Chow said that after the flood receded, the area around Jiulong Cave remained unsettled. White mist shrouded the river, and ghostly wails could be heard at night. Later, a Taoist priest came to perform a ritual, casting nine golden dragon heads and sinking them into the river to restore peace.
Gradually, a legend spread among the people.
It was said that the flood was caused by the wrath of nine dragons. Later, the mountain god of Funiu Mountain split the mountain in half to suppress the dragons, crushing their heads and stopping the flood. After the dragons died, their resentment lingered, so the Taoist priest cast nine golden dragon heads to complete the dragon bodies and release their souls.
This happened over a hundred years ago. In the century since, treasure hunters have come to seek the golden dragon heads. Apart from discovering a mysterious cave underwater, they found nothing. Those who tried to explore the cave’s depths all ended up dead in the river.
As a result, no one dared to go to Jiulong Cave, and it became a forbidden area for the living.
“Chow, from the way you’re talking, is the legend of the nine dragons true?” I asked.
“While it sounds like a tall tale, I can tell you that the Taoist priest casting the golden dragon heads is absolutely true. As for whether there were really nine evil dragons, that’s unknown,” Chow said.
“What’s your evidence?” I asked.
“The existence of Huiji Temple is the evidence.”
Chow’s mention of Huiji Temple piqued my curiosity even more. The legend that its first abbot came from the Tianshi Mansion on Dragon Tiger Mountain seemed impossible.
“Chow, are you saying the legend of Huiji Temple is also true? That the first abbot really came from the Tianshi Mansion on Dragon Tiger Mountain?”
“Of course. Who else could have the means to cast golden dragon heads to quell resentment?”
“Alright, but how is your family connected to Jiulong Cave?” I asked.
“I didn’t become a corpse retriever to make money,” Chow said, taking a big gulp of liquor.
I believed him. No one would dedicate their life to such a taboo profession just for money.
Corpse retrieval is a forbidden trade, shunned by ordinary people. Once you become a corpse retriever, you must endure a life of isolation. In the past, some women married corpse retrievers to survive, but in modern society, no one is willing.
If Chow had changed careers earlier, he might have married and lived an ordinary life. But now he’s too old to start a family.
However, it seemed he had never even considered finding a partner, resigning himself to a lonely life.
“I became a corpse retriever to accumulate merit and cleanse my ancestors’ sins. But now I’ve realized that no matter how hard we try, our descendants can never be cleansed. That’s why I’ve never thought of continuing our family line. I don’t want my descendants to be born with this curse,” Chow said with deep sorrow.
“Chow, what wrong did your ancestors do?”
“It all started over a hundred years ago when that Taoist priest from the Tianshi Mansion came here to perform the ritual and cast the golden dragon heads to quell resentment.”
Chow then told me an even more incredible story.
After the Taoist priest finished casting the nine golden dragon heads, he needed someone with excellent swimming skills to sink them into the river at specific locations.
Our family had lived by the Yellow River for generations, making a living by fishing, so we were naturally excellent swimmers. Chow’s great-grandfather was especially renowned, known as the “White Streak in the Waves.” He was chosen by the villagers to carry out the task, carrying the golden dragon heads and sinking them into the river.
The Taoist priest was truly extraordinary. He had chosen locations at the river’s eyes, and the dragon heads disappeared instantly upon being placed. The Yellow River’s water is murky, and I don’t know how the priest could see so clearly, but his calculations were precise.
Later, I learned that this ability is called the “Heavenly Eye” in Taoism, known as the “Golden Eye” among treasure hunters. It allows one to detect the aura of the earth and treasures.
Not only did they have this ability, but Chow did too.
Chow could retrieve upright corpses because he could see the creatures underwater—whether water monkeys or kappas—none could escape his sight.
Back to the story. After sinking eight dragon heads, Chow’s great-grandfather had a wicked idea.
He didn’t sink the ninth dragon head into the river’s eye as instructed but buried it in the mud nearby, planning to dig it up after the priest left.
As the saying goes, in prosperous times, antiques are valuable; in chaotic times, gold is precious. In that war-torn era, gold could even buy lives.
After the priest left, Chow’s great-grandfather snuck into the Yellow River that night, dug up the golden dragon head, and hid it in his house. He thought he had gotten away with it, but he had actually committed a grave sin.
The next day, the priest came to his house and asked if he had tampered with the ninth dragon head.
Chow’s great-grandfather denied it, lying to the priest’s face, saying he had sunk it into the river’s eye as instructed.
The priest didn’t argue but stared at him intently. There was no anger in his eyes, only endless sorrow.
Chow’s great-grandfather felt a chill down his spine because the priest stood casually in the courtyard, right above the spot where he had hidden the golden dragon head.
The priest didn’t expose the lie but took him to the site of the ritual.
There, the priest pointed to the river’s eye where the ninth dragon head should have been placed and said:
“This place only needed one golden dragon head to quell the dragons’ resentment. But because of your greed, you’ve broken my formation. Now that the river’s eye is unsealed, I must use my life to seal it. I’ll be the first, and you’ll be the second. From now on, someone from your family must seal this river’s eye in every generation.”
After saying this, the priest straightened his robes and handed his ceremonial sword, talismans, and seals to his disciple, who wept bitterly.
Seeing this, Chow’s great-grandfather panicked.
He admitted to hiding the golden dragon head and said he would go home and retrieve it to seal the river’s eye.
But the priest said it was too late…
The priest jumped into the Yellow River and never resurfaced.
“What happened next?” I asked.
“Later, his disciple inherited his legacy and established Huiji Temple on Funiu Mountain. Over time, the unsealed river’s eye turned into a bottomless black hole, swallowing countless treasure hunters and unsuspecting creatures.”
This was undoubtedly a fascinating story, with all the elements of a good tale: evil dragons, a Taoist priest, golden dragon heads, sacrifice, human greed, sin, and punishment.
But if it were true, it would be truly tragic.
Chow’s great-grandfather was greedy, but such a sin shouldn’t doom his descendants to pay with their lives for generations.
The key is to understand what kind of disaster he caused, but Chow didn’t elaborate.
“Chow, will you go to seal the river’s eye?” I asked after a moment of silence.
“According to the priest’s timeline, it’s my turn this year, but I won’t go.”
At this, Chow looked up at me with burning eyes. I felt uneasy, even panicked.
Chow had been trying to recruit me as a corpse retriever for a long time. I had been working in Guangzhou, but my father insisted I return, influenced by Chow.
I also heard from my mother that Chow had wanted to adopt me as his godson when I was born.
Putting it all together, I came to a terrifying conclusion: *What if Chow wants me to seal the river’s eye for him?*
If that were the case, I’d have to fight him tooth and nail today. The sins of Chow’s ancestors have nothing to do with me.
“I won’t seal the river’s eye because my family did nothing wrong. The one who did wrong was that Taoist priest from the Tianshi Mansion!”
“What did the priest do wrong?”
“I don’t know,” Chow said with a bitter smile.
“You don’t know?” I was stunned.
“It was your ghost wife who told me that my family did nothing wrong in the Jiulong Cave incident. If you want to know the truth, ask her yourself when you meet her.”