During the Ming Dynasty , there was a woodcutter named Li Zhong who made a living by chopping firewood. He was tall, thick, and dark-skinned. His parents had passed away. He married his wife Zhang and had no heirs.
One day, Li Zhong cut wood as usual and took it to the market to sell. In the evening, Li Zhong rushed home.
As soon as he walked out of the city, he saw a man pulling a beautiful woman and not letting go. The woman struggled hard but couldn't break free. There was no one on the road at that time. Li Zhong thought it was a robbery, so he stepped forward to stop him.
The man was a little thin, so he was no match for Li Zhong. Li Zhong knocked him down and saved the woman.
Who knew that although the woman was rescued, her face was full of fear and she did not say thank you. She just ran to the man and started crying.
Li Zhong was surprised and asked: "You didn't want to be pulled by him just now, so I took action. Why are you crying for him now?"
The woman said: "Thank you for your kindness. I can't tell you the reason, but you can't eat salt after you get home, otherwise..." Before she could finish her words, she was pulled away by the man quickly.
When Li Zhong returned home, his wife had already prepared rice, including a bowl of vegetables, a bowl of radishes, and a plate of pickles.
Mrs. Zhang said: "When you go to sell firewood, remember to buy some salt. When you cook today, you find that there is no salt. I can only eat pickles tonight!"
Li Zhong agreed and started eating. The green vegetables and radishes were indeed bland and tasteless, and I could only eat some pickles for seasoning.
At night, Li Zhong suddenly developed a fever. In his dream, the woman said during the day: "Why didn't you listen to me when I told you not to eat salt anymore? Fortunately, you ate less this time, otherwise you would have died!"
Li Zhong woke up suddenly and asked Mrs. Zhang: "Didn't you say you didn't put any salt?"
Mrs. Zhang said, "Does it count if you put two grains in?"
Li Zhong was speechless. At the same time, he was very doubtful about "can't eat salt". Why can't he eat salt? What will happen if he eats it?
The next day, Li Zhong went to sell firewood again, but he still bought some salt and took it home.
That night, Li Zhong completely fainted. He was so frightened that Mr. Zhang invited a doctor to see him. He could not find out the cause of the disease, so he could only prescribe some decoction to soothe the nerves and nourish the brain. It was not until dawn that Li Zhong regained consciousness.
As soon as Li Zhong opened his eyes, he was convinced that he should not eat salt, so he said to Mrs. Zhang: "You must not add salt in cooking in the future, otherwise my life will be dead!" After that, he told Mrs. Zhang about the beautiful woman he rescued.
Mrs. Zhang was shocked when she heard this. She did not expect that Li Zhong would encounter such a strange thing. In order to save his life, he sealed up the salt at home.
After half a year like this, Li Zhong and his family did not eat salt, but everything was fine. However, Li Zhong often felt dizzy, but he would recover soon, so Li Zhong didn't take it to heart.
On this day, Li Zhong picked firewood and hurried on to sell it. He accidentally bumped into a Taoist priest.
Li Zhong quickly apologized, but the Taoist priest hit Li Zhong on the head with his hand. Li Zhong suddenly felt a splitting headache, which then slowly improved. Then a trace of coolness flowed out of his ears. He reached out to touch it, and a black bug fell out of his ear and struggled in his palm.
I saw the Taoist priest take out a piece of yellow talisman paper and cover it on Li Zhong's hand. The talisman paper ignited flames, and the black insect turned into a black flame and dispersed.
This operation took only a few seconds, and before Li Zhong could react, the Taoist priest had already completed the operation.
The Taoist priest asked Li Zhong: "Have you offended someone to give you such a poison ?"
Li Zhong asked: "What kind of poison?"
The Taoist priest pointed to the black mark on Li Zhong's hand and said: "This is a brain poison. , was born by eating human brains. Over time, the human brains will be eaten away, and people will become like walking zombies!" After hearing this, Li Zhong said, a thin layer of sweat appeared on his forehead, "I make a living by chopping firewood, and I never offend anyone. Who would be so vicious as to eat my brains?"
The Taoist priest saw that Li Zhong was honest and honest, so he decided to help him and said: "If something goes wrong, there must be a monster. You must have offended someone somewhere you don't know. You go to sell firewood today. I will wait for you outside the city in the evening and go home with you."
Li Zhong finished selling firewood and walked home with his burden. , just about to leave the city gate, he saw the beautiful woman he rescued last time, standing on the other side of the road looking at him pitifully, but this time she was the only one, without the man. Li Zhong didn't know why, his eyes were unconsciously attracted by the woman's eyes, and his body unconsciously walked towards the woman.
Ever since Li Zhong entered the city to sell firewood, he had been waiting at the city gate. He clearly saw Li Zhong coming, but he saw Li Zhong suddenly walking towards a woman in white. When the Taoist saw that the woman was clearly not a human being, he knew something was wrong, so he immediately stretched out his long sword and stabbed her. Sure enough, the woman turned into a burst of white smoke and floated away, and Li Zhong came back to his senses.
As the Taoist priest and Li Zhong walked, they asked, "Were you confused by that woman just now?"
Li Zhong told the Taoist priest how he saved the woman last time and how he didn't eat salt for half a year.
The Taoist priest burst out laughing when he heard that Li Zhong had not eaten salt for half a year.
Li Zhong didn't know why, so he asked why Chang was laughing. The Taoist priest said: "What the voodoo is most afraid of is salt. He doesn't let you eat salt because he is afraid that the voodoo will be killed by the salt. I didn't expect you really don't eat salt!"
Li Zhong explained: "But I ate salt twice. The first time I had a high fever, and the second time I fainted. I couldn't believe it!"
