Under One Person: The Taoist Priest Descends the Mountain

Biyou Village, Liupanshui.

This village, nestled in a mountain valley, looks no different from any other mountain village, but upon closer inspection, the structure of the houses and the occasional metallic glint in the fields reveal something unusual.

"The cult leader is here! The cult leader is here!"

Qiu Rang waved an ancient Ruyi scepter that flowed with golden light in his hand, shouting as he ran towards the building in the village known as "Xiu Shen Tang".

Inside the Xiu Shen Hall, a young man with handsome features, wearing a white fitted coat and two beauty marks under his eyes, was facing away from the door, fiddling with a round ball the size of a walnut in his hand.

Upon hearing the shout, his shoulders visibly stiffened.

"I told you not to call me cult leader," Ma Xianhong said without turning his head, "It's super embarrassing, okay?"

His toes curled up tightly inside his shoe, and he almost cracked the "devouring sac" in his hand.

I shouldn't have listened to those guys in the first place and started calling it the "New Jie Sect." Now I get called that every day, it's giving me the creeps.

Qiu Rang had already rushed in, replying, "Yes, Master, no problem, Master."

He moved swiftly, and with a gentle wave of his gilded ruyi, a soft, pale golden streak floated out, snatching back the precariously precarious Devouring Pouch from Ma Xianhong's hand.

"What's so great about this little thing?" Qiu Rang muttered, holding the food pouch. "Master, you've wasted too much time on it lately. You should be doing what I'm doing and researching something like my gilded ruyi scepter—it's both impressive and useful!"

Ma Xianhong then turned to look at him, his gaze first sweeping over the ruyi scepter in Qiu Rang's hand: "You just went to see Ding Zihuan? Did you win?"

Qiu Rang immediately perked up, carefully placing the food-eating pouch on the worktable beside him, and proudly brandishing the gilded ruyi: "Hehe, I won~ This gilded ruyi is so useful, ever-changing, powerful, and can be used for both offense and defense!"

He paused, then added, "It's absolutely comparable to the Golden Light Mantra practiced by those Taoist priests on Longhu Mountain!"

Ma Xianhong's attention returned to the small sac: "Weapon forging isn't just for combat."

He pointed to the food-eating pouch, "It's like this. You put some Qi into it, and then try it on your Ruyi."

Qiu Rang looked puzzled, but still did as he was told.

He carefully separated a wisp of Qi and injected it into the Devouring Pouch, then his mind stirred slightly.

The next second, Qiu's eyes widened, his mouth slightly open, and he remained motionless in that position, his eyes fixed on his empty right hand, before suddenly turning to the Devouring Sac floating in the air.

(⊙ˍ⊙)

"Whoa!" he exclaimed.

(°ο°)

"Wow!" His mouth dropped open even wider.

(@[]@!!)

"Oh! This is amazing!" He finally found his voice, his finger trembling as he pointed at the sac. "It...it took my Ruyi? And it's so small?!"

He tried to control the Devouring Pouch, and with a thought, a golden light flashed, and the gilded Ruyi reappeared in his hand.

With another movement, the Ruyi vanished.

I tried it several times and had a lot of fun.

Bang!

With a soft, crisp sound, Qiu Rang froze again. Several cracks appeared on the surface of the Devouring Pouch, which then shattered and dissipated into a few tiny specks of Qi. His gilded Ruyi scepter fell to the ground with a clatter.

Qiu Rang's excitement instantly turned into bewilderment. He slowly raised his head and looked at Ma Xianhong, still with that dumbfounded expression.

(´ ･ _ ･ `)

Ma Xianhong coughed twice and looked away: "Well, I used too much force just now and damaged its internal structure. After I adjust the material ratio and strengthen the core structure, it will be ready for mass production."

As he imagined the scene, his tone became more relaxed. "From now on, everyone in Biyou Village will have one, making it convenient to go out."

Qiu Rang immediately forgot his earlier confusion, clapping his hands loudly, his face beaming with joy: "The leader is wise! The leader is mighty!"

