Chapter 8 Chapter 6 Water Ghost

There are many legends about water ghosts in this world, and the most representative one is that water ghosts are promoted to city gods. It is said that once upon a time there was a fisherman named A Mi, who was married without a wife in her forties because she had a blind mother in her family.Ah Mi is very filial to her mother. Every day, she picks out the best fish and cooks it for her to eat. In the river port where Ah Mi was fishing, there was a water ghost. Seeing that Ah Mi was a dutiful son, he often helped Ah Mi drive fish into the net, so that Ah Mi caught a lot of fish every day.

Later, Ah Mi became friends with the water ghost, and often invited the water ghost friends to drink on the boat.During the conversation, we found out that the water ghost was an old man who fell into the water and died nine years ago.He is a kind water ghost. Originally, after a person falls into the water and dies as a water ghost, he can "grab the generation" in three years. In the first three years, the one who was plundered was a pregnant woman. He couldn't bear to plunder her dead body, so he helped her up the river and let her go home. In the second three years, it was a mother and a son who came to dive, and the mother jumped into the river with her son in her arms.Uncle Shuigui couldn't bear to plunder their mother and son to take his place, so he helped their mother and son up the river again, and turned into an old man to send their mother and son home.

Now Uncle Shuigui has been submerged in the water for nine years, he thought that this time he must catch a substitute no matter what, but Uncle Shuigui saved four lives and moved Empress Guanyin. Avalokitesvara intended to test Uncle Shuigui how kind he would be, so she turned into a blind old woman, crying and scolding her son Xiaoxin as she walked, and jumped into the water when she came to the river. Uncle Shui Gui saw that the old woman was just as mad at her son to death as he was, and he sympathized with her very much. He would rather be immersed in the water and never be reborn than take an old woman as a substitute.He immediately picked up the old woman and advised her to go home.

Guanyinniang saw that Uncle Shuigui really had a good intention to save people, so she told the Jade Emperor and named him the local city god. After Shui Guibo became the City God, he told Ah Mi not to go fishing again.You can sell incense candles in front of the temple so that you can still be friends with him every day. However, the legend of the water ghost by the Yangma River is not so friendly. The representative water ghost here is the golden baby. A burial method called "fish and shrimp burial" is still popular in Yangma Village.It is said that fishermen along the river were involved in an accident in the Yangma River, and their bodies drifted away. The family members took fishing nets and fished in the river. The things or fish and shrimp caught in the nets were considered as substitutes for the deceased, and they were taken back and buried in the burial.

This is the custom, but there is a little problem. On the Yangma River, avoid encountering fish and snakes while sailing.When encountering snakes vying to cross the road, the boatman must speed up the boat and sail over before the snakes pass the bow. It is said that the boat is a dragon, and if the dragon loses to the snake, it will be unlucky. When the boat was running, some fish jumped onto the boat. They could not catch and eat them, but put them back into the water, and they had to catch two handfuls of rice and sprinkle them into the water. It is said that the fish are relatives of the Dragon King, and they jumped on the boat to find Food.

Others say that these fish are transformed by water ghosts, and they jumped into the boat to test people's hearts. If they are greedy for small profits, they will suffer retribution. It's very foggy this morning.Zhao Fan rowed the ferry boat to the left bank of the river early, waiting for customers to come to his door. Because the Yangma River is very wide, there are not many bridges that can pass through, and this section happens to be a place where the exchanges between the two sides are intensive. If you want to cross the bridge, you have to go around at least ten kilometers.Many people want convenience, so the ferry business here is booming.

Zhao Fan graduated from high school six years ago, because he didn't get into university and didn't bother to retake the exam, he just took over his father's business and became a boatman.Every morning, I start my day's business before dawn. At the beginning, his father was unwilling to live or die, saying that going to the river before dawn would easily provoke water ghosts, and his life would be lost at that time.Zhao Fan is also a high school student after all, so of course he scoffs at such things.After a long time, my father saw that he was alive and well, so he ignored him.

Zhao Fan looked at his watch, it was only a quarter past six.For early spring, the sky was just getting bright at this time, and because of the thick fog, it was impossible to see clearly even five meters away. It was so cold, he shrank his neck, ran to the cabin and sat down. It seemed that the fog was thicker, and the tumbling white smoke carried a cold breath, which not only paralyzed his sense of smell, vision, but also affected his hearing. He was a little surprised, today was the day to go to the field, and usually at this time, some villagers would have already rushed to the field with their goods to occupy a good position, but until now, he hadn't seen any of them.

