“Do you think there are ghosts in this world or not?”
“I don’t know but if there are, there aren’t any at this place. Just some humans playing tricks on us.” Han Fei followed Director Zhang into Spider’s room. They walked towards the balcony and started to examine everything.
“Director Zhang, we were right there when the two of them jumped, we did not see any hands!” The Prop Manager complained with a bitter expression. If the accidents were caused by faulty props, then they would have to own up to the responsibilities.
“Let me check the recording.” Director Zhang checked every frame of the uncut videos. No matter which angle he examined it from, there was no so-called hand that came close to the stunt actors. He rewound the tape and he did notice that both of the actors would have this similar tic of turning their head to the side to look before they jumped. It was as if someone was calling them. Walking to the edge of the balcony, Director Zhang looked down the same direction the two actors did and he found nothing.
“Well, this is strange.” Director Zhang had the film crew back into the room to continue filming and he took out his phone to contact a new stunt actor. He made a few calls but unfortunately there was no available actor at such short notice. The latest one could arrive was after late afternoon.
“Shall we move to take the next scene first?” Bai Xian walked into the room. He heard the discussions from outside and offered this suggestion.
“If we do not finish these dangerous shots in the day, it’ll be more dangerous to do them at night.” Director Zhang said worriedly but there was no better option available. “Alright, we’ll take the scene where the 9 of you witnessed the first death. Is Xiao Tong ready yet?”
Bai Xian sighed helplessly. “He was often hailed as the genius new actor, but the performance by Han Fei that day appeared to have left a deep scar in him. They are of the same age and Xiao Tong believes they shouldn’t have that big of a difference between them. He had been trying hard to seek breakthrough to his acting.”
“Does he think that is so easily done? But it’s a good thing that he was stimulated to achieve self-improvement. In any case, go and get him. His character is actually not that complicated.” Some directors focused their movies on the plot, others relied on special effects, while most of Director Zhang’s movies focused on the characters, therefore he valued the actors that played them a lot.
While Bai Xian chatted with Director Zhang, Han Fei stayed outside at the balcony. He closed his eyes and pressed the switch in his mind. His personal emotion and consciousness sunk within himself. He started to parse the words that were written in the author’s books. The script was edited by the writers, embellished by the psychiatrist, the raw material though was personally penned by the Spider. Every character, every plot, every story was how Spider viewed the world. The real Spider was hidden inside his literature.
The meat packing plant next door had been fully reconstructed. If one ignored the expanse of abandoned buildings around it, Han Fei would be looking at the same scenery Spider once observed from his room. His fingers caressed the yellowed pages, Han Fei wanted to get into the character of the Spider but his mind was filled with his encounter from yesterday night. Inside the real Cattle Alley, there were mounts of dead carcasses and it resembled a maze that one could never escape from. Any turn at the fork would send you into the jaws of the pig-faced monster. They were guided by hunger, they…
At this point, a jolt of pain gripped Han Fei’s mind. He reached his hands to press against his temple.
Skin was sliced open, bones were chopped as the murderous monsters waved the cleaver they held. As the sharp blades came at the innocent body, the cracked mask revealed a pig’s face dominated by hunger. The red eyeballs bulged outwards, Han Fei got a glimpse of the monster’s expression under the mask. The monster had a facial feature similar to that of an animal but that malicious expression was only made possible by a human mind.
“Did the monsters inside Cattle Alley look that way from the start? Where did they come from?”
Turning the pages, Han Fei entered Spider’s heart. “They wear pig’s mask. Perhaps it is because they’ve worn the mask for too long that even after they remove the mask, they still look like monsters. I often see people gorging themselves on some kind of food. The ‘food’ dribbled with golden fat, it was delicious, fragrant and sweet. The old man in the building called it time while the ghost under the bed called it kindness.
“When the ‘food’ could no longer be found, they started to slice off the flesh from each other’s body. They munched on the fattest parts, ignoring their bodies which were being hacked by others. Sometimes, I find this world too simple to understand but at the same time, I find myself slipping into another world. The two worlds overlap in my eyes, they are like night and day. I can no longer decide which world I belong in. I find myself lost in the alley. I notice more and more of my friends putting on the masks. It is understandable because once you do, you won’t feel anymore pain other than hunger.
“The scale bearing the two worlds starts to tip. My body leans towards one side. I can't tell whether it is because I’ve learned to embrace one of the worlds or the other world has decided to abandon me.”
Spider’s writing was very symbolic, they sounded like the ramblings of a mad person. If Han Fei had not been to the cryptic world himself, he wouldn’t have understood the words either. ‘Those pig-faced monsters are once humans! They were morphed into monsters after wearing the pig’s masks for too long!’ At this point, a question surfaced in Han Fei’s mind, ‘In that case, why would they force themselves to wear the mask? Is it possible that only the mask-wearers will not be attacked inside Cattle Alley? But that doesn’t sound right either. The book mentions quite clearly that the pig-faced monsters will slice off the flesh from each other’s bodies!’
Han Fei found the concept unfathomable but if he was given a chance, he had to get himself one of the masks.
