Ghost Story of Liaozhai

Changshan Xu Yuan, a scholar of the Ming Dynasty.After the death of the Ming Dynasty, he abandoned literature and Taoism, and had some experience in exorcising ghosts, which became famous far and near.

A wealthy businessman in the county wrote a letter to send a horse, inviting Xu Yuan to come.Xu Yuan asked: "What is the reason for calling me into the mansion?" The servant refused to know, and said: "The master told the young one: Please be sure to come here, sir."

When he came home, the host had already set up a banquet with warm hospitality and thoughtful etiquette, but he kept his mouth shut. Xu Yuan was impatient and asked, "What do you want to do? Tell me what you want." The host said: "Nothing, nothing. Drinking , drink." The words flickered, but he didn't understand the meaning.Between the words, as the sun was approaching dusk, the host invited Xu Yuan to drink in the garden. The structure of the back garden is amazing, but it is a pity that there are few people there, densely covered with bamboo trees, gloomy scenery, clumps of flowers and weeds.

In an attic, there are cobwebs intertwined on the wooden boards on the roof, and there are countless cobwebs of different sizes.After several rounds of drinking, the sky was dark, the servants lit candles, and the two drank endlessly.Xu Yuan was dizzy, and declined, "I'm too strong to drink, so I can't drink any more." The master nodded and smiled, and immediately ordered the maid to bring hot tea.The maids hastily removed the cups, plates and wine utensils, brought them to the left room, put them on the table, and then offered tea, the tea was less than half drunk, the host left with an excuse.The servant guided Xu Yuan to the room on the left, placed the candle on the wooden table, turned around and said goodbye hastily.Xu Yuan thought to himself, "I wonder if he is going to get the quilt and be with me?" After waiting for a long time, the servant did not return, and the surrounding was quiet, so he closed the doors and windows and went to bed to rest.

Outside the window, the moon was bright and clear, night birds and autumn insects were singing one after another. In the quiet night, it was extremely ear-piercing. Xu Yuan felt uneasy and couldn't fall asleep.Suddenly, there was the sound of boots on the wooden boards, as if someone was walking. In a blink of an eye, the sound of footsteps spread to the stairs, approaching the door in an instant.Xu Yuan was terrified, his hair stood on end, he got into bed in desperation, not daring to probe.At the moment of ups and downs, the door of the room was suddenly pushed open, Xu Yuan secretly pulled up the quilt and watched secretly, not far in front of him, stood a monster with the head of a beast, hairy all over his body, dark black, as long as Horse mane; sharp white teeth, interlocking canine teeth, and bright eyes.

The monster came to the table, leaned over to lick the leftovers on the plate, swiped his tongue, and ate cleanly.Then he walked to the bedside, sniffed at the quilt, Xu Yuan jumped up suddenly, rolled up the quilt cover, covered the monster's head with one hand, pressed it tightly, and yelled for help.The monster was caught by surprise, fled in shock, opened the door and fled.Xu Yuan put on his clothes and stood up, wanting to stay away from the dangerous place.When I arrived in the back garden, I saw that the garden gate was locked tightly, and I was not allowed to go out.In desperation, he ran along the wall, found a low wall, climbed over it, and fell into the stable.The groom was shocked and stepped forward to inquire. Xu Yuan told the whole story and begged to stay overnight.

At dawn the next day, the master looked for Xu Yuan everywhere, but he was nowhere to be found. He was horrified, and soon after, he found a scholar in the stable. When the two met, Xu Yuan hated him and said angrily, "I haven't mastered the art of catching monsters yet, so I rashly summoned him." I came here, but I didn’t tell the truth; there was a wish hook hidden in my clothes, I called out for help last night, why didn’t you send me weapons? It’s clear that I wanted to kill me.”

The master apologized: "I planned to tell the truth, but I was afraid that you would make things difficult. As for the wishful hook hidden in the clothes, I really didn't know it. Please forgive me this time." Xu Yuan was so depressed that he asked the master for a horse, and returned dispirited. .

Since then, the monsters have disappeared. Whenever the host holds a banquet in the garden, he often says to the guests: "Mr. Xu's merit in exorcising monsters will never be forgotten."