The Three Ghost Stories of Jinzhong

Chapter 2

"My head is so heavy," Yu Ru thought as she lay on the ground, trying to recall what had just happened: "human traffickers, temple, old monk, dead baby, A Long, A Hu—" She screamed and struggled desperately, only to find that she was already tightly bound. She twisted her body with difficulty and looked around.

This was a dark side hall. In the center stood a large Buddha statue, flanked by several Arhat statues. Before the altar, a fire burned, upon which sat a pot of boiling water. An old monk sat cross-legged on a soft mat, staring blankly at the flames. The firelight flickered across his face, giving him an eerie air. Beside him was a carrying pole, but it was unclear whether any children were inside.

"Ah Long, Ah Hu—" Yu Ru cried out frantically.

---janeadam

Reply [8]: “You’re awake,” the old monk said, turning his head to give her a stiff smile. “It’s alright. They’re all here. I’ll still have food to eat these next two days, so I won’t touch them for now.”

"Give me back my child! Give me back my child!" Yu Ru roared frantically as she struggled and twisted her body.

"You already know?" The old monk ignored her madness, casually lifted the pot lid, peeked inside, and muttered to himself, "It's still a little undercooked!" He then added a piece of firewood.

"Give me back my child! Why are you doing this? Please, give me back my child!" Yu Ru cried tirelessly. Finally, her voice grew hoarse, and she buried her head on the ground, sobbing softly.

A faint, ambiguous scent wafted in the air, a mixture of the earthy smell of decay and a strange aroma of meat.

The old monk gently lifted the pot lid, revealing a greedy expression on his face. He rubbed his hands together, flared his nostrils, and kept swallowing saliva.

He reached for a sharp knife beside him and impatiently began to cut— The knife clashed against the iron pot repeatedly, producing a pleasant clanging sound. The old monk skillfully cut, stabbed, poked, pulled, sawed, chopped, and minced. Yu Ru closed her eyes in despair; the immense psychological shock caused her stomach to convulse, and gastric juices, accompanied by spasms throughout her body, gushed out like a flood bursting its banks.

A sharp knife lifted a piece of pinkish flesh from the pot, tracing a graceful arc in the air before landing precisely in the old monk's mouth. He immediately began to chew, the flesh crunching and sizzling in his mouth. His cheeks twitched, his muscles tightening and relaxing repeatedly in the firelight. His eyes gleamed with the excitement of a predator, and he breathed heavily with gusto. Each bite sent splatter of grease from his mouth onto the fire with a hissing sound. He ate with such concentration that greasy liquid slowly slid down the corners of his mouth without him wiping it away.

---janeadam

Reply [9]: In the dimly lit hall, Yu Ru's desperate howls, the old monk's chewing sounds, and the crackling of firewood intertwined to create a chilling symphony. Yu Ru wished she could free her hands, tightly cover her ears to block out the terrifying sounds, cover her nose to block out the suffocating smell, and cover her eyes to block out the horrific scene. But she was bound too tightly, and she could only use all her strength to bang her head against the ground, trying to faint and escape this hell on earth.

Ah Long and Ah Hu were startled awake and burst into tears.

The old monk angrily pulled Ah Long out of the carrying pole—

"No, no—" Yu Ru cried out in terror.

The old monk stood up, carrying Ah Long, and walked step by step to Yu Ru's side. After thinking for a moment, he reached out his other hand to unbutton Yu Ru's clothes. His movements were clumsy, and Yu Ru struggled desperately, trying to escape the impending disaster.

With a "rip," Yu Ru's top was torn, revealing her round breasts.

"Haven't you breastfed your child in a long time, have you?" The old monk placed A-Long next to Yu-Ru's breast. The hungry child immediately latched onto his mother's nipple and began to suckle, making gurgling sounds in his throat before gradually quieting down. After A-Long had finished eating, the old monk brought A-Hu over and let him suckle from the other breast.

The revival of maternal love allowed Yu Ru to temporarily forget her perilous situation, and as the milk flowed out, she gradually calmed down.

