Ghost Haunts Meng Pochuan

Foreword: Here are jagged rocks and howling winds. It is said that this is the entrance and exit from the yang world to the underworld. There are often wandering spirits and fierce ghosts, and passers-by will be haunted by the fierce ghosts if they are not careful. Pedestrians and businessmen who come and go will be told in advance: don’t look around when passing by during the day, and don’t open your eyes when you sleep out at night…

one

During the Xuande period of the Ming Dynasty, Chen Zihan, a Juren in the capital, was appointed as the county magistrate of Shuiyuan County, Gansu. After Chen Zihan received the appointment from the imperial court, he hurriedly took his bodyguard Li Dahai and several servants to the post.

At dusk that day, Chen Zihan and his party stayed overnight in an inn beside the official road. Not long after they entered the inn, someone knocked on the door and entered their room. The leader was a thin old man in his fifties. Seeing this, Li Dahai quickly stood in front of Chen Zihan and asked, “Who are you?” The skinny old man hurriedly said with a smile, “Below is Shangtong, the county magistrate of Shuiyuan County. , we are here specially waiting for Mr. Chen Zihan who came from the capital.” Chen Zihan heard that it was the magistrate of Shuiyuan County and the officials who caught the head to greet him, so he enthusiastically welcomed them into the house.

According to Lu Shangtong, the county seat of Shuiyuan County can be reached by walking two days further. Although there are no bandits or robbers on this road, there is a valley with strange rocks and howling winds on the only way, called Meng Pochuan. It is said that there is the entrance and exit from the yang world to the underworld. There are often wandering spirits and fierce ghosts, and passers-by will be haunted by the fierce ghosts if they are not careful. Pedestrians and businessmen who come and go will be told in advance: don’t look around when passing by during the day, and don’t open your eyes when you sleep out at night… Lu Shangtong is worried that Chen Zihan will not know the situation and encounter trouble, so he waits here on purpose. After hearing what Lu Shangtong said, Chen Zihan was very surprised. Li Dahai, who was sitting on the side, had a sneer on the corner of his mouth, looking very disapproving.

The next day, accompanied by Lu Shangtong and others, Chen Zihan and his party had breakfast, and a dozen or so people rode on their horses and set off on the road. At noon, they had arrived at the next inn. Chen Zihan thought he was going to eat something casually, so he hurried on his way. Unexpectedly, Lu Shangtong asked the store owner for a sumptuous banquet, and even told the store owner to prepare a good guest room, saying that he would stay here after eating wine and food today. Chen Zihan said puzzledly: “Master Lu, it’s still early, we still have to hurry!” Lu Shangtong smiled and said: “Not far ahead is Meng Pochuan, if we continue on our way after dinner, we will have to go tonight. Sleeping in the open in the Mengpo River. I was worried that some wandering ghosts would come out at night and scare the adults.” After hearing Lu Shangtong’s words, Chen Zihan was puzzled, but he couldn’t say anything more. However, Chen Zihan felt that there was something weird in Lu Shangtong’s smile, and he secretly reminded himself to take precautions against this person.

That night, when Chen Zihan went out for convenience, he found that Li Dahai had disappeared, along with Li Dahai’s horse. Chen Zihan hurriedly went back to the room and woke up Lu Shangtong and the others. After Lu Shangtong finished listening, he hurriedly shouted: “No! He didn’t go to Meng Pochuan alone, did he?”

two

It was almost dawn, but Li Dahai still hadn’t come back. Chen Zihan and the others ate something in a hurry, then mounted their horses and rushed to Meng Pochuan in front of them.

When Chen Zihan and the others arrived at Meng Pochuan, the sun was already high above their heads. This Mengpochuan is in a rolling mountain range, and there is a temple built at the entrance of Mengpochuan. Chen Zihan stepped forward to take a look, and there was a pair of plaques hanging on the gate of the temple, with “Meng Po Sheng Temple” written in black on it. Chen Zihan couldn’t help laughing wryly, this Po Meng who was selling Wanghun Soup on Naihe Bridge became a saint when did she become a saint!

