Ghost Story of Liaozhai

Huo Heng, courtesy name Kuangjiu, was born in Shanxi.His father, a county captain, died young, leaving behind Huo Heng, an only son who was extremely intelligent. At the age of 11, he entered the county school and was deeply doted on by his mother.

There was an old man in the same village who loved Taoism and went to the mountains to practice, but he never returned for a long time.The daughter, Qing'e, is fourteen years old and as beautiful as a fairy.Influenced by his father, he has been fascinated by Taoist books since he was a child. He admired He Xiangu the most, and retired from the old man Wu, determined not to marry, and his mother had no choice.

On this day, Huo Heng went out occasionally and met Qing'e unexpectedly. He saw the beautiful woman, although the child was young and ignorant, and didn't understand love at all, but he fell in love at first sight. After returning home, he asked his mother to propose marriage. , but couldn't bear to disobey his son's wishes, so he had to visit him at home. As you can imagine, the result was of course in vain.

Huo Heng's courtship was rejected, he missed Qing'e every day, and felt restless.This day, a Taoist priest came to the door, holding a shovel in his hand, one foot long.Huo Heng asked: "What is the use of this shovel?" The Taoist said: "This is a tool for weeding medicine. Although it is inconspicuous, it is easy to cut through the wall." Huo Heng didn't believe it, so the Taoist immediately picked up the shovel and pointed it at the wall Put a stone on it and scrape it lightly. The stone is like tofu, and it falls with your hand, and the stone chips are flying.

Huo Heng Daqi borrowed a shovel from a Taoist priest, played with it repeatedly, and couldn't put it down.The Taoist said with a smile, "If you like it, my lord, I will give it to you." Huo Heng was overjoyed, and gave the money to the Taoist, but the Taoist didn't accept it, and walked away.Huo Heng took the shovel home and thought, "With this thing, I can cut through the wall and go to Old Man Wu's house to visit Miss Qing'e." Thinking of this, he was eager to try, and at the next day, he climbed over the wall and disappeared. Go out and go straight to the Wu family's house.

He took out the shovel and chiseled the wall, and he was really handy. He dug two layers of the wall, came to the courtyard, saw the light in the east wing, went to the window to peep, and saw Qing'e undressed, ready to go to bed and rest.After a while, the lights went out, and the room was silent.Huo Heng entered the bedroom through the wall, and took a closer look. Qing'e's eyes were closed, and she was already asleep.The beauty was just around the corner, and Huo Heng's heart beat fast. He quietly took off his shoes and socks, and climbed onto the bed. He was worried that the girl would wake up, so he didn't dare to make a sound. He lay down beside her slowly, smelling the fragrance of Qing'e body in his nose, The wish was fulfilled, and he immediately closed his eyes and rested his mind. He was exhausted digging the wall just now, and at this moment he was quite tired, and soon fell asleep, snoring loudly.

Qing'e heard the sound of snoring, opened her eyes and stared, only to see a hole in the wall through which the faint moonlight penetrated, she was terrified, and she was even more surprised to see a strange man beside her.At the moment, he tried his best to calm down, quietly got out of bed, went to the servant's residence, and called the servant girl.The crowd lit up lanterns and torches, rushed into the room with great momentum, and made loud noises.

Huo Heng woke up in shock, and everyone shouted: "Where is the thief, dare to sneak into the lady's boudoir to steal?" Huo Heng blushed, but he was not very afraid, and said: "I am not a thief, Huo Heng, because I admire the lady's demeanor, so I took the liberty to visit, everyone, rest assured, I am a scholar, I understand etiquette, justice, integrity and shame, and I have done nothing wrong."

Everyone asked: "How did you come here?" Huo Heng told the truth, but everyone didn't believe it, and said: "How is it possible to dig through the wall with a shovel? It's ridiculous, it's obviously a lie." Huo Heng didn't argue , took out the shovel, pointed at the wall and shoveled lightly, and immediately shoveled down a black brick.Everyone saw it with their own eyes, so they were convinced. Some people said: "If you say this matter is not big or small, you have to report it to your wife." Some people said: "A child is not sensible, just let him walk, why make a fuss about it?" ? But go back, the shovel must stay.”

