The next day, Raden said goodbye to Nila with the excuse of looking for antiques in the Bogor area for a few days. He left Nila with the remaining money and a promise to keep in touch often.
Raden took an economy bus from Jakarta to Bogor, then connected with an angkot heading towards Puncak.
The air grew colder as the altitude increased. Along the way, Raden saw luxury villas, tea plantations, and stalls selling roasted corn. But his eyes kept scanning, looking for traces of Echo energy.
That afternoon, he arrived near the location of Van Hoorn Villa.
The place was secluded, far from the main road. A rocky path overgrown with weeds was the only access. Thick fog began to descend, blanketing the towering pine trees.
Raden got off the angkot, paying the driver who looked at him strangely for getting off in the middle of the forest.
"Be careful, Mas," said the driver. "It's haunted there. A Dutch lady ghost likes to intercept people."
Raden just smiled. "Thanks for the info, Pak."
He walked along the path. It was silent, only the sound of the wind rustling through the trees.
DING.
The Echo System began to react.
[Entering High-Grade Echo Zone.]
[Negative Energy Density: 75%.]
[Environmental Effect: Mild auditory hallucinations.]
Sure enough. Raden started hearing faint sounds. The sound of a piano playing off-key notes. The sound of children's laughter echoing from a distance.
He ignored it. His focus was on the rusty iron gate standing firmly in front of him. Behind it, Van Hoorn Villa stood grand yet terrifying. Its walls, once white, were now dull grey, overgrown with black moss. Its windows were like empty eyes staring sharply.
However, it wasn't just the villa that caught Raden's attention.
In the vast front yard of the villa, overgrown with waist-high weeds, there were other people.
Two black Jeeps were parked there. A group of people dressed in all black were busy setting up strange equipment around the villa. Someone was holding a device like a metal detector, another was sprinkling salt around the building.
And in the middle of them stood an arrogant-looking young man, wearing a stylish transparent raincoat.
Raden hid behind a large pine tree, activating his Appraisal Eye.
[Target: "Ghost Seekers" Hunting Group.]
[Status: Ordinary Humans (Non-Cultivators).]
[Goal: Creating paranormal video content for social media.]
Raden snorted. Mystery YouTubers. They had no idea what they were facing.
But then, Raden's eyes caught another figure standing a bit away from the crew crowd. An old woman in an ancient black kebaya, holding a wooden staff carved with a snake head at the tip.
The woman's aura was different.
[Target: Village Shaman (Low Spiritual Practitioner).]
[Power: Possesses partially opened 'Inner Eye'. Can manipulate weak spirit energy.]
[Threat: Low to Raden, High to ordinary humans.]
"Interesting," whispered Raden.
Suddenly, the young man in the raincoat—who seemed to be the show's host—shouted at his crew.
"Come on, hurry up! It's getting dark! We have to get the shot during the blue hour so it looks cinematic! Grandma, where are the incenses? Burn a lot so the ghosts come out!"
The old woman, the Village Shaman, shook her head anxiously. "Den Bagus... I feel the energy in this place is too strong. We better not go inside. Just on the terrace."
"Ah, Grandma is such a coward! I pay you expensively not to film on the terrace! We're going inside to the living room, the site of the massacre!"
Raden looked towards the main door of the villa. The Teak Gebyok Door he saw on TV.
The door was tightly closed. But Raden could see thin black smoke seeping out from its cracks. Smoke that the film crew couldn't see, maybe even faint to the old shaman.
[Warning: Echo Seal on the door is unstable. Negative emotions from visitors (greed, arrogance) are accelerating resonance.]
"Fools," cursed Raden.
If they forced their way in, they would trigger an explosion of Echo energy. And that wouldn't just make them possessed. It could kill them.
Raden didn't care about the fate of those YouTubers. But if that door 'exploded', the Echo inside would disperse and Raden would lose his main prize.
He had to act.
Raden took out a black hoodie jacket from his bag, put it on, and pulled the hood up to cover part of his face. He also wore a cloth mask. He didn't want his face recorded on camera and going viral on the internet.
He stepped out of his hiding place, walking casually towards the gate.
"Oi! Who's that?" one of the crew shouted in surprise, shining a flashlight at Raden's face.
Raden raised his left hand, blocking the glaring light.
"If you value your lives," Raden said with a voice he deliberately deepened, "you better go home now. This place is not for playing around."
The Host laughed dismissively. "Wow, a local resident. Want to ask for security money, Bang? Sorry, we already got permission from the neighborhood chief down below."
"This isn't about human permission," Raden pointed at the villa. "That door is hungry. And you all look like food."
The Old Shaman stared at Raden with wide eyes. She could feel something from this mysterious young man. A pressure far greater than any ghost she had ever met.
"Den Bagus..." the Shaman's voice trembled. "This young man... he is not an ordinary person."
"Bah! Probably just a village thug who learned magic tricks!" The Host stepped forward, acting brave. "Oi, get lost! Or I'll report you to the police!"
Just then, a loud creaking sound was heard from the direction of the villa.
CREAAAK...
Everyone turned. The large Gebyok Door slowly opened by itself. Not blown by the wind. The teak wood door weighing hundreds of kilos swung wide open, revealing pitch black darkness inside.
From within that darkness, the sound of a piano was heard. Clear and loud.
Ting... Ting... Ting...
And then, a woman's laughter. A cold, bone-chilling laugh.
The film crew started to panic. "B-boss... was that our setup?"
"No! The speakers haven't been installed yet!"
Suddenly, a strong wind blew from inside the house, sweeping the yard. The wind smelled of fresh metallic blood. The film crew's floodlights flickered and then died completely.
The only light now came from the newly risen moon, and... from Raden's eyes glowing dimly beneath his hoodie.
[Door Open. Echo 'Wail of the Dutch Lady' has awakened.]
[Emergency Mission: Reseal the door before Physical Manifestation fully forms.]
"Everyone, get down!" shouted Raden.
Before anyone could react, a white shadow shot out from the villa door with terrifying speed, heading straight for the Host who stood frozen.
Raden moved. Lightning Reflex active.
In the blink of an eye, he was already in front of the Host, unsheathing the Carubuk Keris, and parrying the shadow's attack.
CLANG!
The sound of metal clashing with... claws?
Raden was thrown back two steps, his shoes dragging on the ground. The white shadow—the figure of a Dutch woman in a blood-stained gown and a ruined face—hovered in the air, hissing angrily at him.
"Strong," Raden thought, his hand tingling slightly.
The film crew screamed hysterically and ran for their lives, leaving their expensive cameras still recording. Only the Host fell to the ground, wetting his pants in sheer terror.
Raden stood tall, twirling the keris in his hand. He stared at the ghost, and a thin smirk appeared behind his mask.
"Finally," he said softly. "A worthy opponent."