I didn't expect that this path to the ghost gate was not there when there was a hell, but it was related to Li Shimin, Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, which couldn't help but arouse my curiosity. But in this gloomy and solemn place, I didn't dare to take the liberty of asking Bai Wuchang for advice.

Bai Wuchang looked at me with a smile, he seemed to be able to read my heart, and unhurriedly told me the origin of the ghost gate.

It is said that during the reign of Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, Prime Minister Wei Zhengmeng beheaded the old dragon of the Jing River, and Li Shimin, Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, was implicated and summoned to the underworld by the king of Yama. When the king of Yama asked about the situation, he knew that Li Shimin was a virtuous monarch, he was not only a scholar and a martial artist, but also a stable and stable country, creating a prosperous situation in the early years of the Tang Dynasty, that is, the 'rule of Zhenguan'.

King Yama then decided to let Li Shimin return to Yang. Before leaving, Yin Tianzi entrusted Yang Tianzi to bring the ghost country passport 'Lu Yin' back to the yang world and issue it to the good ministers and good people, so that they could use this road to enter Fengdu, the capital of the ghost country, after their death, so that they could be free from the bullying and punishment of the ghosts of hell.

Therefore, since the Tang Dynasty, Lu Yin has been handed down like a holy relic, and has never changed. Therefore, this kind of guidance can only be bought by good people, and cannot be bought by evil people. In the past, people who came to Yudu to travel had to buy a road for the elderly at home to guide back to show their filial piety.

Hearing this allusion, I can't help but sigh, lamenting that now the world has misinterpreted the meaning of King Yama and Tang Taizong, thinking that when they bought a road guide when traveling in the ghost city of Fengdu, they could enter the ghost gate pass after death.

I hesitated for a moment and said, "Master Impermanence, the eighteen ghost kings guarding the ghost gate are so scary, when the good people enter the ghost gate, will they be frightened by them?" ”

Bai Wuchang said with a smile: "The eighteen ghost kings in front of the Ghost Gate Pass are a group of evil ghosts specially selected by the Son of Yama to come here to check the mountain. They were extremely harsh and strict in their investigation of the undead ghosts with bad deeds and unreformed malignancy, so that no one could get through the test in confusion. Hehe, they can naturally confirm the authenticity of those guides. ”

Bai Wuchang's words really confirmed my thoughts, this guide is not something that money can buy. Following Bai Wuchang through the Ghost Gate, he pointed ahead and told me that the road called Huangquan Road was sù. I saw that the Huangquan Road was blooming with flowers and leaves. The flowers and leaves are born and lost, and they will never lose each other.

Just crossed Huangquan Road, I saw a large hall in front of me, with the words "Liaoyang Palace" written on it. What shocked me even more was that there was a very strange bridge in front of the temple. The bridge is divided into three layers, the upper, middle and lower, the bridge is narrow and smooth, and there are day and night wandering gods to guard day and night. The blood river under the bridge is full of insects and snakes, the waves are rolling, and the fishy wind is blowing.

Bai Wuchang pointed to the bridge and said: "The name of this bridge is Nai He Bridge, after the death of people, the souls of the dead have to cross the Nai River Bridge, the good have the protection of the gods and Buddhas to cross the bridge, and the evil ones are beaten into the blood river pool to suffer." The bridge is divided into three layers, the ghosts of the good can safely pass through the upper bridge, the good and evil cross the middle bridge, and the ghosts of the wicked cross the lower bridge, and most of them are stopped by the ghosts into the dirty waves under the bridge, and are bitten by copper snakes and iron dogs. ”

I often hear people say that doing good deeds has their own blessings from God and Buddha, and doing evil is sad to cross the Nai River Bridge. Don't do anything bad for people, and don't be shocked when you walk across the Nai River Bridge.

