For thirty years, he has roamed the Northeast, his divine might overwhelming all immortals under hea

The year of Gengshen in the lunar calendar.

The sun pressed down on the western mountain peaks, baking the dirt road in Zhujiakan until it steamed with white vapor. The corn husks by the roadside curled up like dried pickled vegetables, rustling in the wind, just like the gossiping of the village women.

I squatted under the old, crooked willow tree at the edge of the village, clutching a half-eaten, pitted corncob in my hand. Sticky corn kernels covered my hand and dripped down between my fingers.

A group of teenagers surrounded me, clapping their hands and shouting.

"Idiot Thirteen, you eat shit and climb walls! Idiot Thirteen, your head has sores!"

Their voices were so high-pitched and bright that they made my ears ring.

I didn't dare to look up, so I buried my face even lower, staring at the ants moving their nests on the ground. My heart felt like it was burning with a piece of red-hot coal, but I couldn't describe the feeling.

My name is Li Shisan, but the people of Zhujiakan call me a fool.

When I was five years old, I got lost while going up the mountain with the older kids in the village to steal bird nests. I wandered around in the woods all day, and after someone found me, I ended up looking like this.

His eyes are fixed on the center of his head, he speaks incoherently, and he grins like an idiot whenever he sees someone. Sometimes he even squats on the ground and gnaws on the mud.

At first, my parents held me and cried. They took me to all the nearby commune clinics and even sought help from a shaman in the neighboring village, but nothing worked.

The villagers all say that I must have done something terrible in my past life and am paying for it in this one. Some even say that my Li family ancestors did not accumulate any good deeds, which is why I am the way I am now.

Gradually, the way her parents looked at her changed, from heartache to disgust, and then to numbness.

Mother said.

"What a tragedy! How could I have given birth to such a thing? I must have owed you something in my past life."

Father squatted on the doorstep smoking his pipe, the light from the pipe flickering, and after a long while, he finally managed to utter a sentence.

"Live on, at least you're still alive."

I'm completely incapable of doing any housework.

When weeding, they might mistake the rice seedlings for weeds and pull them up; when feeding pigs, they might spill pig feed all over themselves; and even when cooking, they might set the stove on fire.

Over time, my parents stopped caring about me. As long as I was alive, they didn't care what I ate or where I slept.

Every day, I'd be given a bowl of leftover rice, and I'd squat under the willow tree at the village entrance, watching the sunrise and sunset, and observing the comings and goings of people in the village.

When the adults in the village saw me, they would either walk around me or sneer and call me an "idiot" and spit on the ground.

Those teenagers even took it for fun to bully me.

They would steal my food, throw mud at me, and even push me into the stinking ditch at the village entrance, laughing as they watched me soaking wet and covered in mud.

I was filthy, my hair was a mess like a bird's nest, and my clothes were patched upon patched, emitting a sour smell.

The second aunt, who was passing by, covered her nose, grabbed her son Xiaozhu, and said in a shrill voice.

"Stay away, don't let that idiot bring you bad luck!"

Little Zhuzi hid behind his second aunt, poked half his head out, and made a face at me.

"Fool, fool!"

I gripped the corn cob tightly in my hand, my fingernails digging into my palm, making me wince in pain.

But I dared not resist, nor did I know how. I was like a soulless puppet, manipulated and humiliated by everyone.

The sun gradually set, and the clouds on the horizon were dyed blood red, like the blood splattered from a pig that had just been slaughtered.

Smoke rose from the village chimneys, carrying with it the aroma of food.

My stomach rumbled. I had long since finished the half-eaten corn cob, and a bitter taste still lingered in my mouth.

"You idiot, go home and eat shit!"

A kid named Gousheng picked up a clod of dirt and threw it at my back.

The clod of earth wasn't big, but it hit me hard.

I stumbled and almost fell to the ground.

I looked up at Gou Sheng's smug face and the smug faces of the group of kids around me, and the pent-up frustration in my heart suddenly felt like it was about to explode.

I wanted to shout, to curse, to throw the corncob in my hand at someone, but it felt like there was a wad of cotton stuck in my throat, and I couldn't make a sound.

I could only stare at them, tears streaming uncontrollably down my face, mingling with the dirt and leaving dark streaks.

"Oh, so this idiot knows how to cry!"

Gou Sheng laughed even harder.

"What are you crying for? Crying because your mother didn't give you a good brain?"

A burst of laughter erupted from the crowd.

Just then, my mother's voice came from afar.

"Thirteen! You stupid idiot, get home now!"

My mother, carrying a vegetable basket, walked over quickly, her face full of impatience.

She grabbed my arm and pulled me forcefully toward home.

