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- Touring the
“Hand-Baking Small Prison”
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- JiGong:
The cold season is now with us and we can see snow
flakes everywhere. The year is coming to a close. I
urge human beings to give up their butcher’s knives
and stop doing evil deeds. Today, we must prepare to
tour Hades again; Yang Sheng, quickly get up on the
lotus flower platform.
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- Yang Sheng:
The weather is rather cold and I’m afraid I can’t
stand it. Can dear Master please give me some of
your pills of Immortality?
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- JiGong:
You must not succumb so easily to your imagination.
Anyhow I’ll give you one pill. Swallow it quickly
and then get up on the lotus flower platform.
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- Yang Sheng:
Thank you dear Master. Please excuse me for my sheer
ignorance. I’m safely seated and so we can start….
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- JiGong:
We have arrived; get down.
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- Yang Sheng:
What Prison are we going to visit today? I cannot
see any Officer anywhere but a number of soldiers of
Hades are herding sinful souls here and there.
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- JiGong:
We will proceed a little further and then you will
know.
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- Yang Sheng:
Oh! Before us is the Red-Hot Bricks Prison. We had
already visited this Prison lately, are we visiting
again?
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- JiGong:
No, today we will visit the
“Hand-Baking Small Prison”
which is reached by a side road from the Red-Hot
Brick Prison.
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- Yang Sheng:
The more we walk, the more hot vapour affects us.
How then can we go further? I understand that this
side road is hot, then how can I, a human being,
walk on it? My human feet will be covered with
blisters.
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- JiGong:
What is there to fear when I am here? The hot earth
can change to cold earth.
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- Yang Sheng:
Then, dear Master, please show your magic art! We
have now reached the side road, the surface is red
in color like the color of a brick kiln; how can one
walk on such a road?
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- JiGong:
See the magic I am going to perform;
“With my magic fan, I wave
over the red hot
earth which will change into cold earth.” Now
we can walk over it!
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- Yang Sheng:
Truly, your magic does work. The red hot earth road
quickly transforms into a cold earth road. In front
of us, those sinful souls suddenly realize that the
road is no longer hot and, taken by surprise, they
begin to walk faster.
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- JiGong:
You have to follow me quickly otherwise, when the
magic power begins to lose its effect, you will be
in trouble.
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- Yang Sheng:
I follow dear Master very closely and quickly and
now we have reached the place. At the left side of
the road are Officer and Generals waiting to welcome
us.
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- JiGong:
They are the Officer and Generals of the Hand-Baking
Small Prison – quickly go up and pay your respects.
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- Yang Sheng:
My humble respects to you; I am Sheng Xian Tang’s
Yang Sheng. We have received the Order to visit
Hades with my dear Master JiGong, to see how sinful
souls are dealt with according to your laws here so
that when we return to Earth, we can write a Book
for human beings to read whereby they can do good
deeds. We have come here today to seek your kind
help in our mission.
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- Officer:
We extend to both of you a very warm welcome. Your
Book, Diyu Youji when duly published, will make us
glorified and honored. Please follow me inside the
Prison for a look around.
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- Yang Sheng:
Thank you, Officer. On the top of the Prison are the
words “Hand-Baking
Small Prison.”
Guards are stationed at the gate.
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- Officer:
Please enter.
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- Yang Sheng:
I can hear the sorrowful crying of sinful souls.
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- JiGong:
The crying in all Prisons is always sorrowful. The
crying in Hades is somewhat like the crying of human
beings who are seriously sick and about to die. The
crying is so pitiful for they hope that someone will
come to their rescue.
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- Yang Sheng:
Inside this Prison, the instruments are very
scientific. Both hands of a sinful soul are strapped
to springs the other ends of which are fastened to
iron rails – the hands can be lifted up but the
springs pull them down towards the iron rails. The
iron rails are baked until red hot. The soul tries
to lift his hands and run along the rails but the
springs pull the hands back making the soul fall
down sprawling on the red hot rails. Thus the hands
are burnt, causing the body to sweat and the soul to
cry aloud.
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- Officer:
In earlier times, this Prison used to iron out the
hands but to keep up with the modern methods of sins
committed by present day human beings, this Prison
has been modified and brought up-to-date. I will
call a few sinful souls so that they can tell you
their own sinful stories.
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- Yang Sheng:
Both Hades and Earth have the same principles – you
say you are smart, but there are others who are
smarter than you.
