Blinded in One Eye

After the Corpse Demon was sent flying, she staggered to her feet and stumbled toward the courtyard gate.

She had barely taken a few steps when a large pipe bowl suddenly struck the back of the Corpse Demon's head.

The Corpse Demon fell to the ground with a thud.

Granny Liu circled around in front of the Corpse Demon and struck a strange pose. She planted her left foot on the ground and rested her right foot on top of it, as though sitting on thin air. Raising her pipe high, she brought it down on the Corpse Demon's forehead again.

"One strike severs the soul!"

"Two strikes scatter the spirit!"

"Three strikes end this evil!"

With every strike, the Corpse Demon let out a wretched scream, her body convulsing as though in an epileptic fit. When Granny Liu struck her for the third time, she stopped moving.

After those three strikes, Granny Liu seemed to have exhausted every last ounce of her strength and collapsed to the ground.

Inside the house, Grandpa had been kicked hard by the Corpse Demon and only just managed to get back on his feet.

When he heard that everything outside had gone quiet, he hurried out to look. Granny Liu was slumped on the ground, gasping for breath. The Corpse Demon lay beside her, completely motionless.

The courtyard was a mess, strewn with the bodies of Yellow Weasels and foxes. Even the big black dog Dad had brought had been disemboweled by the Corpse Demon. It lay in a pool of blood, already dead.

The enormous weasel that had appeared earlier seemed to have been wounded too, with bloody gashes all over his body. He first glanced toward Grandpa, then limped away with a group of injured Yellow Weasels and foxes.

After living alongside these Yellow Weasels and foxes for three years, Grandpa no longer felt any wariness toward them.

For the past three years, these Yellow Weasels and foxes had brought our family food and drink every day. Now they had even come to save our lives.

Watching the enormous Yellow Weasel leave, Grandpa called out, "Thank you, Yellow Immortal."

Naturally, the Yellow Immortal did not respond and soon vanished into the night.

Grandpa came over to Granny Liu. When he looked at her in the moonlight, he was startled. Her face, which had never been particularly attractive, now bore a long gash running from her forehead all the way to the corner of her mouth. She also seemed to have lost the sight in one eye.

"Granny Liu, are you... are you all right?" Grandpa asked anxiously.

Granny Liu sucked in a sharp breath from the pain and said in a trembling voice, "I'm all right. Still alive."

"This Corpse Demon..." Grandpa glanced worriedly at the body lying on the ground.

"Don't worry. It's over. I've scattered the soul of Ma Laosan's wife. Without a soul, this body can't become a Corpse Demon. In a little while, take it to the mountain behind the village, or return it to Ma Laosan's family so they can bury her again. Then this whole affair will be settled."

While they were talking, a head suddenly appeared at the gate.

It was Dad, who had brought the big black dog earlier.

When he heard that the noises in the courtyard had stopped, he came over to check. The wreckage in the courtyard startled him too.

"Come in. It's all right now," Grandpa called.

"Dad... Little Jie isn't going to make it! Hurry in and take a look!" Mom's tearful cries came from inside the house.

At the sound of her voice, Grandpa and Dad rushed inside, followed by Granny Liu, who limped after them.

"What happened?" Grandpa asked hurriedly, looking at me in Mom's arms.

"Just now... when Third Sister-in-law came in, I saw a huge fox shadow suddenly appear on the wall behind Little Jie. It had eight tails. After that shadow appeared, Third Sister-in-law jumped out the window, and then Little Jie passed out. No matter how much I call him, he won't wake up. What's wrong with him?" Mom said through her tears.

Grandpa and Dad were terrified when they heard this, and both hurried over to me.

After hearing what had happened, Granny Liu pondered for a moment, then waved a hand. "It's nothing serious. The Immortal Being's Primordial Spirit inside the child must have emerged and driven away the Corpse Demon. Otherwise, both you and your son would already be dead. It was only because the Immortal acted and badly wounded the Corpse Demon that I had a chance to finish her off. The Immortal's soul was already very weak, and manifesting her primordial spirit this time weakened her further. She and the child are One Body, Two Souls. Give him a few days to recover, and he'll be fine. Three days at the least, seven at the most. He'll definitely wake up."

Only after hearing Granny Liu's explanation did the family feel reassured.

There was still plenty to do afterward. First, Dad found a flatbed handcart and took the body of Ma Laosan's wife to the mountain behind the village. He planned to notify Ma Laosan at daybreak so he could retrieve the body and bury her again. Whatever happened, the body could not be found at our house, or it would cause all sorts of unnecessary trouble.

Grandpa also gathered up all the dead Yellow Weasels and foxes in the courtyard, more than thirty in total. Their pelts were lustrous and would surely have fetched a good price, but they had all died trying to save my life. Grandpa could never do something so ungrateful. He dug a large pit in a corner of the courtyard and buried all their bodies.

By the time everything had been taken care of, dawn had broken.

Mom had already helped give Granny Liu's wound a simple dressing. Grandpa went to the eastern end of the village to find a donkey cart, then took Granny Liu straight to the hospital in town to have her injuries treated.

On the way, Grandpa remained deeply troubled by Granny Liu's injuries. As he led the donkey cart from the front, he said to her, "Sister, we're not even related, yet you lost an eye for our family. The Old Wu Family has no way to repay you. I feel awful about it."

But Granny Liu said, "Brother Wu, I told you before that I wasn't helping your family for a reward. Being able to help the High Immortal is a blessing I've earned through lifetimes of good deeds. The fact that the High Immortal chose your grandson means he's destined for a great opportunity. His future could be limitless. But your grandson has an unusual fate. His life will be full of hardships and suffering, with a calamity every three years. Either he dies, or someone else does. Let me warn you now: the greatest calamity he'll face will come when he's nine. If he survives it, his fate may take a major turn for the better. If he doesn't, he'll lose his life. Remember this: on his ninth birthday, you must not let him leave the house."

"Why nine? Doesn't he have another calamity at six?" Grandpa asked, puzzled.

"I may be able to help with the calamity when he's six, but the one at nine will be beyond my power. Whether he survives will depend on his own fortune." Granny Liu took out her large pipe and drew on it, gazing toward Nine Mountains Village. No one knew what she was thinking.

Three days later, I woke up...