Could it be that the date was miscalculated?Or is the alarm clock at home broken? wrong!He stepped out of the cabin and looked up at the sky, through the mist, he could vaguely see dim light.Judging from my own experience, such a sky should be in the early six o'clock.But why, I always feel that something is not right? Looking at the watch, it was indeed a quarter past six, and the time was not mistaken! He sat on the side of the boat and watched the waves crashing against the boat.Suddenly remembered something, his whole body shook, and he stared at the watch on his wrist. something wrong!There is definitely a problem.

I got up at five o'clock, had breakfast and prepared, and it was already a quarter past six when I drove the boat here.Why did the hands of the watch still stay at a quarter past six after waiting for so long? On the mechanical watch on the wrist, the second hand was ticking, without the slightest pause.It was not easy for him to realize that no matter how hard the second hand moved, the minute and hour hands remained motionless like a rock.It appears to be broken! Zhao Fan sighed.It will cost money to repair it, so I might as well use a digital watch in the future, which is cheap and durable, much more convenient than this old antique that is said to be handed down from the ancestors.

It's just that I don't know if it's an illusion.The sky seemed to be the same as the indicator, and it showed no sign of getting brighter. It was still as dim as when I first came here, even though I had been waiting here for at least an hour. Suddenly, there were bursts of suona sounds from the shore, which was very lively. He listened attentively, and soon he heard clearly that someone was getting married, and he started sending off the bride so early. For people on Yangma Riverside, it is very unlucky to get married before eight o'clock in the morning.Zhao Fan secretly prayed, hoping that this business would not be thrown on his head. It's a pity that things often don't go as expected, what doesn't want to come, what just comes to the door. The noisy suona sound was getting closer and closer, and in the white mist, black figures seemed to emerge from the end of the sky, walking here in a row. Headache, even though thousands of people were unwilling, Zhao Fan couldn't refuse the door-to-door business.Unlucky be unlucky! He pushed the wooden ladder to the shore, watched the figure getting bigger and bigger, and when he saw it clearly, he couldn't help but froze. These people are not ordinary weird, all of them are dressed in black, only a white belt is tied around their waist, and their faces are tightly covered. Only the bride in the center of the crowd is wearing a red dress, with a thin red hijab covering her face, but the outline of her facial features can be vaguely seen.Although hazy, but definitely a big beauty. He couldn't help but began to envy the groom.I don't know which damn lucky one is able to marry such a beautiful stunner.I have been alone for more than six years. A 24-year-old man in the countryside has already reached the age of marriage.It's a pity to think on my knees, and I also know that I will never have the chance to marry such a beautiful woman. Putting aside the extremely unbalanced psychology, Zhao Fan watched the pedestrians slowly file into the boat.Although these people are eccentric, they know the rules very well. Passengers who take a boat on the Yangma River also have taboos. If there is a bride on board, the bride has to open an umbrella with a string of pork hanging from the handle.When the boat docks, if there is another bride who wants to take the boat, then the two brides have to leave without saying hello, and they should each take out a handkerchief from themselves and give it to the bridesmaids to exchange with each other.If there is no bridesmaid, the two brides have to exchange hands by themselves to express mutual congratulations. After the bride boarded the boat, she unhurriedly opened the red bamboo umbrella, hung up the soda pork, and stood quietly at the bow of the boat.The river wind was blowing on her thin red dress, which was constantly swaying, as beautiful as a fairy who had fallen into the mortal world. Zhao Fan glanced at it inadvertently, and couldn't help but be fascinated by it. After finally crossing the river in such foggy weather, one of the men in black casually gave him a big red envelope.I squeezed it secretly with my hands, it was very thick, and it seemed that it would not be too little. The team seeing off the bride got off the boat, and the bride was just about to sit on the sedan chair, but unexpectedly, there was another suona sound in the distance. No way, it's the team sending off the relatives again.What day is it today? Why are there two teams so early, eager to send their daughter out? Zhao Fan looked into the distance curiously, and in the mist, the second procession to see off the bride came.They were dressed in the same black clothes and white belts, and even the number of them was exactly the same as that of the first team. The send-off team near the river bank seemed a little nervous. They watched the people on the opposite side approach and pass by their own bride.At that moment, the two brides turned their heads away at the same time as if they were disdainful of each other, even avoiding the custom of giving each other handkerchiefs, and that pair of