The White Rock King

In ancient times，a village on Luoping Mountain relied on raising goats for a living.Every morning，villagers went to the mountain to herd the goats and drove them back at night.When villagers were thirsty，they drank the goats'milk；when they were hungry，they ate the goats；when they were cold，they made goatskin into clothes.

One year，all the goats in the village got sick and died one by one.Villagers were worried，but they had no way to cure the disease，which they thought was a“blood ghost”.They determined to bring the rest goats to the mountain to hide.An old man hid his goats in a bamboo forest，where they ate the grass obediently.Being very tired，the old man lay down the meadow to have a rest.He had just closed his eyes when a goat's bleat came from the opposite side.He raised his head and saw a lots of fat goats swarming in a big cave on the rock wall opposite the mountain valley.And all of them were looking at him.The old man felt strange，“Whose family hid the goats in the cave on the cliff？I should have a look.”So he climbed to the cave edge and entered the cave to have a look.He saw no goat but piles of white rocks inside the cave.

The old man regretted risking coming here.The more he thought about the event，the more puzzled he felt.He clearly saw a flock of goats moving and heard a goat's bleat.Moreover，the two sides of the valley were not far apart.How could he make a mistake？“Whatever it is，I'll sleep in the cave for a while first.”He thought.Therefore，he took off his goatskin jacket and screwed it up to make a pillow.Then he lay down on one piece of white rock to sleep.

The old man had just fallen asleep when he dreamed of the flock of goats he had just seen again.They were all around him.An old shepherd with a white beard was sitting beside his pillow.The old shepherd said to him，“I am the rock beside your pillow and the god who is in charge of goats.You have seen how fat and prosperous my goats are.If you take me back to be your Village God，all the goats in your village will be ill-free and disaster-free.The goats will flourish very fast，or Iwill kill all your goats.”The old man woke up with fright.He opened his eyes and found that the old shepherd and goats in his dream were gone，only piles of white rocks beside him.The old man quickly wrapped the white rock beside the pillow in his goatskin jacket，carried it on his back with a cord，and pulled kudzu vine down the cave.

After the old man carried the stone and drove the goats back to the village，he told the villagers what had happened.They believed what he said and immediately began to build a temple.Placing the white rock on the shrine，they offered it with incense and chickens，and kowtowed to it.Sure enough，all the sick goats in the village survived.Moreover，all the nanny goats were pregnant and gave birth to flocks of lambs.The number of goats quickly multiplied.

All the villagers regarded this stone as the Village God.Because they don't know the name of the Village God，they just call it“The White Rock King”.