I saw that after Lu Shangtong and others got off their horses, they took out a lot of wine and meat offerings that they brought with them, and stepped into the “Mengpo Holy Temple”. Chen Zihan found that Lu Shangtong and the others neither lit Buddhist incense, candles, nor kowtowed to the statue of Meng Po. They just placed the offerings on the case and left the temple gate without saying a word.

Chen Zihan asked: “Why do you only place offerings, but don’t offer incense or kowtow?” Lu Shangtong smiled and said: “People have worshiped the sky and the earth since ancient times, so there is no reason to kowtow to ghosts! Giving them some offerings is equivalent to paying the road money, and it’s fine if they don’t come out to make trouble for us.” Although Chen Zihan had doubts in his heart, because he had arrived for the first time, Li Dahai disappeared inexplicably last night. No more questions.

A group of more than a dozen of them rode horses along the winding path in the middle of Sichuan, walking cautiously in Mengpo River. Chen Zihan looked around, and the rocks in Meng Po River were indeed very strange. On the cliff, there were layers of protruding boulders, and the boulders were pitted, which looked like layers of human heads piled up from a distance. There are some natural caves at the bottom of the cliff. The caves are so dark that they really seem to lead to the underworld.

Suddenly, Chen Zihan saw a few human-like things shaking on the boulders on the top of the cliff, and he was about to take a closer look, when a gust of wind blew by, and suddenly there were many strange sounds around the valley. The sound was far and near, high and low, like the music in the ghost world, and it seemed like the cry of a dead soul. Chen Zihan’s scalp felt numb all of a sudden, and his hairs stood on end. At this moment, Lu Shangtong, who was walking beside Chen Zihan, suddenly patted him, causing Chen Zihan to cry out in shock. Seeing that Chen Zihan was frightened, Lu Shangtong hurriedly made amends and said, “Your official is guilty, and Mr. Chen was shocked!” Chen Zihan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and waved his hand at Lu Shangtong. Then Lu Shangtong said: “Lord Chen, look!” Chen Zihan hurriedly looked in the direction of Lu Shangtong’s finger, and he saw a row of horseshoe prints left on the soil slope on the left. Then go straight to the mountain. In addition, Chen Zihan also found some clothes and supplies piled up on the stones at the entrances of some caves, but the owners of those items could not be seen. Could it be that there are really wronged souls and wild ghosts hiding in these caves?

In this way, they walked for more than three hours before they walked out of Meng Pochuan. Chen Zihan saw that there was also a “Mengpo Holy Temple” at the exit of Mengpochuan. Needless to say, it was also a place for passers-by and merchants to offer tribute.

Until then, Lu Shangtong let out a long breath of relief. Chen Zihan couldn’t wait to ask: “Tell me, would the horseshoe prints that went straight up the mountain be left by Li Dahai?” Lu Shangtong lowered his head for a moment and said: “People who often pass by Meng Pochuan will never dare to go alone. Those who leave the alley in Chuanzhong, because even in broad daylight, those wild ghosts who have not returned to the underworld in time will often haunt them. Therefore, I conclude that the horseshoe prints are most likely left by Li Dahai.” Lu Shangtong Then he sighed again and said: “I’m afraid Li Dahai will never be able to return to Mr. Chen’s side again…” Chen Zihan thought of the few human-like things shaking on the top of the cliff just now, and he couldn’t help shivering.

three

After living in the county office of Shuiyuan County, Chen Zihan was frightened all the way and couldn’t afford to get sick. Lu Shangtong had to do the official duties in the county.