tit-for-tat looks seemed to be fighting at any time. Then the brides of the first team walked away, and the second team sent off the brides as before, boarded the boat, opened the umbrellas, and hung up the soda pork.Just like the team just now, no one said a word or made a sound during the whole process. This time the bride is also dressed in red, and the face under the veil is equally hazy, equally unearthly beautiful, but with a different flavor. If the first one is as pure as a lily, this one is clove, which seems to have a very fresh fragrance, but it cannot be smelled accurately. After more than ten minutes, the boat returned to the other side safely.The welcoming team disembarked one after another, but no one mentioned the issue of paying for the boat.He was a little anxious and held back the last person. The man seemed to understand what he meant, and still didn't speak, just pointed to the side. Zhao Fan lowered his head subconsciously, and saw a baby-shaped golden object not far from the boat in the icy Yangma River, as if he could touch it with his hand. That kind of light, probably only gold can emit . Posted this time!I am afraid that the hope of buying a house and marrying a wife can be realized! Zhao Fan couldn't care less about begging for the pitifully small boat fare any longer, he bent down desperately, and stretched his hand into the river. In the icy water, the hand quickly moved to the position of the gold, almost touching it.It's just that his brain hasn't analyzed it at all at this time. Gold is a metal, which is much heavier than water. How can it sink and float in the middle of the water? Desire burns intensely, got it!Coming soon!He was ecstatic, but when he held the object in his hand, he froze. That kind of touch is not quite like metal, slippery, very weird, it seems to be a woman's arm! Before he had time to think about it, he subconsciously wanted to withdraw his hand under the strong alarm from his brain... Unfortunately, he never had this chance again. The golden object bit his arm firmly and dragged him into the river with all his strength. inside. On the shore, the bride covered by a red scarf seemed to have a bright smile on her lips... The fruitless day passed quickly, and night fell.Zhao Yunhan and I sat on the bed and looked at each other, silently. "Did you gain anything today?" Zhao Yunhan obviously felt that the atmosphere was monotonous, so he opened his mouth first. I shook my head, "The clue hasn't come home yet." "What do you mean?" She asked puzzled. I smiled wearily: "I stuffed a very small digital recording pen into the pocket of the hotel owner. When he comes back, we will know how the outsiders will be treated at the elders meeting in Yangma Village." " "I think they will drive out the outsiders out of ten." Zhao Yun said without hope. I was noncommittal, took out the note that was under the fried dough sticks plate in the morning, and looked at it casually. "Haven't you thought about which beauty made you breakfast today?" She glanced at me. "If it were you, what method could you use to judge a place that you had left for thirteen years when you were a teenager, who would recognize you? And sneak into your room mysteriously, Under the circumstances, can you deliver breakfast?" "It's a bit of a laborious effort." Zhao Yunhan said in a very leisurely tone: "Maybe it's the girl who came back with you that day. Although I didn't see it, but you didn't swear by it." Does she really exist?" "To be honest, I began to wonder if she was an illusion of my own." I shook my head and smiled bitterly: "After all, such a pure and beautiful girl always gives people a very ethereal feeling. , The feeling of being hard to grasp. Does such a person really exist in real life?" "You have to ask yourself." She stretched lazily, "A Ye, let's go to the market tomorrow Let's go." "Don't you think there's not enough going on?" I glared at her. But she smiled very mysteriously: "You don't know about that. You can't find any effective clues in Yangma Village anyway. Why don't you go out to change your mood, maybe you can find something that you overlooked." "Forget it." Your reason is reasonable." I thought about it, and it seemed that, as she said, there was no progress at all in Yangma Village. Originally, I came to investigate the phenomenon of fake work, but I saw it on the corpse of a child who shouldn't be in that state, so that I have no obvious purpose at all now, and I can't figure out the slightest clue to the hazy status quo . Alas, it's really troublesome, if I had known earlier, I wouldn't have come to this ghostly place. There was a coughing sound downstairs, very familiar, Zhao Yunhan and I looked at each other, the clue finally came back. After using many tricks, he managed to steal the digital pen back quietly.We tiptoed back to the room, and then selectively listened to the whole process.After listening, he sat down on the edge of the bed in silence and carefully classified the things he got. I have to admit that Zhao Yunhan has a very high IQ, her thinking speed can completely keep up with my rhythm, and she is even more responsive to sorting out details than me. After digesting what she got, she was still the first to speak: "I didn't expect that the body that disappeared last night was not just the middle-aged fool who was bitten to death by a bear, but also Zhao Wei who had a fake life. Do you