法苑珠林 70.88

70.88

唐河間邢文宗。家接幽燕。稟性麁險。貞觀年中。忽遭惡風疾。旬日之間眉鬚落盡。於後就寺歸懺。自云。近者使向幽州路。逢一客將絹十餘匹。逈澤無人。因即却殺。此人云。將向城內欲買經紙。終不得免。少間屬一老僧復欲南出遇文宗。懼事發覺揮刀擬僧。僧叩頭曰。乞存性命。誓願終身不言。文宗殺之。棄之草間。經二十餘日。行還過僧死處。時當暑月。疑皆爛壞。試往視之。儼如生日。宗因下馬以策築僧之口。口出一蠅。飛鳴清徹。直入宗鼻。久悶不出。因得大患。歲餘而死（右二驗出冥報拾遺）。

Xing Wenzong of Hejian under the Tang lived adjacent to You and Yan. He had a naturally crude and treacherous disposition. During the Zhenguan era, he suddenly contracted a malignant wind-disease (leprosy); within ten days, his eyebrows and beard completely fell out. Later, he went to a monastery to take refuge and repent, confessing himself: 'Recently, when I was sent along the road to Youzhou, I met a traveler carrying more than ten bolts of silk. In the remote marsh where no one was around, I therefore killed him. This man had said, "I am taking this into the city intending to buy sutra paper," but in the end he could not escape. Shortly after, there was an old monk who was also heading south and encountered me. Fearing that the matter would be discovered, I wielded a knife against the monk. The monk kowtowed and said, "I beg you to spare my life; I vow never to speak of this to the end of my days." I killed him and abandoned him among the grasses. After more than twenty days, on my return journey, I passed the spot where the monk had died. As it was the hot summer season, I suspected the body would be completely putrefied, and went to check on it. It looked majestic, just as when he was alive. I thereupon dismounted and struck the monk's mouth with my whip. Out of his mouth came a fly, flying and buzzing crisply and clearly, which flew straight into my nose. It remained stuck inside without coming out, causing me to contract a great affliction, and I am dying after more than a year.' (The preceding two verifications are from Gleanings of Hidden Retributions.)