At the end of the Tang Dynasty, the imperial court was in decline, wolves were everywhere, mountains and rivers were turbulent, and the world was in chaos. However, in chaotic times, the county magistrates in various places not only did not worry about the suffering of the people, but raided the people's wealth, imposed exorbitant taxes under the guise, and annexed land, so that the rich had fields of Lianqian, and the poor had no place to establish themselves, so that the people were displaced, homeless, and miserable.
However, there is said that there is a scholar named Geng An in Jinnan County. His family is wealthy and kind-hearted. He cannot bear to see people suffer. He often did righteous deeds and set up a porridge factory on the road to provide relief to the people and help the poor.
But in the chaotic times, there are countless hungry people. Even if Geng An scattered all his family's wealth, how could he be able to help them? So he wanted to get a reputation, to become an official and an official, in order to improve the situation of the people.
However, he tried many times and failed, and his heart was anxious. The fortune-tellers asked the hexagrams, and they all said that he had no official luck in this life. They also heard that there was a fox fairy in the suburbs of the city for 30 miles, and they went to ask for it, and the result was the same. He couldn't help but feel disheartened, thinking whether he would succeed or not in going to Beijing to take the exam again.
In the blink of an eye, it was spring day again, and Geng An packed up and went on the road again. He thought that going to Beijing would be easy and smooth as usual, but unexpectedly, halfway through the journey, there was a sudden heavy rain, and the water in a nearby river skyrocketed, blocking the road ahead.
It was just that hearing the locals say that the mountain road was rugged and difficult to travel, and that there had been bandits robbing the mountain, which made him feel a little uneasy. In order to smoothly go to the capital to participate in the scientific expedition, he couldn't care so much.
After going up the mountain, the road was really bumpy and difficult. The sheep intestines trail was full of weeds, as if no one had walked through it for many years. The surrounding dangerous cliffs stood tall, stony and dangerous, and he walked trembling.
He saw a small village at the foot of the mountain in front of him. He was tired and hungry, and wanted to go to the village for a night to ask for some food. When he entered the village, he found that it was a deserted village.
Walking through this desolate small village, Geng An couldn't help but feel a little scared. The village was a little strange, and there was no one, not even the sound of birds and insects. It was dead silent, and there was a gust of yin wind from time to time, and there was a faint smell of blood in the wind, which made Geng An uneasy, and the whole village looked gloomy.
The more he walked forward, the colder Geng An felt. The surroundings began to become foggy, and nothing could be seen. He could not help but wrap his clothes around him, and walked forward for a while, and suddenly saw a towering tree vaguely in front of him.
At this time, some fruits were blown by the wind and fell down, just falling in front of Geng An. After walking for a day, Geng An picked up the fruit and ate it.
Geng An looked up at the tree and wanted to pick up some more, but the tree was towering high and there was nothing he could do, but then the wind blew again, and the fruit did not fall, but blew away the thick fog nearby. Previously, the tree was shrouded in a thick fog, like seeing flowers in the fog, and he could not see clearly. Only part of the branches and leaves of the tree could be seen. Now that the thick fog has dissipated, the whole picture of the tree can be seen clearly.
In an instant, Geng An's eyes widened, and a terrified look appeared on his face. At the height of the tree, there were countless corpses hanging between the branches and leaves, swaying in the wind, and each face was distorted, looking extremely painful.
In a trance, Geng An seemed to see the corpses coming alive, struggling and wriggling on the trees. The leaves on the trees were like sharp blades, constantly cutting the corpses, and bursts of mournful screams came, like ghosts wailing.
This terrifying scene left Geng Anru in hell. He let out a scream and ran away. He stumbled and stumbled.
He didn't know how long it took before he woke up and found himself lying on the bed. An old man sitting by the bed looked at him. The old man had only one eye, and the other eye socket was empty and had no eyeballs.
Seeing that Geng An woke up, the old man looked panicked and knew that he was frightened by himself, so he quickly comforted him and said, "Don't be afraid, I saved you when I saw you fainted outside! Where are you from? Why did you come here?"
Geng An saw that the old man spoke kindly and didn't look like a bad person, so he was relieved and thanked the old man: "Xiaosheng is a scholar from Jinnan County who went to Beijing to take the exam. Due to the heavy rain, the river swelled and blocked the way, so he detoured here, but he never expected to see... Seeing the terrifying scene, he was terrified for a while, so he stumbled and fell. Unfortunately, his head touched a mountain and stone, and he fainted."
The old man heard this and said, "You must have seen that strange tree!"
Geng An nodded. Now that he remembered the scene on the tree, he was still terrified. He asked the old man, "What kind of tree is that? Why are there so many dead bodies hanging on it?"
