Three feet above gods watch - Be upright

In ancient times, there was a government scholar who had long bullied the villagers of his hometown. He coveted the five mu of paddy fields belonging to his neighbor, Old Lady Zhang, which abutted his own land, and hatched a plot to seize them. First, the scholar secretly forged a land deed, then he bribed the county magistrate with silver. The magistrate, having taken the bribe, twisted right and wrong and ruled the fields to be the scholar’s property.

Old Lady Zhang’s family was small and powerless. She could only watch helplessly as her land was stolen, her heart filled with overwhelming grief and anger. From then on, she leaned on her walking stick every day and went to the scholar’s red-lacquered gate to weep and curse: “You black-hearted thief! You seized my land by force—are you not afraid of being struck by heaven’s thunder and punished by ghosts and gods? Even if I become a ghost, I will never let you off!”

Three feet above gods watch - Be upright

At first, Scholar Wang paid no heed to her words, but as days turned into months, her curses gnawed at his heart, leaving him restless day and night. Consumed by evil intent, he resolved to go all the way. He bribed several rogue neighbors and conspired with them: “That wretched old woman yells and curses all day long—she is utterly insufferable. Find an opportunity to beat her to death on the field ridge, and make sure you do it cleanly, leaving no traces.”

One day, Old Lady Zhang wandered to the edge of her former fields again. The gang swarmed her and beat her to death with wooden sticks in the open countryside. The scholar immediately sent for Old Lady Zhang’s son, pretending to ask him to identify his mother’s body. As soon as the filial son threw himself on his mother’s corpse and burst into tears, the scholar’s vicious servants swarmed forward, tied him up, and falsely accused him of “being unfilial and beating his own mother to death.”

They dragged the son to the county court. The bribed magistrate refused to let him speak in his own defense and ordered torture at once: the ankle crusher and whipping were inflicted in turn, beating him within an inch of his life. The bribed “witnesses” stood by and testified that he had always treated his mother with disrespect. Unable to endure the excruciating torture, the filial son signed the confession with tears in his eyes, admitting to the heinous crime he had never committed. The magistrate immediately sent the case files to the higher authorities, waiting only for the approval document to have him executed.

Word of the case reached the governor of the province, an upright and honest official. As he read the files, doubts crowded his mind. He thought to himself: “Even if a son is unfilial and intends to beat his mother, he would do so in a hidden place inside his own home. How could he choose to do it in the open fields in broad daylight, for all to see? Furthermore, the coroner’s report states that her body was ‘covered in bruises from head to toe.’ A son beating his mother would surely feel fear in his heart—how could he strike so brutally, as if attacking a bitter enemy?”

The more he pondered, the more suspicious he became, and he concluded that there must be a terrible injustice in the case. To act with the utmost caution and avoid interference from the original county authorities, Governor Su issued an official proclamation, ordering two other prefects to transfer the case to the provincial capital for a joint retrial at the City God Temple.

The City God Temple in the provincial capital was a magnificent and imposing structure. Its halls towered high, with upturned eaves and interlocking wooden brackets; a black plaque with golden characters reading “City God Temple” hung high above the gate, inspiring awe in all who beheld it. Inside the main hall, a towering statue of the City God sat majestically on the divine platform, wearing a beaded crown and a scarlet robe, his face the color of ancient bronze, his eyes sharp as lightning, as if he could see through all the evil and deceit in the mortal world. Flanking him stood the Civil and Military Judges: the Civil Judge held a brush and a register, recording the merits and demerits of all living beings; the Military Judge gripped a sword, his eyes blazing with anger, tasked solely with punishing evildoers. On both sides of the hall stood clay statues of yamen runners, some holding iron chains, others carrying water and fire batons, each with a fierce and imposing countenance. On ordinary days, common people came here to burn incense and pray, regarding this place as the most just abode between the Yin and Yang realms.

Yet justice was not served at once in this joint retrial. The two prefects had long held preconceived notions, and perhaps had also been secretly bribed. They turned a blind eye to the numerous suspicious points in the case and upheld the original verdict. At their order, the yamen runners bound the badly wounded, half-conscious son hand and foot, ready to drag him out of the temple gate and take him to the execution ground. Just then, the filial son summoned a sudden burst of strength from nowhere. He struggled violently, turned his head back, his eyes bloodshot, and shouted at the top of his lungs toward the City God’s statue in the center of the hall, using the last of his life’s force: “Lord City God! Lord City God! I have suffered an unspeakable injustice! My mother was murdered by villains! You are known to oversee the yin and yang realms, to punish evil and uphold good—yet my grievance is as deep as the ocean, and you show no divine response at all! Is there truly no justice under heaven, no mercy in The Dao?”

This cry of grief and blood echoed through the hall, shaking the rafters. All the common people watching on were moved to tears. Hardly had the filial son finished speaking when a deafening crash rang out—the west wing of the main hall suddenly collapsed! Dust billowed into the air, and tiles and rubble crashed down in heaps. Everyone turned pale with fright, and the two prefects jumped to their feet in alarm. The magistrate’s clerk forced himself to stay calm and whispered to them: “Your Excellencies, do not be alarmed. It is perhaps… perhaps that the temple has fallen into disrepair over the years, and a beam or pillar rotted away by chance.”

The prefect who had confirmed the original verdict steadied his nerves, waved his hand, and urged the runners: “Hurry and take the prisoner away! Do not delay the execution hour!”

As the yamen runners dragged the filial son forward, a terrifying sight unfolded: the two motionless clay statues of yamen runners flanking the main hall gate suddenly lurched forward several feet! The black water and fire batons in their hands crossed with a sharp swish, barring the gate tightly and completely. A cold, eerie wind swept through the hall, making everyone’s hair stand on end. The leading runner stumbled backward several steps, as if he had crashed into an invisible wall of Qi.

“Lord City God has manifested his divine power!” someone shouted in the crowd. The common people watching outside the temple saw the scene clearly. The yamen runners, along with the two prefects, were scared out of their wits and fell to their knees in a huddle. The crowd surged with anger, and voices cried out in unison: “This injustice reaches the heavens! Lord City God has shown his power! This wrongful case must be retried at once!”

By this point, the two prefects did not dare to delay any longer. Governor Su, upon hearing the news, came to the temple in person. Under the stern, watchful gaze of the City God’s statue, the officials reconvened the court for a new trial. This time, they carefully examined the handwriting on the forged land deed and brought the bribed county magistrate and the scholar face to face for cross-examination. The scholar turned ashen-faced and confessed to all his crimes—forging the land deed, bribing government officials, murder, and false accusation. At long last, the truth was revealed to the whole world.

The wrongful conviction was overturned, and the filial son was acquitted and released. He recovered his mother’s fields and received a sum of compensation. The corrupt county magistrate was dismissed from office and prosecuted for his crimes, while the scholar and his accomplices were taken to the public square and executed in accordance with the law, meeting the fate they deserved. When the news spread, the common people all clapped their hands in joy, saying that it was all thanks to Lord City God’s divine manifestation—otherwise, another terrible injustice would have been added to the world.

After this incident, the incense at the City God Temple burned more brightly than ever before. Every day, an endless stream of people came to burn incense and pray. They came not only to beg for peace and safety but also to stand before the statues of Lord City God, the Civil and Military Judges, and the yamen runners, and reflect silently on their own words and deeds: “The gods are watching three feet above your head, and the City God oversees all, with not a single detail escaping his notice.”