A cousin from the country came over, and while chatting during the dinner, he said that the Lin Gong Temple was demolished by the Ruixiang Garment Factory not long ago. Several villagers were injured because of this. The third child of the Lin family was shot in the thigh and has not yet been discharged from the hospital. Lin Gong Temple even escaped the catastrophe of the Cultural Revolution, but now that it has been destroyed, it seems that it has run out of energy. Lin Gong Temple was built during the Republic of China, and there is still a legend about its establishment.
At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, there were frequent wars. Coupled with factors such as hunger and poor medical standards, people often died in the village, especially children. These dead people were dragged to the post at the entrance of the village and buried hastily. Wild dogs sometimes dug out the bones. Some homeless people or injured stragglers died and their bodies were exposed outside, so the post was also called a mass grave. Over time, ghosts often appear in mass graves, especially on cloudy days or drizzly nights. There are many blue and green will-o'-wisps flying everywhere, sometimes scattered and sometimes forming groups. Others heard bursts of jostling laughter or noises accompanying the movement of the will-o’-the-wisps. Most people in the village don't go there after dark, but there is one person who often walks at night and is never afraid. He is Mr. Lin, a Chinese medicine doctor.
Mr. Lin comes from a family of traditional Chinese medicine doctors, and he also knows a little bit about boxing and kicking. He always passes by mass graves when he returns from a medical visit. Many descriptions of will-o'-wisps come from him. Mr. Lin has a kind heart, hangs pots to help the world, and has a good reputation. He passes through mass graves all year round without any disaster. People attribute it to the fact that evil does not suppress good. One spring, there were several incidents in the village of children playing in the village entrance during the day and causing evil spirits. People were panicked for a while, so everyone begged Mr. Lin to think of a way to drive away these ghosts. Mr. Lin refused at first, but later he agreed to give it a try because he couldn't help the neighbors. He made a big bag with ramie, put some maltose in the bag, put it on the mass grave in the middle of the night, and sat next to it and smoked a cigarette. I saw blue, green, and yellow will-o'-the-wisps drilling into it, and laughter and laughter could be heard from time to time in the pocket. When he saw that it was almost done, he tightened the mouth of the bag, tied it with a hemp rope, and carried it to the village hall.
The village hall had been brightly lit for a long time, and many men and women had gathered together. They had prepared firewood and planned to burn the ghosts in the sacks. Just when the fire was about to be lit, a middle-aged woman with a kind face suddenly said to Mr. Lin: "Old man, you have a Bodhisattva heart and have saved countless people. As the saying goes, saving one life is better than building a seven-level pagoda. People. After death, a ghost can still wander between heaven and earth, but when a ghost is burned, its soul is gone and there will never be a day of reincarnation. Please kill me . So, killing ghosts is far better than killing people, and saving ghosts is more meritorious than saving people. Brother, please let them go." Mr. Lin was already compassionate. After saying this, his heart moved. After discussing with several elders, he carried the sack back to the outside of the village. Untying the hemp rope and opening the pocket, I saw blue, green, and yellow lights flying out like arrows. Later, someone mentioned which family the middle-aged woman belonged to? When did you come in? When did you leave? No one in the village knew, and everyone felt a little uneasy.
Just a few days after the ghost-catching and releasing incident, Mr. Lin did not return from his medical visit all night. After dawn, he was found lying on the roadside at the entrance of the village, with bleeding from his orifices and bruises all over his body. More than a dozen people from the Lin family chanted slogans and cried loudly, and carried him home to attend the funeral.
Mr. Lin's eldest son, known as Mr. Lin, was already a half-assed Chinese medicine practitioner at that time. After careful inspection of his father's injuries, he found out that they were not man-made but died from ghosts. After the funeral, he said goodbye to his family and said he was going out to study medicine.
Three years later, Master Lin returned from his studies. Not only was he accomplished in medical skills, but he also developed good kung fu and could lift a stone roller above his head. In addition, there is another skill that the villagers have never thought of, which is the ability to cast a line and net to fish. The net was spread far and high. Not only was it spread widely, but it also had patterns. It looked like a blooming chrysanthemum in the air. Even the old fisherman praised it.