The Taoist priest said: " The voodoo is afraid of salt. If it doesn't cause harm, how can it convince you that you can't eat salt?" The Taoist priest thought for a moment and then said, "It seems that the person who poisoned you is this woman!"
But what puzzled the Taoist priest is that this woman is obviously not a human being, and she is extremely beautiful. Even if she wants to harm someone, she would look for a handsome young boy or a rich man. Why would she look for Li Zhong, who is slightly ugly and has no money?
Li Zhong was also puzzled. He had never done anything wrong in his life, and he was not afraid of ghosts knocking on his door in the middle of the night. Why was he suddenly targeted and bewitched?
The Taoist priest and Li Zhong returned home and saw Mrs. Zhang cooking. Mrs. Zhang didn't know that Li Zhong could eat salt, so she didn't put any salt. Li Zhong took out the salt jar that had been sealed for half a year from the cupboard.
Li Zhong collapsed a little, and he said: "Then should we eat this salt or not?"
The Taoist priest said: "Everything has a cause and effect. You must have done something that got you into trouble without knowing it!"
0 After dinner, Mrs. Zhang seemed to have remembered something, got up and went to the back room, took out a soft armor cloak, which looked rusty, put it on the table and said, "My father-in-law gave it to me before he died. I have always kept it well, but now it is rusty." After that, he went to use the brush to clean it.
When the Taoist priest saw the cloak, he said, "This is the source of trouble in your family."
It turned out that Li Zhong's father, Li Jia, used to be a hunter.One time, Li Jia caught a weasel . Because Li Jia's wife had just given birth to Li Zhong at that time, Li Jia skinned the weasel and made soup to replenish the body of his wife and children. Only later did he discover the weasel. There were still a few little weasels in the wolf's den, but it was too late. Li Jia felt very guilty, so he took the little weasels home to take care of them. However, there was a shortage of food at home, and not long after, all the little weasels starved to death. From then on, Li Jia was often attacked when he went hunting and came back covered with injuries.
Li Jia was not a superstitious person, but one day he met an old monk. The old monk gave him a soft armor cloak and said to him: "You have killed too many lives. Only by putting down the butcher knife can you live a peaceful life. Your descendants will not be able to kill anymore, otherwise Your Li family will have no descendants. You must take good care of this soft armor cloak. As long as it is there, the monsters and ghosts who come to take revenge will not dare to get close!"
So, Li Jia retired from the golden basin and made a living by chopping firewood. Li Zhong also inherited his father's business and became a woodcutter.
But Li Zhong had never seen this soft armor cloak, so he asked Mrs. Zhang: "When did father give it to you?"
Mrs. Zhang said: "That day you went out to chop wood, and my father gave it to me for safekeeping when he was dying. It was pouring rain outside, and you came back after my father died. I forgot to tell you about it!"
Li Zhong thought about it, and it seemed like that.
The Taoist priest took the soft-armor cloak and checked it repeatedly. Suddenly the Taoist priest seemed to have changed, showing his face covered with yellow hair, and said, "If it weren't for this armor, I would have avenged my wife and children!"
Li Zhong took a look and saw that the Taoist priest's face turned into a weasel. He pulled Zhang and wanted to run away, but the Taoist priest could not let Li Zhong run away. He transformed into a weasel and bit Li Zhong's neck veins.
At this moment, a white light rushed in from outside and blocked Li Zhong. When Li Zhong saw it, he saw that it was the beautiful woman he had saved.
Old Weasel saw that his attack was blocked by the woman. He became angry and showed his pointed fangs. He roared at the woman: "Don't mind your own business, or I will kill you too!"
The woman said: "Then you Just give it a try!"
I saw the woman using clever tricks to block the weasel's attacks again and again. Finally, she saw the right moment and flicked a yellow bead into the weasel's mouth. There was a cramp in the weasel's stomach, and all its magic power was lost, and it was defeated.
Li Zhong was stunned by the scene in front of him. The woman said: "This weasel was originally the father and wife of the weasels your father killed. Thanks to the protection of the soft armor cloak, he could not hurt you at all these years!"
Li Zhong and Zhang trembled and asked: "Then, who are you?"
The woman smiled and said: "I am a grass fairy in the sky, because You mismanaged the grass in the human world, and you were sent down to the human world to manage the grass. The man you met that day was actually my husband in the mortal world. He wanted to take me home. I had not finished my work, so I was unwilling to go back with him. You thought it was a robbery, and you went out of your way to save my life. I am also grateful! It's just that your attack was a bit harsh and almost killed him! "
After listening, Li Zhong asked thoughtfully: "Then why did you ask me not to eat salt? "
The grass fairy said: "Because a weasel put arsenic in your medicine jar. The first time you took a little, you almost died!"
Li Zhong showed a puzzled expression and asked the grass fairy again: "But He took out a Gu worm from my body and said it was eating my brain. What's going on?"
Cao Xian smiled and said, "It's just a trick to deceive you into trusting me. I didn't expect you to believe it!" , if a poisonous insect really got into your brain, you would definitely have a splitting headache every day!
Li Zhong was still a little scared. The Grass Fairy handed Li Zhong a bag of grass seeds and said, "I will return to heaven soon. You can help me sow this bag of grass seeds. I want to ask you one thing. After I leave, you have to help me take care of my husband!" "
Li Zhong took the grass seeds, as if it was a dream, a little unbelievable, the grass fairy nodded, waved his hand, and disappeared.
The next year, Li Zhong sowed grass seeds and it grew into green grass. Many small animals came out to eat grass, and they grew white and fat. Zhang also became pregnant, and later gave birth to a boy, who also gave birth to Li Zhong.
(Folk stories focus on distinguishing right from wrong, advising people to be enlightened and do good, and not to fall in love with feudal superstition)