see any Maybe, it was the corpse of the middle-aged man who broke down the door of the corpse pavilion and ran out last night?" I frowned, "You mean he didn't die, he was just suffocated by the bear? At night After waking up, I found that I was placed in the corpse pavilion, and I was afraid and panicked, and ran away at a speed that ordinary people could not reach?" "Didn't you analyze it last night, that kind of situation cannot be done by a single person Did it arrive? I mean, it’s just corpses that ran out!” I was a little confused, “I don’t understand what you mean, how could a single corpse run out by itself?” “Isn’t there a term among folks to describe the autonomous behavior of corpses? Is it?" Zhao Yunhan lowered her voice: "For example, the corpse change!" "It's absurd, unreasonable, I really can't agree with this kind of statement!" I shook my head in disbelief. Zhao Yunhan suddenly felt a little breathless, "Ye Silence, I said you are old and young, and you have encountered many weird and inexplicable things, but why are you always stubborn and don't believe that there are ghosts in this world? "I admit that there are many incredible things and places in the world. Although they cannot be explained by science, there are always some places where people can think logically. Things like corpse transformation are too absurd." I insisted Own opinion. She was so angry that she couldn't speak, and sighed, "Sometimes I really want to know how your brain is constructed. Curiosity is strong, on the one hand, I am interested in mysterious things, and on the other hand, I keep denying them , Even if they really happen in front of your eyes, you can immediately deceive yourself with so-called nonsensical so-called scientific explanations, you are too contradictory!" "That's my personality, you don't care about me." I snorted. "Forget it, I'm too lazy to care about you. I'll go back to my room to sleep, goodbye." She bit her lip, opened the door and walked out. I looked at her back and smiled wryly. Everyone has their own way of thinking and ever-changing viewpoints, whether you believe it or not is your own business, why is she so angry? I looked at my phone, it was already a quarter past ten.I lay down on the bed with all my strength, and suddenly felt very tired, very tired, and I didn't bother to wash up, so I just closed my eyes and fell asleep. Then I had that strange dream again, the dream was still very hazy and unclear, and many details were hard to remember.I just vaguely felt that the scene of that dream was a very long riverbed, surrounded by large and small pebbles, and there was a girl standing in front of me, desperately trying to convey some kind of information to me. However, I still couldn't see the girl's appearance clearly, nor could I hear her voice.I saw her mouth constantly opening and closing. But this time, I seem to be able to read her lips a little bit.She seemed to be calling my name, and she seemed to be begging me to leave quickly. Whenever I feel that I am about to understand, the dream will be cut off suddenly by an external force, and I will wake up inexplicably. I rubbed my eyes hard, trying to open them, but the soreness made me uncomfortable.Lazily on the bed, I continued to recall that weird dream, until I couldn't remember any more details, and then I struggled to sit up from the bed. Looking at the phone, it was 2:41 again, exactly the same time as when I woke up yesterday.Are you sick?I touched my forehead and felt that my brain was becoming more and more awake. This situation is really a bit sick. He got out of bed, entered the bathroom in the same way as last night, and splashed cold water on his face at the sink.I subconsciously looked into the mirror, but fortunately, there was nothing in the mirror, let alone the scary face from last night. I turned around comfortably and prepared to go to sleep again, and was about to walk out the door, but I stopped abruptly. wrong!How could there be nothing in the mirror!The mirror in the bathroom is clearly facing the window, and you should be able to see the shadow of the trees outside through the glass.Ten thousand steps back, even if there are no windows and no trees, at least the scene directly opposite the mirror can be accurately reflected. How could there be nothing, as blank as white paper! I felt a chill rushing from the soles of my feet like an electric current all over my body, and my hair stood on end in fear.The muscles of the body were stiff, and I was too afraid to move. Hallucinations, must be hallucinations!How could the so-called supernatural phenomenon appear on me so frequently! I turned around with difficulty, and walked towards the washstand step by step. Every step seemed to have exhausted all my strength.When I came to the mirror, I almost collapsed to the ground. When the line of sight touches the mirror, there is still nothing in the mirror.It was so blank, as if there was simply an existence beyond my comprehension. I stared at the mirror so hard that my eyes were about to bleed. Something seemed to start to appear in the blank mirror.It was a black shadow, which gradually grew larger and became a rough outline.It's clear, it's getting clearer, it's a head, a human head!That dignified appearance was the middle-aged man who appeared last night. I couldn't hold it any longer, my mind went blank, and I passed out again with a "snap".