Instead of approaching to check up close, Wu Xiaoming observed the head of the bear from behind a bush. Something in the area did not feel very natural - natural to the standards of a normal, non-hostile environment in this realm. In addition, the soreness in his muscles and the aches in his limbs from the hermit crab’s shockwave was still lingering and he needed time for them to wear off.
The bear head just sat on the concrete road, the gruesome wound on the base of its skull was exposed in the air. The tail of the hermit crab creature was still inside, with bits and pieces dropping out and smeared on the floor. The rotten, slightly salty smell even reached where Wu Xiaoming was.
By rough estimates, around the fifth minute mark, something began happening. Human-shaped shadows appeared behind the windows on both sides of the road. They were literally shadows, even at a relatively close distance, their faces and clothing were still blurred.
However, none of these shadows came out of the houses they were in, and were only standing behind the window, scratching the glass, with their eyes wide open staring at the bear head.
Wu Xiaoming fixed his eyes on those shadows, pushing his ability to see and sense negative energy to the highest level. These shadows were not there - not physically, but were mere illusions. Their entire figures were only made of very thin layers of energy, serving as projections - distractions, really.
Almost at the same time when this realization hit, a feeling of being watched and stalked exploded in his mind. The very next moment, a freezing grim aura came from behind him. In an instant, he jumped forward while spun his body around, waving the soapberry wood staff at whatever behind him.
His staff landed on a slender arm connected to a pale hand covered in wounds, made of dark energy and black smoke. The entire arm shattered and dissipated, and before Wu Xiaoming could take a good look at the origin of this slender arm, it disappeared right before his eyes, leaving only a puff of smoke. He only caught a brief glimpse of his attacker - it was like a pillar, but with arms and legs protruding from it, with eyes sprinkled around.
Through just a very brief moment of contact, Wu Xiaoming sensed what the off feeling about this residential area was all about - the entire area seemed to be sharing some kind of “energy field”, all the houses, the roads, they belong to one single entity - maybe more precisely, they WERE the parts of the same entity.
Wu Xiaoming darted backwards and stood in an empty patch of grass, his eyes wide open and his senses pushed to the maximum.
Nothing of danger or alert happened for a while. Wu Xiaoming sat down on the ground and exited the ethereal realm.
It was not that he could not defeat this - whatever that creature or spirit was given enough time. He simply did not have as much time. So the most prudent choice would be to go back while he’s earned a little bit of currency, and remember the place so he could come back later when he got the chance.
When he awoke in the shuttle, Tammy and Timothy Manchester were still looking at their documents. Time wise he had spent a little bit over an hour in the ethereal realm - slightly longer than what he felt like.
His phone was still mostly charged, so he dived back into his “homework” - he had already read through the material Tammy gave him, now he was just doing random research on the internet.
Time flew, even though his own research did not turn up a lot of useful information, but a lot of conflicting, exaggerated, speculative hyperbole. Barely twenty minutes after he put back his phone, the shuttle made a turn and drove onto a long, winding dirt road across a mountainous area covered in long grass and defoliated, crooked trees. Wu Xiaoming was simply too focused on his “homework”, he actually had not noticed when the shuttle drove off the main road and went into the hills.
“Okay, we’re almost at the camping ground.” The driver announced.
“The camping ground” was an area close enough to the designated house - an actual deserted campaign ground where they would park the van and where Timothy Manchester and Tammy would stay. He would be managing the scene and the shoot from this area while keeping in touch with the crew wirelessly. It was a bit of a strange set up, not having the director on site, but Wu Xiaoming just shrugged it off as the director’s quirk.
On the side of the cracked concrete central camp ground was a small cabin - lucky for the director and his assistant, the windows were all intact, though the entire cabin appeared run down - rusty metal walls, dried leaves everywhere, and a dusty door handle.
“Okay. ” When everyone involved with the shoot was on site, Timothy Manchester announced: “I trust everyone knows the plan now?”
“Yes.” “Yep.” “Sure.” Everyone answered, Jake the sound guy was in a strange state of intense fear and excitement. The new camera guy had a familiar face, and somehow, he seemed to be actively avoiding meeting Wu Xiaoming’s eyes.
