Under One Person: The Taoist Priest Descends the Mountain

While tearing apart half a pig's leg with Ding Zihuan, Qiu Rang took the opportunity to chime in.

"Oh, young lady, you don't understand. When our leader gets busy, he really doesn't have a set schedule. It's common for him to eat only once a day, and sometimes he even forgets to eat. If you keep calling him, you'll interrupt his train of thought, and it'll be troublesome to pick it up again."

Xia He frowned, looking very serious: "But Xiao Mozi has a big appetite. One meal a day is definitely not enough. If he's hungry, he won't have the energy to replenish his body's energy consumption, and he won't have enough strength to cooperate with you in becoming an alien."

Qiu Rang looked at Ma Xianhong, somewhat uncertain: "Is there another way to say that?"

"Theoretically, that's correct." Ma Xianhong nodded. "However, the breakthrough achieved through the Body Refinement Furnace is different from ordinary cultivation methods. It gathers a vast amount of Qi from heaven and earth, far exceeding the ordinary, to impact and reshape the body's Qi-sensing channels through quantitative change."

"During this process, the body can directly draw some energy from the gathered Qi flow to replenish itself, so the need for food intake may indeed not be as great as in regular cultivation."

Cheng Mo's eyes lit up as he grasped the key point: "So that's the theory. But Brother Ma, won't forcibly injecting a large amount of external Qi into the body disrupt the body's internal organic balance? It's like suddenly pouring a river into a stream."

Xia He immediately followed, her face full of worry: "Yeah, yeah! This sounds so dangerous! It's nothing like what that guy who stole the pork said was safe! What if... what if we explode and die?"

As she spoke, she made an exaggerated explosion gesture.

"This involves one of the core functions of the Body Refinement Furnace: it can act as a buffer, regulator, and protector. I'll keep the specific principles and structure a secret for now."

Ma Xianhong smiled confidently: "Brother Cheng, why don't you get some rest for the night? Tomorrow I'll take you to the Cultivation Hall so we can observe it firsthand, and then I'll explain in detail."

Cheng Mo nodded and cupped his hands in greeting: "I leave everything to Brother Ma's arrangements."

Xia He nudged Cheng Mo quietly, her lips moving slightly as if to say, "You'd better be careful, don't get sold out."

Cheng Mo gave her a reassuring smile: "Don't worry."

These little gestures between the two naturally appeared to outsiders as flirting between lovers.

Qiu Rang and Ding Zihuan exchanged a glance, and Qiu Rang revealed a sly smile on his face.

Ma Xianhong then looked away and pretended to study the roadside weeds.

The group continued on their journey, and the sky gradually darkened in the forest. By the time they arrived at Biyou Village, the last glimmer of light had just disappeared.

Cheng Mo estimated the distance; it was nearly ten kilometers from where the wild boar was found to here.

Judging from this, if it hadn't been discovered, it would have taken at least a week to find it on my own, and if I was going in the wrong direction, I might not have been able to find this village hidden deep in the mountains.

He casually asked Ma Xianhong, "Brother Ma, your village is quite far from where we were just now. How did you find us? Do the villagers often patrol the forest?"

"Actually, our village is full of like-minded people, some of whom don't quite align with the mainstream ideas of the supernatural community outside," Ma Xianhong said frankly, his expression unchanged.

"Therefore, people will voluntarily patrol the nearby mountains and forests so that they can deal with enemies in advance if they find them coming to their door; if they encounter lost travelers, they will also lead them away."

He smiled and looked at Cheng Mo and Xia He: "It's the first time we've met like this, two people on an outing. It's quite a coincidence."

Ding Zihuan immediately chimed in, "Actually, the main reason is that we realized you two are kindred spirits. Also, Brother Cheng's barbecue smelled so good that we couldn't resist."

Before he could finish speaking, Qiu Rang glared at him and retorted, "You couldn't help yourself, don't drag me into it."

"Damn it, can't you have any shame?" Ding Zihuan said with a look of disdain.

"I've always had a sense of shame. You were the one trying to drag me down with you," Qiu Rang said righteously.

