Chapter 5 Chapter Four: The Legend of "Ghost Watching Slope"

Compared with the area of ​​Mingze Island, the current permanent population on the island is not large.In the past, the islanders made a living by fishing or farming terraced fields in the gentle mountains. In recent years, tourism has started. Everyone adapted to local conditions and tidied up the idle houses a little, and it became a "folk resort" for tourists.Luo Fei and Meng Shaohui didn't go far on the island, they found a family in the east and stayed temporarily. The owner of the house is Sun Fachao, a warm old man.His sons and daughters have all gone out to work, and he is the only one left in the family.The stay of Luo Fei and the two of them just happened to help him relieve some loneliness, so not only was he very favorable in terms of price, but he was also busy with his work, and greeted him extremely thoughtfully.

After the two of them washed and rested, Sun Fachao had already prepared lunch.The island’s self-produced food is mainly sweet potatoes, and fish and shrimp from the sea are naturally indispensable for rice dishes.Although the cooking technique is relatively crude, the fresh fish and shrimp are mouth-watering.The three sat around a table, and the black cat Kaka squatted on the ground, enjoying the fish heads and fish bones thrown to it by the owner.While eating, Luo Fei asked Sun Fachao about the customs and people of the island, and the topic naturally came back to the purpose of his trip - above the Ghost Watch Slope.

"The legend of Guiwangpo? That's all true!" Sun Fachao is also quite interested in this topic, talking eloquently, "Now it is said that feudal superstitions must be broken, and outsiders like ghosts and ghosts must not believe it. But if you know what happened on Mingze Island that year, it might not be so strange. I am afraid that even today, there are still not a few lonely ghosts wandering around the island!" "Oh? What happened to Mingze Island back then?" Luo Fei was secretly a little surprised, "I've never seen anything related to it in the promotional materials."

"Of course I can't mention it. Many people would be afraid to come and play." Sun Fachao lowered his voice, pretending to be mysterious and continued, "Mingze Island used to have tens of thousands of residents, but there are only a dozen or so. Years ago, there was a sea disaster on the island, and more than half of the people died!" "More than ten years ago? The sea disaster?" Luo Fei suddenly thought of something, and blurted out, "Is it the earthquake in the East China Sea?" "That's right." Fachao Sun nodded, and at the same time gave Luo Fei a surprised look, "I didn't expect you to know too. The earthquake caused a tsunami, which set off waves like a city wall, swallowing most of Mingze Island in an instant! At that time It was late at night, and many people were washed away by the icy sea water in their sleep, not only lost their lives, but even left their bodies behind! If the corpses were not collected after death, wouldn’t they all become lonely ghosts?”

Eighteen years have passed since the earthquake that occurred in the East China Sea. Luo Fei had read about it in geological history materials a long time ago.The tsunami caused by the earthquake had little impact on the mainland, but it caused a catastrophe to the island.So much so that after more than ten years, the population of the island has still not recovered to its peak level. The past events told by Sun Fachao seemed to bring everyone back to that miserable history.There was a brief silence on the dining table, and even Kaka stopped chewing, looking around in surprise. Meng Shaohui was even more stunned. After a while, he suddenly shivered, and the chopsticks in his hand fell on the table with a "snap". Beads ooze from the forehead!

"What's the matter?!" Sun Fachao asked in a panic. He was worried that there was something wrong with his diet, so he picked up the dishes on the table and smelled them one by one, and at the same time whispered, "These are all fresh!" Luo Fei saw something strange, and put his hand on Meng Shaohui's shoulder: "What's going on? Don't be afraid, calm down!" Meng Shaohui looked up at Luo Fei, his eyes full of fear: "I...I know why I'm afraid of water, I...also know the reason for that...that nightmare!" Meng Shaohui was afraid that Shui Luofei already knew about it. "Dream? What dream?" He asked the other half of the sentence.

"I often dream that I'm submerged in a big water. The water is cold, bitter and astringent, and I can't breathe..." After telling what he was holding in his heart, Meng Shaohui calmed down a little. But still panting uneasily. "I see!" Luo Fei patted his forehead and made a relevant judgment, "So, you are also a survivor of that disaster? Maybe your memory loss is also related to this incident. Your Mother……" Speaking of this, Luo Fei stopped suddenly, but Meng Shaohui already understood what he meant. If the previous guesses are correct, then his mother is most likely one of the victims.He had been looking for these answers all the time, but the answers that appeared suddenly shocked him beyond his expectations.

