Tian Yuyuan, a native of Jiangxi, lived in the Qianjia period of the Qing Dynasty. His “Notes of Qingmos Xizhaotang” has been handed down, and there are many strange things in it. In his early years, Tian Yuyuan had been a curtain guest in the mansion of a certain great duke. The so-called behind-the-scenes guest is the master. He has always had the aim of being a madman. Because he failed in many trials, he lost confidence in the imperial examination, and he liked to travel around the mountains and rivers, so he often took leave to go out and walk around.
Once, Tian Yuyuan heard that there was a small seal tablet of Li Si from the Qin Dynasty in the mountain, so he wanted to make a copy of it. After entering the mountain, I searched for a long time, but I couldn’t find it. It was late and I was in a hurry. Seeing the light in the col in front of me, I went to ask for a place to stay. When I got closer, I found that it was a Taoist temple. There was a middle-aged Taoist priest in the temple. Although he was located in a remote mountain, the Taoist priest spoke elegantly and well, and he knew all the poems and songs. Tian Yuyuan was deeply moved. The two chatted for a long time, Tian Yuyuan was hungry, so the Taoist cook made a bowl of noodles for him. The noodles are also ordinary noodles, with sections of chicken necks inside. The soup is very clear, and after a taste, it is surprisingly delicious. He was very surprised, so he asked the Taoist priest, but he didn’t see any chickens, where did so many chicken necks come from, but the Taoist priest just laughed and didn’t answer.
Just as he was talking, a strong wind suddenly blew up outside. Although the windows of the room were closed, the candle flame suddenly became smaller. Tian Yuyuan only said that the sky was about to change, but the Taoist priest said that an enemy was coming, and asked Tian Yuyuan to wait in the room without moving, and went out by himself. After a while, the Taoist priest said: “Since you are here, you were supposed to meet on the spot, but today I have a good guest, so let’s change it to tomorrow.”
Tian Yuyuan was very curious, how could this elegant Taoist have enemies? He boldly looked through the window, only to see the Taoist priest standing in the courtyard, but in front of him was not a man, but a giant snake. The shape of this snake is quite strange, its body is only four or five feet long, and its width is about two feet. Then disappeared from the courtyard.
When the Taoist priest came into the house, Tian Yuyuan couldn’t bear it anymore, and asked about what happened just now, the Taoist priest said that his family was specialized in raising snakes, and the bowl of noodles Tian Yuyuan ate was actually not chicken necks, but snake necks. Snake segment. Due to the popularity of Cantonese cuisine in modern times, eating snakes is not a shocking thing, but it was a scary thing back then.
When the monosodium glutamate invented by the Japanese first entered China, people in the countryside saw that this powder could turn clear water into chicken soup, so they spread false rumors that it was made of snake bone powder, which is why it is so fresh. Tian Yuyuan was also a little disgusted at first, but after thinking about it, the snake part was surprisingly delicious, so he asked the Taoist priest what he was raising snakes for. The Taoist said that he specialized in raising snakes, mainly to take gallbladders and sell them in pharmacies, and he also had a unique skill, that is, making snake yellow.
Snake yellow is the stone in the snake body, and it is an extremely precious traditional Chinese medicine. Taoist priests raise snakes to get gallbladder and yellow, and after making money, they use it as alms to the poor in the countryside. Tian Yuyuan was in awe when he heard this. It is precisely because of raising snakes and killing snakes that the snake king was attracted just now. Many descendants of the Snake King were killed by Taoists, and the Snake King wanted to fight for revenge.
Hearing that the Taoist priest is in trouble, Tian Yuyuan will go with the Taoist priest tomorrow, firstly, to help, and secondly, this kind of fighting is rare in his life, and he really wants to experience it.
The Taoist priest was very embarrassed at first, but then he nodded and said that it was okay, because the Snake King is very spiritual and will not hurt innocent people, and his life or death is uncertain, once the battle fails, Tian Yuyuan can collect his body.
