264 Chase Scene

 

The living compound at night and in the day were two completely different buildings, this old building was home to strange events after the night fell. The tenants who hadn’t moved would not leave their home after dark.

‘Is it my imagination? How come it feels like the atmosphere is instantly different the moment Han Fei arrives?’ There were many ways to evoke tension in a horror film, but most of them required usage of background music and lightning. However, Director Zhang was sure that he had not done any of those. His camera was simply following Han Fei but there was already a clear difference on the captured image. As a senior director, Director Zhang’s understanding of framing and camera language was far better than anyone present. He could clearly see the fog of anxiety that radiated from Han Fei, it was as if the strangeness around the whole building descended because of him. ‘I really can’t imagine he was once a comedic actor.’

Director Zhang stared at the camera closely lest he missed out on any details. Han Fei who stood inside the set felt the strangeness as well. The unknown stench was thickening and the air turned sticky. Han Fei had the surreal feeling that he had returned to the cryptic world. Xiao Tong who played a dead body was made uncomfortable by this change. His face was leaning against the cold hard ground. The unknown stench crawled into his nose like snakes and they wiggled inside his lungs. His well-trimmed brows frowned slightly. Through his narrowed eyes, he took a glance at Han Fei.

He realized Han Fei was looking at him as well. As their eyes met, Xiao Tong felt the chill crawl onto his mind. He felt like Han Fei was not looking at a person but a slab of meat. There was no emotion in his eyes but pure rationality. For some reason, he was hit with the feeling that Han Fei had seen many dead bodies and this detachment when viewing a human life was something that accidentally slipped out from Han Fei’s deep persona. If not for the cameras which were still rolling, Xiao Tong probably would have gotten up and escaped. Connecting the news on the crime channels to the man who stood before him, Xiao Tong’s heart panicked. He swore to never stay in the same room as Han Fei anymore.

The icy gaze was like a sharp knife cutting the Student’s body into different pieces. To be fair, Han Fei had not only figured out how to dismember the body, he had also decided where he would hide them. After experiencing the hell that was Cattle Alley, Han Fei was no longer the same kind of person like Xiao Tong, who was the human equivalent of flowers grown in the greenhouse.

“You represent my anticipation and hope for the future so I have to kill you first. I wouldn’t need to hesitate anymore in the future.” Han Fei cleaned the scene, and destroyed all the clues and evidence. He was so professional that one had to expect he had done this before. The mental pressure on Xiao Tong grew. Suddenly, footsteps came from the corridor, this was the climax of this scene.

In the movie, Han Fei and Xiao Tong’s characters were both side characters. Han Fei’s murders and crime scene tampering would only be shown at the end of the movie. The whole movie was shot from the perspective of the Doctor, Bai Xian. The audience would see themselves as the Doctor, the good Doctor who was always there to help cure and save the other personas. However in the end, they would realize that the Doctor was unable to save anyone, not even himself.

The moment the footsteps rang out, Han Fei walked out from the room. The murder happened on the 9th floor, the room where the Student lived. When Bai Xian hurried up the stairs, Han Fei very calmly moved towards the landing between the stairs of the 9th and 10th floor. Throughout the process, he made no sound like a ghost.

Bai Xian predicted that something bad would happen tonight. He hurried to the 9th floor and pushed open the Student’s door. This would be the most dramatic scene. The killer was just a small distance away from the Doctor. The moment the Doctor called the Student’s name and entered the latter’s room, Han Fei charged out from the stairwell. The two literally brushed past each other. When the Doctor realized that he had just missed the killer, he turned out from the Student’s room and chased after Han Fei.

Due to an injury Bai Xian suffered, he was unable to take part in action-orientated scenes. The readied stunt double took his place to give chase after Han Fei. When the stunt double entered the scene, Han Fei was shocked to feel a climbing pressure. The person moved incredibly fast like he was already familiar with the height of each step and the location of the trash that littered the corridors. In just a few breaths, Bai Xian’s stunt double was already only half a floor behind Han Fei. This chase scene was meant to be exciting but the Doctor wasn’t supposed to actually catch up to Han Fei. The killer would only be exposed at the last part of the movie. However, Han Fei could feel that the person was moving at a speed far beyond his expectation, this was different from what Director Zhang ordered!

Han Fei was good at running so he picked up speed again. His sudden burst introduced another stretch of distance between him and the stunt double. However to Han Fei’s consternation, the stunt double picked up speed as well. The latter was like a shark which smelled blood.

The voice-activated lights in this building were broken. Tripping down the stairs would be incredibly dangerous but both the chaser and the chased showed no sign of slowing down. It was as if they had rehearsed this many times, they maintained a fixed distance that was not too close or too far. His muscles tensed. The trigger deep inside Han Fei’s mind was switched on, his brain blurred the boundary between the cryptic world and the real world. Energy filled up his body. As he raced down the corridor, the haze of stench around him thickened. Han Fei was unable to identify it until he passed the old man’s room on the fifth floor. He had smelled the same stench from the old man before, it was the smell of the dying, the decomposing smell of death!

‘Something’s wrong!’ With his legs still pumping, Han Fei turned his head around. When he did, he saw Bai Xian’s stunt double who just came out from the 4th floor stairwell. Even with just a quick glance that lasted barely 1 second, Han Fei spotted another individual following behind Bai Xian’s stunt double!

Its face was pale and had a humanoid shape!

‘It’s that ghost!’ This was the third time the thing appeared in Han Fei’s sight. It came closer and was still rapidly closing the distance!

‘So it’s going to make its move tonight?!’ While his brain processed this info, Han Fei’s feet stepped on something squishy. He lowered his head to look. Someone had dumped a lot of trash on the steps between 3rd and 2nd floor. Among them were the dead bodies of stray cats and dogs. With his hands on the banister, Han Fei skipped the steps and directly leaped over the banister and landed on the 2nd floor. After he steadied himself, he stopped running. He took out the metallic nun chucks from under his costume and waited quietly in the middle of the stairwell. ‘Do you really think I was running because I was afraid?’