張姓暴卒，隨鬼使去，見冥王。王稽簿，怒鬼使誤捉，責令送歸。張下，私浼鬼使，求觀冥獄。鬼導歷九幽，刀山、劍樹，一一指點。末至一處，有一僧紮股穿繩而倒懸之，號痛欲絕。近視，則其兄也。張見之驚哀，問：「何罪至此？」鬼曰：「是為僧，廣募金錢，悉供淫賭，故罰之。欲脫此厄，須其自懺。」張既蘇，疑兄已死。時其兄居興福寺，因往探之。入門，便聞其號痛聲。入室，見瘡生股間，膿血崩潰，掛足壁上，宛然冥司倒懸狀。駭問其故。曰：「掛之稍可，不則痛徹心腑。」張因告以所見。僧大駭，乃戒葷酒，虔誦經咒。半月尋愈。遂為戒僧。
张姓暴卒，随鬼使去，见冥王。王稽簿，怒鬼使误捉，责令送归。张下，私浼鬼使，求观冥狱。鬼导历九幽，刀山、剑树，一一指点。末至一处，有一僧扎股穿绳而倒悬之，号痛欲绝。近视，则其兄也。张见之惊哀，问：「何罪至此？」鬼曰：「是为僧，广募金钱，悉供淫赌，故罚之。欲脱此厄，须其自忏。」张既苏，疑兄已死。时其兄居兴福寺，因往探之。入门，便闻其号痛声。入室，见疮生股间，脓血崩溃，挂足壁上，宛然冥司倒悬状。骇问其故。曰：「挂之稍可，不则痛彻心腑。」张因告以所见。僧大骇，乃戒荤酒，虔诵经咒。半月寻愈。遂为戒僧。
A man named Zhang died suddenly and went off with the ghost runners to appear before the King of the Underworld. The King checked his register and, angry that the runners had seized the wrong man, ordered them to take him back. When Zhang had come down from the hall, he privately begged the runners to let him see the prisons of the underworld. The ghosts led him through the Nine Dark Regions, pointing out the Mountain of Knives, the Trees of Swords, one after another. At the last place they came to, a monk hung upside down from a rope threaded through his pierced thighs, howling with pain as if he would die of it. Zhang went closer: it was his own elder brother. Shocked and grieved, he asked, “What did he do to come to this?” “He was a monk,” said the ghost. “He collected money far and wide and spent all of it on women and gambling. That is why he is punished. If he wants to be free of this torment, he must repent of it himself.” When Zhang came back to life, he suspected his brother was already dead. His brother was living at the Xingfu Temple at the time, so Zhang went to see him. As soon as he came through the gate he heard him howling with pain. Going into the room, he found that sores had broken out between the monk’s thighs and were bursting with pus and blood. His feet were hung up on the wall, just as he had hung in the court of the underworld. Horrified, Zhang asked what had happened. “Hanging them up eases it a little,” said the monk. “Otherwise the pain goes right through to my heart.” Zhang then told him what he had seen. The monk was terrified. He gave up meat and wine and devoutly chanted sutras and spells. In half a month he was well. After that he was a monk who kept the precepts.
異史氏曰：「鬼獄渺茫，惡人每以自解；而不知昭昭之禍，即冥冥之罰也。可勿懼哉！」
异史氏曰：「鬼狱渺茫，恶人每以自解；而不知昭昭之祸，即冥冥之罚也。可勿惧哉！」
The Historian of the Strange says: The prisons of the ghosts are dim and far away, and the wicked often take comfort in that. They do not know that the misfortune they suffer in the light of day is itself the punishment of the dark. How can one not fear it!