Under One Person: The Taoist Priest Descends the Mountain

About half an hour later, the outline of the town came into view.

Compared to the tranquility of the mountain village, the town is much more lively, with the sounds of people, cars, and shop loudspeakers all mixed together, hitting you in the face.

Today is market day, and the streets are lined with all kinds of stalls, bustling with people.

Upon reaching the town entrance, Li Shoucheng stopped the car: "Master Cheng, I need to go to the vegetable market to secure a good spot."

"Okay, Uncle Li, you're busy. I'll take a look around by myself." Cheng Mo jumped off the truck bed and waved.

"Okay, be careful!" Li Shoucheng reminded him, then pedaled his tricycle into another street.

Cheng Mo straightened his half-worn Taoist robe, stepped into the bustling crowd, and searched for a place to buy pot lids.

The market was filled with a dazzling array of goods: clothing, shoes and hats, pots and pans, farm tools and seeds, snacks and treats... The shouts of vendors rose and fell.

After wandering around half the street, Cheng Mo found his target at a relatively spacious fork in the road.

A general store was set up, and the owner, a lean middle-aged man, was leaning back in his chair, squinting and glancing casually at the side. The stall was piled with hardware parts and cheap plastic products, the most eye-catching of which were several silver pot lids of different sizes.

Under the eaves of the shop next door, next to the stall, stood a heavy, bulky CRT television with a protruding screen. A long power cord was connected to the shop, and it was playing programs with a creaking sound.

The screen flickered slightly, but the colors were bright. The people in it were dressed in ancient costumes and speaking Cantonese lines. Subtitles scrolled below, indicating that it was a TVB Jade drama.

Cheng Mo walked up to the stall and pointed to the pot lids: "Boss, how much are these?"

The stall owner looked up, glanced at Cheng Mo's Taoist robe, and didn't pay much attention: "Small is 260, large is 450."

"What's the difference?" Cheng Mo asked. "Can the larger one receive Hong Kong channels?"

"Of course!" The stall owner perked up, pointing to the TV next to him that was playing a drama. "Look, the one I'm playing now is Hong Kong's TVB. It uses this big screen, the signal is stable, and there are many channels."

Cheng Mo looked at the TV, where the scene was at a crucial moment, with the male lead making a heartfelt confession to the female lead. The lines were so cheesy that Cheng Mo's lips twitched.

"How do I adjust this?" Cheng Mo couldn't quite remember how the one in the temple was adjusted.

"It's simple!" The stall owner gestured, "When you get home, just put it on the roof or by the window. Hold it and slowly turn it until the TV picture is clear and there are more channels. Then fix it in place, usually at a slightly west-southeast angle."

"There's only one elderly person in the family, can they manage it themselves?" Cheng Mo was a little worried.

"What's the big deal? Old man, take your time..." The stall owner stopped mid-sentence, his eyes fixed on Cheng Mo's side, his expression shifting rapidly, a mixture of surprise, admiration, and a hint of unease.

Cheng Mo looked puzzled and followed the stall owner's gaze to the side next to him.

Without him noticing, a girl squatted down beside him.

The girl looked to be about his age, or maybe a little younger. She was squatting casually, with one hand supporting her chin, looking curiously at the pot lids and the television on the stall.

She was wearing a simple white T-shirt and light blue denim shorts, carrying a small bag, revealing a pair of dazzlingly white, straight, long legs, and clean canvas shoes.

What's most striking is her hair, a very rare light pink color, flowing smoothly over her shoulders, shimmering with a delicate sheen in the sunlight, with a few strands playfully hanging down her cheeks, swaying gently with her movements.

Her profile was exquisite, with long eyelashes. She was tilting her head slightly, and there seemed to be a faint smile on her lips.

Her mere profile and the way she squatted there seemed to possess a magnetic attraction, exuding youthfulness, beauty, and an innate, unrestrained charm.

Seemingly noticing Cheng Mo's gaze, the girl turned her face away.

Her face is even more stunning, with incredibly bright features, porcelain-white skin, and eyes that seem to shimmer with natural moisture.

Cheng Mo's heart skipped a beat. This pink hair seemed to be natural. There are several pink-haired characters in Under One Person, but the only one who could appear here should be Xia He, one of the "Four Madmen of Quanxing" and known as "Bone Scraper".

But... that's not right.

Xia He, nicknamed "Bone Scraper," can easily melt a man's bones, make him lose his mind, and even make him willing to die for her. It is said that even without using her supernatural abilities, she possesses a magnetic field that can bewitch all living beings with just a glance or a gesture.

The girl in front of him was beautiful, definitely the brightest star in a crowd, but Cheng Mo didn't feel any allure from her. Was it because she was too young?

"Hey, little Taoist priest," the girl suddenly spoke, her voice clear and crisp, "what's this pot lid-like thing? This TV doesn't seem to be plugged in, so how can I see any programs?"

Just as Cheng Mo was about to explain, the stall owner, whose eyes had been glued to the spot, snapped to attention and blurted out, "This is a satellite dish! It can receive satellite signals directly from the sky! Look!"

He enthusiastically pointed to the edge of the roof of the shop next door, "My TV is connected to one of those, it's right there!"

Following his finger, you can see a silver pot lid leaning diagonally on a corner of the roof, looking up at the sky.

Cheng Mo glanced at the stall owner's eager eyes, which were practically spitting fire, and then looked at the pink-haired girl, becoming even more certain.

The stall owner's reaction... must be that person's.

But why am I acting like nothing happened? Does Xia He's ability vary from person to person? Or is it because my cultivation has made me so detached from worldly desires that I'm immune to beautiful women?

