Chapter 7: Drooling Monster The time passed in a flash, and I was four years old. Except for my second uncle's family in Wanli who treated me like a plague, no one in the village or outside came to cause trouble. Grandpa Yang Dadan not only performed rituals for the surrounding villages, but also made coffins. In my memory, Grandpa and I spent more time together than my parents. In Grandpa's arms, the most common words I heard were the story of the phoenix. The phoenix and the phoenix were born to be a pair, so they had no choice but to try... But I always don't understand, why can't the phoenix and the phoenix be together? Who wants to separate them? At this time, grandpa would look into the distance. As spring goes and autumn comes, time is quiet. I spent most of my time with my grandfather in the peach house where coffins were made, or on the haystack beside the house, enjoying the quiet light. It was really leisurely and free. I haven't been sick in these years, but I don't know if it's because I stayed in the coffin for too long, my hair is particularly sparse and yellow, and my face is unusually pale. Only my eyes, as dark as the deep sea, make me look a little different from my peers. Many times, my grandfather hugged me and murmured to himself: Grandson, what are you thinking about? Yeah, what are you thinking about? I don’t know either. In these muddled days, I just like watching my grandfather busy in the coffin, or quietly looking into the distance, or sleeping soundly in the warm sun. Only when he lies in the coffin do I feel the warmth of returning home. I don't like to talk. Only when the old dog Ah Huang and the wolf dog Ah Wang come over, a smile will appear on my little face. I looked at the old dog Ah Huang thoughtfully, and suddenly stretched out my little hand and said, "Lie down". Ah Huang then lay obediently on my legs, and I smiled happily. But the wild Awang was different. He seemed to be afraid of my eyes. Whenever I looked at him, he would turn around and run away. That day, Awang wanted to turn around and leave again. I frowned unhappily, my face wrinkled, and shouted angrily, "Come back!"
Awang, who was running like crazy, suddenly turned around and came back to me obediently as if he was under a spell. Seeing me looking at him, his four strong legs kept trembling, and he looked at me with his eyebrows lowered and his mouth made a flattering sound. I ignored it and closed my eyes sleepily. My long eyelashes looked like weeds on the hillside under the slanting rays of the warm sun. Awang and Ahuang lay obediently at my feet and dozed off, and soon they began to snore softly. "Tsk, tsk, tsk, isn't that the problematic baby born to the seventh child? Look at her, she's really weird, lying there motionless. If you don't know, you'd think she's dead." Although the voices were quiet, a burst of noisy and evil words fell into my ears. I knew it was my second aunt and the other women plotting against me. I still kept my eyes closed. "The seventh brother is a good person, but why is his child like this? There must be something wrong with Zhenzhu. I don't know if this child can grow up. Even if he can, who in the village or in the surrounding area would dare to marry him?" The other woman said with certainty. Second Aunt nodded and said, "That's true. It's just a pity that my family lives next door to Ye. After all, they are all big families. Alas..." I frowned so hard that I couldn't move my brows away. I was puzzled. I knew we were all family, so why would we talk nonsense like this? I opened Awang's big ears, whispered a few words, and slapped him on the butt. Awang yelled and rushed out. When I heard the women screaming and pissing their shit out of them, my brows relaxed and I smiled with two dimples. Grandpa came over and glared at Second Aunt and the women with a stern face: "Are you good at gossiping?" Second Aunt and those women left in a hurry, as if they were afraid that Grandpa would cast some kind of spell. "Grandpa, hold me." I trotted towards my grandfather. Grandpa Yang boldly stretched out his arms, and I happily rubbed my little face against his bearded face. I don’t know why, but I particularly like the smell of my grandfather’s cigarettes. The familiar and long-lost smell makes me feel at ease. Grandpa patted my little head and laughed. Awang also ran back excitedly, sobbing at Grandpa and snorting to please him. "Go, Awang, go to the backyard and watch." Grandpa patted Awang's head and turned away. Before Grandpa put me in the coffin, I was too sleepy to open my eyes. I heard Grandpa sighing and covering me with the quilt. I don’t know how long I slept. When I woke up, the sunlight was already slanting on the coffin. I crawled out yawning. On the haystack, Ah Huang and Ah Wang were lazily basking in the sun. I also lay down and stretched my muscles. The colors of the sky were so bright and dazzling that I had to squint my eyes. My mind was blank. This was a strange world, but to me it was either strange or familiar... I bit the straw and shook my little feet. Dong, dong, a burst of hurried footsteps came, as if the earth was shaking, accompanied by an inexplicable shaking. I subconsciously sat up and observed the surroundings calmly. Seeing that no one appeared, I lay down again.