More than a month passed in a blink of an eye. That night, Chen Zihan suddenly heard someone calling him while he was half asleep. He hurriedly opened his eyes, and saw that the window of the bedroom had been opened, and a man in black with his head covered was standing by the window. Chen Zihan panicked: “You, who are you?” The man in black quickly knelt down on the ground and whispered, “Master Chen, don’t be afraid, I am Li Dahai.” When Chen Zihan heard that it was Li Dahai, he quickly got up from the bed, Ask: “Li Dahai, where have you been during this time? What happened?” It turned out that Chen Zihan was not sick at all. He suspected that someone in Meng Pochuan was pretending to be a ghost, so he deliberately pretended to be sick to observe the county magistrate Lu Shang. Tong et al.

Seeing that Chen Zihan was approaching him, Li Dahai hurriedly got up from the ground and jumped onto the window sill. Li Dahai said: “Master Chen, you can’t come near me now. It’s only because I didn’t listen to Master Lu’s words that I became the three-part human and seven-part ghost!” Chen Zihan was shocked after hearing Li Dahai’s words, he asked “Could it be… Could it be that there are ghosts in Meng Pochuan?” Li Dahai sighed and said, “If you say people are not people, but if you say ghosts are not ghosts! Life is better than death… I came this time to let Mr. Chen come back. Tell my family after Beijing that I, Li Dahai, have died of illness, let my miserable wife find a good family to marry… Also, my lord, you must not approach the place I stepped on just now, Tomorrow, I will tell my servants to sprinkle quicklime to get rid of evil spirits!” After speaking, Li Dahai bowed his hands to Chen Zihan, turned around and jumped off the window sill, climbed up the wall with a few strides, and disappeared into the night.

Seeing that Li Dahai was gone, Chen Zihan hurriedly got up and lit the candle lamp. When he approached the place where Li Dahai was standing just now, he really smelled a rotten smell, which seemed to come from a dead person. Moreover, Chen Zihan discovered by the moonlight just now that what Li Dahai was wearing was not his own clothes, but a strange robe, very similar to the rotten cloth veil worn by the legendary wandering ghosts. After Chen Zihan paced and meditated for a while, he walked quickly to the living room. He called the servant loudly, and asked the servant to call Lu Shangtong overnight, saying that he had something important to discuss.

Half an hour later, Lu Shangtong hurried over. Chen Zihan told Lu Shangtong about Li Dahai’s visit just now, and carefully observed the changes in Lu Shangtong’s facial expression. When Lu Shangtong heard that Li Dahai had come, he was obviously very surprised. He hurriedly asked: “What did he say to you?” It’s been a few years, and he won’t hide anything from me about what he should say. On the contrary, Mr. Lu seems to have not told me something, right?” After hearing Chen Zihan’s question, Lu Shangtong’s face suddenly turned a little pale. Under the swaying candlelight, Lu Shangtong’s face looked more like the face of a dead person.

In order to stabilize his emotions, Lu Shangtong got up and arranged for someone to find quicklime and sprinkle it in Chen Zihan’s bedroom to ward off evil spirits, and at the same time said to Chen Zihan: “Master Chen should not go back to his room to sleep tonight, just go to my place and feel wronged for a night.” Let the lower officials deal with Li Dahai’s matter tomorrow!” Chen Zihan suddenly slapped the table and shouted: “I am the official ordered by the imperial court. How can I just sit back and watch such ghostly things happen in Shuiyuan County now! If Mr. Lu I feel that I am not capable of being the county magistrate of Shuiyuan County, so I will leave tomorrow to go back to Beijing to meet the Holy One! Let the Holy One send more capable people to come. I can also ask for an explanation for my brother Dahai who has become inhuman and ghostly. !”

Seeing that Chen Zihan was really angry, Lu Shangtong knelt down and said, “Master Chen, please calm down!” Chen Zihan didn’t stop there, he said word by word: “Tomorrow, I will go to Meng Pochuan personally, go to Meet those lonely ghosts who are doing evil in the world for a while!”

Four

In the early morning of the next day, Chen Zihan summoned dozens of policemen, government servants and his own servants from the county government office, and headed straight to Meng Po River.

