Mythical Creatures Series 1: Ah-Jiang Chapter 3

Mythical Creature Series 1 Ah-Jiang

Chapter 03

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That night, Ah-Jiang was actually there to bid him farewell.

Apparently, Ah-Jiang was not a scholar, and he said that since the snow and ice have melted, he needed to go back home.

Shi Tou asked him then, "When will you come back again?"

There seemed to be dark lights inside Ah-Jiang's glossy eyes, and he answered, "When I get everything sorted out. Then I will come back and find you."

In the Yamen, Constable Shi sat in the backyard's martial training field and sighed heavily as he squatted on the ground. Due to the sound of him sighing here and there, his other Constable brothers within the field did not have the heart to continue on training.

Just take a glance – look at how good the spring weather is. Shi Tou, oh Shi Tou, remember when you were so jumpy and lively during the winter time? Why is it that when spring has come, your spirits have all faded away?

On the side, a shidi[1] beckoned with his hand and the rest of the Constable brothers surrounded around him quietly.

"Shi da'ge[2], he…is probably painfully reminiscing about his love!"

"Painfully reminiscing his love? Reminiscing about what love?" ── The rest of the Constable brothers still had the great memories of the handsome Shi being wives' nemesis freshly engraved in their mind!

That little shidi was the youngest here and the easiest one to get gossip from – this time especially since he lived near Constable Shi's house. Once he opened his chatterbox mouth, his saliva flew everywhere as he spewed out the words and the fact that a person had lived in the handsome Shi's house just a while ago was exposed loud and clear.

The other Constable brothers were struck dumb and amazed at how Shi da'ge was able to hide such a big event this well! Then another person asked, "Xiao Maozi, then, have you seen that person before?"

Xiao Maozi loudly replied, "How can I not?!"

Well then, what did they look like? To be able to make their handsome Shi miss them so much, they must not be one of the ordinary! Many of the older guys' interest were raised; since Shi Tou is already the best looking in their district, and before he'd become the nemesis of wives, none of them had the hope of getting together with any girls in the district. It was definitely because the god above felt merciful and knew that this kind of treatment was not fair, so he decided to let the handsome Shi have some bad luck in order for all the others to have kids that are old enough to do chores. Then he will finally treat the handsome Shi's bad luck.

As for the look? Xiao Maozi suddenly let out an "eh" sound and scratched his head. He swore he remembered and had even seen the other a few times from far away. But no matter how hard he tried, why could he not remember what the other looked like…?

Before the little shidi was able to remember, a large hand from behind lifted the little monkey up.

"Shi da'ge!"

"If you all have so much time to gossip around like women here then go! Patrol, now!" Shi Tou hit every single one of them on the head with his stick as he yelled loudly with great insistence!

Even though Constable Shi was a Constable just like the rest of them, he was still the old ban head's direct disciple. Recently, the magistrate's trust in him had also increased immensely through many types of security measure work that had all been organized by Constable Shi. Because of such things, the rest of the other Constables just naturally saw Constable Shi as a leader to follow.

Speaking of that, Constable Shi always seemed like he was naturally born preeminent compared to them. Not just his appearance, but his brain also works better than all of the other's brains combined together. Even the magistrate was a little bit envious of the old band head. He'd said with a pointing finger multiple times, "Old man, you are sure good at picking up stuff – being able to bring back a golden child from some barren forest!" The magistrate did not have as good of a life as him; both of his sons were slow-witted and lacked fighting spirit. But then again, the country right now was in an unknown chaos. They could probably live on longer and more peaceful by being like that.

Constable Shi carried his large sword and led a group of married men to patrol around the district. The place they were at was usually the most crowded place, so incidents often occurred here. Within the time of them barely taking two steps, a fast shadow figure ran out from the Treasure House[3] that was fifty steps in front of them. Then the owner quickly ran out of the shop while crying out, "Robbery! Robbery!!!"

With someone that dares to steal in broad daylight, Constable Shi did not need to hear the screams and had already started to chase the moment he saw the shadow running out.