Wait a minute, my heart also raced when I peeked at Master's Playboy copy with the Tao Te Ching on the cover!

While he was daydreaming, the stall owner, unable to contain his excitement, dashed into the shop and immediately pulled out the largest pot lid, brand new, and shoved it into the pink-haired girl's hands.

"Girl! This! This is the latest model, with the best signal, it can receive over a hundred channels! It's...it's yours!"

The pink-haired girl declined, saying, "How could I possibly accept this..."

"Take it, take it! Meeting you is fate!"

After a few refusals, the pink-haired girl "reluctantly" accepted the heavy pot lid.

The stall owner immediately grinned from ear to ear.

The next second, the pink-haired girl flicked her wrist and handed the pot lid to Cheng Mo, smiling sweetly, "Here, this is for you. Didn't you need it?"

The stall owner's smile froze instantly, and his mouth formed an "O".

Cheng Mo: "..."

Before he could even make a move, the stall owner panicked and stammered, "Th-that...that's a gift for you..."

The pink-haired girl blinked her large, expressive eyes and said matter-of-factly, "Yes, you gave it to me, so it's mine now. I can give it to whomever I want, is that alright?"

"This...this...this..." The stall owner was so anxious that he scratched his head and sweated profusely. He felt that whatever she said was right and whatever she did was reasonable, but he felt so choked up that he couldn't utter a complete sentence after trying for a long time.

That's it, Cheng Mo thought, looking at the scene, he was almost certain of the girl's identity.

However, I still need to confirm it in person.

He turned to look at Xia He: "Thank you for your kindness, but I can't just accept gifts from strangers. At the very least, you should tell me your name so I can prepare a return gift in the future."

Upon hearing this, the girl's eyes crinkled into a smile, which grew even brighter, like the first melting of spring snow and the sunlight breaking through the clouds: "Xia He, the rice seedlings in summer~"

When she smiled, the stall owner who had been staring at her suddenly caught his breath, his eyes widened, and he laughed along, looking like a complete idiot.

It's confirmed. Cheng Mo nodded inwardly, calmly accepting the large pot lid: "Thank you, my name is Cheng Mo."

Before the stall owner's expression shifted from blankness to a complex mix of shock, anger, and grievance, Cheng Mo counted out four hundred-yuan bills from the inside pocket of his Taoist robe and handed them over: "Boss, is four hundred okay for this size?"

The stall owner subconsciously took the money, held it in his hand, looked at Cheng Mo, then at Xia He, feeling that something was wrong. It seemed like he had lost out, yet he also felt like he hadn't; it seemed like he had been tricked, yet he also felt like he had done it willingly... His mind was a complete mess, and he stammered, unable to speak.

Cheng Mo didn't linger any longer. He nodded to Xia He, then turned and headed towards the market with the pot lid in his arms.

Xia He blinked as she watched his retreating figure.

This little Taoist priest is quite interesting.

As her supernatural abilities have grown over the past two years, she has witnessed all sorts of men's character traits: the desperate, the greedy, the hypocritical...

But the young Taoist priest's eyes were so clean when he looked at her; there was nothing messy or illicit in them.

He actually paid for the pot lid that I gave him.

Is this foolishness or naivety?

Xia He smiled and followed him briskly.

In this remote and impoverished place, an interesting person has appeared. She wants to see what tricks this little Taoist priest can come up with.

After taking only a few steps, Cheng Mo noticed footsteps following closely behind and couldn't help but want to tease her.

So he stopped and turned around.

When Xia He saw him stop, she also stopped, tilting her head to look at him, her pink hair fluttering gently in the breeze.

Cheng Mo asked, "Why are you following me? Are you waiting for me to return the favor?"

Xia He's eyes darted around, and she nodded repeatedly, her expression innocent yet expectant: "Yes! Didn't you say you were going to prepare a return gift for me?"

Cheng Mo shook his head, shaking the large pot lid in his hand: "But I paid for this pot lid myself. So it doesn't count as a gift from you. In that case, why should I prepare a return gift for you?"

Xia He: "...?"

After a brief moment of surprise, she gently bit her lip, her eyes, seemingly brimming with tears, looking at Cheng Mo with a pitiful expression, and said, "But...you clearly said it...shouldn't you keep your word?"

A man pushing a bicycle was so focused on looking at her that he didn't watch where he was going and crashed hard into a telephone pole with a loud bang, scattering apples from his bicycle basket all over the ground.

On the other side, a middle-aged man was holding his wife's hand in one hand and his daughter's hand in the other, talking to his wife about what to eat for dinner. But his head involuntarily turned towards Xia He, his neck almost twisted 180 degrees.

His wife followed his gaze, and immediately her eyebrows shot up, her voice booming like a shrew: "Zeng Shiqiang! What the hell are you doing?! Are your eyes popping out of your head?! Turn your head back here!"

Cheng Mo glanced at the minor commotion out of the corner of his eye and wondered to himself again: Has this person activated their superpower? But why is everything still calm and peaceful here, with no emotional fluctuations, and I just want to laugh?

He remained expressionless and continued speaking to Xia He, "What I said was, 'I'll only reciprocate if you give me a gift,' but this one you gave me," he shook the pot lid again, "...the transfer of ownership is invalid. So, sorry."

Having said that, without giving Xia He a chance to elaborate, Cheng Mo, carrying the pot lid, quickened his pace and headed straight for the vegetable market.

"Ugh!" Xia He lightly stomped her foot, her cheeks puffing out slightly. "That little Taoist priest... how annoying!"

Seeing that Cheng Mo's figure was about to be swallowed up by the crowd, Xia He stomped her foot again and took long strides to catch up with him.

Hmph, I refuse to believe it!