America: The Cremator

Chapter 122 The Fog in the Wasteland and the Scarecrow!

In the midst of their conversation, the surrounding environment suddenly changed.

Large swaths of white mist suddenly surged out from the dense coniferous forests on both sides of the road, rapidly spreading towards the road surface and engulfing the road ahead in the blink of an eye.

The high beams were severely scattered in the thick fog, forming two blurry beams that could barely illuminate the potholed road surface a few meters ahead, as well as the jagged black outlines of the tall fir trees on both sides of the road in the fog.

Su Long's expression immediately turned serious. He sat up straight, his eyes fixed on the fog-shrouded road ahead, and said in a deep voice, "Hannah, slow down. This fog is strange."

Hannah nodded obediently, slightly lifting her right foot to slow the car down, her expression becoming more focused. Su Long, on the other hand, concentrated his mind, his eyes gleaming as he activated his spiritual vision to scan the thick fog outside the car window.

However, the grayish-white water vapor kept flowing in the field of vision, without any unusual color or any strange pollution.

"No strange aura detected." Su Long withdrew his spiritual vision, his brows furrowing slightly.

Hannah swallowed hard and muttered to herself, "A thousand dollars an hour for extra money, it really isn't that easy to earn."

The Camry moved slowly along the bumpy road, the low hum of its engine sounding particularly muffled in the silent fog.

A few minutes later, a dim, yellowish halo pierced through the thick fog ahead and suddenly appeared on the right side of the road.

As they got closer, the two realized it was a giant scarecrow standing at the corner of the road, and the dim yellow light came from a windproof oil lamp hanging from the scarecrow's waist.

Su Long activated his spiritual vision again, looked around, and after confirming that there was no danger, he said, "Stop the car first."

Hannah did as she was told and stepped on the brakes, and the car slowly came to a stop on the side of the road.

After the car came to a stop, Surong was the first to open the car door and get out. When Hannah saw Surong get out of the car, she quickly picked up her handbag and followed him out.

The two walked along the damp mud by the roadside to the scarecrow, observing it as they went.

They observed for a long time, but no one spoke first; they were all stunned by the scene before them.

The scarecrow is about 3.5 meters tall. The main body is made of three dead fir tree trunks twisted together. The trunks are a sickly gray-black color, with large areas of bark peeling off and covered with deep longitudinal cracks. The base is buried deep in frozen soil and a layer of accumulated pine needle humus, making it look unusually stable.

Unlike traditional farmland scarecrows, its torso is not filled with any hay, but is made of a rough, hollow iron cage frame welded together, with the surface of the frame densely wrapped with barbed wire.

Further up, the arms were two sharpened, thick, withered pine branches, with rough hemp ropes wrapped around the forked ends. Several pieces of dried, blackened raw meat hung from the bottom of the ropes, emitting a faint stench of decay.

The head of this bizarre scarecrow lacked the outline of a human face; instead, it resembled the skull of a black bear whose internal organs had been completely hollowed out. It was firmly fixed to the top of a tree trunk with several wires, and its empty eye sockets faced the road.

Hannah looked at the strangely shaped scarecrow in front of her and unconsciously hugged the Bible in her arms tighter. She leaned closer to Suron and asked in a trembling voice, "Suron, this thing must be very effective at scaring birds. After all, I get chills just looking at it."

Su Long stared at the hanging raw meat and said in a deep voice, "This thing is probably not meant to scare birds, after all, there's not much farmland around."

"To me, it's more like some kind of—feeding facility?"

"Look at these steel structures. The area around Castel is humid, rainy, and foggy. If these things had been here for a long time, the wires would have rusted long ago, but now the wires are clean and there are no signs of rust."

He paused, then concluded: "This means the scarecrow was only erected in the last few days. The townspeople use it to hang raw meat, to feed some kind of creature that roams the area, or—something eerie."

Hannah shivered, her eyes scanning the thick fog around her warily, as if afraid some monster might suddenly leap out from it.

Su Long took out his phone, opened the camera function, took a picture of the scarecrow, and turned to walk towards the car: "Let's go, keep driving forward. Dania is still waiting for us. Let's find her and find out what's going on."

The two set off again, and as they drove forward, the fog around them grew thicker and thicker, and visibility dropped sharply. Hannah had to lean forward and crane her neck to see the road ahead more clearly.

Soon, a crooked road sign appeared on the side of the road. Looking through the car window, Su Long saw that it read "Castel Town" and was covered with dark red blood. There were also some black substances that smelled fishy on the edges.

Su Long stared at the road sign for a while, took a deep breath, and said, "Danya is really something."

Hannah gripped the steering wheel, her eyes fixed on the fog ahead, and casually asked, "What do you mean?"

Su Long pointed to the thick fog outside the window and sighed, "She actually waited until we entered the town and finished our investigation before calling for help—if it were me, I would have called for help the moment I saw this environment."

"How come you're even more cowardly than Dania?" Hannah turned and glanced at him.

"Aren't you scared by this environment?" Su Long asked rhetorically.

Hannah was silent for two seconds, then asked, "Do you want to hear the truth?"

"certainly."

Hannah suddenly freed one hand and slammed it hard against Suron's jeans-clad thigh.

