Ghost Story of Liaozhai

A certain Taoist from Jinan, I don't know who he is, his name is unknown.Regardless of winter or summer, only one single shirt is worn, with a yellow belt around the waist, and no other attire.A half comb is often used to comb the hair. After combing, the bun is fixed with a comb, which looks like a hat.

Walking barefoot on the street every day, sleeping on the street at night, a few feet away from the body, the ice and snow melted.When the Taoists first came, they often performed illusions to people, and the people rushed to join them, donating money and food.A certain rogue in the market offered wine as a gift, and begged the Taoist to teach him magic, but the Taoist refused.

One day, the Taoist was bathing in the river. The rogue seized the opportunity and snatched the Taoist's clothes, threatening him. The Taoist bowed and said, "Please return the clothes to me, and I will teach you spells." Humanity: "You really don't intend to pay me back?" The rascal said: "That's right." The Taoist was silent, and suddenly saw the yellow belt in the rascal's hand, which turned into a snake, several feet thick, wrapped around the rascal's body for six or seven times in a row In the circle, the big snake raised its head and uttered a letter, glaring angrily, the rogue was shocked, and knelt on the ground, his face was livid with fright, his breathing was short of breath, and he begged: "Master, please forgive me, forgive me."

The Taoist smiled slightly, put on his clothes slowly, reached out and grabbed the big snake, tied it around his waist, and the big snake turned back into a yellow belt.There is another snake by the river, meandering into the city.Since then, the Taoist became more famous, officials, gentry and wealthy businessmen heard about the strange things of the Taoist, and made friends with him one after another.Even the chiefs of the various divisions and roads have heard of the reputation of the Taoist, and they must invite the Taoist to accompany them every time they have a banquet.

One day, the Taoist entertained officials and businessmen in the water pavilion. On the day of the banquet, each guest got an invitation card by the bedside, and no Taoist came to the door. I really don't know how the invitation card was delivered.All the officials and merchants went to the meeting together, and the Taoists came out to welcome them respectfully.Entering the courtyard, I saw that the water pavilion was empty, with no tables, chairs, wine and dishes.Everyone secretly suspected: "Could it be that the old Taoist is entertaining us?" The Taoist looked at the officials around him and said, "There are no servants in the poor Taoist family. I want to borrow some servants from a few of them, can I?" All the officials nodded.

The Taoist drew two doors on the wall, pushed them with his hands, and there was a sound of answering from inside the wall, followed by the sound of unlocking, and the door opened with a creaking sound. Everyone became curious and went forward to wait and see. A hall appeared, with screens, tables, and chairs in the room. The servants gathered in the hall, shuttling back and forth, passing out all kinds of tableware, such as tables, chairs, dishes, and so on. In the middle, he asked: "Don't talk to the servants." All the officials and businessmen agreed, and when passing the tableware, they looked at each other and smiled, but they didn't dare to speak.

In an instant, the water pavilion was filled with all kinds of utensils, all of which were treasures and extremely luxurious.Then, delicious wine and hot dishes, with a tangy aroma, spread from the door one after another.All the guests were surprised.The water pavilion is backed by the lake. Every June, the lotus blooms in the lake, and dozens of hectares of water are covered with lotus. The scene is endless and beautiful.It was cold winter at this time, and there was a vast expanse outside the window, only the rippling water. An official sighed: "Today's banquet is very enjoyable. The only fly in the ointment is that there are no lotus decorations in the banquet." Everyone echoed in unison.

After a while, a servant in Tsing Yi came to report, "The pond is full of lotus leaves." All of them were startled, and opened the window to look into the distance. They saw that the lotus leaves in the lake were covered, green as jade, and on each lotus leaf, there was a lotus leaf. A lotus flower is in bud, and in an instant, thousands of lotus flowers are in full bloom. When the north wind blows, the lotus fragrance permeates the brain, which makes people feel relieved.

Everyone was amazed, and assigned a servant to go to the lake to pick lotus by boat. They saw the servant enter the depths of the flower bushes from a distance, and returned in a short while by boat, only to return empty-handed.Said: "When a villain takes a boat in the middle of the lake, the lotus is clearly in front of him. He reaches out to pick it, but he can't reach it. On the south bank, the lotus is always in the north. Going to the north bank, the lotus is in the south again." The Taoist said with a smile: "This It is a flower of illusion, so it cannot be taken seriously."

After a while, the banquet is over, and the lotus will wither immediately.When the north wind suddenly blew up, the lotus leaves all over the lake were destroyed and there was nothing left.One of the officials and merchants, Jidong, was an observer, and he liked the Taoist very much. He invited him back to the mansion, and Riri played with him.

One day, I watched and had a banquet with the guests. The host had a fine family wine with a very mellow taste, but every time he treated the guests, he only brought out a bucket, and never let the guests enjoy themselves.During the banquet, the guests tasted the fine wine and were greatly impressed, saying: "Good wine, unfortunately there are too few, is there any more?" The observation was very stingy, and upon hearing this, he shook his head and said: "No more."

The guest was quite annoyed, the Taoist saw this, and said with a smile: "Your Excellency insists on drinking too much, the poor Taoist can help." While speaking, he took an empty jug, put it in his sleeve, took it out in a moment, and then poured it for the guest Wine, the water flowing in the pot is inexhaustible, and the taste is exactly the same as that of family wine.

The guests drank happily and left satisfied.The observer became suspicious, and went into the wine cellar to check, the wine jar was still there, and the mud seal was intact, but when he lifted the wine jar and weighed it, it was as light as nothing, and the wine in the jar had already been exhausted.The observer knew that it was a Taoist who was acting as a ghost, and was very angry. He ordered his subordinates to arrest him and beat him with a stick.When the first stick fell, I felt a sharp pain in my buttocks under observation, and after another stick, my buttocks.

The Taoist crouched under the steps, pretending to moan, observing that the seat was already torn to pieces, dripping with blood, and the seat was stained red.Xin knew that the man's spells were advanced and he was not an opponent, so he shouted: "Don't fight, let him go."

The Taoist swaggered to leave, and since then he has been away from Jinan and disappeared.Later, someone met a Taoist in Jinling, dressed as before, talked to him, and smiled without saying a word.