"Master is very mysterious. How can I catch ghosts by telling stories? But I like listening to stories the most. Let's get started." Xuan Yi clapped his hands and said happily. When everyone was ready, the Taoist began to pass on the light, and struck the bronze chime with a ruler. There was a tinkling sound, and the flames stirred, and the first one pointed at the old woman.
The old woman put her crutches next to her legs and sighed: "This happened because of me, so I should be the first to tell it. I don't have any stories. I heard someone tell a story about crossing a river before, so I will tell you briefly. Bar."
Then he told the story:
The west mouth of the Yellow River usually has rolling waves and rapid undercurrents. If the wind blows, the waves will overturn and the waves will surge into the sky. Ordinary people dare not approach it, but there is a boatman, Wang Liu, who specializes in rowing people there. Wang Liu was so skilled that he could travel between the two sides of the Yellow River with just a bamboo pole. Knowing that the water is dangerous, few people dare to cross the Yellow River. Only those who are brave, urgent, or reckless dare to board his boat easily.
It was a sunny day with gentle wind and gentle waves. Wang Liuban was lying on the bank under the willow tree, smoking a dry cigarette. After a while, a group of guests crossing the river gathered on the shore. A well-built and luxuriously dressed jewelry merchant, accompanied by a boy who was under twenty years old. Five strong young men who came out from the mountains to work together, an old monk and two young monks in their teens. There was also an ugly peasant woman wearing tattered linen clothes and a yellow cloth covering her head. She was holding a baby in her arms.
The sun was rising high, shining so brightly that the figure's figure had become much shorter. Wang Liu was still lying on the ground smoking. The fattest businessman was so hot that his forehead was sweating, and he kept fanning himself with his sleeves. After enduring it for a while, he walked over and urged: "Boatman! It's getting late, hurry up and cross the river. Don't wait for people anymore. At worst, I'll give you double the boat fare." "Yes, there are about the same number of people, old man." Don't be greedy. Your boat will be overcrowded if there are more people on it, so don't capsize into the river again." All the young people gathered around. The old monk and the young monk also stood impatiently and looked over with the same expectancy.
Shaogong knocked the bronze smoking pot on the ground a few times, put it on his shoulder, and stood up. He reached out and counted the number of people, and there were ten people in total.
(When the old woman talked about this, Xuan Yi realized that something was wrong. There were clearly twelve people crossing the river, so why did the old woman say it was ten people? Just as she was about to ask, the Taoist glanced at her, pointed at the ruler in front of her, and immediately realized what was going on. I had to cover my mouth.)
Wang Liu counted the number of people and said: "It's twenty coins for men to cross the river, ten coins for women and children. You pay when you get to the other side. When you get on the boat, you are not allowed to talk nonsense, otherwise you will fall into the water and feed the fish. You will be responsible for it."
Everyone agreed without hesitation and walked onto the boat with laughter. Wang Liu raised his head and looked at the sky. It was a good time when the weather was clear and windless, so he used his pennants to punt the boat away from the shore.
The boat floats leisurely in the water, and the breeze blows slowly, making the guests on the boat feel more comfortable and secure. The jewelry merchant clutched the baggage in his arms, thinking about how little wealth he had earned after leaving home, with a smile hidden on his face. The little guy stood by, his face full of the comfort of returning home. The young people were inevitably a little arrogant and frivolous. The five of them were crowded in the middle of the boat, laughing and dancing happily. They talked about making money in the city, building a house, and marrying a wife. The old monk was sitting on the back deck of the boat with his arms spread out, giving sermons to the two young monks, talking about good and evil cause and effect, and doing good deeds to accumulate virtue. The peasant woman held the baby in her arms and sat peacefully at the stern of the boat without saying a word. Wang Liu used bamboo poles to prop up the boat and ignored the noisy people on the boat. He looked towards the shore with a solemn expression and did not dare to relax for a moment.
