Under One Person: The Taoist Priest Descends the Mountain

Cheng Mo teased, "How come you always stop so smoothly?"

Xia He ignored him, shifted into reverse, released the clutch, and stepped on the gas.

The car reversed, emerging from the darkness.

The car headlights illuminated the road again, but the darkness remained, motionless, like a wall blocking the middle of the road.

Xia He parked the car and turned to look at Cheng Mo.

Cheng Mo pushed open the car door and got out of the car. He stood in the middle of the road, made a hand seal, and the array pattern under his feet spread out, circle after circle, until it reached the edge of that dark place and stopped.

Cheng Mo squinted, sensing the flow of Qi.

That darkness seemed to be breathing; with each rise and fall, wisps of energy seeped out and drifted in the air.

"Oh." From the unseen shadows, a sinister laugh rang out. "A warlock, huh? Let's see what you're capable of."

Cheng Mo ignored him and stomped her foot.

"The character 'Kun' represents the Earth River Chariot."

A crack appeared in the ground, extending forward from Cheng Mo's feet, growing wider and deeper.

The crack stopped ten meters away.

The other person exclaimed, "Huh? That's interesting."

An ice spike shot out from the darkness, heading straight for Cheng Mo's face.

Cheng Mo turned his head to dodge, and with a backhand wave, an earthen wall rose from the ground to block his way.

The icicle struck the earthen wall and exploded, scattering shards of ice all over the ground.

More icicles came shooting in from all directions.

Cheng Mo waved his hands repeatedly, and earthen walls rose one after another, forming a circle that enveloped the car and himself.

The icicles slammed into the earthen wall with a series of loud thuds, leaving the wall pitted and uneven, but it didn't collapse.

The other person exclaimed "Eh!" again, this time with a hint of surprise in their voice.

Cheng Mo made a hand seal again.

The character 坤 (Kun) is composed of the radical 土 (Tu) and the radical 河 (He).

With a loud rumble, the ground cracked open, and soil surged out from the crack, flowing like a river towards the darkness.

The character "离" (li) is followed by "火流星" (huo liu xing). Ten fireballs rose simultaneously, lined up in a row, suspended in mid-air, illuminating the darkness.

The character "坎" (Kan) – Water Spinner. A jet of water, as thick as a bowl, rose from the ground, circled his body, and rushed towards the darkness.

The character 巽 (Xun) represents a wind blade. The wind condenses into a blade, as thin as paper, with white edges, whistling past.

The four spells attacked the darkness simultaneously, the firelight illuminated half the sky, water vapor evaporated into mist, and the wind blades made a hissing sound as they cut through.

That pitch-black expanse trembled.

The sinister voice rang out again, this time without the usual composure: "Kid, with your qi... what did you eat to grow up like this?"

Cheng Mo remained silent, his hands never stopping. He doubled the number of Earth River Chariots, increased the number of Fire Meteors to twenty, doubled the thickness of Water Dragon Whirls, and doubled the density of Wind Blades.

The four spells were like four whips, lashing in turn at the darkness.

The darkness began to deform.

The person in the shadows finally made their move, and streams of black energy surged from all directions, colliding with Cheng Mo's magic and producing muffled sounds.

The two fought each other from a distance. Although Cheng Mo's magic was not as exquisite as his opponent's, and every move seemed a bit clumsy, his Qi seemed inexhaustible. As soon as one spell was neutralized, the next one would follow in quick succession.

The man in the shadows grew increasingly alarmed as the fight progressed. What was wrong with this kid? His Qi was so profound; he was practically inhuman!

He originally wanted to finish the battle quickly, but he found that his opponent was like a bottomless pit. No matter how much Qi he consumed, his opponent could replenish it immediately and even became more energetic as the battle progressed.

If things continue like this, I'll be dragged down sooner or later.

The person in the shadows gritted their teeth, their figure blurred, and they vanished from the spot, leaving only a sentence echoing in the air: "Kid, you're lucky. We'll meet again!"

As soon as the words were spoken, the darkness receded.

Cheng Mo stopped his movements, his brows furrowing slightly.

This person retreated decisively, without the slightest hesitation.

The headlights pierced through the darkness, illuminating the three cars and the Nationwide employees surrounding them.

But Zhong Kui had already disappeared.

