Chapter 1: The Armor Curse
My name is Li Shan, generations of my ancestors are honest mountain people, most of the poor life can not see half a copper plate, of course, it is not that they are lazy and do not think about progress, but in that era of oppression, the poor want to turn around than the sky.
As the saying goes, "You can't be poor for more than three generations." My father said that this saying is very reasonable, when a family has been poor for a few generations, it is inevitable that they cannot even get the money to beg their wives, so what about the next generation?
However, in the early years of liberation, when he was fifty years old, he still sold all his money and scraped together a few pennies to marry my mother, even though my mother had polio, but in any case, she finally renewed the ancestor's lineage, which can be said to be of great merit.
Older children did not bring much change to my father, he was not happy, but all day God, to my mother and I also often kicked and punched, until I was five years old to know the reason, because that year several people in the village died, and all just reached the age of sixty.
Sixty flower armor only, is not very old, but the village has never lived to sixty-one, for this reason, my father was fifty years old son is indeed difficult to be happy, must also be worried about a hundred years later, I was young, neighbors and townspeople have to take care of each other, who still have the mood to take care of me?
In fact, my father's concern is superfluous, there is a folk proverb: "The poor man's child will be the head of the family early." When I was five years old, I learned to carry water and chop wood to help with farm work, and spent the rest of my time fighting and cursing with a few friends in the village.
It is worth mentioning that at the end of that year, when it was freezing cold and the harvest of every family in the village was not good, I broke into the back of the mountain to catch a rabbit to improve my life, and there was a huge stone embedded in the ridge of the back of the mountain, which seemed to roll down and crush the village at any time, and a piece of already darkened wood was placed underneath the boulder to hold it up, and a piece of brightly-colored red cloth was tied to the top of the wood.
I thought of such a good piece of cloth thrown in the wilderness is really a bit of a waste, so I unpacked and brought it home, I did not expect the next day on the sick unconscious.
I do not know how long I slept, woke up the day has been the Lantern Festival, outside the clamor, my family's dilapidated house is also crowded with people, the three aunts and six grandmothers, and even the high and mighty mayor of the village also came.
These people chattering, pointing at me, they usually see my family poor, avoided, I thought something big happened, very scared, crying father and mother.
The crowd came into a white-haired Taoist priest, he was very thin, with eagle-like eyes at me, reached over to touch my forehead, see me instinctively dodge, he blew the crowd away, and told me that the evil spirits have been chased away, let me have a good rest.
That night, my father slaughtered the only old hen that could lay eggs, and he also bought a bottle of Red Star Erguotou on credit from the kiosk at the head of the village as a treat for this Taoist master of unknown origin.
The Taoist priest was very talkative, especially after drinking wine, the sky began to brag, saying that he was from the Qing Dynasty, and bluntly said that the feng shui of this village is not good, and that everyone will not live to be 60 years old.
Although the father is poor, but kind-hearted, see the Taoist priest said not the slightest difference immediately kneel on the ground, begging the Taoist priest to save, and then go back to the room will be a year's savings are taken out, respectfully to the Taoist priest, those money are a penny a penny to save, although there are only a few dollars, but I saw from the mother's eyes hard to part with the pain.
"This is the Azi spell, I can't accept the money, you let the child accompany me to the mountain tomorrow to see, whether it can be broken depends on your destiny"
The Taoist priest refused to accept the money, instead he handed me the chicken leg in his hand, stroked my head and asked me if I was willing to show him the way, although his eyes were scary, the gesture of stroking his head was very kind, but as soon as I thought of that rock in the back of the mountain, the image of it crushing the village flashed in my mind, and I hid behind my mother in horror.
"Don't be afraid, with me here, those evil spirits won't dare come."
The Taoist priest hiccuped, fished out five dollars from his pocket and shoved it to my father, saying that it was the hard-earned money for letting me lead the way, my father immediately refused to accept the money, slapped his hand fiercely on the table and scolded me.
"You a little rabbit cub, people immortal will pull you back from the ghost gate, let you take a road you are still reluctant, see I do not beat you to death."
My father's iron face, raised his hand to hit me, I dare not hide, raised my head to look at the white-haired Taoist priest, thinking what is the Ghost Gate Pass, and who is he?
"I'll take you there, but I want five dollars."
The Taoist chief was very quick to stop my father, and shoved five dollars into my hand, touching my head and giving a thumbs up smilingly.
"Not bad, a small age know the importance of money, this way, we are also considered fate, in the future will follow me, at least can ask for a living"
Father and mother flabbergasted for a while before reacting, kneeling on the ground and kowtow and worship, the end of the five dollars in my hand, let me go to the head of the village kiosk to buy some orchid beans and wine back.
Look at my father's wrinkled face with a long-lost smile, I knew he was very happy, pinching the five dollars went ......
