Ghost Story of Liaozhai

Feng Shusheng from Lintao County was born in a rich family, but in his generation, his family began to decline.There was a turtle fisherman who was in arrears with a scholar and was unable to repay. In order to repay the debt, he often used fish and turtles instead.This day, the fisherman brought another old turtle with white spots on its forehead. The scholar saw the strange appearance of the turtle and dared not cook it, so he took it to the river and released it.

Later, once, the scholar came back from his son-in-law’s house and passed the Ganges River. It was dark at that time. A drunk man by the river, followed by three or two servants, saw the scholar from a distance and asked, "Who is it?" Passing by." The drunk man said angrily, "I didn't know you were passing by? Report your name."

The scholar hurried on his way and ignored him. The drunk became more and more annoyed, and grabbed the scholar's sleeves to prevent him from leaving.The scholar was quite impatient, and asked: "Who is your Excellency?" The drunk said: "I am the former county magistrate, what are you asking?"

The scholar sneered and said, "Is there a county magistrate like you in the world? You are a drunkard. Fortunately, you have no power or position right now, otherwise, how arrogant would you be?" If you don't agree, you want to use force? Come on, come on, I'm not afraid of you." The drunk man squinted his narrow eyes, looked at the scholar intently, and suddenly turned his anger into joy, and apologized: "So it's my benefactor, what offended you, what's wrong with you?" Please forgive me." Instructed his subordinates, "Go back and prepare the food and drink, I want to entertain my benefactor."

While talking, he held the scholar's palm and asked him to go to the mansion for a while. After walking for a few miles, he came to a small village with gorgeous buildings, which seemed to belong to a wealthy family.The scholar asked the drunk man's name, and the drunk man said, "I'm telling my benefactor the truth, don't be afraid. I'm not an ordinary person, but a god of Taoshui. Everyone calls me the Eight Great Kings. Just now Qingtong Xishan invited me to the meeting. After drinking a few cups, I offended my benefactor with my words, and I feel ashamed."

The scholar knew that he was a monster, but he was not afraid when he saw that the Eight Great Kings were respectful.In a few moments, the table was full of banquets, delicacies from mountains and seas, and extravagance. The Eight Great Kings drank four or five glasses of wine in one go, without changing their face. The scholar worried that he would get drunk again, and he would piss after drinking, so he immediately said: "I drink too little. , I can’t drink any more, is there a bed, I want to sleep.”

The Eight Great Kings guessed his intentions, and said with a smile: "Benefactor must be afraid that I will go crazy with alcohol, there is no need to worry about this. Engong has saved my life, no matter how bad I am, I dare not be presumptuous in front of you." The scholar said seriously: "Since you know drinking is wrong, why don't you quit?"

The Eight Great Kings said: "When the old man was the magistrate in the past, he drank more heavily than today. Because of this, he offended the Jade Emperor and was demoted to the earth. Since then, he has changed his past and hasn't touched a wine glass for more than ten years. Return to heaven. But more than ten years have passed, the old man is dying now, down and out, and the Jade Emperor still refuses to forgive me. I feel angry and uncomfortable, which leads to relapse into old ways and drunk. Now that my benefactor has spoken, I naturally want to listen, you Don't worry, I'll never drink again."

While speaking, a bell sounded from afar, and the Eight Great Kings stood up and left the table, saying: "The meeting will not be long, and we will part soon. I have a treasure by my side, and I will give it to my benefactor right now, as a token of my heart, and it will be regarded as a repayment for your life-saving grace. Benefactor, please remember , this treasure should not be worn for a long time, if the wish is fulfilled, it still needs to be returned." Opening his mouth, he spit out a villain, one inch long and short.

The Eight Great Kings stretched out their palms, protruding their nails, cut through the muscle of the scholar's arm, and stuffed the villain into the veins. The scholar cried out in pain. When he looked down, the villain and his skin merged into one, forming a fleshy bump the size of an egg. , surprised and asked: "What did you do to me?" The Eight Great Kings smiled and did not answer, sent the scholar out of the door, and turned back by himself.