For a while, there was a lot of discussion and a stalemate, everyone turned their eyes to Qing'e, waiting for her to deal with it.Qing'e didn't say a word, but there was affection in her eyes, obviously inclined to let him go.Everyone understood and said with a smile: "This kid surnamed Huo is also from a famous family, and he can be regarded as a good match with the lady. Why don't you let him go back and let his family come to be a matchmaker. If Madam asks about this, we will do our best to cover it up and say that there are thieves. How about it?" Qing'e still didn't say a word when she heard the words, but to say nothing was to acquiesce.

Everyone urged Huo Heng to leave. Before leaving, Huo Heng asked for a shovel. Everyone laughed and said, "Silly boy, do you still miss the murder weapon? Go, go!" Huo Heng glanced at it and saw a Feng Chai, easily hidden in the sleeve.A maidservant with sharp eyes noticed it immediately, and shouted: "Miss, she stole from you." Qing'e neither spoke nor got angry when she heard this.A maid stretched out her hand and patted Huo Heng's neck, and said with a smile, "Although he is young, he has a lot of ghosts." While laughing, she sent Huo Heng away.

When I got home, I mentioned this matter to my mother and asked her to make a match. The last time my mother proposed to marry me, she got frustrated, so how could I dare to go again?And he couldn't bear to reject his son face to face, so he perfunctory, agreed to be a matchmaker, and secretly chose another good match for him.Knowing this, Qing'e was anxious, and sent a confidant to visit her, confessed her feelings to Huo's mother, and declared that Huo Heng would not marry, Huo's mother was happy, and came to propose marriage again, not wanting that Mrs. Wu had already learned from her maid The truth of the matter, more than furious.Seeing that the matchmaker came to the door and scolded Huo Heng's mother and son severely, Huo's mother was also annoyed when she knew about it, and said angrily: "What do you do that is unworthy, it has nothing to do with me? Why scold me? If I had known today, I would have been a prostitute at the time. When yin.Qing'e leaked her secrets to her, she was ashamed, Madam Wu also felt regretful.The two families held grudges against each other, and the marriage fell through.

At that time, Mr. Ou was a county magistrate in Shanxi. He had seen Huo Heng's articles and admired them very much.This day, Ms. Ou asked Huo Heng, "Are you married?" The marriage is over." Mr. Ou asked, "Do you like Miss Wu very much?" Huo Heng blushed and refused to express his opinion.

Mr. Ou smiled and said: "Don't worry, I will make the decision for you." He immediately ordered the county captain, Jiaoyu and others to prepare a bride price and go to the Wu family to propose marriage.Mrs. Wu was overjoyed and no longer objected, and the two families set a date for their marriage.A year later, Huo Heng hired Qing'e as his wife.

After entering the door, Qing'e took a shovel with her, threw it on the ground, and said with a smile: "This is a robber's property, I will give it back to you." Huo Heng said: "If it wasn't for it, how could you and I know each other? Don't forget the matchmaker. .” He picked up the shovel and put it in his arms.

Qing'e is a filial person and doesn't like to talk too much. Apart from paying her respects to her mother-in-law every day, she spends the rest of her time sitting behind closed doors, and doesn't care much about housework.Sometimes the mother went out on business, and Qing'e was in charge of household chores, and Qing'e took care of it calmly, just being orderly and not messy.

In the blink of an eye, a year later, the couple gave birth to a young son named Mengxian.Children's food and daily life are all in the care of the nanny, and Qing'e seldom interferes.Four or five years later, Qing'e said to Huo Heng: "You and I have been together for eight years, and the fate is over, so what can we do!" Huo Heng asked the reason in surprise, Qing'e remained silent.Dress up, meet your mother-in-law, and then return to the house.

When the mother and son went to visit, they saw Qing'e lying on the bed, breathless and dead.The two were so sad that they immediately bought a coffin for Qing'e and buried her in peace.