At this time, Lu Shangtong had already arranged for someone to cook a large pot of hot ginger noodle soup. Lu Shangtong handed a bowl of hot noodle soup to Chen Zihan, and said, “Master Chen insists on going to Meng Pochuan, so I can’t stop him. Please eat this bowl of hot noodle soup with shredded ginger first. This ginger can drive away cold and evil spirits!” Chen Zihan He gave Lu Shangtong a cold look, and took the hot noodle soup. Lu Shangtong greeted the arresters and government servants who were about to leave for a meal, and at the same time brought him a bowl for himself.

Chen Zihan was worried that Lu Shangtong had tampered with the hot noodle soup, so he quietly signaled his servants not to eat the noodle with his eyes. Chen Zihan himself pretended to take two mouthfuls, and said casually, “I’m really not used to this hot noodle soup with shredded ginger.” He put the bowl of noodles on the table.

After the meal, Chen Zihan, Lu Shangtong and a group of dozens of people rode mighty horses. When the sun was high above their heads, they had already arrived at the entrance of Mengpo River.

In front of the “Meng Po Holy Temple”, Lu Shangtong called everyone to stop. Lu Shangtong asked someone to carry a large bag of food from the horse and move it into the temple. Chen Zihan sneered and said, “Unexpectedly, Granny Meng has a big appetite!” Lu Shangtong didn’t answer, and walked into the temple expressionlessly.

Chen Zihan also dismounted and stepped into the temple gate. He found that someone had drawn some strange symbols on the tribute platform with loess. After Lu Shangtong looked at the symbols, he said to the accompanying yamen servants: “You have to come back tomorrow, they don’t have any herbs to wash your body.” Chen Zihan felt very strange, he was about to ask a question, but was suddenly frightened Living. Chen Zihan saw a guy with a rag on his head, a rotten face, and yellow teeth exposed crawled out from behind the statue of Po Meng, his eyes were greedily staring at the bag of food on the case, and yellow-brown pus flowed down The guy’s face spilled over the case. Apparently, Lu Shangtong also saw the guy behind the statue of Meng Po, and he yelled: “Go back! I frightened Mr. Chen, I want your dog’s life!” That guy seemed to be very afraid of Lu Shangtong , He shrank his head, hid behind the statue and disappeared.

Lu Shangtong stepped forward and said to Chen Zihan: “Master Chen was shocked, let’s get out of here quickly!” Chen Zihan walked out of the temple and asked in shock, “Is that guy just now a human or a ghost?” Lu Shangtong Tong said: “People are not people, and ghosts are not ghosts. I will take adults to meet them.”

They rode on their horses and walked another hour’s journey before they came to a dark cave. Lu Shangtong said to Chen Zihan: “They live here, you will see Li Dahai soon.”

After dismounting from the horse, the yamen servant took several sets of strange-looking coarse black robes from the horse, and Lu Shangtong handed a set of coarse black robes to Chen Zihan, saying: “Master Chen, please change into these black robes, otherwise you and I will also fight with Li Yu.” It’s like the sea, it’s like a neither human nor ghost!” Chen Zihan glanced at Lu Shangtong apprehensively, but still took the black robe over.

With the help of his servants, Chen Zihan put on that weird coarse black robe. The coarse black robe covered Chen Zihan’s whole body airtightly. His head, face, hands, and feet were all covered in the coarse black robe. Only his eyes could see the road through the two small round holes.

Yamen servants lit torches and illuminated front, back, left, and right. Chen Zihan followed Lu Shangtong into the dark cave step by step, and walked deeper into the cave. Chen Zihan didn’t know what scarier and weirder things would happen ahead!

five

The cave is not straight, it bends like a maze. Chen Zihan walked a long way, one foot deep, one foot shallow, and suddenly found some faint light coming from ahead. Those bright lights reflected on the uneven stone walls, exuding a dark and eerie light, more like the legendary will-o’-the-wisps.