When the boat reached the middle of the river, the young people were playing and noisy more and more loudly. The woman raised her head and advised: "Keep your voices down, or you will wake up the children." The young people turned around and saw the peasant woman's black face, as if she had a black bottom. , everyone burst out laughing, pointing and laughing: "Haha, haha! Look, this girl's face is too dark. Maybe she scooped the bottom of the pot in the morning and forgot to wash her face." Ignoring the peasant woman's request, she became even more unscrupulous and noisy. .
"Wow! Wow!" The baby was inevitably woken up and cried loudly. Although the baby was weak, his voice was loud, shrill and harsh, making everyone irritable. The peasant woman shook and coaxed softly, but it had no effect. The calm water surface seemed to be flooded by the noise of the baby. The wind became violent, the water waves became fierce, and the boat began to bump up and down.
Everyone's good mood was gone, and they gradually became a little nervous. The baby seemed to have endless energy and cried louder and louder. It seemed that it would stop until it broke. Everyone was restless and frowned. The young man pointed at the peasant woman and shouted arrogantly: "Take care of your child, it's making a lot of noise. If he cries again, throw him into the water to feed the fish." The peasant woman was full of helplessness and anxiety. He complained: "What can I do if the child is crying? You have to wake him up." The boatman Wang Liu looked back, said nothing, and continued to hold on to the bamboo pole and try his best to reach the shore.
A huge wave suddenly appeared on the river and the wooden boat was lifted up by a foot. The sudden change made everyone's faces turn pale with fright, and they all clung to the side of the boat and did not dare to move. Just as the shock subsided, a strange black fish several feet long suddenly flew up from the water and jumped over everyone's heads. A large black cloud covered the roof, and fishy wind and turbid water fell from the sky. Everyone cried out: "Ah! My mother! Big fish monster! Big fish are raised in deep water. There is really a Dragon King hidden in the Yellow River." If it falls into the water, it won’t be enough for it to swallow!”
The businessman hugged the treasure in his arms tightly, closed his eyes, and muttered indiscriminately: "Buddha bless! Taoist bless! Immortal ancestors bless! Gods and gods bless me! If I can get ashore safely, I will definitely do good deeds and donate money to build temples. If you practice Buddhism, you will definitely repay all the immortal grandfathers." The young man was already frightened, holding the businessman's arm and trembling. The old monk and the young monk hugged each other. The old monk's face was green and the young monk's face was pale. They both trembled and said "Amitabha". Five young men were lying on the side of the boat, their calves were trembling, their heads were shrinking and they did not dare to move.
The black fish monster kept making huge waves around the boat, trying to overturn the boat. Prince Shaogong and Wang Liu stood on the boat board, unmoved, still holding the bamboo pen and pushing towards the shore. With a "pop" sound, the big fish jumped up and bit off the bamboo pole in his hand. Without the penny to guide the boat, the boat immediately started spinning in the fast waves. Wang Liu had no choice but to squat down, take out his pipe and smoke as if nothing had happened.
"Without Penny, how can we cross the river! There are also man-eating fish monsters in the water. I really forgot to burn incense when I went out, and this evil happened. Boatman, please think of a way. As long as you can save me, I will give it to you." You’re ten times, no, a hundred times the ship’s price!” the merchant shouted to Wang Liu. "Don't be anxious, everyone. Wait patiently for a while. This fish won't capsize the boat. When it gets tired, it will leave naturally." Wang Liu exhaled a puff of smoke and said calmly.
"Boom! Boom! Crash!" The fish monster suddenly hit the boat with force again. Everyone immediately staggered around again, and the river water also filled half of the boat. "Water has entered the boat, throw the water out quickly, otherwise the boat will sink and everyone will not survive!" the businessman shouted hurriedly. Everyone was in a hurry, rushing to throw the water out of the boat. "Bang!..." The fish monster hit even more fiercely.