Since Qing'e's death, her mother has been old and aging, and she often misses her mother with her child, and her heart is broken. As a result, she gets sick and has no food or appetite. She just wants to drink fish soup.But there is no fish here, and it can only be bought hundreds of miles away.Huo Heng has a filial personality. In order to make his mother recover, he is not afraid of hardships and went to other places to buy fish alone.I drove day and night, and when I came back, I passed through the mountains. It was already dark, my legs were sore, and it was difficult to walk, so I sat on a stone to rest.

At this moment, an old man walked towards him and asked, "Is the sole of your foot blistered?" Huo Heng nodded.The old man smiled slightly, took out a pack of medicinal powder from his arms, applied it on Huo Heng's feet, and ordered him to get up and walk.Huo Heng only felt that his feet were cool, and took two tentative steps, only to feel that his body was strong and strong, and he thanked him again and again.

The old man asked: "Why is it so urgent that you have to travel overnight?" Huo Heng told the truth about his mother's illness, and his words involved his wife's death, so he couldn't help crying and feeling sad.The old man said: "Since my wife is dead, why don't you marry another one?" Huo Heng said: "There is no woman I like."

The old man pointed to the mountain village and said: "There is a beautiful woman here. If you can go with me, the old man will be your matchmaker." Huo Heng said: "My mother is seriously ill, so we can't delay. We will talk about this later." The old man said goodbye, Said: "Okay, if Mr. Gairi comes to visit, the old man will receive him personally. My surname is Wang, everyone calls me old man Wang, and I live nearby, so you can tell when you ask." He said goodbye and left.

Huo Heng returned home, cooked fish and soup, and gave it to his mother.After a few days, the condition will be cured.Huo Heng has nothing to worry about, remembering that he has an appointment with the old man, he can't break his promise, so he ordered his servants to prepare horses, and the two went to the village to visit friends.When I came to the mountain forest, I got lost and didn't know where the village was. My heart was impatient, like a fire.Running around in a panic, he accidentally fell off a cliff.Fortunately, there was a platform under the cliff, so I was lucky not to fall to my death.

The platform is a few meters in diameter, just big enough for a body, and the bottom of the cliff is pitch black, bottomless.Huo Heng didn't dare to move, and complained in his heart.Looking at it by the moonlight, I vaguely saw a small hole on the mountain wall. I was overjoyed, and slowly climbed into the hole with both hands and feet.The cave is deep, and the light in front of it is shining, and it seems that there are people living there.After crawling for three or four miles, I found a house. There was no red candle in the house, but it was as bright as day.A beautiful woman came out of the room, and after a closer look, it turned out to be Qing'e.

Qing'e saw Huo Heng for the first time, and asked in surprise: "Why did you get here?" Huo Heng was emotional, and hugged Qing'e, his thoughts turned into tears, and wept.Qing'e comforted her gently, and asked about the recent situation of her mother-in-law and her children. Huo Heng told them one by one. Qing'e was very sad when she heard that her family was miserable.

Huo Heng said: "My lady has been dead for a whole year, so is this the underworld?" Qing'e said: "No, this is the Immortal Mansion. I didn't die at the beginning, and what I buried was just a bamboo stick. Mr. Master can come here Here, the fate of immortality is not shallow." He was brought into the cave to meet his father.I saw a long-bearded majestic man sitting in the lobby, looking out of the world.When Huo Heng was young, he heard his mother mention that there was an old man Wu in the village who went out to seek Taoism.Thinking about it, it was the dear friend in front of him, and after thinking about it, he quickly knelt down and saluted.

Qing'e introduced: "This is Huo Lang." Old man Wu stood up to greet Huo Heng, took Huo Heng's palm, chatted with him, and said with an intimate attitude: "My son-in-law is here, very good, very good, I will stay here from now on Huo Heng said: "Mother is at home alone, I can't stay long, please forgive me." Old man Wu said: "I also know about this. But staying for three or four days, it shouldn't be a big problem." Hosting a banquet for Huo Heng, and then Order the maid to lay quilts in the west bedroom.

