Do you believe that there are strange things in this world that science cannot explain?
If you believe it, then you can read on...
I don’t dare to swear that what I write is true, but they are all kinds of strange things that I have encountered while traveling around the world for more than thirty years. Looking back on many of them now, they still make my scalp tingle and my hair stand on end!
…
My name is Wu Zhong.
The reason why I am called this name is because my horoscope is too light.
One night in the winter of 1986, I was born in a remote village in the southwest.
Later, my mother said that it was unbearably cold that year!
Even the pig pens and chicken pens were covered with a layer of straw to keep them warm, otherwise they would probably die from the cold.
So as soon as it gets dark, the villagers close their doors and huddle in their houses, warming themselves by the fire.
The day my mother was going to give birth to me was 10 o'clock in the evening.
My dad braved the cold wind and heavy rain and walked more than ten miles to invite a midwife from a neighboring village... It is said that his lips were purple from the cold.
It was also because of my dad's decisiveness that I was able to be born smoothly.
Because it was a premature birth, when the midwife took me out, she couldn’t believe that there was such a light fetus!
Only three pounds!
The midwife shook her head and sighed. According to her opinion, she might not survive. After all, that winter was extremely cold.
But my parents insisted on taking care of me, so I survived smoothly and grew up...
I don’t know if it was a coincidence or something, but my dad told me that at noon on the second day after I was born, a wandering Taoist priest happened to pass by the village and came to my house to ask for some hot water to ward off the cold.
My dad looked a little pitiful when he saw that his leggings were covered in mud and his clothes were wet. I just told him to rest at home for a while, just in time to have lunch, just to add an extra set of dishes and chopsticks.
After hearing this, Taoist Youfang looked at my dad and smiled.
"These days, there aren't many people who are so enthusiastic."
"Don't say that. There are still many good people in the world. Sir, please wait a moment. My mother-in-law just gave birth to a baby yesterday. I will prepare her food and then come out to eat with you."
My dad calls him sir, not in the current sense of "sir".
This is because in the countryside in the southwest, it is customary to honor those who can read Feng Shui, physiognomy, and metaphysics as "Mr. Taoist"—sometimes also referred to as "Mr."
Although these people all come from the common people and do not have any background from famous families, they are still quite respected by the common people.
After all, whether it is a housewarming, a wedding, or a funeral... these "gentlemen" are all needed to help with feng shui, good times, and auspicious days, etc.
When the wandering Taoist priest heard this, he was a little surprised: "You just gave birth to a baby yesterday? Can you hold it out for me to see?"
My dad thought it was strange, but since he didn’t look like a bad person, he agreed. Let my mother carry me out of the back room.
As soon as he saw me, the Taoist priest said "Huh", which seemed strange. Then his expression became a little serious, and he made a few calculations with his right hand.
When my dad saw him like this, his heart suddenly skipped a beat and he quickly asked him what was going on?
"Was your baby born at twelve o'clock last night? Can you tell me the specific date of birth?"
After my dad answered, the Taoist priest sighed: "Yes, a child born in this year, at this time, in this place, with a horoscope and weight that is extremely light, logically cannot be born. But look at your baby. Thin, but strong and healthy. Strange things, strange things."
My father was confused, but he also understood that the Taoist priest meant that I could not have been born, or that I was stillborn. But in fact, I was born successfully.
"Maybe you have done good deeds and protected your child. Seeing that you invited me to stay for dinner, I know you are a good person. In this case, I will give you a gift."
As the wandering Taoist priest spoke, he took out a small black wooden sign from his robe pocket. On the spot, he carved a strange symbol on it with his finger.
When my dad saw it, he knew he had met an expert!
After all, how is it possible for ordinary people to carve words on a wooden board with their fingers?
The Taoist priest handed the wooden sign to my father: "It's not a good thing, but it can protect your baby from a disaster."
Seeing my dad's confused look, he continued to explain.
