Go all out

Chapter 21: The Rat Demon’s Thunder Tribulation

The Rat Demon was silent for a moment, a rare look of embarrassment flitting across her face. She shook her head at me and said, “I truly don’t know. You can ask another question.” “How is that possible? How could you not know?” My voice was loud—I was practically screaming at the top of my lungs. It was right here on this mountain that my biological mother had heartlessly abandoned me, only for my master to find me later. This Rat Demon had crowned herself the Mountain Goddess—how could she possibly not know? “I have no reason to lie to you. Believe it or not, it’s up to you.” The rat demon shook her head again. “Then tell me—what exactly do you know? Everything about me!” I demanded, staring her down. “Is this your third question?” The rat demon gave me a dismissive glance. “Yes! Tell me now!” I nodded. The Rat Spirit paused for a moment, seemingly unsure how to begin, and only after a few minutes did she slowly start to speak. “It’s no big deal to tell you—some things aren’t really secrets anyway… Nineteen years ago, all within a hundred li suddenly ran out of water overnight. The rivers ran dry, and the mountains were even more parched. No one knew the cause, but the drought lasted nine whole months! Life was unbearable for the people down in the valley, and things weren’t much better up on the mountain. Even I, with my hundreds of years of cultivation, was struggling to cope—let alone the other creatures up there. The people from the valley rushed up the mountain in search of water, while we rushed down the mountain looking for it. We dug nearly three hundred feet into the ground and still found no water. Just as I was preparing to move away, a person suddenly arrived from up on the mountain…” “Who?” Tian Zhan couldn’t help but ask. “Zhang Daoling!” the Rat Demon said calmly. Tian Zhan furrowed his brow, clearly skeptical. “Zhang Tianshi, the founder of the Zhengyi School?” I was a bit confused too. Of course I knew who Zhang Daoling was—he was a true immortal. Legend has it that he received the teachings of the Supreme Lord Laozi, founded the Zhengyi Mengwei Dao, spent his life slaying demons and evil spirits, and eventually ascended to immortality. He was truly a mythical figure. But setting aside whether this drought had anything to do with me, who could say for sure if this Zhang Daoling was the real deal or just someone with the same name? “I’m not sure about that. Anyway, that person claimed to be Zhang Daoling.” The Rat Spirit shook her head. She cleared her throat a few times and continued, “After Zhang Daoling went up the mountain, no one knows what he did, nor when he left. But early the next morning, a once-in-a-century blizzard hit the mountain. The entire mountain was blanketed in snow. Snow means water, so we were overjoyed, and so were the people down below…” At this point, the Rat Spirit’s gaze toward me grew strange once more. “And you… that’s when you appeared.” I furrowed my brow. To be honest, I was very dissatisfied with the Rat Spirit’s answer. From start to finish, she’d sidestepped the key point—she hadn’t said a single thing about me—and had even gone off on a tangent, assuming that my appearance was what caused the snow to fall. “Old lady, are you telling a story? Even storytellers aren’t as far-fetched as you,” Tian Zhan teased with a laugh. The Rat Spirit shot Tian Zhan a withering glance and continued, “There are some things I had to lie to you about. I admit that this drought and the sudden blizzard have nothing to do with him directly. But he suddenly appeared right there in the snow, and nobody—not even the other old-timers in the mountains—had any idea. How do you explain that?” The smile on Tian Zhan’s face slowly faded. He turned his head to look at me, a strange expression on his face as well. I was filled with doubt. Did the Rat Spirit really not know, or was she just making up a story to fob me off? After all, she’d even dragged Grand Master Zhang Daoling into it—that was way too far-fetched. I stared at the rat spirit without saying a word. After all, I already knew where my mom was. Once I found her, she definitely wouldn’t lie to me. Then I’d find out if this rat spirit was lying—and maybe even learn some other things about myself. “All right, I’ve answered three questions. Now it’s your turn to answer one.” The rat spirit fixed her gaze on me. I furrowed my brow, glanced at her, and said, “You want me to read your fortune?” “Oh?” The rat spirit seemed unimpressed. Tian Zhan also looked