"At that time, there was a plasterer, surnamed Zhang Mingliu, everyone called him Zhang Liu, his family lived in Liuyang Xiashui Luzhou, there was a 60-year-old mother, a wife, three daughters, two sons, a family of eight people, relying on Zhang Liu, with the craft of being a plasterer."

One day, Zhang Liu came back from doing crafts at someone else's house. Suddenly, I felt a bowl-sized area on my chest that was swollen and painful, and it was not red or swollen at the beginning of the pain. Although he was a rough man who did crafts, although he was in some pain, he didn't take it seriously, and the next day he still endured the pain and went to work in other people's homes. ”

"When I came home in the afternoon, I felt that the swelling pain was worse than yesterday, and I touched the swelling pain with my hand, and my skin was harder than copper coins, and I had a hard time breathing. On the third day, he was as red and swollen as a big steamed bun, not only could he not go to work to earn money, but it was extremely inconvenient to even move around at home, so he had to sit at home, and he had no money to ask a doctor for a consultation. ”

Four or five days later, it only hurt so much that Zhang Liu's mother called his father cry. Those who do crafts have no savings at all, and the family of eight can sit and eat for a few days, where can there be anything to eat? Poor Zhang Liu's wife, she has to take her children out to beg. The sores on Zhang Liu's chest were even more festering to the size of a bowl. ”

"Over time, there are more people who know that Zhang Liu suffers from sores. Although there are also doctors who are willing to do good deeds, they don't want Zhang Liu's money, and send medicine to diagnose and treat Zhang Liu, but this sores are too bad, and they can't be effective with ordinary sores dressing. ”

One day, Zhang Liu's wife crossed the river with her children, went to the city to beg, and by the way, she inquired about the doctor who could treat poisonous sores, and she actually found a doctor who was very famous in Liuyang. Zhang Liu's wife and five children kowtowed to the doctor for an unknown amount before she asked the doctor for permission: the medicine money is owed on credit, and Zhang Liu will be treated."

However, Zhang Liu had to be carried to the doctor's house to take medicine, and the doctor refused to go to Shuiluzhou in person, Zhang Liu's wife was already overjoyed, and hurriedly asked Zhang Liu's companions to carry Zhang Liu to the city on a bamboo bed and ask the doctor to treat him. But although the doctor's reputation is great and his value is high, Xinglin's methods are very ordinary. ”

He thought it was a great grace, he owed money for medicine to treat Zhang Liu's illness, his medicine was not enough, but it was just ulceration and pain, after applying the medicine three or four times, not only did it have no effect at all, but it was red and swollen more than when he didn't apply the medicine, Zhang Liu was swollen from his chest to his neck, and he couldn't even speak. ”

Only then did the doctor know that his means were not good, and he was afraid that Zhang Liu's death in his home would be unlucky, so he had to say that this kind of sores was a terminal disease, and there was no rule of law, so he asked several of Zhang Liu's colleagues to carry Zhang Liu back to Shuiluzhou to arrange the funeral. Zhang Liu's wife couldn't leave Zhang Liulai at the doctor's house, so she had to cry and cry and follow a few peers to lift Zhang Liu and walk to the river. There happened to be a ferry moored under the pier, and the group walked onto the ferry. ”

The bamboo bed where Zhang Liu slept was placed on the bow of the boat, humming non-stop, and Zhang Liu's wife sat next to him and cried. The ferries in the Liuyang River usually have to wait for a boatload to be full. ”

They got on the boat and waited for a while, and just as they had waited for enough people, they were about to leave the boat, when suddenly they saw the old monk come up to the dock. The man who set up the ferry, knowing that the old monk was going to cross the river, waved to the wharf and shouted, 'Is the old master going to cross the river?' ’

The old monk walked on the boat, and looked down at Zhang Liu, who was sleeping on the bamboo bed, just shaking his head, and he could see that he was very impatient. The people on the same boat thought that the old monk's situation was very strange, and that the monks should not be like this. ”

"At that moment, there was a young and fast-talking plasterer who said to the old monk, 'Most of the monks are based on compassion and convenience. The master goes to Liuyang every day to make a fate, and everyone in Liuyang knows that the master is a monk with Taoism. Zhang Liu, who slept on a bamboo bed, was a filial son, with a family of seven, all of whom depended on him as a plasterer to survive. So now, he suddenly had such a big poisonous sore on his chest, which could not be cured by many doctors, and he saw that he was dead. If he doesn't die, as long as he doesn't take a breath, his mother, who is nearly seventy years old, will die of starvation and freezing to death."

"Even his sister-in-law, and these five children who have never grown up, I am afraid that it will be difficult to live. The old master is a monk, and when he sees such a poor person as him, he doesn't pity him, so why do you look at him and make a face that hates him?"

When the old monk heard this, he became more and more ignorant, raised his face to the side, sneered twice, and said, "Whoever you say these words to, you can only take them and say them to a child of two or three years old, or you can hide it from him and make him believe it." Take it and say to the old monk, you will recognize the wrong person. When the young man who was traveling with him heard the old monk say these nondescript words, he couldn't help but rush up angrily.

