ENG
Fairy mountains, clouds and waters are connected to the horizon, and home is nowhere to be seen.
Holding a stick, I walk far into the dangerous nest and enjoy the white snow and yellow buds.
Long ago, a mountain village sat on a ridge teeming with insects. Strange things kept happening, so the villagers all moved out, leaving it a deserted village. In the village below lived a young man. His mother had died, and his father was a poor wastrel who paid him no mind. The villagers looked down on him and often abused him. He felt he couldn't endure such disdain, so he fled to live in the abandoned village. Little did he know that the village was claimed by a swarm of insect guais.
As soon as the young man reached the ridge, the yaoguais seized him. He didn't fight back, as a deep-rooted death wish, stemming from a life without attachments, had long infested his heart. Seeing his resignation, the insects didn't harm him. Instead, they provided him shelter in a dilapidated shack.
That night, a middle-aged Daoist brought him food and clothing. "I heard you have nowhere to go, so I brought you some things for daily use. If you don't mind, take me as your master and stay here. I can teach you practices for ascension." The youth hadn't been cared for in so long. He eagerly donned the Daoist robe and performed the rites to acknowledge his master. From then on, he lived and trained with the insect guais. They spent their days dining and walking together, and at night, they slept side by side.
One day, a scholar barged into the young man's room. "I've just escaped from the yaoguais' lair. They had trapped me in a cocoon sack, and I'm unsure of their intentions. I'm fleeing this place. You're human, you should come with me." The young man shook his head. "I'm content here. Why should I leave?" The scholar grew angry, "Because they're yaoguais and you're human! Even if they don't harm you, staying with them long enough will turn you into a yaoguai as well!"
"You're right," the young man said as he grabbed his staff and knocked the scholar to the ground. "But even if I turn into a yaoguai, I'll do so gladly." The scholar deemed that the young man was past saving. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he crawled out the door and fled alone.
This story takes place in a lonely mountain area where an old village was abandoned because it was overrun by strange insects called yaoguai (insect guais). The mountains and clouds stretch to the horizon and the old village is empty except for those insects. A young man from a different village lower down has no home there: his mother is dead, his father is a lazy wastrel who ignores him, and the other villagers bully and look down on him.
Unable to bear the abuse, the young man runs away and moves into the abandoned village, not knowing it is occupied by the swarm of yaoguai. When he reaches the ridge, the insects seize him. He does not struggle. The text says he has a deep-rooted death wish from living a life without attachments, so he is resigned and does not resist. Because of his resignation, the insects do not harm him; instead they shelter him in a dilapidated shack.
That night a middle-aged Daoist arrives with food and clothing. The Daoist says he heard the young man had nowhere to go and offers to be his master, promising to teach him practices for ascension. The young man, starved for care and attention, eagerly accepts: he puts on the Daoist robe, performs the rites to acknowledge his master, and begins living and training with the insect yaoguai. The story stresses their closeness: they dine and walk together by day and sleep side by side at night.
Later a scholar bursts into the young man’s room, having just escaped from the yaoguais’ lair where he had been trapped in a cocoon sack. He warns the youth to leave immediately, saying that staying with the yaoguais will eventually turn a human into a yaoguai. The young man refuses, grabs his staff, knocks the scholar to the ground, and says that even if he becomes a yaoguai he will do so gladly. The scholar, wounded and convinced the youth is beyond saving, drags himself out the door and flees alone.
The story ends with the young man choosing to remain with the insects and accept the Daoist mastership and training. The clear implication is that he has willingly entered the community of yaoguai and is on a path that could transform him into one of them, while any attempt to rescue him is abandoned.