at me with a puzzled expression. I stared at her and said slowly, “Although your true form is that of a rat spirit, your human form is another facet of yourself. The redness at your earlobes and the three wrinkles in your Life Palace indicate that you’ve recently encountered something you’ve long anticipated but have been hesitant about.” The rat spirit’s expression shifted slightly, as if she were moved; she slowly rose from the armchair. “Plus, there are yellow spots in your eyes, and your lips are too red. All of this indicates that you’re desperate to know how to handle this matter.” “And in your eyes, there’s a hint of longing—a longing for me. That’s why you’re not simply asking me to read your fortune; you’re begging me to do so!” I said with a slight upturn at the corner of my mouth. Upon hearing this, Tian Zhan gave me a thumbs-up. The Rat Demon snorted lightly. “I’ll give you credit for having inherited some of your master’s skills. Not bad. There is indeed something I’d like you to divine for me.” “Heh, so is it a ‘request’ or a ‘demand’?” I said, fixing the Rat Spirit with a calm gaze. “Kid, don’t push your luck!” A flash of ferocity crossed the Rat Demon’s eyes. “If that damn master hadn’t deliberately kept things from me last time and forced me to agree to something, would I really need you to do a reading for me?” I furrowed my brow. “Last time? When exactly are you referring to?” “Well, you’ll have to ask your master that yourself!” the Rat Demon said sarcastically. My expression shifted between anger and confusion. Master Tian Zhan had analyzed the situation for me the moment he walked through the shop door—perhaps Master does read fortunes for ghosts and demons as well. Could it be that this Rat Demon had gone to the shop in person to have Master read her fortune? However, the Rat Spirit’s facial features indicated that this matter had arisen suddenly—and no more than a week ago. That meant the reading must have taken place before my master was seriously injured. So, was it that night when we went up the mountain, and I went to sleep in the middle of the night while my master stayed up keeping watch? That didn’t seem likely. How could the master have left me all alone to sleep in the wilderness? Did he actually go to read the rat spirit’s fortune instead? And after the reading, he came back only to be seriously injured by my mom? I felt like I was letting my imagination run wild. Forcing myself to push these doubts aside, I took a deep breath and looked at the rat spirit, saying, “All right, I’ll read your fortune!” “Good for you—you know when to back down!” the rat spirit snorted lightly. I stepped a little closer and stared at her for a moment. Suddenly, my expression turned strange. “Are you pregnant?” The rat spirit glared at me fiercely, her cheeks flushing slightly, but she didn’t deny it. “Holy shit, is that for real? How old is this old hag, and she’s still pregnant??” Tian Zhan walked over, looking utterly incredulous. He eyed the rat spirit as if he were watching a monkey at the zoo, covering his mouth to stifle a chuckle. “Enough already! I’m exactly four hundred years old this year—which is equivalent to forty-five for a human woman. Why on earth couldn’t I get pregnant??” The rat spirit leaped up from her chair; she looked so furious she almost came to blows with Tian Zhan. I was speechless. The rat spirit did look fairly young, but getting pregnant is a good thing—why was she so upset? Tian Zhan, however, laughed heartily without a trace of fear. “Haha, old lady, are you looking to die? If I recall correctly, the Jade Emperor in Heaven is quite fed up with there being too many of you rats—you’re a major menace. That’s why every two hundred years, there’s a special lightning tribulation designed to deal with you rat demons.” “What? Is that so?” I was taken aback by what I heard, and the rat demon’s expression turned grim. Tian Zhan chuckled and continued, “Don’t forget—rats are one of the ‘Four Pests.’ No matter how many you kill, there’s always more! However, what really angered the Jade Emperor dates back to the time when Emperor Taizong of Tang had just ascended the throne. Back then, all living creatures believed he was a wise ruler, so everything came to pay homage. Overjoyed, Emperor Taizong held a banquet at the Daming Palace for three days and three nights, inviting the entire realm. The whole city of Chang’an stayed awake for three days straight. By the second day, Emperor Taizong had gotten completely drunk at the Daming Palace,when suddenly a rat scurried into the banquet hall. To everyone’s astonishment, it spoke in human language to offer its congratulations, its paws clasped in a bow that looked just like a human’s. Emperor Taizong and his ministers were utterly astonished—who had ever seen an animal speak before? The ministers immediately began to flatter him, claiming that this rat was a “Rat Immortal” who had come to congratulate Emperor Taizong on unifying the realm! Delighted, Emperor Taizong treated the rat as an honored guest.” “But the mouse said its offspring were on the verge of starvation and asked Emperor Taizong to let them in so they could feast for three days and three nights. Emperor Taizong thought for a moment—after all, they were just a few mice. Since it was a joyous occasion anyway, he agreed. But unexpectedly, after the mouse let out a few squeaks, countless mice surged forth from who knows where—so thick and dense that they nearly overwhelmed the Daming Palace. In the blink of an eye, they devoured everything in the Daming Palace. Emperor Taizong was startled on the spot and immediately ordered the mouse to take its offspring away. But the mouse was clever and retorted, ‘You’re the emperor—how can you go back on your word?’ Emperor Taizong of Tang, realizing he was in the wrong, had no choice but to let the countless rats devour everything. In half a day, Chang’an was stripped bare; they then moved on to another location and continued feasting. The people dared not stop them—after all, these rats were acting on a royal decree! After feasting for three full days and nights, they devoured the rations meant for hundreds of thousands of people until there was nothing left, then strutted off with great arrogance. Subsequently, tens of thousands of people starved to death due to the lack of food. The Jade Emperor in heaven could no longer bear to watch this, so he immediately sent the God of Thunder to strike a bolt of lightning that instantly destroyed that rat. He also decreed that every two hundred years, rats that have attained supernatural powers must undergo a “Thunder Tribulation”! Over the past thousand years, who knows how many rat spirits have perished in these lightning tribulations…” At this point, Tian Zhan couldn’t help but express his astonishment: “And each lightning tribulation is said to be more severe than the last. So how is this old woman supposed to withstand it while pregnant??” Hearing this, it suddenly dawned on me. Indeed, I’d heard of the “Thunder Tribulation” before. My master had once told me that when “dry thunder” strikes without rain, it’s the so-called “Thunder Tribulation” that some spirits and monsters must endure! It’s certainly very difficult to withstand a thunder tribulation while pregnant. “Shut up?! I don’t need you to remind me of that!” The rat spirit’s face darkened as she said coldly. Tian Zhan just chuckled and said nothing more. “So what you’re asking is, if I were pregnant, what are my chances of surviving the thunder tribulation?” I asked after a moment’s thought. “Exactly! My master wants me to force the little one out of my womb as soon as possible, but I…” As the Rat Demon spoke, she sighed. “I’ve already lived four hundred years—that’s long enough. During the drought nineteen years ago, all my children died. Now that I’ve finally managed to have a child of my own again, I want to give birth to it…” Tian Zhan and I exchanged a glance; Tian Zhan pursed his lips and said nothing. I took a close look at her Life Palace. How should I put it? There was a barely perceptible darkness in her Life Palace—a darkness that had been gathering for a long time and was clearly on the verge of erupting. In other words, regardless of whether there was a child in her womb or not, her chances of surviving this Thunder Tribulation wouldn’t be high. To put it bluntly, she was facing a one-in-nine chance of survival! I didn’t know how to break the news to her. Watching the rat spirit instinctively stroke her belly, I felt both admiration and a pang of bitterness. How many do rats have in a litter? Even though these offspring were threatening her own life, as a mother, the rat spirit still couldn’t bring herself to harm the babies in her womb in the slightest. But what about my own birth mother? She gave birth to me and then abandoned me in the snow—what must she have been feeling at that moment? I don’t even have to think about it to know just how cold and indifferent her expression must have been. We’re both mothers—yet humans can’t even measure up to rats. Maybe I’m just unlucky.