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The Fellowship to Uncover The
Sacred Secret
During the Japanese occupation in WW2, a Shinto Shrine was built
at MacRitchie Reservoir. It was then either blown up by the
Britons or by the Japanese themselves when the war is over. Since
then the shrine was forgotten, until a few years ago when SPI
stumbled upon the ruins. Lisa Ang & Company tried to locate this
ruin during an episode of 'Hey, Singapore', but they failed.
A few years later, led by Ah Toh, research crew from SPI decided
to undertake what Lisa Ang had failed - to locate the shrine
ruins. And so, utilizing what SAF had taught us, they bashed into
the MacRitchie's greens to search for the lost treasure.
The objectives of this expedition came in threefold. Firstly, as
being consistent of SPI's aim in showcasing the heritage of
Singapore, such historical but forgotten place in Singapore was
properly researched and documented. Over 6000 photos and rigid
study were taken at the site of the ruin. You will see most of
them in this SPI File.
Secondly, following up the hearsay three years ago by Kenny during
one of his conference trips to Japan, a lost treasure (not
literately, but materially) that is said to be powerfully
influential to the world peace and the fate of Shinto, would
probably be still buried at the Synonan Jinja. The lost treasure
is supposed to be an important sacred object related to
Amatsutatara Hibumi, personally ordered by the Japanese Emperor to
place at Synonan Jinja. Its purpose may be for blessing the
Japanese empire hold a firm grasp rooted in the center of Asia and
expanding to the rest of the world. But the whereabouts of the
sacred object became unknown after the war. This secret from an
archaeological point of view would give anybody enough reasons to
survey the whole place, if not trying to uncover it.
Last but not the least, being paranormal investigators, SPI would
not want to let go the chance of investigating the paranormal
phenomena, if any, of this unique place. It is not just a house, a
factory or a cemetery rumored to be haunted. It carries a history
of unique Japanese Shinto planted from oversea to Singapore, and
it used to serve as a spiritual place for worship and so on during
the war. Abandoned shrines in Japan are usually said to be very
haunted. Some more, this is a shrine that met a tragic fate of
being blown up, accumulating much strong emotions of the deceased
Japanese soldiers who were scarified for a defeated war. And
consider the fact that the shrine was abandoned in a wild jungle
for many years. God knows what kinds of and how many spirits are
taking abode there.
Beside the supernatural dangers, physical risks are to be taken
account too. In the water catchments areas, there lived
crocodiles, monster lizards, snakes, wild boars and thousands
different species of insects,
some may be poisonous. Seldom people would be able to make it
there for a visit. This expedition also provides a good
documentary journal to expose the mysteries of Synonan Jinja to
the public.
For this expedition, more than 60 hours including those after
midnight were spent in the jungle in five separate trips bashing
into the woods. Dozens of batteries were consumed, and much blood
and sweat were contributed to make this investigation complete.
SPI earnestly present this most comprehensive investigation of Synonan Jinja to you, that you can't find it in any text book,
magazine or journal.
 
1. Wondering which is the best way to
embark on; 2. KC with a compass and a map, figuring out the shortest
path
3 & 4. Ah Toh stoutly advised to the team: "This way!" and thereafter
he led the journey
 
