Heavenly Eyes 5: The Hall of Three Grains

CHAPTER 3

12

Although I was still young, I knew the Mountain Demon God's abilities were extraordinary.  

Even my grandmother's master and my grandmother themselves were helpless against it. 

Yet Zheng Gen Sheng dared to throw cow dung at the temple, kick over the incense burner, and break the incense!

 

I immediately became nervous. “Zheng Gen Sheng, are you crazy?”

 

Zheng Gen Sheng didn't care. 

“Shen Tong, stop trying to scare me! Do you think I'm easily frightened? My grandmother is afraid of you, but I'm not! If you're so capable, have your grandmother perform a ritual!”

 

With that, he laughed maniacally and left.

 

The small Mountain Demon God's temple was immediately filled with dark energy, and dark clouds gathered overhead, as if it were about to rain.

The dark energy, like a long serpent, flew directly out of the Mountain Demon God's temple. The blood-red eyes within the dark energy glowed, sinister, terrifying, and utterly horrifying.

 

“Good... hehehe... very good!”

 

In this situation, I didn't dare delay. I chased after the Mountain Demon God's dark mist, running straight towards the village.

 

My legs were short, and I stumbled and fell several times. By the time I reached the village, the dark energy had already enveloped Zheng Gen Sheng's house.

 

His grandmother's cries could be heard throughout the entire village:

 

“Gen Sheng, what's wrong with you? Don't scare Grandma!”

His house, in the open space in front of the door, was now surrounded by villagers:

 

“What's wrong with Old Zheng's grandson? He was fine just now, how did he become like this?”

 

“Look at the marks on his neck and limbs. He must have offended something unclean.”

 

I squeezed into the crowd and saw Zheng Gen Sheng lying on the ground. His grandmother held him, crying and shouting.

 

Zheng Gen Sheng was now completely bruised, his body convulsing constantly, his eyes rolling back in his head.

A moment ago he was fine, but now he was only inhaling, not exhaling.

 

Not only that, people also heard screams coming one after another.

 

When they went to check, the chickens and ducks in Zheng's chicken coop were all dead, and the cows and pigs were screaming incessantly before also dying.

 

There were dark, slender handprints on their necks.

 

I couldn't help but say, “It's the Mountain Demon God! Zheng Gen Sheng kicked over the incense burner in the Mountain Demon God's temple and angered it!”

13

As soon as I spoke, Zheng Gen Sheng's grandmother rushed over and pushed me:

 

“You little brat, stop cursing my grandson! I think it's not some nonsense Mountain Demon God, but you! Is it you and your grandmother who harmed my grandson?”

 

The Mountain Demon God's havoc on the village had been going on for years. Many of the younger villagers didn't know about it, and Zheng Gen Sheng's grandmother, having married into the village from elsewhere, was even less aware.

 

Now, the only ones who still offered incense to the Mountain Demon God were the villagers in their seventies and eighties.

Hearing this, the villagers said one after another, “Don't say such things! If it really is the Mountain Demon God, not only your grandson, but your whole family and everyone in the village will suffer!”

 

Zheng Gen Sheng's grandmother was both anxious and angry. 

“You... you're talking nonsense! Don't you dare curse my grandson!”

 

By now, my grandmother had come looking for me. Seeing me, she quickly embraced me and asked, “Tongtong, what happened?”

I didn't dare tell her that I had gone to confront the Mountain Demon God. I only told her that Zheng Gen Sheng had thrown cow dung at the temple, kicked over the incense burner, and broken the incense sticks, and begged her to find a way to save Zheng Gen Sheng.

 

My grandmother shook her head. “The Mountain Demon God is vengeful and extremely vicious, but thankfully, it only harms those who offend it and doesn't kill others.”

 

She told the villagers to disperse quickly and not provoke the Mountain Demon God!

 

Some villagers believed her, others didn't, but the older generation in each family pulled them away.

By now, all of Zheng's poultry and livestock were dead, their bodies scattered on the ground.

 

Zheng Gen Sheng was rolling on the ground, convulsing, his skin already taking on a deathly pallor.

 

My grandmother said to Zheng Gen Sheng's grandmother, “Quickly apologize to the Mountain Demon God, beg for its forgiveness, and plead for your grandson's life!”

 

But Zheng Gen Sheng's grandmother stubbornly refused to believe it:

 

“I don't believe you! Feng Axi, you're the one playing tricks! If you kill my grandson, I'll make your granddaughter pay with her life!”

Zheng Gen Sheng, who had been struggling on the ground, suddenly straightened up as his grandmother finished speaking, his head and limbs lifted into the air before he collapsed unconscious.

 

The Mountain Demon God's shadowy form circled me and my grandmother. “Feng Axi, this is the agreement your master, Ma Chu Feng, made with me. I agreed to receive the villagers' offerings here and not cause harm, but whoever offends me, whoever destroys my altar, will die!”

14

My great-grandmother, who was also my grandmother's master, foresaw her imminent death when she encountered the Mountain Demon God. A fight to the death would mean the loss of her Daoist arts, and a failed seal would leave the Mountain Demon God uncontrollable.

 

So she made this pact, a temporary measure.

 

Unfortunately, she died too young, and my grandmother was burdened by worldly emotions, failing to find a way to eliminate it in time, missing the chance to solve the Mountain Demon God problem completely.

 

Now the Mountain Demon God has grown stronger, making it even harder to eliminate.

 

But it was still a human life, and my grandmother tried to negotiate with the Mountain Demon God:

 

“It was just a child, he didn't understand the rules and offended you.”

“You've already killed all their poultry and livestock, shouldn't you be satisfied now?”

 

“Or, do you have any other demands? Just say it, and we will do our best to meet them.”

