The rain outside grew even heavier.
Thunder boomed and lightning flashed. Thick, leaden clouds pressed down urgently upon the wilderness.
Nan Zhi had never seen such a violent rain or such an oppressive sky.
It felt as if she could reach out and touch the clouds.
The thunder was magnificent, carrying an immense pressure.
Any demon or evil spirit hearing it would be shaken to their core; any ghost or devil encountering it would feel their heart rend.
Those with a guilty conscience would likely tremble in fear, scared out of their wits, never daring to act recklessly again.
Crack—!
Another streak of white light slashed through the sky, followed by a sudden roar of thunder that illuminated the dim hall of the foot-shop in brilliant white.
“Good heavens! I often heard the elders say that when it rains and thunders, it's Grandfather Thunder and Grandmother Lightning in the heavens, slaying demons and exorcising evil!”
The pear seller shuddered and used a sweat towel to wipe away either sweat or the rain that had drifted in onto his face.
“I lived in the area of Chang Village. In the past, when it rained and thundered in the mountains, wild boars and foxes that had gained some spiritual power would be struck by lightning.
“A few years ago, there was a well in our village that every household used for water.
“Later, a foul miasma grew in that well. The water drawn up was fishy and stinking. It couldn't be eaten or drunk, and it couldn't even be used to water the fields or the cattle.
“Then one night, it thundered. It was the third watch, and there was both wind and rain. By the next day, guess what happened?”
The pear seller chuckled, keeping everyone in suspense before saying proudly:
“A giant black catfish, struck dead by lightning, floated up in that well! Its head was as big as a small child's, and its body was a full ten feet long!
“The people in the village all said that the big catfish had become a spirit and taken over the well water. It thought it could hide from the heavenly lightning, but it revealed its true nature and was struck dead by Grandfather Thunder!”
“Today's thunder must also be the gods in heaven slaying some monster!”
The father and son performers listened intently. The son, looking quite young, couldn't help but chime in:
“No wonder the thunder is so loud; the sound feels like it's exploding right next to my ears!
“With thunder this powerful, if it hit a person, it would probably split their bones apart. That's why they say people should avoid doing things that weigh on their conscience in this world.”
After saying this, the young man even glanced in Nan Zhi's direction.
Nan Zhi: “...”
Why are you looking at her while you talk?
Seeing that he was still staring, she didn't bother to question him. Instead, she pulled out a bowl of stinky tofu and listened to the stories with great interest.
In the corner, the nun suddenly cast a glance her way.
“That might not be the case. Not all thunder and rain in the heavens are under the control of Grandfather Thunder and Grandmother Lightning.
“Just like this eerie thunder today, there's an eighty percent chance it's some monster causing trouble!”
The old man who had been focused on sharpening scissors shook his head and coughed:
“Have any of you heard of the ‘Snake’s Crossing into a Jiao’?
“If a snake lives for a hundred years, it becomes a great python. If a python lives for a hundred years, it becomes a great boa.
“If a boa lives for another hundred years, when two bumps grow on its head, it can become a great jiao.
“At that time, if the jiao can take advantage of a flood or heavy rain to swim down rivers and lakes into the sea, those two bumps on its head can grow into dragon horns.
“Therefore, this jiao is a lesser dragon. When it ascends to the heavens, it inevitably brings wind and rain; it's quite eerie.
“If this jiao's crossing goes smoothly, it can enter the sea and become a true dragon. If it's not smooth and it encounters difficulties, then it's in for some bad luck!
“Look, this rain hasn't stopped since yesterday. There's an eighty percent chance that a jiao is unable to complete its crossing and is trapped here in Shouzhou!”
This old man had a very low presence. Dressed in dusty, coarse cloth clothes, he had been sitting in the corner sharpening scissors since Nan Zhi entered.
Now that he had spoken such a long passage, people couldn't help but look at him.
“Is that true? So dragons really come from snakes? No wonder some people call snakes ‘clawless dragons’!”
“With rain this heavy, even if there really was a dragon flying in the sky, we wouldn't be able to see it clearly!”
“The rain fell all night and the thunder roared all night. It really is a bit eerie. At any rate, I've never seen rain this heavy.”
Hearing such strange tales, everyone's interest was piqued. When they looked at the clouds again, perhaps due to a psychological effect, they felt as if they could actually see dark shadows rolling within them.
“...”
Nan Zhi also took a few looks, but aside from the dancing golden snakes of lightning, she saw nothing.
“Look at you, telling a story as if it were real.”
The assistant was wiping a table and couldn't help but laugh:
“Old man, you make it sound so mysterious, as if you've seen it with your own eyes. The rain is so heavy; why don't you tell a few more stories to help us pass the time!
“Don't worry, I won't make you tell them for nothing. I'll give you a plate of fried peanuts. You can eat and drink while you talk!”
“This... very well. Meeting is fate, and anyway, this rain won't stop anytime soon.
“If the stories this old man tells can help you pass the time, so be it.”
The sharpener hesitated for a moment, his gaze quickly sweeping over the nun and lingering on Nan Zhi for a second before he smiled and replied:
“When this old man was six years old, my hometown was flooded. It just so happened that I encountered a jiao trying to take advantage of the flood to follow the river to the sea and leap into dragonhood...”
As it turned out, the old man's father was a herb gatherer. When the flood hit, he was leading his young son to gather herbs in the mountains, so the two of them weren't swept away.
The old man's father held his son and hid on a barren mountain peak for two or three days, starving until they were dizzy.
Just as he was despairing, he suddenly saw a long piece of withered wood floating down from upstream, bobbing up and down in the water with the waves.
The old man's father's heart sank, and he took his son and climbed onto the withered wood, floating downstream with the flood.
Strangely enough, it was as if they had divine help. The father and son were safe and sound the whole way, without even a bump, floating downstream while holding onto the dry wood.
When they reached a shallow beach, the old man's father carried his son ashore, not losing a single hair.
The two were just thinking of kowtowing to thank the gods and Buddhas for their protection, but when they turned around, they realized that the ‘withered wood’ suddenly moved and flipped over in the water.
It was actually a great green snake, several dozen feet long and as thick as a millstone!
The old man, who was a child then and didn't know better, pointed at the jiao and shouted that there was a snake, a very, very big snake.
But who would have thought that as soon as the old man's words fell, the jiao let out a roar of fury, its eyes full of resentment as it struggled and sank to the bottom of the water, never to be seen again.
“Why was that?”
Nan Zhi was listening intently. Seeing the old man suddenly stop, she couldn't help but ask:
“What happened to the jiao later? Did it actually become a dragon and enter the sea?”
“Sigh...”
The old man sighed, the wrinkles on his face bunching together, revealing layers of sorrow.
“At that time, this old man didn't know better and didn't understand the rules of the ‘Crossing Jiao’.
“For a Crossing Jiao to succeed, it needs the right time, the right place, and the people's blessing—all three are indispensable.
“That jiao was already at the critical moment of ‘transforming from a jiao into a dragon.’ Suddenly having its true form called out, its breath dispersed, and naturally, it could not transform.
“This was also a calamity the jiao had to face. If that one sentence back then had called it a dragon, that jiao would likely have followed the river to the sea and become a dragon long ago. Why would it be trapped in Shouzhou, unable to leave for so long?”
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