The two children, having eaten their fill, chuckled contentedly, waving their arms and legs in their swaddling clothes. The old monk put them back in the carrying pole, then walked over and gazed at Yu Ru's breasts, a gleam in his eyes.

Yu Ru's heart jumped. What was he planning to do?

The old monk stood there, his eyes fixed on her breasts. His expression shifted rapidly, first bewilderment, then ferocity, and finally a smile. He slowly moved closer to Yu Ru's breasts, took one in his mouth, and suckled. Then he reached out and buttoned up Yu Ru's clothes, saying with a sigh of relief:

"Looks like we'll still have milk to drink for the next couple of days."

The old monk added a few more pieces of firewood to the fire, and the flames rose, gradually increasing the temperature inside the room. Several flies buzzed and hovered in the air. Occasionally, some would land on the pot, but were quickly driven away by the high temperature and flew back into the air.

“Don’t be afraid, I’m not interested in women,” the old monk said, looking up at the statues in the hall. “Do you know why I do this?”

Yu Ru didn't speak, and the old monk seemed unwilling to hear her reply, continuing to speak on his own.

“Although I look old, I’m actually not that old. I’m only 49 years old this year, but I’ve been a monk for 40 years!” he said to himself, staring blankly at the firelight.

---janeadam

Reply [10]: "I am from Pingyao. When I was nine years old, the Japanese soldiers marched into Shanxi and occupied Pingyao. They started massacres in the villages near us. My father was afraid that one day the massacres would continue here, so he took the whole family and fled here overnight. It was more than 600 li away. We begged all the way and finally arrived at Linjiao."

"On the day we arrived here, my mother contracted the plague on the way and was on the verge of death. The villagers were afraid of being infected and wouldn't let us into the village. They even released dogs to bite us. Helpless, we could only walk up the mountain. My mother died when it got dark. As she was dying, she held my hand tightly and wouldn't let go. I still can't forget the look in her eyes. We dug a shallow pit nearby and buried her, and continued to climb up the mountain. Finally, we arrived at the Sanxiangguo Temple."

“There were only a few people in the temple at that time. There was only one guest monk who was a eunuch who had been dismissed from the palace during the Qing Dynasty, and three other monks. They greeted us coldly and were unwilling to take us in. When my father saw that there was no hope, he begged them to take me in. At first, they were unwilling, but then I saw the guest monk wink at the others, and they finally agreed to take me in. Then they gave my father a few flatbreads and sent him away.”

"At first, nothing happened. They sat in their daily classes and chanted scriptures, occasionally going out to beg for alms from the villagers, and sometimes performing rituals, chanting scriptures, and keeping vigil for the deceased in the neighborhood. I was like a slave every day. Every morning I would clean the entire temple, and at night I would serve them until they were asleep before I could sleep myself. I would eat whatever was left over after they finished eating, and if there was nothing left, I would go hungry. That's how things happened!"

"Back then, I was growing up, and every day I was dizzy from hunger. My thirst for food overwhelmed everything. I had only one thought every day: how could I get something to eat? Whenever they ate, I would secretly hide in a corner, greedily watching the food on the table. Every time they put food in their mouths, I would feel anxious, afraid that they would finish it all. Watching them chew, even though I knew they would swallow it, I would still silently chant in my heart: Don't eat, don't eat. When they actually swallowed it, the disappointment in my heart burned so hard that I went crazy. I hated the way they ate, and the fear of the food being eaten lingered in my heart, refusing to go away."

"Sometimes, they would accidentally drop rice grains from the corner of their mouths onto the table or the floor. I would watch from the side, carefully memorizing the location of the rice grains, because I was afraid they would step on them after they finished eating. I would always try my best to get close to the table and take the opportunity to pick up or collect the rice grains. When they finished eating and asked me to clean up, the first thing I did was to carefully lick all the bowls they had used, and then carefully search for any food left on the table and the floor. Every time I washed the dishes, I used very little water, partly because I had already licked them clean, and partly because I couldn't bear to waste the dishwater that had a faint smell."