Putting down the book entitled Cattle Alley, Han Fei had fully immersed himself into the role of the Spider. He joined the other actors. Han Fei who performed with his full ability could only be described as terrifying. Common problems like forgetting lines and faulty camera angles did not exist. He shot all of his scenes in one single cut. Even Director Zhang who was famed for his strictness could not nit-pick any problem. The actors who were in the same scene as Han Fei were under a lot of pressure. If there was an NG due to a singular mistake, they could laugh it off but if they were the cause of every single NGs, then even the most tolerant director would find it difficult to smile. Before this, the 8 actors underestimated Han Fei somewhat but now, whenever they were supposed to be in a scene with Han Fei, they would quickly get into the necessary emotions and rehearse their lines multiple times. Due to Han Fei, the efficiency of production was brought up as well.
As the sun set, the crew took out the spotlights. When the wind chime rang inside the author’s room, the third stunt actor finally arrived. Director Zhang personally inspected all the safety equipment and then told the actor about the sequence of action as well as the cinematic effect that he needed. Then the actor was sent to the 4th floor balcony. Different from the previous 2 times, Han Fei and many other crew members came to watch. They wanted to see for themselves if the supernatural rumors were real or not.
Han Fei walked towards the balcony and turned his back to the camera. Then the shot ended to have the stunt double take Han Fei’s place. He wore the same outfit as Han Fei. He climbed onto the balcony ledge and made the final preparation. All the cameras were in place. When he received the signal, the actor took a deep breath and his head turned involuntarily to the side. Then he jumped towards the designated location. The angle and positioning were perfectly fine but when the actor was supposed to push himself off the ledge, the actor clearly reigned in his force at the last moment. That meant that the actor landed metres before his supposed spot.
“Why did he do that?” Three consecutive stunt actors faced the same problem. The sky was darkening. The crew was reminded of the rumors at this building as well as the mystique surrounding the Spider.
“Is he okay? Is the injury serious?” Director Zhang hurried to check up on the actor. The man was not hurt but he seemed to be psychologically traumatized. When he turned back to look at the building, his face was white with fear. “Director, when I was supposed to jump, it felt like someone had reached out to grab my ankle.” When he said that, the room was silent as the crew turned to look at Director Zhang. The 3 actors came from different backgrounds and they did not know each other but they gave the same explanation. It was as if there was some kind of force preventing Director Zhang from recording Spider’s story.
“Director…” Bai Xian walked over. “How about we try virtual technology? With the technology nowadays, the scene might end up even more realistic than the truth.”
“If it is realer than the truth, then it is not the truth anymore.” Director Zhang sighed. He was about to turn to discuss this further with the Prop team when Han Fei walked over. “Do you wish to advise me to adopt virtual technology too?”
“No.” Han Fei stared silently at the 4th floor room and said, “Let me do the stunt myself.” His voice was soft but when he said that, everyone turned to look at him.
“What?! Of course not! No way!” Director Zhang rejected him without needing to consider it.
“My stamina is as good as most stunt actors and I have experience in doing stunts.” Han Fei was not lying. In Jin Sheng’s memory world, he had jumped down from the 4th floor to the air-cond machine on the 3rd floor and that was without any safety precaution. Han Fei was more qualified than most actors at doing stunts. The other actors were shocked by Han Fei’s proclamation. They now finally understood how this young actor without any background managed to claw his way up the industry. There were some ‘actors’ that refused to put in effort to study their lines but this young man was volunteering to do stunts that even stunt actors had to consider twice before attempting. What was professionalism? This was professionalism!
“We do not have much light left, Director, please let me give it a try.” Han Fei wanted to know what the 3 actors saw and he needed to rush home to play the game. He couldn’t waste time on the set anymore. After seeing Han Fei perform a few stunts, Director Zhang finally signed off his permission. To be honest though, he was breaking out in sweat internally. There was nowhere in the contract that specified Han Fei needed to do something so dangerous. Han Fei was the first actor to volunteer to do something like this. In his long years of working, this was the first time Director Zhang authentically admired an actor.
Han Fei already memorized the sequence. After all the safety equipment was inspected for the 4th time, Han Fei proceeded with the shoot. There was no stunt double, he walked into Spider’s room. In fact, he was Spider in that very moment. The boundary of reality blurred. Just as his soul was about to descend into the mire of madness, Spider killed off the self that tied him to reality. He sent his main persona deep into his mind, to begin a game of life and death with his other personas.
Stepping on the ledge, Han Fei slowly opened his arms. He felt no panic or fear. Han Fei was Spider. After getting the signal from the director, Han Fei readied to make his plunge but right at that moment, something caught his attention from the corner of his eye. He turned his head slightly and noticed there was a mirror placed on the 3rd floor. It looked like there was a different version of Han Fei making the jump as well. Han Fei was not affected by what he saw, after all, he had seen much worse. The image in the mirror raised not even a weak ripple in his heart.
And the man leaped!
The soul descended and the consciousness broke away. The body was swatted by the branches and the howl of the wind yelled into the ears. Even in that situation, Han Fei’s expression was similar to that of the author. There was no fear on his face, only a smear of melancholy.
The cameras captured this perfect scene, Han Fei shocked everyone present. He managed something that even the stunt actors failed and he did it better than all of them. Some of them even saw the Spider’s shadow on him. Pain but never despair; there was sadness in his eyes but also a shining belief that refused to be broken.
