Chapter 186 Jinjiang Debut
Six hundred years ago, in a remote village in the Ji Kingdom, a young green snake hatched from its shell.
Although it will grow up to be a great monster that wreaks havoc on the people, it is still just a baby snake now.
It tried to move its body, but found it was too weak, so it slowly climbed up a tree trunk nearby, trying to blend in with the surrounding environment.
The weather was hot and the green snake felt very hungry. It tried to catch flying insects several times but failed.
What a stupid snake, it thought to itself.
Although it couldn't see clearly the environment it was in, the green snake felt quite safe here. It had been here for half a day and no one came to disturb it.
Just as the green snake finished sighing, it heard footsteps.
Bad luck.
He muttered to himself.
Listening to the footsteps, it seemed that only one person came. This person walked past the green snake without noticing it at all. The green snake yawned with relief.
The person stopped nearby, put the bamboo basket on the ground, took out offerings from the basket, placed them on the table respectfully, and then knelt down devoutly:
"My Lord, please accept my humble respect!"
It turned out to be a little girl. The green snake stuck its head out to listen to what she was saying.
"These are the fruits and vegetables I picked from the fields. They are all fresh. I have chilled them in well water. The steamed buns were also steamed by me. Please enjoy them, Lord Biyuan!" said the girl.
There's a temple nearby? The green snake secretly complained that only one person came to worship the god all day long. Isn't this god doing so badly?
"My lord, your statue is already very dilapidated. I want to rebuild it for you, but I am still a child and penniless. If I become rich in the future, I will definitely come back here and rebuild a temple for you!" said the girl.
...See, I guessed right, the green snake was a little complacent. It turned out that this immortal was not doing very well.
“Although the world has forgotten you, I still believe in you. Please bless me with your spirit in heaven and grant me divine power so that I can beat them up today!” The girl clasped her hands together, very pious.
Upon hearing this wish, the green snake's eyes widened. This was the first time it had seen such a strange woman. In this world, some people wished to get rich, some wished to become officials, but this woman's wish was to beat someone up?
The green snake became more and more curious and wanted to see what this strange woman looked like.
But it was a snake and was born with poor eyesight, so it couldn't see clearly. It didn't know this at the moment and just kept sticking its head out, stretching it longer and longer, until it was just about to reach the girl's face.
The girl picked up the bamboo basket, turned around, and came face to face with the green snake. Both sides were startled.
"Okay, you little snake, you want to scare me on purpose?" The girl pulled the green snake down from the tree and held it tightly in her hand, "Look, I'm going to step on you to death!"
The green snake began to struggle desperately. The girl put it on the grass. It twisted its body wildly. Seeing it like this, the girl softened her heart again:
"Oh, why should I kill you? Forget it, since you didn't hurt me anyway, I will be magnanimous and let you go, considering that you are as ugly as me."
The green snake was full of dissatisfaction. It was ugly? It's a newborn baby snake, how can it be ugly? This is simply slander!
But then he thought again, from what the girl said, could it be that she was very ugly?
The green snake became curious again. It wanted to see how ugly the girl was. It crawled faster and climbed onto a tree in front. Then it waited for the girl to pass by and jumped down, landing directly on her face.
The girl was not frightened this time. She pulled the green snake off her face and said viciously, "I'm going to teach you a lesson this time!"
The green snake spit out its tongue, which was originally a signal of attack, but the girl took it as a sign of flattery.
"Shaochun's family has a dog, Ping'an's family has a big black horse, and I don't have a pet of my own yet," the girl looked at the green snake, "Although you are ugly, you are still a little cute when you look closely. If I keep you as a pet, you will definitely scare those brats to death!"
"Besides, my mother doesn't allow me to keep a pet. She says that pets waste food. I see that you are thin and you can't eat much. If I keep you, my mother will probably agree." The girl began to imagine the future. "Besides, you are cool and can cool me down in the summer. How useful!"