Before my body touched the ground, I heard the sound of footsteps again, accompanied by wheezing. My heart was inexplicably nervous, and I quickly stood up and looked. Not far away, a black thing was running towards me... Before I could see clearly, I was knocked away. "Woof, woof," Ah Huang and Ah Wang flew towards the black shadow in front of them and protected me behind them. I got up in a panic and rubbed my eyes, only to find that there was a big creature next to the haystack that looked like a pig but not a pig, and a wolf but not a wolf. It was covered in blood, and its bloody mouth was steaming. It was biting and pulling with Ah Huang and Ah Wang, and they were twisting and biting each other. There was more and more blood on the ground, and the wailing sounded continuously. It was hard to tell whether it was a dog or a monster. After a scream, the old dog Ah Huang suddenly fell to the ground screaming and groaning. Eager to protect the dog, I rushed forward with clenched fists, punched the monster's head a few times, then hugged the monster's neck tightly, opened my mouth and bit it. The monster felt pain, dropped Awang, bit my back and threw me out. Before I could react, the monster pounced on me again, opened its mouth full of fangs and was about to stab it into my chest. It was too late to say the least. I don't know where I got the strength from, but I desperately held its throat with my hands. The monster's mouth was bared by my thrusts, and saliva kept dripping from its crooked mouth. Before I could run out of strength, I felt a sharp pain in my neck, and the monster's teeth suddenly hooked tightly on the skin of my neck... Awang was eager to protect his master, and he shook his legs and bit the monster desperately, but it was no use. Just when I thought I was going to die, a voice came into my head from somewhere, and it seemed to be saying, "Bai Tian, kill it, Bai Tian, kill it, it's yours, it's yours." For some reason, I stared at the monster uncontrollably... The monster suddenly stopped biting, and stared at me with bloodthirsty eyes, as if shocked by my ruthlessness. In a flash, a strange light flashed in its eyes, and it whimpered like a complaint, and then rubbed its huge head into my arms, making bursts of whimpering sounds from its mouth, like a human or a monster. "Eat meat every 100 days." Touching the monster's fat, my mouth suddenly started watering. For the first time in my life, I had the urge to eat meat. The monster's legs were shaking, perhaps from excessive blood loss or fear. "Well, you don't want me to eat you? Then we have to think of a way. How about this, you turn into a puppy? No, no, you turn into a kitten, it's cuter." I frowned and thought for a moment before deciding. In a blink of an eye, the monster did as I wished. The strange beast that was just ferocious turned into a pitch-black cat, looking at its body in astonishment, and looking at me in disbelief. I nodded with satisfaction: "Not bad, black is better, it is not easy to be discovered. "Che, there is blood, find it quickly, don't let this guy run away." A low voice came from not far away. "Someone's here, young master." A deep male voice. I stared at the group of people and horses approaching from afar. These horses and people seemed to have walked out of a painting, like gods, unlike the horses carrying grain in the village, who walked crookedly and drooled. I wondered when there were so many people in this mountain? Why had I never seen them before? "Is there blood on the little girl's neck?" The man with a deep voice, wearing a brown silk jacket and a green satin melon-shaped hat, suddenly appeared in front of me like the wind. He had a gloomy face and cold eyes, and it seemed that the tiredness of not sleeping well for several years was all over his face and eyes. I don't like this weird guy, and I couldn't help but put my hands behind my back in fear, lower my head and keep silent. At this time, Ah Huang lay dying at my feet without making a sound. Although Ah Wang was injured, his mane stood up and he looked at the person coming with vigilance. "Why is there a little girl here?" The man in green clothes not far away exclaimed in surprise. He was dressed in green clothes, with a handsome and strong figure, like a hero with an inexplicable sense of freedom. "You should ask why you are here? This is where the villagers live." A pleasant voice of a young man came. "Young master, there is blood on her body. Is it from that beast?" The green-clothed man's expression changed slightly. (End of this chapter)