In the 12th year of Tang Zhenyuan, on the ancient road in the suburbs of Nanyang, a scholar carried a book basket and hurried from west to east. At this time, the sun was setting and the sky was getting late, and several farmers working in the fields by the roadside had also finished their work and planned to go home. After seeing the scholar, they stopped him, clasped their fists and saluted him, and then asked the scholar where he came from and where he was going.

Shu Sheng had a suspicious look on his face, wondering why these farmers stopped him. He bowed back and said that he had come from the capital, went to his hometown in Yingzhou, and passed through this place. I don't know what you are doing to stop him.

One of the farmers said, "If you go a few more miles, you have to go through a mountain road, and the road is rough and difficult. Now it's getting late, and you are a scholar and you are alone. How can you go? I am afraid that you will make a mistake, so I stopped you.

The scholar heard the words and thanked, but declined the crowd, saying that he had something important at home and had to go back quickly, so he had to travel overnight.

Seeing that the scholar refused to listen to his advice, the farmer showed an anxious look on his face and said, "To be honest, our place has not been very peaceful recently."

Shu Sheng was taken aback when he heard that and said, "Could it be that thieves robbed money and killed people?"

"That's not true!The farmer shook his head and replied, "It's just that what happened here is more terrifying than thieves!"

The farmer told the scholar that there was a mountain in front of him called Niutou Mountain. In the last years of the previous dynasty, an army fought in that mountain, and the battle was extremely tragic, and many people died. Many nearby villagers have picked up some old armor swords in the mountains, and have seen many dead soldiers with their own eyes.

Although they had some taboos about the mountain in the past, they had always been calm and peaceful. They had never heard of anything strange happening in the mountain, but recently something was wrong in the mountain. Some people who walked at night said that they had seen living corpses in the mountain, and suspected that it was transformed by soldiers who had died for many years.

"A living corpse?Shu Sheng was shocked when he heard that, "What is that?"

The farmer replied, "It's a monster turned into a human corpse. According to passers-by who have seen it, its appearance is terrifying, it's thin as a ghost, its clothes are ragged, its body is rotten, and it stinks. Some parts have been exposed to white bones. If it were an ordinary person, it would have died long ago, but that thing could still travel under the moon.

The scholar was skeptical, and said to the farmer, "The theory of gods and ghosts is illusory, and it is mostly a folk falsehood. How can a living corpse exist? Maybe that passerby is lying, or maybe he is confused!"

The farmer shook his head and said that was not the case. He said that many people had seen a living corpse in the mountains, and their accounts of the living corpse were the same, and it could not be made up out of thin air.

"In addition, our village has often lost captive poultry recently, and the ground is stained with blood. It is suspected that the living corpse is haunting, which has caused panic in the village. Every household closes its doors and windows at night, and no one dares to go out.

Why do you, a weak scholar, take the risk travelling at night? Besides, there are many wolves, tigers and leopards in the mountains, who often hurt people at night, and passersby will be in trouble from time to time. You will find a few fellow scholars tomorrow, and it will not be safe to walk together." "

The scholar pondered for a moment, but still insisted on going. He said that the facts at home were extremely urgent and could not be delayed.

The farmers saw that he was determined to do so, and it was difficult to dissuade him, so they followed him and shook their heads and left.

The scholar continued on his way and walked for about half an hour. Sure enough, a mountain appeared in front of him, entering the mountain along the mountain road like a bird's path in sheep intestines.

The scholar felt a little uneasy in his heart. Remembering what the farmers said, waves of terror came to his heart, and his footsteps could not help but speed up. As he walked, he kept peeking behind him, and he always felt that something was following him.

As he walked, the house leaked into continuous rain, the sky suddenly darkened, and he almost couldn't see his fingers. The scholar looked up and saw that the bright moon in the sky had been covered with dark clouds, as if it was raining heavily in the future. He was even more perturbed in his heart and was hesitating whether to return. At this time, he suddenly heard a rustling sound behind him, turned his head to look, and was immediately frightened.

