PFC Chapter 4233 Possession by Evil Spirits (3)
Chapter 4233 Possession by Evil Spirits (3)
Chapter 4233 Possession by an Evil Spirit (Thirteen)
When Bruce awoke from his dream, he felt weak. He assumed it was because the dilapidated house they'd found was drafty and he'd caught a chill. But deep down, he knew that encountering these paranormal events would inevitably damage his mental well-being. He had to do it, however, for the sake of more clues.
As dawn broke, orange and purple morning mist rose from the horizon, creating a hazy, dreamlike atmosphere. Daxi Valley Town was indeed beautiful, but everyone knew it wasn't a paradise. In stark contrast to its serene beauty, a dark and sinister story must have been brewing there.
With a creak, the door opened. Kent walked in. He took off his glasses, rubbed his temples, and said, "I haven't found anyone alive in town. Maybe some are hiding in houses or basements, but I can't find them."
“Not surprising,” Bruce said. “They didn’t come out when the fire started, which means there are probably very few survivors here. We shouldn’t investigate in this direction. Perhaps we should go check the waterfall.”
Kent nodded and said, "My colleague said that some people simply call this place Waterfall Town."
Bruce frowned slightly and said, "Fallfall is a real town in Utah. And in my memory, the clown actor's hometown is Utah. Could this be Fallfall?"
"But even if the real town of Falls is in decline, there shouldn't be only a few people there, right? Besides, I heard it's a pretty good tourist destination, so there should be a lot of tourists."
"This proves that this Fallstown we're in now is abnormal. Have you heard of the Otherworld?"
“I can probably imagine it,” Kent said, “but I don’t feel that everything here is an illusion, because there are neither people nor monsters here.”
“I’m afraid not,” Bruce shook his head and said. “For some reason, I have a bad feeling that we might need to speed things up.”
The two immediately set off towards the waterfall in Daxi Valley Town. However, upon seeing the waterfall, they were somewhat disappointed, as it wasn't a very large waterfall, only about three or four meters high. The sound of the water flowing was impressive, but upon closer inspection, the current was actually not very fast.
The pool beneath the waterfall was beautiful; bathed in the morning light, a cool mist rose, adding to the mystery of the surrounding jungle. There used to be a path here, but it had been neglected for so long that it was overgrown with weeds, making the two of them struggle to traverse it. Finally reaching the base of the waterfall, they gazed at the boundless lake, but couldn't discern any clues whatsoever.
Bruce quickly spotted a series of footprints. Kent was somewhat surprised, thinking they had found other people. But Bruce said, "These are Mr. Rodriguez's footprints. There's also a woman, probably Linda. They went fishing and probably grilled the fish here, because I smelled the entrails."
“They come here to catch and grill fish? They really have a lot of free time,” Kent said. “I think he’s probably trying to get some information out of this girl. But it won’t be easy; Linda seems to have had a traumatic experience.”
Bruce looked at him with some surprise and asked, "How did you know?"
“They’re all like that,” Kent simply said.
They then went up to the top of the waterfall and looked around, but there were no clues there either. However, as they went down, Bruce looked behind the spray of the waterfall.
"Is there a rock over there?" Bruce asked.
Kent also peeked over and nodded, saying, "There is one. It's a very small stone. What's wrong?"
“That doesn’t look like naturally formed rock,” Bruce said. “It looks a bit man-made. Can we go take a look?”
Kent estimated for a moment, then shook his head and said, "I'm afraid that won't work. That rock is too small and not securely fixed; the two of us would definitely fall if we went down."
“There should still be some burnt remains in the warehouse. We can take them and build a path to get there. I suspect there might be clues there,” Bruce said.
Kent didn't argue; he simply said, "You're lighter than me, so it's better for you to go over there, but you'll definitely get soaked getting close to the waterfall. Are you sure you'll be okay?"
"Thank you for your concern, I'm fine."
“You really should look in the mirror,” Kent said. “Do you know how awful you look? You’re as pale as if you haven’t eaten in days.”
“I told you, thank you for your concern.” Bruce walked into the town without looking back. Kent pursed his lips, looking a little angry. But he glanced up at the empty space and ultimately said nothing.
They went to the burned-down warehouse and retrieved some items. Most of the things there had been burned to ashes, but some metal objects remained, such as cage bars. Bruce pried some off and also found some rope nearby. They carried these items back to the falls.
Back at the waterfall, they tried tying the rope to a tree, but it wasn't long enough. So they secured it with the railings driven into the ground before tying the rope back up. Kent was responsible for keeping watch above the waterfall to make sure the rope didn't come loose. The lighter Bruce went down to investigate.
