Illuminant Object (2025)

[bunniefuu]

In the 1940s

the US navy conducted a magnetic

field experiment near Philadelphia.

They used energy pulses around a ship

to create a huge magnetic field.

After a flash of green light

the ship allegedly disappeared from sight.

After the experiment

the ship appeared 400km

away from the original site.

It's reported they successfully

managed to teleport

the destroyer to another space.

The three of us went to the same college.

We went to Elephant Mountain.

On the day of the incident

it was raining heavily.

I remembered passing

a security bunker nearby.

The bunker

looked

really deep.

There was a murmur

coming from inside.

I said we should turn back.

Jian agreed.

But Bighead wanted to press on.

The rain had turned to drizzle

so I called to them to come out.

I called but there was no reaction.

I thought of making a

fire and waiting for them.

And then in front of me

there was a huge bang.

I saw it.

It was huge.

A white light.

He'd discovered something.

I didn't understand.

After that I saw that

as soon as he got home

he'd hide in his room.

I had no idea what he did in there.

Take them.

Stop filming!

Get out.

Like I couldn't move for a few seconds.

Jian shouting non-stop.

He just cried: Ah!

Ah!

He was screaming.

His hands were

clutching at things randomly

desperately trying to get out.

A woman went missing.

A local in her fifties.

When they found her she was adamant

she'd seen a bright light.

I also heard

someone from a nearby county

disappeared and was never found.

The bunker was dark.

Who knows what happened.

I desperately ran out with him.

Not long after

I glanced back

Dad?

If I looked different one day

would you still recognise me?

I realised Bighead hadn't come out yet.

So I asked Jian:

Where's Bighead?

Please take your belongings

and exit through Gate 23.

You came.

I'm surprised.

Take a seat.

Come on in.

It's been years.

Drink up.

Right to the brim.

Slow down.

Listen up.

We've come today for Peng. Not for you lot.

Get that straight.

Otherwise I'm not paying.

I'll get you shitfaced.

Really?

Really.

I haven't seen Peng for years.

Did you know

out of all of us

Lin's done the best for himself?

Did you know

Jian got out a few years ago?

He went completely crazy.

Yeah.

I heard ages ago.

To be honest

do you

believe

what happened?

Hold on.

Let's not talk about that today.

Let's not mention it.

It happened years ago.

We don't want him to hear.

Anyway, if you ask me...

Peng!

Come and eat.

You leaving?

Peng!

I'm sorry about Zhou.

I should've spoken to him before.

It's fine.

It's all over.

Here.

Take this car.

To help you get around.

Ten years

gone by in a flash.

That's Jian's old home.

His mum used to live here alone.

He'd visit at the weekends.

We used to come eat at their place too.

Jian?

Still not possible?

I've already been very clear.

I just want to meet him.

Nothing else.

Well?

No luck.

Let's go.

Come on.

Let's come another day.

Drink up! Eat up!

Cheers!

Hi there.

My friend Peng.

Hi.

Hello, Peng.

Help yourselves.

Happy birthday!

This is my friend Peng.

Uncle Guo.

Anyway...

Peng liked to stay in his office.

Doing his stuff.

He didn't socialise much.

But truth be told

Peng was a great teacher.

I went to some classes.

I always thought it was a shame he was

just a school teacher.

Honestly.

Anyway...

Gradually

his mood and state of mind improved.

But about six months later

something happened.

He was cooking in his room at the school

when a fire broke out.

The whole house burnt down.

Lots of people said

Peng set fire to the house because

of a grievance with the school.

It was complete nonsense.

I know Peng.

He'd never do such a thing.

Anyway, the school decided

to make an example of him.

So Peng couldn't stay.

He quit his job.

Peng!

Peng!

Two years later when

the school moved location

I left to set up my own business.

Many years have passed

but I get the feeling

he still hasn't let go.

Scientifically speaking...

I used to teach geography.

Elephant Mountain is

typical karst landscape.

Most of the mountain is limestone.

There are lots of caves.

It's not unusual

for people to go missing on the mountain.

The term "Lost Zone"

comes from stories like that.

Peng!

Peng!

Ever since the incident

I haven't touched

anything in this room.

I keep thinking

if Bighead were to come back one

day everything would look the same.

It was

in the autumn.

He'd just been on holiday.

But I noticed he looked spooked.

He told me

he'd discovered something.

I didn't understand.

After that I saw that

as soon as he got home

he'd hide in his room.

I had no idea what he did in there.

He'd work into the middle of the night.

Once

his brother went into his

room to look for something.

He flew into a rage

and locked the door.

That's Jian.

That's me.

The one in the hat is Bighead.

We were all so young.

It was only after the incident

that I found out

he'd been secretly doing

those things.

