Luo Hongzi took a look at the furnishings of his residence, and expected that the white Jiao had not yet returned. So he rushed to Fang Xianlong's county overnight to meet Fang Xianlong.

After meeting with Fang Xianlong, both sides were very happy! Since the last parting, more than half a year has passed. After the guests and hosts were seated, Fang Xianlong also specially made a pot of good fragrant tea for Luo Hongzi!

Originally, the order in the capital had already come down, but Fang Xianlong kept delaying it on the grounds that there were still unfinished business in the local area! Because he felt that a local official had not fulfilled his duties as a parent official, and he was really sorry for those ordinary people who just pulled his legs and left.

After drinking a few cups of tea, Fang Xianlong said: Brother Luo's spirit is still the same, and I will rest assured! I won't tell you, inviting Brother Luo here this time is to reminisce about the past, and there is another thing I want to ask Brother Luo for help!

Luo Hongzi asked suspiciously: What is the matter? Why didn't Brother Fang mention it in the message! But it doesn't matter, Brother Fang's matter is my Luo Hongzi's matter, just say it and listen to it.

Fang Xianlong said: Before the matter is said, I will introduce you to a person! After saying this, he instructed his subordinates to invite someone to come out.

After a few moments, I saw a handsome man come in from the lobby. Facing Fang Xianlong, he said: The student has seen the teacher! Then he saluted Luo Hongzi and said: I have seen Luo Tianshi!

Fang Xianlong introduced to Luo Hongzi: This is my student Zhou Zijian, and he is also a new student. Learn from me now!

After a pause, Fang Xianlong continued: What I want to say is related to Zhou Zijian's experience, since this is the case, let's let him, the party, explain the whole thing in detail for Brother Luo!

So Zhou Zijian told a story a few years ago: It turned out that Zhou Zijian was originally a scholar, because the previous dynasty was falling, the court was declining, wolf smoke was everywhere, mountains and rivers were turbulent, and the world was in chaos!

However, in the troubled times, the governors of various prefectures and counties not only did not worry about the suffering of the people, but wantonly looted the people's wealth! So that the rich have a land, and the poor have no place to stand, so that the people are displaced, homeless, and miserable!

Although Zhou Zijian was still young at that time, his family was well-off and kind-hearted! He could not bear to see the people suffering, so he often carried out righteous deeds, setting up a porridge factory on the road to help the poor people.

However, in the troubled times, there were countless hungry people, and even if Zhou Zijian scattered all his family wealth, how could he receive help?

However, he tried again and again, and his heart was anxious! The fortune tellers asked for hexagrams, and they all said that he was afraid that he would have no official luck in this life! This could not help but make him disheartened, and he thought about going to Beijing again to take the exam. If Sun Shan falls again, he can only accept his fate!

In the blink of an eye, it was the day of spring again, and Zhou Zijian packed up and hit the road again. I thought that going to Beijing would be smooth sailing as usual! Unexpectedly, halfway through the trip, a sudden heavy rain caused the water of a nearby river to rise sharply, blocking the road ahead.

The day of the road was far away, and he decided to take a detour from a nearby mountain road for fear of delaying the examination date.

It's just that he heard that the locals said that the mountain road is rugged and difficult to travel, and that there have been bandits robbing the road in the mountains, which makes him a little apprehensive! However, in order to go to the capital to participate in the scientific expedition smoothly, he can't care so much!

After going up the mountain, the road was really bumpy and difficult. The sheep intestine path is full of wild grass, as if no one has walked on it for many years! The surrounding precipices are towering, the rocks are craggy, and the precipice is incomparably steep! He also walked tremblingly, from the hour to the twilight, and finally came down the mountain with great difficulty.

So he breathed a long sigh of relief, and saw a small village at the foot of the hill in front of him, and he was tired and hungry, and wanted to go to the village for the night, and beg for something to eat.

