Ailao Mountain

There is a poem that says, 'The poisonous fog brings down kites, and the stench of the wind follows the giant python.' This place is not a miasma land, how fortunate for the little whirlwinds. Ailao Mountain, located within the ancient Dian territory, is rumored that after the ancient Emperor Xuanyuan defeated the demon Chiyou, some of the Jiuli people were lucky enough to escape to this mountain. Here, the mountains are treacherous, the waters are evil, and there are many poisonous creatures, fierce tigers, and large pythons. There are also barbarian tribes, who capture hair and drink blood, and none but the descendants of Chiyou may enter. Later, a country named 'Ancient Ailao' was established by the descendants of the Jiuli, the Ailao Yi people, and the first king was called 'Jiulong.' His ancestor was a woman named Shayi, who lived on Mount Lao. She once caught fish in the water and touched a sunken log as if moved by it, and consequently became pregnant for ten months, giving birth to ten sons. Later, the sunken log turned into a dragon and rose above the water, and Shayi suddenly heard the dragon speak: 'If you have borne sons for me, where are they all now?' Nine sons saw the dragon and ran away in fear, only the youngest could not leave and sat on the dragon's back. The dragon licked him and his mother, and the bird language called the back 'jiu' and the sitting 'long,' hence the son was named 'Jiulong.' The ancient Ailao country existed for a hundred years and then suddenly disappeared. It is said that the King of Ailao wanted eternal life, but was envied by the heavens, and the heavens sent a multicolored poisonous miasma to destroy the country. There is another legend that the Ailao country was a 'Dragon Country,' which had enmity with the mountain spirits. Dragons and tigers cannot coexist, and later the king was secretly killed, leading to the collapse of Ailao. In ancient times, Ailao Mountain was often a battlefield where many Han soldiers and barbarians died. Because no one buried them, the Ailao shamans imprisoned their souls according to witchcraft, turning them into 'ghost hitting the wall.' Every night, or when the miasma is thick, they wail together, thus trapping the enemies of Ailao. Nevertheless, they ultimately have no power to turn back the heavens. After the ancient country was destroyed, the wronged souls also remained in the mountains. Whenever someone enters the mountain, they surround them, seeking to die with them in the mountains to find their own replacement and release. There are also mountain spirits (tigers) in the mountains that like to eat people. Their ghostly servants are called 'Chang ghosts,' who often lure people who get lost in the mountains to become food for the tigers. If you get lost in the mountains and hear a familiar person calling, do not respond. You can throw a lively ancient coin, or use the blood of a rooster to rub your eyes and look around, to find a slim chance of escape.