Wu Ming's wife was awakened by the nightmare. She pushed Wu Ming awake and said, "I just had a strange dream. I saw two dragons circling in the room. Then they turned into one dragon and flew into my arms and disappeared."
Wu Ming asked in surprise: "Really?!"
"Do you think the fish you caught during the day was a dragon? We have offended the Dragon King, and he is here to collect the debt." Wu Ming's wife said fearfully.
Wu Ming said, "But we released the fish, so it should be alright! Let's go to the mountain temple and pray at dawn. Go to sleep first and talk at dawn." But neither of them could sleep. They got up before dawn.
The couple prepared incense, candles, fruit offerings, and some prayer items and came to the mountain temple. But after they finished praying and left the temple, Wu Ming's wife was still frightened.
Wu Ming was afraid that his wife might get sick from the shock, so he said, "Let's go see a doctor! Don't be frightened."
The couple came to an old Chinese doctor who was very famous in the surrounding villages. They told the doctor about their dreams and some scary things they had at night.
The old Chinese doctor nodded and said, "Take your pulse and see what's going on."
After a while, the old Chinese doctor took the pulse and said with a smile: "Congratulations, you are pregnant. This is a slippery pulse, like large and small pearls falling on a jade plate. Your wife has neither excessive phlegm nor blood stasis, she is very healthy. There are no other symptoms, it is confirmed that she is pregnant. Go back and take good care of yourself!"
The couple was stunned and said, "Really?!"
The old Chinese doctor said: "It is a good sign that the dragon has entered your womb. It is most likely a boy."
"A boy would be even better, as that would break the tradition of one-line inheritance. Thank you." The couple left with gratitude.
The news spread quickly and soon spread throughout the village. "You know what? Wu Ming's wife dreamed of a dragon entering her arms, so she's pregnant," said a villager.
Another villager said, "What is this? It has nothing to do with anything! Wu Ming caught a fish that looked like a dragon, but he didn't eat it and released it. He did good deeds and accumulated virtues, and he earned it by himself."
Others said: "That was a gift from God to Wu Ming because he did good deeds."
Others said: "Then the baby will be a god!"
The people around him said, "Is that even human language? Have you seen a god?" The story became more and more miraculous as it spread.
One day, these rumors reached the ears of Wu Ming and his wife.
Wu Ming's wife said: "These gossipers love to gossip. Whose children are not the result of their father's sperm and their mother's blood, the flesh and blood that fell from their mother's body! What can you say about them!"
Wu Ming was afraid that his wife would be upset because she was pregnant, so he advised: "Ignore them and let them talk. Anyway, whether it's a boy or a girl, they are ours and we have to raise them. They don't care, so why get angry?"
After work every day, Wu Ming would rush home to prepare delicious food for his pregnant wife, waiting for the birth of their child.
Why did Wu Ming get a good reward, and what did he get? What Wu Ming got that day was indeed a dragon.
According to legend, the dragon has nine sons, each of them is different, but none of them can become a dragon. However, these nine sons have their own specialties: Qiuniu likes to have fun, Yazi likes to kill, Chaofeng likes to be dangerous, Pulao likes to cry, Suanni likes to sit, Baxia likes to carry heavy loads, Bi'an likes to sue, Bixi likes to write, and Chiwen likes to fight. The old dragon king is still relieved. However, the old dragon king does have more than these nine sons, there are also dragons.
The Dragon King's tenth son was born a dragon. He was righteous, a man of both civil and military talents, but he loved to stand up for the weak. The Dragon King was very worried about him, so he imprisoned him in the harem and did not allow him to go out. Since he seldom went out, few people know about him. This son's name was Tiantai.
One day, Tian Tai was bored in the harem, so he ran out with the old Dragon King on his back. "Where should we go?" Tian Tai thought as he flew, and suddenly saw, "Hey, this place is nice, with beautiful mountains and clear waters, and streams." So Tian Tai shrank down and landed in the river to play. When he got to the river, the fish were scared because he was a dragon after all! Dragons can only be viewed from a distance and not played with! What's more, it was alive, so the fishes all stayed away from it. This is why Wu Ming couldn't catch any fish.
Tiantai was having fun when Wu Ming came to catch fish. Tiantai didn't care and was caught by Wu Ming. Later, Wu Ming let Tiantai go.
Back in the Dragon Palace, at this time, the old Dragon King happened to come to Tiantai's harem, and he was looking for Tiantai.
Seeing Tian Tai coming back from outside, the old Dragon King asked, "What have you been doing? Tell me now, or I'll punish you according to the family rules."
Tian Tai had no choice but to tell the old Dragon King everything about how he went to the human world, how he was caught, and how he was released.
The old Dragon King said angrily: "You went down to the mortal world without permission. This is against the Heavenly Law. According to the Heavenly Law, you should be executed."
Tian Tai was terrified and begged the old Dragon King, "Daddy, please save my life!"
The old Dragon King also loved his sons. Among his nine sons, the tenth one just became a dragon.
So the old Dragon King said, "I have long calculated that you will have a disaster in your life, but I am not sure which disaster it will be, so I imprisoned you in the harem to avoid the disaster and not let you go out. Although the heaven is not as righteous as people imagine, it is much better than the human world.
This is fine. Now I can only punish you by sending you to the lower world to be reincarnated as a punishment for violating the heavenly law. Secondly, there is very little justice in the human world, so you can also uphold justice in the human world."
Tian Tai was forced to say: "Then where should I be reincarnated?"
The old Dragon King said: "Heaven is just. You were caught and released. There are few people in the world who do good deeds and accumulate virtue. If there is such a family, you will be reborn into their family as a reward for their kindness in releasing you!"
Tian Tai was helpless: "Okay!" The old Dragon King was reluctant to let his son go. At this time, the old Dragon King felt very disappointed, but Tian Tai was very annoyed: "Didn't he just come to the human world to play once! He didn't cause any trouble!"
The old Dragon King told Tian Tai: "Don't be angry, this is God's will, you can't escape it." Tian Tai calmed down a little. Then he turned into a blue dragon and threw himself into the arms of Wu Ming's wife.
Wu Ming worked tirelessly to take care of his pregnant wife, making delicious food for her every day. Wu Ming's wife was in good health and had no major problems during her pregnancy. However, she was already nine months pregnant, and it was the tenth month when she should have given birth, but there was no sign of pregnancy.
Wu Ming was a little worried, wondering what to do if the fetus died in the womb! So he asked a doctor to check, but after the checkup, everything was normal.
The doctor said, "It's okay, wait and see, maybe it will take some time. But don't worry, the village is not big, come to me if you feel anything!" Then the doctor left. Wu Ming took better care of his wife every day.
Wu Ming was anxiously waiting for the baby to be born, but thirteen months had passed and there was still no movement from the baby, and the examinations were normal as well.
Wu Ming said angrily and helplessly: "Why is it so difficult to have this child?" (To be continued)