Constable Shi had good martial skills on his hands, but his feet were even more excellent. He had to chase thieves down both big streets and small alleys everyday; how could some little typical thief be a match to Constable Shi? But that little thief obviously did not seem to be just an ordinary one. He knew the inside out of all the hidden alleys here and even had some martial art skills himself as well. That was proven when a wall had blocked his way and he was able to jump over it. He was good, but our Constable Shi was not bad either! If he can fly over, then Constable Shi can fly, too. If he can walk on the wall, then Constable Shi can, too!

That thief was definitely some outsider. He obviously did not think that such a small district like An Ling would have a hidden black horse. In the end, he was chased for half a shichen[4]. He could only drop all the jewelry he'd stolen, but who knew that Constable Shi would still not let him go!

"Hey, hey, hey! This hero──! Let's stop, stop!!!" Being chased all the way to a forest outside of the district, the thief could not run anymore, and coincidentally, Constable Shi also seemed to be at his limit.

"Come, Come back to the Yamen with me!" Constable Shi leaned on a tree while he panted heavily.

The thief felt complete unfairness. "Didn't I already return all the jewels? Don't cross the line here!"

There was no way Constable Shi was gonna be having a sophistry conversation with that thing. He wiped his sweat and took in a breath before wanting to go up and capture the guy. Suddenly, he felt a wave of strong wind behind him and Constable Shi could not dodge within time. He was then knocked right on his head by a stick! He staggered backwards until he hit the tree's backside. That little thief had a group of allies with him!

They were tall, strong, and fierce. It seemed like they were mountain bandits.

Even if Constable Shi had three heads and six arms, all he'd learned were combat skill with hands and feet. Under the sneak attack, he could only pull his sword out to take down a few people from the opposing side, but he was definitely at a great disadvantage by the other side. In the end, he was the one to be held down to the ground.

"Da'ge, you, you're gonna kill him?" the thief yelled.

The head of all the bandits dangled Constable Shi's large sword around. "This one saw our faces. We cannot let him go!"

"Oh, oh…" The thief gulped.

When the sword swung in front of his eyes, Shi Tou looked up. But the sun's light was too fierce as it reflected on his beloved sword, making it hard for him to see clearly.

Even though this life and death situation was gonna happen in the blink of an eye, Constable Shi unconsciously thought deep down──Ah-Jiang hadn't said when he will be back. If the river froze again in the future and he can't go back home, who knows where he could find another door to knock upon, where could he eat his favorite pig trotters?

A chilling wind raved up, and a cluster of black clouds covered over his head. Then he heard the sounds of crashing waves from the nearby river!

Instantly, many shrill cries that seemed like it could scratch open the sky rang out.

Within a few breaths, the pressure that held his back down suddenly loosened, but Constable Shi did not have the strength to stand up. He lifted his eyes open with difficulty only to see a pure white coat in front of him. There was a paralyzing cold with waves and waves of chilly winds.

He wanted to clearly see what the person looked like, but then in the uncontrollable moment, there seemed to be a hand that covered his eyes. It had such coldness and such gentleness.

By the time Constable Shi woke up once again, he was already inside the Yamen. He listened to all the other Constable brothers of the Yamen talking all at once along the lines of, "Shi da'ge, how did you end up in the forest from chasing a thief? The headhunter even had to take you back!"

Constable Shi sat up in shock to ask, "Has that group of bandits been caught yet?!"

"Bandits? What bandits? Has Shi da'ge gone stupid from sleeping?!"

Constable Shi couldn't figure out the situation and said everything he remembered to the other Constable brothers. All of them looked at each other in the eyes many times and just purely thought that Shi da'ge either slept too deep and was confused, or he'd just heard too many plays.

Yet, the next morning, something happened around Pu Jiang once again. This time, dozens of dead bodies were fished out of the river.

Shi Tou and the old ban head took a coroner with them there. The moment he saw the rows of dead bodies, his face immediately paled. These people's faces were already washed to an unrecognizable state by the water, but he could still recognize the thief's clothing. Plus, didn't he chase the other for almost a whole shichen? Not to mention that after they searched his body, they really did find a few gold bracelets that belonged to the Treasure House!

These dozens of people died in such a wicked way: their organs were eaten by fishes and even when their mouths were opened, smelly fish would jump out. It sent shivers down the spines of the people who watched.

