I work as a security guard at a cemetery, and I overhear the dead chatting about getting rich quick.

When Lin Ye dragged his suitcase out of Haicheng Station, the suitcase wheel got stuck in the crack of the paving stones, and with a thud, it broke completely.

He glanced down at it.

This suitcase had been with him for four years of college. Although one of the wheels was broken and it wobbled when he pulled it, he had grown attached to it and couldn't bear to replace it.

It seems like it's time to say goodbye completely.

The bus stop is just ahead.

Next to the bus stop sign was a small poster of a seafood stall; when the wind blew, the poster made a rustling sound.

The air was filled with the distinctive salty smell of the seaside.

Lin Ye took a deep breath, but didn't inhale any poetry or distant places; he only felt damp and sticky, and his hair was almost sticking to his forehead.

He took out his phone and sent a message to Uncle Zhao.

"We've arrived. We're alive."

Uncle Zhao replied very quickly.

"Don't run around."

Lin Ye looked at the three words and smiled.

"I'm here for tourism, not to visit a grave."

Uncle Zhao did not reply.

That's so typical of Uncle Zhao.

No more words, no explanations.

Lin Ye put his phone back in his pocket and continued dragging his suitcase.

The guesthouse he booked was not far from the beach, only three bus stops away.

The merchant describes the property as a "comfortable seaside room" on the page.

When we arrived, we realized that the merchant was only half right.

It's very close to the sea, but as for comfort, it depends on one's mindset and quality of life.

You have to climb a hill to get from the bus stop to the guesthouse.

The slope wasn't particularly steep, but it felt exceptionally long for someone dragging a limping suitcase.

The guesthouse owner was sitting at the front desk shelling edamame.

Seeing Lin Ye, she looked up and smiled, "Young man, is this your first time here?"

Lin Ye carried the suitcase inside and took a breath.

"That obvious?"

The proprietress glanced at the slope outside the door.

"Locals won't drag suitcases up this road unless they have a grudge against them."

Lin Ye looked down at his box.

Row.

Upon arriving in Haicheng, I was immediately lectured by the landlady.

The room is on the third floor.

There is no elevator.

The proprietress said, "Young people should walk around more; it's good exercise."

After carrying the box up the mountain, Lin Ye felt like he was about to lose half his life from exhaustion.

The room wasn't big.

A 1.5-meter single bed, a small table, and a window.

The curtains were drawn back, but instead of the sea, all that could be seen outside was the air conditioner unit of the building next door.

The outdoor unit was humming, and two short-sleeved shirts that hadn't been wrung out were hanging next to it.

Lin Ye stood by the window for a few seconds, then casually snapped a picture of Ning Zhi.

Ningzhi replied instantly.

"You went to see the sea, and you're showing me the air conditioner unit?"

Lin Ye replied: "A cheaper alternative to a sea-view room."

Ningzhi: "You really know how to manage a household."

Lin Ye: "Thank you for the compliment."

Ning Zhi: "I'm not praising you."

Lin Ye laughed and tossed his phone onto the bed.

The mattress is a bit firm.

The spring creaked softly as he sat down.

He didn't mind; after all, he was used to it.

It's better than that old chair at the guard post of Qingshan Cemetery.

Gu Wantang's message arrived half an hour later.

"Where are you staying?"

Lin Ye sent the location.

There was silence on the other end for a while, then only two words were replied.

"Too remote."

Lin Ye: "Cheap."

Gu Wantang: "Don't wander around at night."

Lin Ye stared at the sentence for two seconds, then felt a little guilty and didn't reply.

Because he really did plan to wander around tonight.

It wasn't a bar visit, nor was it a romantic encounter, nor was it an experience of Haicheng's nightlife.

He checked two cemeteries and an old sea burial memorial.

If this behavior were to be revealed, it would be somewhat abnormal.

While others research food and tourist attractions when traveling, he researches cemetery addresses.

But no way.

This matter had been weighing on his mind for a long time.