However, when I entered the village, I found that it was a deserted village, overgrown with weeds, fallen leaves, and dilapidated houses, which had not been repaired.

Walking in this desolate village, Zhou Zijian couldn't help but feel a little scared in his heart! This village is a little weird, not only is there no people, not even the sound of birds and insects. There was a dead silence, and from time to time there was a gust of gloomy wind!

And there seemed to be a faint smell of blood in the wind, which made Zhou Zijian even more uneasy! He felt that the whole village looked gloomy, not like a place in the world.

And the further he went, the colder Zhou Zijian felt! The surroundings began to become foggy, and he couldn't really see anything. He couldn't help but wrap up his clothes, and walked forward for a while, when he suddenly saw a towering giant tree faintly appear in front of him.

The trunk of the tree towered into the sky, and the branches were luxuriant. Zhou Zijian took a closer look and was immediately shocked! The tree was very strange, and the trunk was dark red, as if it had been stained with old blood!

The leaves on the tree were shiny and hard! The pieces were like sharp blades, blown by the wind, and the sound of gold and stone striking each other.

There are also fruits on the trees, which look bright in color, bright red and transparent, and very attractive! At this time, some fruits were blown by the wind, fell down, and happened to fall in front of Zhou Zijian.

Zhou Zijian had already walked the mountain road for a day, and he was already hungry! So he picked up the fruit and ate it, only to feel that the taste was very delicious, and after eating, he felt a warm current in his abdomen, which made him feel comfortable all over!

After looking up at the tree, Zhou Zijian wanted to pick some more. However, another wind blew, and the fruit did not fall, but blew away the dense fog nearby.

Previously, the tree was shrouded in a thick fog, like seeing flowers in the fog, and it was really not clear to see. Only a part of the branches and leaves of the tree could be seen! Now that the fog has lifted, the whole tree can be seen.

But for a moment, Zhou Zijian's eyes widened, and a frightened look appeared on his face! I saw that at the height of the tree, there were countless dead bodies hanging between the branches and leaves, swaying in the wind. And all the faces are distorted, and it looks extremely painful!

In a trance, Zhou Zijian seemed to see those dead bodies come back to life, struggling and squirming on the trees! The leaves on the trees were like sharp blades, constantly cutting those dead bodies, and bursts of terrible screams came, like those ghosts wailing.....

This terrifying scene made Zhou Zijian feel like he was in hell, he screamed miserably, and ran away. I stumbled when I ran, and I was careless for a while, and I fell down. And just hit his head on a rock, and immediately passed out.

I don't know how long it took for Zhou Zijian to wake up. He found himself lying on the bed, and an old man sitting beside the bed was looking at him. The old man had only one eye, and the other socket was hollow and had no eyeballs. Zhou Zijian couldn't help but be taken aback!

The old man looked frightened when he saw Zhou Zijian wake up, knowing that he was frightened by himself. Hurriedly soothed and said: "Little brother, don't be afraid, I only rescued you when I saw you fainting outside! Where are you from? Why did you come here?

Seeing that the old man spoke kindly, he didn't look like a bad person. Zhou Zijian relieved his heart at this time, thanked the old man and replied: Xiaosheng is a scholar from Wudong County who went to Beijing to take the exam, and the river water swelled due to heavy rain, blocking the way. That's why I made a detour here, but I never thought I would see it.....

When I saw the horrible sight, I was terrified for a moment! Unfortunately, his head touched the mountain rock and he fainted.

When the old man heard this, he asked, "Did you see that strange tree?"

Zhou Zijian nodded, and now he remembered the scene on that tree, which still made him afraid! He asked the old man: What kind of tree is that, and why are there so many dead bodies hanging on it?

The old man sighed and said, "I don't know what kind of tree it is!" As you can see, the tree is dark red in color, peculiar in appearance, and its branches are hard as iron, and it is not afraid of fire and water!

Even the leaves that grow from the trees are as indestructible as sharp knives.....