The scholar was so scared that he turned and ran, and his eyes were chasing after him tightly. The night was dark, and he couldn't see what it was. The scholar hurriedly took out a fire fold from the basket behind him and lit it. As he ran, he looked behind him and saw through the fire that it was actually a wolf.

The wolf let out a fierce roar and rushed towards the scholar. The scholar was extremely afraid, and he tripped over a mountain block in panic. He was about to die of the wolf, and his heart went blank.

However, there was no movement for a long time. When he opened his eyes, he saw that the wolf was retreating step by step, arching his body, grinning his teeth and roaring, his eyes flashing fiercely, staring behind the scholar. After a while, he actually ran away with his tail between his legs.

Scholar didn't know what had happened. He picked up the fire on the ground and looked behind him. He saw that there was a person standing behind him.

The scholar looked carefully through the firelight, and the heart that had just been settled was suddenly pulled up again. Who is this person, it is obviously the living corpse mentioned by the farmers.

I saw that "person" Ai Fa looked bad, his eyes were sunken, his face was pale, and he looked like no one. The flesh and blood on his body was rotten, and the blood was dripping, especially the rotten flesh on his chest fell off, revealing the white bones, which was very scary.

Shu Sheng was so scared that he was out of his body and turned around to escape. At this time, a voice came: "Don't be afraid of future generations, I am not a monster and will not harm you."

Shu Sheng was stunned when he heard that, and stopped, but he took a few steps back, carefully looking at the "person", but he didn't think it was a person no matter how he looked at it, and asked tremblingly, "Are you a human or a ghost?

The man sighed and said, "I don't know if I'm a human or a ghost now, I only know that I'm still alive. Since I'm not dead, I should still be considered a human!"

Shu Sheng saw that he could talk to him, not a mindless ghost, and was no longer as afraid as before, so he asked: "If you look like this, if you are an ordinary person, you are already dead, but why can you still live in the world?"

The man was silent for a long time and slowly replied, "Because I don't want to die!"

Scholars are speechless, who in this world want to die! Birth, old age, sickness and death, human nature, how can people wish to fail?

Seeing that the scholar showed a puzzled expression, the man smiled bitterly and said: "The reason why I didn't die is indeed a secret, the sky is big and the earth is big, you say why do I have to stay in this deep mountain full of corpses? I have no choice!"

He sighed, sat down on the ground, and slowly told his story.

According to what he said, his surname was Wang Mingjingtang, and he was a wealthy man in the previous dynasty. His family was wealthy, and he had a group of wives and concubines.

He did everything possible to find the method of immortality, and gave up countless wealth for it. Later, he finally inquired about a secret method in the mouth of a Taoist priest who was well treated by him. The Taoist priest told him that when a person is about to die, there will be a ghost to hook the soul. If it is hidden, it will not be found, and the soul will not be lured away.

So where can't you find the yin difference? The Taoist priest said that only in places where the yin qi is pervasive, the yin qi covers the yang qi on the living person, and if the breath of the living person is not revealed, it can blind the yin difference and make it undetectable.

However, it was not easy to find places with heavy Yin Qi. There were not many dead people buried in ordinary graves. Yin Qi was insufficient, and over time Yin Qi had long since dissipated.

Therefore, he searched everywhere for the kind of Asura battlefield, the ferocious and shady land where countless dead people abandoned their homes and possessions, and lived in seclusion, so that they could not die.

It's just that those dark places where countless people have died are often on the suburbs of barren mountains, in an uninhabited place. He lives alone and is very miserable. At the beginning, he had his family to take care of him, and he often came to see him and brought some food and clothing.

Afterwards, his relatives died of old age, leaving him alone, and his life became miserable. During the day, his yin energy was strong and his yin energy was weak. He dared not come out, so he could only hide in the cave in the cellar.

Even so, he still didn't want to die. Instead, he became more and more afraid of death. He no longer knew whether he was attached to life or afraid of death.

