When Jianmen went back into the basement, with two large jars of water, both Jason and Caroline seemed to have stopped the first visualization process, and they were as miserable as he remembered when he was done with his first.
Caroline was sweaty, her face dirtied and her hair a mess, and her jacket and shirt underneath had a lot of fingernail scratch on them. She was coughing and retching non-stop, and looked like she was not able to recover for a short while.
And Jason was in a cradle position at the corner of the room, sweat dripping down his face and he was closing his eyes with all he had.
"Okay, relax, it's over." Jianmen put each jar of water beside Jason and Caroline, then stood up and told them in a calming and soothing tone, "But do remember how you felt. You'll need it."
"It's over?" Jason opened his eyes, his eyes were red as if he had been crying all day.
"Yeah it's over." Jianmen stood down on the ground and looked at both Jason and Caroline as they trembled and sat up: "Now, what'd you see?"
"I… I saw two figures ..." Jason tried for a bit to find the right description, as he was still enduring dizziness and vertigo: "Looks like … looks like one was a paint brush, and the other was like a laptop."
Jianmen let out a laughter as he heard the word "laptop", and he looked at Jason for confirmation, yet the miserable expression on Jason's face and the beanie out of its normal place told him differently. "Okay, sorry … it is definitely valid. I do not mean to demean your visualization objects." Jianmen collected himself a bit and said: "It was because I am a bit old-fashioned and I am really old. And laptops weren't around where I first had my visualization."
"I… I umm, I saw a shield, and … and a bike." Caroline chugged down half a jar of water, and answered, "Are you gonna tell us what those mean?"
"Nope, you have to figure out those meanings all by yourself." Jianmen shook his head and said: "These images in your head, they are representations of your true self, and how the universe interacts with you."
"What?" Jason and Caroline asked at the same time.
"If you are not confused, you were not paying attention." Jianmen happily clapped his hands and continued: "No need to dwell on that for now. They will be revealed to you in time. But a tip for both of you - the meaning of these objects you saw, you already knew."
"Okay, enough with the riddles." Caroline coughed heavily and tried to stand up, "So what now, Boss? What's next? This was like a mental medicinal bath."
"I'll let you recover for a bit, come to the diner when you feel good." Jianmen stood up and walked out of the door, "And bring your mirrors with you!"
--------------------------------------
After tidying themselves up and finishing whole jars of water placed beside them, Jason and Caroline came into the diner, and Jianmen already had some beverages prepared: a big pot of tea, some fresh made juice from unknown fruits and berries, and two small scoops of matcha ice cream.
"So is this your apology for mentally torturing us?" after that dizzying and pain inducing experience, even Jason was a little sarcastic.
"Yes and no. These are the things that help you concentrate and they can ease your discomfort at the same time." Jianmen smiled and poured two cups of tea and handed to his two mistreated looking employees, "The pain and discomfort you felt is what I call growing pains of the mind and will. Now, tell me how you felt when you stopped having visions."
"I felt … free, and kind of … full of different senses." Jason finished his cup of tea in one mouthful, his dizziness and vertigo started being slowly chipped away, "For a minute I felt like I was a centre of the internet, and information was flowing through me and I can see and hear people from thousands of miles away. And with my mind, I can form those fragments of information into a short video, a piece of music, or even a full feature length movie. It was really creativity inspiring."
"For me it was different. Quite, different." Caroline did not choose tea, instead she went straight to the matcha ice cream, "I felt… safe and protected, and yes there was a sense of freedom. But it felt really safe and calming, it was as if I became bulletproof and impervious to anything negative."
"Nice. Seemed like both of you gained a lot." Jiamnen refilled Caroline's ice cream bowl with another scoop, "Now the important question, have you heard your personal scriptures? Like a voice in your head? Or a sudden phrase that you uttered?"
After a brief hesitation, Jason and Caroline both answered: "Yes."
"Mine was in Mandarin. And sounded like a poem." Jason drank up another cup of tea then slowly recited in Mandarin: "Wu xin yun ji feng. Wu mou tou cang qiong. Wen shi huang tu mo. Ling tong jiang hu yong."
"Huh, I know a few words but the combination is confusing as hell." Caroline finished the second bowl of ice cream, then poured herself some juice, "Minds with fast wind? Thick earth? "
"You learned traditional Chinese poetry when you were young right? " Jianmen nodded and looked at Jason: "Not bad, I thought it would be in English since you were born and raised here."
"Yeah I did, I liked it a lot when I was young." Jason put down his empty tea cup for the third time, then he turned to Caroline: "It means something like: my heart will harbor fast wind, my eyes will pierce the highest sky, my ears will hear what's buried under thick earth, my mind will sense the waves of the lakes and rivers."
"Very artistic, good job Jason." Caroline appeared indeed quite impressed, and she gave Jason a pat on the arm.
"Thanks, and what does yours sound like?"
"Ummm… I don't wanna..." Caroline seemed to be somewhat embarrassed.