Seeing the tragic situation under the Nai He Bridge, I asked in horror: "Master Wu Chang, this Nai He Bridge doesn't look as difficult to walk as the legend says?" ”

Bai Wuchang smiled: "How do people in the world know the mystery? This bridge has its own powerful spiritual power, which can distinguish whether the ghost is good or bad during his lifetime. Young singles are required to cross the bridge in three steps, with men stepping first on their left foot and women on their right foot first. Husbands and wives or lovers walk hand in hand across the bridge in nine steps (male left, female right, footsteps Maifa male left foot first, female right foot first), it will be forever. ”

"The younger or older can take more than three steps (the male takes the left foot first, the female steps go to the right foot), but it must be an odd number, such as five steps, seven steps, nine steps, etc. If the one who crosses safely is a good person, then the soul will not fall into the blood river pool after death, and the bridge of the river will be protected from the wild bite of the copper snake and iron dog. ”

Alas, if the world knows that it is sad after death, how can it be so greedy and evil in life? The road of life and death in Huangquan is long, and the lonely shadow wanders and the soul gradually disappears. Looking at the past of Sansheng Stone, I crossed the Nai He Bridge today.

Although I am frightened in my heart, I know that I am the phantom body of the Ming King, and I am accompanied by black and white impermanence. It's just that Ding Xiaomei is different, she couldn't help but tremble when she saw the ghosts under the bridge struggling and wailing in the blood and water. Hei Wuchang shouted expressionlessly: "Ding Xiaomei, you were ridiculous when you were alive, you shouldn't be able to cross the Nai He Bridge." It's just that King Ming personally brought you here today, you won't fall off the bridge for the time being, why don't you leave quickly? ”

I looked at the front of the Nai He Bridge and couldn't help but ask suspiciously: "Master Wu Chang, the river under this Nai He Bridge is called the Lechuan River, right?" Didn't I hear that at the head of the bridge, there is also a Wangxiang Tower, and there is a great god Meng Po on the side of the Wangxiang Platform? ”

Bai Wuchang said: "King Ming, there are ten halls of Yama in this Yin Division, which are King Qin Guang, King Chujiang, Emperor Song, King Wuguan, King Yama, King Biancheng, King Taishan, King of the City, King of Equality, and King of the Wheel. These ten kings dwell above the ten halls of hell, so they are called the ten halls of Hades. Among them, the fifth temple of the king of Yama is the son of heaven of the Yin Division. ”

"Bao Zheng, a scholar of Longtu Pavilion in the Great Song Dynasty, is now the Son of Heaven of Yin, that is, the King of Yama. He was originally in the first hall, because the first hall of hell is the closest hell building to the yang world, and because the ghosts from all walks of life have not drunk Meng Po soup when they enter the first hall, the ghosts still have a nostalgia for the life of the yang world and their relatives, so there are often ghosts who climb the famous mountain of the underworld to try to look back at the scene of the yang world, but they can't see it. ”

In this torment of longing for relatives but not being able to see each other, many ghosts are crying secretly in the middle of the night, and the voice is tragic and tear-jerking. As the first temple of the Yama Heavenly Son, Bao Zheng was kind-hearted, merciful and compassionate, and when he heard about this, he was moved by compassion, and ordered the ghost to send a lookout platform and move it to the side of the Son of Heaven Palace, allowing the soul of Yin Cao to look at his hometown and relatives when he was born. ”

"Therefore, Wangxiangtai, also known as 'Homesick Ridge', has become a window for ghosts in the underworld to look at the sun and a sacred place for the living and the dead to connect with each other. Later, because Bao Zheng was too merciful, and mercy to death, when he was in charge of the first hall, he put ghosts many times to return the sun to the snow, and was demoted to the fifth hall, and the head called the big hell and the sixteen small hells, and the Wangxiangtai also moved to the edge of the fifth hall. ”

I couldn't help but sigh, thinking of the tragic sight of people in the world when they said goodbye to their relatives and friends. As the saying goes, 'If you don't eat in the world for one day, you will cross the yin and yang realm in two days, and you will arrive at Wangxiangtai in three days to see your relatives crying and mourning'.

