During the wars of the Sui Dynasty, two joyous events took place at General Zhang Xutuo’s residence. For defeating Wagang Stronghold, the emperor rewarded him with gold, silver, and horses. A new child was also born into the family, and his grandson was named Zhang Sheng.
In the capital, the Left Chancellor knew the court was unstable and that the general had fifty thousand troops outside the city.
He decided to strengthen their alliance through marriage, win the general over, and secure control of the court. The rebel forces of Wagang Stronghold were enormous, and with the people behind them, their numbers reached a million.
The court sent the general to suppress the rebellion. He fell for Li Mi’s scheme and died in battle at Changqing River.
The general’s household fell into ruin. The eldest son fled with the women of the family and Ziyun, the daughter of the Left Chancellor’s concubine, along with her mother. They settled in Huangdong Village, Daxing County.
Misfortune came one after another. Zhang Sheng’s parents and grandmother were killed in turn, leaving him with only his slow-witted second uncle to depend on. His uncle raised him all by himself.
When Zhang Sheng was seventeen, his second uncle went into the mountains after a meal to pick wild fruit. There, he encountered a giant centipede spirit exhaling poisonous mist from a tree. The centipede badly injured him, leaving him disabled and unable to work. The family grew even poorer, and life became more difficult. Zhang Sheng had no choice but to go out begging for rice. One day, he returned late, and the rain had been pouring without end. Luckily, there was an old, dilapidated Red Temple ahead where he could take shelter. Nobody nearby dared enter the Red Temple during the day, let alone at night, when it looked especially terrifying. Mustering his courage, Zhang Sheng slowly pushed open the temple doors and went inside. The moment he looked up, his hair stood on end and his heart leapt into his throat. Hanging from the temple’s main beam, directly facing the entrance, was a huge red coffin suspended by iron chains...
