Monday, August 14, 2017

Modern Mountain Ghost (新潮山鬼)

Mountain ghost is a term originated from a classic Chinese work describing the romance of a beautiful lady mountain spirit with her lovers.There are a handful of information concerning the mountain ghost in the intranet.

I am not about to reiterate the story of mountain ghost from old Chinese literature but to tell you my very strange encounter near the peak of a mountain in Banjaran Bintang fairly recently.

It was early in the morning, around 8am that I started to hike up the mountain. About two hours later, when I was approaching the level of around 1000m, the sky suddenly turned gloomy and the scene in front of me suddenly covered by a blanket of dense fog.

Since the visibility is less than 10m, I decided just to stay put at where I was while waiting for the fog to clear away.

A few minutes later, I heard sounds of footsteps descending from uphill direction. At first, I saw the silhouette of a figure walking towards me. Then, a lady appeared before me.

Of course you may argue that she was probably another mountain hiker. I cannot argue with you but this lady really doesn't look like any ordinary mountain hiking lady for she was wearing a tight one-piece short black dress. And this modern looking lady had short curly black hair and a pair of fair long legs.

When the lady approached me, she suddenly stopped in front of me and started to talk.

Lady: "What are you doing here?"

Me: "Looking for herbs."

Lady: "Maybe I can help. What type of plant are you looking for?"

I looked at the lady and after some hesitation, I said: "Snake head flower."

"I can show you one with a condition." The lady smiled and answered.

Me: "I have no money but if I can help, then I will."

Lady: "You will find a big plant just at the edge of the ravine. You must use your bare hands to pull it out or it will not survive. When you have gotten this plant, leave at once without looking back. Do not return to this place within 3 months' period."

"What do you want in exchange?" I asked puzzled.

"I will tell you later..." The lady smiled and gave a strange look.

After our brief conversation, the lady continued to descend the slope. Strange as it was, the fog also dispersed as soon as the lady has vanished from my sight.

I decided to follow her instruction and true enough, I found the plant I want and brought it back.

On the night, the lady came before me in my dream. She said: "I am the daughter of mountain god and I couldn't to go to the outside world as I am forbidden to cross the state boundary unless a human brought me out."

I asked: "Where are you now?"

"In that plant you brought back..." she answered.

I woke up and I found myself having a wet dream.

A few days after I brought down the plant, heavy rain started to pour affecting many places in the country. A fellow mountain hiker told me that landslide occurred at that particular mountain and the route is now closed for public.

Perhaps spirit world can get as modern as our human world too? Unfortunately I have no answer for you now, I will tell you more when the mountain lady came to me again...

No comments:

Post a Comment