In the blink of an eye, he did not know how many years had passed, and the Yin Qi in his previous hiding place became increasingly thin, so he had to risk leaving and moving to Niutou Mountain here. At that time, he had lived for more than two hundred years, and he was old and weak. In addition, the Yin Qi was entangled all year round, corroding his body, and even his flesh and blood were rotten.

Ometimes he encounters passers-by at night, often scaring people. He wants to explain and talk to passers-by to relieve their distress, but he often scares passers-by and flees.

In the cold winter and twelfth lunar month, he couldn't find food in the mountains, and his hunger was unbearable. He would go down the mountain late at night to steal some poultry from nearby villages to eat raw. Every time he went down the mountain, he would feel uneasy, lest he be caught by the underworld.

At this point, he shook his head and sighed several times, with a sad expression on his face.

The scholar was very surprised when he heard it. He never thought that there would be such a bizarre thing. If this person wasn't standing in front of him, it would be unbelievable.

"Since life is so miserable, why are you so obsessed with living?" asked Shu Sheng.

Wang Jingtang said that there is too many nostalgia for him in this world, and he can't let it go.

Scholar said, "Everyone has someone who is nostalgic. The things they cherish are destined to be lost, so why be reluctant to part with them!"

Wang Jingtang sighed, "There is no stubbornness in people's hearts, like a person who fell into a boat clutching the straw in the river and refusing to give up, even if it is in vain, who will let go easily! Even if the times have changed, I have nothing, but at least I can still think about the past."

Shu Sheng sighed after hearing this, not knowing how to comfort this stubborn person.

At this time, thunder was rolling in the air, and heavy rain was approaching. Wang Jingtang took the scholar to a cave to take shelter from the rain. The two chatted for a while, and Wang Jingtang asked the scholar why he had to take the risk of traveling late at night.

The scholar said that he had gone to the capital to take the exam and stayed at a relative's house on the outskirts of the capital. As the exam approached, he suddenly received a letter from his family saying that his wife was seriously ill and wanted him to return quickly.

He and his wife have known each other since childhood. After they became husband and wife, they had a deep relationship. His family is poor, and it is his wife who sews clothes for others to subsidize the family, so that he can study with peace of mind.

He tried many times, but his wife did not complain. Instead, she comforted him in every way. Now that his wife was seriously ill, he had to give up scientific research and go home to take care of his wife.

Wang Jingtang praised the scholar for being affectionate and righteous after listening to him, but asked the scholar again, after ten years of hard study, you just got such a chance to stand out. You give up like this, are you willing?

The scholar said that he was naturally reluctant to give up. Since he was a child, he has been determined to get a reputation, but he was born stupid. He has been studying for decades, but he has not read anything.

But I didn't expect my wife to be seriously ill, and I didn't even have this last chance. I studied hard for ten years, but I achieved nothing. My ambition was empty, how could I be reconciled in my heart?

It's just that things have come to this point, what can I do? It's better to let it go completely and go home to take care of my wife to repay her kindness over the years.

Wang Jingtang nodded after listening, thoughtful.

Scholar continued, "Everyone says they are willing to give up, they are willing to give up, and they have something to gain. Since they are destined to lose, why force them? Only by daring to give up their stubbornness can they start over, and only by daring to give up their life in this life can they obtain the reincarnation of the next life!"

Wang Jingtang sighed softly after listening, and did not speak for a long time.

Seeing that he was no longer talking, the scholar leaned against the stone wall and became sleepy. Soon, he fell asleep.

After waking up, it was the next morning. The scholar stood up and saw that Wang Jingtang was not in the cave. He walked out of the cave, and the rain had passed outside.

The scholar buried him in the mountain, worshipped him a few times, prayed that he would pass away smoothly, then went down the mountain and continued on his way home.

Half a year later, one night, the scholar woke up from his dream, and the scene in his dream made him break out into a cold sweat. He looked at his wife in panic.

After a while, he sighed softly again, and he suddenly remembered what Wang Jingtang said that day, yes, in whose people's hearts, can there be no stubbornness!