Later, the tree continued to smell bloody, which was disgusting. Some villagers thought it was in the way and wanted to cut it down. But unexpectedly, an axe did not leave a trace, and it was not feasible to cut and sharpen the axe.

So they planned to dig out the tree by the roots, but after digging two or three feet deep, they found that the tree was getting thicker and thicker the further down they went. Even the water in the ground has been dug up, and the roots of the trees have not yet been dug up. I knew that what was exposed on the ground was only a part of the tree!

Another good deed man put his ear on the tree, but faintly heard a terrible scream! like a terrible ghost's wail..... The dead bodies hanging on the tree were all from the village. Because everyone in this village has died on that tree except me!

Zhou Zijian was surprised when he heard this, and hurriedly asked what was going on!

The old man sighed and said, "This is all retribution! To tell you the truth, our village is not an ordinary village, but the whole village is a thief.

Zhou Zijian was taken aback, no wonder he heard someone say that there had been bandits in this mountain, but it turned out to be true!

The old man continued: "At the beginning, the people of our village were just ordinary people who did their duty, but because of the raging thieves, they robbed all the food in our village. The people of the village have nothing to live on, countless people have died of starvation, and less than one in ten survivors!

Those women, children, and children were almost starving to death! The villagers saw that there were already signs of the destruction of the village, so they did this murderous act. At first, it was just to fill his stomach, so he only robbed money and didn't hurt people, but later he did too much of this, and he lost his nature!

The villagers no longer have a merciful heart, and regard human life as a mustard! They kill people in the mountains and steal goods, and if they meet those beautiful women, they plunder them for fun.

I am too old to do those things that block the way and overdo it! Or when people are old, they have a good heart, so they often exhort the villagers to stop in moderation and not to commit murder in vain. But this made them very dissatisfied with me!

They thought I was a white eater, so they told me to take care of the women who had come from me. I saw that they were crying and crying all day long, and I couldn't bear it, so I let them go.....

The villagers were angry that I had done something good to them, and beat me half to death. He left me under that strange tree and left me to fend for myself! I was too old to withstand such a beating, until my consciousness gradually blurred.

I thought I was going to die, but just then I saw a fruit falling from a tree beside me. I was so hungry that I thought I couldn't go hungry to death, so I ate the fruit.

However, I suddenly felt a warm current flow through my whole body, until I felt comfortable all over my body! Even the wounds on my body were healed in an instant.

I was very surprised, and although I didn't know what was going on, I had a vague feeling that it had something to do with the fruit I had eaten! When I got home, the villagers were very surprised to see that I was unharmed, and I had to tell them the truth about what had happened under the strange tree.

They all thought that the tree was a fairy tree, and that the fruit that came out of the tree was a fairy fruit. So they rushed to pick and eat it, but they did not eat the fruit to any avail, but brought them death!

That night, I saw them lining up one by one, all hanging themselves from the strange tree. Overnight, there was not a single living person in the whole village except me!

The old man sighed and said, "It's all retribution!" I thought that the fruit on the strange tree might be rewarded with good and evil after eating. It may be because I have a little conscience that I ate the fruit without hindrance, so I picked up a life!

But it didn't take long for me to be blind in my right eye, and then I thought that maybe it was because I was young and ignorant, and I once injured a man's right eye, so I suffered this retribution!

After hearing this, Zhou Zijian was very surprised in his heart, and secretly congratulated himself that he usually did good deeds, so he ate the fruit of the tree and was safe.....!

Then Zhou Zijian lived in the old man's house for one night, and rushed to the capital the next day, and finally arrived in the capital half a month later to participate in the scientific expedition. However, as expected, it is still nowhere on the list!

After seeing such a result, Zhou Zijian was also disheartened! So he found a job as a teacher and stayed in the capital to live.

