儡蜱士 Puppet Tick
外相包皮君可识，身后安排有谁知。
下场高挂成何用，刻木牵丝此一时。
The outer guise,can you discern?
When it rests under,who would concern?
When hung up high, what use remains?
A puppet's dance, its fleeting sheen.
相传，盘丝岭中曾有个朱家大院，是朱紫国纺织大户朱氏的祖宅。大家都说那院子里藏着许多金银珠宝，但从未被找到过。
却说朱紫国里住着两个盗贼，二人兄弟相称。年长者，是个魁梧憨实的汉子；年少者，是个精细俊秀的郎君。他两个因被官府通缉，便想着去山中寻那朱家大院，顺道避避风头。二人在山中寻了数日，干粮吃尽，一无所获。正是精疲力竭，艰难前行之时，，忽见有座茶察。郎君急忙道:“兄长，我们去那里歇歇脚吧。”汉子道:“我们走了多日，不曾见半个人影，何来茶察?”可那郎君早已饿极，甩开汉子就跑了过去。
汉子紧随其后苦劝不止，二人拉拉扯扯，进到茶察之内。茶察不甚整洁粗劣的桌子是用木桩削成的，地上堆着石块权当凳子。里头没有茶客仅有个拄拐的驼背老汉在煮茶。郎君问道:“老头，此地无人，你怎在这里卖茶?”
老汉指指茶察后，隐隐绰绰的村落，道:“老拙住在山顶的村子里，在此处摆个茶寮挣口饭钱。”言罢，老汉盛出两碗茶来，汤色浓稠，异香异气，郎君立时就要去接。汉子拦住，又问道:“你可知道朱家大院?老汉笑道:“正在村内哩，二位吃完茶，我引你们过去。”郎君听罢，十分开心，汉子则更加忧虑。他抢过郎君手中的茶碗，道:“我先试试。”言罢，一饮而尽。
茶刚入肚，汉子立时痛苦难当，翻倒在地。郎君再去看那老汉，但见他转身一旋，现出原形，乃是只驼背杵杖的大虫子，身上缠着许多丝线。顺着丝线往上看去，有只大蜘蛛正趴在屋角，提着丝线，引着大虫子敲击拐杖，发出“铮铮”的声响。地上的石块闻得此声，伸出腿足，变成一个个小石蛛。它们朝着汉子喷出蛛丝，要将其捆住。那俊秀郎君见到这般景象，来不及管他那正在求救的兄长，拔腿就逃走了。
Tales told of Zhu's Estate in the Webbed Ridge, the ancestral home of the wealthy textile family in the Kingdom of Zhuzi. Rumors claimed the estate housed vast amounts of gold and jewels, but those riches were never found.
In the Kingdom of Zhuzi lived two thieves who called each other brothers. The elder, a broad and forthright soul; the younger, a handsome and clever spirit. Fleeing a warrant, they sought Zhu's Estate in the mountains as their next target as well as a hideout. For days, they scoured the hills, their rations spent, and their hope lost. Weary and famished, they chanced upon a tea hut. The young thief called out, "Let's rest there, brother!" The elder replied, "We've seen no one for days; how could there be a tea hut?" But driven by hunger, the young one hastened toward it.
The elder chased after him, pleading. They tussled until they entered the hut. Crude and dirty, it had rough log tables and stone stools. There were no patrons inside, only a hunchbacked old man with a cane brewing tea. The young thief asked, "How do you sell tea here with no one around, old man?" The old man pointed to a dim village behind the hut. "This humble one lives in the hilltop village. This hut serves but to eke out my living." He then served two bowls of thick, strange-smelling brew. The young thief reached for one, but the elder stopped him and asked the old man, "Do you know of Zhu's Estate?" The old man grinned, "It lies within the village. Drink your tea, and I shall guide you there." The young thief beamed, but the elder grew warier. He snatched the bowl from the young one. "I shall try it first." With that, he downed it in one gulp.
No sooner had the tea hit his belly than he collapsed, writhing in agony. The young thief turned to the old man, only to witness his true form revealed as a hunchbacked, cane-wielding creature, its body entangled in silk. Lifting his eyes, he saw a colossal spider perched in the rafters, tugging the strands to prompt the bug to tap its cane with a resonant "ting-ting." At this signal, the stone stools shifted and unfurled their legs. They became little stone spiders. They spat silk at the elder thief to entangle him. At this sight, the younger thief turned and fled, as if he had not heard his brother's pleas for help.
