The farm is huge and actually has cows, sheep and horses.
Jian Jing seldom saw such a western-style place, so she took a walk in the woods in the afternoon.
There, she saw a strange old man.
He was chopping wood in the open space outside the cabin.
Really split.
The round logs were split by the axe, becoming even-sized pieces of firewood. Then he picked up the wood and piled it firmly by the door, as if he really planned to use it someday.
"Hello." She greeted.
The old man's hair was gray, but his muscles were still strong. He looked at Jian Jing coldly: "What's the matter?"
Jian Jing asked: "I came here this morning, and the door was locked. Can I go in and take a look?"
Old man: “Nothing to see.”
Jian Jing said: "I am curious about the setting of the haunted house and would like to take a look."
The old man said, "Kelly isn't here."
Jian Jing: “???”
Old man: "Remember, don't go into the woods at dusk."
Jian Jing thought he was an NPC and mistook herself for a guest, so she didn't take it seriously.
The old man continued to chop wood.
The triggered conversation is over? Jian Jing walked around to the back and stood on tiptoe to look inside.
The wooden house is not big, with an 80-square-foot wooden bed and a table. The walls are covered with old newspapers, which are deliberately made to look old, all yellow and brittle.
She was just browsing casually, but a star map caught her attention.
Big Dipper.
Do foreign countries also regard them as a separate astrological unit? She was curious at first, so she zoomed in with a telescope and took a closer look.
This time, I found it interesting.
The Big Dipper is called "big dipper" in English, but on that piece of paper, it should be the pinyin of "beidou".
There were also a few old newspapers.
A news report claimed that several teenagers were brutally killed in the woods, and strange letters were carved on their bodies, which seemed to be from some evil sect.
The date is 1992.
There are a few photos mixed in, which are already color photos, but the pixels are not good, so they don’t look as bloody and terrifying.
There was also a copy of the autopsy report.
The content claimed that a letter, specifically peesh, was cut on the palm of each teenager's hand.
sheep.
In a corner not far away, there was a photo taken with a film camera. It was blurry and looked like a candid photo. It was probably the silhouette of a strange man.
Related newspaper clippings are posted below: A few days ago, a big fire broke out in the woods, causing great damage... Residents claim to have seen a strange foreign man in the woods now. He is moving strangely and seems to be hunting for owls... The police believe that this man may be related to the fire. If you see him, please call the police...
She was watching intently when footsteps suddenly sounded behind her.
"Kelly, dusk is coming." The old man came over at some point and urged anxiously, "Go quickly, don't let him catch you."
Jian Jing explained: "I'm not a guest, they haven't filmed here yet."
The old man was very serious. He held her arm tightly and pulled her outside: "Go!"
Jian Jing paused, realizing that something was wrong with his mental state: "Okay, I'll leave now." She turned and left, and before entering the path, she turned around and glanced at him.
The sky was covered with dark clouds, and the light in the forest suddenly dimmed.
The old man had hurried into the cabin.
Jian Jing returned to the farm and found Robert, the only person on the farm and the designer of the haunted house.
"Hi, can you come in and chat?" She knocked on the door, signaling the busy person inside.
Robert is less than 30 years old, a YouTube celebrity blogger who is good at handicrafts. At this moment, he is busy filming a mini aquarium set he made.
Hearing the noise, he said without turning his head, "Come in, what's going on?"
"The director said that you were the one who designed the entire haunted house." Jian Jing got straight to the point. "I'd like to ask you, where did the inspiration for the wooden house scene come from?"
Robert raised his head and held his glasses: "Are you interested in that? Is it interesting?" He put down the work at hand and continued with interest, "Oh, I remember your face. You also participated in the haunted house program. Do you have any suggestions for me?"
"No, I just think that the content is too realistic, it doesn't seem to be made up." Jian Jing asked, "Where did you get the inspiration from?"
Robert was very excited: "I'm glad you think so. In fact, many scenes come from places I visited in my childhood."
"Oh?" Jian Jing was very interested. "Are there wooden houses and farms as well?"
"Yes, I often went to Reed's when I was a child, and encountered some interesting things there. I designed this work based on these things." Robert rubbed his nose, his face full of pride.
Jian Jing said: "What's interesting? Can you tell me?"
Robert didn't really appreciate her looks, but he was happy to share his work, otherwise he wouldn't have opened a channel to upload videos. Seeing that she asked sincerely, he nodded and said, "Of course, but they are just some groundless rumors. I hope I won't disappoint you."
"True and false rumors are more interesting than perfect fictional stories," she said.
Robert agreed and talked to her about the inspiration for the haunted house.
As he said, it all started in childhood.
Old Reed, his grandfather, used to live in a place called Twilight Town, located at the border of Washington State and Canada. There were dense forests there, so strange horror stories were often spread there.
When Robert was a child, he lived in Reed's home for a while. What impressed him most was not learning to repair cars from his grandfather, nor meeting his first love, but that every time he approached the woods, the adults would tell him: "Don't go into the woods after dusk."
But as a little kid, the more you tell him not to do something, the more he wants to do it.