The scholar turned his head and saw that the village was nowhere to be seen, only an old turtle was left, crawling stupidly, and with a whoosh sound, got into the river and disappeared.The scholar was stunned for a long time, and immediately returned home.

Since then, the scholar's eyesight has greatly improved, and wherever there is jewelry, even if it is hidden in the underground abyss, it cannot be hidden from the scholar's eyes and ears.Knowledge has also increased suddenly, things that I didn't know before, now I just need to take a look at them, and I can immediately name them.Under the soil in the bedroom at home, there were hundreds of hanging copper coins hidden. The scholar took out the copper coins, and since then he has no worries about food and clothing, and is not short of silver.Later, a businessman sold the house, and the scholar went to look at it, and saw that there were countless gold and silver under the house, so he bought the house at a high price, dug up the money, became rich, became richer than a prince, and possessed all kinds of rare treasures , everything you need.

The scholar also dug out a precious mirror from the ground, on the back was painted "Shuiyun Xiangfei Picture", which shone with light and could clearly illuminate the scenery several miles away.There is also a general beauty of the precious mirror. Once you point it at the beauty, you can keep the image of the beauty in the mirror. No matter how you scratch it, the figure will not disappear.

At that time, there was a third princess in Su Wang's mansion, she had a beautiful face, and the scholar admired her name for a long time. He found out that the third princess would go to Kongtong Mountain to play, so he ambush the roadside in advance, took a picture of the princess's appearance with a mirror, and put it on the bedside after returning. , watch day and night.I saw the beauty in the mirror, smiling with a towel in her hand, and her mouth was swaying, it was really wonderful.

A year later, his wife leaked the news unintentionally. When Lord Su knew about it, he was furious.The scholar secretly bribed the cronies of the palace, asking them to intercede with the prince, saying: "If the prince is willing to pardon me, I am willing to offer you all the rare treasures in the world, pearls and emeralds, and you can make a price. If not, once I die, the prince will get nothing and will suffer in the end. It's still me."

The prince refused to listen and planned to confiscate the scholar's home into the army. The three princesses said: "My daughter's appearance has been seen by the scholar, and she plays with it day and night. Even if I kill him, I can't wash away my daughter's shame. It's better to marry him." The prince forbids it, the princess He was angry and refused to eat, and was locked in the room every day, sulking alone.

The princess was very worried and tried her best to intercede for the scholar, the prince let go and decided to release the prisoner, saying to the scholar: "If you want to live, you can, but you must marry my daughter." Promise, I would rather die than obey."

The prince was furious, and put the scholar in prison again.The princess secretly summoned his wife into the palace, intending to poison her to death with poisoned wine.The wife was ordered to come to the appointment and gave the princess a coral mirror table. Seeing that she was gentle and well-spoken, the princess was so happy that she put the idea of ​​killing people behind her.At the moment, he guides his wife to visit the three princesses. When they meet, they have a good impression of each other and become sisters.

The matter has come to this point, seeing that his wife has agreed, the scholar no longer insists, and said to his wife: "The princess is a noble person. After passing the door, I am afraid that I will wrong you to be a minor. Now it is too late to repent." A lot of jewels and jade were given away, all of which are rare and rare. Although the prince has seen a lot, he still can't distinguish them one by one.

It can be said that the scholar is full of ambition when he marries the princess.I went to bed that night, and in my sleep I saw the Eight Great Kings coming and said, "The things I gave to my benefactor, it's time to return them to their original owners. Wearing them for too long will consume people's blood and life span." Scholar Nuonuo Agree, keep the Eight Great Kings for dinner.The Eight Great Kings declined and said: "Since listening to Engong's teaching last time, in the past three years, I have never touched a glass of wine. Engong is kind and only has a heart." While speaking, he opened his lips, bit the scholar's arm, took out the villain, and left. go.

His arm was injured, and the scholar couldn't bear the pain. He woke up with a start, and when he looked intently, the lump had disappeared.Since then, the scholar has lost his magical powers and is no different from ordinary people.