On the day I was born, nineteen bolts of lightning struck around my yard, none of them hitting my roof.
Only the nineteenth bolt struck the old elm tree in my yard, instantly billowing black smoke that the entire village could see.
Some say that on the day I was born, an old hunter, seeking shelter from the rain, found a stunningly beautiful woman with eight tails in a cave behind the mountain. Her face was pale, and she appeared to be on the verge of death. Upon seeing the old hunter, she asked if a family surnamed Wu in Jiushan Village was about to give birth.
The old hunter was terrified and instinctively nodded, too afraid to move.
The woman, beautiful as a fairy, sighed and said, "It seems the debt from a past life must be repaid."
After she finished speaking, thunder roared outside, and the woman suddenly closed her eyes and collapsed to the ground, motionless.
When the old hunter called for help to search the cave for the woman's body, she had vanished without a trace.
At the same time, I was born. The midwife was so startled when she saw me that she almost threw me out of the room.
When I was born, I looked very strange. I had a pointed chin, and my head looked like a fox's. Moreover, I had fine, sharp teeth growing out of my mouth right after I was born, and my body was covered with a layer of fine white fur.
Most newborn babies cry, but I didn't; I just looked very hungry.
When my mother tried to breastfeed me, I bit down hard, sucking out blood. The pain made my mother push me away; she was filled with deep fear of my newborn self.
The midwife said she had delivered babies her whole life, at least half the babies in the surrounding villages, but she had never seen such a strange newborn. She feared I was a demon.
Such a monster couldn't be kept. She advised my father to abandon me in a mass grave to fend for myself, otherwise I would bring misfortune to the family.
My father knew I was strange, but it was his first child, his own flesh and blood. He couldn't bring himself to do it. Unable to make such a decision, he consulted my grandfather.
My grandmother had passed away early; my grandfather was the pillar of the family.
My father was very filial and always obeyed his grandfather's advice.
When Grandpa saw my appearance, he was terrified, repeatedly exclaiming how terrible it was, saying he must have done something wicked in his past life to have such a freak born into the Wu family.
But he couldn't bear to abandon me to a mass grave to fend for myself. To him, no matter how strange I was, I was still his grandson.
After much deliberation, Grandpa suddenly had an idea. He said the child was strange in every way; at the time of his birth, nineteen bolts of lightning struck from the sky, circling the front door of the house before the last bolt landed in the yard, striking the old elm tree. There must be some significance to this, so he asked my father to go to Baliwa and invite a geomancer named Wu Banxian to come and help him figure out what was wrong with the child.
My father went to Baliwa that very night, walking dozens of kilometers. By the time he arrived, it was already dawn.
When he told Wu Banxian what had happened, Wu Banxian was amazed and immediately followed my father back to the village.
When they arrived at their doorstep, they were met with another bizarre sight.
Suddenly, hundreds of weasels and foxes had appeared in front of their house, a dense, indiscriminate swarm. They had surrounded their yard, chattering incessantly.
This attracted a crowd of villagers, but no one dared approach.
Some gossiped that our family had given birth to a monster, offending the weasels and fox spirits, and that they would bring ruin upon our family sooner or later.
My father panicked upon seeing this. He picked up a thick stick from the ground, intending to scare the creatures away, but Wu the fortune teller stopped him. He squinted at the animals and said to my father, "Don't go over there, they mean no harm."
Upon hearing this, the chattering swarm of weasels and foxes all knelt down like people, bowed three times in the direction of our house, and then quickly disappeared. These beasts came quickly and left just as fast, disappearing in a flash.
My father, witnessing this, was quite incredulous and asked Wu the fortune teller what was going on.
Wu the fortune teller looked very grave and didn't answer my father's question, only saying to go inside and check on the child.
Once inside, my grandfather brought the child out. Wu the fortune teller only glanced at him before gasping, his eyes gleaming, and then immediately asked about my birthday.
Then, Master Wu began to calculate, and after a long while, he excitedly said, "This child is extraordinary! He is truly a demonic fetus. Keeping him will likely bring endless trouble to the region. He only drinks blood and cannot eat ordinary food. Even if you keep him, you certainly won't be able to raise him. He will die sooner or later."
Upon hearing this, the whole family was filled with fear. My father's legs went weak, and he almost knelt down before Master Wu: "Mr. Wu, please think of something! He's my wife's flesh and blood; we can't just watch him die!"
"Mr. Wu, is there no way to keep him alive?" my grandfather asked excitedly.
"Do you know why nineteen bolts of lightning struck around your yard when this child was born?" Master Wu asked instead of answering.
They had no idea. They both shook their heads.
Then Wu the fortune teller continued, "Just now, I did some calculations and discovered that this child's soul has been possessed by a demon. That demon is quite powerful, and was about to undergo tribulation to transform into human form, but it suffered divine punishment and is likely to be annihilated. After all, a demon becoming a spirit is against the will of Heaven and will inevitably incur divine retribution. Since your child was born at this time, the demon, not wanting to be struck to ashes by the heavenly lightning, transferred its soul into the child. This way, the heavenly lightning won't strike the demon, as your child is innocent. The nineteen bolts of lightning only exploded around your house and didn't harm anyone."
"The weasels and foxes that were bowing at your courtyard gate are the best proof. The demon possessing your child is probably a powerful fox spirit, and those weasels and foxes are its relatives, friends, and descendants."
My father, upon hearing this, Almost bursting into tears, she hurriedly asked, "Mr. Wu, what can we do?"
Wu the Half-Immortal sighed and said helplessly, "This is the first time I've seen such a situation. Even if this child survives, he will face many hardships and a tragic fate. His astrological chart shows a calamity of fire above heaven, fire below water, fire above marsh, and fire above thunder. He will face a major calamity every three years on average, and when he encounters it, someone will die—either him or someone else. He will face at least eighteen calamities in his lifetime."
"I do have a way to save his life: he can become my disciple and follow the path of the Xuanmen. Even if he suffers five deficiencies and three lacks in his life, it's better than death. However, in that case, I'm afraid he will never see you again."
But no one expected that this Wu the Half-Immortal would be my first person to face such a calamity. He had just carried me out of the village when he suddenly died, bleeding from all seven orifices.