Coincidentally, one day he met Fang Xianlong by chance, Fang Xianlong had not been relegated to this place at that time, he saw that this young man was very talented, so he took him by his side as a staff member.

Luo Hongzi listened to Zhou Zijian's narration, and then asked Fang Xianlong: I don't understand what Brother Fang means, what do you want me to help you with?

Fang Xianlong said with a straight face: First of all, Zhou Zijian and I hope that Brother Luo can help and overkill all the resentful souls on the strange trees in the village! Secondly, I also want Brother Luo to show Zhou Zijian what is wrong with his life!

So much so that although he was full of wealth, he was never able to gain the slightest fame! Also, could he destroy the tree by the way, or send it back to the place where it came?

Luo Hongzi nodded and said: So that's what it means! He pondered for a moment and then said: Let's talk about the strange tree in the village first. Although I am a monastic, I have read a lot of Buddhist scriptures! I remember that I once saw a record of this in one of these Buddhist scrolls.

To put it simply, the tree was not a human thing, but grew out of the Yellow Springs Hell! According to the records, there are eighteen levels of hell. The third layer is the Iron Tree Hell, and there is an iron tree growing in the Iron Tree Hell, and the trees are full of sharp blades.

Anyone who commits a sin in the Yang World will be hung from a tree and cut by a sharp blade after entering the Iron Tree Hell.

The punishment in hell is cruel, and it makes life worse than death, and it is extremely painful! If resentment grows in the heart, then the iron tree can devour people's resentment. Use resentment as water, water your body, and grow it!

In troubled times, however, the world suffers, rituals and pleasures collapse, and people's hearts become demons! They often do sinful things, and after they die, they go to hell to be punished! Therefore, in troubled times, hell is often full of ghosts and resentment.

The Buddha scroll said that when the Han Dynasty was destroyed, the world was in chaos! There are countless demons who have been tortured in hell for committing sins, until their anger soars to the sky! The iron tree devours a large amount of resentment and grows.

So much so that the roots of the tree spread down to the thirteenth layer of the Blood Sea Hell, and the branches extended upward, breaking through the three layers of hell and appearing in the human world. The iron tree will bring cause and effect into the human world, and it will bear fruit in the human world. If a person eats it, he will be rewarded, good will be rewarded, and evil will be rewarded.

Perhaps that's the reason for the tree! I can't destroy it or get it back. As for the overtaking of those resentful spirits, it's a trivial matter, and we can do it at any time!

Then Luo Hongzi beckoned to Zhou Zijian and motioned for him to come to him. After carefully observing Zhou Zijian's face, Luo Hongzi couldn't help but let out a "huh!" Then, he asked Zhou Zijian to stretch out his left hand to show him.

After the incident, Luo Hongzi asked Zhou Zijian: In addition to the strange thing he just said, does Zhou Gongzi have any other strange encounters?

That Zhou Zijian frowned and said: There is indeed one more thing, but I don't think it's too important, so I didn't say it.

Oh, what kind of thing, you see, let's hear it?" Luo Hongzi asked.

Zhou Zijian said: Actually, there is nothing, but I once received a gift from an old man when I was young. I vaguely remember that the old man's appearance was very elegant and chic! He gave me a brush, which was very special, and it was very expressive for writing and drawing!

Especially when you draw, you can draw something that looks like a real thing. As long as you don't touch it personally, no one can tell the real from the fake!

But I felt that since I got the pen, although the essays I had produced were still handy, it didn't seem to be able to get the examiners to approve them! This was also a strange thing for me, but I was reluctant to throw it away! So.....

After listening to Zhou Zijian's words, Luo Hongzi was not surprised or strange. Instead, Fang Xianlong screamed in surprise!

Luo Hongzi and Zhou Zijian didn't know why, and looked at Fang Xianlong's strange behavior suspiciously. I don't know what is surprising about this!

Fang Xianlong hurriedly explained: You wait a minute, I'll ask clearly. So he asked Zhou Zijian again: Did you ever draw a dragon for a benevolent man on the way to the exam in order to repay the favor?