This incident was too odd!

Constable Shi went by the river once again. By the shore were a few women washing clothes and a ferry boat floating around. In his line of sight was complete peace alongside the calm winds. Shi Tou squatted down and used his hand to stir the light-green river water a bit. It was strange then because the fishes in the river started to gather around him, and it seemed like they were all jumping happily.

"Benefactor."

Constable Shi made a yelp sound and almost fell in the water.

A monk──that's right, it was another monk! He wore a kasaya robe[5] with a pair of black clothed shoes[6]. On his neck hung a string of mala, and his body figure was plump with a round stomach and bright warm colors all over his face. He did not look like an actual monk; instead, he looked like the Maitreya Buddha[7].

"Benefactor, this poor monk[8] here sees that your…forehead is spreading a shade of black with dark clouds covering over the top of your head. Some incidents might come your way these days."

Constable Shi furrowed his brows and picked out one of the little silver pieces from his pocket then stuffed it in the great master's[9] hand. He said, "This great master, please let me go. I…do not believe in those things!"

The fat monk showed a face of kindness with his smile as his two hands clasped together with all ten fingers corresponding to each other. "This poor monk will be staying at the temple over there for a while. Benefactor can come at any time."

Nearby was a broken temple. As the saying goes, stretched hands do not hit a smiling person; Constable Shi returned an amitabha[10] to him. Yet, inside he thought that if he, himself, was all good and everything, why would he have to go to him?

But true to that monk's word, Constable Shi's peaceful days did not last long when he suddenly caught a severe fever. The neighboring housewife called upon his door many times with no response, so she had her husband come over and check on him. If it weren't for that, Shi Tou could've died from this high fever.

Since his young age, Constable Shi was never one to be sick. He'd lived the past twenty-one years comfortably and almost as if he was a wild grass. It didn't matter if it was wind blowing or rain hitting it, there would be no sign of it being bent. This fever was extremely strange; many doctors in the district had looked over him and he still could not get any better. The magistrate had always been relatively close to Shi Tou, so he'd made space in the Yamen for Shi Tou to recuperate. He ordered for people to go request for a credible doctor from the capital city, but just like the saying, the sky was too high and the emperor was too far[11]; water from far away cannot extinguish the fire nearby. Going from An Ling to the capital city on a fast horse would still take at least five days. In the period of going to and from, who knows if the handsome Shi could survive until then.

The few Constable brothers and their wives took turns to look after him. Even though Yamen had servants, the handsome Shi could still be counted as half of their relative, so to let them take care of him personally would bring them peace of mind.

That night's thunder was muffled as it continued to strike. The night was dark and an old doctor made a bowl of ginseng soup for Sir Shi. He then wiped his sweat as he said, "Whether he could endure this night or not, it would all depend on…Sir Shi's blessings!"

The old ban head sat outside the house as he breathed out cigar smoke. Xiao Maozi came out of the house and spoke in a whimper, "Shi da'ge spat out the medicine."

"Shi Tou'er…" The old ban head wiped his tears and waved his hand to say, "Go and fetch your shixiong and shiniang[12] to look at your Shi da'ge again. Don't be late!"

Xiao Maozi then ran out only to see that Official Zhang had bought someone back.

"Old Shi, Old Shi! We're saved!" The old ban head immediately got up from Official Zhang's noisy calls thinking that a doctor had arrived. But who knew -it was a monk!

A monk…um, it's not that they have any prejudice toward monks, but are monks supposed to know how to treat an illness?!

But Official Zhang dragged the old ban head over. He said, "Old man, you shall not look down on him. He is the one that holds the lead disciple of Bi Luo Temple's eighteen high monks, Great Master Yun Hai!"

This Maitreya is actually that great monk, Yun Hai?

Though you cannot blame many of them for not being able to tell, this Great Master Yun Hai appeared to be way too joyful[13]. It was impossible for one to not be suspicious.

Good thing the Great Master Yun Hai had a high tolerance and only said a word of "amitabha" before telling them to lead him inside the house.