In the time before the incident

he hadn't been well.

He was so skinny

he looked a bit d*sfigured.

I remember him asking me:

"Dad?"

"If I looked different one day

would you still recognise me?"

I said: "Silly boy."

"However you change

I'll always be your dad."

"I'll always recognise you."

Where's Peng?

You've some nerve.

Out.

Get out.

Let go!

Let's talk this through.

Out of my way!

Stop fighting.

Peng!

Get back here.

Take them.

Worthless junk.

Stop filming!

Last warning.

Stop filming!

Get out.

After the incident

everyone thought I'd gone crazy.

Except for Lin.

I didn't want to go back home.

So I moved to Gedong.

I helped a market

seller with their accounts.

Not long after I met Meng's mother.

She'd only just got divorced.

She had a child too.

They needed help at the kebab joint.

So I helped out.

All I had to do was set

up the stall in the evening.

I had a flexible schedule.

I gradually felt better.

She knows a bit

about what happened.

I have no idea

at which point in time

my life changed forever.

Let's have lunch here.

After lunch we'll head over that way.

We should have time.

Hey Peng!

Come here.

Listen to this.

The landslide has damaged

the roads to different extents

on Elephant Mountain's western side.

Rescue efforts are now underway.

The future opening date is uncertain

A landslide.

How long will it take to clear the road?

A fortnight?

Okay, I see.

The landslide was pretty huge.

The road's blocked.

It'll take a fortnight to clear it.

After I left the rescue squad

I moved back to my hometown.

The college student you

mentioned with the nickname...

Bighead.

When he disappeared

lots of search teams were sent out.

They had bad luck.

It was the rainy season.

The search teams' efforts.

The search teams' efforts.

Newspaper clippings.

Photos.

Then they said

they'd found something.

But all they found were bits of clothing.

I've got one here

on the geology team leader.

When he went missing

the North Ring Road wasn't built yet.

He was the first person

we know to have disappeared.

I heard his wife was confined to her home.

In a vegetative state.

If she's still alive

she'd be in her 60s now.

Before he disappeared

the man had been diagnosed

with a terminal illness.

A few years after Bighead

a woman went missing.

A local in her fifties.

When they found her she was adamant

she'd seen a bright light.

I also heard

someone from a nearby county

disappeared and was never found.

When it comes to the truth

it's only what we see with our own eyes

that really matters.

What is it?

What is it?

What is it?

What is it?

Director?

Director?

I've found something really strange.

Let's go look.

Let's go.

Come on.

Over there.

Don't touch.

Look at this.

Something's wrong.

Could be broken.

It's the magnetic field.

It's not right.

Hear that?

That murmur?

That's the murmur...

Who's there?

Master, will you be

our guide tomorrow?

Go back.

We can't.

We're looking for something.

A wild monkey

never returns to the place

where his mate was k*lled.

Even if that place has his

favourite fruit or drinking hole.

Know why?

Boundaries.

The monkey knows very

well what its boundaries are.

It knows

what's allowed.

And what

is out of bounds.

What did he say?

Are we going or not?

Come on.

Let's go.

It's an old model.

Tapes.

Come on. Let's go.

23 is a mysterious number.

23 pairs of chromosomes

decide all human features.

Julius Caesar

was stabbed 23 times.

Many things come in 23s.

Did you know

how long

it takes for our blood

circulation to complete a cycle?

23 seconds.

Could be coincidence.

It's possible.

But who knows.

Let's go.

Stop!

Who let you up here?

You can't carry on.

Off you go.

Go away.

Sir.

We're just filming.

Not here.

Film elsewhere.

Off you go.

No filming.

Help me with this.

I've no idea what he said.

Lai.

Watch this.

It's in Mongolian.

A wild monkey

never returns to where his mate was k*lled.

Even if that place has his

favourite fruit or water hole.

Why not?

Boundaries.

It knows its boundaries.

It knows

what's allowed.

And what's out of bounds.

Peng.

Peng?

You okay?

Hello?

What's up?

Apparently,

some woman got into an accident.

A huge truck hit her car

on the highway near her house.

Supposedly, she died.

Mr Li helped me

get in touch with the

woman's daughter, Min.

Min runs a hair salon.

When she's not busy

she does live streaming.

About three years ago

I remember clearly that in October

she said she was going to my grandmother's.

And she'd be back in the evening.

But the next day she still wasn't back.

So I called her.

They told me she was dead.

So I got really upset.

I knew something had happened.

How would you like it?

Just a little trim today.

Just a trim?

That same afternoon

I got a phone call

saying a shepherd

had found her up at Beishan.

When she was found she was in shock.

I wanted to ask more but I didn't dare.

My uncle called me later

to say she was fine.

I burst into tears.

When she got back I said to her:

"There's no road access to Beishan".

