Under One Person: The Taoist Priest Descends the Mountain

After driving for more than an hour, houses began to appear along the roadside—first a few scattered houses with red bricks and gray tiles, and stacks of firewood piled up at the gates. Gradually, the houses became more and more densely packed, and small shops, repair shops, breakfast shops, etc. appeared...

We've arrived at Liulin Town.

The town is small, with a main street running east to west, lined with two- or three-story buildings. The walls are painted with fertilizer and feed markings. The road surface is cement, with cracks in some places, and grass growing in the cracks.

The car drove all the way to the east end of the town, where Hongyun Restaurant was located.

This building looks like a large country villa—no, a super large villa, the kind where five or six families live together. It's only three stories high, with white tiles on the exterior walls and two Roman columns standing at the entrance, with red lanterns hanging on them.

The most outrageous thing is that this building even has an elevator, made of glass, so you can see the elevator car from the outside.

The open space next to the restaurant was already full of cars, and even the entrance to the restaurant had several cars parked there.

Sedans, SUVs, vans—all kinds of brands are available, with license plates from both local and out-of-town areas.

Cheng Mo glanced at the row of cars: "They're here pretty early. Wasn't it supposed to start in the afternoon?"

Xia Liuqing leaned over from the back seat: "Maybe someone's already trying to get business from you."

Xia He found a spot to park the car, turned off the engine, and turned to look behind her: "Grandpa Xia, everyone seems to be dressed normally, nothing special."

Xia Liuqing looked down at her bag of old clothes: "...Well, old man, I've wasted my time."

Cheng Mo picked up the bag of clothes from the back seat: "It wasn't a complete waste of time. You can take it back for Grandma Jin Feng to wear, and give that set to that rascal. That kid can learn a lesson from his bad temper, starting with what he wears."

Xia Liuqing stroked her chin, seemingly quite interested, but still said, "We'll talk about it when we get back."

The three of them got out of the car.

A young man in his early twenties stood at the entrance of the restaurant, wearing a black suit with a small red flower pinned to his chest, holding a list in his hand. Behind him stood two men in plain clothes, who looked like security guards.

Xia Liuqing walked at the front, took out the red invitation from her pocket and handed it over.

The young man took the invitation, glanced at it, and handed it back with a smile: "Please come in, sir, to the second floor."

Xia Liuqing accepted the invitation and swaggered inside.

Cheng Mo and Xia He followed behind, like young people who came to broaden their horizons with their elders.

Xia He glanced back at the door and saw several people being stopped outside, talking to the young man.

She asked in a low voice, "Didn't they say they only booked the second floor?"

Cheng Mo shrugged: "Who knows?"

The three of them entered the lobby and headed towards the elevator.

The three arrived at the elevator lobby. The elevator was located in a corner of the first-floor lobby, with glass doors, and the space inside was small, enough to squeeze five or six people.

Xia He pressed the button, and the numbers on the elevator door jumped down from the third floor—3, 2, 1.

Ding.

The door opened.

There was a person standing inside.

The man paused for a moment when he saw them, then looked surprised: "Brother Cheng? And Xia Yatou, Master Xia? What brings you here?"

Cheng Mo and Xia Liuqing spoke almost simultaneously—

Cheng Mo: "Hey, Lao Tu, you're here too."

Xia Liuqing narrowed her eyes: "Tu Junfang? What are you doing here... wait, how do you know them?"

Xia Hechong nodded to the man: "Hello, strange uncle."

Tu Junfang replied to Cheng Mo first: "The Three Demon Sect is located within Handan City. When I came back, someone from Quanxing gave me an invitation."

He then turned to Xia Liuqing and said, "Brother Cheng is a benefactor to me."

"A distinguished person?" Xia Liuqing looked at Tu Junfang, then at Cheng Mo, her face full of suspicion.

At this point, the lobby became more crowded. People started walking towards the elevator, their footsteps and voices mingling together.

Cheng Mo grabbed Tu Junfang's shoulder and pushed him towards the door, saying, "Come on, let's talk outside."

The group turned and left.

Someone noticed them.

