Chapter 2 – Nine Dragons Pulling the Coffin (2)
After I was born, something happened.
Ancient emperors always talked about how auspicious things happened when they were born.
But the day that I was born, the village suddenly had “yellowskin trouble.” This was a local term for weasels. They were commonly seen in rural villages. Many people called them “yellow gods” too. There were myths about them everywhere. Of the five folklore gods—fox, yellow, white, willow, and gray—the “yellow” pointed to the “yellow god.”
But even though the myths were mysterious, many people only saw the yellowskins as common beasts. Because the hide could be sold for money, many even set traps to catch them and skin them. They were even more expensive after frost fell. There was a saying that after the frost, the yellowskins would grow new fur for the winter and that was the softest and densest.
What did “yellowskin trouble” mean? “Trouble” meant a disaster, like locust or rat plagues. The night of my birth, yellowskins from all over suddenly appeared in my village. Usually, they ran at the sight of people, but now they attacked the village crazily. Not only did they bite poultry and farm animals, they even attacked humans. The entire village seemed to be surrounded by the yellowskins. The leading yellowskin was completely white. It looked extremely ancient and accomplished.
This situation frightened the villagers. They hurriedly went to find Lin Gengchen, the village’s yin yang master. Lin Gengchen was known throughout the surrounding villages, so everyone naturally went to him for a solution for the yellowskin trouble. But Lin Gengchen just looked at the rabid yellowskins and shook his head, sighing. He didn’t explain what was happening, let alone how to deal with these crazy beasts.
Our village also had a fool. At this critical moment, he actually became serious. He stood in the center of the village and said to everyone in the voice of an ominous old woman, “Green Dragon Mountain, Nine Dragon Coffin. A god lives within the Nine Dragon Coffin. A god and a mortal consummating, the child is trouble. If this child remains, people everywhere will be in danger.”
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After saying that, he smiled coldly at the villagers. Moments later, he turned back into the typical slobbering fool.
Under these circumstances, everyone could understand what he meant. They already grumbled over how my mother spent three years in the Green Dragon Mountain and gave birth to me. Now that there was yellowskin trouble and they were warned that they were in danger, the furious villagers surrounded my mother’s home. They wanted her to hand me over.
My mother carried me and walked over to Lin Gengchen’s home. She knelt before the yin yang master and spoke for the first time since she walked out of Green Dragon Mountain. “Uncle Gengchen, the child is innocent. Save him and I will do anything to repay you in my next life.”
Lin Gengchen hesitated for a long time. Looking at my mother’s tear-stricken face, he took me over and nodded at her.
My mother kowtowed three times to Lin Gengchen. Rather than going home afterward, she walked to her cenotaph and hung herself.
My mother’s death didn’t make the yellowskins leave the village. Since the crisis hadn’t been averted, it couldn’t suppress the villagers’ anger and make them forgive me. The night that my mother hung herself, Lin Gengchen had the villagers shut their doors. He walked out of the village alone and entered the yellowskin army.
No one knew what happened that night. Anyway, the second day, the aggressive yellowskins retreated.
After they left, the villagers still didn’t want me to live. They believed that I was an unlucky star and would bring disaster to the village. The yellowskin were gone, but who could ensure that other monsters or demons wouldn’t appear?
Of course, just as they forced my mother to suicide, they didn’t dare to kill me either. What they did was force Grandpa to throw me onto Green Dragon Mountain and let fate take care of me.
Lin Gengchen’s third son, Lin Pojun, was the demon of the village. He made a group of good-for-nothings who caused trouble every day. The villagers both hated and feared him.
Just as they were forcing Lin Gengchen to his limits, Lin Pojun came out and said to them, “Jianguo is my brother. Xiu’er is my sister. Now, my sister is dead. Before her death, she gave the kid to my dad and he agreed to this. I don’t care what kind of monster he is. He’s my nephew now. Today, I’ll kill whoever wants my nephew to die. If you’re not scared of dying, take a step forward and try me!”