During the Qing Dynasty, there was a Shanshe Village to the east of Linjiang. There was a small river at the head of the village. Whenever summer came, many villagers would bathe in the river. Among them was a cook named Jiang Tingyu. He was relatively shy and always liked to go into the water quietly when no one was around. On this day, Jiang Tingyu came home from work and took a change of clothes to bathe in the river.
After Jiang Tingyu went into the water, a black fish appeared next to him. It was half a person long. It swam around Jiang Tingyu and rubbed his head against Jiang Tingyu. Jiang Tingyu thought the black fish was very lovable, so he touched the head of the black fish. Before his palm touched the head of the black fish, the black fish suddenly bit one of Jiang Tingyu's legs and pulled Jiang Tingyu downwards.
Jiang Tingyu struggled desperately but to no avail. The black fish in the water swam flexibly and slowly dragged Jiang Tingyu into the bottom of the water. Jiang Tingyu choked a few mouthfuls of water and was about to die. At the critical moment, a nun appeared.
The nun found Jiang Tingyu in the river, immediately jumped into the river, fished Jiang Tingyu out, and took her to the nearby woods before saying, "Look down!"
Jiang Tingyu glanced at his legs and found that there were no traces of black fish bites on his legs. Instead, there were several finger marks from pinching hands, one green and one purple. The black fish who just wanted to drag Jiang Tingyu into the water turned out to be a water ghost .
After a while, the nun recited Buddhist scriptures to the river. The black fish slowly appeared on the water and turned into a water ghost. The whole body was covered with down, and the face was pale and swollen.
The water ghost was caught by the nun on the shore. He quickly knelt in front of the nun and begged for mercy, claiming that he had been here for ten years and if he didn't find a substitute for reincarnation, his soul would be gone. Then he started to have evil thoughts towards Jiang Tingyu.
The nun found that the water ghost was full of resentment, like someone who had died violently, so she asked the water ghost what happened.
At this point, the water ghost had no choice but to explain everything.
Ten years ago, Water Ghost was a scholar named Jian Yuxian. Not only was he good-looking, he was also full of talents. He always attracted the love of many girls. Among them, there was a girl named Bai Qiu who proposed marriage to Jian Yuxian many times.
Originally, Jian Yuxian wanted to wait until he passed the exam to discuss marriage, but before he went to take the exam, he had some drinks with a few friends. When he returned home, it was already evening. On the way, he met Bai Qiu who was out for fun. The two chatted for a few words, and Bai Qiu insisted on helping Jian Yuxian go home.
After arriving home, Bai Qiu did not leave. Instead, he closed the door and wanted to have sex with Jian Yuxian. When he pushed Jian Yuxian to the bed, Jian Yuxian suddenly woke up and asked Bai Qiu to pay attention to his sense of propriety.
In order to marry Jian Yuxian, Bai Qiu did not hesitate to do anything. He directly lied that Jian Yuxian had defiled her and must be responsible for her, otherwise she would cut herself in front of Jian Yuxian. After saying this, he took out a pair of scissors, but Jian Yuxian was worried about the consequences of life and death, so he quickly stopped Bai Qiu, had no choice but to agree to Bai Qiu's proposal, and got married to her before the exam.
The life after marriage was not happy. Bai Qiu was also a beauty. With a little dressing up, she could charm a group of men. Her temperament was also a bit flirtatious. In the first few months, she and Jian Yu were affectionate. Later, the novelty gradually disappeared and she began to interact with men from outside.
And after this incident, Jian Yuxian didn't have much thought to continue studying. He only passed the scholar examination, but failed to pass the examination. This made Bai Qiu look down on him even more, and it didn't take long for him to get together with the carpenter in the village.
The carpenter was skilled in craftsmanship, handsome and rich, and honest and kind. He gave Bai Qiu many benefits. The two of them had been in private contact for two years. Almost all the villagers knew about it and asked Jian Yuxian to make peace with Bai Qiu quickly.
However, Jian Yuxian was obsessed with Bai Qiu and believed that as long as he was good to Bai Qiu, he could always make Bai Qiu change his mind. He spent a lot of time with her every day. He gave Bai Qiu everything he could afford, and the clothes he wore were all bought three years ago.
However, Jian Yuxian did not have many skills to make a living, and he was still far inferior to the carpenter. However, Bai Qiu did not change his mind. On that day, Bai Qiu no longer wanted to be secretly with the carpenter, so he wanted to make peace with Jian Yuxian.
At this time, Jian Yuxian also reached the limit of tolerance. He found Bai Qiu and asked Bai Qiu to cut off contact with the carpenter, but this was impossible. In the end, Jian Yuxian and Bai Qiu had a big quarrel, and he slapped Bai Qiu in anger.
This incident made Bai Qiu so aggrieved that he did not go home for the next few days and stayed overnight at the carpenter's house. When the carpenter learned that Bai Qiu was being bullied, he decided to help Bai Qiu to vent his anger. He carved a wooden man himself and asked Bai Qiu to hide the wooden man under Jian Yuxian's bed. Soon after, Jian Yuxian jumped into the river under the control of the carpenter.
Jian Yuxian had deep resentment after his death and turned into a water ghost. He could not leave too far from the river where he drowned. Carpenter and Bai Qiu lived at the west end of the village, two miles away from the river, and Jian Yuxian could not seek revenge from them to resolve his resentment.
When the nun learned the cause and effect of the incident, she saved Jian Yuxian's life, and found Bai Qiu and Carpenter together with Jiang Tingyu. After asking the nearby neighbors, she found that everything Jian Yuxian said was true, so she arrested them.
The villagers were already filled with indignation at the actions of Bai Qiu and the carpenter. However, Bai Qiu was the village chief's daughter, so they did not expose them. Now that they learned that they had killed Jian Yuxian, they couldn't bear it anymore and tied them both together and threw them into the river.
In the end, the nun returned to the nunnery, while Jiang Tingyu continued to live in the village. Bai Qiu was at fault first, and the village chief couldn't help her, so the matter ended like this.