Su Long paused, looked down at the hand, and asked, "What does this mean?"

Hannah withdrew her hand and gripped the steering wheel again. Only then did Su Long notice a dark, wet handprint on his light blue jeans.

Hannah sighed and said, "My palms are sweating. To be honest, I don't even want these few thousand dollars anymore, but the thought of turning back now and losing money on gas makes me decide to keep going."

Su Long looked at the handprint on his leg, shook his head, and sighed, "Sure enough, if you're poor enough, the only thing you'll fear is poverty itself."

Hannah nodded vigorously and said, "I completely agree with what you said."

The car continued to drive through the fog, and a few minutes later, a faint yellow halo reappeared in the thick fog ahead.

Hannah's eyes widened, and she slammed on the brakes, exclaiming in horror, "Shit! That scarecrow is back! Are we trapped in a maze?"

Su Long observed the location of the halo and the direction of the surrounding road through the windshield, and calmly said, "Don't panic, the direction of this bend is different from the previous one."

As he spoke, he pushed open the car door and got out. At the same time, he focused his mind and activated his spiritual vision. He took a few steps forward along the edge of the road, and his vision penetrated part of the fog, allowing him to see the true nature of the light source.

On a tall wooden bench by the roadside sat a lean middle-aged man, wearing a baseball cap with a badly worn edge, a dark trench coat covered in mud, and a pair of old work boots.

He held an old double-barreled shotgun in both hands, a gleaming hunting knife hung from his belt, and a windproof oil lamp hung on the other side, its dim light flickering in the thick fog.

What they just saw must have been the light from this oil lamp.

Hearing footsteps, the middle-aged man looked up and saw that it was a young man. He slightly raised the double-barreled shotgun in his hand and said in a rude tone, "Out-of-towner? Get out! Whether you're a tourist, looking for lodging, or just passing through, you're not welcome here."

"Get back to your car right now before I fire, and go back to where you came from."

Surong stopped and looked at the double-barreled shotgun in the middle-aged man's hand, calmly replying, "We are exorcists, here in Caster Town to investigate."

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man frowned deeply, scrutinized the young man in black casual clothes and Hannah who had just gotten out of the car, and asked critically, "You? Exorcists?"

Surong tilted his head and gestured, "Hannah, show me your identification."

Hannah quickly stepped forward, took out the exorcist's certificate with the official seal from her handbag, handed it to the middle-aged man, and explained, "We are Miss Dania's friends. She arrived in town at noon today, and we are here to help her."

The middle-aged man took the document and carefully examined the stamp and photo by the light of the oil lamp. He then handed the document back to Hannah, his hostility fading slightly and his tone softening.

"Are you Miss Dania's friend? I see. I apologize for my attitude and remarks just now."

The middle-aged man extended his hand and introduced himself: "My name is Cole Tucker, and I'm the town's hunting guide."

Surong reached out and shook his hand in return, asking curiously, "Cole, your reaction just now was a bit intense. Was there a reason for deliberately driving away outsiders?"

Cole put his hat back on, slung the double-barreled shotgun over his shoulder, and sighed: "I didn't want this to happen either, but some terrible things have happened in the town in the last two months. The townspeople have figured out some patterns by risking their lives, such as staying away from the forest, keeping doors and windows tightly closed, and not going out at night."

"By hiding in their shells like turtles, we can at least reduce casualties a little."

He pointed into the depths of the thick fog: "But those outsiders simply don't listen to our advice. Whether they are backpackers on vacation or drivers who have gotten lost and driven in, they are arrogant and stupid, and they don't take our warnings seriously at all."

"They ran around in the forest and eventually disappeared. Their deaths will feed the monster, making it stronger and causing even more trouble for the town. That's why I'm here to drive away all outsiders who try to enter Caster Town."

Su Long nodded: "I understand, extraordinary measures for extraordinary times."

Cole walked to a clump of bushes by the roadside, pulled out an old off-road motorcycle, straddled the seat, and slammed on the starter. The motorcycle engine roared loudly, and a plume of black smoke billowed from the exhaust pipe.

"Follow me, I'll take you to Miss Dania," he called to Suron and Hannah.

Upon hearing this, Su Long and Hannah turned around and walked back to the Camry, opened the car door, and got in.

Cole led the way on his motorcycle, while Hannah followed closely behind in her Camry.

After following for a while, the vehicle seemed to have crossed the boundary between the forest and the farmland. The tall fir trees in the surrounding mist gradually thinned out, and in their place were large areas of neatly arranged field ridges.

Su Long turned his head, his gaze piercing through the fine mist clinging to the car window and landing on the area outside the road.

This is a vast blueberry plantation.

The neatly arranged artificial ridges have now completely fallen into a state of uncontrolled wildness.

Broadleaf weeds and thorny wild vines, taller than an adult's knee, grow rampantly from the soil, completely engulfing rows of low blueberry bushes.

The black plastic pipes used for agricultural drip irrigation were shrunken and broken, and the black weed control film covering the surface of the field ridges was torn apart by external force, with large sections rolled up.

On this land, traces of human intensive farming are rapidly disappearing.

Su Long withdrew his gaze and said somewhat heavily, "It seems that this field has been abandoned for quite some time."

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