"And it's 100km from the accident scene."

No one knows how on earth she got there.

She said

she saw a very bright light

and then began to run.

And after that she didn't

remember anything.

She slowly recovered from the ordeal

but it took about six months.

An accident.

It was a traffic accident.

It was all very sudden.

I wasn't at home that day.

She was looking for her dog

driving on the new highway

when a van carrying eggs crashed into her.

The driver had just got his

license. He fell asleep at the wheel.

When I got there

there were eggs all over the road.

By the time I got there she was dying.

They tried to save her

in hospital but couldn't.

Of all the endings I imagined

it never crossed my

mind that's how she'd go.

In the 1940s

the US navy conducted a magnetic

field experiment near Philadelphia.

They used energy pulses around a ship

to create a huge magnetic field.

After a flash of green light

the ship allegedly disappeared from sight.

After the experiment

the ship appeared 400km

away from the original site.

It's reported they successfully

managed to teleport

the destroyer to another space.

Another case was of a young man in 2006

wearing an old Soviet-style uniform

who appeared on the street.

A policeman checked his ID card.

But it was from the 1950s.

So he should have been in his seventies.

But he looked in his twenties.

They removed the film

from the old camera

and developed it.

In the photos they found

an unidentified flying object.

Our physical world

is a very precise system.

It operates based on a subtle balance.

But we mustn't forget

that a precise system

also has its flaws.

Those flaws can be

ignored on a macro level.

But on a micro level

they can have a huge impact

on the human world.

I've seen your materials.

What exactly caused

the chaos in the magnetic field

and warping of space and time?

Is it random?

Or caused by a meteorite?

It's hard to say.

But you must remember

even human consciousness

may rely on quantum processes

that limit our choices.

So on the surface what may

seem like an unidentified light

or a displaced or missing object

or an altered consciousness

caused by a force field

could in fact

be something we cannot begin to understand

or even imagine.

Our understanding stems

from our status as humans.

Because we are humans

we can only observe

things through our own eyes

and think with our own brains.

We try to surpass these limitations

but we're unable to.

After days of clearing rubble

the road destroyed by the

mud slide on Elephant Mountain

should be open to traffic

again within three days.

I wanted to ask how Li Jian's doing?

His condition isn't stable yet.

It may be for personal reasons.

He doesn't trust hospitals.

He hasn't got the treatment he needs.

So it's looking serious.

All we can do now is provide

conservative treatment.

That's all I can say.

Okay. Thank you, doctor.

Peng?

What did he say?

Peng!

What's wrong with you?

Hey!

Wait up!

Peng!

Peng's completely wasted.

That fire in his apartment...

That was actually my fault.

Peng came over after the fire.

He said to me:

"Lin."

"You have your whole career ahead of you."

"I don't want to teach anymore."

So he decided to take the blame for me.

Who says I can't film?

I'm the director here.

There's no f*cking film!

Take a seat.

I'll get you some water.

The glasses

must be in here.

One of you won't get any water.

Eventually Meng's mum

shut the kebab joint down.

I knew she wanted something more.

But it wasn't to be.

Do you remember Min?

The girl we interviewed?

I don't know where she

got my contact info from.

But she sent me this.

I later found out

that every year at the same time

there were sightings

around the Lost Zone.

I also found out when the

next time window will appear.

I have a feeling Min's mother and Jian

experienced the same sort of thing.

But in their case

they were lucky.

The geology team leader?

And Bighead?

What happened there?

Sorry about last time.

If we take the original route next time

and drive up the mountain

we'll be there in a few hours.

I get the feeling

that the puzzle

is almost complete.

I know

you want to get to the bottom of this.

I'll pay for the costs

this time.

Turn the camera off.

When's the next time window then?

Day after tomorrow.

I lied last time.

After she got out of hospital

her condition didn't really improve.

She'd always say

this wasn't her home

and I wasn't her daughter.

She'd shut herself in her room.

Her behaviour and actions

were all different from before.

As if she'd become a different person.

I don't know why

but I constantly feel like that person

isn't really my mother.

Peng!

There you are.

Come on.

I got you some equipment.

Take a look.

Torches, waterproof jackets and shoes.

They'll come in useful.

The geology team leader that Li mentioned.

Remember him?

Turns out his wife's alive.

A friend of mine who works

at the hospital knew him.

They say the geology team leader

was so obsessed with studying the meteorite

he didn't even come back

when his wife had a miscarriage.

His wife become severely depressed.

She tried to k*ll herself but now

she's in a vegetative state.

Strange thing is

for years someone's been wiring

money to the hospital for her.

We don't know who.

This is from Jian.

He refused any treatment.

They couldn't save him.

His family asked me to give this to you.

Peng.