1. The reservoir is a tranquil
recreation park for people of all ages
2 - 4. Along the way, weird cherry-like plants captivated SPI
attention; therefore had a break for a short photographing session
They thought the fruit was
Guarana that is the most important ingredient in Cult drink. Here
goes the story:
When the first Europeans met the natives along one of the largest
rivers on the world,
the Amazon, they were amazed by their lifespan and endurance
considering their harsh living conditions in an extreme climate.
Before long they discovered that their energy came from eating a lot
of a specific plant.
The plant was Paulline Cupana, which is locally known as Guarana.
The plant, which can grow to up to 10 metres high, grows wild in the
Amazon region
Guarana bears small red fruit, from these the natives made a red
powder, which gave them plenty of energy.
A Long Journey
With almost a full team force, SPI for the first time carried heavy
laden of equipments, gadgets and some unique antique items bashing for six
hours into the jungle. All is for searching and uncovering the
lost Shinto Shrine that once gloriously stood in the midst of a
sacred hill during WW2.
Basically the shrine was built in 1942 to commemorate victory over
their occupation in Singapore. However, after the Japanese
surrendered, they blew up the temple and the bridge linking to it.
As such, without the bridge, the shrine was actually quite
inaccessible nowadays since it was located in near the waterfront.
Abductboy suddenly began humming an old rhyme from the
Lord of The Rings:
The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began,
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with weary feet,
Until it joins some larger way,
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.
Certainly it reminded Abductboy very much of the initial movie
scene of The Fellowship of The Ring. It was used often to say
there was only one Road; that it was like a great river: its
springs were at every doorstep, and every path was its tributary.
"It is a dangerous mission going out of your door,"
Along the way, we would be meeting animals, old army checkpoints
and untouched forested. "You step into the Road and if you don't keep your feet,
there is no knowing where you might be swept off to. The road
might take us to the truth behind the reality of the myth or even
further and to worse places" Abductboy said.
No matter what, they remained, as one team one goal - to find the
lost shrine and expose the reality behind its myths.
¡@
 
1. The alcove of the water where the
infamous MacRitchie water tomb is just meters away from long the left
shore
2 & 3. Location check on the current team position; 4. Decided to have
a little break
 
1 & 2. Ah Toh and KC were still busy
carrying out their work professionally albeit it was resting time;
3. Abductboy sipped a controlled amount of water during the break;
4. Gate hungrily swallowed a packet of ration that was supposed to be
for dinner
At the bend of the water on its
western side they came to the Jering Trail opening on to a narrow
lane. There they halted and adjusted the straps of their packs. In
average everybody was carrying about 15Kg of equipment. They had
been trotting quickly and breathing hard with the loads.
'The road goes on for ever,' said Gate; 'but I can't without a
rest. It is high time for lunch.' He sat down on the bank at the
side of the trail and looked away east into the haze, beyond which
lay the reservoir, and the east side of the island from which he
just finished work. KC stood by him. His eyes were studying the
topological map - for he
was looking across lands he had never seen to a new horizon.
The rest of the team was silent. They were just gazing northward
across the water, into the mystical forests on the other side,
carefully studying the details as if
they had never seen them before. Suddenly Abductboy spoke, aloud but as if to
himself, saying slowly: 'Lets carry on, we are not here to
picnic.' The team assembled again and wiggled through the Jering
Trail.
Along the way, Ah Toh put up a brainteaser, he asked 'Why is the
reservoir green?' It seems like an easy answer, but it was fun to
think along especially for distracting the attention from a
monotonous march for some people.
'Here goes the answer,' Ah Toh followed up, 'Water is colorless.
However, water bodies appear bluish or greenish depending on their
depth and the way the different wavelengths of light are absorbed
and reflected. The presence of algae and phytoplankton in the
water also results in greenish appearance of the reservoir as
their chlorophyll absorb blue light and reflect green light.
Sometimes green scum can also be observed in the reservoir,
particularly at the inlets, where the water is relatively still.
This is caused by algae bloom, which takes advantage of the
greater amount of nutrients being leached from the adjacent
forests.'
¡@
 
1. Ah Toh commanded "Come on, get your
ass moving before it gets dark"; 2. The infamous water tomb is just
round the corner
3 & 4. Ah Toh and KC were responsibly leading us through the narrow
Jering Track
That is a boardwalk skirting the edge of the scenic MacRitchie
Reservoir
 