"Even so, I was still hungry. Every day, when they drove me to work, I would endlessly think of food and find anything edible to eat. Although I was just a novice monk, I still followed the Buddhist teachings and only found some grass roots, berries, and other vegetarian food to fill my stomach. When I went up the mountain to gather firewood, I chopped furiously just to make time to pick the fruit. Sometimes, for a sour jujube, I was scratched all over by thorns. During that period, I ate almost every edible plant on the back mountain. I knew that the tubers of rush were sweet, the fruits of the sedge were sour, and the flowers of moss were only edible when they first opened; after a while..." It would be very bitter, and dandelion seeds, though tasteless, were very filling. My happiest time was spring, when the locust trees on the mountain were in bloom. The monks would send me up the mountain to collect locust blossoms to make meals, and I would spend all day on the mountain, climbing trees to pick and eat as I went. I hoped every day would be like this. Unfortunately, the locust blossoms didn't last long, and I had to go and find new food. Days passed like this, and I tried every plant I came across to see if there were any edible parts. If I continued to live like this, half-starved, although I was still not full, at least I wouldn't starve to death. But I never expected—”

Winter is here!

"The roses have withered! The leaves have dried up! Everything is dead! My food supply has run out! I'm once again plunged into the abyss of hunger! To stock up on supplies for winter, I still have to go up the mountain to chop firewood every day. However, there are hardly any plants left on the mountain to fill my stomach. One day, I accidentally found an apricot that had fallen on a ridge. I was overjoyed and picked it up. I spent four whole days enjoying it. After eating the apricot flesh and kernels, I couldn't bear to throw away the apricot pit. I kept it in my bosom, and when I was really hungry, I would take it out and lick it, until finally I chewed it up and swallowed it whole."

"If it weren't for what happened later, I think I would have starved to death one day while chopping wood in the mountains. My body would have lay there, unknown to anyone, but it still happened!"

The old monk threw a piece of firewood into the fire, and flames shot up, with ash swirling and dancing on the flames like a seductive woman swaying her hips.

---janeadam

Reply [11]: The main hall was deserted, and more and more flies gathered in groups and hovered in a certain place in the air, with an uncertain "buzzing" sound wandering in the air.

"I remember it snowed that day, a really heavy snowfall. Tiny sleet started falling from midnight, rustling against the white paper covering the windows all night long. When I got up in the morning, the snowflakes were getting bigger and bigger, and the whole world was shrouded in a pure white blanket, which seemed to brighten people's hearts. However, no one could have imagined that such a sordid thing would happen under this pure and innocent world."

"I dragged my broom, opened the gate, and tried to sweep a path through the area. Just as I opened the door, a body thudded in, falling flat on the ground, startling me. Looking down, I saw it was a female beggar, filthy from head to toe, her clothes tattered and mangled. Her hands were covered in blood, and the gate was streaked with blood, already congealed purple. It seemed she had come last night, probably pounding on the door for a long time before finally fainting."

"I placed my hand near her nose to check; her breath was very faint, but barely perceptible. I looked closely at her face and suddenly realized that this woman looked remarkably like my mother. The nose, the eyes, the eyebrows, the clenched jaw. What resembled my mother most was her current situation; in that condition, if I didn't leave her, she would surely freeze to death at the temple gate in at most an hour."

"Without hesitation, I immediately tried to drag her body, but I was too weak and couldn't move her at all. In desperation, I shouted loudly."

"The guest monk and three other monks rushed over, still half asleep. When they saw that the woman was about to freeze to death, they all started cursing. One of the monks reached out and pulled the woman toward the gate."

"Wait," said the monk in charge of the reception. He walked over and felt the woman's chest with his hand. His eyes widened as he said, "She's still alive. Quick, carry her inside."

At that time, I was extremely grateful to the monk who was in charge of receiving guests. Although he was usually the most vicious to me, seeing his compassionate expression made all my hatred for him disappear. However, I never saw the heinous thoughts in his heart.

