After killing the local tyrant Zhen Guanxi, Lu Zhishen fled to Mount Wutai to avoid imprisonment and became a monk. For breaking monastic rules by drinking, the abbot sent him to the Monastery of Great Assistance to State, where he was put in charge of a vegetable garden. The garden had been plagued by a band of local hooligans who frequently stole from it, and previous watchmen had failed to stop them. Upon hearing a new watchman was appointed, the hooligans returned, only to be soundly beaten: their two leaders were kicked into a manure pit, while the rest knelt and kowtowed for mercy.
The next day, they returned with wine and food to apologize. As they feasted, crows in a tree cackled incessantly. Deeming it a bad omen, the hooligans wanted to destroy the nest, but Lu Zhishen stopped them. He sized up the tree and said, "No need for the trouble." Stripping off his coat, he bent down, grasped the trunk, and yanked the tree right out of the ground. The hooligans gasped in disbelief, then dropped to their knees and begged Lu to teach them martial arts.