In the sixth year of Qianlong's reign, there was an ancestral temple on the outskirts of Ruicheng, Shanxi. The statues of Liu, Guan and Zhang were enshrined in the temple. On weekdays, the temple door is locked with iron locks, and ordinary people are generally not allowed in. It is only opened during the spring and autumn sacrifices every year. This has been the case for five or six years. The reason why people are not allowed to enter on weekdays is because it is said that there is a monster in this temple, so it is always locked up for fear that unknown people will enter and lose their lives. However, no one can tell clearly what kind of monster it is. Later, even the Taoist priest who originally offered incense did not dare to live there, and only a villager living nearby was asked to hold the key.
In the early spring of this year, a Shaanxi merchant named Zhao Xiao drove hundreds of sheep to Shanxi for sale. By the time they reached Ruicheng, the sun was already setting and the sky was getting dark. Because the sheep he drove were too many to stay in an inn, and it was the season when the weather turned warm and cold, so he was eager to find a spacious place to stay. When passing by this temple, Zhao Xiao thought it was a good place to stay, so he drove his sheep and knocked on the door. He found that the temple door was locked and there were no lights inside. In frustration, he went to the nearby villagers to ask. It turns out that the person who happened to be looking for it was the villager who held the key. After asking, I found out that this temple was said to be filled with monsters, so I didn't dare to open the door and never let anyone stay. But Zhao Xiao was hungry and cold at this time, and really couldn't care about that much. In addition, he relied on his usual boldness, and his arms were very strong (sheep herders usually use a wooden pole with a cloth rope tied to it. Which sheep If they don't obey, they will throw a stone at them. In the long run, they will hit them wherever they want, and the force will be strong.) Then they said to the villagers that it doesn't matter. I neither believe nor fear them. I only want to stay for one night and leave tomorrow morning. If they meet each other, If anything happens to the monster, it has nothing to do with you. The villagers tried to dissuade him again and again, but Zhao Xiao was still stubborn. In desperation, he had no choice but to open the temple door and let Zhao Xiao in. Before leaving, Chun Chun warned him again and again before closing the temple door and leaving.
Zhao Xiao entered the temple as he wished. He looked around first and scattered the sheep under the corridor of the temple. Then he took out the flint from his luggage and lit the candle and placed it on the ground in front of the statue. Then he took out the dry food and water bag. Finished eating and drinking in a hurry. At this time, two drums had been played, and the sheep were lying quietly on the corridor. Everything around them was silent, except for the occasional owl hoot from outside the temple. In such a large temple, only Zhao Xiao accompanied the three Buddha statues under the candlelight, and it was so quiet. Although he was usually very brave, this scene and the words spoken by the villagers made him feel a little uneasy, so he became even more vigilant and cautious. When he looked up and saw the statue of Master Guan Er, he couldn't help but secretly thought: "I have heard that Master Guan Er can subjugate demons and eliminate demons. If I rely on him, I'm afraid I won't dare to come out even if there are any ghosts." So he walked to Guan Er. In front of the statue of the God of God, I clasped my hands and bowed my head to pray a few words. Then I sat down on the spot leaning against the statue. I held the whip tightly in my left hand to prevent any accidents. I thought that I would just lean here and take a nap tonight, and get up early at dawn tomorrow. On the way.
Seeing that the third watch had passed, his eyelids had already begun to fight. He was drifting off to sleep when he suddenly heard a rustling sound. Zhao Xiao was suddenly startled and opened his eyes, thinking it was the sound of a mouse. He pricked up his ears and listened carefully for a while, and found that the sound came from under the throne of Zhang Fei's statue opposite. The sound came from far to near. The small one becomes larger, as if some animal is about to burst out of the ground. Zhao Xiao began to feel that something was wrong at this time, because it did not sound like the sound of small animals such as mice, but more like the sound of crawling foxes and leopards. Thinking of this, his heart couldn't help but tighten; could there be wild beasts burrowing around here? As soon as he thought about this, he immediately clenched the whip in his hand and stared at the throne opposite, trying to see what kind of beast would come out. If it was really a tiger or leopard, he would have no choice but to give it a try. In an instant, he heard the sound of "Teng", and something jumped out from behind the throne. Zhao Xiao opened his eyes and looked at it, only to see that the object was unusually tall, about six or seven feet tall, and its head was covered with more than an inch of green hair. , a pair of black eyes as big as walnuts on the face, shining brightly, covered with thin green hair from the neck to the feet, as if wearing a green raincoat, and the two claws are thin and pointed , the exposed nails were still glowing with cold light. When it first came out, it didn't expect that there would be anyone here. When it saw Zhao Xiao behind the candlelight, it seemed to be quite surprised. It immediately squatted on the ground, staring at Zhao Xiao with its eyes, and its nose kept twitching, as if it was… Smelling the scent of Zhao Xiao. At this time, Zhao Xiao saw that although the thing that jumped out was not a beast, it was a monster that was even more frightening than a beast. He couldn't help but rub his eyes and finally realized that this was not a dream caused by his dazzling eyes. , I felt my scalp numb for a while, and a thin line of cold sweat broke out on my back. I couldn't help but cry secretly in my heart: I didn't expect that there really were monsters here. I regretted not listening to the villagers' warnings and being in deep danger tonight. Can I Getting out alive depends entirely on fate.