1 & 2. A sharp scream pierced
through the tranquility of the reservoir; 3. A platoon of monkeys
(close up)
4. A mysterious blue color ball was observed
Strange Encounters - A Blue Pearl? (1/4)
The sun was beginning to get low and the light of afternoon was on
the land as they were near the end of the waterfront track. So far they had not met a
soul on the road. This way was not much visited, being hardly fit for
joggers because of the narrow and uneven paths, and there was a
huge golf-court nearby that belongs to a private country club -
the public have to keep out of it.
Suddenly a cry like wild laugh pierced through the silence.
'Hyena, Pontianak, or somebody got assaulted?' Different opinions
were raised from the team. Ah Toh instead of joining the
speculation, he thinned his eyes and stared across the water at
the other side of the land. He saw a platoon of monkeys, hopping
around as if greeting our arrivals. We confirmed that they were
monkeys using our binoculars.
At the same time, we spotted something unusual. A blue round
object about the size of a football was resting on the plants at
the opposite side of the water-skirt. Could it be a balloon? Its
weight shouldn't be heavy as it was supported by the fragile
ferns underneath. With a wild imagination, it looks like
a sacred blue pearl being guarded by the holy monkeys. There are
many of such tales in Cambodia. But exactly is that blue ball? It
is too difficult for us to verify as it was on the other remote
bank separated by water.
¡@
 
1. Lets check our current location; 2.
Ah Toh shows that we are in the position marked as a red-dot on
the map
Ah Toh looks so handsome in this picture. But do you know how malu
it was in the first take? See
here.
3 & 4. This is the mouth of the water stream connecting between the
reservoir and the Singapore Island Country Club
 
1 - 3. We continued our journey through
a muddy botak track that is a part of the restoration area
4. Some broken remains of house structure is found along the muddy
track. Going deeper in leads us into the lair of monkeys (Close
up)
The team was crossing the muddy botak
(meaning bare) track towards the direction of the country club. After
some time they walked up a slope, at the most west of the
reservoir, they spotted a ruin site. But it is of course not that
of the Shinto Shrine. This section of forest belongs to the
vegetation restoration area where it used to be a military command
post in the war. Nowadays only bits and bricks of the building
ruin can be seen. The path was there no more than a winding grey
ribbon, bordered with leaning tropical-trees.
¡@
 
Monkeys are popular habitats in this
area; See them for yourself
 
Ah Toh was briefing us the dangers of
Monster Lizards and Crocodiles that are infesting in this region
Strange Encounters - Wild Animals (2/4)
The day's march promised to be warm and tiring work. After some
distance, however, the botak path ceased to roll up and down; it climbed to
the top of a steep bank in a weary zig-zagging sort of way, and
then prepared to go down for the last time. In front of them they
saw the lower lands dotted with small clumps of trees that melted
away in the distance to a brown woodland haze. They were looking
across the lakes towards the country club ahead. The road wound
away before them like a piece of string.
The sun climbed to the noon some hours ago and then rode slowly down the sky.
Light clouds came up out of the lakes in the distant North and were
blown away upon the breeze. The sun lowered. Shadows rose behind
and reached out long arms from the East. Still SPI held on
walking. Suddenly out from the shadow, they heard noises, both
from the tree branches above and from the ground covered by fallen
leaves.
They did not bother, knowing this area is infested by wild animals
like monkeys and lizards.
¡@
 
1 & 2. Danger zone! We were under a
huge jackfruit tree;
Heavy jackfruit like bomb shell may fall on our heads at anytime
without warning
3. We bumped into some joggers who are SPI fans, "Excuse me, may I know
where SPI is going to catch ghost tonight?"
4. This is the best view overlooking the longitude of the reservoir
 
