The Nine Dragon Coffin

Chapter 13 – Blindman Fishing (2)

Chapter 13 – Blindman Fishing (2)

Grandpa’s eyes widened at the steamed bun. He immediately led Old Blindman to the old well on the east side. There, the Old Blindman gave the bun to Grandpa as promised. 

Grandpa had grown up by begging, so he was obviously skilled at observing others. He immediately sensed something extraordinary about this blind man. Even though he was dressed in rags like an old beggar, he was able to hand out steamed buns—something definitely valuable in this time.

“Are you a mage?” Grandpa asked Old Blindman. “The villagers invited many rain mages here before. They all looked much more powerful than you, but they took so much money and rain still didn’t come down. They said that someone in the village offended the Dragon King—god of water and the weather. We’ll have an eight-year drought. You probably shouldn’t waste your energy.”

“I’m not a mage. What kind of mage is blind?” Old Blindman said. “Kid, I’m just looking for a place to stay the night. You go somewhere to lay down. Try not to talk. Talking uses up energy too.”

Grandpa said he’d leave, but he actually hid in the distance to watch Old Blindman. Instinct told him that this Old Blindman definitely was uncommon. The man set down the thing on his back and moved to snap a small withered tree. After getting back, he tied a red string on the tree branch. The other end of the string had a huge fishing hook.

Grandpa had fished in the river before when he’d been too hungry. Seeing that this Old Blindman was about to fish, he wondered if there was something wrong with the man.

The village had no drop of water left. Where was he going to fish with all that fishing equipment? Grandpa decided to close his eyes and rest. 

At night, he woke up from thirst. Just as he was going to climb up to find dew to drink, he subconsciously glanced toward Old Blindman.

He saw that the man held the withered branch with a hook connected with red string and hung it in the old well. It really looked like he was fishing in there.

“What the heck? The well is already dry and he’s still fishing!” Grandpa muttered as he climbed up and went to find dew. After a while, he came back and Old Blindman was still fishing in that position.

Grandpa couldn’t fall asleep, so he used the moonlight to stare in Old Blindman’s direction. It was just like watching a fool put up a show. Just as Grandpa was getting sleepy, Old Blindman’s branch suddenly arched. It seemed that something had taken the bait!

Grandpa woke up with a start. Widening his eyes, he watched Old Blindman grab and swing the branch. There was a huge snake on the hook! 

It was around seven or eight feet long. The hook happened to catch the snake’s mouth. Old Blindman swung this huge snake right to the ground.

The snake was humongous. It circled on the ground and broke the red string, but the hook was still in its mouth. With its head up, it was much taller than Old Blindman. It stuck out its tongue and stared at Old Blindman.

Grandpa couldn’t help but get nervous for Old Blindman, but the man wasn’t afraid at all. The snake stared at Old Blindman and, instead of attacking, it turned and slithered into the dried grass, disappearing.

It was a crime to see a snake and not try to kill it. Seeing it escape, Grandpa felt sorry for Old Blindman. “It ran away!” he cried instinctively. “Go after it!”

Hearing his voice, Old Blindman waved toward Grandpa. “Oh, it’s you. Since you saw it, come over.”