There used to be a village where most of the residents were carpenters, so some people called this village the "Carpenter Village".
There is a Luban Temple built on the mountain outside the village.
On weekdays, people of all ages in the village would go to worship, and every household would place some offerings as a sign of piety.
This custom has continued for many years.
But one year in the midsummer, for several days in a row, strange things happened in the temple where offerings were missing.
As long as the cakes, fish and meat were placed on the temple that day, they would disappear without a trace the next morning.
At first, the villagers thought that beggars or wild animals entered the temple late at night and secretly ate the offerings.
Therefore, they agreed to arrange for a person to be on duty every night to guard the offerings and prevent them from being eaten.
But for two consecutive days, villagers went to the temple in the morning to watch.
Not only did the offerings disappear, but even the people who were arranged to be on duty disappeared as if they had disappeared from the world.
People in the village were panicked for a while, thinking that the ancestor was angry, and that it was probably a sign of great misfortune.
So they slaughtered cattle and sheep to worship the gods.
On the third night, it was the turn of a young carpenter from the village to work the night shift.
The carpenter's wife was afraid that he would disappear like the others, so she strongly objected and refused to let him go.
But the young carpenter was always brave and wise, and he thought of a countermeasure so that his wife would not have to worry about it.
That night he pulled out a large wooden box from home and went to the temple alone.
He drilled two small holes in the outer skin of the wooden box before placing it in the center of the temple.
He hid in the box and closed the lid.
Peek out from the small hole to see what's going on inside the temple.
The carpenter waited for a long time and then fell asleep unknowingly in the box.
About three o'clock in the morning, a strong wind suddenly blew up outside and heavy rain poured down with terrifying force.
The carpenter was awakened by the sound and hurriedly looked out from the lid of the box.
At this time, a flash of lightning made the temple as bright as day, and he saw a huge centipede winding down from the beam.
The centipede can be as big as an ordinary person, with six wings on its back, teeth and claws, and is extremely ferocious and terrifying.
The carpenter observed secretly and found that the centipede crawled to the niche and swept away the offerings.
Then he slowly raised his body in front of the portrait of Patriarch Lu Ban, opened his mouth and spit out a sparkling red elixir, and then inhaled it into his stomach. , and so on over and over again.
The carpenter knew that the elixir was the condensed essence of the centipede's body, so he saw the right moment and took advantage of the centipede's surprise.
He jumped out of the wooden box, grabbed the red elixir with his hands, turned around, fled back, and locked the lid of the box tightly from the inside. .
The centipede immediately chased after him, scratching and beating around the wooden box.
Even though the carpenter was brave, he was so frightened that he hid in the box and huddled up, blocking his ears with his hands and not daring to make a sound.
He persisted until dawn.
The carpenter heard the noise outside the box getting smaller and smaller, and then it became silent.
Then he had the courage to open the lid of the box and found that the giant centipede, which was almost a spirit, was wrapped around the wooden box.
He has been dead for a long time without moving
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