Heavenly Eyes 5: The Hall of Three Grains
CHAPTER 1
1
When I was little, I went with my grandmother to visit some distant relatives. We met a strange old man.
Back then, when visiting others, gifts were things like granulated sugar, tea leaves, and sweetened condensed milk.
The hosts would make a bowl of egg noodles as a treat.
I remember my grandmother was chatting with that aunt, and I was sitting there swinging my feet, eating my noodles. Suddenly, an old man wearing a dark blue tunic and trousers poked his head in from the doorway.
Seeing me, the old man grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth. “Little girl eating noodles?”
I didn't know him, but my grandmother said I should greet elders, so I sweetly called out, “Hello, Grandpa!”
My grandmother and the aunt also saw him. The aunt said rather ungraciously, “Zhang Laogou, what are you doing in my house?”
The man called Zhang Laogou suddenly became agitated. “Goodness! How did my little ghost get into your house? I'll go catch it!”
The aunt's son was already engaged, his wedding room prepared, and the wedding was soon approaching.
Hearing this, he immediately scolded, “Zhang Laogou, you better get your things back! If you scare my future daughter-in-law, my old man will not let you off easily!”
Zhang Laogou laughed even more triumphantly, pretending to barge into her son's wedding room, speaking to the air:
“Little thing, being naughty again, huh? Come home with dad!”
“What? You want peanuts and melon seeds?”
“Li Shenshi, the child wants to eat, it won’t leave if you don’t give it some!”
Following his gaze, I vaguely saw a shadowy figure about my size standing by the wedding bed. It had a large head and belly, with thin limbs like stalks of hemp. It was staring with resentful eyes at the old man.
Zhang Laogou seemed not to see it, continuing to laugh. “You're about to become a mother-in-law, don't be so stingy. Let us neighbors share in the good fortune!”
“When your son gets married, I'll have my little ghost roll around on your daughter-in-law's bed to bring you a big, fat grandson!”
How could anyone tolerate such words on such an auspicious occasion as a son's wedding?
The aunt was instantly furious, grabbing a broom and chasing Zhang Laogou out:
“Get out! Get out of here! I'd rather feed pigs and dogs than feed you!”
“Get out of here with your ghostly things!”
2
Zhang Laogou was chased out, yelling and cursing.
The surrounding neighbors were a mix of onlookers and those making sarcastic remarks:
“Zhang Laogou, stop scaring people. Only you can see that mountain demon of yours; who knows if it even exists, or if it ran away long ago!”
“Yeah, that thing is vicious! Be careful it doesn't harm you! Otherwise, how come you're still not rich?”
Zhang Laogou's face turned even more ferocious as he was ridiculed.
“Who doesn't have one? Believe it or not, tonight I'll send it to your house to kill all your chickens!”
After hearing this, more than just the aunt wanted to beat him up.
Seeing he had angered everyone, Zhang Laogou didn't dare delay. He spat a mouthful of phlegm onto the ground in front of the aunt's house and quickly ran away.
I asked my grandmother, “What's a mountain demon (shānxiāo)? What's a 'three-grain hall' (sān lì táng)?”
My grandmother explained, “A mountain demon is a kind of mountain spirit, often formed from people who died unexpectedly in the mountains.
In our area, there's a custom of worshipping mountain demons to attract wealth. Three small stones are placed on the altar, so it's called a 'three-grain hall'.
But mountain demons are often ferocious and easily backfire.”
“I saw Zhang Laogou's…”
My grandmother's expression turned serious.
The aunt became even more nervous. “What? That old dog really has a mountain demon? Then what I just…”
My grandmother smiled and patted her hand.
“Don't worry, every wrong has its retribution. That thing wouldn't harm you.”
That night, my grandmother and I stayed at the aunt's house.
During the night, I vaguely heard the sound of chickens clucking.
Using the excuse of needing to use the restroom, I slipped out past my grandmother and went to the chicken coop.
In the moonlight, I actually saw the shadowy figure from earlier, rummaging under the aunt's hen for eggs!
The originally plump, large eggs disappeared in its hands. The eggs under the hen's rear end had become small, like pigeon eggs.
I yelled, “Egg thief!”
The creature immediately panicked, stammering an explanation: “I didn't steal them, I... I traded with it!”
3
I've seen things like that mountain demon exchange eggs before. The ‘little hats’ in our village steal eggs the same way.
The small eggs they use for exchange aren't really eggs, there's no yolk. When you open them, it's a slimy, snot-like substance.
I said angrily, “Trade? Do you think I don't know? You're stealing! We humans don't eat that stuff!”
Hearing my words, the mountain demon looked utterly dejected. Its dark little hand held the still-warm egg, offering it to me:
“Then... here you go…”
It was about my size, maybe even a little shorter. Its face and body were wrinkled, like a skinny monkey.
I reached out to take the egg, but suddenly heard a rumbling sound.
I was startled, thinking, “I ate quite a lot tonight, I'm not hungry at all?”
Then I realized the rumbling wasn't my stomach, but the little mountain demon in front of me.
Holding the egg, I looked at it and frowned, a little troubled:
“Are you hungry?”
The little mountain demon stared intently at the egg and shook its head frantically. Even so, it's still saying it's not hungry?
Looking at the little mountain demon whose eyes were practically glowing with hunger, I sighed softly:
“I'm sorry, Aunt, Tongtong can't protect your eggs anymore.”
