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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter Nine: A Few Northeast Strange Tales (Part One)
These stories are my friend's stories, written on his behalf for everyone to share.
Northeast Strange Tales (Part One)!
My family in the countryside is a large family. My grandfather's family came from Shandong. Similar to the TV drama "Crossing the Northeast," this story has been passed down from the elders in Shandong. It was passed from my great-grandfather to my grandfather, and then from my grandfather to me. Over such a long history, it is inevitable that many embellishments have been mixed in.
My great-grandfather was a businessman, but I can't remember his name. Everyone just called him Du the Tall. During the farming off-season, he would go south to gather some herbs and actually made some money going back and forth. He had apprenticed at a pharmacy before and knew a bit about medicine. He could sell to local pharmacies or keep some to sell to sick villagers, so he always had some spare cash on hand. One year, Du the Tall's father began to feel discomfort in his chest, with rapid blood flow and swelling of the skin, as if worms were crawling inside him. After trying many prescriptions without success, the villagers told him to go to Azure Cloud Temple on Dajieshan, where there was a White-Browed Taoist Priest known for his skill in prescribing medicine. However, the priest refused to come. So, Du the Tall hired someone to renovate the Daoist Temple, and finally, the priest came. After taking his pulse, he wrote down a prescription: five qian of grasshoppers' legs from the fields after autumn, one liang of river foam, two of the earliest ripe red dates from a jujube tree that is two meters tall, three liang of soil from the Confucius Temple's earth womb, and ten hairs from a newborn calf's tail. The medicine must be brewed with snow water from the river during leap June. Moreover, it must be brewed by a male child from the family’s firstborn; it cannot be done by a girl. After much rambling, Du the Tall wrote everything down on a large sheet of paper. The Taoist priest snatched the pen away and elegantly wrote "Morning Huai"!
When asked anything else, the priest remained silent and left with his wooden box. Du the Tall mobilized everyone in his family to help gather these strange medicinal materials. After half a year of effort, they finally collected everything except for "Morning Huai." Du the Tall searched through "Bencao Gangmu" and "Qianjin Fang," but found no trace of "Morning Huai." He suspected it might be an unrecorded folk herb. Subsequently, he visited countless pharmacies but no one knew whether "Morning Huai" was black or white, big or small, square or round, ugly or beautiful. With no other options, he thought he would deal with "Morning Huai" whenever he encountered it; Du the Tall suspected that perhaps the Taoist priest was just playing tricks on him since he had no good solution either. The old man's illness only eased but could not be cured.
Du the Tall went out again to gather herbs; there’s no need to elaborate on that process. On his way back home after a year away, Du the Tall felt well enough after traveling thousands of miles. He was almost home—only about twenty or thirty li away. Being bold and strong, he carried a mountain knife and was not afraid of ordinary thieves. Eager to get home, he decided not to rest for the night and hurried along under the moonlight.
Having not returned home for a year made him worry about his family. In the quiet night as he traveled through desolate paths, Du the Tall began to faintly hear crying nearby—a young woman's sobbing that grew closer and closer yet remained indistinct when he paused to listen. However, as he hurried along again, it became clearer. As he passed by a small earth temple, he saw a young woman leaning against it weeping while holding a small basket. Du the Tall, being generous by nature, approached her and asked: “Girl! Why aren’t you going home?” The girl replied: “I am Mu Yangshi from Qian Wang Zhuang. I hurt my foot while visiting relatives and can’t go back; it’s too dark! I’m scared!” Du the Tall said: “I often travel between villages and towns but haven’t seen you.” The girl replied: “I’m a concubine of Master Mu from Qian Wang Zhuang.”
Thinking about how dangerous it could be out here in case of bandits or wild beasts, Du the Tall said: “My home is nearby; why don’t you sleep at my place tonight? I’ll inform your family tomorrow.” The girl responded: “Thank you, big brother! But I can’t walk anymore.” So Du the Tall carried her on his back.
He found this young woman extremely light—like carrying an empty shoulder pole—and thought how thin she was; even his ten-year-old child weighed more than her! It was truly strange. Picking up speed as they crossed over a ridge just ten li away from home, he could faintly see lights from the village ahead. However, Du the Tall began to feel that this woman behind him was becoming icy cold and heavier by the moment. Her hands around his neck tightened more and more while her legs wrapped around his waist like a vice grip. Realizing he could no longer remove her from himself, Du the Tall broke into a sweat thinking that this time he had encountered something supernatural.
He recalled that during his travels in Cangzhou, an herbalist had mentioned that his forehead looked dark and there were bluish-gray shadows under his eyes—he might have been targeted by evil spirits—and gave him an amulet saying: “Keep this safe.” Having seen all sorts of con artists over many years on his journeys made him skeptical about fully believing it. Steadying himself, he remembered that he had recently acquired some Zisha, which could serve as an exorcism remedy. He quickly reached into his waist pocket with all his strength and threw some Zisha behind him; there was a sizzling sound as her grip began to loosen enough for him to catch his breath again. He shouted: “Demon! I haven’t offended you; why are you trying to harm me? You won’t have good luck!” After saying this, he took out that amulet and slapped it onto his back after moistening it with saliva before drinking deeply from his medicinal wine gourd at his waist. Instantly feeling lighter all over, Du the Tall dared not look back or let go but ran swiftly towards home with renewed vigor.