1 - 3. Many people claimed to have seen
white figures flashing on the trees at night. Look what it actually is
4. Reservoir reflects the clouds like a mirror
Strange Encounters - Pontianak Debunked (3/4)
After walking pass a jackfruit tree, the bush just got wilder and
wilder. Obviously, seldom people would go near there for the
vicinity that was out of the way. Another reason that is less
spoken is the rumour of Pontianak that haunts the MacRitchie
reservoir park. At night, after hearing the screams of some
creatures that SPI actually believe they are merely monkey, one
would see a white figure or two flashing across the trees. This is
already rotted as a very old legendary tale in many outdated ghost
story books. While many people were amazed about so SPI aimed to
find out why.
The team abruptly paused. Their eye-brows frown and Ah Toh gazed ahead, shading his eyes from the level shafts of the
golden sinking sun. 'I see a white figure that floats on the tree,' he said. 'Where it
seems to appear from the shadow of nowhere..' By using a binocular
and long-range camera lens, we showed proof - it is merely a piece
of white plastic waving in the breeze on top of the tree.
Interestingly, we sighed about how many people have mistaken it as
an apparition when the light is dim. Equally interesting, we felt
that how on earth a piece of white plastic got hooked up to the
tree top at the first place. Is it a prank or a beautiful
accident?
¡@
 
These are reconstructed images
indicating a shrine once stood at MacRitchie Reservoir decades ago
1. A foot bridge used to stretch across the water; 2. A Torii marks
the entrance to the shrine
3. How a lonely shrine located in thick vegetable would look
1 & 2. These are remains of stone
stumps crossing the water. Some have mistaken them as the ruins of
bridge.
However, they look more like concrete supports for a pipe that used to
exist in the area
3. This blue house serves as an engine room, probably housing a water
pump
Nevertheless, SPI reached a point
that was very close to the shrine. In less than a minute, they
could have reached the shrine by foot by crossing the water, if,
the bridge still exists. The forests on the opposite bank used to
have a Shinto shrine standing according to topological position.
Now it became almost inaccessible that the water could be deep,
hidden currents are underneath and patrolled by stealthy
crocodiles.
A tougher way to come near the shrine now is to trek through a
thick jungle from behind the waterfront. This seems to be the only
way unless we use gum boats to sail across the water or
helicopters to drop us from air.
Trekking through a thick jungle is still considered as a promising
way because during the journey we can study the terrain and
searched for the lost treasure. Like the old saying, 'It is a
journey, not the destination'. Here it applies well. This
investigation is more than just 'be there' and snapped a few
pictures. It is intended to explore and bring back the memories
from the ins and outs of this lost heritage shrine. For instance,
from the above photos, one can speculate that a Torii wooden gate
should be erected at the water front linking to the bridge. That
marked as the entrance to the sacred shrine situated in the forest
behind. The wooden gate if ever existed now of course would have
been destroyed together with the bridge.
¡@
 
1 & 2. At the far north-west side of
the reservoir, there is a stone bridge with colonial style carved
banisters
3. After the bridge, it is a beaten track leading all the way into the
jungle
 
Further up, there is a multi-level
observation tower that allows you to overlook the top of the jungle
 