"The three monks, who were usually very obedient to him, saw him say this and went over to lift the woman up. They carried her to the kitchen in the backyard, lit a fire to warm the house, and boiled a bowl of ginger soup. They then pried open the woman's teeth and forced it down her throat. After about half an hour, the woman trembled and opened her eyes."

"She looked at us with a puzzled expression, her gaze sweeping over our faces one by one, and finally said in a very weak voice: 'Thank you, thank you.' The monk who was in charge of receiving guests took a step forward, put his palms together and said: 'Amitabha, please rest for a while, female benefactor.' Then he turned to me and said: 'The temple is short of firewood, you should go up the mountain to collect firewood today. I will give you some cakes, and you don't need to come back at noon.'"

"Actually, I really wanted to stay by this woman's side, but I couldn't disobey her orders. So, I looked at the woman lying there with reluctance, picked up my wood-chopping knife, turned around and left the room. I followed a monk to the guest monk's quarters, took two small round cakes, and went up the mountain."

"The snow-covered mountain path was extremely slippery. I climbed along, searching for firewood, thinking of that woman the whole time. It was very cold, but thinking of my mother through that woman filled my heart with warmth and gave me strength. I kept chopping and chopping, wanting to quickly gather enough wood to take back to the temple so I could see that woman again. The snow kept falling, getting heavier and heavier. I thought that in this weather, the woman definitely wouldn't be able to come down the mountain, so I could see her for a few more days. It was only a little past noon when I had gathered enough wood. So I retraced my steps back to the temple."

"When I arrived at the mountain gate, I found it tightly closed. I found that very strange; temples should be open to all, so why was it closed in broad daylight? I pounded on the gate, but no one answered. The weather was getting colder and colder, and I was shivering outside. So I left some firewood at the gate, went around to the back of the mountain, climbed over the wall, and jumped in."

"The temple was completely silent; no one knew where everyone had gone. As I walked through the backyard toward the gate, I suddenly heard an uncontrollable 'chuckle' coming from the kitchen. My heart skipped a beat, and I tiptoed over, peeking through the window. What I saw made me freeze in shock."

"The kitchen was a living hell!!!"

"The guest monk sat cross-legged on the ground, with the woman laid out before him, her clothes completely stripped off. She lay there helplessly, her lips moving incessantly. Her head was weakly turned toward me, and I could clearly see the despair in her eyes. A monk was writhing on top of her. Two other naked monks watched nearby, their snickers coming from them, their eyes gleaming with wicked intent. They were itching for a fight. Finally, the first monk stopped his vile twitching, and the other immediately pounced on him. The guest monk, who had been watching, burst into laughter, the laughter growing louder and louder. I felt dizzy, and my body went limp as I collapsed."

"A monk ran out without even putting on his robes, walked up to me, kicked me hard, then dragged me back to the kitchen, shoved me in front of the guest monk, and said, 'It's this little bastard.'"

---janeadam

Reply [12]: "That damned old eunuch looked down at me, his eyes gradually turning fierce. One of the monks was still moving around like a madman. He called the remaining two over and said, 'There's no way now. The snow has blocked the mountain, and no one will know that a woman was here. We'll just throw her into the mountains later, and that'll be the end of it. But this little bastard can't keep his mouth shut; he definitely won't be able to keep the secret. What should we do?'"

The other two monks remained silent, but one of them could be heard humming softly.

"I do have a solution, but I don't know if you'd be willing," the guest monk said, glancing at the two monks.

“As monks, we are supposed to be detached from worldly desires and should not indulge in wine and women. Since we have already broken our vows today, why not break our vows of lust as well?”

"When he said this, the other two monks didn't understand at first, but after a moment, an expression of disbelief appeared on their faces."

The old monk said, "That's right. Everyone has a part in what happened today. If you want to ensure no one tells anyone in the future, there's only one way: push things to the extreme. Whoever does tell will be the first to die."

