Malcolm apologized again as they wrapped up for the day and were ready to sleep. Wu Xiaoming simply shook his head and told him again that they can talk about this after they’ve wrapped everything up. Matthew kicked off a video back up operation to send the footage they had recorded to the director and Tammy, and just in case the laptop would shut down before the operation could finish, he had connected a mobile battery to it.

As for sleeping in the same room with Malcolm, Wu Xiaoming was not worried in the slightest. There was no benefit in the way he apologized - he could have simply put the blame on everyone else and name names, but he not only came along knowing he was on the project, and he only emphasized his own ignorance and his responsibilities. It showed signs that he was genuinely remorseful - something he assumed was difficult to find in Haoliwood.

Malcolm volunteered to watch the first shift of the night, but Wu Xiaoming refused. Since right now there were no apparent signs of danger - the creepy footage from the camera aside.

Just to be safe, he laid a salt circle around both their sleeping bags. He brought several boxes of salt along with his last canister of black dog urine and some personal items, it should be enough.

After some mental preparation and deep breaths, Wu Xiaoming went into the ethereal realm.

The realm in this area was not that different from the realm in Los Angeles. It was grim, chilling, everything was weathered and corrupted. Wu Xiaoming checked the doors and the hallway - nothing of note so far. He went to the master bedroom and checked the door frame as well as the walls around. On the inner side of the frame, was a very faint and unobvious hand print - the wood was slightly darkened, lightly cracked, not dented.

He went back to check the two rooms where the crew members were sleeping. Nothing in either room. He went down the stairs with weapons in hand, and before he even reached the first floor, he saw a ghostly shadow going into the storage room next to the kitchen. It was not a very good attempt at hiding, as he found it without much trouble.

He continued down and looked around the house before prying open the door to the storage room and snuck inside. At the foot of the wall at the end of the room, was the ghostly figure curled up in a cradle position, weeping and crying. It appeared to be heavily malnourished, his limbs were thin to the bone; it had just a few very long, sickly looking gray hair on its head, as if he had been living in a dark cave for years or decades.

It did not seem like a spirit with ill intent. The dark energy was more around it instead of coming from it. And right now, the negative energy appeared to be locking this figure down in its place. Not that dissimilar to the spirits in the Sproutlinger Hotel.

Wu Xiaoming considered for a brief moment before kneeling down by the figure and asked: “Who are you? Why are you here?”

“Please - please - please - please leave me alone.” The ghostly figure shook his head: “I - I can’t go, I can’t stay - what do you want from me? Please - please stop - ”

“What do you mean you can’t go and can’t stay?” Wu Xiaoming asked, with a frown.

“Please stop - please stop - ” The ghostly figure did not answer, and simply continued his mumbling and begging - not directed at Wu Xiaoming, but seemingly at something in its “head” or “mind”.

Wu Xiaoming asked a few times, before casting a Golden Light spell on his right hand and tried to hover it over the dark energy surrounding the figure’s body. But the figure immediately began screaming the moment the golden light touched it.

“NO! NO! It hurts! It hurts! Please!” The figure cried and rolled on the ground, and before Wu Xiaoming could ask again, it burst up from where it was and shot out the door. Wu Xiaoming chased after him, but the figure had already disappeared.

“Motherfucker - ” Wu Xiaoming cursed, then ran around the house and checked every room - no sign of the figure anywhere. So he went out the door.

All the trees, grass and bushes around the house were still, as if no wind was blowing through the area at all. The front yard was clear, but things drastically changed when he circled around to the backyard. Three human-shaped figures stood behind the house, gray, rough silhouette, frozen in either defensive or panicking poses.

He slowed down and readied his two weapons. None of the figures moved at all as he gradually approached. Eventually Wu Xiaoming saw what they were - short trees or bushes, only the leaves and branches were almost all black. They were just grown or groomed to be human-shaped.

Without letting his guard or weapons down, Wu Xiaoming approached these human-shaped bushes and trees. Upon closer inspection, it screamed even more unnatural how accurate their shapes were. Even though their faces were not fleshed out, Wu Xiaoming could easily sense the kind of horror they were resisting.

Something cold grabbed onto his left ankle. He looked down, it was a gray, bony arm of a pale, long-haired woman. Her eyes were almost completely white, her lips were black, and cracks crawled all over her face like old damaged porcelain.

Wu Xiaoming pulled his leg, and broke away from the woman’s grasp without much effort. The woman disappeared in an instant. The coldness lingered, but the numbness it brought was fading - jump-scare-y, but non-offensive. 

He looked around, just in time to see another ghostly figure rushing towards him - an older woman in a sleeping gown, eyes all white and lips all black, screaming and waving her arms. He simply side stepped, she ran past him and disappeared.

“No! Please! Don’t do this!” A high-pitched scream exploded from the side of the house. He walked over, just in time to see another spirit - looking like a young man, kneeling on the ground, begging something in front of him, weeping.

Wu Xiaoming looked up the direction the spirit was kneeling towards. There was nothing there. And when he pushed his ability to see energy, the negative energy shrouding the spirit became clear. Similar to the spirit that had tried to hide in the storage room, but to a lesser extent, traces of dark energy surrounded its body, locking it in place. 

He approached the spirit from behind. But before he could get close, the spirit turned around, stood up and charged at him.

“No! Please! Don’t! Don’t do this!” The spirit cried as it ran towards Wu Xiaoming - but it did not appear to be running to attack. Instead, it looked like it was trying to escape, just that Wu Xiaoming was in its way.

Wu Xiaoming sidestepped, and watched the spirit dissipate in the air.

He walked up to the position where the spirit had been kneeling. There were no signs of any residual negative energy. Then he turned his eyes to the direction the spirit had been sending his apologies to - it led up right to a space between two trees.

When he gazed upon the space between the two trees, some kind of undetectable influence or energy screen appeared, blurring and distorting the air between the trees, making it harder to see what was behind it beyond even a very short distance.

With careful steps, he walked towards the two trees. From his memory, they were further from the house than the area where he had explored in the physical realm earlier. Maybe he could try checking out the place when he got out.

Dark smoke shrouding the two trees became apparent when he got close enough - and the distorting effect had become stronger - strong enough to make him feel dizzy and lose focus when he tried to fix his sight on the trees and the space between.

After considering for a while, Wu Xiaoming stepped back, but kept the positions of the two trees in mind.

Yet just as he was about to step around the corner to the front door, a feeling of being watched exploded inside of Wu Xiaoming’s mind. He leapt at the front door, opened it and got back inside. The feeling did not fade, so he went upstairs just to look out the windows.

The trees outside began swaying, and in unison. He opened a few windows, only to find no airflow coming through. The feeling of being watched did not change wherever in the house he was. The idea of checking out the cabin downhill where the director and Tammy were staying popped into his mind, but he set it aside - something told him it was far from a good idea to go anywhere while being watched.