Sun Fachao on the side opened his mouth wide open, and fell in when he didn't understand. Luo Fei explained Meng Shaohui's situation to him, and then he suddenly realized. Looking at Meng Shaohui, he said with emotion: "Then you will only be six or seven years old, right? Son, You are really lucky. Sigh, don’t say it’s you, even when I recall the situation back then, I often can’t sleep at night! By the way, what’s your father’s name?” "Meng Jianguo." Meng Shaohui said as he touched his pocket, he was taken aback suddenly, "Hey, where's my letter?" Sun Fachao scratched his head and muttered to himself: "Meng Jianguo? I don't remember such a person. Go ask other old people, maybe someone knows."

Meng Shaohui was busy looking for the letter, but he couldn't find it after searching all his pockets.Is it lost?Thinking that this letter belonged to his father and was related to his past, he couldn't help feeling ashamed and depressed. Luo Fei spent most of his time with Meng Shaohui, the letter was only taken out once on the ferry today, and Luo Fei watched him put it back into his pocket, and now it disappeared for no reason, which is really strange. "Did you pack it in your bag?" Luo Fei reminded Meng Shaohui. Meng Shaohui shook his head resolutely: "No, I put down my bag and went to wash my face first, then I ate, and I didn't clean up at all."

"Let's look for it later, I won't lose it." Luo Fei comforted Meng Shaohui.Meng Shaohui thought about it, and it was the only way. "In your opinion, is the black shadow on the 'Ghost Watching Slope' also related to that tsunami?" After finishing this short episode, Luo Fei changed the topic back. "Of course, the black shadows appeared in the days after the tide went out. The survivors were busy rebuilding their homes in the ruins at the foot of the mountain, and every night, the black shadows appeared on the treetops on the distant hillside. People say that it is the soul of the past who is reluctant to leave his hometown, so he looks at the direction of his hometown every night."

"This statement is too subjective after all." Luo Fei shook his head, "Maybe it's just the body of a refugee who died in the tsunami?" "Some people had doubts like this at the beginning, but there are many things that can't be explained." Sun Fachao wrung his fingers and analyzed one by one, "First, if it was a corpse, why did it only appear at night? Second, the victims were all Those who were caught in the flood at the bottom of the mountain, you should know that the drowned person will first sink to the bottom of the water, and the corpse will float to the surface after soaking. Therefore, although the highest part of the flood once reached the hillside, it is absolutely impossible for the corpses of the refugees to hang on the treetops on the hillside.” "Oh?" Sun Fachao's words made some sense, Luo Fei pondered for a moment, then asked again: "Then when did this black shadow disappear?" Sun Fachao narrowed his eyes, showing a very mysterious look: "The matter of ghosts, of course, we have to start from the root of the problem to solve it. Later, the villagers set up a sacrificial hall under the hillside to save the wandering souls , the shadow will naturally disappear.” Hearing this, Luo Fei had a new thought in his heart: "Wrong, wrong, now it seems that this black shadow is neither a corpse nor a soul, but a living person. Is it possible that it is someone from the island?" Playing tricks?" Hearing this, Sun Fachao sneered and laughed: "You are really a foreigner. You have never seen the power of 'Ghost Wangpo'. Who can pretend to be a ghost there? There is no need to pretend! He will really change soon." Become a ghost!" Luo Fei grinned self-deprecatingly, it seems that this "Ghost Watching Slope" is really not an ordinary place, and if he wants to express any opinions, he has to go to the actual place to take a look. After the meal, Meng Shaohui searched hard, but still couldn't find the letter.In desperation, he had no choice but to put aside the matter of the first letter, went out by himself, and made inquiries with his mouth. To his disappointment, none of the seven or eight families in this mountain valley could think of "Meng Jianguo".He wanted to go further, but worried about getting lost, so he came back and asked Luo Fei to set off together. Luo Fei just woke up from a nap, full of energy, and when Meng Shaohui asked him to go out with him, he smiled slightly: "Okay, I'm going to 'Gui Wang Slope' to have a look, will you walk with me? " Meng Shaohui hadn't decided which direction to go, so naturally he had no objection, so the two walked out of the courtyard side by side.The black cat Kaka jumped up a few steps and followed behind its owner, which seemed quite spiritual.