3

After they settled down in Pindian，they studied and practiced martial arts very hard.One day，when the three of them were hunting in the mountain，they saw a pike on the hillside rock，shining.They stacked four or five layers of cowhide together to make a target.Duan Siping stabbed the target with the pike，and the pike pierced the target through lightly.They were overjoyed as if they had gotten a treasure.The next morning，while Duan Siliang and Dong Jialuo were still asleep，Duan Siping picked up the pike and went hunting in the mountain.When he walked to a steep place，he saw something dazzling golden light.Getting closer，he found it was a pair of gold saddles and silver bridle.He thought it might be useful in the future，so he took it to the nearby pool to wash it.Suddenly，a big red horse with a head like a dragon's head and a body like an elephant jumped out of the pool.It neighed loudly，and strode towards Duan Siping.Duan Siping was pleasantly surprised.He put the golden saddle and silver bridle on the horse，mounted the horse and ran home.

Duan Siliang and Dong Jialuo were very surprised to see Duan Siping come back on a tall horse.They asked，“Where did you get the horse？”After Duan Siping explained to them what had happened，Dong Jialuo said，“It must be providential for you to get the divine spear and the dragon horse.”Duan Siping said，“From getting the old man's help in Shangguan to getting the divine spear and the dragon horse，I also feel like a god is helping me in secret.”Dong Jialuo added，“Yang Ganzhen is tyrannical and unethical.Both the god and the people were angry with him.Now，some immortals are secretly helping you，which means to help you be the king.You should not disappoint the will of the god and the people！”

From then on，they began to recruit men and buy horses，intensified their trainings to prepare to conquer Yang Ganzhen in the future.

Since Duan Siping got the divine spear and the dragon horse，people respected him more and more.Several local surnames such as Dong，Duan，Zhao and Zheng，who held military power locally，were also willing to embrace him as the king.Therefore，Duan Siping got greater power，and so was the number of soldiers and horses.On the day of dispatching the troops，he made Dong Jialuo the military commander and Duan Silang the deputy general，and led all his men and horses from Pindian all the way to the imperial city，Meng She Town.Then he sent people around to spread the words，“It is the will of heaven that Duan Siping should be the king.As long as he becomes the king，he would save you from labor and taxes.”When the common people heard this，they all came to join him.

One day，a walnut seller came to Duan Siping and gave him a sack of walnuts.Duan Siping picked up the biggest one，cracked it open and found the word“Qingxi（青昔）”in the shell.Duan Siping felt puzzled and asked Dong Jialuo，“No matter it is a good sign or a bad sign，just tell me the truth.”Dong Jialuo said，“We should look at the structure of the two Chinese characters.The Chinese character‘青’is combined with the three characters‘十，二，月’，which means‘December’；and the Chinese character‘昔’is combined with the three characters‘二，十一，日’，which means the day of twenty first.So，the word‘Qingxi（青昔）’implies that you will become the king on the 21st December.”

Duan Siping was very happy after hearing this，and said to the people around him，“If I can become the king，I will definitely repay you well.I will reduce taxes by half and exempt labor for three years to ensure the people's peace and well-being.As long as we work together，we will be able to overthrow the Dayining Kingdom.”Hearing this，all the people were so happy that they shouted“Hail”three times.

Soon，many tribes in the region of Cangshan Mountain and Erhai Lake came to join him，and even the chiefs of the 36 tribes came to submit to him.In this way，he got greater power.In the following year，he sent his troops to two directions and fought beyond Longwei Pass and Longshou Pass.

The cunning Yang Ganzhen had already learned the news and sent heavy troops to hold the fort.Seeing that the situation was unfavorable，Duan Siping ordered to set up camp on the spot.That night，Duan Siping had a dream about three things：first，he was captured and beheaded；second，his beloved jade vase was knocked out of its mouth；and third，his precious mirror was smashed into pieces.

When he woke up the next morning，he felt more and more frustrated，so he asked Dong Jialuo to explain it.Dong Jialuo laughed upon hearing this，“Good dream，good dream！This dream couldn't be better！”Duan Siping felt puzzled，“Why is it a good dream？”Dong Jialuo said，“All three things indicate that you can become a king soon.You are a man，and you'll become a husband someday.The Chinese character of‘husband’is‘夫’.The first thing you dreamt about is that you are beheaded，it means the Chinese character‘夫’loses its head and becomes the character‘天’，which means the king.When it comes to the second thing you dreamt about，the Chinese phrase of the jade bottle is‘玉瓶’.If your jade bottle lost its mouth，it means the Chinese character‘玉’loses one point and becomes the character‘王’，which means the king too.When it comes to the third thing you dreamt about，we all know，there is always a shadow in the mirror，just like a man with an enemy.The mirror has no shadow if it is broken，which implies that you will have no enemy.This is the omen of invincibility.These three things are all good signs，so don't worry about it.”Duan Siping turned his worry into joy after hearing this，and led his troops to attack the imperial capital.But he was a little overwhelmed when seeing so many swords and enemies at the pass.Suddenly a beautiful woman emerged from the river in front of him and said to him，“You should order your soldiers cross the river from the end of it，and your horses advance together from the upper and lower Shaping，and you will definitely succeed.After gaining the throne，you should change the name of the kingdom into Dali.”After saying that，the beauty disappeared.Duan Siping followed the beauty's instructions.As expected，Duan's army broke through the two gates and the imperial capital in one breath.Yang Ganzhen，with a few remnants of his army，took a lot of effort to kill his way out of the imperial city.He fled to the east overnight.From then on，Duan Siping got the throne and changed the name of the kingdom to Dali.

After Duan Siping became the king，he did not forget the help of the beauty on the river.He sent an official and his entourage to look for her，but they did not find her.Duan Siping went to find her personally，and searched all over the Dali Bazi（Bazi is a plat place between valleys）but still could not find her.Finally，he found a white stone statue of Guanyin on the river bank where the beautiful lady stood，and only then did he realize：So it was Guanyin who helped me in Shangguan，and gave me the divine spear and the dragon horse，as well as the advice from the beautiful woman from the river！He led the civil and military officials to welcome the statue into the imperial capital and built a golden statue temple to be worshipped for generations.

Duan Siping was deeply loved by the people in Dali because of his good policies to govern and stabilize the country.After his death，many Bai people's villages in Dali and Erhai Lake respected him as their Village God.The people in Heyang Village of Yinqiao respected him very much.They built a temple and made a statue of him.Every year on the tenth day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar，people hold a grand ceremony to celebrate his birthday.