during the Song Dynasty, there was a family surnamed Zhang on the bank of Qingjiang River. There were more than a dozen people in the Zhang family. They were a big family with lush branches and leaves. They relied on water to make a living by catching eels.
Zhang Danfeng is the youngest son of the Zhang family. He has not liked water since he was a child. When he grew up, he chose to be a peddler and traveled around all year round. On that day, Zhang Danfeng, who was doing business outside, suddenly received a letter from his sister-in-law Yiyu to send him.
The letter said that in recent months, the Zhang family has suddenly disappeared one by one. Just a few days ago, Zhang Danfeng's elder brother also disappeared, and there was no one in charge at home, so Yiyu wanted his brother-in-law Zhang Danfeng to go home quickly and get an idea.
When Zhang Danfeng received this letter, more than half a month had passed since the time of writing. He did not dare to delay and rushed to his home without stopping, and finally rushed back home seven days later.
Zhang Danfeng stood at the door of his house with a serious expression. Thinking of the news he had received before, his steps into the house became a little hesitant. At this time, his sister-in-law Yiyu happened to walk out of the gate. When she saw her brother-in-law Zhang Danfeng, her eyes lit up and hurried to him to welcome Zhang Danfeng into the house. Her red and swollen eyes were red and swollen, and she said to Zhang Danfeng in a hoarse voice, "There are more than a dozen people in the family, and now they are only dad and you and me. No one else is alive and dead. Dad has been hit too much. Now he is bedridden. Go and have a look."
Zhang Danfeng heard this and hurried to his father, Old Man Zhang's room. Old Man Zhang lying on the bed with his eyes closed, his face closed and his bones stood firm, and he seemed to have not had much time to live.
Zhang Danfeng looked at his father's appearance and couldn't help but turn red. He called his father a few times, and Old Man Zhang slowly opened his eyes.
Old man Zhang saw his youngest son Zhang Danfeng, and his eyes burst into deep fear. He held his son's wrist tightly with his thin hands, and a "hoho" sound came out of his throat, as if he wanted to say something to him.
Zhang Danfeng quickly patted his father's back, telling him not to worry. Old Man Zhang's cracked lips squirmed, and he spit out two words with difficulty, "Run...you..."
Zhang Danfeng frowned and leaned over and put his ears on his father's mouth, wanting to hear clearly what he said, but the next moment, Old Man Zhang suddenly pushed him with no idea where he got his strength. He sat on the ground without any defense.
At this time, Yiyu also came to Old Man Zhang's bed with a basin. She wrung the wet handkerchief and wiped the fine sweat beads of his forehead for Old Man Zhang. She said to Zhang Danfeng, who was standing up depressedly, "Since your elder brother passed away, Daddy has been a little confused. Please take more responsibility." Zhang Danfeng naturally nodded to answer.
That night, Zhang Danfeng was lying on the bed, thinking about the two words his father said to him repeatedly in his mind, and worried about his missing family. The more he thought about it, he became more and more energetic, so he simply got up and left the house, planning to go to the yard for some breath.
Zhang Danfeng arrived in the yard and suddenly heard the sound of water coming from the well in the backyard. He followed the sound and found that his sister-in-law was sitting by the well washing the sheets. He wanted to go forward to ask, but he felt that the night was already deep. He and his sister-in-law were alone and widowed. They were rude to come forward. So he hid his questions in his heart and quietly returned to the house.
For the next two or three days, Zhang Danfeng could hear his sister-in-law washing the bed sheets every night, and he couldn't help but mutter in his heart. During the day, Zhang Danfeng arrived at the backyard, and a bed sheet was drying next to the well. Seeing that there was no one around, he secretly came to the bed sheet.
Although the bed sheet had just been washed, it still emitted a strong fishy smell. Zhang Danfeng was fishing at home. He was very familiar with this smell and almost immediately judged that it was the fishy smell of eels. With this judgment and his sister-in-law's unusual movements, Zhang Danfeng vaguely had a guess in his heart.
On that day, Zhang Danfeng took advantage of his sister-in-law's outing and entered her room and secretly put a handful of salt in her bed. That night, he hid outside his sister-in-law's room with an axe.
After hearing a shrill scream from the room, Zhang Danfeng immediately rushed into the room. He saw that his sister-in-law Yiyu was no longer on the bed, and was replaced by a yellow eel as thick as a bowl. What the eels fear most is salt. At this time, it is covered with salt, its vitality is severely damaged, rolling and wailing, and its face is ferocious.
Zhang Danfeng put the axe in his hand on its neck and asked it where he hid the Zhang family.
Eel Sperm Seeing that it had been exposed and no longer disguised, it laughed a few times, and then said, "They are all in my stomach! Your Zhang family has been catching eels in Qingjiang for generations, and they almost ate my descendants. I have only eaten more than a dozen of you, which is a bargain! I want to reunite with your family, okay, come and reunite in my stomach!" After hearing the words of the eel Sperm, Zhang Danfeng felt a rage in his heart. He waved his axe and the eel's head was different.
Then Zhang Danfeng brought the eel's head to his father, Old Man Zhang's bed. He unexpectedly saw that Old Man Zhang's expression had improved a lot, and he had the strength to speak.
Old man Zhang saw the eel head in Zhang Danfeng's hand and burst into tears and said, "Child, you have done a pretty job."
Then he told his younger son that the first thing the eel spirit eats was his daughter-in-law Yiyu, and then, it changed Yiyu's appearance in the Zhang family, ate everyone in the Zhang family, leaving only the old man Zhang living because it wanted Old man Zhang to watch his younger son Zhang Danfeng be swallowed by it with his own eyes.
That day, when Old Man Zhang saw Zhang Danfeng coming home, he wanted him to run away quickly, but Old Man Zhang had been harmed by the eel spirit for a long time and had no strength to speak. When he saw the eel spirit enter the house, he was afraid that it would come forward to harm Zhang Danfeng, so he pushed Zhang Danfeng with all his strength, hoping to make him alert.
After saying this, Old Man Zhang's face turned pale with the naked eye. Zhang Danfeng suddenly realized that his father's improvement just was just a reflection of his own. He hurriedly rushed to his father and held his hand tightly.
1 Old man Zhang died with tears on his face. Before he died, he told his son Zhang Danfeng that the Zhang family had eaten the descendants of the eel sperm, and the eel sperm had eaten the descendants of the Zhang family again, which was also a reward for one return. He told Zhang Danfeng to stay away from Qingjiang from then on and never come back.
Zhang Danfeng buried his father, and then set up a tomb for the rest of the family and burned the eel spirit in front of their grave. After doing all this, he left Qingjiang and never came back.
