Tieguai Li's Resurrection
During the Western Zhou Dynasty, there was a remote place called Zhentang Mountain. People there lived in extreme poverty. To make a living, they had to leave their hometowns and beg, so this place became known far and wide as the "Beggar Township".
In the "Beggar Township", there was a man named Zhang GuaiZi (Zhang the Cripple). He was tall, broad-shouldered, with a sturdy waist, and had extraordinary strength. Unwilling to beg, he made a living by cutting firewood. Unfortunately, he hurt his leg while chopping wood in the mountains and became lame, thus having to bid farewell to his firewood-cutting career—that's how he got his name.
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Even though he was lame, he still supported his family with his strength. Unexpectedly, there was a year of disaster with no rain for months, and his crops failed completely. Zhang GuaiZi managed to survive with his strong physique, but his family members unfortunately passed away one after another. Grieving deeply, Zhang GuaiZi had to join the ranks of beggars to survive. He had nothing but a bamboo basket for begging, a gourd for holding water, and an iron rod used to prop open doors.
Zhang GuaiZi looked rough on the outside but was very kind-hearted. He often shared the food he begged for with other beggars, and his gourd was always full of water—whoever was thirsty could take a few sips. Coupled with his great strength, the beggars all respected and feared him. The life of a begging beggar was also very hard: they not only had to endure people's cold stares, but also, as the number of disaster victims increased, begging became more and more difficult. Zhang GuaiZi and his beggar brothers often returned empty-handed and had to dig wild vegetables in the mountains to satisfy their hunger.
One day, to fill his brothers' stomachs, Zhang GuaiZi went alone into the mountains to dig wild vegetables and didn't come back for a long time. The beggars were worried and went into the mountains to look for him. Unexpectedly, Zhang GuaiZi had starved to death under a big tree, with the wild vegetables he had dug still in the basket beside him. The beggars cried sorrowfully. After discussing, they decided to go begging separately to raise money to buy a thin coffin for Zhang GuaiZi, so that he could be laid to rest.
When the beggars had collected enough money and were about to go buy the coffin, they were surprised to see Zhang GuaiZi walking towards them, leaning on an iron crutch and limping.
The beggars were stunned and no one dared to step forward. Zhang GuaiZi walked straight past them as if he didn't know them and didn't even greet them. The beggars found it very strange and quickly shouted at him: "Brother Zhang GuaiZi, you're alive! Wait for us, we'll go back together." Zhang GuaiZi seemed not to hear and kept walking forward. The beggars quickly caught up, saying happily: "Great! We can be with Brother Zhang GuaiZi again in the future."
The cripple looked puzzled. He stared at the beggars and said: "I'm not Zhang GuaiZi. My surname is Li, my given name is Ningyang. I've been cultivating Taoism on Zhentang Mountain for many years." Upon hearing this, the beggars burst into laughter: "Brother Zhang GuaiZi, who would have thought you're so humorous. Daoist Li Ningyang is handsome and has been cultivating Taoism on Zhentang Mountain for many years—everyone knows him. Look at you, ragged clothes, limping, and you want to pretend to be an immortal?"
A little beggar, while laughing, stepped forward to take the cripple's gourd to get some water. With a "clang", a piece of silver fell out of the gourd. The little beggar exclaimed in surprise: "Brother Zhang GuaiZi, you've made a fortune! Hiding silver in the gourd, no wonder you pretend not to know us."
The cripple said: "My gourd is not an ordinary one; it's a treasure." The beggars laughed again: "Brother Zhang GuaiZi, you're lying to us again. Who doesn't know your gourd always holds water? Now you hide a piece of silver in it and trick us into thinking it's a treasure. Then tell us, what's so precious about this gourd?"
The cripple held the gourd and said: "My gourd contains wind and fire inside. If I want wind, there's wind; if I want fire, there's fire; if I want gold, there's gold; if I want silver, there's silver; point east, it flies east; point west, it flies west."
At this time, the beggars laughed so hard that they were falling over, and no one believed the cripple. The cripple didn't argue; he just turned the gourd upside down and shook it gently. With a clatter, a lot of glittering gold and silver really poured out. The beggars were stunned.
So, what was going on here?
It turned out that Li Ningyang had been cultivating Taoism in Zhentang Mountain before TaiShang LaoJun left Hangu Pass. After years of practice, he finally attained the Dao and was skilled in the technique of sending his spirit out to travel. One day, TaiShang LaoJun invited him to Huashan Mountain. Before leaving, he said to his disciple: "I'm going to send my wandering spirit to meet TaiShang LaoJun, and my body will stay here. If my wandering spirit doesn't come back in seven days, you can cremate my body."
On the sixth day, someone sent a message to the disciple, saying that his mother was seriously ill and he should hurry back. The disciple was inherently honest and loyal. Since his master's spirit had left, he had guarded his master day and night, fearing the slightest mistake. But he was also very filial. Hearing that his mother was seriously ill, he was very upset and didn't know what to do. After repeatedly thinking, he thought that his master's spirit had been gone for six days, only one day left, and might not come back. So he cremated his master's body and then hurried home to see his mother.
On the seventh day, Li Ningyang's wandering spirit returned but couldn't find his own body. He was extremely anxious and wandered around. Later, he saw the starved Zhang GuaiZi under a tree and thus resurrected by borrowing his corpse. From then on, Li Ningyang, who was originally immortal and virtuous, became Tieguai Li (Iron-Crutch Li) with disheveled hair and a lame leg.