 

The Mountain Demon God laughed maniacally. 

“Feng Axi, even your master couldn't defeat me, let alone you? You want to help this boy? Fine, a life for a life, you take his place, how about that?”

 

Upon hearing this, my grandmother's face turned pale, and she took several steps back.

I was unwanted by my parents from birth and was raised solely by my grandmother.

 

I was only four or five years old at the time. If my grandmother died, I would truly become a neglected orphan.

 

In the end, she steeled her heart. “Fine, Zheng Gen Sheng brought this upon himself. If the Mountain Demon God wants to take him, there's nothing anyone can do.”

 

She then took out three yellow talismans and gave them to Zheng Gen Sheng's grandmother.

 

“The Mountain Demon God will take a life at midnight. These three talismans can conceal Zheng Gen Sheng's presence. If he can last three days, he might be saved. If not, you should prepare for his funeral!”

 

The Zheng family was actually quite scared by now.

 

Zheng Gen Sheng's parents came to ask my grandmother, “Mrs. Feng, is it really that serious? Could it be that the child ate some wild berries in the mountains and got poisoned?”

 

My grandmother gave a wry smile. “If that were the case, it would be much easier to handle. If you don't believe me, take the child to the hospital first.

 

Remember, stick one of those three talismans to his forehead every night, one a day. Don't make a mistake!”

 

After saying this, she hugged me and went home.

15

That was the first time my grandmother had ever been so angry with me; she was about to hit me with a feather duster:

 

“Tongtong, what did I tell you? Why are you so disobedient?”

 

I hid behind my aunt in fear but refused to admit I was wrong:

 

“Why, why is that Mountain Demon God so overbearing? It bullies the little mountain demons and now wants Zheng Gen Sheng's life!”

 

I was very upset.

 

My aunt didn't protect me; instead, she pushed me towards my grandmother:

 

“Your grandmother's feather duster is a magical artifact. I can't be hit by it; I'd die if I were! I still have to wait for my young master to come back and pick me up!”

 

How could she do this to me? I've always been so good to her, never forgetting to offer incense every day!

 

My grandmother knew I had good intentions, so she stopped hitting me, but sighed, “Tongtong, I know you wanted to help, but I'm no match for the Mountain Demon God. I need to stay alive to watch you grow up.”

 

“Unless your great-grandmother descends, I'm afraid no one can deal with that thing.”

 

After dinner, my grandmother locked me in the room, saying I wasn't allowed to go out for the next three days.

Zheng Gen Sheng's fever wouldn't go down; he was almost burning up. His parents had already taken him to the clinic in the town for an IV drip.

 

I'm small and my legs are short, and I tossed and turned in the room all night unable to get out, anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

 

At my wit's end, I thought of the spirit tablets in my grandmother's shrine room, the ones I offered incense to every day.

 

It was said that those tablets were passed down from my great-grandmother and were dedicated to powerful beings. Although my grandmother had served those tablets all her life, she could only command a few of them.

Thinking about midnight tonight, when the Mountain Demon God would come to take Zheng Gen Sheng's life, and that Zheng Gen Sheng would end up like the little mountain demons, taken away by someone like Zhang Laogou to become a little ghost, unable to be reborn, my heart ached.

 

I couldn't help but kneel down and kowtow towards my family's shrine:

 

“Grandpas and Grandmas, please help Zheng Gen Sheng. Even though he threw cow dung at me, he doesn't deserve to lose his life!

 

He offended the Mountain Demon God, and I'm also partly responsible. Please find a way to help him.”

16

I hadn't really expected anything, but after a while, a man in flowing white robes appeared before me.

 

He looked like he was dressed in ancient costume from a TV drama, but his face was young, about twenty years old.

 

Seeing me, he spoke softly, “Bai Yao, at your service.”

 

I was stunned, and my aunt was stunned too.

 

“Master Bai, you came yourself?”

 

She then told me that this was a ghost immortal worshipped by my great-grandmother, in charge of all the spirit tablets in our family shrine.

 

No one knew how long he had lived, but he was certainly very powerful.

I asked Bai Yao, “Grandpa Bai, the Mountain Demon God is harming people. Can you subdue it?”

 

Bai Yao shook his head. “No, after the master's passing, our connection to this mortal world is severed. We can't interfere in human affairs. Zheng Gen Sheng received the consequences of his own actions.”

 

Me: “...Then what can you do?”

 

Bai Yao seemed to see my dissatisfaction. “You are the master's descendant from another generation. At critical moments, I will protect you!”

 

Descendant from another generation? I didn't understand what that meant.

I only knew that these adults were refusing to help.

 

I begged Bai Yao, “If you won't act, can you at least take me to the hospital to see Zheng Gen Sheng?

 

Midnight is approaching, and I'm afraid the Mountain Demon God will come and take him away.”

 

Bai Yao looked at me helplessly, sighed, and said, “Very well!”

 

Then, with a flick of his sleeve, I was suddenly lifted into the air.

My aunt cried anxiously from behind, “Master Bai, you're just taking her away like this? When Feng Axi wakes up, she'll beat me! Don't you care about my life or death?!”

 

However, my aunt's voice quickly faded away.

 

When I opened my eyes again, I was already outside the ward of the town hospital.

 

Inside the ward, Zheng Gen Sheng was receiving an IV drip, with the talisman my grandmother gave him stuck to his forehead.

 

The black mist of the Mountain Demon God swirled around the room, seemingly searching for something:

 

“Where are you? Don't hide, come out!”

 

I immediately became nervous, fearing we would be discovered.

Unexpectedly, the Mountain Demon God's shadowy form couldn't see me either and floated right past me.

 

I realized that Master Bai was protecting me.

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