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The story Forty Thousand Coins from Strange Tales from Liaozhai by Pu Song ling serves as a karmic allegory, illustrating the Buddhist-Confucian principle that debts — whether material or moral — must inevitably be repaid.
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In the household of Minister Wang of Xincheng, his chief steward — wealthy though untitled — dreamed suddenly of a man charging into his room, declaring: “You owe forty thousand coins. Repay it now!”