Under One Person: Dressed as Lü Liang, with vests all over

Chapter 161 Does sleeping together count as intimacy?
Lü Liang took two steps forward, his gaze falling on the man on the ground.

The man in front of me, who came from Yemaoshan, was wearing a black hoodie and had an unremarkable appearance.

However, a prominent black birthmark on his right cheekbone extends all the way to below his eye, adding a touch of sinister charm to his otherwise ordinary face.

At this moment, his eyes were closed and his breathing was even, as if he were asleep.

"Did you find out his name and purpose?"

Lu Liang turned to the side, his gaze falling on Luo Tiantian and Chen Duo, and asked seriously.

Luo Tiantian immediately dropped her gossipy expression, shook her head, and answered with exaggerated gestures:
"This guy is as stubborn as a rock! He was screaming and howling from being bitten by the Golden Silkworm Gu, but he just wouldn't utter a single word!"

"If Xiaoduo hadn't been quick-witted and used the Sleeping Gu to knock him down in time, he probably would have been bitten to death."

“I see…” A smile flashed in Lü Liang’s eyes. “I love people who are stubborn like this the most.”

“You wait here, I will interrogate him alone.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Lü Liang bent down, reached out, grabbed the man by the back of his collar, and walked into the woods nearby.

Upon seeing this, Luo Tiantian's eyes widened in surprise.

She exclaimed in confusion:

"How should I ask that? Brother Zhou, isn't your special ability healing? Besides, he's not even afraid of being bitten by Gu worms, so ordinary torture is completely ineffective."

Hearing Luo Tiantian's words, Lü Liang didn't stop walking. He simply raised his hand, waved it casually behind him, and replied casually:

"It's okay, I'll try to win him over with love."

Luo Tiantian: ? ? ?

……

Luo Tiantian withdrew her gaze from Lü Liang's retreating figure.

Compared to the man who attacked Liu Yanyan, what she was most concerned about at this moment was Chen Duo's condition.

Luo Tiantian quickly walked to Chen Duo's side, turned slightly to the side, gestured with her lips towards the direction Lü Liang had left, and earnestly reminded her with a concerned expression:
"Xiaoduo, you must ask Brother Zhou later... I feel like there's something off between him and Liu Yanyan."

Chen Duo glanced at Liu Yanyan, then looked in the direction Lü Liang had left. After a brief pause, she gently shook her head and said softly:
"it does not matter."

"It doesn't matter?"

Upon hearing this, Luo Tiantian's voice suddenly rose, her face filled with disbelief.

Her eyes darted around, a possibility flashed through her mind, and her face lit up with gossip as she eagerly asked:

"Xiaoduo, Zhou Ge didn't used to be like this often, did he? Always getting so close to other women?"

Chen Duo tilted her head slightly, lost in memories. She recalled meeting Feng Shayan at the restaurant, and then nodded gently:

“I saw someone else kiss him.”

Upon hearing this, Luo Tiantian's eyes widened even more, becoming as round as copper bells.

Is this... really that explosive?
"Xiaoduo, didn't he say anything afterward?" Luo Tiantian pressed.

"I already said that." A smile appeared on Chen Duo's face as she happily said:

"He said I can make my own choice!"

"Make your own choice?" Luo Tiantian asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Yes!" Chen Duo nodded vigorously. "I choose to stay by his side."

Hearing Chen Duo's words, Luo Tiantian looked again in the direction Lü Liang had left, a hint of inexplicable admiration flashing in her eyes:

This is some kind of top-tier PUA master...

Soon, Luo Tiantian looked away and silently cheered herself up.

After spending these days together, she realized that Chen Duo's personality was as simple as a blank sheet of paper, even more innocent than her, a college student who was inexperienced in the ways of the world.

Therefore, she felt she had to stand up.

Furthermore, she absolutely could not stand by and watch her colleague go astray.

Thinking of this, Luo Tiantian turned her gaze to Liu Yanyan.

At this moment, Liu Yanyan was staring intently at Chen Duo, her gaze filled with scrutiny and inquiry.

Liu Yanyan pondered to herself: Judging from Luo Tiantian's reaction, this woman named Xiaoduo seems to have an unusual relationship with Lü Liang...

Hmph! She's determined to find out exactly what's going on here.

It seems that Luo Tiantian knows the inside story; perhaps we could ask her for information.

Soon, Liu Yanyan and Luo Tiantian met eyes.

The moment their eyes met in mid-air, they hit it off perfectly and almost simultaneously lifted their feet to walk to the side.

……

Luo Tiantian's sharp gaze slowly swept over Liu Yanyan's oversized, somewhat ill-fitting coat. She then raised her hand, pointed in the direction Lü Liang had left, and broke the silence, asking:
"Yan Yan, did you two know each other before?"