The two started talking back and forth, their voices growing louder and louder. A few villagers who had been watching curiously immediately turned around and went back into their houses, slamming the doors shut as the two started arguing again.

Cheng Mo, Xia He, and Ma Xianhong automatically ignored the two guys who started exposing each other's shortcomings again.

Ma Xianhong led the two to a neat thatched hut on the edge of the village: "You two can make do here for the night. The hut is fully equipped, but the quilts are a bit old. Also, you will need to fetch water and start a fire yourselves."

He pointed into the distance: "There's a stream over there; you can fetch water there. Tomorrow during the day, you two can freely choose any uninhabited room to re-determine your accommodations."

Cheng Mo cupped his hands in thanks: "Thank you, Brother Ma."

Xia He followed suit, smiling and saying, "Thank you, Brother Ma."

Ma Xianhong returned the courtesy and took his leave.

The two entered the room to observe. The tabletop was dust-free, and there were two rooms with two sets of bedding, as if they had been specially prepared for the two of them.

Xia He closed the door and lowered her voice: "Little Taoist, did Ma Xianhong anticipate that we would come? Does he have ulterior motives?"

Cheng Mo smiled and said, "This room was probably a guest room prepared for the village. However, they must have discovered us first before they arranged for someone to clean it."

He said casually, "Besides, if anyone had ulterior motives, it was us who came up with the idea first; others were just going with the flow."

Xia He thought for a moment and nodded: "That's true. It would be unreasonable for us to scheme against others while preventing others from scheming against us."

Cheng Mo's lips twitched: "...Why does what you're saying sound so awkward?"

"Never mind if it's awkward or not," Xia He pushed him, "Hurry up, Xiao Mozi, go get me some water."

Cheng Mo: "...Alright, my precious young lady."

On the other side, Qiu Rang and Ding Zihuan arrived at their own house amidst their bickering.

Ding Zihuan suddenly stopped, stroking his chin: "I always felt that there was something wrong with those two guys."

"How so?"

"Look, in 'The Legend of the Condor Heroes,' it was Huang Rong who won over the old beggar's heart with her excellent cooking, creating opportunities for Guo Jing. That guy surnamed Cheng could do it all by himself, why did he need to bring a woman along?"

Qiu Rang paused for two seconds: "...Are you single yourself, so you hope everyone else is single too? These days, couples are all about the man taking care of everything, and the woman just has to be pretty. Isn't Miss Xia pretty?"

"That's even stranger," Ding Zihuan looked at Qiu Rang with a strange expression. "You're clearly the kind of guy who can't take his eyes off women, so how come you can argue with a pretty girl?"

Qiu Rang instantly blushed and his neck bulged: "You're the lecherous one! I'm a respectable gentleman!"

"Let's get down to business. Why are you resorting to personal attacks?"

"You started it first!"

"You're a pervert to begin with, I wasn't making this up."

"You son of a bitch..."

Their voices rose again, and the battle reignited.

Ma Xianhong strolled back to the Xiu Shen Tang, feeling inexplicably wonderful.

It's truly fate that I met Brother Cheng today. I was just preparing to delve into how to use the Body Refinement Furnace to modify superhumans when he sent me such an excellent experimental subject.

Well, Brother Cheng's physical condition is much better than Qiu Rang's back then, so he should be able to go through several more rounds. However, Qiu Rang still had a tiny bit of Qi back then, while Brother Cheng was the real first experimental subject...

Hehehe, who says honest people don't have a bad side...

No, I don't have any bad intentions. It's just my sincere desire to do scientific research!

......

Inside the cabin, Cheng Mo had already carried two buckets of water back from the stream and poured them into the water tank in the kitchen.

Xia He was squatting in front of the earthen stove, struggling with a pile of firewood, getting herself covered in soot, but there were only a few sparks in the stove, which were quickly extinguished.

"It's not that difficult, why can't you start a fire?" Cheng Mo asked, leaning against the door frame.

Xia He looked up angrily: "This firewood must be wet! Otherwise, how could it not light!"

Cheng Mo glanced at her sideways: "If it's not going to work, it's not going to work. Why make up so many excuses? Only the weak complain about their circumstances."

Xia He stood up angrily: "You do it!"