"Master! Master!" Another voice came from afar, and Ding Zihuan ran into the Xiu Shen Hall, panting.

Ma Xianhong's toes, which had just relaxed a little, instantly clenched again. He was enveloped by an invisible sense of shame, and his ears turned red. "I told you not to call me cult leader!" His voice was almost desperate.

"Yes, Master, no problem, Master." Ding Zihuan's reply was exactly the same as Qiu Rang's earlier.

Qiu Rang crossed his arms, glanced sideways at Ding Zihuan, and snorted, "Heh, a defeated general has arrived."

Ding Zihuan immediately flew into a rage, forgetting all about reporting, and pointed at Qiu Rang: "That was a sneak attack! You took advantage of me while I was setting up the new mechanism!"

"Anyway, you lost." Qiu Rang raised his chin.

"You're cheating! You're just relying on your superior magical artifact!" Ding Zihuan protested. "If you're so capable, forge me your own custom magical artifact, and we'll fight again! My mechanical skills combined with my custom magical artifact will definitely be superior to yours!"

Qiu Rang: "Hehe."

"What are you yelling about!"

"Hehe is just hehe."

Ma Xianhong felt utterly overwhelmed and raised his voice to interrupt, "You two, stop arguing!"

He looked at Ding Zihuan, "Ziheng, what brings you here?"

Ding Zihuan slapped his forehead: "I've been so angry with that guy that I've lost my mind. Master, there are two people who have been wandering around the mountains and forests around the village lately. They both look like they're skilled in martial arts. Judging by their range of reconnaissance, they probably won't be long before they find us."

Qiu Rang stopped arguing with Ding Zihuan and frowned, "An extraordinary person? Coming for us? What are they doing in this remote place?"

Ma Xianhong pondered for two seconds, but didn't seem too nervous: "The mountains belong to the country, and the forests belong to the country. It's not a big deal if someone just passes by and takes a look."

He thought for a moment and said to Ding Zihuan, "Keep an eye on them for now, but don't alert them. We'll go and meet them tonight."

……

The forests in Liupan Mountain are more humid and the trees are denser than those in Zhongnan Mountain.

Cheng Mo and Xia He strolled leisurely through the woods.

The mountains and forests here are relatively safe. Apart from the grumpy wild boar we encountered earlier, we haven't seen any ferocious beasts like tigers or leopards.

Unlike in Zhongnan Mountain, where Cheng Mo had chased away tigers three times with his master when he was a child, along with Da Li and Da Huang.

Xia He walked for a while, and then her stomach started to rumble.

She glanced at Cheng Mo every now and then—or rather, at the enormous wild boar he was carrying—and secretly swallowed hard. “Little Taoist, when are we going to find a place to roast this wild boar? We’ve been walking for so long, we’re starving.”

Cheng Mo carried the large wild boar, which was taller than Xia He, with one hand. The boar's hooves dragged on the ground, leaving shallow marks.

He glanced at Xia He sideways: "Wild boar meat is tough, especially this kind of adult female wild boar. The fibers are coarse, the taste is dry, and it doesn't taste good."

Xia He blinked and pointed at the wild boar: "Then why are you carrying it? Isn't it heavy?"

This wild boar looked to weigh at least two or three hundred pounds, but Cheng Mo carried it like a bag of fruit.

Cheng Mo weighed the wild boar in his hand and said matter-of-factly, "Let's find its babies. Wild boar babies have a keen sense of smell; they'll come looking for their mother. Let's wait a bit; maybe we can reunite the family."

Upon hearing this, Xia He immediately revealed an expression of horror mixed with contempt: "Little Taoist priest, how cruel you are! You killed someone's mother and then used her as bait to capture their child!"

Cheng Mo nodded, his tone calm: "Then don't eat pork later."

Xia He hesitated for two seconds: "...Didn't you say that wild boar meat is tough and doesn't taste good?"

Cheng Mo: "That's an adult. The wild boars aren't fully grown yet, so the meat is tender and tastes pretty good. It's very juicy when roasted, and just a sprinkle of salt makes it fragrant."