Why can he hear the dead talking? Why can the dead hear the voices of the worshippers? Is he special, or is Qingshan Cemetery special?

I've never had a chance to try it before.

Now that it's out, we need to confirm it.

At 7 p.m., Lin Ye went to the beach first.

It wasn't completely dark yet.

The sea was a grayish-blue expanse, with waves crashing against the breakwater, the sound layer upon layer.

There were quite a few people on the beach.

Children were digging in the sand with plastic shovels, couples were taking photos with their phones, and an old man was wading in the water with his trousers rolled up.

Lin Ye bought a skewer of grilled squid.

The owner asked, "Do you want it spicy?"

Lin Ye said, "Mildly spicy."

The boss nodded, his hand trembled as if he hadn't understood Lin Ye's answer, and he sprinkled chili powder as if it were free.

Lin Ye stared at the string of squid and fell silent.

Is this mildly spicy?

He took a bite, and his tongue immediately went numb from the spiciness, and tears and snot streamed down his face.

A little boy next to him was staring at him.

Lin Ye forced a nod: "It's delicious."

The little boy turned to his mother and said, "Mom, see, I told you squid was delicious! The uncle's eyes were even watering from eating it."

Lin Ye awkwardly lowered his head to drink water.

He sat by the breakwater until nine o'clock.

The wind blew my clothes clinging to my body, and the smell of the sea mingled with the smell of barbecue.

Very lively.

It was also very unfamiliar.

At Qingshan Cemetery, when it was quiet at night, he could hear Old Mrs. Zhao complaining about how ugly the paper money was, the old man in the East District scolding his son for burning paper money without a charger for his phone, and Old Master Gu cursing Gu Mingyuan for being useless.

It's not here.

There was only the sound of waves, the wind, and the laughter of the crowd.

After finishing his water, Lin Ye threw the empty bottle into the trash can and took a taxi to the East Suburb Cemetery.

The driver glanced at him several times in the rearview mirror.

"Young man, going to the cemetery at this hour?"

Lin Ye fastened his seatbelt.

"Um."

The driver glanced at him again.

"Sweeping the graves?"

"no."

"Judging people?"

"No, not exactly."

The driver fell silent.

The car was quiet for a few seconds.

Lin Ye felt that if he remained silent any longer, the driver might mistake him for a suspicious person.

He added, "I'm a cemetery security guard; I'm just checking in on other companies in the same field."

driver:"……"

This statement clearly did nothing to ease the tension.

The driver turned the navigation volume up a bit.

The East Suburb Cemetery is not large.

A light was on by the door, and small insects were flying around inside the lampshade.

A middle-aged man in a dark blue uniform was sitting in the security booth, scrolling through short videos.

Lin Ye didn't go in.

He stood outside the iron fence, looking inside.

In the cemetery area, streetlights are lit at intervals.

The shadows of the trees pressed against the surface of the monument, and when the wind blew, the leaves swayed.

In the past, standing in a place like this would have given him a chill down his spine.

It's different now.

He only felt that the cemetery was very well-built.

The layout was clear, the road surface was clean, and the grass was neatly trimmed.

the most important is--

No sound.

There was no sound at all.

It's not that I can't hear it, nor is it that it's too far away.

There really isn't any.

There were no dead people chatting.

No one scolded the children for being unfilial.

No one mentioned what he had hidden before his death.

No one was chatting with the people at the neighboring graves.

The dead here are just like ordinary dead people.

Quiet and orderly.

Lin Ye stood there for about ten minutes.

The middle-aged man in the guard booth finally noticed him and opened the window.

"Young man, what are you doing?"

Lin Ye turned back.

"Just passing by."

The middle-aged man glanced at the deserted road, then at the cemetery gate.

"Why did you stand at the cemetery entrance for so long just passing by?"

Lin Ye also felt that this reason was not very good.

He coughed.

"Occupational disease".

"What's your occupation?"

"Cemetery security guard."

The middle-aged man was stunned for a moment.

The two looked at each other through the fence.