Upon reaching home, Du the Tall kicked open the door; with help from his daughter-in-law and mother, they removed whatever was behind him only to find that this little daughter-in-law was actually just a coffin lid! There were still talismans stuck on top of it! His mother and daughter-in-law were terrified beyond belief. Using an axe, Du the Tall smashed this rotten wood apart which emitted screams resembling those of women while black-purple dirty water flowed out from within those broken pieces of wood. His daughter-in-law timidly asked: “What should we do now?” To which Du the Tall replied: “Burn it!” Suddenly struck with inspiration, he exclaimed: “Wait! Mother! That prescription written by that Taoist priest—you kept it safe? Quickly take it out!” He also urged his daughter-in-law for candles: “Let me see that prescription.” Under candlelight scrutinizing closely at where it indicated "Morning Huai," it had already transformed into "Wood Demon on October 10!"
He asked his daughter-in-law what date it was today; she stammered: “It’s October 10.” In those broken pieces of wood, Du the Tall found several fragments suitable for grinding into medicine which he gave to old father who miraculously recovered from his illness.
The next day, Du the Tall arrived at Qian Wang Zhuang to inquire about a Mu Family. The young men in the village were unaware, but one of the oldest elders mentioned that he vaguely heard in his childhood about a Mu Family in the village. The Lord of that family was elderly and had no son, so to continue the incense fire, he married a young daughter-in-law who had just come of age. However, shortly after entering the household, she contracted smallpox and could not be saved. The Lord felt it was bad luck and sold the courtyard, moving his family to live in the county town. That young daughter-in-law seemed to have the surname Yang.
Du the Tall made a basket similar to the one that woman held. He tied a small pile of gold ingots and placed them in the basket. At noon, he went to the Small Earth Temple where he had his "romantic encounter" a few days earlier. He burned everything together with the basket. Without this medicinal catalyst, his old father’s illness would not improve.
Next is still my friend's story, Northeast Strange Tales (2)!
In Northeast China, many villages near mountains and rivers have Exorcists, who are animals that have attained enlightenment and become scattered immortals. There are various types: Hu, Huang, Bai, Ci, and Hui. Having them can protect one's home. Families with Guardian Spirits often see their members rise in wealth and honor. These spirits are usually passed down through generations, with children inheriting their ancestors' incense fire. I am not one of them, but my daughter-in-law's family has a Guardian Spirit that worships Master Hu San and Grandma Hu San. Previously, I had only heard about such people and had never interacted with those who carry lights on their heads. Now I have the opportunity for deeper contact.
My mother-in-law is an Exorcist, and my daughter-in-law is destined to inherit the incense fire as well. In fact, such individuals suffer greatly; my mother-in-law is a typical example. In her early years, she helped others with divination. After getting married, she never worked again and rarely went out; if she strayed more than 1000 meters from her home, she would feel unwell, sweating profusely and even convulsing. She said this was because it did not allow her to leave. When I married her daughter, she barely managed to travel far once to visit my home but started acting up again when it was time to enter my house. She sat for less than fifteen minutes before insisting on leaving, saying it wouldn’t let her stay there and that it was afraid of sensing fierce beasts nearby. How could there possibly be fierce beasts in my home? It wasn’t until several years later that I remembered my father’s student had given him a bottle of tiger bone wine that was hidden at home!
Living with them is exhausting; they eat poorly and sleep poorly, often waking up in the middle of the night. My daughter-in-law has also told me that she knows a white fox follows her, appearing as an old man in a white robe with a white beard. She said she can only be a fox in her next life. Our workplace often organizes trips, and I usually take my daughter-in-law along—to Songshan or Jiuzhaigou—but she often starts feeling dizzy and nauseous on the bus halfway through and insists on getting off. My daughter-in-law never gets motion sickness; it’s just that it doesn’t allow her to go there. So they really have it tough; what can we do? I just have to take care of my daughter-in-law more.
Let me share a story my mother-in-law told me about her great-grandmother; of course, she also carried a light on her head. At that time in Northeast China, things were quite chaotic. Her great-grandmother would go out with her husband during farming off-seasons to hold gatherings for people—essentially gathering a few musicians who could play string instruments and sing Er Ren Zhuan together into a group of four or five. They would go to other villages to find local village protectors who would help organize villagers to come listen to them sing Er Ren Zhuan while also putting on small performances. After performing, they would offer divination services for illnesses or other matters and collect some money for their efforts; some of this money would also go to the village protectors. At that time, her great-grandmother and her husband performed deity dances and provided divination services for others. The story continues in the next chapter...
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