It turns out that not only do I weigh only three kilograms, but my birth horoscope is only 2 taels and 1 cent - this is the lightest value that a horoscope can theoretically achieve!
Such people were basically stillborn in the special Bingyin year of 1986.
Although I had to be blessed to be born smoothly, I will always be thinner than my peers until I am fifteen years old, and I will go through three tribulations!
If you don't get through it once, you will die.
If all three "tribulations" pass, I can live like a normal person and my body can recover.
The wandering Taoist priest gave my father this small wooden plaque. As long as it hangs around my neck, it can help me ward off a disaster!
He also named me "Wu Zhong" - he said that people's names have mysteries, and using the name "Chong" can help suppress my extremely light character.
It’s a way to repay my dad’s “kindness of having a meal”.
What he said was so mysterious that my parents were skeptical, but they still took the wooden sign. I also accepted the name "Wu Zhong", so I am very grateful.
After eating, the wandering Taoist priest left...
I didn’t leave my name or anything like that, I just said that if I could successfully live past the age of fifteen, I might be able to see him again.
When I got older, I did see him again.
Of course, these are all things for later.
…
Life goes by like this, and I grow up day by day.
Although the remote villages of that era were backward and poor, the relationship between people was simple and pure. In addition, my parents have a very good relationship, so I live a very happy life.
I was not bullied or had low self-esteem because of my thin body.
The first time I discovered that there are weird things in this world that science cannot explain, it was also when I really faced my first "tribulation". It was the water stick incident when I was nine years old...
What is water stick?
For people who drowned in the river, their bodies swelled up and floated about three or four days later, with their limbs stiff and floating on the water like a stick!
Most of the time, it is washed down from the upper reaches of the river, and the local dialect says it is "water-driven" - hence the dialect called "water-driven stick". There are also some places that call "water to make fat", which means that the body has been swollen.
I clearly remember that when I was a child, every summer, adults would threaten their children: "Don't go down to the river to take a bath, or the water will beat you and drag you away with a stick!"
My aunt was even more eloquent when she said: "I can smell the smell of blood in the river breeze these days."
But even so, in the hot summer, the little children in the village can't help but be tempted by the cool river water.
It was a summer afternoon, the sky was overcast and very hot.
Several kids of the same age in the village and I secretly went swimming in the river.
Although the elders grabbed our ears every day and told us not to swim in the river. But how could the little baby be so obedient?
I, Wang Fei, and Liu Erwa quietly walked outside the village, then stripped naked and jumped into the water laughing.
So refreshing!
The sweltering heat of summer immediately dissipated.
We had a lot of fun, and the children who grew up by the river are good at swimming, so we gradually relaxed our vigilance and started swimming to the middle of the river...
Among the three of us, Wang Fei has the best water quality. We nicknamed him "Langli Baitiao" based on the stories about Liangshan heroes told by our elders.
He was so courageous that he plunged in suddenly and came out seven or eight meters away from us.
The afternoon sun shines on the river, making it look like a layer of gold. Dazzling eyes.
I don’t know why, but seeing him rising and falling in the water in the middle of the river, I suddenly panicked.
I shouted loudly: "Wang Fei, don't travel too far. Come back."
Wang Fei waved to us and laughed loudly: "What are you afraid of? I am better than a fish..."
Before he finished speaking, his expression suddenly changed, and his face turned pale!
Shockingly white.
Then he paddled hard with both hands, as if he wanted to swim in our direction.
But his body didn't move at all, he just kept spinning in the center of the river! It was as if there was something in the water, pulling him hard.
When I saw something was wrong, I quickly shouted: "Wang Fei, what's wrong with you? Hurry up!"
He swam desperately but couldn't move at all. He wanted to shout, but he didn't know why he couldn't make a sound!
It’s just that look of despair and fear that I will never forget many years later.
In just two or three seconds, it seemed like there was a force under the water pulling him down...
Plop!
A splash of water.
Wang Fei sank completely into the river and was invisible.
