"Arhat: enhances bodily strength potential, increases or grants Qi resource, grants basic hand-to-hand combat skills." This was the next skill on the Buddhist Tree, all in all very useful and well-rounded both in the ethereal realm and in real life, costing 2 skill points. What made this skill more attractive was that with it, Wu Xiaoming could finally ask Wu Wentao to teach him some close quarter combat skills, either for personal use or for future performance. This was a thought he always had, but never really had the courage to do. The reason was simple: the previous Wu Xiaoming must have been trained before, if he just showed no knowledge or experience at all, he would expose himself.
"Thunder and Fire: increases or grants spirit resource, grants Lightning Palm spell and Fire Talisman crafting knowledge." This was the next skill on the Taoist Tree, a very offence-oriented skill, costing 2 skill points. With it he would no doubt have a much easier time facing off against some tough enemies in the ethereal realm, maybe even in real life. But as of now, his total spirit was quite limited, even with Golden Light Spells, frequent use would easily become a burden on him. Therefore, it would make him a glass cannon with limited shots.
He could think about it later. As it was already the next morning, and if his assumption was correct, today he would hear about the test episode.
"Ooh, I smell egg and - steak?" Wu Xiaoming strolled into the kitchen, smiling.
"Oh yeah. No stir fried eggs today?" Douglass Kirkland was already in the kitchen.
"Nah, we have a good chef here, why waste our good eggs?" Wu Xiaoming chuckled and sat by his agent: "How did you sleep?"
"Very well." Douglass Kirkland chuckled: "I figured I could head home today. I heard that Jennifer - I mean there's some new hot goss' about some actress."
"Jennifer, Jennifer Richardson?" Wu Xiaoming caught the awkwardness from Douglass Kirkland.
"... yeah." Douglass Kirkland sighed: "Sorry."
"It's fine, I don't really care." Wu Xiaoming shrugged: "But - speaking of goss' , do you know who our neighbors are? Like the house next door, who's living there? And the house facing ours from the other side of the road, who lives there?"
"Oh? Why are you asking?"
"I'm just curious - the next door neighbor's house looks kinda - kinda artsy." Wu Xiaoming could only offer some vague explanation.
"Well, the house next door is custom built by the owner. I think his name was - something something Dubois?"
"Nicolas Dubois." Wu Wentao came into the kitchen and answered: "He's a collector of arts, and frequent investor of artistic shows and movies. He bought this house a few years back, but he rarely comes here."
"What about our neighbor from the opposite of the road?" Wu Xiaoming asked.
"That would be Lily Niu." Wu Wentao sat beside Wu Xiaoming, took a sip of a fresh mug of coffee handed to him by the chef's assistant: "She's - retired, but still, don't mess with her."
"What does that even mean?" Wu Xiaoming almost laughed out loud.
"Remenber when people say they heard a gossip, and they just start it with 'a little birdie told me'?" Douglass Kirkland chuckled: "Well, she got a whole nest of these little birdies, each of them has their own platoon of tweetie little birdies, that if you kiss your girl within a two hundred mile radius she'll know how much tongue you used and with a timing accurate to the milliseconds."
"... damn." Wu Xiaoming could only let out one word after a while, then he could not control his smile: "Great description though."
"Thanks." Douglass Kirkland shook his head: "But yeah - unless you are in her good graces, I'd suggest you stay away from her. Remember we talked about how some of the gossip stories were orchestrated? She used to be in that business and circle, so - smear campaigns, astroturfed hype-ups, that kind of stuff."
"But she's retired. And she's generally quite nice if you act normal and boring." Wu Wentao shook his head.
Just this moment, Douglass Kirkland's phone buzzed. He checked the phone, then put down his knife and said to Wu Xiaoming: "They responded, they want to start shooting this afternoon. You can meet up with the team beforehand, maybe 2PM."
"Okay." Wu Xiaoming swallowed a piece of breakfast steak: "Anything I should prepare? I'll need to stay for at least a night, right?"