Turning another corner, the cave suddenly opened up, but Chen Zihan was stunned again. It is seven or eight meters high and hundreds of square meters in size. There is a stone bell hanging upside down on the top of the head, and there are raised stalagmites below. It really looks like the legendary Palace of Hades. A couple of nude eccentrics were cuddling around a campfire cooking food.

Seeing Chen Zihan and the others coming, those weirdos got up and knelt down on the ground and said in unison: “Hello, Mr. Lu!” Lu Shangtong waved his hand and said, “Master Chen, the magistrate of the county, is here to visit you, come out!” Chen Zihan Surprised to see dozens of weird people staggering out from the dark corner, those people knelt on the ground and greeted Chen Zihan in unison.

Just when Chen Zihan was too shocked to speak, two strange people stood up from the ground. One of the two weirdos walked towards Lu Shangtong, while the other walked towards Chen Zihan.

The two weirdos stopped two or three meters away from Chen Zihan and Lu Shangtong. One of them knelt down facing Lu Shangtong, and said in a low voice: “Lu Ming pays homage to Mr. Chen! Greetings to Mr. Father!” This person turned out to be Lu Shangtong’s son! The other person also knelt down facing Chen Zihan and said, “Li Dahai pays homage to Mr. Chen, Mr. Lu!” Chen Zihan was about to step forward to help Li Dahai, but Lu Shangtong stretched out his hand to stop him. Lu Shangtong said: “They are all haunted by ‘ghosts’, and ordinary people are not allowed to touch them. Once our physical body touches them, the ghosts entangled in them will pounce on us, and we will slowly become like them.”

That night, because Li Dahai didn’t believe that there really was a ghost in Mengpo River, he was so bold that he rode to Mengpo River alone to find out. Li Dahai accidentally fell into a cliff while chasing a strange person, and fainted to death. When Li Dahai woke up, he realized that he was surrounded by a group of monsters with ferocious faces, strange figures, and foul smells from their bodies. And the strange man he was chasing was Lu Ming, Lu Shangtong’s son.

Chen Zihan couldn’t help but gasped, but couldn’t help feeling sick and coughing. It turned out that the air in the cave was filled with a stench, and Chen Zihan choked on the stench even though his head was wrapped in a coarse cloth. Seeing this, Lu Shangtong hurriedly said: “Master Chen, the smell in this cave is extremely filthy, let’s go back quickly! I will report everything to you carefully after we return to the county government office!”

Chen Zihan had no choice but to comfort Li Dahai and Lu Ming, then turned and left the cave.

six

After returning to the county government office, Lu Shangtong ordered two large buckets of hot water to be boiled, and added a lot of spices into the wooden bucket. He and Chen Zihan got naked and soaked their bodies in the wooden bucket to wash away the stink from their bodies. During the bath, Lu Shangtong slowly told Chen Zihan about Meng Pochuan and the “ghost haunting”. Lu Shangtong told Chen Zihan that this Mengpo River got its name because of its dangerous terrain and weird caves with strange rocks, and the “haunted by fierce ghosts” happened ten years ago. In those two years, Shuiyuan County suffered from continuous drought, and the crops were not harvested, and the people complained unbearably. At this moment, someone suffered from this strange disease, his whole body was rotting, and his nostrils were full of stench. The people couldn’t afford to eat, and there was still money to treat the patients, so they invited witches to help the patients get rid of evil and evil! I never thought that those witches who treated the sick people would also contract this strange disease later. People who suffer from this disease will become grotesque and ugly due to decay in body and appearance, so the local people call this disease “Haunted by Fierce Ghosts”. In desperation, the common people sent all the sick people to the cave in Meng Pochuan, and life and death depend on destiny. Later, more and more people in Mengpochuan were “haunted by fierce ghosts”. In order to survive, they began to block the road and rob passing merchants. Because of their terrifying appearance, they were called “ghost thieves” by merchants.

