The Legend of Tokyo Taoist

Chapter 540: Hong Kong Past (21)

Ah Fat brought two Taoist priests to the entrance of Kowloon Walled City Park. Looking at the scene inside, he sighed: "It's finally built~"

He turned around and said, "This park was built after the Kowloon Walled City was demolished. It took more than two years to build and was only completed a while ago. If you want to go in and see it, I will take you to see it. However, I have not been in here since the walled city was demolished, so this is actually my first time visiting this park."

Ah Fa led the two of them to stroll inside. The former huge and disorganized complex had long since disappeared without a trace, replaced by a beautiful garden with a pond, Chinese-style buildings, and some remaining ruins of the Kowloon Walled City, such as the remains of the Qing Dynasty's government offices. From the surface, it looked like an ordinary park.

"Sure enough..." Taoist Lingkong was surveying the surroundings with a compass in hand. He said to himself, "The feng shui of this park has been specially inspected by someone in order to suppress and eliminate something."

Taoist Jingde nodded and said, "It's the Kowloon Walled City after all. It's normal. If they don't build a park here to attract people and increase its popularity, but build other buildings, such as residential areas or office buildings, it will be haunted sooner or later."

"No way?" Ah Fa questioned, "Is it that evil? I grew up in there and nothing happened to me."

Taoist Jingde looked at Ah Fa with amusement: "Are you sure there is nothing evil there?"

Ah Fa shut up immediately. He suddenly remembered that there seemed to be a lot of strange things happening in the walled city. There were no fewer rumors of ghosts than outside. Even he didn't dare to run around in many places. It seemed... it was really a bit evil?

Qian Xiaoyi and Taoist Lingkong followed behind them, strolling leisurely.

Taoist Lingkong explained: "If we were to choose a location for a man-made ghost town in Hong Kong, then the ruins of the Kowloon Walled City would be the most suitable place in our eyes. Before it was demolished, the Kowloon Walled City could be said to be Hong Kong's cultural business card. It enjoyed a high reputation worldwide and was also a holy place for artists to find inspiration. Its fame was as widespread as that of a tourist attraction, and it attracted the recognition of countless people around the world."

"And not only that." Qian Xiaoyi added: "In addition to the spread, the remaining knowledge of this place is also very important. It has an area of ​​less than 3 hectares, but in its heyday it accommodated 5 people, making it the most densely populated place in the world at the time. At the same time, due to some historical reasons, even the Hong Kong government at the time had no jurisdiction over this place, because according to the rules, this was originally a land managed by the Qing Dynasty.

It is such a lawless place, full of good and bad people, full of filth and dirt, but it has its own unique order. The love, hatred, and cognition accumulated here over the past few decades are enough to make this place a very special place in terms of Feng Shui. "

"That's right." Taoist Lingkong continued, "Among the ghost areas in urban legends, Kowloon Walled City is well known to everyone, so there is a widely spread legend that can be used as a framework. The real facts in reality are there, and the residual knowledge that Kowloon Walled City once lived there can be used as a filler. Then, if we want to create an artificial ghost area, what is missing?" Qian Xiaoyi said, "It lacks a core. If the main content of the urban legend is a haunted house where you order food, then the core is that house, and if the content of the urban legend is watching a ghost movie, then the core is the location... But now Kowloon Walled City has been demolished, how are you going to reshape such a huge place? The building itself, which is the core, has disappeared."

“Although the Walled City is gone, the people who lived in it are still there.” Taoist Lingkong explained, “The ghostland itself is something formed by the gathering of human cognition. It is idealistic. So the focus of our research at the time was on Ah Fa. He grew up in the Walled City since he was a child and has deep feelings for it. He is the most authentic resident of the Walled City. If we can make him the core and use his cognition to guide, maybe we can recreate that place…”

After walking around the park, Ah Fa sighed with some emotion, then cheered up and said, "Okay, we've basically seen everything. We've been walking around for so long, I'm hungry. Master, have you finished? How about I treat you to a meal? There's a shop nearby that makes pretty good roast goose and barbecued pork. I like them very much. I'll take you there, I guarantee you'll be satisfied."

"Don't worry about eating yet." Taoist Jingde suddenly asked, "Ah Fa, from the way you looked just now, you seem to miss the life in the Walled City. Didn't I hear that it used to be a slum? There was chaos, gangs everywhere, and living conditions were poor. Why do you miss it?"

"It's actually not as bad as people say outside." Ah Fa said, "For ordinary people living there, it's already acceptable. People who live there can't survive outside, so they escape inside. Besides, my father used to be a black dentist with a good income, so I don't suffer much in terms of food and clothing."

He took out a cigarette box, took out a cigarette, put it in his mouth and lit it, puffing smoke as he recalled: "Don't look at Kowloon Walled City like this, there is a school inside, and I also studied there. And it is said to be chaotic, but in fact Kowloon Walled City has its own order. Even if those gangs fight to the death, it is none of our business. As long as we don't go to those dangerous places, our daily life is very simple. Neighbors help each other. We don't have to think too much. The only thing to consider is life."

Another thing that was not mentioned is that when his father was in Kowloon Walled City, he was at least a dentist. Although his fees were cheaper than outside, it was still a considerable income. But after moving out, without a dental license, his father immediately became unemployed and could only work as a odd job. No matter how cheap the public housing was, he still had to pay rent.

His family lost its source of income, so he could only follow the movies and join gangs on the street, hoping to become a big shot and move into a big house. But now that he has become famous, he finds that it is not so easy to get along here. All kinds of intrigues and conflicts of interest have made him upset. If he takes a wrong step, he will risk going to jail or dying. It is far from the freedom he had when he lived in the Walled City.

His thoughts began to wander, as if he had returned to the carefree days when he lived in Kowloon Walled City.

While Ah Fa was smoking in silence, Taoist Jingde asked, "Do you want to go back and take a look? Go back to Kowloon Walled City?"

This made Ah dazed for a while. He flicked the ash off his cigarette, took a deep puff, and asked in surprise: "Did I hear you right? Go back to the Walled City? Hasn't the Walled City been demolished? Can you also travel through time and space? You are not gods who have come down to earth, right? Arhats who can subdue dragons and tigers, right?"

(End of this chapter)