The height of this tower is
approximately equivalent to a 10-storey building;
Looking down would give you a shiver in your legs
Strange Encounters - Glittering Gold Light? (4/4)
The sun was already westering as they walked from the path of the
country club, and the
light of it was in their eyes, turning all the rolling grass fields of
the catchments area to a golden haze. There was a beaten way, north-westward
along the foot-hills of the Upper Pierce Reservoir, and this they
followed, up and down in a forest, crossing small swift
streams by several fords. Far ahead and to their right the Misty
Mountains loomed; ever darker and taller they grew as the miles
went by. The sun went slowly down before them. Evening came
behind.
Not long before dark, they found the multi-storey observation
tower. Immediately they ran up as if forgetting their heavy
burdens and exhausted bodies, just for trying to grasp the last
glimpse of the hill top scene before sunset.
From Kenny's Japan trip that met an acquaintance who shared a
secret tale about the lost treasure of Syonan Jinja, they had only
a very slight information into finding the ultimate sacred Shinto
item - as the Japanese friend said 'At dusk where the gold gleams
glitter, and at dawn where the silver light shines, you will know
it is there.' This is a very vague and unreliable hearsay as good
as some sayings like 'when a full moon shines, treasure chest will
open wide' and 'roses are red, velvets are blue, tons of gold are
next to you.' Realistically, that is no higher chance than finding
a needle in a haystack, as they all know very well.
But when the situation yields no better leads, this slim chance
would be taken by a good faith. So they persisted.
There they were on top of the observation deck, with a full
panoramic view of the water catchments area. The evening cool
breeze helped drying up their heavy sweat. In particular, they
looked towards East, perhaps either by instinct or by the guidance
of the evening sun shine. Immediately they could identify what
lied in front of them was the jungle in which the Shinto Shrine
was once built. They stared still straight at that jungle, or a
knoll several miles away to be more precise.
Without blinking their eyes and any speech, they saw it. They
couldn't believe their eyes as if it was only an imagination. Some
gold lights were shone from the ground to the trees in a corner of
the jungle. The faint glitter moved swiftly and disappeared as
though it was alive. All happened in less than a second.
In a minute time, Kenny remembered hard the location although it
was indistinct; all the trees looked about the same in the
backdrop of a forest. It was a matter of recording down the
bearing, the direction, and the displacement from the tower to the
flash glittered spot. When they got down to ground level, they
planned out a route; and that was after much winding lay straight ahead through grass-land sprinkled with
tall tress, outliers of the approaching woods. From there they
bashed in.
¡@
 
This plot of land is a secret lair that
our informant tipped us to check; it supposed to be a secret hideout
for the treasure of the shrine
 
Abductboy who is a safety officer
by profession carried dozens of rolls of red-and-white tapes.
He marked the vicinity of search area systematically.
If the legend of the Japanese Shinto lost treasure were true, its
impact would have on the rising power a country and hence world peace!
 
1 - 3. Carpet searching in this
untouched forest easily makes one lose his orientation.
Light sticks were placed along the path so we wouldn't lose our way.
4. Oops, see who has been here before us!
 
1. This is the turn-in point to the
location of the rumored lost treasure of ancient Shinto
2 - 4. We found, the deserted site of the ammunition pile that once
was used by the British as well as the Japanese during the war
The Treasure Hunt
The team charged on. Fearing to come too late after dark, they
charged with all the speed they could, pausing seldom. Swift and
enduring were the adventurous spirits of SPI. The heaviness in the
air increased as they moved deeper into the jungle. In this late
evening the dark clouds began to overtake them: a somber canopy
with great billowing edges flecked with dazzling light. The sun
was going down, blood-red in a smoking haze. The team increased
their pace, trying to beat the sunset by reaching the treasure
location sooner.
Throughout the search, Abductboy whose profession is a safety
officer was taking precaution. He labeled the search path with
luminous light sticks in almost every 5 meters. In some chunks of
woods where the path was not obviously seen, he marked it with
red-and-white emergency tapes, making sure we wouldn't be circling
around in the forest after sunset. Of course, it served as our
quick exit route in case anything would happen for they were
uncertain of events ahead. Who knows what caused the gold glitters
that we saw - booby traps, illegal immigrant hide-outs or some
crypto-beasts.
Almost at once the sun seemed to sink into the trees behind them.
They thought of the slanting light of evening glittering on the
direction that they were going to, and the reflection of the
secret object somewhere in front beginning to
gleam with hundreds of lights. Great shadows fell across them;
trunks and branches of trees hung dark and threatening over the
path. White mists began to rise and curl on the surface of the
lake and stray about the roots of the trees upon its borders. Out
of the very ground at their feet a shadowy stream arose and
mingled with the swiftly falling dusk.
It became difficult to follow the path, and they were very tired.
Their legs seemed leaden. Strange furtive noises ran among the
bushes and reeds on either side of them; and if they looked up to
the pale sky, they caught sight of queer gnarled and knobby faces
that gloomed dark against the twilight, and leered down at them
from the high bank and the edges of the wood. They began to feel
that all this forest was unreal, and that they were stumbling
through an ominous dream that led to no awakening.
Was that a mass hallucination arose from the fear of their hearts?
Indeed it took much courage to venture into a forest where
probably nobody had been in before. On the other hand, the rumor
of the powerful sacred treasure and the mental effect of the
mystical Shinto that embraces all the supernatural Kami whose
natures are little known to men, were material to dissolve one's
faith. None of them but thought of retreating. Only forward they
proceeded on.
Just as they felt their feet slowing down to a standstill, they
noticed that the ground was ended with a small cliff. The water
from all the directions
murmured into a large trench. In the darkness they caught the white glimmer of foam,
where the streams flowed over a short fall at the edge of the
trench. Merrily they knew, that should be approximately the
location of the source of glitters observed from the tower.
The path was now ended before them, unless they climbed down to
the trench that they were not prepared to do so. Disappointed as
they seemed but not really so some time later when they had a
chance to consult the ranger of this park. This was what told by
the ranger. The trench that was of at least ten meters deep was
one of the ammunition deposits for the British army before and
during the war. But where did the glittering light come from?
Nobody had any clue about.
¡@
 
