The eerie incident that occurred at the Black Ghost Cave on Little Liuqiu...

Text and photos by NANA’s Mom

Originally, NANA’s mom had planned to visit the intertidal zone during the daytime as part of her Little Liuqiu itinerary, but the intertidal zone operator said that during high tide, not much marine life could be seen. This was relayed to the owner of the guesthouse where she was staying on Little Liuqiu, who suggested switching to a nighttime tour instead. So NANA’s mom ended up joining a group of around a dozen college student tourists along with a guide for a nighttime exploration of Little Liuqiu’s attractions. (These included Beauty Cave, Li Pond, Black Ghost Cave, and several other sites, including a nighttime visit to the intertidal zone.)

The guide asked us tourists to vote on what kind of tour we wanted — an educational one, like a classroom-style lecture, or one featuring local ghost stories. The college students all opted for the ghost stories. Long ago, a major earthquake struck Black Ghost Cave, causing rocks to fall and block the inner passageways. The passages inside the cave were very narrow, so narrow that you had to move sideways like a crab. NANA’s mom wanted to take some photos to show how cramped and hard to navigate the tunnels were, but the guide asked everyone to sit down and listen to the story of how Black Ghost Cave came to be.

While the other college students were asking the guide about the three forbidden places on Little Liuqiu inside the cave, NANA’s mom began to feel stifled and had trouble breathing (it felt like something heavy, though she couldn’t tell what, was pressing against the area around her collarbone and ribs, making it hard to breathe). She thought getting out of the cave for some fresh air might help.

As it turned out, throughout the rest of the nighttime tour of various sites on Little Liuqiu led by the guide that day, NANA’s mom continued to have difficulty breathing and felt that something was definitely off. In the end, following the guide’s suggestion, she deleted a photo she had taken inside the Black Ghost Cave.

The next day, NANA’s mom rode her scooter to Biyun Temple and told one of the nuns there about what had happened. The nun first asked her to prepare incense and offerings, and after worshipping the three deities at Biyun Temple, the nun would ask Guanyin Bodhisattva what had occurred that day. Later, the nun reported back that Guanyin Bodhisattva had said that NANA’s mom had been experiencing diarrhea and was physically weaker those two days. She had also been in close proximity to the energy field of a certain restless spirit. Plus, this spirit (referred to as yB) knew that NANA’s mom had previously practiced Buddhism and spiritual cultivation, so it sought her help, hoping she would recite scriptures to help yB escape suffering sooner.

Afterward, the nun burned a piece of spirit money to perform a full-body purification ritual for NANA’s mom. The nun also prepared a cup of talisman water and instructed her to drink three big sips. NANA’s mom was also advised to recite the Great Compassion Mantra 21 times daily to transfer the merit to yB.

In the future, if NANA’s mom visits Little Liuqiu again and the itinerary includes a stop at Black Ghost Cave, she will refuse to enter, regardless of whether it's during the day or at night. She never wants to experience that again.