Xu Xun Pursued a Jiao Dragon into an Ordinary Household

When the Jia family’s son-in-law went out this time, he returned without jewels and with an injury to his left leg. He said bandits had robbed him on the road and taken everything. As the family lamented his misfortune, a Daoist surnamed Xu arrived and asked for him by name.

The son-in-law refused to come out, claiming he was ill. That injured leg was precisely the clue that had led the Daoist all the way here.

1. The Well-Dressed Youth Reveals His Identity

The Daoist was Xu Xun, courtesy name Jingzhi. He had once served as county magistrate of Jingyang in Shu, and later generations also called him Xu Jingyang and Perfected Lord Xu. “Perfected Lord Xu” in volume 14 of Extensive Records of the Taiping Era, quoting The Biographies of the Twelve Perfected Lords, recounts this tale of pursuing a jiao from the riverbank into a household.

In Yuzhang, Xu Xun met a young man, neatly dressed, who called himself Shenlang. After a brief conversation, the youth took his leave. Xu Xun turned to his disciples and told them that the visitor was not human, but a spirit of the jiao and shen.

Xu Xun was concerned about the floods that had repeatedly ravaged Jiangxi. He told his disciples that they had to destroy this jiao-and-shen spirit and could not let it escape.

Shenlang also knew its identity had been exposed. It hid north of Longsha Islet and changed into a yellow ox, hoping another appearance would throw off its pursuer.

Xu Xun summoned his disciple Shi Dawang and gave him a special way to identify him: he would turn into a black ox with a handkerchief hanging from his foreleg. When the two oxen chased and fought each other, the disciple was to strike the yellow ox with his sword.

2. A Sword Wound in the Left Leg Led to His Home

Before long, the black ox came charging after the yellow one. Shi Dawang swung his sword and struck the yellow ox in the left leg. It leapt into a well west of the city, and the black ox followed it down.

The sword wound did not kill it on the spot. The jiao spirit escaped from the well, fled to Tanzhou, and changed back into a man.

The Immortal Biography of Perfected Lord Xu tells the episode differently: Xu Xun cut paper that transformed into the black ox, and the sword-bearing disciple was named Shi Cen. In this account in Extensive Records of the Taiping Era, Xu Xun himself changes form and gives chase.

Shenlang was not without a place to go in Tanzhou. He already had a wife and a home there, and his father-in-law was Jia Yu, the local prefect. The river-and-lake monster Xu Xun had pursued entered the city and became the Jia family’s honored son-in-law.

Jia Yu had a beautiful daughter and wanted to find her a good husband. The jiao spirit had taken the form of a handsome, clever youth and was very wealthy. It used jewels to win over people around Jia Yu, and the marriage was arranged.

After the wedding, the couple lived in the rear courtyard of the official residence. Every spring and summer, Shenlang would announce a trip around the rivers and lakes; when he returned, he brought great quantities of jewels and goods. Even Jia’s relatives and servants grew rich through him.

This time, though, he returned alone, empty-handed, with a sword wound in his left leg. He blamed it all on robbers. The Jia family knew only that their son-in-law had met with trouble on the road; they did not know the wound’s real cause.

3. One Sharp Rebuke Revealed the Honored Son-in-Law’s True Form

Xu Xun arrived just as the Jia family was lamenting. The guest attendant announced that a Daoist named Xu, courtesy name Jingzhi, had come to call. Jia Yu immediately went out to greet him.

Xu Xun came straight to the point: he had heard Jia had an honored son-in-law and wanted to meet him. Jia Yu ordered Shenlang to come out, but the youth grew frightened and hid, pleading illness.

In Yuzhang, he had been able to take his leave calmly; at home, he did not even dare meet a guest. Xu Xun exposed him in a stern voice: “This is a monster that ravages rivers and lakes, an ancient jiao-and-shen demon. How dare it hide its form!”

The youth immediately changed back into a jiao-shen, coiling on the floor of the hall, where the officials and soldiers killed it. At last, the Jia family saw their son-in-law’s true form in their own hall.

Xu Xun then ordered that the two children be brought to him and sprinkled water on them. Shenlang’s two sons also turned into little shen.

Even Jia’s daughter was close to transforming. Her parents begged Xu Xun, who treated her with a sacred talisman and saved her.

4. The Family Moved Out; the House Sank

Xu Xun next ordered people to dig beneath the residence. Once they had dug more than a zhang, he urged Jia Yu: nearly all your family may turn into fish and turtles. You must leave at once; there is not a moment to lose. In panic, Jia Yu led his family out.

Moments later, the official residence collapsed and sank, sending up white waves. The Immortal Biography of Perfected Lord Xu identifies the deep pool formed where the house fell as Zhaotan in Changsha. Had the Jia family remained, they would have sunk into the water along with their old home.

Shenlang’s wealth had long benefited the whole Jia household, but the danger was not fully revealed until their old home sank. The wealthy son-in-law Jia Yu had chosen for his daughter left the family with only one way to save their lives: flee their own home.