The Taoist Master of Nine Tribulations

Ever since I was old enough to remember, my grandfather told me that I was destined to face nine calamities, and that my life would be full of misfortune. If I couldn't overcome them, I might not live for many years. I thought he was just saying it offhandedly, but when I was nine, I faced my first calamity and nearly drowned in a reservoir. And that was only the beginning. As one disaster after another came my way, I felt less and less in control of my own fate, as if something was watching me, then opening its cavernous jaws in the dark, ready to swallow me whole. Friend, can you come save me?