Busy in commanding two searching units,
Abductboy made a post at the junction of Sime track talking to two
walkies at the same time
 
Darkness suddenly came upon that made
our visibility almost zero without proper light equipment
 
Stopped for a dinner break, then
continued the search using night vision gadgets and torches
Fear Not the Darkness
Night closed about them. At last they halted to make their camp
after they returned from the trench to the main road.
They had walked further up north and were far out upon the
north-western plain, yet more than half their journey lay still before
them before reaching the Shinto shrine. In a small circle, under the starry sky and the waxing moon,
they now made their bivouac. They lit no fires, for they were
reluctant to attract the attention of wild boars or other beings.
There were no clouds overhead yet, but a heaviness was in the air;
it was hot even for the monsoon season of the year.
The night was clear, cool, and starry, but smoke-like wisps of
mist were creeping up the hill-sides from the lakes and deep
meadows. Thin-clad birches, swaying in a light wind above
their heads, made a black net against the pale sky. They ate a
very frugal dinner, (Lasi Lamak) and then went on discussing on
how to proceed with the investigation. Abductboy was busy
installing a wearable night-vision video recorder. Kenny tested a
range of detection meters including a metal detector.
When they were ready to go, Gate who claimed to have a 3rd eye
suddenly raised a different voice while staring at the dark bush,
'I am not feeling well, guys.' His simple statement was like
pouring a bucket of cold water on everybody's desire of fire that
fueled us to further explore the mystery of Syonan Jinga. Pain
however was seen on his face. His speech came with sweat on his
forehead like beads of pea size. No jokes we knew from his mouth.
We wondered what happened to Gate. He was among the fittest of
all. And clearly we understood that he wouldn't admit his unwell
for no reason. In teamwork, trust was utmost important and hence
we retreated as a team when one of our teammates was not well.
Decisively, Abductboy called off the operation but the spectral
detection and recording would still be carried on, except that was
on the way back.
On the next few days after this investigation, Gate was
hospitalized. A small operation on him was performed. However,
when we asked him about what happened on that night and why he was
not feeling well, he refused to tell, all because he thought it
was for our own good. Perhaps he meant good. Sometimes certain
things are better not to know than knowing it and in panic. We
only wished that he would be recovered soon.
¡@
 
1. Spirit orbs are hovering over the
tower; 2. Something you wish you will never bump into; 3. Follow me;
4. At night this teal color engine quarter blends in nicely in
the background
 
