Druid's Country Retirement

Chapter 493 Water Ghost

The next morning.

The old house of the Li family was silent.

The colorful rooster crowed several times, but no one came out of the house.

In the office, animations are still playing on the big screen. Anna and Nannan are sleeping soundly on Jin Zi. Surrounded by October, bear cubs, leopard cubs, and a group of meerkats, they are all sleeping snoringly. There is a heater in the room. They are all furry animals, so there is no danger of catching a cold.

Main bedroom.

Various clothes were scattered on the ground, some of which seemed to have been deliberately torn and thrown aside.

Shan Xing curled up in Li Hongbing's arms, her brows furrowed and her lips trembling slightly, as if she was silently suffering some invisible pain.

It’s hard to imagine how intense the game was last night. Even the winner, Li Hongbing, was seriously injured, with scratches left by fingernails all over his body.

Until three poles high in the sun.

Li Hongbing just woke up from exhaustion. His waist was sore, indicating that his body was overdrafted. He looked down at the mountain apricot in his arms and shouted softly.

"Myolie."

"I can't do it anymore, brother." Shan Xing murmured in his sleep, his eyebrows knitted tighter.

Li Hongbing shook his head and smiled bitterly. When he saw the plum blossom marks on Shan Xing's neck, he felt pity in his heart. Last night was indeed a bit too much.

But then again.

What will happen to Lao Ou after he eats a ginseng root? There are also two unlucky guys, Fang Wanda and Sanpao.

"Ouyang Hua, wait for me. When I can move, I will kill you." An angry yell came from the Ou family's house.

Overnight, Ouyang Hua seemed to have shrunk, like a desperate man who had lost hope in life. He had dark circles under his eyes, slim cheeks, and bulging cheekbones. His back was hunched, he staggered, holding on to the wall, and walked out of the house, unable to respond to the people in the house. Curses.

"I am the one who was injured. What are you scolding? My skin is all worn out. What evil have I done? Li Hongbing, who is like a dog, is just waiting."

These are nothing.

Early in the morning, it should have been a new day full of vigor and prosperity.

Caogou Village is shrouded in tension and fog.

Water monkeys appeared in the weir pond.

The news spread quickly in the village.

This incident came from a tourist. This tourist is an astronomy enthusiast who rents a small B&B. Every night when the weather is good, he brings photography equipment to shoot the stars.

Last night, the stars were shining brightly and the moonlight was soft. It was the perfect weather for collecting wind.

Astronomy tourists went out to the meadow with their cameras, and suddenly heard the sound of splashing water as they passed the village entrance.

It was freezing cold at night, so whoever had eaten enough ran out to play in the water.

With strong curiosity, I searched for the sound all the way and came to the earth dam at the entrance of the village.

Looking around, my body was shaking involuntarily, and every cell was filled with fear. I wanted to run away, but I found that my legs were as heavy as lead, unable to move.

Two figures were entwined in the weir pond. Although the street lights were dim, astronomical tourists could tell that they were human figures.

Trying to control the trembling of his hands, he raised the camera.

Unexpectedly, just after taking a picture, the two mysterious figures found themselves disappearing into the withered lotus leaves in an instant, except for the rippling water surface that proved that something had appeared.

The astronomy tourists were so frightened that they ran home, trying to calm down their nervousness as much as possible. After the panic, they flashed with excitement and excitement.

It is certain that those two figures are definitely not human.

Because in such a cold weather, even a madman would not jump into the freezing water, let alone two people.

Non-human creatures! !

By the way, I have photos I took.

Astronomy tourists picked up their cameras and looked through the photos. Unfortunately, they set the exposure in advance in order to take pictures of the stars, causing the lens to be unable to focus. The photos were a bit blurry, but they could clearly see two humanoid creatures in the pond. Their upper bodies were floating on the water and they had heads. , has arms.

Could it be the water monkey in folklore?

As an astronomy enthusiast and a lover of folk mythology, this tourist immediately thought that he had read an article about water monkeys.

Water monkey, also known as water ghost, water monster, water demon, etc., is a mysterious creature in folklore. It is said that it lives in freshwater areas and has amphibious characteristics. It mainly feeds on fish and shrimp in the water, and occasionally causes people to drown. Will suck the blood of corpses.

The legend of the water monkey is spread across the country, and the image descriptions of the water monkey are also different in different regions. Some say it looks like a monkey, some say it looks like an otter, some says it looks like a mermaid, and some says it looks like a snake.

But generally speaking, it is believed to be a half-human, half-animal monster with short stature, black and yellow or gray skin, sparse or hairless hair, small and fierce eyes, webbed or clawed hands and feet, and a long or short tail.

Water monkeys like to hang out in rivers, lakes, ponds and other water bodies, especially at night or in rainy weather.

