法苑珠林 31.65

31.65

吳時廬陵郡都亭重屋中常有鬼魅。宿者輒死。自後使官莫敢入。舍。時丹陽人。姓湯名應。大有膽武。使至廬陵便入亭止。吏啟不可止此。應不隨諫。盡遣所將人還外止宿。應唯持一口大刀。臥至三更。中間有叩閤者。應遙問誰。答云。部郡相聞。應使進。相聞已而去。經須臾間。復有扣閤者如前。曰府君相聞。應復使進。身著皂衣去。後應謂是人了無疑也。頃復扣閤言。是部郡府君詣來。應乃疑曰。此夜非時。又府君部郡不應同行。知是鬼魅。持刀近之。見有二人皆盛衣服。俱進坐畢。府君者。便與應談。談未畢而部郡跳至應背後。應顧以刀擊中之。府君下座走出之。應急追至亭後牆下及之。斫傷數下。去其處已還臥達曙。將人往尋見有血迹。追之皆得。云稱府君者是老狐魅。云部郡者是老狸魅。自後遂絕永無妖怪。

During the Wu period, in the upper storey of the capital pavilion in Luling Commandery, there were constantly demonic spirits; those who lodged there would die. From then on, no dispatched officials dared enter and lodge. At that time, a man of Danyang named Tang Ying was exceedingly brave and martial. Sent on a mission to Luling, he immediately entered the pavilion to stay. The clerk advised that he should not stay there, but Ying did not heed the admonition and dismissed all the men under his command to go outside to lodge. Ying held only a broadsword. He lay resting until the third watch. In the interim, someone knocked on the door. Ying asked from afar, 'Who is it?' The reply was, 'An emissary from the regional commandery.' Ying had him enter. Having delivered the message, he left. A moment later, someone knocked on the door as before, saying, 'An emissary from the prefecture lord.' Ying again had him enter. He wore black garments and then departed. Ying took them to be humans, harboring no suspicion at all. Shortly after, someone knocked on the door again, saying, 'The prefecture lord and the regional commandery officer have come to call.' Ying then grew suspicious, thinking, 'This is not the proper time of night. Moreover, the prefecture lord and the regional officer should not travel together.' Knowing they were demonic spirits, he approached them holding his sword. He saw two men, both in splendid garments, enter together, and when they had finished sitting down, the one claiming to be the prefecture lord began to converse with Ying. Before the conversation was finished, the regional officer leaped behind Ying's back. Ying turned and struck him with the sword, hitting him. The prefecture lord stepped down from his seat and fled outside. Ying gave chase urgently to the base of the pavilion's rear wall, caught up with him, and slashed him several times. Leaving that place, he returned to bed until daybreak. Leading men to search, he saw traces of blood. Tracking them, he caught them all. The one called the prefecture lord was an old fox demon; the one called the regional officer was an old wildcat demon. From then on they were completely eradicated, and there were never any more anomalous monsters.