The lights blinded Xu Si and the others, who were using their various supernatural abilities to guard against a surprise attack. It took them a while to see who it was.

Master Cheng,

"Thank you, Miss Xia." Xu Si, without any embarrassment, withdrew his supernatural power and clasped his hands in thanks.

Xu Si lowered his hand and let out a long sigh: "Master Cheng, Miss Xia, thank you."

Cheng Mo looked around and said, "Fourth brother, and third brother, your methods aren't up to par. You haven't learned the essence of Lao Xu's methods."

"Of course I can't compare to my father." Xu Si wasn't uncomfortable at all. He took out a cigarette from his pocket, put one in his mouth, and said, "But this time, I mainly underestimated my opponent."

He pointed to a large crater in the ground: "That guy is several levels stronger than the previous one. So many of us almost fell for his trick. In the end, he used some kind of method to escape underground."

Cheng Mo patted him on the shoulder: "Don't make excuses for your failure. Summarize the lessons learned from this failure and try not to make the same mistake next time."

He yawned, turned around and waved, "I'm sleepy, I'm going back to rest first, you guys keep going."

Xu Si cupped his hands in greeting: "Taoist Cheng, please take care."

Cheng Mo helped Xia He into the car, and Xia He waved to Xu San and Xu Si: "Fourth Brother, Third Brother, goodbye."

She continued driving, the car disappearing into the night, its headlights casting two white streaks across the road.

Xu Si stood there, watching the taillights disappear at the end of the road.

Xu San patted Xu Si on the shoulder: "Are you alright?"

Xu Si remained silent.

This was a huge embarrassment—they had already captured the man and handed him over, but he managed to escape. Several of our brothers were injured and were lying on the ground groaning in pain; it was utterly disgraceful.

Xu Si took the cigarette out of his mouth and flicked off the ash: "What could possibly happen to me?"

He turned to everyone and said, "Get in the car, let's go to the hospital first and get the injured brothers settled."

The employees hurriedly helped the injured into the vehicle. Someone picked up a suture needle from the ground, looked at it in his hand, and then threw it away—the thing was already broken in two, and no one knew when it had broken.

The three cars were restarted, their hazard lights flashing, and they headed towards the county town.

Xu Si sat in the passenger seat, leaning back with his eyes closed, tapping his fingers on his knees.

Xu San glanced at him in the rearview mirror: "What are you thinking about?"

"How did that guy escape?" Xu Si opened his eyes. "None of us noticed when the Biyuan Needle fell off."

"That array master can change the road, what's a few needles?"

Xu Si nodded and then closed his eyes again.

……

On the national highway.

A truck bumped along in the night.

Zhuge Qing sat in the passenger seat, his backpack tucked into his arms, watching the dark mountain shadows flash past the window.

The driver was a man in his forties. Seeing that he looked like a student and was carrying so much money, the driver assumed he was a runaway.

"Young man, where are you headed?"

"Longnan," Zhuge Qing said.

"Longnan?" The driver paused, then said, "That's quite a distance. You haven't run away from home, have you?"

Zhuge Qing smiled and said, "No, I'm going to sketch. I'm an art student, and the scenery there is beautiful."

The driver said "Oh," and nodded. "You studied art, huh? No wonder. But aren't your family worried about you traveling so far alone?"

"I've already told my family," Zhuge Qing said.

The driver glanced at him again, clearly not quite believing him, but didn't press him further.

After driving for about half an hour, the driver spoke up again: "Let me tell you, young man, your family's nagging is all for your own good. When I was young, I also hated my parents nagging me, but now I can't even hear them nagging anymore."

Zhuge Qing nodded but did not reply.

Seeing that he didn't want to talk, the driver shut up and focused on driving.

The truck had been bumping along the national highway for four or five hours. As dawn broke, Zhuge Qing called for a stop at a fork in the road.

"Master, let's get off here."

The driver parked the car on the side of the road, and Zhuge Qing took out a few bills from his pocket and handed them over.

The driver took the money and stuck his head out: "Young man, your family's nagging is all for your own good. Go back when you've had your fun here."

Zhuge Qing waved his hand, slung his bag over his shoulder, and got off the bus.

The truck rumbled away, and the dust it kicked up slowly settled in the morning light.