Zhou Zijian was stunned for a moment and said, "How did the teacher learn about this?" I never told anyone about this at all! How did the teacher find out?

Fang Xianlong nodded and said: That's right! Let me tell you the reason for this.

It turned out that when Fang Xianlong was in the capital, a colleague once asked him to inquire about someone. And the person that his colleague asked him to inquire about was a man who painted a vivid dragon painting for an old man!

The reason for the incident is this, there is a member surnamed Zheng in the city of Lin'an Mansion, who was very poor in his early years and also worked as a carpenter. Because of his superb skills and generous duties, his business is prosperous. Within a few years, a fortune was saved!

His mind is alive, and he uses it as the principal to make some small deals. Later, the business gradually grew and made a fortune, so he became a well-known local businessman.

After Zheng Yuanwai made his career, he did not forget his original intention, and he was willing to give kindness! He often helped the poor and the poor, and was a good party, so he was called Zheng Dashan by the people nearby.

One day, Zheng Yuan went out on business, and when he came home after the incident, he saw a person curled up in the corner of the street on the street. Looking at his clothes, he seems to be a scholar. It was a cold winter moon, and the scholar was thinly dressed, and he was already shivering in the cold wind!

Now speaking, the scholar at that time was Zhou Zijian. Because he has just run out of entanglements, and he has been tired and hungry for two or three days!

After Zheng Yuanwai saw such a situation, he stepped forward to ask why Zhou Zijian was frozen here. Zhou Zijian raised his head, his lips were black and purple, his mouth was submissive, his voice trembled, and he was obviously frozen and couldn't speak.

Seeing this, Zheng Yuanwai hurriedly took him home and entertained him with food. Zhou Zijian was already a dish at that time, and it seemed that he hadn't eaten a full meal for many days!

Zhou Zijian suddenly saw a table full of food, and his eyes suddenly lit up, so he devoured it, and swept away a table of food in an instant.

After eating, he burped, and Zhou Zijian relieved himself! He got up and made a gesture towards Zheng Yuanwai, and was about to kneel down and kowtow. Zheng Yuanwai hurriedly grabbed him and said: The boy has gold under his knees, and he kneels to the sky and his parents! Brother Tai must not perform this great gift.

If it weren't for the rescue of the staff, he would have frozen to death on the streets! Zhou Zijian stopped speaking, and thanked Zheng Yuanwai again.

Zheng Yuanwai smiled and asked the scholar to sit down, and asked his subordinates to serve tea. The two chatted for a while, and Zhou Zijian seemed to remember something, and said: There is no long thing in the lower body, but he is good at painting. Among them, it is better to draw dragons!

I have a great kindness outside the staff, I can't repay it, I am willing to draw a dragon picture with the outside, and talk about the kindness.

That Zheng Yuanwai had never gone to a private school, and he was an illiterate person! But seeing Zhou Zijian say this, he couldn't bear to refute his kindness, so he nodded with a smile and said: Then there will be Brother Lao!

After taking out the pen and ink in his own bag, Zhou Zijian spread out the rice paper, waved the paper, and the pen walked through the back of the paper. Even if Zheng Yuanwai doesn't know anything about painting, it can be seen that Zhou Zijian has done a good job in painting.

At this time, Zhou Zijian's demeanor was focused, his heart was empty, and a painting lasted for several hours! During this period, Zheng Yuanwai called him to rest for a while, but Zhou Zijian turned a deaf ear, as if he had not heard it!

It wasn't until late afternoon that Zhou Zijian finished painting. He let out a long breath and stared at the painting for a long time. After a while, I came back to my senses, and I remembered where I was as if I had just woken up from a dream.

Thinking of making Zheng Yuanwai wait for a long time, he hurriedly apologized to Zheng Yuanwai, and he was very guilty between his words!