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- Officer:
Look here, sinful souls; pay good attention. Today,
JiGong and Sheng Xian Tang’s Yang Sheng have come to
visit us to find out how we handle cases here so
that they can write a Book to instruct human beings
on how to lead a better life. You have to tell
truthfully what sins you had committed when you were
alive.
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- 1st Soul:
When I was alive, I was very romantic – often
way-laying young girls and women in lonely places
and fondling them with my hands. I did this fooling
around about 12 times and when I died; I was sent to
this Prison.
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- Officer:
You had devilish hands and therefore deserve to be
suitably punished. Second sinful soul, quickly come
and tell your story.
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- 2nd
Soul: When I was alive, I took the
pleasure in instigating people to resort to
litigation so that I could earn money as a petition
writer. After my death, Tai Shan Wang, when I
appeared before him, was very angry saying that my
hands were responsible for causing people to take
legal action and so my hands have to be baked in
this Prison as a punishment. I implore JiGong to
intercede on my behalf.
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- JiGong:
You were such a good petitioner writer when alive;
why not write a petition to Tai Shan Wang to help
you out?
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- Officer:
You have no right to ask for help from all and
sundry. Third soul, come and tell your story.
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- 3rd
Soul: I was a gambling house operator
when I was alive, getting a fat commission. Not
satisfied with getting good commission from the
takings, I juggled with the gambling apparatus
thereby getting extra profits and I thus became
quite rich, spending my wealth right and left on
women, wine and songs, going against the law and
right thinking. I was also involved in secret
society activities. How was I then to know that
after my death, Tai Shan Wang would be very angry
with me and would sentence me to this Hand-Baking
Small Prison for a term of 30 years? I really don’t
know if I will be able to go through this severe
punishment here.
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- JiGong:
Not satisfied with operating a gambling house, you
also designed gambling apparatus to cheat the
gamblers – your evil sins are beyond comparison.
After completing the punishment here, and on
rebirth, your two hands will be disabled. I
sincerely hope that human beings will not take to
habitual gambling. Fourth Soul, come tell your
story.
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- 4th soul:
When I was alive, I used to issue dud cheques
thereby cheating people. I thought that after
issuing dud cheques and running away to live in
other places I could not be traced and brought to
book, not knowing that after death, Tai Shan Wang
became very angry with me and sentenced me to be
punished here.
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- Officer:
You must realize that you have to repay every single
cent you owed people when still alive; otherwise,
after death and your soul is sent to Hades, you
cannot escape the punishment which awaits you here.
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- JiGong:
There are many people on Earth who are fond of
issuing dud cheques. When they die they will have to
be sent to the Prisons in Hades to be punished.
After their punishment term expires and on rebirth,
they will take the form of cattle and horses to toil
and repay those whom they had cheated. From ancient
times to present day, this cycle order has been the
same and there is no escape. This is known as
retribution. I hope human beings will take note of
this.
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- Officer:
Fifth Soul, you don’t seem to have any dignified
attitude now. Quickly tell what sins you had
committed on Earth.
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- 5th Soul:
Officer, please do not ridicule me. When I was alive
on Earth, I was a member of a secret society that
always caused trouble and disturbed public order.
Whenever I disliked a person or found anyone staring
at me, I at once punched him. Fighting to me was
like eating food. When I died and my soul came to
Hades, Tai Shan Wang immediately called an
Ox-head-horse-faced soldier to punch me and asked me
if I now admit defeat. Come to think of it, it was
indeed unjustified that I should have been so rough
to others when I was alive.
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- Officer:
When you were alive, you were strong and had a very
hot temper. You always resorted to fighting, and
disturbed public order, using your fists to settle
scores. Now I am asking you to test if your fists
are harder or the iron rails are harder to lessen
your hot temper!
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- JiGong:
Our time is up. Yang Sheng, prepare to return.
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- Yang Sheng:
I have to bid goodbye to Officer and Generals –
thank you very much.
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- Officer:
It is our duty to be of assistance. All Generals,
line up.
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- JiGong:
Yang Sheng, quickly get up on the lotus flower
platform.
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- Yang Sheng:
I am safely seated, dear Master, we can start…
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- JiGong:
We have arrived at Sheng Xian Tang. Yang Sheng, get
down. Soul, return to your body.
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- End of Journey
No 43
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