A long time ago, there was a young man, only 25 years old, but he died of an acute illness, and before the burial, a Taoist priest asked the old mother to leave one of her son's toes, which one day could be relied upon

A long time ago, there was a young man, only 25 years old, but he died of an acute illness, and before the burial, a Taoist priest asked the old mother to leave one of her son's toes, and one day she could see her son again with this toe. The old mother half-believed what the Taoist priest said, but she did not expect to see her son again.

This young man was a small trader before he was born, and with his cleverness and wit, he earned some silver taels. There was a river in their village, and if the people in the village wanted to go to the market, they had to take a long detour to cross the river, which was very inconvenient, so the young man built a bridge for the village at his own expense, which was convenient for the people in the whole village.

However, the good people did not get good rewards, the young man's daughter-in-law had not yet had time to marry, she died of an acute illness, the young man's mother was in pain, and the people in the village also regretted it.

Just when the villagers were doing funerals for the young man, a Taoist priest passed by, and he looked at the young man lying in the coffin and was very surprised. The Taoist priest said to the young man's mother: Madam, since Ling'er has passed away, don't be too sad, if you can keep one of your son's toes today, your mother and son will see each other again. After saying this, the Taoist priest went away.

The villagers said that this Daoist priest was the Head of the Yunlong Dao on the outer mountain, and it was said that this Daoist leader had been practicing on the mountain for many years, and that his Dao practice was very deep, and he was very good at seeing people's faces, and he could calculate the things of his past life and this life, and he could calculate them, a special spiritual experience.

When the young man's mother heard the villagers say this, she did as the Taoist priest said, and removed one of her son's small toes with a knife, whether true or false, at least left a thought for herself.

Twenty years on. The boy's mother is nearly 70 years old, and in ancient times, 70 years old was a very high life. My mother was already old and dizzy. However, in her heart, she had never forgotten what the Taoist master had said, and she had been looking forward to seeing her son again one day.

However, after so many years, there is no news of his son at all. Finally, one day, the Yunlong Daoist chief came to the old mother's house, and he asked the old mother: When I asked you to leave your son's toes, did you keep them? The old mother nodded, and trembled as she pulled out a small cloth bag from her arms, which contained her son's little toes.

The Dao Commander took a look at it, smiled and said to the old mother: A few days ago, there was a new county order in the county court, and he was the son you thought about day and night, so you quickly took this little toe to confess to that county order.

The old mother thanked the chief with great excitement, and she went to the county court with a slight trembling crutches to find her son. When the old mother saw the county order, she looked exactly like her son, and in an instant the old tears flowed, and she asked the county order if she was born with a small toe.

The county commander was shocked to hear this, he was not a local, and besides his missing toe, no one else knew about his deceased parents, and he was very puzzled about how this old woman from a distant land knew.

The old mother told the county order about the ins and outs of the matter, and the county order still did not believe it, until the old mother took out the small toe, and the county order took the toe and placed it in the place where he lacked the toe, which was very consistent with his foot, as if he had just fallen off his foot.

The county ordered this to believe what the old woman said, and even if she recognized her mother, she also let the old mother live in her own house in the future, so that she could live and enjoy her old age in peace. The old mother told the county order that their mother and son could recognize each other, all thanks to the help of the Yunlong Dao chief on the mountain.

As a token of gratitude, the county commander went to the mountain to meet the chief of the dao. When the dao chief saw the county order, he said to him: In your past life, you were really the son of an old woman, and when you were alive, you were kind and built a bridge for the village, and it was because of this good deed that you accumulated yin virtue for you, so in this life you made the county order.

The county commander listened to the words of the Dao Chief, and then he suddenly realized. Back in the palace, he secretly thought to himself: In my past life, I was a poor merchant, I only built one bridge, I did this good deed, I can do the county order in this life, if I build more bridges in this life, then in the next life, I will not be able to soar and soar, and have endless glory and wealth.

So after that, this county order began to build bridges, whether it was needed or not, as long as he saw a place with a river, he would build bridges, and many bridges took a lot of manpower and material resources to build, there was no practical use at all, it became a decoration. However, in this way, there will be a lot of extra expenses, so this county order began to impose heavy taxes and levies on the people, and the people in the county town were miserable.

Taxes are paid more and more every year, and from time to time they are caught doing free coolies. The people are full of complaints, but they can only dare to be angry and dare not speak. Three years later, the county commander went to the mountain again to meet the chief of yunlong. As soon as he saw the Dao Chief, he asked the Dao Commander with joy, I have built dozens of bridges in recent years, and I have done a lot of good things, can the Dao Commander help me calculate whether I can become a bigger official in my next life and have a better future.

The chief sneered, and at this moment, there was a man who was driving a donkey down the mountain. The governor pointed to the donkey driver and said to the county order: You see, that is what you will look like in the afterlife. The county commander was taken aback and did not believe what the Governor said. He said: In my previous life, I did nothing but build a wooden bridge, but in this life I can make a county order, why have I built so many bridges in this life, and in the next life I can only be a poor coachman who drives donkeys.

The Dao Commander smiled, shook his head, and said, "You are mistaken, your afterlife is not the one who drove the car." The county commander asked doubtfully: Who is that? The Patriarch said, "Your afterlife is the donkey who was driven away." The county commander fell to the ground in shock. He asked the chief: Why is that?

The Taoist chief said: Although you only built a bridge in your previous life, he was out of kindness, in order to benefit the villagers, he paid for it himself, he built the bridge himself, he was accumulating virtue and doing good. Now, you look at yourself, you are not building bridges for the benefit of the people, you are for your own benefit, you want others to pay, others to contribute to your own benefit. You think that this is the accumulation of virtue by doing good deeds, but in fact you are harming others, so in the next life you can only be a donkey pulling a cart. After saying that, the Dao Commander rolled up his sleeves and left, no matter how the county order shouted, he no longer paid attention to him.

The plot is from the folk tale "Past Lives and Present Lives"

This story tells us that we should still have good intentions in our hearts and not hurt others for our own selfish desires. As the saying goes, good has good to repay evil and evil, not not to report, but the time has not yet come.