My arm was being gripped so tightly by her that it hurt terribly, but I didn't dare to utter a sound and could only stagger after her.

Gousheng was still shouting as he passed by the group of children.

"Hey idiot Thirteen, come play again tomorrow!"

The mother turned around and glared at Gou Sheng, but didn't dare to say anything.

Zhujiakan is such a small place, everyone runs into each other all the time, and nobody wants to offend anyone else.

Moreover, our family is the most shameful family in the village.

When I got home, the yard was dark. My father sat on the doorstep, puffing on his pipe without saying a word.

My mother dragged me to the water vat, scooped up a ladle of cold water, and splashed it all over my face.

"Wash yourself clean! You're covered in mud, you look like a beggar!"

The mother's voice was full of disdain.

"Tomorrow is your 18th birthday, don't go out and embarrass yourself!"

Cold water streamed down my hair, icy cold, making me shiver all over.

I stood by the water vat, head down, not daring to look into my mother's eyes.

Dinner was brown rice with a bowl of pickled vegetables.

My parents sat at the kang table to eat, while I squatted by the stove, holding a large, chipped bowl and shoveling rice into it.

The rice was cold, and the pickled vegetables were both salty and bitter, but I still wolfed it down because I was hungry.

Dad put down his chopsticks, glanced at me, and said slowly.

"Once you're over eighteen, you're an adult. You can't stay this naive forever, can you?"

Mother sighed.

"What can we do? It's his fate."

"life?"

"I think it's because of some terrible things they did in their past life!"

"The sins you committed in your past life were the sins of your Li family."

Their words were like needles, piercing my heart.

My hand, which was picking at my rice, stopped. Tears started falling again, dripping into the bowl and splashing onto the brown rice, creating small ripples.

It was late at night, and both parents were asleep.

I lay on the pile of firewood in the kitchen, covered with a tattered burlap sack.

Moonlight streamed through the cracks in the window, casting a pale, stark white glow on the floor.

I stared at the dark ceiling with my eyes open, my mind a jumbled mess.

I recalled the scene of going up the mountain when I was five years old. The shadows of the trees in the forest were swaying, and there was a cool feeling, as if something was following me.

But I can't remember them clearly. Those memories are like those shrouded in a thick fog, blurry and indistinct.

I turned over, and the pile of firewood made me feel uncomfortable all over.

My stomach started growling again; that brown rice and pickled vegetables weren't enough to fill me up.

Just as I was drifting off to sleep, I suddenly felt a chill creep in through the crack in the door.

The coolness was strange; it wasn't the cold of the night wind, but rather a kind of... coolness with a hint of fishy sweetness.

I shuddered and tried to shrink into the pile of firewood, but found that I couldn't move.

My eyelids felt heavy, yet I was unusually awake.

I could feel something slowly approaching me.

Under the moonlight, a white shadow slipped in through the crack in the door.

The shadow was long and thin, like a snake.

I was so scared that my whole body stiffened. I wanted to scream, but no sound came out.

I could only watch helplessly as the white figure slowly crawled toward me.

The moonlight illuminated its appearance.

It was a white snake, pure white without a single blemish.

Its scales shimmered faintly in the moonlight, like they were studded with tiny silver pieces.

Its eyes were red, like two translucent red agates, staring at me without blinking.

The white snake had a long body and coiled around me. Its cool scales touched my skin, but I didn't feel any chills.

Instead, a warm sensation slowly seeped into my body from where it was touching me.

The feeling was very comfortable, like a warm current flowing through my veins and throughout my body.

The confusion and numbness in my mind seemed to be washed away little by little by this warm current.

The white snake raised its head and flicked its tongue, which was also white and carried a faint, sweet-smelling fishy smell.

Its red eyes stared at me, as if I were looking at a long-lost friend.

Then, I heard a voice, a very soft yet clear voice, ring in my mind.

"Kid, I've been waiting for you for thirteen years."

The voice wasn't male or female; it seemed to carry an ancient charm, piercing my eardrums and drilling straight into my heart.

I was stunned; my mind went completely blank.

"Thirteen years ago, you mistakenly entered my cave and absorbed my vital essence, which is why you became an idiot."

The White Snake's voice continued to echo in my mind.

"Today, you turn eighteen, your destiny has returned to its rightful place, and it's time to repay your debts."

Innate vital energy? Cave dwelling?

The fog in my mind seemed to be blown away by the wind, and those forgotten memories suddenly surged up.

When I was five years old, I went up the mountain with the older children. After getting lost, I panicked and ran into a cave.

The cave was cool, and the stone walls were covered with moss.