In this way, the girl convinced herself, she threw the green snake into the vegetable basket, and took it home as a pet.
The green snake was a little confused. It had not yet decided whether to be a pet for humans. However, it was a Buddhist green snake and decided to take things as they came.
The girl carried the bamboo basket back home. She stroked the green snake along the way and loved it more and more. "You are not that ugly. You are quite pretty. You are really green, just like newly sprouted bamboo. And your scales are shiny. By the way, you don't have a name yet, right? I will give you a name - Xiaoqing. From now on, you will be called Xiaoqing!"
The green snake thought about it and accepted the name calmly.
When they were almost home, the girl quietly put the green snake into her arms. After all, her mother didn't allow her to keep a pet, so it was better to keep a low profile.
After hiding the snake, the girl walked into the house confidently. As soon as she entered the house, she heard a roar: "Bai Wuyan, where have you been today?"
The girl said weakly, "Mother, I went to the river to catch fish, but Shaoqiu and his friends took all the fish away, so I came back empty-handed."
"You're still lying to me?" Ah Niang roared again, "Do you think I don't know? Your uncle Wang told me today that he saw you carrying a basket of food and sneaking down that path. Did you go to worship the gods again?"
The girl lowered her head in shame: "...Yes."
Ah Niang immediately threw the kitchen knife on the chopping board and said, "You are so generous. You gave such delicious fruits to the immortals even though I haven't tasted them myself. Bai Wuyan, let me ask you, what's the point of worshipping that immortal? People worship the God of Wealth, Confucius, and other useful things, but what is the Bi Yuan Immortal Lord you worship? People have never heard of him. What can he do?"
Bai Wuyan said timidly: "Biyuan Immortal Lord is a good immortal. He was able to protect me. When I was six years old..."
Ah Niang interrupted her rudely: "That's enough, I really think you've been bewitched. You've been talking about things that happened when you were six years old until now, and you're already twelve years old!"
Bai Wuyan bowed his head and admitted his mistake: "Mother, it's my fault. I shouldn't have wasted the family's food."
Ah Niang said sadly: "Wuyan, I don't care about these foods, but I can't bear to see you wasting your time on this! You are twelve years old, not young anymore, you should do something serious!"
Bai Wuyan summoned up the courage to say, "What do you mean by serious matters? Learning to read and write? I also want to go to school to learn to read and write like Shaoqiu and Ping'an, but you, mother, won't send me."
Ah Niang was furious again: "Look at what you are talking about? Studying and learning to read, is that something a woman should do? Even if I really send you there, the teacher at the school won't accept you. That's something a man should do, you just need to do what a woman should do!"
"Then what should a woman do?" Bai Wuyan asked.
Ah Niang put her hands on her hips and said, "Do I need to tell you this? Needlework, cooking, women's virtues, which one can't you learn? But you just choose to act like a scoundrel and fight with boys every day. What kind of talk is this?"
Bai Wuyan felt aggrieved: "It's not that I want to fight with them, it's that they always bully me. Every time I go out, Ping An and Shao Qiu will bring their friends to laugh at me. They say I'm ugly and an ugly freak. Shouldn't I beat them up?"
A Niang's eyes were red. "They deserve to be beaten - but you can't do it, Wuyan. You are a girl, you can only bear it. A Niang didn't mean to make you feel wronged. A Niang is thinking about your reputation. You will get married in two years. When the time comes, your in-laws will come to the village to inquire and find out that you hang out with boys all day long. They will definitely not want you. What will you do?!"
Bai Wuyan said indifferently, "If they don't want me, then don't want me. I don't even want them to want me. Is it a blessing to be liked by them? I just wash clothes and cook every day. Mother, are you expecting me to go to other people's houses to wash clothes and cook?"
