Granny Liu gazed at me, her eyes wide with the knowledge that the Immortal within me had emerged.
She froze for a moment, then dropped to her knees, burying her head in her hands.
"Xiao... Xiao Jie..." I heard my grandpa stammer, his voice full of disbelief.
I, of course, was oblivious at the time.
I blacked out completely. Grandpa told me everything later.
This wasn't the first time the Immortal's soul had made an appearance.
When I was three, it manifested, though Grandpa hadn't actually seen it.
This time was different.
He witnessed it all — the shift in my voice, the enormous, eight-tailed fox shadow swaying behind me. He was terrified.
Mercifully, it didn't last.
Once Zhang's second son crumpled to the ground, the fox shadow vanished, and I went limp, collapsing right after it.
Grandpa rushed to my side, scooping me up in his arms. "Big Sister, quick! What's wrong with Xiao Jie?!"
Granny Liu examined me, her face etched with concern, then soothed Grandpa.
"Don't worry, Lao Wu. He's alright. Just like last time, he just needs a few days of rest. Xiao Jie's fox Immortal is powerful—eight tails! A thousand-year-old demon! To witness such a thing… it's a blessing!"
She was practically vibrating with excitement.
Grandpa carried me home.
I slept for two days straight.
When I finally woke up, I felt completely normal - full of my usual energy.
Zhang's second son was fine too.
He was just drained from the weasel's influence and had to stay in bed for a few days.
Granny Liu explained that the weasel could possess people because of a toxic gas it released—a poison disguised as its fart.
This gas caused incredibly vivid hallucinations that could terrify people to death.
Both Zhang's fifth son and Zhang's second son were victims of this poison.
Zhang's fifth son lived alone, so no one noticed his strange behavior.
Zhang's second son was lucky because his wife sensed something was wrong.
If she hadn't gotten Granny Liu and Grandpa involved, he might have died.
The poison, as Granny Liu explained, took a toll on the weasel too.
It had to immerse itself in that hallucinatory environment for the poison to work on others.
To harm, it had to harm itself.
The white-tailed weasel that controlled Zhang's second son was no ordinary creature.
It had achieved a high level of cultivation, granting it the ability to control a living person and make them perform complex actions.
Granny Liu said this whole ordeal was part of a pattern.
Every three years, a calamity would occur — a life-or-death situation for either me or someone connected to me.
She called it my fate, something I, and those around me, couldn't escape.
Maybe someday I would have the power to break free from this cycle of calamities, but that time was not now, and even Granny Liu couldn't change fate.
She ended up staying at our house for a few days, just until I woke up.
Before she left, she pulled my family aside.
"Remember," she said, her voice serious. "On his ninth birthday, Xiao Jie must not leave the house. The third calamity is the most dangerous. It could take his life. Survive this birthday, and the future will be brighter."
She assured us she would be back, though even she didn't know how long her protection would last.
Life went back to normal after the weasel incident.
I ate regular food with my family, no longer craving blood.
I even started school and was now in second grade.
But the weasels and foxes never completely left.
Every now and then, they would leave a dead animal at our doorstep like a gift.
Sometimes, when I was alone, I would catch glimpses of them in the distance, watching me with their strange, knowing eyes.
Three years passed in the blink of an eye.
Life was peaceful.
My family, however, hadn't forgotten Granny Liu's warning about the third calamity.
So, on my ninth birthday, which fell on a weekend during the busy farming season, my parents insisted that Grandpa stay home with me while they went to work in the fields.
That afternoon, Grandpa was nodding off in his chair, a consequence of his age and a bit of wine with lunch.
He sat up with a start.
"Remember! You're not to leave the house today, Xiao Jie. Not a single step. Or you'll answer to me!"
And with that, he dozed off, snoring softly.
Not long after, the distinct sound of a cuckoo bird drifted in through the window.
It was a signal, a secret call from my best friend, Wei Feng, whom everyone called "Chubby."
Since I was little, the other kids in the village avoided me.
They called me a freak.
But Chubby was different. We went to the same school, were in the same class, and he was my only friend.
Hearing his signal, I tiptoed to the window.
Chubby's round face peeked in.
"Psst, Xiao Jie! Wanna go catch grasshoppers?" he whispered, a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"Grasshoppers?" I frowned. "Grandpa won't let me leave the house. And anyway, shouldn't you be studying instead of goofing off all the time?"
Chubby scoffed. "Says the kid who's second to last in our class! I may be at the bottom, but you're even lower, Mr. I-Don't-Feel-Like-Studying!"
He had me there.
I may not have been stupid, but I hated studying.
My family wasn't too concerned about my grades.
As long as I was healthy, they were happy.
In the end, I couldn't resist.
I climbed out the window and, with Chubby leading the way, snuck out of the village.