“Okay.” Timothy Manchester took a deep breath,: “Then we proceed as we planned. ” He pointed to the driver of the van, a muscular, slightly tanned man in a windbreaker coat: “Everyone, this is Matthew Anderson, he’s ex-military with a lot of experience in outdoor survival. He will be accompanying you as extra support.”
“Hey.” The man nodded at everyone, then fixed his eyes on Wu Xiaoming for a short moment. No doubt, he had been informed that Wu Xiaoming was the star and would need most of his attention.
“And this is our new cameraman, Malcolm Carter.” Timothy Manchester pointed at the new man who avoided eye contact with Wu Xiaoming: “He’s a professional with a lot of project experience, especially this kind of shoot. So, keep communications open and happy shooting.”
Malcolm Carter, the name was very familiar. Wu Xiaoming scratched his jaw. This guy sure appeared to be someone the previous Wu Xiaoming had known, and from his residual memories, someone who the previous Wu Xiaoming had asked to do - to pick up something.
But this was not the time to question it, so he just let it go for now.
Tammy handed out two handheld short range radios, one for Wu Xiaoming and one for Matthew Anderson.
“Alright. Team, time to start a haunted house exploration!” Timothy Manchester announced with a wide grin.
Matthew Anderson drove Wu Xiaoming, Malcolm Carter, and Jake uphill along an old and under-maintained dirt road. Just when the cabin almost disappeared from their sight, they reached their destination.
This haunted house, commonly referred to as “That haunted house in Monterey woods”, also referred to as, albeit less commonly known, The Pine House, was a two-story single family house standing in a patch of cleared out space, surrounded by tall, crooked trees and unsightly tall grass.
The house itself, at least from outside, appeared to be in better condition than Wu Xiaoming had expected. None of the windows were broken, the front door appeared closed, and the exterior walls were tainted from weathering, rain and a little bit of mold, but still retained its light yellow color.
“Uh - how do we get in?” Wu Xiaoming scratched his head while standing in front of the house: “Anyone has a key?”
“It’s an old house, so - ” Matthew Anderson whipped out a small toolset and began picking the lock. It did not take long before he unlocked the doors - both the outer metal door and the inner wooden door. “Voila, a bit rusty, but the lock’s simple.”
“Did you guys get in?” The handheld radios rang. It was Tammy.
“We just opened the door, ready to move the stuff in. Then I’ll start prepping the house.” Matthew Anderson rubbed his hands, then turned to Wu Xiaoming and the rest of the crew: “Gentlemen, give me a hand?”
No reason to refuse, so Wu Xiaoming just picked two black duffle bags from the back of the van. Malcolm Carter came over and asked with a lowered voice: “Hey, can we talk? Somewhere private?”
“Umm - sure.” Wu Xiaoming nodded. There was no way to avoid the contact now.
There were in total nine bags of various sizes, inside of them included a sleeping bag for each person, a canister of bear spray and bear horn for each person, and then the rest included some personal cleaning supplies, drinking water, canned foods and snacks, trail cameras, first aid kit and assorted other equipment. Wu Xiaoming had no idea what most of them were.
“Alrighty, you guys can go out and do some light recording, don’t go too far. I will clean and prep the house - to make sure there’s no snakes and unwanted vermin.” Matthew Anderson put on a pair of heavy duty gloves: “Don’t go into the woods, and try to stay away from heavy bushes. There are snakes in these woods - they are rare, but there might be some around.”
“Okay, give us a few minutes?” Wu Xiaoming said to Jake as he gestured outside.
“Sure.” Jake nodded: “Need some time to get the mic ready anyway.”
Wu Xiaoming and Malcolm Carter headed out the door and turned around the corner. Before Wu Xiaoming could realize what the conversation would be, the cameraman had already dropped on his knees.
“I am, I’m - terribly, terribly sorry.” Malcolm Carter’s eyes were all red and filled with tears: “I had no idea. I swear! I had absolutely no idea! ”