The longevity lock, it is said, can ward calamity and evil from infants, “locking” their lives in place. Thus, in the customs of Huaxia, newborn children wear a longevity lock until they reach the age of twelve.
There was once a married couple, deeply devoted to one another. One day, the husband died in an accident, and the wife, overcome with grief, went into premature labor with the child he had left behind. The child was frail in body and weak in breath; it was feared he would not last a month before following his father into death.
After much seeking, the wife obtained an audience with a certain master. The master asked, “You wish this child to live, no matter the cost? Would you use your own life in exchange?”
The wife nodded.
The master said, “I possess a longevity lock. It can borrow the twelve years remaining to you and exchange them for twelve years of life for this child. When it locks him until he reaches twelve, the lock will break, and he will die. This ‘longevity lock’ is, in truth, a ‘life-repayment lock.’”
The wife continued to plead with him, vowing that if her son could have his life prolonged and grow to adulthood, she would willingly fall into Avici Hell and suffer its torments.
The master pondered for a long while before finally agreeing. He said that this longevity lock could seal at most twenty-four years of life for the child. After twenty-four years, he would come in person to take back the longevity lock.
The wife died with a smile.
Twenty-four years later…