"certainly--"

Liu Yanyan was about to blurt out the word "know," but the words caught in her throat as she suddenly remembered Lü Liang's unfamiliar face and the company's arrest warrant. She choked back her answer, swallowing it back down.

"—I don't know him!"

Luo Tiantian stroked her chin thoughtfully, nodded seriously, and then posed another question:
"Since you don't know him... Yan Yan, you haven't fallen in love with Brother Zhou at first sight, have you?"

"Nonsense! How could that be!"

Liu Yanyan's face instantly turned bright red.

Her gaze instinctively swept quickly towards Chen Duo, and realizing her action was too obvious, she cleared her throat awkwardly and said:
"I...I don't like...him at all!"

She puffed out her chest in rebuttal, but as she spoke, her voice trailed off, as if she were trying to cover something up.

Luo Tiantian stared intently at Liu Yanyan, her face full of suspicion, carefully observing her expression.

That expression is really not convincing.

"Luo Tiantian! If you keep staring at me like that, I'm not talking to you anymore!"

Liu Yanyan was both embarrassed and annoyed. She turned her head away and gave a soft snort.

Luo Tiantian remained unmoved, not only refusing to look away but continuing to earnestly persuade her:

"Yan Yan, although Brother Zhou is very skilled in medicine and quite charming, he has a girlfriend."

"Besides, look how well he and Xiaoduo match."

"What a load of rubbish!"

Liu Yanyan's angry voice rang out instantly.

She felt deeply wronged. She was the one who met Lü Liang first, but now she couldn't say anything.

She stomped her foot in anger, stared directly at Luo Tiantian, and demanded:

"You say they're a couple, what's your evidence?"

Luo Tiantian said righteously, "Brother Zhou said it himself."

Upon hearing this, Liu Yanyan was speechless for a moment, but quickly followed up with another question:

"So what's his name now?"

"Zhou Liang".

Upon hearing this answer, Liu Yanyan revealed a happy expression of "I knew it," and her previous anger vanished.

Even the name is fake, so everything else is just an act.

Hmph! She won't believe it.

Seeing Liu Yanyan's expression, Luo Tiantian felt a headache coming on. Why was this colleague so stubborn?

She was still persistent and continued to persuade her, "Yan Yan, you can't interfere in other people's relationships."

Liu Yanyan continued to refute:
"They don't seem to have any feelings for each other. Did you see them doing anything intimate?"

Upon hearing this question, Luo Tiantian frowned and fell into thought.

After a moment, she raised her head, looked directly at Liu Yanyan, and replied:

Does sleeping in the same room at night count as intimacy?

"Hey, Yan Yan—where are you going? Why aren't you talking to me..."

……

Liu Yanyan strode up to Chen Duo, raised her hand, her eyes flashing with provocation, and shouted:

"Hey, let's have a fight!"

Seeing this, Luo Tiantian was stunned. Without hesitation, she leaped between the two and shouted at the top of her lungs:
"Yan Yan, you're crazy!"

It's worth noting that the guy who seriously injured Liu Yanyan was subdued by Xiao Duo in just a few moves, which clearly shows the difference in their strength.

Moreover, Xiao Duo never holds back when she strikes.

By jumping out at this moment, isn't Yan Yan just asking for trouble? Isn't she just asking for a beating?
Without hesitation, Luo Tiantian quickly spread her arms and stood between the two, trying to stop the "bloody battle" from happening.

then……

When Lü Liang carried the man out of the woods, this was the scene that greeted him—

Luo Tiantian, with a righteous and awe-inspiring expression, stood between the aggressive Liu Yanyan and the bewildered Chen Duo, and shouted at the top of her lungs:

"Speak well if you have something to say!"

"What are you doing?"

Lü Liang couldn't help but ask.

Upon hearing this, three distinct gazes immediately turned toward them.

One face was filled with anger and resentment, another with relief, and yet another with joy and delight...

Seeing this, Lü Liang calmly tossed something to Liu Yanyan, instantly breaking the tense stalemate.

"Look, isn't this the talisman that was stolen from you?"

"Nine Netherworld Talisman!"

Liu Yanyan caught the talisman steadily, unable to contain her joy, and cried out happily.

"This is the talisman?"

Luo Tiantian couldn't contain her curiosity and quickly came over.

The talisman, known as the "Nine Netherworld Decree," was jet black, about three feet long, and covered with dark red cracks. Upon closer inspection, the brushstrokes resembled those of a talisman.

At the top of the talisman, two curved bronze bull horns stand crossed, with nine bronze bells hanging from their tips.

Lu Liang had just tried it; even when the bell tongue struck the copper bell, he couldn't hear a sound when shaking the talisman, which gave him a strange and eerie feeling.

He asked Liu Yanyan:
What's so special about this talisman?

Upon hearing this question, a hint of pride flashed in Liu Yanyan's eyes.