The servants beside the bed got out of the way to make space for the Great Master Yun Hai. On the bed, Shi Tou had a real harsh illness to where his ten fingers were slightly turning black. The Great Master Yun Hai stopped smiling and came closer to touch his forehead. Then he quickly snatched his hand back as if it had been burned.

"It's actually a ghost king…!" He had a face of shock.

Not waiting for the others in the room to come to their senses, the great master lifted Constable Shi up and called for another well-built man to support Shi Tou. He sat behind Constable Shi and held up the mala from his neck. He started to circulate his dantian[14] as words came out of his mouth continuously.

All the tables within the room started to shake lightly as the chilly wind from outside whistled. The evil wind came and actually blew open all the doors and windows of the house!

"Hold the windows and doors down tight. Do not let him come in to steal the person!" The monk yelled, and all the Yamen brothers quickly jumped on the doors and windows one by one, even their wives went up to help out a little. They used all their might to block the windows and doors to not let the great ghost in to steal their da shixiong[15]!

The sky high above and the ground below both shook immensely as thunders from the sky made great commotion.

The Great Master Yun Hai finally finished casting his spell; then the deities and buddhas surrounded him[16], and with the righteous auras around, he raised his mala up high then gave a harsh slap upon Constable Shi's forehead!

Shi Tou made a "wah" sound as he spat out a mouthful of black blood.

The Great Master Yun Hai's whole body was covered in sweat, and he had a face of horror. He went to touch the puddle of black blood to find a few screws that were as thick as a pinky.

"What, what is that?" Official Zhang's heart jumped in fear. He could never handle these gods and ghost type of stuff!

The fat monk put away the screw and replied with an "amitabha". He then spoke in a deep serious tone, "That ghost had already made a marking on the benefactor's body. This situation may not be able to turn any better."

"That ghost still hasn't given up? Then what can we do?!"

Xiao Maozi still supported the handsome Shi, and even if he was afraid, he still had to plea, "Great master, you have to save our Shi da'ge!" He cried out then immediately kneeled down in front of the monk.

The others in the room also pleaded and started to kneel down one by one, even the old band head came over while rubbing his two hands. "Great master, earlier this old man here was rude. Please do not mind an old man like me…this old man, will also kneel for you!"

"Goodness, that won't be okay!" The Great Master Yun Hai quickly supported the old ban head up, and coincidentally, Constable Shi on the bed also woke up.

Since he woke up, the rest of the stuff had become a lot easier to deal with.

All the other irrelevant people were sent out as only a few people who had the right to make decisions were left inside the room.

"Bald donkey…" Constable Shi mumbled weakly on the side. The old ban head's eyes widened, and he was almost about to slap the other.

Yet, the Great Master Yun Hai smiled with mercy. Then, as if he'd already known this was fated to happen, he comforted the youth with a few sentences and asked for him to tell him everything precisely.

Shi Tou listened to his short words then realized he'd come across an evil ghost and almost took his last breath just now. He remembered the strange things he bumped into within the past few days. He then suddenly felt a chill and did not dare hide anything; he spilled every single detail starting from exorcising the ghost by the river from over two years ago.

Yun Hai pondered and then said, "Benefactor Shi, this is bad for you."

Apparently, from over two years ago, when the monk had called for Shi Tou to go and exorcise with him was not a bad thing. The monk originally did it out of good intentions, to make the great ghost of the river a deity through good deeds. They would need someone of the human realm to help guide them. Yet, who knew that the great ghost's evil aura was too thick from the possibility of it already having countless lives dead by its hand before its death? It made it form into a ghost king under a thousand years. That monk's skill was too shallow; good thing that the Shi Tou he brought along was a person who was born with both good blessings and fortunes, so he was able to last until the ninth call. But in the end, the ghost king's power was one up his, so finally, he still had to pay with his life.

"That ghost, did it come to seek revenge on me…?" Constable Shi asked in a soft voice.