After a few seconds, the middle-aged man smiled.

"Do you work night shifts there too?"

Lin Ye nodded.

"superior."

"How's the salary?"

Lin Ye thought for a moment: "Three thousand eight."

The middle-aged man scoffed, "That's better than us. Our night shift pay is ridiculously low, but we get plenty of mosquitoes."

Lin Ye immediately felt a sense of familiarity.

Two cemetery security guards were chatting about their salaries through the fence in the middle of the night. It sounded strange, but the conversation went quite smoothly.

The middle-aged man said that there's not much going on here at night, except for the mosquitoes in the summer, the strong winds in the winter, and the occasional fights between stray cats.

Lin Ye casually asked, "Any other strange noises?"

The middle-aged man thought for a moment.

"have."

Lin Ye raised his eyes.

"What?"

"Once, a family member climbed over the wall in the middle of the night, saying he dreamed that his father asked him to come and burn paper money. He ended up falling into a ditch, and I was the one who pulled him out."

Lin Ye: "..."

That's definitely a strange noise.

But it wasn't the kind of thing he wanted to hear.

As Lin Ye left the East Suburb Cemetery, he had a general idea of ​​what was going on.

There is no sound in a regular cemetery.

Why is there a Qingshan Cemetery?

Is there something special about Qingshan Cemetery?

Lin Ye was in no hurry to return to the B&B.

He asked the driver to drop him off at the beach.

It was almost 11 o'clock, and there were far fewer people on the beach. Half of the stalls had closed, and the remaining light bulbs swayed in the wind.

Lin Ye walked along the breakwater.

When you reach the end, you will see an old stone tablet.

The stone tablet was surrounded by iron railings. It was not tall, and its edges were worn white by the sea breeze.

There's an information board next to it.

The sign above reads: Haicheng Old Sea Burial Memorial Site.

I came across this while checking travel guides during the day.

Many years ago, there were many unmarked graves and sea burial sites in this area. Later, due to urban redevelopment, most of them were moved away, leaving only this monument.

During the day, tourists passing by might take a picture and then leave.

There's no one around at night.

Only the waves gently lapped against the stone embankment.

Lin Ye originally only wanted to take a look.

But as soon as he got close, he stopped in his tracks.

A very faint sound was mixed in with the sound of the wind.

It wasn't the kind of clear, casual conversation you'd have at Qingshan Cemetery.

It's more like being separated by water.

A single sentence was shattered by the waves, rising a little to the surface before quickly sinking back down.

"The tide... has receded..."

Lin Ye tightened his grip, and the mineral water bottle made a soft cracking sound.

He stood outside the iron bars, motionless.

After a while, the sound started again, intermittently.

This time it sounded like two voices, one old, the other even hoarser.

"thing……"

"Still down there..."

"Don't translate..."

The last few words were drowned out by the sound of the waves.

Lin Ye held his breath.

But the sound disappeared.

Only the sea breeze brushed past his ears.

He stood there for a while, looking down at the small print below the information board.

The original site of the old sea burial memorial in Haicheng was partially relocated many years ago.

The original site.

Lin Ye stared at those four words, his heart sinking slightly.

There is no sound in a typical cemetery.

But it's here.

Although it was very blurry, as blurry as a bit of residue leaking out of the waves.

But it does exist.

This shows that the problem is not with the "cemetery" itself.

Rather, it's certain special places.

Lin Ye took out his phone, wanting to take a picture of the information board.

The screen flickered as soon as the camera was pointed at it.

black screen.

He frowned and pressed the power button.

The phone lit up again, and the battery still had 46% remaining.

It's not broken.

Lin Ye looked up at the old stone tablet.

A sea breeze blew by, and the iron railings swayed slightly, making a very faint sound.

He suddenly lost the desire to take photos.

This trip seems to have gone wrong from the very beginning.

Qingshan Cemetery is not the only place that speaks.

The same place also exists in Haicheng. What similarities do they have?

Lin Ye's doubts only grew.