Grandma Liu looked at me and immediately knew that the celestial spirit inside me had manifested. She froze for a moment, then knelt down, burying her head in her hands, too afraid to even look up.
"Little… Xiao Jie…" Grandpa stared at me in disbelief.
At that moment, I was completely unaware of what was happening—none of it registered with me. All I know is what Grandpa later told me.
When I was three, the spirit had appeared once before, but Grandpa hadn't seen it. This time, however, he witnessed it with his own eyes. Especially when he heard my voice change, sounding like someone else entirely, and saw a huge fox-shaped shadow behind me, with eight tails waving endlessly. It truly frightened Grandpa.
Fortunately, the ordeal didn't last long. After Zhang's second uncle collapsed to the ground, the enormous fox shadow behind me disappeared as well.
Then my body went limp, and I collapsed.
Grandpa hurried over and scooped me up.
"Big sister, come quick and see what's wrong with Xiao Jie!" Grandpa called out anxiously.
Only then did Grandma Liu stand up, glance at me, and walk over to reassure Grandpa, "Don't worry, Xiao Jie is fine. Just like last time, a few days of rest will do. That fox spirit inside him already has eight tails—a genuine millennium-old demon. Seeing this today makes me feel like my life wasn't in vain."
When she said this, Grandma Liu looked shaken, her body trembling slightly.
Grandpa carried me back home, where I slept deeply for two full days before waking up again.
When I did wake, I was no different from usual—still lively and energetic.
As for Zhang's second uncle, he was fine too, though the yellow weasel had given him a tough time. He stayed bedridden for three days but eventually fully recovered.
Later, Grandma Liu explained about the yellow weasels: their ability to swap lives with humans stems from a toxin they release—specifically, their foul-smelling gas, which causes vivid hallucinations so real they can scare people to death. Zhang's fifth uncle and second uncle had both been poisoned by this toxin. The difference was, Zhang's fifth uncle lived alone, so no one noticed his strange behavior. Zhang's second uncle was lucky because his wife was there to call Grandma Liu and Grandpa for help; otherwise, he might have died too.
Why would the yellow weasel die while using its toxin to confuse others? Grandma Liu said that while its poisonous gas is effective, it isn't overwhelmingly powerful. The weasel itself must immerse in that toxic environment to maximize its effect. To kill someone, it ends up poisoning itself temporarily, which can be fatal.
The white-tailed yellow weasel controlling Zhang's second uncle was no ordinary creature. It wasn't just releasing toxins—it had reached a high level of cultivation, capable of manipulating living humans to perform complex actions.
That was how this whole incident ended. Every three years, there's a catastrophe—either I die or someone else does. Those who died are definitely linked to me.
Yet, faced with all this, I was passive and powerless.
Grandma Liu said this was my fate; these calamities were unavoidable for me and anyone connected to me.
Maybe someday, I would find a great opportunity to change my destiny, but certainly not now. Grandma Liu didn't have that ability.
This time, Grandma Liu stayed in our home for a few days until I woke up, then left.
Before leaving, she warned my family: on my ninth birthday, I absolutely must not go outside. The third calamity is the most severe one—if I'm careless, I could lose my life. If I manage to survive that trial, life might get easier. She wasn't sure how long she could protect me, but promised she would definitely come back.
After this event, life at home returned to normal. I became like any other child, eating with my family and no longer drinking blood.
Still, those yellow weasels and foxes occasionally brought wild game to our home, helping improve our livelihood.
Sometimes, when I was alone, I would catch them watching me from afar, silently and secretly.
Three more years passed.
In those years, my life was quite normal, with no incidents. I went to elementary school and was now in second grade.
I was born during the busy farming season, and the entire village was bustling with activity. My family hardly had time to care for a child.
But everyone remembered Grandma Liu's warning about the three calamities, so my parents worked in the fields and specially left Grandpa at home to watch over me.
On my ninth birthday, which happened to be a weekend, I was doing homework at home. Around noon, Grandpa had some wine and, being old and full, grew sleepy and let out a soft snore while sitting in a chair. Before drifting off, Grandpa sternly told me, "No matter what happens today, you must not go outside, or I'll give you a spanking you'll never forget."
Shortly after Grandpa's snores began, the cuckoo bird outside the window suddenly called.
That was the secret signal between me and Wei Feng, my elementary school classmate. Since childhood, other village kids avoided me, calling me a freak.
But Wei Feng was different—he was my closest friend, and we played together.
Wei Feng was a chubby boy nicknamed "Little Fat" by classmates.
Hearing "Little Fat's" signal, I quietly moved to the window and opened it. His big round face appeared outside, and he grinned mischievously.
"Xiao Jie, come on, let's go catch some grasshoppers?" he whispered.
"Catch grasshoppers? Grandpa told me not to go out. If he finds out, I'm definitely in trouble. Can't you just study instead of playing all the time?" I said unhappily.
"Xiao Jie, you're not in a position to talk! I'm second to last in the class, and you're last. How dare you tell me to study?" Little Fat said.
He had a point. I was indeed last in class—not because I was dumb, but because I hated studying. My family barely cared about my academics; their biggest hope was just that I grew up healthy. Everything else didn't matter to them.
In the end, I couldn't resist temptation. I quietly climbed out the window and followed Little Fat out of the village.