I wandered around the cave for a long time, and suddenly I saw a pool of water. In the pool, there was a white snake coiled on a rock, flicking its tongue.

I was young then and didn't know fear, so I reached out to touch it.

Just as my hand was about to touch its scales, a cool sensation surged from my fingertips into my body.

Then, I passed out.

So that's what happened.

"Your foolishness is because you cannot withstand my vital essence."

The White Snake's voice carried a hint of apology.

"It took me thirteen years to stabilize your destiny. Today, I return all my vital essence to you, and you will inherit my legacy."

inherited?

Before I could think about it, I felt a powerful force surging out from the white snake's body and continuously entering my body.

That power was both domineering and gentle.

It cleansed my meridians and nourished my bones; my mind felt as if it had been filled with clear water, and instantly became clear.

All those incoherent words and those confused thoughts vanished.

Instead, there is an unprecedented clarity.

I could clearly hear the crickets chirping in the yard, my parents snoring as they slept soundly, and even the sound of the leaves of the old willow tree at the village entrance being blown by the wind.

My eyes also became unusually bright.

Under the moonlight, every single straw on the pile of firewood was clearly visible.

What shocked me even more was that my mind suddenly had a lot more things.

There were some obscure and difficult-to-understand characters, as well as some patterns, like talismans, or the direction of mountains and rivers.

There are also some voices echoing in my mind, words that I have never heard before, yet are incredibly familiar to me.

"This is the way of spirit mediums, who understand yin and yang, know ghosts and gods, discern feng shui, and predict fortune and misfortune."

"Your innate talent is a divine mandate. From this day forward, you will be the shaman of Zhujiakan, acting on behalf of Heaven and upholding justice for ghosts."

"A shaman?"

"Acting on behalf of the ghosts?"

"Shouldn't it be about acting on behalf of Heaven?"

I thought of the shamans in the village, their colorful clothes, the drums they held, and the incomprehensible words they uttered.

That warm current continued to flow into my body, and I felt as if my body had been reshaped. The previous weakness and numbness had all disappeared, replaced by a feeling of being full of strength.

The white snake's body gradually became transparent in the moonlight. Its red eyes looked at me with a hint of relief.

"I was originally a white snake who had cultivated for a thousand years in Nianzi Mountain. I failed to transcend the tribulation and damaged my essence, so I hid in a cave in Zhujiakan to recuperate."

The White Snake's voice grew softer and softer.

"Meeting you thirteen years ago was both fate and calamity. Now, my life essence belongs to you, and my legacy is also yours. You must set up a memorial tablet for me, and your Li family must worship me for generations. I will then protect your Li family and help you change your current life."

"Really...really?"

I was finally able to speak again. My voice was no longer muffled; it had become clear and loud.

The White Snake smiled, a very gentle smile.

"Dust to dust, ashes to ashes."

"How can you lie?"

After saying this, the white snake's body transformed into a beam of white light and entered my forehead.

I shuddered and suddenly opened my eyes.

The haystack was still the same haystack, the kitchen was still the same kitchen, and the moonlight still shone through the cracks in the window, casting a pale white light on the ground.

It was as if everything that had just happened was just a dream.

I sat up and touched my forehead; there was still a slight warmth there.

I moved my arms and legs again, and my whole body was full of energy, and my mind was incredibly clear.

I looked down at my hands; they were no longer the dirty, sticky mess they used to be.

I can feel a stream of energy flowing slowly through my body, following my meridians and traveling throughout my entire body.

I recalled the obscure words and images in my mind, and the "way of becoming a spirit medium" spoken by the White Snake.

I closed my eyes, calmed my mind, and the words and images became clear in my mind.

"Qi disperses when carried by the wind and stops when it encounters water."

"Qian represents Heaven, Kun represents Earth, Zhen represents Thunder, and Xun represents Wind."

And those methods for discerning yin and yang, observing feng shui, and predicting fortune and misfortune are as if they are engraved in my mind, and I can't shake them off.

I suddenly opened my eyes, my gaze sharp and intense.

Thirteen years of humiliation, thirteen years of contempt, thirteen years of bullying flashed through my mind like a movie.

The mockery of Gou Sheng, the disdain of my second aunt, the indifference of my parents, and the contemptuous looks I received from the villagers.

I used to be a fool, bullied and trampled on by everyone.

From this day forward, I, Li Shisan, am no longer that fool!

I am a shaman, I understand the ways of the living and the dead, and I know about ghosts and spirits!

I clenched my fists.

The anger that had been building up inside me for thirteen years finally found an outlet.

The rooster outside the kitchen crowed for the first time.

The sky was beginning to lighten with the first hint of dawn.