Everyone followed the owner of the boat and staggered around, feeling dizzy from the fall. The merchant shouted again: "No! This fish monster is too ferocious. I'm afraid the wooden boat will be hit and sunk by it soon. It won't leave until it eats us. Everyone, hurry up." Find a way!" Everyone was equally anxious, but there was nothing they could do in this water. The baby in the peasant woman's arms cried even harder, which added to the irritability of everyone.
"Someone" suddenly pointed at the child and shouted: "That's it! It was the child's cry that attracted the fish monster. The fish monster must be waiting to eat the child!" "Yes! I think so. Mr. Zhuang The old man said that women and children are not allowed on the boat. They must have attracted the fish monster. Throw them off the boat and the fish monster will leave."
Everyone looked at the woman and the child in her hands. Even the old monk stopped chanting and looked over expectantly. Seeing everyone staring at them like wolves and tigers, the peasant woman hugged the baby in her hands tightly, shaking her head in fear and crying: "No! Why should you blame us? Why don't you say that you are the monsters you have attracted? You just think that we orphans and widowed mothers are easy to bully, as human beings You can’t be unconscionable.”
Another huge wave came, and the boat flew up and overturned into the sky, then fell back to the water with a smile. Everyone was beaten to pieces, as if they were dead, and all of them burst into tears. The businessman no longer tried to hide it, gritted his teeth angrily and shouted: "It's her. I think there is something wrong with their mother and daughter. They must be disaster stars. Only by feeding them to the fish monster can we survive! Otherwise, everyone will die in the river." Everyone again Looking at the resentment, it seems that they are really the culprits.
"Yes! They are the ones who caused it. If we want to live, we have to throw them into the river!" A young man shouted loudly, then crawled over with four others, snatched the baby from the woman's arms, and pushed the woman into the water. The woman was holding the child in one hand and holding on to the plank of the boat with the other, struggling desperately. He accidentally pulled off the veil on his head, revealing a black face that looked like black coal, and his eyes were even more frighteningly white!
Everyone was stunned, and a young man said angrily: "Being so ugly will make you suffer while you are alive, but you will not be wronged if you die, and you can save a whole boatload of lives!" After that, he snatched the baby from the woman's arms even more forcefully. The other four took the opportunity to hold the woman down, and the young man snatched the baby and threw it into the water. "Ah!" The woman's heart ached violently, she screamed, and then she jumped into the water.
The woman and baby were thrown into the water and swallowed by the murky water in the blink of an eye. Everyone was scared and ashamed, and sat back quietly. However, it is strange that after they were thrown into the water, the river actually returned to calm, and the fish monster no longer appeared. The young man who threw the child took a breath, swallowed guiltily, pointed to the river and said, "If you see it, I'll say it's the monster this child attracted. It's not my fault, I'm doing it for everyone's good." Everyone nodded in unison, and everyone He lowered his head and exhaled in peace.
"Master! Buddhism is not compassionate, so why do you feed children to monsters? Didn't you just say that you should do good deeds and accumulate virtue? Is it right to feed children to monsters?" A young monk held the old monk's hand with a questioning look on his face. . The old monk's face turned red. He pondered for a moment and sighed: "Yes, Master is still an ordinary person. He is still creating karma and is still in the cycle of cause and effect. I guess I will not be able to escape this hell after death."
The businessman tucked the baggage in his arms and said with a smile: "Hey, old monk, I don't know what will happen after death, but we are not alive now. You have escaped this disaster and can live for a few more years! Boatman, hurry up Find something to row the boat, don't waste your time anymore. When we get to the shore, you will still have ten times the boat money."
Everyone was happy again, but Wang Liu sighed: "Your road has come to an end, where can the boat sail to?"
As soon as he finished speaking, a huge wave of more than ten feet suddenly surged from the water, mercilessly engulfing the boat. Not long after, the boat floated back to the river again, and only the boatman Wang Liu was left to climb back on the boat. He squeezed the water from his clothes and looked towards the river, only to see three big black-faced fish swimming slowly away. With a sigh, he rowed back to the shore.
"Ding!" The Taoist struck the copper bowl again with his ruler to wake everyone up.
