Wu Xiaoming woke up on the yoga mat, surrounded by his salt circle and canisters of black dog urine. He stretched - his muscles and bones did not hurt and sore like they had done in the ethereal realm. His back and neck muscles were a little stiff, but maybe that was due to him sleeping on a yoga mat on the ground in a basement.
He stood up and stretched a few more times before cleaning up the salt. It should be garbage collection day soon, so he could just get rid of it in the garbage bag without raising much suspicion.
He checked the two canisters - one canister was almost half full, the other one completely full, which meant no significant change to their overall volume, which probably meant nothing bad had come close to him while he was down here.
He reached into his pocket where he put the fire talismans. They were still there, with only one caveat - they lost all of their power, as if something just drained them of their energy. In theory he could still use them after “recharging”. Something to try another day.
With both canisters under his armpits, he walked out of the basement and headed into the garage to put them down. Maybe he should dispose of them as well, after he had confirmed that the hose would be safe from any unclean entities that might come his way.
Yawning, he came into the kitchen looking for food. There were not many options in the fridge, so he just pulled out some of his usual - fresh tomatoes, eggs, spring onions: stir fried tomatoes with eggs it would be.
Just this moment, the loud ring of a metal bell almost made him pick up a knife. He turned around, it was his older brother.
“Geez, Xiangyu, you scared the fuck outta me.” Wu Xiaoming shook his head: “When did you come back? What are you doing here?”
“Well, I - uh - I just got back. And this bell is a gift from a friend.” Wu Xiangyu put an old bronze bell with a worn redwood handle onto the kitchen counter, making it ring again: “My friend said this one is blessed by an esteemed monk, and its sound could easily drive away evil spirits and demons.”
“Oh?” Wu Xiaoming put the food down, picked up the bell and rang a few times. The handle had a few small cracks and some old handprints on it. The sound was quite loud, slightly too loud for his liking. Spots of rust and scratches remained on both inside and outside; the clapper was tied with a dark red rope, with a strip of red threads dangling below; many arcane symbols were inscribed on its exterior, some kind of old language, maybe old Tibetan or Sansrkit. “Where’d you get this? This looks - really authentic.” He put the bell back: “I was just about to cook something - you want some stir fried tomatoes with eggs?"
“Um - yeah, sure.” Wu Xiangyu sat behind the counter.
With Wu Xiangyu here, Wu Xiaoming just cooked twice as many eggs and tomatoes as he had planned. The result was a full plate of pretty fragrant food that made his own stomach growl. He took out two bowls and two pairs of chopsticks for both.
Wu Xiangyu hesitated for a brief moment before taking a bite. Then nodded at Wu Xiaoming: “It’s not bad. Where’d you learn it from?”
“Online tutorials.” Wu Xiaoming shrugged and ate half a bowl himself.
“Okay.” Wu Xiangyu swallowed another mouthful, then wiped his eyes as if he just cried.
“Wait - what’s going on? ” Wu Xiaoming paused and asked with a light frown.
Wu Xiangyu took a deep breath, then looked Wu Xiaoming in the eyes: “Xiaoming hated spring onion with tomatoes.”
“Uh - what?”
“Wu Xiaoming hated spring onion with tomatoes.” Wu Xiangyu repeated, his sight still locked onto Wu Xiaoming.
Chills shot down Wu Xiaoming’s spine, his stomach dropped and his heart began pounding his chest. There was an unbearable heat from Wu Xiangyu’s sight, that he became increasingly scared and ashamed to meet.
“Wu Xiaoming didn’t like cooking either. He hated Chinese food.” Wu Xiangyu wiped his ears before putting down his right hand somewhere around his waist and picking up the bronze bell with his left hand, then rang it two times.
Wu Xiaoming had to take a few deep breaths before meeting Wu Xiangyu’s eyes again. His mouth opened and shut a few times, but he just did not have anything to say.
“You are not Wu Xiaoming.” Wu Xiangyu put down the bell, frustrated and weary. His right arm still behind the counter and by his side: “But - you did not fear this bell. You touched salt without issue. You ate sage, you ate food cooked with rice wine and sticky rice, you drank rice wine, you wore the blessed beads from an enlightened monk without any problem.
“Yet - you are not him. I can tell. You do all the things my brother wouldn’t do. He didn’t cook, he didn’t just live in this house in peace. He for sure wouldn’t do a reality live TV show with a relatively unknown director and a limited budget. So - ” Wu Xiangyu’s eyes were red, but he kept them on Wu Xiaoming: “So - I want to know this - who are you? And what happened to my brother?”
