ENG
In remote corners, evil shows its face,
Yet the good seeks the divine's embrace.
Evil's end is found in fire's relentless glow,
While the good is shielded, be it high or low.
In a village beneath Flaming Mountains, the impoverished residents subsisted solely on rice cakes and wore nothing but coarse linen clothes. To appease the yaoguais in the mountains for rain, they had a grim custom: sending elders over sixty as offerings.
Old Xu, a Dao aspirant in his youth, only grew stronger with age, and his vitality hinted at a long life. Yet, on his sixtieth birthday, in the midst of a lavish celebration, the villagers placed him on a ceremonial altar and carried him to a stone temple in the mountains to be sacrificed.
Confined in the temple, Old Xu grew weak from hunger and thirst. At the brink of death, the temple doors swung open, and two enormous figures entered. "Another old one," one of them said, and the other followed, "He's still breathing. Go, let's check on him." He was then approached by two bull guais clad in armor, each wielding a pair of hammers. Frozen in fear, he remained voiceless.
However, the guais, instead of harming him, handed him a sack of water and shared their dried food. They then instructed him: "Leave the temple and follow the path marked by bamboo stakes to find the main road. From there, the west leads to the Kingdom of Sacrifice, and the east to the Kingdom of Women. Choose your way."
Recovering his senses, Old Xu asked why they spared him. One of the guais replied, "You mortals underestimate us. If we were to feast on humans, we wouldn't choose the elderly! Our Lady has often sent the old back, but everyone she sent back ended up murdered. Now we guide you old ones to seek life elsewhere. Eat quickly and be on your way."
With that, the bull guais left Old Xu alone and resumed their patrol with their hammers swinging.
This story takes place in a poor village beneath the Flaming Mountains where people live on rice cakes and wear coarse linen. The villagers have an ugly custom: to get rain from the mountain spirits called yaoguais, they send anyone older than sixty up to the mountains as an offering.
Old Xu is the central character. He once trained in Dao practices and actually grew stronger as he aged, so he looked like someone who would live a long time. Still, on his sixtieth birthday, the villagers put him on a ceremonial altar during a celebration and carried him to a stone temple in the mountains to be sacrificed.
Once inside the temple he was locked up, and he weakened from hunger and thirst until he almost died. At that low point the temple doors opened and two huge armored figures entered. They were bull guais, each armed with two hammers. Old Xu was terrified and could not speak.
Instead of killing him, the bull guais gave him a sack of water and some dried food, and told him how to leave the temple. They said to follow a path marked by bamboo stakes to reach the main road, and warned him that going west would take him to the Kingdom of Sacrifice while going east would take him to the Kingdom of Women. They told him to choose a direction and go.
When Old Xu asked why they had spared him, one of the guais explained that humans misunderstand them. They said the guais would not eat people and that they would not choose the elderly as food. Their Lady had previously sent old people back to human villages, but those returned elders were murdered. Because of that, the guais now guide old people away to try to save them.
After giving him food and directions, the bull guais left Old Xu alone and went back to patrolling the area with their hammers. The scene shows that the yaoguais are not simply evil monsters eating humans; they act with some care for the old, and the villagers’ sacrificial practice is cruel and based on misunderstanding. The story ends with Old Xu alive and guided toward two possible destinations, while the guais continue their patrol.