Explore the eerie tale of Wang Qihou's encounters with a mysterious woman and a temple demon, leading to bizarre supernatural events.
In Xincheng, there was a scholar named Wang Qihou. He was the great-grandson of Mr. Wang Zhongyu and Mr. Wang Xiangkun, who held the position of Left Provincial Governor in Shanxi. Once, he witnessed a woman entering his room. She was dark and plump, with unremarkable looks, yet she approached the bed with a coquettish and intimate demeanor. Wang Qihou rejected her, but she refused to leave. From then on, whether he was sitting or lying down, Wang Qihou always saw her, but he remained resolute and unwavering.
This woman became enraged and slapped him in the face with her hand, making a sound but causing little pain. She then hung a rope from the beam and pulled Wang Qihou’s hair, attempting to hang him together. Unbeknownst to him, Wang Qihou ended up under the beam, stretching his neck as if he were about to hang himself. People saw him suspended in the air, but he did not die. Since then, Wang Qihou suffered from madness.
One day, he suddenly said, “She is going to jump into the river with me.” Saying this, he ran madly in the direction of the river, but people managed to restrain him. Such bizarre behavior happened frequently throughout the day, and neither witchcraft nor medical treatment had any effect.
One day, a warrior appeared, carrying a chain, and angrily rebuked, “How dare you harass an honest and simple person!” He immediately used the iron chain to lock the woman’s neck and went out through the window. Once outside, the woman no longer had a human form; her eyes were like lightning, and she had a gaping mouth filled with blood. Wang Qihou recalled that there were four clay statues of little demons in the City God Temple, and she closely resembled one of them. From that moment, Wang Qihou’s illness disappeared.
《庙鬼》
新城诸生王启后者，方伯中宇公象坤曾孙。见一妇人入室，貌肥黑不扬，笑近坐榻，意甚亵。王拒之，不去。由此坐卧辄见之，而意坚定，终不摇。妇怒，批其颊有声，而亦不甚痛。妇以带悬梁上，捽与并缢。王不觉自投梁下，引颈作缢状。人见其足不履地，挺然立空中，即亦不能死。自是病颠，忽曰：“彼将与我投河矣。”望河狂奔，曳之乃止。如此百端，日常数作，术药罔效。一日，忽见有武士绾锁而入，怒叱曰：“朴诚者汝何敢扰！”即絷妇项，自棂中出。才至窗外，妇不复人形，目电熌，口血赤如盆。忆城隍庙门中有泥鬼四，绝类其一焉。于是病若失。
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