There is a young master named Hou Xiaoqi in Xiahou Village in Zichuan County. He relies on his father and brother to expand his family business and has nothing to do all day long. He is an out-and-out idler.
Xiao Qi is his father's oldest son. His father has been very pampered since he was a child and has never strictly disciplined him, let alone his elder brother. Xiaoqi was like a runaway horse all day long, and his whole body felt itchy when he was idle. He would often wander around the fields with a gun on his shoulder, hoping to hunt a few birds and beasts.
However, Hou Xiaoqi's marksmanship was so poor that it was hard to compliment him. He would often go out in good spirits and return home in disgrace. Sometimes the blind cat is lucky enough to catch a dead mouse and gain something, so he dances for joy, disembowells the prey and cooks it for his own enjoyment.
One winter, it snowed heavily, and the ground seemed to be covered with a thick down quilt. One night, the Hou family's chicken coop was attacked by wild animals, and the frightened chickens began to scream, which upset everyone in the Hou family. Hou Gong counted the numbers with a lamp and saw that two hens were missing. He suspected that wild cats were responsible for the evil, so he vented his anger by cursing the animals.
The next morning, Duke Hou got up and saw two dead chickens placed on the stone table in the courtyard, and two and a half large yellow weasels lying dead on the snow. The stone pier in front of the table was covered with brains, and even the white snow near the stone pier was dotted with scarlet. The appearance was unbearable. Duke Hou didn't understand the reason and hurriedly called his family to take a look. Everyone was confused and couldn't explain why. Duke Hou felt something strange. He looked up to the sky and sighed, saying, "It's miserable enough to look like this." He ordered his family to take the two dead weasels to the backyard and bury them. At this time, Hou Xiaoqi took a step forward and said, "Let me do it." No one said anything more and everyone went to do their own thing.
Without telling his family, Hou Xiaoqi skinned and deboned the weasel, cooked it in a clay pot, and ate it. "People say that dragon meat is in the sky and donkey meat is in the underground," Hou Xiaoqi thought while eating. "Dragon meat is not available to humans, but I have eaten donkey meat many times. Who knew that this weasel meat is extremely delicious? Don't try it for the first time." As long as the cat dies , this kind of happiness will be cut off."
In the next few days, Hou Xiaoqi worked hard to make a trap. He caught a few sparrows and put them in a cage as bait. He often caught weasels at night and had delicious meals every once in a while. There is a Mrs. Liu in the same village who is over seventy years old. Her husband and son both participated in the Boxer Rebellion in their early years and were later killed by foreigners. Mrs. Liu is determined to keep her home alone. In order to avoid gossip, she lived a solitary life and rarely interacted with others. Living alone in a small courtyard is naturally quiet and lonely. Grandma Liu occasionally goes out and speaks in confusion. Others say she is a crazy woman. There is an open shed in disrepair in Grandma Liu's yard, which was originally used to store furniture and firewood. In recent years, a nest of yellow weasels lived in a group of shacks and became Mrs. Liu's free tenants. The weasels never harmed the chickens and rabbits raised by Mrs. Liu. Mrs. Liu was not surprised to see the yellow weasel coming in and out morning and evening. In this way, humans and animals can get along peacefully, which makes Mrs. Liu less lonely and adds a little more fun. Almost everyone in the village didn't know about this.
Suddenly one day, Mrs. Liu staggered out of the door holding a stick in hand. She stood in the middle of the street and said sadly: "My family, young and old, has lived in the Liu Mansion for many years, mostly preying on rats for the benefit of others. It has snowed heavily for the past few days, and there is nowhere to find food. Two of my evil descendants ran to Hou Hou The family stole chickens and committed evil. I have ordered him to apologize with his life." Liu Po's words were bleak, her voice was like an old man's, "The seventh young master of the Hou family just ate the foundation of our two evil descendants. Unexpectedly, he actually developed evil thoughts and killed my descendants one after another. Cooking food." Mrs. Liu burst into tears as she spoke, whimpering like an old cow, "The sky gave birth to us, and it will definitely let us live. If Xiao Qi of the Hou family does not want to repent, there will be bad consequences! "After Mrs. Liu finished speaking, she tapped the ground angrily with her stick and staggered back home.
Everyone who heard about this incident was very surprised and went to tell the people of the Hou family. Everyone in the Hou family was a little horrified when they heard this. But Hou Xiaoqi didn't take it seriously at all. He said arrogantly: "This is all nonsense from a crazy woman. How can we take it seriously? If it is like what she said, I can carry it alone." Come on." When the elder brother saw that Xiao Qi was stubborn, he wanted to teach him a lesson with a stick. Duke Hou couldn't bear the pain of Xiao Qi's flesh and blood, so he tried his best to stop her. The brothers had no choice but to let Xiao Qi do whatever he wanted.
On the day of Laba, Hou Xiaoqi preyed on another weasel. At night, he lay in bed and fell asleep with a calm mind. Around midnight, Xiao Qi felt itchy all over. After waking up from the dream, he kept scratching his chest and back. What Hou Xiaoqi didn't expect was that the more he scratched, the more itchy his body became, so he scratched non-stop. After scratching and scratching like this, my body was covered with blisters. Xiaoqi struggled until dawn, begging her father and brother for treatment.