Spookily and spectrally a sensation of
millions invisible entities will overwhelm you near this stretch of
water
The shadows of the trees were long and thin on the grass, as they
started off again. Everybody was holding a gadget or two on hand,
enabling them to 'see' or to know the presence of companions from
the other dimension in this huge hollow reservoir park. Moving
steadily, they now kept a stone's throw to the left of
the road at the end of the long level over which it had run
straight for some miles. At that point it bent left and went down
into the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve; but a lane
branched right, winding through a wood of ancient tropical-trees on its
way to the MacRitchie Water Tomb. 'That is the way for us,' said
Ah Toh.
Not far from the road-meeting they came on the tall observation
tower called Jelutong Tower: it was like a giant ghost shadow
painted on the backdrop of the sky that looked darker in contrast.
Obviously there was no human around this area in this wee hour.
But the sensation of being watched by hundreds of eyes was real.
They were everything and moving too, as if having the capability
of appearing suddenly and disappearing from somewhere into
nowhere, all at free will.
This fear reminded us of a tragic rape and assault to a young lady
jogger at night in MacRitchie reservoir some years ago (details). Although
the police sealed off the area for carpet search, the culprits
managed to find their way sneaked away because the area is just
too big, and also too dark. Anyone or anything can emerge from a
thick bush probably only a few inches away from you, quickly
snatched you, and made you disappeared into the darkness all in a
fraction of a second.
¡@
 
1 & 2. Ah Toh was carrying an
accidental lantern. 3 & 4. Numerous 'things' followed him with the
lantern
 
1 - 3. Ghostly trees displaying their
spookiness at night; 4. Perhaps the most dangerous one is the
jackfruit tree;
The fallen jackfruits kill. Yes they do, either kill themselves when
hitting the concrete road or anybody happen to passerby
 
Spirits are everywhere or they are in
nowhere, perhaps; The quest on exploring the unknown will prevail
Accidental Spirit Guide
In the team formation when they were marching out of the reservoir
while capturing some footage of the para-entities, Kenny was
behind. He was the second one feeling something very sinister
after Gate.
While walking after Ah Toh, suddenly Kenny himself felt headache overwhelming him. His head swam.
There now seemed hardly a sound in the air. The flies had stopped
buzzing. Only a gentle noise on the edge of hearing, a soft
fluttering as of a funeral song half whispered, seemed to stir in the
boughs above. He lifted his heavy eyes and saw leaning over him a
huge willow-tree, old and hoary. Enormous it looked, its sprawling
branches and twisted trunk gaping in wide fissures that creaked
faintly as the boughs moved. The leaves fluttering against the
bright sky dazzled him, and he toppled over, lying where he fell
upon the grass.
Kenny lay for a while fighting with the headache that was
overpowering him; then with an effort he struggled to his feet
again. He felt a compelling desire for cool water. The other team
members stammered and turned around. Everyone was very tired too.
At this very moment, Kenny realized something was wrong when he
saw clearly what Ah Toh was holding in his hand from a distance. A
round plastic bag wrapping up the junk boxes of their dinner, that
Ah Toh was taking as rubbish and waiting for a chance to find a
trash bin to dispose it. But at night, the round bag glowed like
a lantern. It was all an accident that by no means they were
trying to create a lantern. But they did. Several spare night
sticks were thrown inside the plastic bag as rubbish
unintentionally. Effectively, carrying such plastic bag was like
hauling a white lantern that glowed in pale light. Legend has it
that hauling a lantern in a haunted place at night guides the
spirits along.
Without much hesitation, Ah Toh trotted towards the nearest trash
bin off the road. Kenny while sitting upon a floor of old leaves and decayed wood,
took a series of pictures. They showed that a school of orbs were
tailing behind Ah Toh and the lantern on his hand. Well, are those
orbs spectral entities or just dust particles? You decide.
The fact that Kenny and Gate were not feeling well, could be
explained by tiredness and dehydration. The rest of the team were
not in pink too at the end of the expedition. Having heavy
exercises in a jungle for over ten hours with only one litre of
water consumed can drain one's energy to illness.
Was it the paranormal encounter or the natural physical exhaustion
that made them sick? So was it paranormal or normal? To the
paranormal believers, with only a few hints of unexplained
instances they will gladly believe so. But to the skeptic, there
are never enough evidences to get them convinced no matter how
much proofs are collected.
¡@
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