Ah Niang was choked for a moment, then slowly said: "But - but women should be like this, marrying and serving others is a woman's life mission. As a woman, do you still want to pass the imperial examination? Only getting married is your lifelong event. If you can't get married, you will become a laughing stock. If you don't learn the virtues of a woman now, you will be divorced by your husband's family after marriage, and become, become like your mother and me!"
Bai Wuyan was silent. She knew that this was her mother's sad story. Although her mother did not tell her, she knew some things from the gossip of the adults. Her mother was originally a lady from a wealthy family and married a young man of equal social status. However, her mother was born ugly and the young man was frightened when the veil was lifted in the bridal chamber.
The young master wanted to cancel the engagement at that time, but he had no choice but to consummate the marriage with my mother due to the power of the two families. After the marriage, my mother had a child, and the young master never came to my mother's room again. Instead, he took several beautiful concubines and made love with them every day, which made my mother sad.
The two of them lived like this for several years, but they were not together in spirit. It was not until something happened in my mother's family and the family declined overnight that the young master breathed a sigh of relief. He was finally able to divorce his wife openly and kicked both my mother and Xiao Wuyan out of the house.
Mother was penniless and wandered to the village, where she found an abandoned house to live in. Fortunately, there were many barren fields here, and mother could make a living by farming. She raised Wuyan alone. Unfortunately, she found that Wuyan looked more and more like her as she grew up. Wuyan was also an ugly girl, which made mother worried. She started to worry about Wuyan's marriage early on.
Appearance cannot be changed, so the mother could only teach Wuyan to be more obedient, hoping that she would be able to please her husband in the future. But Wuyan was born unruly, and the mother shed tears for this.
After a moment of silence, Bai Wuyan retorted, "Mother, all women in the world marry to serve men with their beauty. Since I am ugly, I will definitely be treated harshly after I get married. If you had known this, why did you send me to the fire pit?"
The mother was so angry that she laughed: "You mean you won't get married? Okay, I want to hear it. If you don't get married, how will you live in the future?"
Bai Wuyan said confidently: "I just don't want to get married, but my hands and feet have not been taken away by anyone. I can farm and support myself like you do--"
Wuyan's words were interrupted, and her mother screamed sharply: "Shut up! I worked so hard to raise you, just to prevent you from following my old path. I tell you, I will burn these lands in the future and will not let you inherit them. Forget about farming, the only way for you to go is to get married!"
Bai Wuyan curled his lips and said, "Well, then I won't farm the land. Anyway, the world is so big, there will always be a place for me to go."
Seeing Wuyan was so stubborn, A'niang couldn't bear it anymore. She stretched out her hand to slap Wuyan. Before her slap fell, Xiaoqing suddenly popped out from Wuyan's chest, startling A'niang.
"Ah——how come there is a snake——"
A Niang screamed and ran away, Xiao Qing and Wu Yan smiled at each other.
In the evening, after her mother had dinner and went to bed, Wuyan lay alone on a bamboo chair to enjoy the cool air. Because of her ugly appearance, no one in the village wanted to be friends with her. But now she had Xiaoqing, and Xiaoqing was her friend.
Wuyan thought back to what happened during the day and whispered to Xiaoqing:
“Actually, what my mother said is wrong. The Immortal Lord Bi Yuan is not a useless god. He is the most useful god! Everyone loves to worship the God of Wealth, but the God of Wealth may not show up. But if I worship the Immortal Lord Bi Yuan, he will really bless me!” As she spoke, Wuyan told Xiaoqing about her experience when she was six years old.
When she was six years old, her mother brought her to the village. They were unfamiliar with the place and they were all ugly, so they were often bullied. The adults ignored her mother, and the children also followed suit and started bullying Wuyan.
Leading the group were two boys named Qiu Sheng and Ping An. They were the worst. No matter where Wu Yan went, they would bring a group of people to laugh at Wu Yan. If Wu Yan dared to talk back, they would beat her.