Wu Xiaoming sighed, he scooped himself some more tomatoes and eggs, finished them off, then took a deep breath before answering: “I - my name is also Wu Xiaoming. You are right, I am not your brother.”
Wu Xiangyu pushed down a gasp, before asking with a trembling voice “And? What happened to our Wu Xiaoming?”
“He OD-ed, and I woke up in his body, in this world. I don’t know what happened to him.” Wu Xiaoming shook his head: “I’m sorry, I didn’t - I just - didn’t know how to tell anyone this.”
Wu Xiangyu opened his mouth a few times, and he seemed to find the words around half a minute later: “Is he - is he dead?”
“I don’t know. Maybe - maybe not. But I don’t know.” Wu Xiaoming shook his head again: “I - I am terribly sorry.”
“Wow.” Wu Xiangyu let out a long exhale, and began pacing around his seat. Wu Xiaoming wanted to ask questions a few times, but he just never got the courage and timing to do so.
“What - what - what - ” After a while, Wu Xiangyu finally stopped pacing and turned to Wu Xiaoming: “What do you want with us? ”
“I actually don’t want anything.” Wu Xiaoming sighed: “I - I simply did not really know how to tell you.”
“Bullshit! You think I didn’t notice? ” Wu Xiangyu raised his voice and pointed at Wu Xiaoming with his left hand: “The buckets of urine? The talismans you drew? And - and the things you bought from those occult and ritual supplies shops. What are you up to?!”
Wu Xiaoming took a deep breath before answering: “Those are - partially for the show I am doing. And partially, because I actually want to know more about - about everything. Because - just as you know, there are supernatural things out there. And for some reason, I seem to be encountering them - quite often. But no - I am not up to anything with you or your family..”
“Supernatural things? Did you bring anything here?” Wu Xiangyu narrowed his eyes.
“No. I - I haven’t seen anything here - ”
“You’d better not.” Wu Xiangyu closed his eyes for a few seconds and took a deep breath before putting his focus on Wu Xiaoming again: “Who were you before? Where do you come from?”
“I was in China before - and not this current China. Probably another China in - ” Wu Xiaoming had this notion and talking point in his mind for quite some time, yet he was still struggling now: “Probably the China in another universe - but - to be honest I don’t know anymore, which is why - ”
“Stop - stop. I don’t wanna know now. ” Wu Xiangyu interrupted, sighed and rubbed his nose bridge: “I don’t want to know. I don’t even know if I can trust you.”
“Okay.” Wu Xiaoming stopped. A long, awkward pause later, he repeated: “I mean you, or Dad - I mean Mr. Wu Wentao, no harm.”
“Don’t call him Dad.” Wu Xiangyu turned his eyes back onto Wu Xiaoming.
Wu Xiaoming raised his hands and backed off a little, signalling he was not willing to go deeper into this confrontation.
“Now. I think I know enough. And - ” Wu Xiangyu ruffled his pants pocket with his left hand for a brief moment, before pulling out a dark blue credit card and throwing it on the kitchen counter, in front of Wu Xiaoming.
“What is this?”
“A card I got for you. The credit limit should be plenty enough for you to start a life somewhere else - as long as you’re not here.” Wu Xiangyu sighed: “I - you - I can’t have you live here any longer. It’s not good for my father. And it won’t be good for you - or your attempt to continue living as Wu Xiangyu. You must leave, the further you go, the better.”
Wu Xiaoming took a quick peek at the card before meeting Wu Xiangyu’s eyes: “I understand. I will leave tomorrow - I mean the upcoming morning. But - I cannot leave this area. I simply can’t right now.”
“What - you’re still going to do that show!? You wanna be an actor that much!?”
“Yes. But that’s not the sole reason.” Wu Xiaoming shook his head: “I - for my own personal reasons, and for many others not so personal. I must stay, and figure some things out.”
“Like what?”
“Like, what happened to me. And - the supernatural things that happened around me, what they meant, how to resolve them, and - ” Wu Xiaoming sighed and shook his head: “I know, you don’t believe me. But - if you pay some attention to these things, you’ll know it’s true. This hasn’t changed, and it won’t change. I simply want to live, and by staying here I can have my answer and I will get a chance to.”
Wu Xiangyu lowered his eyes and fell silent. He was considering.
“I can promise you. After today I won’t bother you anymore.” Wu Xiaoming sighed: “I will figure something out, I - I will stay away.”
“Take this card. Stay away from my father, and Qizhi, he’s the youngest of us, and he and Xiaoming were close. ” Wu Xiangyu closed his eyes and sighed: “I’d better not see you here by noon.”