"At this moment, another monk also stopped. The group huddled together, each with fear on their face. One of the monks whispered, 'Killing will incur the Buddha's wrath!'"

"Hahahaha, where is there any Buddha?" The old eunuch laughed wildly. "I've been a monk for over thirty years, and you've all been for nearly twenty. Where have you ever seen any Buddha? This kind of thing can only fool the ignorant masses. How come you yourselves believe it? If there truly were gods and Buddhas, why haven't you been struck by lightning for what you've done today? Hahahaha—"

"I was lying on the ground then, the old eunuch's laughter deafening, but beyond that arrogant laughter, I clearly heard a somber sigh. I opened my eyes, and suddenly my gaze could pierce through the walls, landing directly on the Buddha in the main hall. Yes, the statue was shaking its head and sighing. It stood up, and the once gleaming golden statue instantly dimmed. I looked again at the tower behind the mountain, and I clearly saw it crumbling inch by inch, countless wronged souls and evil spirits pouring out of it, roaring there, black clouds churning, and streaks of evil shooting out in all directions. I turned around..." Before I knew it, the four beasts had surrounded the woman, knives in hand. Their hands trembled as they slashed her body, leaving bloody wounds. The woman struggled, but she was too weak to utter a word, let alone escape the onslaught of these four inhuman demons. The four men grew increasingly composed as they slashed; their hands stopped trembling, and their faces stopped sweating. What had been torture had turned into pleasure. The woman was dismembered piece by piece: hands, arms, legs, feet, body. Finally, they threw a bloody head in front of me.

---janeadam

Reply [13]: There was not a trace of pain on the woman's face; it seemed that death was a relief for her. My hands trembled as I picked up the head. I vaguely saw the woman wink at me. Her face turned into my *** face. She opened her mouth and said to me: Child, Mom is leaving. Remember to avenge me. This is a dog-eat-dog world. If you don't want to be eaten, you have to eat people yourself. I don't regret what happened today. If I had known this earlier, Mom would have eaten people too, so we wouldn't have starved to death. We wouldn't have been eaten by others. Do you remember the corpses on the way here? Even the living are dismembered, so how can the dead not be dismembered? Wild animals will come out at night to gnaw on those corpses, but how can they compare to people? They will eat people in broad daylight. Go eat me. Mom won't blame you. Come here and let Mom kiss you again!

"I held the ***'s head close to my forehead, placing her mouth on the top of my forehead. I felt her tongue gently caressing my skin, a chill slowly seeping into my brain. Finally, only one thought remained in my mind: eat her, eat her! I held the ***'s head back up to examine it carefully. To prevent her from seeing this ugly world again, I resolutely reached out a hand and gouged out her eyes. I felt the ***'s head tremble—she must be in so much pain—I thought, adding a little more force to my hand—so slippery—the eyeballs rolled around in their sockets—go, mother, what is there to cling to in this world? —A soft 'hiss' sound, like tearing something apart—I removed the ***'s eyes—when my mother gave birth to me, when she cut the umbilical cord, it must have felt the same way—say goodbye to the world that once belonged to her—I gently swallowed the ***'s eyes—child, I'm leaving—goodbye, mother—the eye fell into my belly without hesitation."

"The next day, the Japanese soldiers arrived here. This time, without the help of the gods, the Japanese soldiers marched straight in and occupied the entire town of Linjiao overnight. They began to kill indiscriminately. The villagers panicked and went up the mountain to pray. When they knelt on the ground and worshipped the statue, I coldly saw the evil spirit in the statue barking wildly."