They usually do not actively attack humans. If they encounter people or animals that anger them or threaten them, they will attack without mercy; they are good at diving and camouflage, and can move quickly and hide themselves in the water. They also have a special ability, that is, they can imitate human or animal sounds and seduce the ignorant.

It is said that the water monkey is very powerful in the water, and even an adult man with good water ability cannot beat it. It will suddenly grab a person's feet in the water and drag them down until they drown.

If this photo proves to be a water monkey, it will be worth a lot of money!

Excited to become famous overnight, astronomical tourists used portable printers to print out photos. They did not dare to sleep all night and ran out before dawn to find villagers for verification.

By coincidence, I bumped into Li Hongqi, a licking dog who went out to deliver breakfast to a volunteer teacher.

When this guy heard about water monkeys, he didn’t believe it at first until he saw the photo.

The pond is right. I have lived in the village for more than thirty years, how could I not recognize the weir and pond at the entrance of the village.

But what are the two figures in the water?

"Is this photo real? Water monkey?" Li Hongqi looked at the astronomy tourists suspiciously.

The astronomical tourist swore to confirm it and did not hesitate to endorse it with his whole family, "It's true, I took the photo myself. If it's false, my whole family died."

Omg!

There are monkeys emerging from the weir pond!

The breakfast in Li Hongqi's hand clattered to the ground. After a moment of expression, Li Hongqi raised his head and shouted.

"Come quickly, something big happened!!!"

At this point, the villagers and tourists had just woken up and picked up their bowls too early. They vaguely heard someone calling outside and walked out of the door out of curiosity.

Li Hongqi looked excited, holding a piece of paper in his hand, and started talking to everyone he met.

Anyone who has seen the photo, whether it is a villager or a tourist, has a look of horror but also a hint of curiosity.

Water monkeys, whom I have only heard of but never seen, appear in the village.

For a while, villagers and tourists rushed towards the weir and pond. They met some unsuspecting people on the way. After a little talk, they immediately joined in, and more and more people gathered together.

When they came to the earth dam at the entrance of the village, no one dared to approach it. They only dared to stand on the earth dam from a distance and watch.

What was once an ordinary pond has now become mysterious.

If there is a water monkey and is dragged into the water, you will not be the unlucky one.

Looking left and right, everyone recommended some highly respected villagers to go check it out.

Dakui, Chang Shan, Uncle Yandai, Uncle Lao Liang, Fu Sheng, and a group of young students carefully walked down the earth dam with shovels and hatchets and came to the weir and pond. The water surface of the pond is as calm as a mirror, reflecting the blue sky and white clouds.

Occasionally, a breeze blew by, causing ripples and breaking the tranquility.

The trees around the pond have begun to change colors, some have turned golden, some have turned orange-red, and some have remained emerald green. The colorful leaves are reflected in the pond, like a natural oil painting. .

The reeds beside the pond are swaying gently in the autumn wind, and their ears have turned deep yellow. Pieces of residual lotus are scattered all over the pond. Their leaves have withered and turned yellow, but they still stand upright in the water, giving people a bleak but strong feeling.

This weir pond is the childhood memory of every Caogou villager. It has witnessed the changes of Caogou Village and also carries the memories and emotions of the villagers.

Every villager will feel the warmth and kindness of home when they see the weir pond.

But today, what I felt was gloom and fear.

"Be careful and don't walk near the water. Water monkeys like to hide in the water on the shore and pull people into the water when they see people!" Uncle Muse's expression was serious, and his eyes fell on the bluestone slabs beside the weir and pond, recalling the past few years. Someone drowned in the weir and pond, and it was probably the water monkey's fault.

"Master Liang, have you seen a water monkey?" Li Hongqi grabbed the handle of the shovel and asked nervously in a low voice.

Uncle Lao Liang took a few steps away in disgust and cursed.

"I have seen a few, and everyone who has seen a water monkey is dead! Get away, water monkeys like to catch young people, don't harm me, an old man."

Water monkeys love to catch young offspring! !

As soon as these words came out, the faces of the young people who followed him changed color.

"This is it!" Dakui walked in front, holding a photo in his hand to compare the location, and pointed to a withered lotus leaf on the water.

Everyone looked around and saw that the water area was more than ten meters away from the shore. It was obvious that something passed by and broke the lotus leaf pole.

If the wind blows, it will not fold so neatly, and there has been no strong wind in the past few days. Rural people know that the lotus leaf stem is very tough. Unless it rots, the mountain wind will never blow.

"Be careful, don't run around, lift the guy up, that thing may have settled here." Dakui reminded everyone vigilantly.

Uncle Lao Liang suddenly remembered something and said cryptically.

"I remember my grandfather said that when we dug weirs and ponds, we couldn't store the water. Later we found a hole at the bottom of the weirs and ponds. We used stones to block the entrance of the hole so that the water could be filled. We couldn't use that hole. It must be the water monkey’s nest!”