Waiting for the next day, all the laborers in the village went down to work, I took the Taoist master around the back of the mountain, along the way, the Taoist master always chattering, never tired of talking about his past, I listened to the wonderful place also followed the clap, and so on to halfway up the mountain, I began to worship him.
"Kid, is it true that no one in your village has ever lived past the age of sixty?"
The Taoist priest walked tired, let me rest, he leaned against a tree, touched out a handful of rice candy stuffed to me, he himself is pulling out a packet of cookies to eat, see me blearily look at the cookies in his hand, he smiled and stuffed all of them to me.
I thought to myself that all these things were available at the village kiosk, only the village chief's son could afford them, this Taoist priest must be very rich, seeing him asking me words, I greedily ate a cookie, smashed my mouth and told him.
"Father said no one on the genealogy has ever lived past the age of sixty, Taoist Master, how much money do you have, these cookies are expensive"
The Taoist Master touched my head, reached out and pulled out his ears laughing, and asked me to take him to a place where there was water, I thought about it, there was only a very small mountain spring in the whole back of the mountain, and there were a lot of graveyard bags next to it, and usually the passers by flew by, and shook my head to turn him down, but I pointed him in the right direction anyway.
Taoist head nodded, touched out four five dollars to me, let me tomorrow noon to send food to him, and then let me go home, looking at his back drilled into the forest disappeared, I was curious about how much money he actually have, how to go out of the big five dollars, to know that the village head of the family's largest is only fifty cents.
Twenty dollars is a huge sum of money, equivalent to a laborer a year without eating or drinking income, I went home and did not dare to talk to my father, and did not dare to go to the kiosk to buy things, wait until the next day can only be from the cellar secretly took a few red camas, filled a pot of water to the back of the mountain.
But from noon until the time when it was almost dark did not see the Taoist priest to, I had to red camas and water hanging in the tree home, until the evening father asked about the Taoist priest, I had to give twenty dollars to my father, and said that the Taoist priest let me send food.
My father had never seen five dollars in his life, and touched a handful of pennies to let me go to the kiosk to buy wine and food, and wait until the next day to let me and my mother together to the mountains.
The red camas and water I had left yesterday were gone, and I thought to myself that the Taoist priest must have come back last night to take them away, so I hung the wine and vegetables on a tree and went down the mountain with my mother, and so it was for the next few days.
Until the ninth day when I went up the mountain alone, I suddenly found a book hanging from a tree branch, and yesterday's wine and food are untouched, I saw the illustrations on the book is very strange, and did not think so much to bring back.
The next few days on the mountain, those meals have not moved, the Taoist master never came back, I was very disappointed, thinking not that let me follow you, how you do not keep your word and left.
Since then I never went to the back of the mountain, until the second half of the year, the Taoist priest's twenty dollars is still whole, my father sent me to the elementary school, and urged me to study hard.
Of course, as a child of a poor family, I had no reason not to work hard, and it didn't take me long to recognize the title of the book the Taoist master had left behind - "Ten Thousand Laws Returned to Tibet".
What kind of book it was I couldn't understand at that time, I only knew that it was very valuable and didn't want to be known by others, so I hid it on the beam of the thatched toilet and wrapped it in several layers of rags, and I took it down every night when I went to the outhouse to write down the words I didn't know, and then I would wait for the next day when I got to the school to ask the teacher about it.
In this way, it took me a month to figure out the first page of the dozens of words, to the effect that this book is about the mechanism of art, and then afraid of Mr. Teachers perceived that they did not dare to ask again.
After the fall harvest that year, the village suddenly met to implement the policy of farmland to the household, my father, good people, good land he did not dare to take, and finally the village will be at the foot of the mountain, a large reservoir to him.
My father was very reluctant, but there was nothing he could do about it. He saw several large pieces of barren sandy land in the middle of the reservoir, so he and my mother made a plan and moved the family to the center of the reservoir.
In order to make it easier for me to go to school, my father hollowed out a large tree, and I paddled a canoe to and from the reservoir every day, reading the "Ten Thousand Dharma Returns to Tibet" when I had time, and occasionally helping my father to get some fish and shrimp in the reservoir to exchange for some food at the kiosk.
Although the days were hard, but there was no trouble, until I made a bet with a few friends at school, this peaceful life was completely broken.
It was a very hot day at noon, and my school was completely exposed to the sun, the tiles on the roof were bouncing in the sun, and the walls were very hot to the touch.
This thing is actually to blame for the village headman's son, he was the class president at the time, led us straight to the reservoir, after a cool bath, he asked us to bet on endurance, the loser to give him a penny, do not participate in the said to the teaching staff to snitch.
He is the son of the village chief, the students do not want to go against him, but his way of betting is very surprising ......
