Tian Yuyuan, a native of Jiangxi Province, lived in the Qianjia period of the Qing Dynasty, and there was a "Notes on Moss Xizhao Hall" handed over, many of which recorded strange things. In the early years, Tian Yuyuan once went to the residence of a giant official as a curtain guest. The so-called curtain guest is the master. He is known to have wild eyes. Because he failed many times, he lost confidence in imperial examinations, and liked to travel in the mountains and rivers, he often took leave to go out and walk around.
Once Tian Yuyuan heard that there was a small Li Si seal tablet from the Qin Dynasty in the mountains, so he wanted to open a book and come back. After entering the mountain, he searched for a long time, but could not find it. It was too late, and he was in a hurry. Seeing the light shining in the mountain in front, he went forward to ask for a night. When he got closer, he found that it was a Taoist temple. There was a middle-aged Taoist priest in the temple. Although he was in a remote place in the mountains, the Taoist priest spoke elegantly and well, and his poems and songs were all familiar, which made Tian Yuyuan feel heartbroken. The two talked for a long time, and Tian Yuyuan was hungry, so the Taoist priest went to cook a bowl of noodles for him to eat. The noodles were also ordinary noodles, and there were sections of chicken necks in them. The soup was very clear, and after tasting it, it was delicious. He was greatly surprised and asked the Taoist priest, who had never seen a chicken, where so many chicken necks came from, but the Taoist priest laughed and did not answer.
Just as he was talking, there was a sudden gust of wind outside, and although the window of the house was closed, the candlelight suddenly became smaller. Tian Yuyuan only said that the sky was about to change, but the Taoist priest said that an enemy had come and asked Tian Yuyuan to wait in the house and not move, and went out by himself. After a while, I heard the Taoist say, "Since you are here, you are going to see a superior on the spot, but today I have a guest to visit, so change it to tomorrow."
Tian Yuyuan was very curious, how could this elegant Taoist priest also have enemies? He had the courage to look through the window gap, but saw that the Taoist priest was standing in the courtyard, but in front of him was not a human, but a huge snake. The snake's shape was quite strange, its body was only four or five feet long, and it was two feet wide.
When the Taoist priest came into the house, Tian Yuyuan couldn't help but ask about what happened just now, and the Taoist priest said that his sect specializes in raising snakes, and the bowl of noodles Tian Yuyuan ate was actually not chicken necks, but snake segments. In modern times, due to the popularity of Cantonese cuisine, eating snakes is not shocking, but it was something that made people terrified at the beginning.
When monosodium glutamate first entered China, the countryside saw that this powder could turn water into chicken soup, so it was falsely said that it was made of snake bone powder, so it was so fresh. Tian Yuyuan was also a little disgusting at first, but in retrospect, the snake segment was strangely delicious, so he asked the Taoist why he raised snakes. The Taoist said that he specializes in raising snakes, mainly selling gall to pharmacies, and he also has a unique skill, which is to make snakes yellow.
The yellow snake was the stone in the snake's body, and it was an extremely precious traditional Chinese medicine. The Taoist priest raised the snake to take the gall and yellow, and then used it to give alms to the poor in the countryside after making money. Tian Yuyuan was in awe when he heard this. It is also because of raising snakes to kill snakes that the snake king was attracted to. The descendants of the snake king were killed a lot by the Taoist priest, and the snake king came to fight for revenge.
Hearing that the Taoist priest was in trouble, Tian Yuyuan wanted to go with the Taoist priest tomorrow. First, to help, and second, it was also a rare situation in his life. He really wanted to see it.
The Taoist priest was very embarrassed at first, but later nodded and said it was fine, because the Snake King was very spiritual and would not hurt innocent people, and his life and death were uncertain. Once the battle failed, Tian Yuyuan could also collect his corpse.
The next day, the Taoist priest cut a large pile of bamboo sticks, then took Tian Yuyuan to the top of a mountain, took a piece of realgar for him, and asked him to stand behind a large stone in his mouth. He told her not to come out in the middle of the fight, and he walked forward.
After a while, there was a strong fishy wind, and Tian Yuyuan had the courage to look out, only to see the grass moving and falling, and the snake king had swam over. About five or six steps in front of the Taoist priest, the snake king stopped, spewing yellow smoke from his mouth, and from a distance it still smelled unusually fishy. The Taoist priest kept throwing the bamboo sticks out, and with each throw, the yellow mist became lighter, but soon thickened again.
Gradually, the yellow fog shrouded the surrounding area, and Tian Yuyuan could see nothing in front of him. He did not know what had happened to the Taoist priest, but his ambition when he came disappeared, and his two legs couldn't stop fighting. After a while, I heard the footsteps of the Taoist priest, but he staggered back, and as soon as he reached the stone where Tian Yuyuan was stunned, he fell down.
Tian Yuyuan was taken aback and hurriedly helped him up. The Taoist priest was swollen and could no longer speak. He just pointed to his chest.
When the yellow mist dispersed, Tian Yuyuan went over to take a look and saw that the Snake King had disappeared. The ground was densely packed with bamboo sticks, two-thirds of each stick penetrating deep into the soil, and some were even inserted into stones. You can see how powerful the Taoist was when he threw it out. Tian Yuyuan saw that the Taoist was still terrified after the Taoist victory, so he asked him if he had killed the Snake King. The Taoist shook his head and said that he had done his best at that time, and he still only let the Snake King escape with injuries, not his life. Although he was lucky enough to win, the Snake King was a male and a female. This time it was the male snake king who came back. The female snake king will definitely come within three days, but it will be more than twice as big. The male snake king is so difficult to deal with, and when the female snake king comes, he must not be an opponent. I am afraid it's impossible to escape.
Tian Yuyuan was shocked and persuaded him to run away, but the Taoist priest said that the snake king has spirituality, even if it is thousands of miles away. If he hides in a densely populated place, the snake king will chase after him and burn all the jade, and life will be destroyed, and crime will be even greater. Tian Yuyuan heard it very well and asked him if there is any other way, the Taoist priest sighed and said, there is a way, maybe it can be concealed from the snake king, but this matter must be helped by Tian Yuyuan.
Returning to the Taoist temple, the Taoist priest put down the big bronze bell in the temple, got under the bell himself, asked Tian Yuyuan to seal his mouth with June 1 mud, and said that he would let himself out after three days. This bell is at least a few thousand catties, and once you enter it, you can't get out at all.
The next day, there was a sudden rainstorm, and the mountain road was broken. On the third day, Tian Yuyuan called someone to rush to the Taoist temple, but he saw that the Taoist temple had become a piece of rubble, only the copper bell was still standing on the ground, and it was full of traces after friction. He lifted up the clock and looked at it, and saw that it was steaming hot inside, and the Taoist priest had turned into a charred corpse. Tian Yuyuan sighed for a long time and had to bury the Taoist priest.
Later, Tian Yuyuan traveled to the Western Regions, where he met another Taoist priest who caught snakes. Speaking of this, the Taoist priest burst into tears, and it turned out that Tian Yuyuan had met his senior brother earlier. Tian Yuyuan asked him what happened at that time. The Taoist priest said that senior brother missed the game and underestimated the spirituality of the female snake king. He hid in the big bell, and although the female snake king could not bite him, she kept winding around the bell, causing the temperature in the bell to rise sharply.