"The days that followed were truly an era of the decline of good and the rise of evil. Evil spirits that had fled inhabited the hearts of everyone with wavering wills. Dark clouds hung over the outskirts of Lin, and ghosts roamed freely. Every night, only the wails of ghosts and the howls of gods could be heard. From dusk till dawn, the cries were incessant, and miasma rose everywhere. Countless ghosts wandered the outskirts of Lin. The old eunuch and three other monks disappeared on the night the Japanese soldiers seized the temple. I had nowhere to go, so I stayed in the temple. Every day I witnessed the countless atrocities committed by the Japanese soldiers: looting, rape, and killing. The list goes on and on." Every night, they would transport the corpses to the back mountain, then make me dig a pit to bury them. The vengeful spirits escaping from the corpses would surround me; I could feel their long, cold tongues licking my forehead. Their invisible bodies, like snakes, would coil around me, their icy forms crawling across my skin, searching for a crevice to enter my body. But my mother was already inside me! At these times, she would let out a terrifying howl, driving away every delusional spirit around her.

My body is growing heavier and heavier. Perhaps carrying just one person in my life would be better; I'd get used to it eventually. But now I carry the thoughts of two people. When I sleep, my mother is awake; when I wake to face the world, she longs to sleep. She whispers inside me: "Son, sleep, sleep." For so many years, I've rarely slept. And so I've aged rapidly. My appearance has changed. The resentment in the eyes of a nine-year-old child chills anyone who sees me.

Perhaps for the same reason, even the ruthless Japanese soldiers rarely bothered me. Even their ferocious wolfhounds would run away silently at the sight of me. From that moment on, I was filled with hatred for the world. I craved bloodshed, violence, and killing. Every time I witnessed such scenes, I felt a surge of excitement. Five years! Japanese soldiers committed thousands of atrocities near Linjiao, and I spent those five years studying.

---janeadam

Reply [14]: After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the government called on us to return to secular life and allocated me a house and land, so I settled down in Linjiao. I lived a peaceful life in the world, and nothing happened. My mother was also very quiet, perhaps she also liked this leisurely life? It wasn't until last year, when the government called on us to return to the temple, that I returned to the temple. When I walked into the temple, I was shocked to see three monks who had already returned to the temple. My blood suddenly stopped flowing, and I felt my mother gritting her teeth and saying to me: Child, the rest is all up to you.

As the old monk finished speaking, he threw a piece of firewood into the fire. A swarm of flies buzzed around, their noise growing louder and louder. Yu Ru was also captivated by the story; she stopped screaming and simply stared blankly at the Arhats on either side.

Thirty years have passed, and the once vigorous monks are now frail and weak. Seeing me, perhaps remembering what they had done to me in the past, none of them uttered a word; they simply stood there trembling, bowing to me. I heard my mother say to me: "Child, we can't let them get away with this." So I forced a smile. In the instant I passed them, I saw them tightly covering their noses.

"That night I didn't sleep. After everyone else had fallen asleep, I went alone to the back of the mountain to bury my mother. I saw the earth crack open, and a pair of hands slowly reached out, groping left and right, finally grabbing my feet. Then her body emerged from the ground and stood before me. She bowed her head and said, 'Child, go, go, avenge your mother. Remember to tell me when you're done!' I wanted to see her face, but she shook her head, her withered yellow hair trembling: 'Have you forgotten, child? I gave you my eyes. Now your mother has no eyes, and can't even see the road below. That's why I've been enduring this here. I gave you my eyes so I could see them die with my own eyes. Go and avenge them quickly. After you're done, come down and join your mother, okay?' After saying that, she disappeared back into the earth."

“After I got back that night, I started preparing for revenge. In this new society, it takes a lot of thought to kill someone without anyone knowing. Later, I finally came up with a plan.”

"One night, it was raining heavily, and the three monks went to bed early. I knew they were old and would get up to check on themselves, so I quietly waited outside their door. Sure enough, in the middle of the night, the first monk came out, and I followed him quietly. As he turned a corner, I knocked him unconscious with a stick and tied him up tightly. Then I captured the second monk who got up to check, and then I rushed in and tied up the last monk as well. Finally, I brought them all here."

A strange look appeared in Yu Ru's eyes.