"Right." Douglass Kirkland nodded as he wiped his mouth with a napkin: "So maybe prep some clothes, your phone, and - I don't know, maybe get some personal items? Things that would make you stand out - but no worries though, this will be something we need to figure out if and when the show goes live."
"Going somewhere?" Wu Wentao asked.
"Sorry, folks, but another client of mine just texted me and asked me to go over something with him." Douglass Kirkland shrugged: "But I'll wrap things up as soon as possible, yeah? Don't worry Xiaoming, you'll do good." He then proceeded to storm out the door.
"You're really sure about this project?" Wu Wentao looked Wu Xiaoming in his eyes.
Wu Xiaoming took a deep breath: "Yes. I really want to try this."
"Then, come with me after breakfast. I have something to give you."
A string of red wood beads, it turned out to be. Hidden in a fragrant sandalwood box.
"Keep it with you. This one is actually a gift from a family friend, when my father was still in China. They are blessed by an enlightened Buddhist monk, and were said to be repellent to evil." Wu Wentao said to Wu Xiaoming as he handed the beads to him in a red cloth pouch: "I know, it's old style, you probably wouldn't like it. But since you're going to be doing paranormal investigation - "
"I'll keep it with me. Thank you, Dad." Wu Xiaoming accepted it without question or hesitation.
On his way to the Sproutlinger Hotel, he assigned the two spare skill points to the Arhat skill. The string of beads from his father was somewhat of a sign - ultimately, having good bodily functions and qualities was more sustainable. Also, if this string of beads were really blessed by an enlightened monk, it having some kind of resonance with his skill would not be completely out of the realm of possibilities. Right after the skill symbol lit up on his skill tree, a strange warmth washed over him, and just like the many Wuxia and Xianxia novels he read before described, he could feel thin streams of energy flowing inside of his body. The sensation of Qi inside of his meridians, he assumed. He should take a moment to study it in depth when he got the chance.
He arrived at the hotel about thirty minutes earlier than planned, since the traffic on his way was not as bad as he thought. He had time, so he walked around the block one more time.
"Hey man." The same security guard saw Wu Xiaoming and walked out to greet him: "It's you again! Did you really come with your friends?"
"I - uh - yeah, yeah. I'm just early here, they're right behind me." Wu Xiaoming chuckled.
"Good! Do you wanna go in and take a look? Get a whiff of the paranormal atmosphere?"
"Well - yeah, sure, why not." Wu Xiaoming grinned at the security guard, whoever placed him here should give him a raise if they haven't already.
The security guard led him into the lounge. The temperature dropped by a few degrees just by him walking into the building. He narrowed his eyes and looked around. For some reason, in the darker corners of the lounge there always seemed to be some kind of smoke and fog lingering and flowing. Yes, something was quite wrong here.
"Hello, can I help you? " The middle aged man behind the reception desk stood up and asked Wu Xiaoming.
Wu Xiaoming was at a loss for how to respond now, so all he could do was scratch his head: "I'm - I'm here waiting for some friends of mine and - "
"Mr. Wu!" Just this moment, Tammy, the assistant of Director Leslie McKinsey came over and greeted Wu Xiaoming: "You're here early!"
"Hi, Tammy." Wu Xiaoming immediately waved at her.
"Wait, so you're - you're Wu Xiaoming?" The man behind the receptionist's desk slightly widened his eyes.
"Dude! I knew I saw you somewhere!" The security guard laughed out loud and extended his hand at Wu Xiaoming, trying for a handshake: "Name's Anthony, Anthony Jackson."
"Nice to meet you, Anthony." Wu Xiaoming gave the friendly security guard a firm handshake: "Sorry for not telling you earlier, we're keeping things a little low profile - "
"All the staff have signed NDAs, but they will help you familiarize with everything about the hotel before we start shooting." Tammy came over and grabbed Wu Xiaoming's arm: "Excuse us, gentlemen, since our host is here early, we'll take the chance to start early as well."
"Happy shootin'!" Anthony Jackson waved at Wu Xiaoming, and Wu Xiaoming gave him a thumbs up.