She slightly raised her chin and said with a hint of pride:
“The talisman is regarded as a ‘soul-guiding instrument.’ Corpse drivers use the talisman to guide the corpse along a specific route to prevent it from getting lost.”

"Moreover, the essence of corpse-driving technique is 'using evil to suppress evil,' and this Nine Nether Talisman, as a medium for casting the spell, can greatly enhance its effectiveness. It can not only better suppress the soul, but also quickly activate the corpse's mobility."

“Normally, a corpse driver needs to establish a connection with the corpse before he can manipulate it, but there is no such restriction when using the Nine Nether Talisman.”

"so smart!"

Luo Tiantian stared intently at the talisman for a long while, her eyes filled with curiosity, before turning to Lü Liang and pressing him for an answer:

"That person doesn't need to transport corpses, so why would they want to steal this talisman?"

Lu Liang gently kicked the unconscious man on the ground and revealed the information he had obtained through the "Blue Hand":

"This man is called Wang Diqiu. He comes from Yemaoshan. His abilities are talismans and shape-changing nails. He stole the talisman because he was acting on orders."

"What is Yemaoshan? Are they Taoist priests of the Shangqing School of Maoshan?" Luo Tiantian asked with a puzzled look.

Lü Liang shook his head, explained the origin of Wild Mao Mountain again, and then continued:

"The people of Yemaoshan have always considered themselves as Taoists of Maoshan, and naturally regard the origin of Maoshan as the origin of their own sect."

According to the records of Taoist origins, the Yellow Emperor was revered as the "first ancestor of Taoist practices" in ancient times, and the Taiping Taoist lineage, to which the Maoshan Shangqing School belongs, claims to have inherited the Yellow Emperor's techniques.

"The Taiping Daoist lineage?"

Lü Liang nodded, "It shares the same origin as Zhang Jiao's Way of Peace, but flows from a different source."

"The Maoshan Shangqing School inherited the Huang-Lao thought of the Han Dynasty, and revered the Yellow Emperor and Laozi together, calling it: 'The art of Huang-Lao is what Shangqing follows.'"

According to Wang Diqiu, they believed that there were two major schools of thought in ancient times: Zhuyou and Taiping, which were respectively passed down from Chiyou and Huangdi.

"The Zhuyou School focuses on 'nourishing the soul' while the Taiping School aims to 'nourish the spirit.' Although the two schools have different understandings of the soul and spirit, they both master common techniques."

"Later, the Taiping School split into the Maoshan and Laoshan schools of Taoism, and one branch of the Zhuyou School was the Xiangxi Corpse-Driving School..."

"Although the magic of Yemaoshan is mostly evil, it is essentially very similar to that of Maoshan."

Lü Liang looked at Liu Yanyan and continued to explain:
"Therefore, the abilities of the Wild Maoshan and Xiangxi Corpse-driving lineages are of the same origin, and they are both skilled in talismans."

"Furthermore, both emphasize the manipulation of the soul. For example, the corpse-driving technique involves 'suppressing the three souls and seven spirits,' while the Wild Maoshan sect also has a similar evil technique called 'Seven Fiends Gathering in the Body'..."

"Hmph! I don't want to be related to people like that!" Liu Yanyan said angrily, hands on her hips.

……

"It turns out there's a connection between the Xiangxi corpse-driving tradition and Maoshan Mountain."

Luo Tiantian listened intently, her eyes wide open.

"So, the reason this person tried to steal the token was because they actually needed it?"

Luo Tiantian quickly summarized her thoughts, then fixed her gaze on Lü Liang with amazement in her eyes, and said:

"You managed to get so much information out of me in such a short time, Brother Zhou?"

Lu Liang remained calm and composed, nodding naturally and replying earnestly, "The transformation has been quite successful."

At the same time, he secretly thought to himself: Directly accessing memories is certainly faster.

In fact, he obtained far more information than that.

Wang Diqiu's act of snatching the Nine Nether Talisman was indeed under the command of a man wearing a brass mask.

However, that person's exact words were:

"Once we obtain the Nine Nether Talisman, we can test what happened back then. Perhaps, we can even create some extraordinary techniques!"

Moreover, in Wang Diqiu's memory, Lü Liang also saw something familiar—

The phonograph artifact "conch" crafted by Tian Xiaodie.

This "conch shell" was extremely similar to the one he had seen from the Grand Gu Master, with only a slight difference:
Last time, on the edge of the "conch", the two characters engraved were "Jing" and "Du".

This time, it's "open" and "rest," which also come from the "eight gates" of the Bagua directions.

Fortunately, in that memory, Lü Liang successfully heard the voice preserved inside the "conch shell".

One of the dishes came from Tian Xiaodie.

The other one was surprisingly Zheng Zibu.

(End of this chapter)