Hearing this, Chen Zihan interrupted Lu Shangtong and asked: “Then, how did Mr. Lu and the others contract this strange disease?” The road is unblocked, so I decided to send people to kill those “ghost thieves” who blocked the road and robbed. My son Lu Ming thought that the opportunity to make meritorious deeds had come, so he took the initiative to ask for orders, and took a group of arresters and government servants to Meng Pochuan. After a hard fight , those “ghost thieves” who blocked the road and robbed in Mengpochuan were all captured after a big defeat, and Lu Ming then ordered them all to be killed. After that, Mengpochuan was really stable for some days. Who would have thought that in the future Before long, Lu Ming, the policemen and government officials were all infected with this ghost disease. Because he was afraid of being infected by them, the magistrate ordered them all to be sent to the Mengpo River, and regularly sent them food and clothing.” Chen Zihan suddenly realized that it was no wonder those strange people were in such awe of Lu Shangtong. It turned out that they were originally the arresters and servants of the county government.

In this way, Lu Ming and the others are still heroes! That is why the “Mengpo Holy Temple” was built at both ends of Mengpo River? Where did the terrifying voices in Meng Pochuan that resembled the cries of innocent souls and the stories of those wandering souls and ghosts come from? Also, what happened to the phrase ‘Don’t look around when you pass by during the day, and don’t open your eyes when you sleep out at night’? “Lu Shangtong wiped away the old tears from the corners of his eyes, and said: “Lu Ming and those police officers and yamen servants are used to eating, drinking, having fun, and flirting on weekdays, and they suffered so much there! They can’t survive, they can’t die, and they become “ghost thieves” in pessimism and despair, blocking roads and robbing women, and committing crimes! It’s just because they used to be the government’s arresters and yamen servants, and because they suffered from a highly contagious ghost disease, no one in the county yamen dared to exterminate them, so they became more and more arrogant. The magistrate then cut off their supply in a rage. Lu Ming and the others also became crazier and more brutal because they were cut off from supplies. Merchants who often passed by Meng Pochuan had no choice but to build the two “Meng Po Temples” according to the name of Meng Pochuan. Rather than praying for Meng Po’s blessing, it is better to take the opportunity to send some money, wine and meat to Lu Ming and the others. so that they would not rob or persecute themselves. Because of the special geographical structure of the Mengpo River, when the wind blows through the river, the wind will pour into the caves of different sizes, so there will be a terrifying sound like the cry of a wronged soul, and it is precisely because of this that the Mengpo River is born. Legends of the world of Yin and Yang, wandering spirits, and ghosts in Pochuan. Because Lu Ming and the others have ferocious faces and weird postures, especially at night, they look really scary and can scare people to death. That’s why the saying “Don’t look around when you pass by during the day, and don’t open your eyes when you sleep out at night” . It’s just that in the past two years, Lu Ming and the group of policemen and government servants have become weaker and weaker due to illness, and have been unable to rob. In addition, the women who were robbed by them in the cave were also “haunted by fierce ghosts” and had to stay. in the cave. Lu Ming and the others had the company of women, and the money, wine and meat sent by the merchants in the past, so they stayed in the cave steadfastly, and no longer came out to harm others easily. Whenever they need something, they will leave a mark with loess on the tribute platform of the ‘Meng Po Sheng Temple’, and I will send someone to deliver it to them when the time comes. I didn’t dare to tell Mr. Chen the truth because I was afraid of being accused of adultery and robbery. Now, Lord Chen’s subordinates are also living in Meng Pochuan, so I dare to tell the truth. I also hope that Mr. Chen will forgive me for the sake of my loyalty to the court and Mr. Chen. “Hearing Lu Shangtong’s words, Chen Zihan was terrified. Unexpectedly, those head-hunters and yamen servants who usually protect the people became crazy, and they were much worse than bandits. Chen Zihan comforted with heartache:” It’s not easy to deal with anyone, how could I blame you, Mr. Lu! “

That night, Chen Zihan tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep!

seven

Later, Chen Zihan sent people to the capital many times, trying to find a way to cure this ghost disease and rescue Lu Ming, Li Dahai and the others from pain and despair. Unfortunately, after many doctors’ diagnosis, Lu Ming and Li Dahai were suffering from a highly contagious canker sore, which was later called leprosy. At that time, the level of medical treatment was limited, and there was no cure at all. Chen Zihan suddenly thought, would the children born to boys and girls suffering from ghost diseases also be infected with ghost diseases? If things go on like this, the ghost sick patients in Meng Pochuan will be passed on from generation to generation, what can be done!