He usually sells sheep and travels north and south. He has been through many storms. He is a brave man. Now he is in a dangerous place and has to survive in a dangerous place. When he thinks of this, he becomes heroic and wants to whip him. Most people don't say that his muscles and bones are broken, at least. It will also make the skin and flesh burst open, so I have no choice but to try it now. Immediately, he took a pre-emptive strike, raised his arm and flicked his wrist, and slapped the monster with all his strength. The monster was sniffing Zhao Xiao curiously. Unexpectedly, he heard a swish sound and was whipped across his head and face. Before he could dodge, he was whipped firmly. Zhao Xiao couldn't help but feel happy when he hit the target with one blow, but unexpectedly, the whip struck the monster like a thick piece of rag. The monster didn't seem to feel any pain or itching and ignored it at all. When Zhao Xiao saw this, he was even more frightened. He whipped his arm twice and whipped it. Unexpectedly, the monster not only had no pain expression on its face, but became very angry. He stretched out his long claws and grabbed it. Got the whip. Zhao Xiao was caught off guard and tried to fight with it several times, but it was like an ant shaking a tree. In the midst of horror, I suddenly felt a strong force coming from my hand. I couldn't hold it in any longer and had to let go. I saw that my palm was dripping with blood. The monster grabbed the whip, opened its mouth and bit it. In an instant, it bit the whip into several pieces with its sharp teeth. The sound was the same as the sound of tearing cloth.
The only weapon in Zhao Xiaojian's hand was taken away, and he couldn't help shouting in his heart: "My life is at stake!" At this moment, he was unarmed. If there was no other way, he could only sit back and wait for death. As the saying goes, the best way is to move forward. Taking advantage of the monster biting the whip to vent his anger, Zhao Xiao ran to the door in three steps and two steps at a time, opened the temple door and ran out. The monster suddenly saw Zhao Xiao running out the door. He was stunned for a moment, then dropped his whip and chased after him. When it walked to the door, it suddenly smelled the bloody smell left by Zhao Xiao's injured hand on the door. It couldn't help but get very excited, and chased after him with a roar. At this time, Zhao Xiaocai ran dozens of steps away when he heard the cry of a monster behind him. When he turned around, he saw a blurry green figure chasing after him quickly. He was terrified and thought that he couldn't outrun him even if he ran. Is good? At this critical moment, he looked up and saw a leafy poplar tree a few steps ahead. He prayed in his heart that this monster would not be able to climb the tree, and ran to the tree and climbed up with his hands and feet. . By the time the monster chased him under the tree, he had already climbed into the middle of the tree, several feet above the ground. The monster sniffed for a few times and then raised its head and saw Zhao Xiao, who was sitting on the branch of the tree and trembling. He couldn't help but became furious and roared and jumped under the tree, but he didn't dare to climb up. Zhao Xiao hid in the tree and hugged the trunk tightly with his hands, saying only: "Blessed by Bodhisattva, bless by Mr. Guan." At this moment, he could only resign himself to his fate. After an unknown amount of time, Zhao Xiao heard no movement under the tree. He opened his eyes and looked quietly, only to see darkness below and nothing could be seen. At this time, he was only four years old. Dark clouds covered the moon and stars in the sky. Zhao Xiao was afraid that the monster would hide somewhere he couldn't see, so he didn't dare to come down. He just kept sitting on the tree holding the branches, enduring the cold and dew. Clothing, until the rooster crows at five o'clock and the sky turns white, I finally see a farmer walking over with a hoe. As if Zhao Xiao saw the savior, he shouted loudly from a distance. The farmer was a nearby villager. He was surprised when he saw a man sitting on a tree calling for help early in the morning. So he walked up to him and asked Zhao Xiao to come down. After listening to Zhao Xiao's story, he felt that this was a very strange thing. , he took Zhao Xiao to find the village chief. When the village chief heard that there was really a monster in the temple, he immediately beat gongs and drums to gather the villagers to go to the temple to check.
Everyone cautiously entered the temple gate. As soon as they entered, they found that most of the hundreds of sheep under the corridor were dead. They had died by biting their throats and sucking their blood. Everyone was horrified and began to search the temple with poles and axes, but they couldn't find it everywhere. Zhao Xiao remembered that the monster came out from behind the statue, but after searching several statues, he still couldn't find it.
At this time, the village chief had sent for a local wizard. When the wizard arrived, he took a compass in his hand and looked around. When he came to the statue of Zhang Fei, he said to everyone: "I saw black steam rising from the ground here." , I think the monster must be here." So he ordered everyone to remove the statue and dig it up. Sure enough, when they dug less than two feet deep, they found a coffin that had become extremely rotten. When everyone opened the lid of the coffin, they found a strange corpse inside. The clothes were no longer there, and the whole body was covered with green hair. It was the same monster that Zhao Xiao saw.
Only then did everyone realize that this monster was a green-haired zombie.
So under the leadership of the wizard, they carried the coffin and the body outside in the sun and burned them all. When they were first burned, the body made a squeaking sound and blood surged into the bones. After the burning, the ashes were scattered and the bones were destroyed. From then on Have there been any more monsters in Ruicheng Temple?