Burrow?

Why don't I know when it happened?

The villagers were confused and felt that things were getting more and more evil.

"Look, there are traces here." A young junior student hiding in the distance shouted loudly.

The villagers hurriedly gathered around.

This is a muddy land. Sometimes when it rains heavily, the weir pond has no time to drain water, and the muddy land washed out by the weir dam overflows.

In the eyes of everyone, there were messy marks on the muddy ground, as if something big had crawled on it.

Da Kui and Chang Shan were the only hunters present. They had been dealing with animals in the mountains for most of their lives, and they could deduce the types of animals that had appeared just by looking at the traces.

The two of them knelt down and carefully examined the marks on the mud.

Dakui and Chang Shan frowned and looked at each other, seeing the worry and shock in each other's eyes.

The atmosphere suddenly became tense.

"Dakui, tell me what it's like!" Tie Zhu was impatient and couldn't help asking. As soon as he opened his mouth, others couldn't sit still and asked questions one after another.

"Master Chang, is it a water monkey?"

"I think it looks like, look at the span here, it's pretty big anyway."

"Uncle Dakui, please give me an explanation. I'm so worried."

Da Kui sighed secretly, turned around and picked up a reed pole, pointing to the crawl marks on the mud, "I don't know what it is yet, but it must be a big thing, about the same size as a person. It crawled over from the weir and pond, and there were two of them. Then climb here, and then probably climb back to the weir pond."

Immediately afterwards, Chang Shan added.

"There must be two ends. They come down one end and the other, but it's strange that they have three legs."

"Look, this is where I walked. The small holes in the front are probably used by claws to grab the ground and drag the body. There are three marks on the mud at the same time, especially the mark in the middle. Every few steps, there will be a mark on the ground. The hole should be good at water but not good at climbing, so it needs to use its third leg to support balance."

Oh!

The confused villagers nodded at the same time, expressing their admiration for the two hunters. They didn't expect that so many things could be seen from the messy traces.

"Uncle Dakui, you said the water monkey crawled back again!" Li Hongqi asked loudly.

Chang Shan nodded, with excitement in his eyes, pointing to the crawl marks on the mud, "Yes, they shouldn't be able to leave the water for a long time. After crawling around for a while, they crawled back to the weir pond from the other side. Can any of you go over there and take a look? Are there any mud marks on the shore?"

"I'll go!" The scholar was brave and ran over. When he came back, his face was full of surprise, "There are really mud marks. It's just like Uncle Changshan said. It has three legs. There is a water monkey with an injured middle leg. There are marks on the stone slab. Red blood.”

red blood.

The water monkey is blood red!

This was a big discovery, and Dakui and Chang Shan were a little excited.

If the water monkey is an evil thing, it will not bleed, and it will still have red blood, because with many years of hunting experience, only animal blood is red.

If only I could fight a water monkey in my lifetime.

As a hunter, not to mention this life, even the next life is worth it.

"Let's go back to discuss and catch those two water monkeys!!"

The young people waved their shovels in fear and excitement.

Catch the water monkey!

The expressions of the old people suddenly changed.

Rural areas have always had traditional and conservative ideas. For the elderly who have lived in rural areas all their lives, they firmly believe in the spread of water monkeys.

According to legend from generation to generation, water monkeys are the souls of those who died in the water and wandered in ponds or rivers. They must stay there and wait patiently until another person also drowns before they can be reincarnated.

If the people who drowned in the accident cannot wait until then, they will not be able to break away from the shackles and go to reincarnation, which will breed those "water ghosts" who are eager to free themselves from the shackles and force people to be dragged into the water and drowned at the water's edge. Folklore Call this method "death seeker".

Therefore, the old people all responded with the attitude of "I would rather believe that something is there than that it is nothing." Parents in rural areas are generally very taboo about their children playing near the water for fear of accidents.

Even if they are not children, people in rural areas are more taboo about going near ponds or rivers at night, for fear of the legendary accident.

Every year people drown everywhere, and the old people say it's caused by water monkeys.

If you provoke the water monkey and cannot catch it, it will definitely bring disaster to the village.

"Dakui, you can't catch it. If the water monkey is easy to catch, no one will drown." Uncle Yandai stopped him quickly.

Uncle Lao Liang looked even more excited, "Don't beg for it, do you know that water monkeys also appeared in Daliuzi Village?"

"A few years ago, someone in Daliuzi Village was peeing in a pond in the middle of the night. He was caught by a water monkey and dragged into the water."

"If the willow tree on the shore wasn't very close to him, he grabbed the willow tree and kicked his foot, and then the foot was released. When he returned to the house, he found five black fingerprints on the ankle where he was caught, and it was still bleeding. He would be at home here. He lay there for several years before going to the ground.”

(End of this chapter)