The Hungry Ghost Festival is over, yay! And hopefully all the spooks have gone back to where they belong! I also hope I won't be hearing any more from our two ghost friends - sweet dreams, guys!
The other day, we were delighted to receive an invitation from Chief Nun of the hill temple to spend a few days with them for the Mid-Autumn Festival. It seems to be a yearly invitation now and though Head Nun declined the invitation because the cool climate up there does not suit her, she allowed myself and APK to go. The latter was of course very excited as she had never been to the hill temple before and looked forward to it. Ah Ying was as usual to be our driver.
The journey up to the temple would take roughly two hours and I reminded Ah Ying to fill up her old jalopy before we left as we didn't want to be stranded halfway. She laughed and said she had taken it to the workshop a few days ago and everything is shipshape!
We left for the temple at around 7 a.m. so that our journey would not be so hot. APK soon fell asleep in the back seat while I curled up in front with Ah Ying. She's a pretty good driver and can drive anywhere anytime of the day!
After about an hour's drive, we heard a loud thud on the roof of the car. Ah Yin stopped the car to investigate and found that a dried branch had dropped onto the roof. "It's okay, only a branch, no damage done!" she said and she removed it and got back into the car. I didn't know why but at that moment, I felt it was an omen that something untoward was going to happen - and it did.
Before we could resume our journey, we were startled to hear a loud rumbling sound which seemed to come from the top of the rocky terrain on the left side of the road.
"What is that noise?" gasped APK. We looked up and saw to our horror that a huge boulder was rolling down and heading directly towards our car! It looked like we were going to be crushed any minute!
Ah Ying yelled, "Get out of the car!" but before we could move, we saw to our amazement that two young men had appeared out of the blue and right in front of our eyes, they leapt towards the falling boulder, caught it like it was made of paper and threw it down the road.
The boulder bounced onto the road a few meters in front of our car and stopped. The three of us sat in the car in a state of shock. Then without a word, the two men disappeared into the bushes just as suddenly as they had appeared.
"Hey, wait," shouted Ah Ying. "We want to thank you...." but they had gone.
"Phew! That was a close shave," gasped APK.
"Did you see how they caught the boulder?" said Ah Ying in awe. "It was like it was a rubber ball! Wonder who they are? They seem to have incredible strength!"
"Did you notice something?" I said, still shaken.
"No, what?"
"Their clothes! They were not dressed like the young men of today, you know, jeans and t-shirt. They wore a long gown and Mandarin jacket. They look like they're from another era!"
Ah Ying laughed. "There you go again, Vege Cat," she said. "Don't tell me you think they're ghosts?"
"Maybe they're ghosts who did not return to the underworld after the HG Festival," said APK with a nervous laugh.
"Alright, you two, stop scaring yourselves! Ghosts or not, they saved our lives. We'll be at the temple in half an hour, why don't you both get a quick nap?" said Ah Ying.
We arrived at the temple at around 9.30 a.m. One of the nuns welcomed us and said that Chief Nun had gone to see a friend who had suddenly become ill and would be back later. We were to rest and join the morning prayers at 11.00, have lunch and the afternoon was free for us to settle down. I asked about Lotus and was told that she and her family including her mother, Ah Mui Kor were staying at her father-in-law's house for a few days for the Mid-Autumn Festival, so we may not be able to see them this time.
We couldn't wait to tell Chief Nun about our escape from death but it looked like we had to wait until the evening.
I decided to wait for her in the garden, but after some time, she still hadn't returned. I began to worry and hoped she hadn't lost her way. Then I heard her voice shouting "Vege Cat, quick, come over here!"
Oh no, I hoped she hadn't fallen into a ditch and ran in the direction of her voice. I found her kneeling by the side of the road looking at something.
"APK, are you alright? What happened?"
She looked up at me in excitement and said, "Look what I found!" She pulled back some long grass and weeds to reveal a small tombstone.
"What? Are you sure?" I said, stunned. There were also some Chinese characters on the tombstone and since APK knew how to speak and write Mandarin, she translated them for me. "They're the Qing brothers, they died over a 100 years ago....the rest of the words are too faded for me to read."
"Are you... are you saying we saw their ghosts?" I stammered, as I took a closer look at the pictures on the tombstone. They were indeed the two men who had saved us.
"Let's go back and ask Chief Nun about them tonight," said APK excitedly.
APK could hardly contain herself when we sat down for dinner that evening. The nuns had set up a table in the porch of the temple so that we could see the moon and surrounding hills clearly. Everyone was in a jovial mood and there was plenty to eat, mooncakes included of course. Finally APK managed to bring up the subject of the Qing brothers. Chief Nun was surprised that we had discovered their grave which had long been forgotten.
"The Qing brothers were highly respected in those days," she said. "They were the sons of a well-to-do merchant who built this temple, though originally it was just a small shed where they helped the poor and sick. They gave them medicine and food and later expanded the building to what it is today. Unfortunately both father, mother and sons died from a bout of malaria. The brothers were buried together but I'm not sure what happened to the parents. Some nuns later came to stay and the place turned into a temple. Since the brothers' death, many of the old villagers have sworn that they have seen the brothers come back to help in calamities like floods and earthquakes. They would work tirelessly without speaking a word to anyone, then disappear."
"But how come their grave has been neglected?" asked APK.
"The people here are very superstitious and terrified of ghosts, that's why they are afraid to go near the grave."
We then told Chief Nun about how we were saved from the falling boulder by the two men when we were on the way to the temple.
She was astounded and said, "You mean you actually saw their ghosts come to your rescue? You are not only lucky but blessed! I am told the brothers are always ready to help people in distress, even after having been dead for so long. People have told me many stories but I had been skeptical all this time, but coming from you, it must be true. I suggest before you leave tomorrow, you get some jossticks and candles and do some prayers at their grave to express your gratitude for saving your lives."
The three of us agreed it was the right thing to do, so the next morning, we gathered at the grave of the two brothers. I chanted some prayers and APK offered our thanks in Mandarin (she pointed out that they would probably not understand English!). We then bowed low before the tombstone three times and left.
So ended our spooky experience at the hill temple. Ah Ying asked whether I would want to go back there again next year for the Mid-Autumn Festival. Well, let next year take care of itself. As for now, I think I've had enough of ghosts!
No comments:
Post a Comment