The day before the Ghost Festival, the villagers quietly told them not to go out tomorrow night, as Young Master Lin would perform rituals at a mass grave. That night, a few brave young people hid in the distance and took a peek, only to let the wonderful scene be passed down. On the morning of the Ghost Festival, the Lin family cooked a pot of glutinous rice porridge with beaten eggs and rock sugar in it. In the afternoon, Master Lin carried a stone roller and rolled a piece of flat ground on the post, which was as big as four or five large tabletops. After dark, Master Lin poured the glutinous rice porridge on the flat ground, and then lay down in a depression more than ten feet away. About an hour later, blue, green, and orange fire spots flew down on the glutinous rice porridge like fireflies in twos and threes. They gathered more and more, and looked like a pile of shining gems from a distance. . At this moment, young master Lin jumped up and cast the net. The wire network is impartial and covers the pile of gems. Immediately a chirping sound came from the wire network, like the sound of sparrows on the branches in the morning, or like the night wind sweeping over the dead leaves in late autumn. Young Master Lin stepped forward, lit a few torches and threw them to the net, and spread a bundle of flax straw on the flames. Later, I heard from the Lin family's clerk that the torches and hemp straw had been soaked in some kind of oil for three days and three nights. Suddenly, the sound of ghosts crying and wolf howling pierced the night sky, so shrill and terrifying that even the burning sound of flax straw could not be heard. People in the village quickly closed their doors and windows and tucked their children into bed. The few brave young men who peeked from a distance were dumbfounded. When they calmed down and ran forward tremblingly, the ghost crying had stopped. White smoke rose from the ashes of the hemp straw, and bright red blood flowed on the ground, which was particularly dazzling in the moonlight. Young Master Lin seemed to know that they were there a long time ago. He was not surprised at all and did not answer. He just dipped his fingers into the blood on the ground and sucked it. There was a guy named Da Jinya who also learned to dip a little bit of it. As soon as he put it to his lips, he vomited loudly, and a pungent fishy burnt smell rushed straight to his forehead.
Since then, there have been no more will-o'-the-wisps on the mass graves, no supernatural sightings have occurred in the village for many years, and even several nearby villages have become less haunted. According to one of Master Lin's apprentices, he often walks with Master Lin at night. From a distance, he can feel the sound of rustling sounds on both sides of the road, as if many things are giving way, and sometimes he can hear "ghost-eating beasts" in the grass. The master is here" whispered. Young Master Lin not only treats real diseases, but there are also people from far away who ask him to treat evil diseases such as ghost possession.
In the 1930s, there was a typhoid fever epidemic in my hometown. Young Master Lin accidentally contracted the typhoid fever while helping people treat it. He died of the disease not long after that. He was only in his early fifties that year. After his death, the ghosts started making trouble again. From time to time, there were reports in the village of children losing their souls after encountering dirty things, and women seeking death after encountering ghosts. Gradually, colorful will-o'-the-wisps appeared on the hillock at the entrance of the village. Some people even saw black pipes, as black as telegraph poles, standing straight towards pedestrians. Several elderly people in the village proposed to build a temple for Master Lin on the mass grave and build a statue of him to suppress evil spirits. So everyone contributed money to build the Lin Gong Temple, and of course the Lin family contributed the most. The name of the temple was inscribed by the most famous gentleman in the village, a former county magistrate of the Qing Dynasty, in the standard Wei stele style.
After the temple was repaired, adults and children in the village had a headache and fever, so they went to offer a stick of incense. It was said to be quite effective. Of course, the main purpose is to drive away evil spirits and ghosts, and it really hasn’t been haunted since. Later, the Japanese came, and for a while, Lin Gong Temple became a stronghold of the Japanese Japs. But I heard that one morning, several puppet soldiers woke up and found that they were covered with a net. They were so scared that they peeed and said that it must be Lin Gong appearing. If it weren't for the sake of the villagers, they might also cook and eat them. . So he quickly built a few tile-roofed houses in the distance and moved there. This house is the predecessor of Ruixiang Garment Factory. After liberation, except for a few years during the Cultural Revolution when the temple door was nailed and sealed with wooden bars, the incense was good in other years. Not only people from the village came to offer incense, but many people from Baji from all over the country also came here.
Pisou said: As the old saying goes: People are afraid of cruelty, ghosts are afraid of evil. Believe it!
evaluate:
This story profoundly depicts the entanglement between people and ghosts in traditional rural society, and shows people's awe and resistance to unknown and supernatural phenomena. The images of Master Lin and Young Master Lin represent human courage and wisdom. Their actions not only drive away ghosts and ghosts, but also bring psychological peace to the villagers. The Lingong Temple in the story has become the center of villagers' faith, symbolizing the memory of kindness and justice. However, the demolition of temples reflects the conflict between modern society and traditional culture, as well as the destruction of historical heritage by commercial interests. On the whole, this story is not only a supernatural legend, but also a profound reflection on traditional values and cultural heritage.