In the end, I still gave the egg to the little mountain demon.
We sat on a stone bench in the moonlight, the mountain demon beside me.
It seemed really hungry. After taking a bite of the egg, it started sucking up the egg white and yolk.
In the countryside, eggs are plentiful.
Grandma raised several egg-laying hens, and every morning she would boil me a soft-boiled egg.
Seeing how deliciously the mountain demon was eating, I started to suspect these weren't ordinary eggs.
“Is it that good?”
The mountain demon was eating noisily, too engrossed to pay me any attention. When it heard my question, it just nodded “hmm”.
I looked towards Zhang Laogou's house, “How long have you been hungry? Where's your father? Doesn't he feed you?”
Hearing my words, the fur on the little mountain demon's body instantly stood on end, as if startled. It looked warily in the direction of Zhang Laogou's house.
4
I was born with an extra eye on my forehead. Grandma said I was a ‘Tian Tong’(heavenly eye), able to see things ordinary people can't.
Being able to see this little mountain demon proves the three-grain hall exists.
As a mountain demon guarding wealth, theoretically, the household's provisions should be offered to it first.
Why is it that Zhang Laogou seems unable to see the mountain demon, and why does the little mountain demon seem constantly hungry?
I poked its little belly, “Talk to me! Didn't you make a blood pact with Zhang Laogou? Why can't he see you?”
The little mountain demon pouted, seeming unable to control its emotions. It bared its teeth: “I don't want him to see me!”
“He makes me do bad things. If I refuse, he beats me and doesn't feed me, so I hide…”
I've heard of this.
Worshipping mountain demons is actually a kind of forbidden technique.
Because these mountain demons are ferocious, lack human understanding, are unruly, and often indiscriminately attack friend and foe alike, they are very prone to turning on their masters.
In modern terms, it's a rebellious kid!
Zhang Laogou keeps it, but treats it badly, no wonder the mountain demon doesn't want him to see it.
As we were talking, countless invisible red threads suddenly appeared on the little mountain demon, pulling it towards Zhang Laogou's house.
The little mountain demon struggled desperately, but the threads were countless and thin as hair, binding it tightly, preventing escape. It could only passively return to Zhang Laogou's home.
“Hey! Where are you going?”
I chased after the little mountain demon, watching as it was pulled by the red threads into Zhang Laogou's main hall.
The door to the main hall was closed, so I could only peek inside through the window.
I saw that countless red threads emanated from the three small stones enshrined in the center of the hall. The little mountain demon was bound by the threads, huddled in a corner, unable to move.
I anxiously asked, “Little mountain demon, what's wrong?”
The little mountain demon didn't speak, only looking at me with pain, its eyes filled with tears, as if suffering immense torment.
I turned to push open Zhang Laogou's door, unexpectedly waking him.
Soon, the thin and wiry Zhang Laogou came out of the house, dressed and grumbling:
“What's all the noise at this hour?”
Then, he suddenly saw the little mountain demon bound to the ground, let out a sinister laugh, picked up a chicken feather duster, and started hitting the little mountain demon:
“You little thing, you finally came back?”
“I thought you'd run off for good!”
The little mountain demon yelped from the beating, but couldn't fight back, only baring its teeth at him.
Seeing the little mountain demon baring its teeth at him, Zhang Laogou beat it even harder:
“You want to run? Unless you help me get rich, you can't escape!”
“Our contract clearly states that unless the threshold stone in front of my door rots, you'll never be able to get rid of me!”
Seeing the little mountain demon being beaten, I felt a surge of anxiety and was about to intervene when a hand covered my mouth, and I was carried away.
5
That hand carried me far away.
I was only four or five years old at the time and couldn't struggle free.
I could only obediently let the person carry me.
Only when we reached a deserted place did the person let go of me. It was Grandma.
Grandma scolded me, “You child, why are you running around at this late hour instead of sleeping?”
I pouted, “That Grandpa Zhang Laogou doesn't feed the little mountain demon, lets it go hungry, and even beats it.”
Grandma sighed and patted my head, “Tongtong, Grandma knows you're kind-hearted, but everything in this world has its own destiny.
That little mountain demon signed a contract with Zhang Laogou itself; even if we wanted to interfere, we couldn't.”
Seeing me staring at her, she pinched my cheek:
“Even Grandma can't interfere; it's the rules.”
I nodded, half-understanding, and was carried back by Grandma.
But the image of the little mountain demon's hungry belly lingered in my mind.
The next day, we were to leave.
Grandma cooked eggs in the morning, but I didn't eat them. I secretly hid them in my sleeve.
Before leaving, I ran to the window of Zhang Laogou's house to say goodbye to the little mountain demon:
“Little mountain demon, are you there?”
A thin, bony hand emerged from the darkness, followed by a face with unusually large eyes, a pointed mouth, and a monkey-like face.
It seemed to have been badly beaten, its body covered in wounds.
Seeing me, it weakly said, “It's you.”
I nodded and handed it the still-warm egg from my sleeve:
“I'm leaving, this is for you to eat.”
Holding the egg, it thanked me.
Just then, I heard Grandma calling me. I quickly said goodbye to the little mountain demon and followed Grandma back to our village.
At that time, the opera singer aunt was still tied under the eaves of our house, guarding the door.
I said to her, “Auntie, Grandma is actually quite good to you.”
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