Under One Person: The Taoist Priest Descends the Mountain

"Under One Person: The Taoist Priest Descends the Mountain" is causing a reading frenzy on Cola Novels. Haven't you read it yet?

Xu Si contacted company members, investigated surveillance footage along the route, and searched for traces of Liu Wenzhou and his son.

Less than half an hour later, the news came back—it was confirmed that they would be heading to Old Base.

Cheng Mo sighed, "Following you guys has only resulted in running around all the time."

Everyone: "..."

In some unknown village.

It was already dark. Several dilapidated mud-brick houses were scattered on the hillside, without lights or human voices.

A tent was pitched by the roadside, and a fire was burning next to it.

Liu Wenzhou sat cross-legged beside the fire, his eyes closed, his breathing steady.

Liu Jianwen squatted on the other side of the fire, poking at the flames with a twig in his hand, sparks crackling and shooting upwards.

Suddenly, Liu Wenzhou opened his eyes.

His eyes were golden, and the patterns of the Eight Trigrams Formation were reflected in his pupils, one circle after another, layer upon layer.

"Someone's coming."

Liu Jianwen was startled, and the branch in his hand fell into the fire, sending sparks flying: "Who?"

Liu Wenzhou stood up, golden energy flowing around his body like a thin veil: "People from the company, and Zhuge Qing."

Liu Jianwen grew anxious, standing up and then squatting down repeatedly: "So what are we supposed to do now? You said you were going to protect my son!"

Liu Wenzhou gazed into the distance, his eyes deep and devoid of any emotion: "Don't worry, everything will remain the same. I wanted them to come."

Liu Jianwen glanced at the increasingly dark sky: "So what now? Didn't you say you were going to Jiulei? It's still quite a distance, isn't it? Don't we need to get there in advance to prepare?"

Liu Wenzhou withdrew his gaze and said calmly, "Don't worry, everything is ready."

……

On the national highway.

Several cars sped through the night, their headlights illuminating the asphalt road ahead.

Cheng Mo leaned back in the passenger seat, chatting casually with the people in the back.

"What do you think Zhuge Liang is really up to?"

Xia Liuqing, sitting in the back seat, chimed in, "Zhuge Liang was cautious his whole life and never fought a battle unprepared. Since he dared to call us in, he must have been prepared."

Xia He gripped the steering wheel, her eyes fixed on the road ahead: "But he's not the real Zhuge Liang."

"As long as he thinks it's true, that's fine." Xia Liuqing snorted.

The people in the car started talking all at once. Some said they wanted a physical body, some said they wanted power, and some said they just wanted to prove that they were still alive.

Zhuge Qing sat in the back row by the window, not saying a word the whole time, his expression serious, his eyes narrowed as he stared at the dark fields outside the window.

After listening for a while, he finally couldn't hold back any longer: "That person is not Zhuge Liang."

Cheng Mo waved his hand: "But it looks like it's from your Zhuge family, so why don't you give it a name?"

Zhuge Qing pursed his lips and thought for a moment: "Let's call him Zhuge Zhinian."

Cheng Mo nodded: "Okay. That Zhuge Zhi Nian led us all to the old camp, is he really that confident he can handle it?"

Zhuge Qing shook his head: "If it were me, I would definitely stay in the shadows, slowly laying the groundwork and waiting for things to develop. But that person is obsessed, and sometimes, the way of thinking of someone obsessed is simply incomprehensible to normal people."

Xia He turned to Xia Liuqing: "Do you think it's possible that the faith power brought by the divine weapon has weakened, and it needs to be recharged?"

Xia Liuqing shook her head: "As long as the equipment is set up properly, the power of faith will replenish itself."

"I don't think so," Cheng Mo said.

Everyone looked at him.

Cheng Mo reached out and turned the driver's head back: "Watch the road."

The driver quickly sat up straight and looked straight ahead.

Cheng Mo continued, "Last time, Wei Zhongxian, although he concealed it very well, I could clearly feel his weakness. It wasn't a weakness of Qi, or of the body or of the spirit, but came from a deeper level. They were consuming more than just the power of faith."

Xia Liuqing pressed, "Cheng, stop keeping me in suspense. What else can we consume?"