At night, he pretended to sleep, turned off the lights, quietly climbed down from the window, and went exploring in the woods with his new friends.
Then they unsurprisingly got lost.
To make matters worse, a light drizzle began to fall from the sky.
A local friend said that he knew of a hunter's cabin where we could take shelter.
This is the prototype of the wooden house on the farm. There are dry food and quilts prepared there, and several children are lighting a bonfire and wearing blankets to keep warm.
Just as they were blaming each other for taking the wrong path and not knowing what to do, a strange cry was heard in the woods.
Faintly, it seemed like someone was having a conversation.
"Damn it, why hasn't Laura come yet?"
"Ben, are you sure..."
"Where's Roger?"
There were about three people, probably teenagers, and they seemed to be arguing about something.
The little kids in the room looked at each other, then poked their heads out to take a look.
The night was dark, the wind was strong, and the rain was even heavier; they could not see anything.
More than half an hour later, the sound of rain became much quieter and the children discussed whether they should go back.
The child who brought them here said that it would be very troublesome if they got lost again, and the forest was very dangerous at night, so it would be better to wait until tomorrow morning to go back.
But the other child disagreed: "Look, if my mother can't see me in bed tomorrow morning, I'm dead."
For kids around ten years old, it still hurts quite a bit when they get beaten.
The three friends started arguing. The one who was leading the way refused to leave the house, while the one who wanted to go back said angrily that he knew the way and would rather go alone, but he would not recognize his brothers from then on.
Robert had always lived in the city and didn't realize the cruelty of the suburbs. He thought that since he was here for adventure anyway, what was the point of staying here and waiting for the night
So he expressed his willingness to go back with his friends.
The two of them walked back with flashlights.
There was a rustling sound. Something was following them in the grass.
The friend was scared and asked in a trembling voice, "Did you know that someone died here before?"
Robert certainly didn't know.
The friend said: "My good friend Bach's sister Laura and her friends... died in the woods. There were five of them in total, all dead, and the murderer has not been found yet."
"Lola?" Robert's tongue was stuck. "The man just said..."
The two of them panicked and quickened their pace.
Robert didn't know whether he stepped on the roots of a plant or tripped over his left foot, but he fell flat on his face.
And just at this moment, he saw a shadow deep in the forest.
Not a human, but a sheep.
He was startled, rolled over and crawled to his feet, and ran out dragging his friend with him.
The branches whipped his cheeks, the cold raindrops dripped on the back of his neck, and the ubiquitous humming followed him all the time... He didn't remember how long he ran, he only knew that after running to the end, he actually returned to the cabin.
Another friend is missing.
Not only were they gone, but the quilt and dry food that were there before were also nowhere to be found, as if they had never existed at all.
The two children looked at each other and dared not leave anymore.
This continued until the next morning, when Reed and the other captains called out their names and looked everywhere for any trace of them.
Robert ran into the cabin: "Reed!"
Next comes the popular part of beating children.
He told Reed that the other kid was missing, but Reed said that he didn't go out at night, and when he went to see him in the morning, he was getting ready to go to school.
Robert knew that he had returned on his own and pretended that he had not gone out for a night outing. He did not expose him verbally, but in his heart he cursed him as a traitor and refused to play with him anymore.
As for the little friend who "lived and died together" with him, of course he was also grabbed by the ears by his mother and taken home, and was punished by not being allowed to go out.
The two children did not dare to disobey in person, but after a few days, they forgot the lesson and began to discuss what happened that night.
They checked the information and found out that the five teenagers who died were named Roger, Theresa, Ben, Lola, and George.
Three of the names matched the ones I saw that night.
They really wanted to know why three more Lauras, Ben and Roger were there, so they started their own investigation.
As a result, there are two Lauras in the town's middle school, one is Roger. Recently, a cousin of a classmate came here to visit relatives, and his name is Roger.
In a nutshell, coincidence.
Robert was disappointed but relieved, and returned to his parents at the end of the summer.
Many years passed, and he gradually forgot about it. Three years later, Reed was in poor health, and they all went to visit Dusk Town. When he was chatting with his grandfather, he mentioned this incident by chance.
Robert joked that this was his only adventure.
But Reed said, "No, you have no idea what you're getting into."
Robert shrugged and admitted that he knew nothing about camping, and said that with his current outdoor experience, he could easily spend a month in the woods.
Reed: "Don't go to that forest again. I warned you that it was a cursed forest."
Robert, who had received a materialistic education, didn't believe it at all.
Reed said nothing more.
Later, Reed's disease was diagnosed as Alzheimer's disease, commonly known as senile dementia. Reed's parents decided to take him in to take care of him.
While packing up, Robert found a diary in Reed's closet.
Clippings, photocopies, photos, notes, all came from this.
Robert, with a newfound interest, investigates the 1992 case and determines that to this day, the murderer remains at large.
He is an atheist and does not believe in the "evil spirits", "possession" and "curse" in the diary, but he finds it very interesting. Based on this, he reproduces some scenes of Dusk Town and creates the haunted house we see today.