Read the intriguing story of a government official's encounter with a mysterious creature believed to be a dragon in Ling, as it leaves behind enigmatic traces and astonishes with its transformation.
In Ling, there was a government official surnamed Qu who served as a Tongzhengshi (an administrative position). One day, he was reading upstairs in a building during a rainy and cloudy weather. Suddenly, he saw a small creature with a glowing body slowly crawling. Wherever it crawled, it left behind blackened, scorched marks similar to charcoal. The little creature crawled slowly onto his book, leaving burn marks on the pages. Qu believed it to be a dragon, so he picked up the book and carried the small creature outside. Once outside, he stood there for a long time, but the small creature remained motionless in a curled-up position. Qu said, “Perhaps you think I have been disrespectful?” He brought the book back, placed it on the desk, got dressed neatly, bowed deeply, and then sent the small creature outside again. Just as it reached the eaves, the small creature raised its head, suddenly extended its body, and took off from the book with a sharp “chirping” sound, flashing a white light. It flew a few steps, looked back at Qu, and at this moment, its head had become larger than a water barrel, and its body had grown several times in size. It then flipped over, producing a thunderous roar, and soared into the clouds. Qu turned to inspect the traces left by the dragon’s passage on the desk, which were winding and curving, revealing that it had crawled out from a book box.
《蛰龙》
於陵曲银台公，读书楼上。值阴雨晦冥，见一小物，有光如萤，蠕蠕而行。过处，则黑如蚰迹。渐盘卷上，卷亦焦。意为龙，乃捧卷送之。至门外，持立良久，蠖曲不少动。公曰：“将无谓我不恭？”执卷返，仍置案上，冠带长揖送之。方至檐下，但见昂首乍伸，离卷横飞，其声嗤然，光一道如缕。数步外，回首向公，则头大于瓮，身数十围矣。又一折反，霹雳震惊，腾霄而去。回视所行处，盖曲曲自书笥中出焉。
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