When Magistrate Xu served as the county magistrate in Shandong, the government office possessed a wooden structure specifically for storing provisions, yet the food inside was frequently pilfered, leaving chaos everywhere.

His household staff, having been repeatedly scolded for lax security, consequently lay in ambush near the wooden structure, observing the area in secret.

Not long after, a spider crawled out from inside the building, its body as large as a doubled-up peck measure.

The family was terrified and promptly reported the incident to Master Xu.

Magistrate Xu was greatly astonished in his heart, so he instructed his maids and servants to feed the spider punctually every day.

The spider proved exceptionally docile; when hungry, it would voluntarily emerge to beg for food, and after eating, it would obediently return.

A year passed in the blink of an eye. One day, while Magistrate Xu was reading in his study, the spider suddenly crawled onto the wooden table and lingered, unwilling to depart.

Magistrate Xu assumed it was hungry and was about to call a servant to prepare food, when just at that moment, two small snakes, slender as bamboo chopsticks, slithered in from outside and completely encircled the spider.

The spider curled its body inward, its demeanor suggesting deep fear.

In an instant, the bodies of the two small snakes swelled, becoming as thick as chicken eggs.

Magistrate Xu was horrified and turned to flee, but outside the window, thunder roared mightily, lightning ripped through the sky, and all the members of the household, young and old, were instantly struck unconscious by the shockwave.

After a long while, Magistrate Xu slowly regained consciousness. Focusing his gaze, he saw his wife, the maids, and the servants—seven people in total—all blackened and charred, having been killed instantly by the lightning.

Magistrate Xu subsequently fell ill from the shock and died a month later.