Once they came to laugh at her again, Wuyan fought back fiercely and was beaten up by them. Wuyan found a chance to escape, and the group of people chased after her. In panic, Wuyan hid in a dilapidated temple, which had been in ruins for a long time. The statues on the table had turned gray, and the temple was full of spider webs. Wuyan dived in and hid under the table.
Qiu Sheng and others soon caught up. They picked up some stones. If they hit Wuyan hard with the stones, Wuyan would probably die here today.
They found Wuyan's hiding place, and just as they were about to take action, a muffled thunder sounded between heaven and earth, and the statue flashed with golden light, which blew them all away.
The gangsters were scared and kept looking around at the temple gate, not daring to come in. After hesitating for a while, they left, and Wuyan saved his life.
"So, it was Immortal Biyuan who saved me. He is my savior, so of course I should worship him, don't you think?" Wuyan pulled Xiaoqing's tail and said, "It was after that day that I realized that the bad guys only bully the weak and fear the strong. If I am strong enough, they will also be afraid of me. So I started to exercise and help my mother move heavy things. Soon Qiu Sheng and Ping An could no longer beat me. In order to deal with me, they even had to call for reinforcements!"
As Wuyan was speaking, the sound of water was heard in the darkness. There was a creek opposite Wuyan's house, and someone was wading across the water. Judging from the sound, there were quite a few people.
"Oh no, it must be them again!" Wuyan immediately became alert.
Xiaoqing also hid in Wuyan's sleeve and prepared for battle.
Wuyan's guess was correct. It was Qiu Sheng and Ping An who brought people with them. They were defeated last time, so this time they specially called some friends from the neighboring village to give Wuyan a tough time.
Wuyan was not afraid at all. She went back to the house, took out the hoe used by her mother, and then closed the door tightly, not wanting the sound of fighting to wake her mother up.
When the two groups met, neither of them spoke much. Qiu Sheng sneered and ordered the boys behind him to rush forward. Wuyan wielded a hoe and knocked down two boys first. Of course, she knew that she must not hurt anyone's lives, so she only cut their ankles to keep them away.
Seeing Wuyan was so ferocious, the rest of the people didn't dare to step forward. Qiu Sheng cursed loudly and rushed forward pulling Ping'an. After suffering a loss last time, the two of them specially put a layer of protection inside their clothes this time.
Wuyan saw through it at a glance, so she focused on hitting them in the face. She first punched Qiu Sheng in the face, making his face crooked, and then punched Ping An, giving him a black eye.
Wow, the master is so powerful! Xiaoqing cheered silently in her heart.
It just felt a little dizzy, and it was swinging back and forth in Wuyan's sleeves, almost making it vomit.
The last group of people stood there in a daze. Wuyan waved at them, signaling them to come forward and challenge. They looked at each other, but did not dare to come forward. Xiaoqing took the opportunity to squeeze out from Wuyan's sleeve and hissed at them.
When they saw the snake, the group of people became even more frightened. They no longer resisted and ran away with the wounded in a hurry.
From that day on, Wuyan's life became much more leisurely. No one came to harass her anymore. Even Qiu Sheng and Ping An would avoid her when they saw her on the street. No one dared to gossip about her mother anymore. After all, everyone knew that Bai's mother raised a strong and fierce daughter.
Although Bai Wuyan was happy and carefree, her mother's eyes were almost blinded by tears. Wuyan was ugly to begin with, and now her reputation for being fierce had spread. She was about to reach the age to get married, but no one in the surrounding villages dared to propose marriage to her. What should she do?
Seeing A Niang sad every day, Wu Yan realized that she could not stay at home any longer. She had to leave A Niang's sight so that A Niang would be less sad for her.
Maybe it's time to go out and try your luck.
It happened that the imperial court came to recruit soldiers, and Qiu Sheng and Ping An were taken away. Wu Yan became interested and summoned up the courage to say to A Niang:
"Mom, I want to join the army!"
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