Man-in-Stone#

When fortune fades, speak not of past delight, In times of joy, recall the memories' blight. A single thought of greed can cloud the mind, Each step in anger binds, leaving wisdom blind.

According to common sense, the local keeper and the mountain deities should work together harmoniously. However, this was not the case in Yellow Wind Ridge.

Years ago, when the Yellow Wind Sage led his followers to subdue Buddha-headed stone guai, he sought the keeper's assistance in battle. The keeper, however, chose to remain a bystander. Consequently, when the guai's essence was divided and distributed, only the mountain deities received a share, leaving the keeper empty-handed and filled him with resentment.

Knowing his own abilities were mediocre and lacking any significant divine powers or backing, the keeper believed that obtaining the essence would grant him great powers, akin to those of the mountain deities. Thus, when the Father of Stones departed and the Yellow Wind Sage surrendered, he harbored malicious intentions towards the Mother of Stones.

He observed the valley for many days, noting how the stone guais were busy moving mountains and shaping stones, while the Mother of Stones merely issued commands from her stone cave. This gave him an idea. One day, he transformed himself to resemble a stone guai and pretended to be on an errand to approach the Mother of Stones. His plan was to ram into her abdomen with all his might to, hoping to crack her open and extract the essence. However, just as he leaped, the Mother of Stones let out a piercing scream, and several stone guais emerged from the ground nearby.

Distracted, the keeper missed his mark and only managed to create a crack on the Mother of Stones' chest. Realizing his plan had been exposed, he clung to her, attempting to absorb her power with all his might. By the time the stone guais pried him off, he had absorbed half of her essence. Enraged, the stone guais chased and attacked him relentlessly. The keeper, unable to escape, tried to revert to his original form to fight back. To his dismay, he found himself unable to change back, likely because the stone essence had transformed him into a stone. The stone guais continued to batter him until he was buried in the ground.

From then on, the keeper lost all hope and resigned himself to being a broken stone in the valley. Yet, he still believed that if he could obtain the other half of the essence, he might be able to transform back.