Be careful.

Like I said before:

Don't go too far.

Off you go!

After the incident

that was the first time I saw Jian.

He never recovered.

Seeing him like that

was really hard for me.

Maybe...

We're here.

It's over there.

Did you hear that?

That murmur?

Over here.

A map.

We came in through there.

Where's Peng?

Peng?

Wasn't he with you?

Peng?

Peng?

Peng!

Peng!

Peng!

Peng?

Is he here?

Peng!

Peng!

Peng!

Peng!

Peng!

Director?

Should we go back?

Hey.

Director.

Look.

What?

What's this?

Don't touch it.

What's wrong?

You're scaring me.

What's wrong?

Stop that.

Stop that.

Stay where you are!

Stay there!

Ha ha ha ha

Ha ha ha ha

You scared the sh*t out of me!

You idiot.

You almost scared me to death.

Come on.

You don't have to pretend around me.

Tell me.

That email, the girl

and the expert in the video.

You set that up didn't you?

What you talking about?

Still won't admit it?

A while back

when you were on the phone to the producer

I hid in the toilet and overheard you.

All that transcending time

altered consciousness crap.

I almost bought it.

Hei hei hei

Man...

I didn't have a choice.

Think about it.

Without the weird stuff

who'd watch it?

At least I was mentally prepared.

Don't you feel guilty?

Do you really think Peng's that naive?

And that Bighead guy.

What's this?

To spice things up.

It's the diary Jian left for Peng.

You mentioned Bighead just now...

These people

all look a bit similar.

Still at it?

Come off it.

Feels like I've met them before.

Hey man.

Do you remember

the interview

with that expert?

He said the force field

can create an alternate consciousness.

Min...

Min's mother...

She became a different person.

So?

I'm thinking.

What if...

What if the geology team

leader found something

before he died.

What if

that thing

transferred

his consciousness on to someone else?

What the f*ck?

Hang on.

No way.

I thought you found the expert?

I did.

But he's an expert on that stuff.

I once saw a video.

Some scientist called Penrose

said consciousness can

manifest itself through

something called quantum superposition.

It's her.

Hey.

Do you remember

that watch at Peng's house?

I get it.

You suspect Peng...

But how could that be?

Peng.

Peng.

What's wrong?

I'm fine.

I'm perfectly fine.

I'm fine.

I've found the way.

It's that way. Let's hurry.

You're not Peng.

All that about sheltering

in that cave

and the white light.

It was all a lie.

The geology team leader

didn't disappear.

He simply used a means

to transfer

his consciousness onto someone else.

He did it again and again.

Living in other people's bodies.

He did it to Bighead 10 years ago.

And to Peng 10 years later.

It's all you.

You're the geology team leader.

This woman

was your wife.

After I came down the mountain

I heard the child had died.

I knew she'd be upset.

But I didn't take it seriously.

I thought she just needed some time

to come to terms with it.

I never imagined

she'd actually jump off that building.

The doctors said she'd never wake up.

I knew

it was a punishment.

That I was being punished.

Back then I was on my last legs.

I thought

I could wait.

I'd wait

until she woke up.

I owed her so much.

I had to wait.

So I was right.

Every 10 years you need to change body.

So you look for the next body.

That's the truth.

Truth?

Truth?

What truth?

That's what you think.

You think the world is how you imagine it.

The truth you're looking for

is nothing but an outcome.

An outcome void of responsibility

to satisfy your curiosity.

10 years.

20 years.

Shifting bodies again and again.

I started to worry

about her waking up.

If she really did wake up one day

what would she think of me?

Who am I really?

Bighead?

Peng?

Or

a monster!

Well?

I had no idea

I was trapped.

I can't go back in time.

And I can't see the future.

However much I cry out for help

no one answers.

All I can do is carry on

just like in that famous saying:

In that darkness with no boundaries

no one can save us.

The only thing lighting up the way forward

is ourselves.

Ourselves.

Only ourselves.

Ourselves.

What's going on?

The light went out.

Where's Peng?

Peng?

Director?

Director?

You'll get k*lled.

Scared to death

What did he mean by what he said just now?

Director?

Director?

Director!

Director!

Hey!

What's going on?

It's you!

Hey.

How did you get away?

I don't know

what happened.

When I woke up

I was out of the cave.

Who

Who are you?

You scared the living daylights out of me.

Honestly

What happened in there?

Well?

And Peng?

What happened to him?

What now?

We're waiting for Peng.

He'll be here soon.

What?

Is Peng acting too?

What the hell?

Consciousness, my a*s.

What about

Bighead?

Did you make all that up too?

I once saw

a post in an online forum that said:

To be real

it has to look real.

You guys are something else.

The producer?

What was the producer's nickname?

You!

Who the hell are you?