“That night was truly exhilarating. I stripped all three of them naked, laid them on the ground, and placed my mother's memorial tablet on it. I sacrificed her alive. When I attacked the first one, the other two had already fainted from fright. Evil spirits lurking in corners, on rooftops, and in shadows cheered me on. I calmly cut, methodically dissected, and orderly categorized the pieces. The blood that flowed was thick and sticky, causing me to slip and fall several times. The stench on my body grew stronger and stronger, until even I could no longer bear it. However, the thought of my mother's smile made me forget everything and concentrate on what I was doing. I placed the edible meat on the altar. No one would have imagined that three emaciated old monks would have so many useful parts. I buried all their internal organs deep in the ground. The skin that was peeled off dried instantly, with faint traces of dried blood on it. Good, I can use it to make several umbrellas in time. In the end, only the heads and bones were left. I left them here too, so that they could accompany my mother forever.”

---janeadam

Reply [15]: After the old monk finished speaking, he looked up at the Arhat statues. Swarms of flies hovered there, sometimes landing and crawling around, crawling into the eyes and out of the ears. It seemed as if the heads of the statues were hollow. The old monk admired them, then suddenly turned his head and asked in a tone that sought his opinion:

"How do you think of my cooking?"

Yu Ru trembled all over and couldn't speak. The old monk's eyes lit up as if he had discovered something interesting, and he said:

"Ah, it just so happens that we're short of a Pure Land Guanyin statue here? Would you be willing?"

The door suddenly opened, and the vendor appeared in the doorway. Fog billowed in through the open door.

“I arrived in Linjiao last night,” the monk said to Yuru on the way down the mountain, carrying a load on his shoulder, while Yuru followed behind, looking distracted.

"I knocked on the door all night, but no one opened it. So I spent the night in the doorway. When I left in the morning, I ran into you. Your child cried, and I knew something bad was going to happen. While I was resting in the doorway, I could vaguely hear the sound of a baby crying from the temple. I know some monks eat meat, but they can't buy meat, nor do they have the ability to hunt in the mountains. So they secretly cut off the flesh of the dead to eat while performing rituals for people. If no one dies for a long time, they have to wait by the roadside for an opportunity to snatch babies. Don't think this is difficult. In fact, many people don't care about their children at all when they are doing these things. Some adulterous couples have sex in the fields, leaving their children aside, ignoring their cries, only caring about their own pleasure. When they find that their children are missing, they have no choice but to swallow their pain. Others gamble all day long, leaving their children to run around everywhere, and they themselves are not home for three to five days. No one even knows if their children have been missing for several days. And some people are even more heartless, abandoning their children in the wild, not knowing that besides man-eating beasts, there are also meat-eating monks in the world."

"Those who are lucky, like me, are rescued, but even then, they have to endure countless hardships to grow into adulthood. This shows how difficult it is to survive in this world. People fear ghosts, but they don't realize that the evil in human nature far surpasses that of ghosts. Ghosts are terrifying because they are invisible and uncontrollable, but who pays attention to the living people around them? Like the old monk, whose body was possessed by inner demons, he was already a walking corpse—who could tell? How many people in the world are like him? The old monk always made excuses for his actions, saying his mother made him do them. Aren't people in the world the same? If they do something right, they consider it their own idea; if they do something that is universally condemned, they always try to shift the blame onto others, regardless of whether that person is alive or dead. People say: 'The devil is one foot tall, but the righteous path is ten feet tall.' But they don't know that demons arise from the heart; with ten thousand hearts, there are ten thousand demons, while the righteous path remains constant. How can one subdue demons? Therefore, if we want the world to be free of demons, then people must be free of evil hearts. How difficult is that?"

"Waaah—" The child in the carrying pole suddenly started crying. Yu Ru was jolted awake and rushed forward to pick up the child. However, the monk had already put down the carrying pole, carried out A Long, and held the child to his nose, sniffing hard, his breath coming in short gasps: "So fragrant, I really want to swallow you all whole."

Yu Ru opened her eyes wide in fear.

The monk glanced at her with a slanted eye, his gaze strangely unsettling: "I forgot to mention, the monk who adopted me was a eunuch."

---janeadam

Reply [16]: Postscript

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