But Yun Hai shook his head. "It cannot be. Benefactor Shi acted out of kindness by trying to lead its spirit back on the right road, and there was just one last step until it could've been completed. Ninety percent of the ghost king's resentment had been dispersed by Benefactor Shi, so due to that, it should've turned harmless. But then again, as the saying goes, you should help out another until the very end and not quit halfway through. So, since the exorcism was never completed, even if the great ghost's name had already been recorded on the list of life and death[17], there is no one there to guide him to reincarnate. He would still have to roam around this world for millions of years, and because the resentful airs of his had mostly been eliminated, it would have nothing to do. I'm afraid to say that may be the reason why it is after the benefactor."

The great master shook his head slowly while letting out a long hiss. "The good deed was not accomplished, yet it turned to an evil one. Benefactor Shi, isn't this a bad thing?"

Constable Shi's mouth twitched as he listened and thought that the great ghost was extremely unreasonable. He made an obeisance gesture with his hand then asked, "Then…what shall I do?"

The Great Master Yun Hai slapped his own thighs. "That ghost king's cultivation is deeply high. Even if my master was still alive, he might not even be able to defeat him. If we cannot handle it, then we can only have Benefactor Shi go and ask it personally. Fulfill its wish, become fair and even, so it can stop bothering you!"

Translator: Crispyfry

Proofreader: CSchick911

QC: Xiao

Translator's Notes:

[1] Shidi – 师弟, literally means "younger (junior) brother". It is used to address a younger or lower ranked male disciple of the same master or a schoolmate.

[2] Da'ge – 大哥, literally means "big brother". Here, the character is addressing Shi Tou that way for both the usage of seniority respect and friendliness. Does not mean there is any blood relation between them.

[3] Treasure House – 聚宝斋, literal translation. This is a common name for stores that sell valuable things such as jewelry.

[4] Shichen – 时辰, ancient China's unit of time based on the twelve zodiacs. One shichen is equivalent to modern time's two hours. (So half a shichen would be one hour)

[5] Kasaya robe – 袈裟; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kasaya_(clothing) (see; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kasaya_(clothing)#Ji%C4%81sh%C4%81_in_Chinese_Buddhism)

[6] Black clothed shoes – 黑色布鞋, a simple designed shoes that monks wear, could look like this;

[7] Maitreya Buddha – 弥勒佛. This is a buddha, but here in this context, it is used to describe him looking too well-rounded, which would cause people to be suspicious of him being a decent monk since it'd be hard to have such a body figure by being a monk who have to control their desires and not eat meat. So it is more of a negative description of the monk, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maitreya

[8] Poor onk – 贫僧, a humble way of how monks address themselves

[9] Great master – 大师, literal translation. It first began as a respectful way to address Buddha to which it later became the title of higher class(based on how many good deeds they've done) monks. Modernly, it can mean "a great (respectable) teacher"

[10] Amitabha – 阿弥陀佛, a celestial buddha and when people say the term to each other, it's either for good prayers or thanking for the Buddha's blessing and protection https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amit%C4%81bha

[11] the sky was too high and the emperor was too far – 天高皇帝远, a saying used to describe a secluded place where authority power like the government would not interfere with anything that happens there since it is so far away (the word 'sky' here can also refer to 'god', which can also make the saying mean something like: god is not able to control/interfere with those people from far away)

[12] Shixiong and shiniang – 师兄师娘. Shixiong would translate to "senior (apprentice) brother", and it is used to address an older or higher ranked male disciple of the same master or a schoolmate. Shiniang would literally translate to "senior (apprentice) mother" which is used to address one's shixiong's wife.

[13] Joyful – 喜庆, A literal translation, and it doesn't directly mention in the raw but this term should also be referring to how round his body is.

[14] Dantian – 丹田, Qi Focus Flow Centre, where the body energy (qi) is focused in.

[15] Da shixiong – 大师兄, literally means "eldest senior apprentice brother". It is used to address the oldest/highest ranked male disciple of the same master.

[16] deities and buddhas surrounded him – 四方神佛附体, literally this sentence would've been "from all around, deities and buddhas possessed (him)" – to which the word possessed wouldn't really make sense. What the author was properly trying to say was that the deities had lent him their power/blessings by going 'into' his body

[17] Register list – 名册, a literal translation. This is the short term for the "life and death book" (生死簿) which is a book that records every living human's lifespan in Buddhism believes.

                                                                                                                  Chapter 4

Chapter end