The next day, Chen Zihan called Lu Shangtong over. Chen Zihan said: “I have been worrying about the troubled brothers in Meng Pochuan these days. Although those brothers are forced to become ‘ghost thieves’, they block the way and blackmail the passing merchants. After all, they are Wang Fa. It’s hard to tolerate, if it goes on for a long time, it will be discovered by the court sooner or later. At that time, not to mention that the lives of those brothers will be lost, I am afraid that you and I will also be accused of deceiving the emperor.” He stared at Chen Zihan with a panicked face. Chen Zihan paused and said: “I mean, immediately demolish the Meng Po Temple on both sides of the Meng Po River, and then the county government will continue to provide them with food and supplies. After all, these brothers also ended up in such a miserable situation for the stability of the court. Master Lu, what do you think?” After hearing this, Lu Shangtong got up and knelt down, and said emotionally: “Master Chen is wise! I will first thank Master Chen for the unfilial son and brothers who are in trouble.” Chen Zihan hurriedly moved the road Shang Tong helped him up.

After seeing off Lu Shangtong, Chen Zihan called his servant. After Chen Zihan closed the door, he personally arranged for his servants to cook for the brothers in Meng Pochuan. Chen Zihan handed a small jar to the servant. He pointed to the silver-white liquid in the jar and said, “Remember, every time you cook, you must add a small amount of this liquid into the rice. Remember, this Don’t tell anyone about this matter, especially Master Lu.” After nodding, the servant left the room with the small jar.

At first, Lu Shangtong didn’t suspect that Chen Zihan would arrange for people to tamper with the food sent to Meng Pochuan. Later, Lu Shangtong discovered that when Chen Zihan’s servants were cooking for Meng Pochuan’s brothers, they always locked the kitchen door from the inside. Lu Shangtong then quietly climbed to the window and looked into the kitchen through the gap. He was surprised to see Chen Zihan’s servant pouring a shiny silver liquid into the large iron pot for cooking. Lu Shangtong couldn’t help but feel pain in his heart. Could it be that Chen Zihan wanted to use slow poison to wipe out all the brothers in Meng Pochuan?

With this doubt, Lu Shangtong found Chen Zihan. Lu Shangtong told Chen Zihan exactly what he saw in the kitchen just now. Lu Shangtong said to Chen Zihan angrily: “The brothers in Meng Po Chuanli have indeed violated the law of the king. If Mr. Chen wants to execute them, I have nothing to say! It’s just that Mr. Chen, as the county magistrate, did it so secretly. I really can’t understand the matter.” Seeing that the matter could no longer be concealed, Chen Zihan sighed and told the truth about the silver-white liquid. The silver-white liquid turned out to be mercury. Chen Zihan said: “I did this because there was no better way! Master Lu, you know that I have sent people to the capital several times to find a doctor who can treat Mr. Lu and his brothers, but to no avail. And back! Brothers’ illness is incurable!” Lu Shangtong gritted his teeth and said, “So, Master Chen wants to poison them with mercury?” Chen Zihan hurriedly waved his hands and said, “No, no! Mr. Lu misunderstood, adding a small amount of mercury to food will not kill them. It’s just…just, they will lose their fertility forever! We can’t just watch the ghost patients in Meng Pochuan pass on from generation to generation , suffer all the pain that is worse than death?”

Only then did Lu Shangtong understand Chen Zihan’s good intentions. The two of them held their hands tightly together, with tears in their eyes, but they couldn’t say anything…

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