After the meal, Huo Heng begged Qing'e to sleep with her, but Qing'e flatly refused, saying: "Where is this place, how can you mess around?" Huo Heng grabbed her arm and didn't let go.Seeing this, the maid outside the window giggled coquettishly, Qing'e became more and more ashamed.While the two were arguing, old man Wu suddenly broke in and shouted: "Ordinary people, spoil my cave, go, go!"

Huo Heng said angrily: "The love of children is inevitable, why get angry? You can leave, but Qing'e has to leave with me." Old man Wu had no objection, and asked his daughter to follow him on the road, and opened the back door to see off the guests.Huo Heng didn't doubt that he had it, so he came outside the cave happily. Taking advantage of his unpreparedness, Wu's father and daughter closed the gate and returned to the cave.

Huo Heng was deceived and hated it.Seeing that the mountain wall was locked tightly and the air was rushing upwards, he took out a shovel from his bosom, chiseled the stone and dug a hole, cursing as he dug, and dug a hole more than four feet deep in an instant.It only takes a moment to enter the cave.

He vaguely heard the voice of "Nie Zhan, Nie Zhan!" Huo Heng ignored him and dug harder.There was only a "squeak" sound, and the cave door opened wide, old man Wu pushed Qing'e out, and shouted: "Your daughter-in-law will return you!" There was another loud noise, and the cave door closed again.

Qing'e complained: "Since you love me as a wife, how could you treat my father-in-law like this? I don't know where a Taoist priest gave you such a sharp weapon. I'm almost annoyed to death by you pestering me endlessly." Huo Heng was in a mood Shu Chang, let her scold her, accept it calmly, without arguing, and said: "This place is steep and far away from home, how can I go back?"

Qing'e said: "It doesn't matter." She snapped off two branches, and the two of them straddled one of them each.When he got home, Huo Heng had been missing for seven days.

After returning to their hometown, the two lived together for 18 years, gave birth to another daughter, and married Mr. Li from the county seat.Later, when her mother died, Qing'e said: "In my thatched field, there was once a pheasant that laid eight eggs, and my mother-in-law could be buried there. My son has grown up and should be a filial piety for Nainai, so he can no longer live with us." Huo Heng nodded in agreement and followed suit.

After finishing the funeral for the mother, the husband and wife returned home. As for the son Mengxian, he stayed in the cemetery to fulfill his filial piety.After more than a month, Meng Xian went home to visit his relatives. When he opened the door, his parents were nowhere to be found. He asked the old slave for news, and replied, "The lord sent Mrs. Tai a funeral, and he hasn't come back yet." Meng Xian knew something was wrong, Thinking "Most parents and adults have already become immortals and traveled all over the world."

Mengxian's literary talents are refined, but his fate is not good. He didn't pass the entrance examination until he was in his 40s.Taking part in the examination this year, I met a seventeen or eighteen-year-old boy who claimed to be surnamed Huo, surnamed Zhongxian, and a native of Shuntian Prefecture.Seeing that he had the same surname as his own, Meng Xian was secretly surprised. He asked him about his ancestral home, and replied, "He is from Shanxi. His father's name is Huo Heng, and his mother's name is Qing'e."

Zhongxian was also very happy, and said: "This time when I was rushing for the exam, my father told me that I would meet an elder from the same clan, and asked me to treat him well. Unexpectedly, this elder turned out to be my own brother, which is really great. Brother, my parents are in Shuntian Mansion right now. Let's go, let's go home together."

When the two returned to their former residence, the daughter-in-law came out to greet them and said, "My parents-in-law are gone." Zhongxian changed his face and said, "What's the matter?" The daughter-in-law said: "Drinking with my parents-in-law last night, the mother-in-law said, 'Young couple, the two young ones don't do anything. Tomorrow I can rest assured that my elder brother is here." This morning, I went to greet my in-laws, and when I entered the room, the room was silent, and the two of them went to nowhere."

When the brothers heard this, they stamped their feet in sorrow.Zhongxian wanted to go out to look for it, but Meng Xian said, "My parents have already become immortals. Since they deliberately hide from us, how can they find them? Don't waste your efforts." Since then, Huo Heng and his wife have hidden themselves and never showed their faces again.