A middle-aged man in a leather jacket watched Cheng Mo's retreating figure, engrossed in reading Chapter 269, "Tu Junfang Obtains a Wonderful Method" (click here). He whispered to the person next to him, "Who is that young man? He's with the ruthless Xia Liuqing, and he's even on very good terms with the Corpse Demon Tu Junfang."

A man with a mustache standing nearby smirked, "I've always heard that the Corpse Demon is cold and aloof, but I never expected someone to be so friendly with him. Go and find out about those two young men."

The man in the leather jacket nodded, turned and squeezed into the crowd, quickly disappearing into the throng.

Cheng Mo and his group left the hotel and headed directly out of town.

On the edge of town, there was a grove of mixed trees, planted haphazardly—poplars, locusts, and elms huddled together, the ground covered with last year's fallen leaves, rustling underfoot. Sunlight filtered through the bare branches, casting patches of light on the ground.

Cheng Mo found a slightly quiet spot to stop and turned around to look Tu Junfang up and down.

Tu Junfang stood under a locust tree, his eyes peaceful, with a relaxed feeling that emanated from within. There was no violence or gloom in his eyes.

Cheng Mo clicked his tongue twice: "Old Tu, you're quite something now. Have you completely solved the problem of the Three Corpses?"

Tu Junfang smiled faintly: "It's too early to talk about a complete solution. It's just that I've gained some insights, and with the help of external factors, I can occasionally reach this state."

Xia Liuqing also noticed Tu Junfang's situation at this moment. He squinted and looked him up and down, then slapped his thigh: "Hey! It really is! You usually have that face of yours, like everyone owes you eight million. But today you're quite something, congratulations."

Tu Junfang and Xia Liuqing cupped their hands in greeting: "You're too kind, Master Xia."

Xia He nudged Cheng Mo's arm from the side: "Little Taoist priest, didn't you have something for that strange old man?"

Cheng Mo slapped his forehead: "Oh, right."

He turned to Tu Junfang: "You probably don't need this now, but it's better to return it to its rightful owner."

Tu Junfang looked curious: "What is it?"

"Wait a minute."

He reached into his pocket and came out with a stack of books. The cover of the top book was yellowed and the edges were curled, but it was still in relatively good condition.

Xia Liuqing's eyes twitched: "You brat, if you have a storage magic treasure, just take it out and use it openly. Why are you hiding it like this?"

Cheng Mo stuffed the stack of books into his coat pocket—then put them back into his pouch—and shrugged at Xia Liuqing: "Hey, I'm not letting you see them."

Xia Liuqing choked for a moment, his mustache twitching slightly: "You—"

Tu Junfang had completely stopped hearing what the two were saying.

His eyes were fixed on the stack of books in Cheng Mo's hand, and his hand unconsciously rose and then fell again.

When Cheng Mo handed over the book, his fingers trembled slightly when they touched the cover.

He turned to the first page.

The paper had yellowed, but the handwriting was clear, each stroke neat and precise. The first line read—

"When a person is born, they are all born into the womb of their parents and nourished by the essence of the five grains. Therefore, each person has three corpses and nine worms in their belly, which are a great harm to people..."

Tu Junfang's hands trembled even more violently.

He flipped through the pages. The second page, the third page, the fourth page… every page was densely covered with writing, and in some places there were small annotations, the handwriting different from the main text.

His hand stopped when he turned to a page in the middle.

The first four words on that page were—

The Three Corpses Severing Technique.

Tu Junfang stared blankly as he turned the pages, one after another, but his eyes remained unfocused. The method to sever the three corpses that he had longed for for many years was right before him, yet he felt a sense of unreality, unsure of where he was.

The method to sever the three corpses that he had longed for for many years was right in front of him, but he felt a sense of unreality.

It felt like a dream.

It's like standing on the edge of a cliff and looking down; the fog is so thick you can't see the bottom, and you can't tell if you're dreaming or awake.

He didn't even know where he was, how he got to this forest, or who the people standing in front of him were.

"Old Tu!"

Cheng Mo's voice was like a muffled thunderclap, exploding in Tu Junfang's ears.

Tu Junfang was startled and suddenly looked up.

"Stabilize your mind! After decades of cultivation, has it all come to nothing?!"