barking again, one bark after another, growing more and more urgent.

Zhong Kui acted as if he hadn't heard, and turned to walk towards the next room.

Xia He released Cheng Mo's hand, moved her stiff fingers, then tugged at his sleeve and followed closely behind.

Strangely enough, the pack of dogs that had been barking fiercely just moments before had fallen silent. It was as if the entire village had been silenced by an invisible hand, with only the footsteps of the three people dragging on the dirt road.

Zhong Kui knocked on doors from house to house.

One room, two rooms, three rooms...

He knocked on the door of the entire village, but apart from the first house where the man shouted "Nobody's here" like an idiot, there was no response from the other houses.

After making his rounds, Zhong Kui returned to the big locust tree at the village entrance, leaned against the trunk, and slowly slid down to sit. The tattered strips of cloth from his costume hung on the ground, trembling gently in the night breeze.

He closed his eyes.

The moonlight shone on his face, and the gaudy mask looked like paint that had been soaked in water, the edges of which began to blur and fade, revealing Zhao Dezhu's ashen face underneath.

Soon after, snoring began.

Xia He scratched Cheng Mo's palm and whispered, "What on earth is he doing?"

Cheng Mo scratched back, "I don't know, maybe it's looking for the next ghost but hasn't found it yet."

"So we're just going to stand by and watch?"

"What else? Wake him up and beat him up again?"

Xia He rolled her eyes, pulled her hand out of Cheng Mo's palm, scratched herself, and then put it back in: "Should we notify the company?"

Cheng Mo took out his phone and swiped the screen twice: "It's gotten to this point, we should tell Xu Si."

He glanced at Zhao Dezhu, who was fast asleep, and curled his lip, "Tsk tsk, I thought there was going to be a good show."

Xia He suddenly turned her head and wrapped her arms around Cheng Mo's neck, their noses almost touching.

Eyes facing each other.