Cheng Mo uttered two words: "Soul."

Everyone was taken aback.

Xia He frowned: "Isn't spirit the same as soul?"

Cheng Mo shook his head: "Spirit is one of the manifestations of the soul, but not the whole of it. You can think of spirit as the shadow of the soul. A shadow can show what a person looks like, but it is not the person themselves."

Zhuge Qing pondered for a moment: "So, you think he's not really going to do anything, but just wants to show us his results?"

Cheng Mo shook his head repeatedly: "How can you think so highly of someone..."

Zhuge Qing's lips twitched: "..."

Cheng Mo continued, "I think he wants to take us to replenish our energy."

Zhuge Qing's face darkened.

The others remained silent for two seconds.

Xia He rolled her eyes: "Where does he get such confidence?"

Cheng Mo shrugged: "That's an obsession, and it's Zhuge Liang's obsession."

Zhuge Qing emphasized: "No, it's just an obsession, not someone's personal belief."

Cheng Mo shrugged: "Fine, you decide. After all, you're a descendant of Zhuge Liang."

Zhuge Qing shut up.

After driving for more than two hours, we finally arrived near Old Base.

The road became narrower and narrower, turning from asphalt to cement, and then from cement to dirt.

Finally, the dirt road came to an end.

Xu Si got out of the car with a flashlight and shone it around: "The car can't go any further ahead, we have to walk."

The group got out of the car and walked along a gravel path.

After walking for about twenty minutes, we turned a corner and saw the Taoist temple. It was still the same as before—half of the courtyard wall had collapsed, the roof tiles were sparse, and the words on the plaque above the door were no longer legible.

Zhuge Qing carefully inspected the area around the Taoist temple, squatting down to touch several places, and then stood up and walked around the courtyard wall.

"There are no traces of an array." He straightened up and dusted off his hands.

The group then went inside the Taoist temple, searching every corner of the main hall, side rooms, and courtyard.

There was nothing there.

The group stood in the courtyard, looking at each other in bewilderment.

Xia Liuqing scratched his bald head: "That guy led us here just to show us this run-down Taoist temple?"

Xu Si didn't say anything, took out a cigarette, lit it, and took a puff.

Cheng Mo leaned against the courtyard wall, looking up at the moon.

Xia He stood beside him and asked softly, "Little Taoist priest, what did you see?"

Cheng Mo shook his head: "I didn't see anything."

Zhuge Qing stood in the center of the courtyard, his eyes closed, as if sensing something.

After a while, he opened his eyes: "I'll calculate it again."

Cheng Mo reached out to stop him: "Stop calculating, or you'll die."

Zhuge Qing looked up at him: "I can do it."

Xu Si also spoke up: "Now that we're here, let's explore first, don't rush into divination. Only with a deep understanding of the scene can we deal with it properly. Let's split up and search."

The group left the Taoist temple, split into two groups, and searched the surrounding area.

Cheng Mo and Xia He formed a group and headed east.

After walking about 300 meters, a clearing appeared ahead. It was square and half a foot higher than the surrounding ground, and it was covered with grass.

Xia He squatted down, parted the grass, and looked inside: "Is this the foundation?"

Cheng Mo squatted down and looked at it. There were tamping marks on the ground, which were very regular and looked like they were built by man.

He stood up and looked around. There were still a few remaining stones at the edge of the open space, like the foundation of a wall.

"It should be an ancient military structure, possibly a sentry post or a beacon tower."

The two continued walking east for several hundred meters and found another similar open space.

An hour later, everyone returned to the open space in front of the Taoist temple and gathered together.

Xu Si asked, "What did you discover?"

Cheng Mo recounted what he had seen.

After listening, Zhuge Qing frowned: "The layout of these foundations is very similar to the military fortifications built by our ancestors during their northern expeditions."

Xu Si thought for a moment and said, "That means this place really is where Zhuge Liang stayed, and that person's choice was based on evidence."

He looked at Zhuge Qing: "Calculate it again, but be careful."

Zhuge Qing nodded, walked to the center of the open space, and sat down cross-legged.

He had just closed his eyes—

"Ah Qing! What are you doing!"

A loud shout came from behind the Taoist temple.