石中人 Man-in-Stone
失意莫谈得意事，得意莫忘失意时。
一念贪私令智昏，步步嗔痴是为执。
When fortune fades, speak not of past delight,
In times of joy, recall the memories' blight.
A single thought of greed can cloud the mind,
Each step in anger binds, leaving wisdom blind.
依常理，当坊土地与本处山神原是协同处事。但这黄风岭中，绝非如此
昔年黄风大圣率群妖降伏佛头石怪时，曾求土地一同作战。土地作壁上观，因此分佛头精魄时，山神有，他却无，这令他十分嫉恨。
他知自己本事平平，无甚神通与靠山，自认只要得了那精魄，便能如那山神一般，习得大神通。是以，待石父出走，黄风大圣受降，他便对石母起了歹意。
他在山谷中窥看了好些时日，发现石精们，搬山造石，非常忙碌，而山神坐镇石窟之中，只管调令，便心生一计。
这日，他将自己也变做个石精的模样，假意交差，凑到石母近前。他原要朝那石母腹上，全力撞下一头，裂石取核。岂料，他刚蹦起，就听那石母尖啸起来。近旁竟钻起了几个栖身地底的石精来。
因这一下分了心神，土地用力不当，只在石母胸前撞裂了一道石缝。他见事已败露，索性趴在石母身上，以全力要吸她体内的法力。待石精们将其扑开，他堪堪吸了一半。
石精们暴躁难禁，追着他一路冲撞。土地难以脱身，正要还原本相对敌岂料，他尝尽术法，却变化不得，想是那石之精魄，已将其变做了个石头。石精们对着土地又撞又敲，只将他砸到地里才罢手。
土地从此没了盼头，索性在山沟当块烂石头，但他又自认只要得了另一半精魄，或能变回来罢。
According to common sense, the local keeper and the mountain deities should work together harmoniously. However, this was not the case in Yellow Wind Ridge.
Years ago, when the Yellow Wind Sage led his followers to subdue Buddha-headed stone guai, he sought the keeper's assistance in battle. The keeper, however, chose to remain a bystander. Consequently, when the guai's essence was divided and distributed, only the mountain deities received a share, leaving the keeper empty-handed and filled him with resentment.
Knowing his own abilities were mediocre and lacking any significant divine powers or backing, the keeper believed that obtaining the essence would grant him great powers, akin to those of the mountain deities. Thus, when the Father of Stones departed and the Yellow Wind Sage surrendered, he harbored malicious intentions towards the Mother of Stones.
He observed the valley for many days, noting how the stone guais were busy moving mountains and shaping stones, while the Mother of Stones merely issued commands from her stone cave. This gave him an idea.
One day, he transformed himself to resemble a stone guai and pretended to be on an errand to approach the Mother of Stones. His plan was to ram into her abdomen with all his might to, hoping to crack her open and extract the essence. However, just as he leaped, the Mother of Stones let out a piercing scream, and several stone guais emerged from the ground nearby.
Distracted, the keeper missed his mark and only managed to create a crack on the Mother of Stones' chest. Realizing his plan had been exposed, he clung to her, attempting to absorb her power with all his might. By the time the stone guais pried him off, he had absorbed half of her essence.
Enraged, the stone guais chased and attacked him relentlessly. The keeper, unable to escape, tried to revert to his original form to fight back. To his dismay, he found himself unable to change back, likely because the stone essence had transformed him into a stone. The stone guais continued to batter him until he was buried in the ground.
From then on, the keeper lost all hope and resigned himself to being a broken stone in the valley. Yet, he still believed that if he could obtain the other half of the essence, he might be able to transform back.