The next day, the Taoist cut a lot of bamboo sticks, took Tian Yuyuan to the top of a mountain, gave him a piece of realgar, and asked him to hold it in his mouth and stand behind a big rock, and told him to tell him that he was halfway through the fight. Don’t come out, just walk forward by yourself.
After a while, there was a strong wind, Tian Yuyuan boldly poked his head to look, and saw the grass rustling and falling down, and the snake king had already swam over. About five or six steps away from the Taoist priest, the snake king stopped and spewed out yellow smoke from his mouth. From a distance, the smell was still very fishy. The Taoist kept throwing the bamboo sticks out, and the yellow mist became lighter every time he threw it, but soon thickened again.
Gradually, the yellow mist covered the surrounding area for about ten feet, and Tian Yuyuan couldn’t see anything in front of him. He didn’t know what happened to the scholar. His ambition when he came was gone, and his legs kept shaking. After a while, only the sound of the Taoist priest’s footsteps could be heard, but he staggered back and fell down as soon as he reached the stone where Tian Yuyuan was standing.
Tian Yuyuan was taken aback, and quickly helped him up. The Taoist priest was swollen all over and couldn’t speak. He just pointed to his chest. Tian Yuyuan touched his chest, and saw a small porcelain bottle with two bright red pills in it. The Taoist priest took the pill. After a while, the Taoist priest woke up.
When the yellow fog dissipated, Tian Yuyuan went over to take a look, and saw that the Snake King was nowhere to be seen. The ground was densely covered with bamboo sticks, each of which had two-thirds of it penetrated into the soil, and some were even inserted into stones. How powerful is the Taoist priest when he throws it out. Seeing that the Taoist priest was still terrified after winning the fight, Tian Yuyuan asked him if he had killed the snake king. The Taoist shook his head and said that he had tried his best at that time, but he still only injured the snake king and escaped, but could not kill it. Although he was lucky to win, the Snake King is a male and a female. This is the male snake king. The female snake king will definitely come within three days, but it will be more than twice as big. The male snake king is so difficult to deal with. Once the female snake king comes, he is definitely no match, and he is afraid that he will be doomed.
Tian Yuyuan was also shocked when he heard this, and advised him to run away, but the Taoist said that the snake king is spiritual, and he can be chased even if it is thousands of miles away. If you hide in a densely populated place, the king of snakes will burn all jade and stones when he comes after him, and the people will be devastated, and the crime will be even greater. Tian Yuyuan felt very uncomfortable hearing this, and asked him if there was any other way, the Taoist sighed and said, there is one way, maybe it can hide the snake king, but Tian Yuyuan must help in this matter.
Back at the Taoist temple, the Taoist priest put down the big bronze bell in the temple, got under the bell himself, asked Tian Yuyuan to seal the mouth with Liuyi mud, and said that he would release himself after three days. This bell weighed at least a few thousand catties, once inside, he couldn’t get out at all.
The next day, there was a sudden heavy rain, and the mountain road was washed away. On the third day, Tian Yuyuan called people to rush to the Taoist temple, but he saw that the Taoist temple had become a piece of rubble, only the copper bell was still standing on the ground, and it was full of traces of friction. He lifted the clock and saw that it was steaming inside, and the Taoist priest had turned into a scorched corpse. Tian Yuyuan sighed for a long time, so he had to bury the Taoist priest.
Later, Tian Yuyuan traveled far to the Western Regions, where he met a Taoist priest who was catching snakes. When he talked about this incident, the Taoist priest burst into tears. It turned out that it was his senior brother whom Tian Yuyuan met earlier. Tian Yuyuan asked him what happened at that time? The Taoist said that the brother was wrong in chess and underestimated the spirituality of the mother snake king. He hid in the big clock. There was no way for his senior brother to escape inside, and in the end he was still doomed and burned to death.
Tian Yuyuan also sighed after hearing this, feeling that God is really unfair. But the Taoist said that all things in the world are born and restrained by each other, and there is no way to do this. Good will be rewarded with good, and evil will be rewarded with evil is just a comforting statement, “Kill people and set fire to the golden belt, repair bridges and repair roads without corpses”, this is true.