The old man sighed and said, "I don't know what kind of tree that is, but I only know that the tree grew overnight three years ago. As you can see, the tree is crimson in color and has a strange appearance. Its branches are as hard as iron, and it is not afraid of water and fire. Even the leaves that grow from the tree are indestructible, like sharp blades.
The tree constantly emitted a bloody smell, and some villagers thought it was in the way and wanted to cut it down, but unexpectedly, the axe went down without leaving a trace. No matter how the axe was cut, it was not feasible to cut, saw and grind, so they wanted to dig out the roots. However, after digging two or three meters deep, the tree became thicker and thicker, and even the water in the ground was dug out.
Another good person put his ear on the tree, but faintly heard bursts of mournful screams, like ghosts wailing. And the corpse hanging on the tree is a villager in this village, and everyone in this village except me died on that tree." "
After hearing this, Geng An was shocked and hurriedly asked what was going on!
The old man sighed and said, "This is all retribution. To be honest, our village is not an ordinary village, but the whole village is a mountain thief."
"Bandits!" Geng An was startled. No wonder he heard someone say that there had been bandits in this mountain when he came, but it turned out to be true.
The old man continued, "In the beginning, the people in our village were just ordinary people who had their duty. Because the vassal soldiers wreaked havoc and took away all the food in our village, the villagers could not survive, and there were countless people who starved to death.
I am too old to do those things that block the way, or when people are old, they are kind. I often exhort the villagers to stop in moderation and not to commit murders, which makes them very dissatisfied with me. They think I am a free eater, so they let me take care of the looted women. I saw them crying all day and couldn't bear it, so I let them go.
The villagers were angry that I was bad for their good deeds, beat me half to death, and left me under that strange tree, leaving me to fend for myself. I was old, how could I withstand such a severe beating, and my consciousness gradually blurred. I thought I would die without a doubt. Just then, I saw a fruit falling from a tree next to me. I was hungry and wanted to die without being able to go on the road hungry, so I ate the fruit and felt a warm current flowing all over my body. My body was comfortable, and the wounds on my body had been healed in an instant.
I was very surprised. Although I didn't know what was going on, I faintly felt that it had something to do with the fruit I ate. After returning home, it was very strange for the villagers to see that I was safe.
They all thought that the tree was an immortal tree, and the fruit it bore was an immortal fruit, and they rushed to pick and eat it, but unexpectedly they ate the fruit without any effect, but it brought them death. That night, they all hung themselves on that strange tree, and overnight there was no one alive in the whole village except me. "
The old man sighed, "This is all retribution. I thought that the fruit on the strange tree might be rewarded after eating it, and good will be rewarded, and evil will be rewarded. Because I have a trace of conscience in my heart, I ate the fruit without harm, but I saved my life. It didn't take long for my right eye to go blind.
After listening to this, Geng An was very surprised, and secretly grateful that he often did good deeds, so he ate the fruit of the tree safely, but in his heart, he was a little curious about the origin of the tree, and he could distinguish between good and evil.
Geng An lived in the old man's house for one night, and went to the capital on the road the next day. A few days later, he arrived in the capital to participate in the scientific expedition. He thought that he would also be on the list this time, but unexpectedly he topped the high school list. It didn't take long for him to become a local official.
A few years later, he met an old monk and had a great conversation with him. During the chat, he told her about the strange tree he had seen in the past. The old monk was also very surprised when he heard it, telling him that the tree was not a human thing, but grew from the hell of Huangquan.
He said that he had seen relevant records in a Buddha scroll. There are 18 layers of hell, and the third layer is the Hell of the Iron Tree. In the hell of the iron tree, there is an iron tree with sharp blades.
The punishment in hell is severe, making life worse than death. It is extremely painful, and resentment breeds in the heart. The iron tree can devour resentment.
In troubled times, the world suffers, rituals and music collapse, and demons are born in the human heart. They often do evil things, and they will go to hell to be punished after death. Therefore, in troubled times, hell is often full of ghosts and resentment.
In the Buddha scroll, when the Han Dynasty was destroyed, the world was in chaos, and people's hearts were evil. There were countless ghosts who were punished in hell for committing sins, and their grievances were soaring into the sky. The iron tree swallowed a lot of grievances and grew continuously, so that the roots of the tree spread down to the thirteenth layer of the Blood Sea Hell, and the branches extended upward, piercing through the three layers of hell and appearing in the world. The iron tree will bring cause and effect into the world, and it will bear fruit in the world. If people eat it, they will get results. Good will be rewarded, and evil will be rewarded.
"I thought it was just a myth, but I didn't expect it to be true." The old monk sighed.
When Geng An heard about the origin of the iron tree, he was surprised and sighed with some emotion. Everyone says that good and evil are rewarded, and this is indeed true. After that, he became more diligent and loved the people, and did more good deeds, so that the people under his rule could live and work in peace and contentment.