Before the ghost went to report to the underworld, he was very concerned about his relatives in the yang world, and although the ghost was severely urged and reprimanded, he still forcibly climbed the Wangxiang platform, and finally looked at his hometown from afar, and cried loudly, before he went to the 'Yin Cao Difu' with all his heart. It is 'the ghost on the Wangxiang platform who is in a hurry, looking at the eyes and tears. Wives and children sit on the side of the coffin, and relatives and friends gather in the mourning hall. ’

Bai Wuchang told me a story, which made me understand at once the original intention of Bao Zheng to build Wangxiangtai after becoming the son of Yin Si Yama, and this matter was actually related to Zhong Kui, who hunted ghosts.

In the past, every night, at the top of the famous mountain in Fengdu, there were some ghosts crying bitterly, the cry was earth-shattering, and the whole underworld was not at peace.

The king of Hades heard the ghost crying every night, and his mood was very irritable, so Zhong Kui, the marshal of the Xuanping ghost, went to the palace and said, "Aiqing, do you know why there are ghosts crying at night in recent days? ’

Zhong Kui replied: "I have just returned from slaying ghosts in the yang world, and I don't know yet. Hades said, "Lone ordered you to go and check, and anyone who went up to the mountain to weep will be beheaded." Zhong Kui took the order and left.

That night, Zhong Kui came to the top of the mountain with his sword, and saw that in the hazy night, some ghosts gathered on the edge of the cliff and wailed loudly, one by one, listless, sad, and distracted, crying so uncomfortably, as if someone had died. Zhong Kui was puzzled, raised the Qingfeng sword and shouted: "In the middle of the night, why did you run to the top of the mountain to cry for no reason? ’

When those ghosts heard this, they became even more grief-stricken, and tears flowed down their cheeks, and they cried even more sadly.

When Zhong Kui saw this scene, he couldn't help but feel heavy. Pointing to a weeper who bowed his head and sobbed, he asked, 'Why are you sad and weeping?' ’

The ghost cried, 'Hui Yu, the little man was a farmer in his life, and because his wife was sick, the villain went to the market town to get medicine, and was killed by a thunderbolt in a daze. ’

Zhong Kui shouted: "Life and death are fate, you don't complain about the sky." ”

The ghost cried: "Master, the villain does not complain about the sky or the earth, but only complains about his own bad life. finally married a daughter-in-law, and after only three years of affection and love, yin and yang were separated, and I don't know if her illness has healed. ”

"A husband and wife are a hundred days of grace, and loving couples cannot be separated. It's human nature that you think of your daughter-in-law. Zhong Kui put down the sword he raised, and was very embarrassed in his heart: if you want to punish these weeping ghosts, they have a reason for it, and they have no sin; If you want to die, you will cry annoyingly. He groaned for a long time, then put away his sword.

After walking a short distance, I saw a female ghost with a pale face and red and swollen eyes, and she cried loudly while banging her head against the rock wall. Zhong Kui couldn't bear it anymore at the moment, and stepped forward and asked, "Why are you crying here?" ”

"Miss my daughter."

"Where is your daughter now?"

"In the sun."

"The love of flesh and blood, the essence and blood are connected, how can you not want to." Zhong Kui nodded, and suddenly felt pity.

He walked around the mountain for a long time with his sword, and asked several weeping ghosts in succession, who either thought of their children or their parents. They came to the underworld, because they missed their homeland, missed their relatives, they were depressed all day long, they didn't think about tea and dinner, they heard that the cliff edge at the top of the famous mountain could look at the sun, so they took advantage of the dark night to run up the mountain, who knew that the yin and yang were separated by a piece of paper, let them look through the autumn water, cry and break the soft intestines, in addition to a vast sea of fog in front of them, where can they see the shadow of their relatives? So I couldn't help but cry sadly.