Duke Hou sent people to invite Taoist Master Jingxu from Baiyun Temple from Santai Mountain. Taoist priest Jingxu knows magic and medicine. The Taoist priest faced Hou Xiaoqi who was in agony. After a long time, he sighed and said: "Seventh Young Master, this is an evil spirit intruding into your body. I really don't have any panacea. The best way is to use filthy things to get rid of the evil spirit."
Duke Hou asked in fear: "What is the method to get rid of evil?" (Haunted House: Please keep the reprint!)
Taoist Master Jingxu replied calmly: "Just smear feces all over the body." Hou Gong asked again: "How long will it take to take effect?" Jingxu replied: "It will take seven days." Mr. Hou followed the Taoist Master's instructions. He went to do it, "imprisoned" Xiao Qi like a prisoner, covered his body with feces, and suffered seven days of purgatory-like suffering. Xiao Qi recovered. Thinking of Mrs. Liu's spell, Hou Xiaoqi determined that his disaster must be caused by the evil weasel. With a bad breath accumulating in his heart, Xiao Qi geared up and vowed to take revenge.
On the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, everyone is busy buying things for the New Year. Hou Xiaoqi avoided the sight of his family and rushed to Mrs. Liu's door with a gun. When he pushed open the door and forced his way in, he found an old weasel with grey-brown fur and dozens of other weasels trying to break out of the door. Seeing this scene, Hou Xiaoqi hurriedly raised his gun and fired the trigger. Unexpectedly, the old yellow weasel stood up like a human and suddenly stretched out his claws to block the muzzle of Hou Xiaoqi's gun. There was only a loud bang, and the barrel of the gun in Xiao Qi's hand exploded. In the thick smoke, Hou Xiaoqi staggered back a few steps, and a broken gun fell from his hand and fell to the ground. Looking at Hou Xiaoqi's face at this time, his face was covered with blood. The black bead in his right eye socket had already flown to nowhere, leaving only a dark cave. Hou Xiaoqi fainted from the pain and fell to the ground like a broken wall. At this time, all the old yellow weasels were in front, the younger ones were in the middle, and the young and strong ones were behind. The ones behind them were holding the tails in front of them. They left Granny Liu's house in an orderly manner, turned left, and migrated straight to Nanshan in an unhurried manner. went.
The young and old of the Hou family were all in panic, and once again invited Taoist Master Jingxu into their home, firstly to heal Xiaoqi's injuries, and secondly, to ask the Taoist Master to cast a spell to avoid future dangers. Taoist Master Jingxu patrolled the Hou family's courtyard for a long time, and then said thoughtfully: "It goes without saying that the Seventh Young Master is injured, but the house has been enveloped by evil spirits, and there will be a fire disaster in the near future." After hearing this, Lord Hou said I couldn't help but feel frightened, and hurriedly saluted and prayed to the Taoist Master for relief. Taoist priest Jingxu stroked his long beard and made calculations for a long time before he said: "No more fire is allowed in the house during the year. After New Year's Eve, the evil spirit will not be driven away. Remember, remember." Jingxu said After Chang left, Duke Hou ordered his family to abide by the decree and prepare meals on the threshing floor outside the house for several days, and then send them home for the whole family to eat and drink. Even so, in the dark at night, it is naturally inconvenient for the men, women, and children in the Hou Mansion to move around.
Time flies, and the young and old of the Hou family get by with their fingers. Day after day, until the evening of the thirties, the hearts of the Hou family hanging in their throats finally returned to their stomachs safely, and the frightened brows were finally able to relax.
At ten o'clock in the evening, Hou Gong arranged for his family to move the stove home. The young and old of the Hou family were naturally very happy. At that time, the eldest grandson of Hou Gong saw a group of sparrows chirping and making noisy noise in the west wing of the mill adjacent to the seventh uncle's residence, so he picked up a walnut-sized piece. Throw stones at them to scatter them. Unexpectedly, the stone hit the millstone and sparks burst out. The spark suddenly expanded into a rolling fireball. When everyone was stunned with fear and at a loss, the fireball had already rushed out of the mill by accident and rolled to the door of the west wing where Hou Xiaoqi was recovering from his injuries. At this time, the fireball exploded and spread, first sealing the door and window of the west wing. Then the fire serpent entered the house. In an instant, the west wing became a sea of flames. The fire was crackling and burning, and no one could get close.
At the beginning, Hou Xiaoqi's cry for help could still be heard in the room, but as the fire grew stronger, Hou Xiaoqi's cry for help became lower and lower. By the time the fire gradually weakened, no sound from him could be heard. After about half an hour, all the combustible things were burned out and the fire was extinguished.
The fire first started in the mill, but why was the mill intact but the west wing alone was burned down? Duke Hou was in deep pain, surprised and puzzled. He had no choice but to mutter to himself sadly: "The fate of the evil son has arrived. It is a blessing, not a disaster. It is a disaster that cannot be avoided."
Story rating:
This story is set in Zichuan County during the Qing Dynasty and tells the story of a series of supernatural events caused by Hou Xiaoqi's hunting of weasels. The curses, prophecies and disaster elements in the story provide readers with rich imagination space. Hou Xiaoqi's character creates an image of a character who suffers retribution for his greed and cruelty, while the image of Liu Po adds to the mystery of the story. The character of Taoist Master Jingxu embodies the magic and medicine in traditional Taoist culture. Overall, this is a story with twists and turns and full of traditional folk belief elements that can attract readers who like history and folk tales.