In the Qing Dynasty, a man named Zhu Qing followed in his father’s footsteps to become a doctor. Unfortunately, his medical skills were not particularly impressive. His main goal was to earn enough money to support his family, often prescribing ineffective remedies that neither cured illnesses nor harmed patients. When wealthy families sought his services, he would charge exorbitant fees.
A desperate patient
One day, a man in his forties introduced himself as Mr. Zhang and came to see Zhu Qing. He had a sore on his chest, the size of a teacup, which extended to his back, oozing pus and blood, creating a visible hole. After examining the sore, Zhu Qing leisurely remarked: “This sore is in the chest as if piercing through the heart. It is quite dangerous. It will be difficult to heal without using large pearls mixed with medicine.”
Upon hearing this, Mr. Zhang was overjoyed, as if he had found a lifeline, and exclaimed: “As long as the illness can be cured, I wouldn’t mind using not just one, but even a hundred pearls.” The following day, he brought a handful of pearls, each the size of a soybean, for Zhu Qing to choose from. Zhu Qing pretended to rub the pearls on the surface of the medicine before applying it to Mr. Zhang’s sore. Feeling as if he had found a savior, Mr. Zhang thanked Zhu Qing and left.
A skeptical observer
At that moment, another patient named Mr. Li, who was nearby, asked Zhu Qing: “Can his illness be cured?” Zhu Qing casually replied: “Yes, it can be cured.” Mr. Li responded: “This man is destined to die! I advise you not to waste any more medicine.” Zhu Qing was taken aback and asked: “Do you also understand medicine?” Mr. Li replied: “I don’t understand medicine, but I know the evil deeds this man has committed in the past, so I know he is bound to die an unnatural death.”
A dark past revealed
It turned out that Mr. Zhang and Mr. Li had once served in the army together in the Chu region. Due to insufficient rations, they resorted to robbery. At that time, they only stole goods and did not dare to take lives. One day, an old man with two children, a boy in his teens and a girl about eight or nine years old, and his grandchildren passed by while fleeing. The soldiers blocked their way with knives, and the old man pleaded: “I only have twenty taels of silver for travel expenses, which I offer as ransom. I beg you to spare our lives.” The soldiers took the money and let them pass.
After a while, Mr. Zhang suddenly said: “The weather is not very cold yet, but the old man is wearing a thick cotton coat. There must be valuables inside.” So Zhang and Li pursued them and soon caught up with the three. Seeing them approach again, the old man knelt and begged: “I have no more valuables and can only beg for food.”
Mr. Zhang said: “Then leave the cotton coat.” With tears streaming down his face, the old man replied: “In the severe winter cold, removing the coat will surely lead to freezing to death. I am old and should have died long ago, but there is no one to care for these two children.”
Mr. Zhang sneered: “Since you’re worried about the children, I’ll relieve you of that concern now!” With that, he swiftly struck with his knife, and in two flashes of cold light, the poor children fell into a pool of blood. The old man, seeing this, was overwhelmed with grief and anger and charged at Mr. Zhang.
In a fit of killing frenzy, Mr. Zhang stabbed the old man in the chest, and with a “crack,” the knife pierced through to his back, exposing his organs. The old man immediately fell dead. Mr. Zhang used the blood-stained knife to open the cotton coat, finding many pearls and dozens of gold leaves hidden within the ragged lining. He quickly wrapped them up in the old man’s coat and fled. Upon returning home, Mr. Zhang became immensely wealthy.
Karma catches up
Seeing Mr. Zhang’s sore, which resembled the old man’s knife wound, Mr. Li realized that Mr. Zhang no longer recognized him after becoming wealthy. However, Mr. Li still remembered Mr. Zhang’s shocking evil deeds from the past. Therefore, he said: “Can his sore be healed?” Indeed, not long after, Mr. Zhang died from the festering sore.
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