The waterfall not only has flowing water, but also splashes and mist. Bruce's pants were already soaked when he was lowered down by rope, and he was completely drenched as he went down. However, he did confirm his guess—the somewhat abrupt rock that suddenly appeared on the side of the waterfall was indeed nailed there by someone, and the cuts from the rock face were still there.
What puzzled him was why a stone was nailed there.
Bruce swung across the rope to the other side of the waterfall, standing directly above the rocks. He then noticed a narrow crevice in the rock behind the rushing water, so fine that it would be invisible from this angle.
Bruce hesitated for a moment, then bent over, used the rock face as leverage, and leaped directly onto the crevice. He tugged at the rope, and Kent poked his head out from above. Bruce said, "There might be a cave behind here. I'm going in to check it out! You stay outside!"
Kent stood with his arms crossed, his face dark, and remained silent. But Bruce ignored him completely, untied the rope, and squeezed through the narrow crevice that was just wide enough for an adult man to squeeze through sideways.
Upon entering, Bruce discovered that the space behind it opened up into a rather large cave, which was not damp at all, but rather rather dry. Moreover, Bruce found signs of human activity there.
There was a pile of firewood on the side of the cave, which looked like it hadn't been burned yet, but there was a charred ember in the middle. Bruce walked over and knelt down to examine it. The moment he touched the ember, another memory flooded his mind.
"One fish, two fish, three fish... It seems the fishing device is working well this time. I wish we could catch a few more."
A very childish voice came from behind. This was followed by the crackling of flames, and then the sound of a fish skewered on a stick turning around.
"Hiss... It's really cold in here. If it weren't for that... I wouldn't have come all the way here. Damn it, I'm going to burn!"
"Bingge, Bingge, you can't even grill a fish properly. This salmon scallop was the best part, and you've burned it. Sigh."
"Forget it, I'd better go back early. If they find out, I'm doomed. Let's go."
After the memory ended, Bruce was somewhat dazed. Judging from the voice, the child was very young, even a toddler, probably no more than 5 years old.
This also explains why the other party was able to enter the crevice using a stone slab nailed to the rock wall—because the stone slab was not meant to be used for leverage; a four- or five-year-old child could easily jump onto it.
Even so, it was extremely risky, requiring great courage and exceptional skill. Most children of that age couldn't do it. But the one in the memory was clearly different. Who was this little boy named Bingo? What was he doing in this cave?
Bruce felt a little confused. Unfortunately, the memory he was seeing was in the first person, so he couldn't see his own face, but he instinctively felt that this little boy should be connected to the clown actor.
After searching the cave, Bruce did find some fish bones, but only a small amount. For an adult, it might be enough for a few meals, but for a child, it could have been eaten many times over.
Taking such a huge risk to come here to catch fish and grill them, this kid either has mental problems or is starving. Bruce leaned towards the latter—no one understood better than him how severe hunger was in America's underclass.
Even today, about 20% of children in the United States still go hungry. This hunger is defined as malnutrition caused by the inability to guarantee even the most basic nutritional needs. And for a child to go hungry to this extent, it's generally a family that can't even afford one meal of fast food a day.
Fast food in the US is already quite cheap, but families who can afford to eat all-you-can-eat frozen fast food are considered quite well-off. Many can't even afford this because their parents likely spend almost all their money on drugs. Most of these families will quickly become homeless, and the fact that you don't see homeless children on the streets is almost a cruel joke.
Bruce sighed. He did feel a little sorry for little Bingo; look at the way the kid had been driven, trekking all the way over mountains to grill fish. It was only because the kid was capable, plus the surrounding natural environment was supportive, that he could be a big shot in Gotham... well, in Gotham he probably couldn't beat a fish.
After gathering all the clues, Bruce left. But perhaps because he was soaked to the bone and had been washed by the waterfall twice, he was now shivering with cold and could barely clench his teeth.
"Stop being stubborn, you damn bastard!" Kent couldn't help but curse. He said, "Come here, I'll carry you down!"
Bruce could no longer resist the urge to fight back, because he could feel himself getting hotter and hotter, a sign of hypothermia. These were things that willpower alone couldn't overcome; he desperately needed a source of heat, a warm environment, and plenty of food.
Bruce, however, was also somewhat puzzled. He had already checked; while the copy limited his superpowers, it didn't alter his physical attributes. He also regularly built up fat reserves during his training to prevent rapid hypothermia and energy depletion. He had also anticipated the situation before entering the water, hoping to avoid ending up in such a sorry state.
But soon, he found out why.