Approaching the old monk, he asked, 'Which of my words is not right?, how can I only hide it from a two- or three-year-old child?, I don't want to cheat you out of your money, and second, I don't want to cheat your rice, why do I want to lie to you? ’

The old monk still snorted in his nostrils and said, "This is really funny, the old monk is a monk, it doesn't matter which of your sentences is true and which is false." You say that he suddenly caused such a big poisonous sore on his chest, and he has been treated by many doctors, but he has not been able to heal it, this is obviously false, and you still say that you are not trying to deceive me?

The young man who was traveling with him was angry and amused, and he dragged the old monk's robe and said, 'If you say that my other words are false, I will not be able to produce evidence for a while, and I cannot argue with you.' As for the fact that the sores on his chest are false, and he is pretending to be like this, I can't let you talk nonsense. Now that the man is here, and there are so many people on this boat, I can ask you to be witnesses, and I will go and uncover the clothes on his chest, and ask everyone to see, if it is true that there are no poisonous sores on his chest, we are liars, and how do you punish him, master, we are all willing to accept the guilt, and there is nothing else to say, if it is a poisonous sore, see what you say?'

"At that time, more than half of the people who were on the same boat knew Zhang Liu, and knew that Zhang Liu was indeed suffering from poisonous sores. It was the captain of the ferry, because Zhang Liu had taken the ferry back and forth several times with a bamboo bed, and he had also seen Zhang Liu's poisonous sores. At this time, I suddenly heard the old monk say that Zhang Liu pretended to have sores to deceive people, and couldn't help but cry out for Zhang Liu and the young man who was traveling with him, and said to the old monk in unison: "This is very fair, if you open your clothes and see that there are no poisonous sores, you can scold them at will, and you can beat them." ”

"In case the illness is not pretending, they scold the master, and the master can't be angry. The old monk angrily stretched out his hand to Zhang Liuyi and said, "Go and see what poisonous sores are there."

The young man also ran to the bow of the boat in two angry steps, and lifted the clothes covering Zhang Liu's chest. I didn't pay attention when I didn't open it, but when I opened it, I only stunned the young man, it turned out that Zhang Liu's chest was really good, not only did he not see any poisonous sores, but he didn't even have a prickly heat. ”

Zhang Liu's wife watched from the side, as if she was in a dream. After a while, he gently pushed Zhang Liu and asked, "Are the sores on your chest still painful?" Zhang Liuyuan was lying with his eyes closed, but when he opened his eyes, he didn't answer his wife's words, he slowly touched his chest a few times with his hand, and said, "Am I dreaming here? Where are my sores?"

Zhang Liu's wife replied, 'I just dream here!' The old monk still asked angrily, 'Where are the sores?' Can you hide it from me?'

Zhang Liu touched his chest and saw no poisonous sores, and he didn't even feel pain for a while, and his neck was so swollen that he couldn't speak, but he was also happy at this time. When the group saw that the ferry had landed, and when everyone was still carrying him ashore, he sat up unconsciously, and said, 'If I hadn't dreamed here and suffered from poisonous sores for more than half a month, how could I suddenly get better?'

"The people in the same boat all thought this was strange, and some old people with some insight said: 'In my opinion, Zhang Liu's sores were cured by the old monk, and the old monk was a holy monk with Taoism. When the people in the boat saw this man say this, they all echoed that it was the old monk who showed his powers. ”

Only the young man who was walking with Zhang Liu, because he was scolded by the old monk, hated it in his heart, and did not admit that it was because of the old monk. said that if the old monk really has such great magical powers, why not explain to the public to treat Zhang Liu's sores and make a name for himself. ”

"The man in the same boat: 'The old monk is not a doctor, but completely out of compassion, what kind of name do you want people to make? I think that his old man is afraid that there will be more people who know, and if he spreads it, there will be too many people who ask him for treatment in the future, and he will not be able to push it off, and it will be difficult to get into trouble. Therefore, he deliberately said that Zhang Liu was pretending to be fake, so as to make people suspect that it was not cured by his old man. ”

After this incident, in less than two or three days, everyone in Liuyang City knew that the old monk had a spell and could treat people for diseases that doctors could not cure. ”

As soon as the old monk arrived in Liuyang, there were many people carrying the patient or supporting the patient, kneeling and begging the old monk for diagnosis and treatment. However, he once knelt down in front of the old monk and begged the old monk, although the old monk did not pay attention, but the patient went home, and it would be good if he had more time to go. ”

"One morning, when the south gate was opened, an old woman of sixty or seventy years of age entered, holding a big ox in her left hand and a branch in her right hand. The people who passed through the city gate cave were shocked when they saw this ox. ”

It turned out that this ox was no different from ordinary cattle, except that one head was a human head, and there were two horns on the head, and it could be seen that the age of this head was about forty years old, and it was the appearance of a long-term worker. Whoever passes through this place does not stand up and ask where this strange ox comes from?"