Jason sat silently on the porch of the little log cabin. Underneath the cabin was a basement propped up, but not enclosed, just a few wooden pillars holding it up. An old car, a common Ford pickup truck, was parked in the yard in front of the cabin. It looked quite aged.
Jason drank his tea in peace, sitting quietly on the outdoor chair. Next to the chair was a small wooden table, on which were the juniper cookies Lisa had brought over during the day.
He gently picked up a piece with his fingers, put it in his mouth, and chewed slowly. Time seemed to remain still for him, as it had been for over a hundred years. He never changed, at least not his appearance.
Perhaps there was a deviation in time and space, or perhaps his cultivated path interfered with fate. He had thought of all possibilities yet could never find an answer. For all these years, he was a lone wanderer observing the world changing in novel ways.
He mostly moved in untraveled places, only emerging occasionally to maintain a legal identity - a task easily accomplished by his unique skills. He contemplated returning home, but wasn't sure if the country he returned to would be the same as his original timeframe.
Having lost his own time and space here, he stubbornly believed he could retrieve it here. However, this search lasted over a hundred years and time would not pause for him.
Over the century, he saw many differences between this world and his original timeframe. Creatures that only existed in legends seemed to have resurrected in this world. He could even see illusions that did not exist in his original timeframe.
Perhaps this is where the fun lies.
Jason took a breath. Would his cultivated path have value in this world? Is this a space to enhance his cultivation practice?
Is this a world of cultivation?
Jason had yet to confirm. He gently picked up another cookie, put it in his mouth, then furrowed his brow. Lisa's faint aura was in it, but seemed to be gradually dissipating.
This wasn't a good sign. Jason's path allowed him to determine a person's basic state of existence based on residual aura. A scattered aura could naturally dissipate, like the residual aura on the cookie that would naturally dissipate once eaten by Jason. Or if the aura had been stored for a long time, it would naturally integrate into nature. Another possibility was that the person suddenly met with misfortune, causing their aura to become increasingly faint and even vanish.
He thought for a moment and picked up his cell phone.
"Joseph... Is Lisa home?" Jason asked.
Joseph was arranging clothes in his room. Upon receiving Jason's call, he was taken aback, then became tense. Jason wouldn't usually call unless there was an issue.
"Yes, she's not home, she went to a friend's house for a birthday party. Is there a problem? Well--"
Joseph felt his throat tighten, and sweat began to seep from his hand holding the phone.
"If you know where that friend's house is, you'd better go check it out yourself." Jason said and then hung up. He slowly picked up another cookie, held it in mid-air for a moment, then slowly put it back down into the basket. Things might not be as bad as he thought.
However, he had watched Lisa grow up and was the one who saved her. He sighed, shook his head, walked into the house, took out a piece of yellow mounting paper, cut it into a square, and slowly began cutting it with scissors. Just as he finished, the headlights of a car swept across the front. A pickup truck also drove in.
"Well--oh my God, I'm a bit flustered, I was wondering... if you have time, could you come with me?" Joseph asked Jason, who was sitting on the porch above. He'd seen Jason's abilities firsthand and had unmatched trust in him.
Jason simply smiled, stood up, walked towards Joseph, and got near the car, shaking his head, saying, "It's just a feeling, and it doesn't necessarily mean something will happen. Things may take some twists and turns. However... I won't accompany you, but if you're really worried, you can take this!"
Jason handed something over.
It was a shape of an animal cut from a piece of yellow mounting paper, resembling a tiger. The paper-cutting art was exquisite, vividly lifelike, but only palm-sized.
Joseph looked at the yellow paper handed over with mixed feelings of amusement and annoyance but accepted it politely, putting it in the pocket of his coat.
"Remember, only take it out at the most critical moment, and prick your finger to drip the first drop of blood on it. That will relieve your predicament," Jason said, patting Joseph's shoulder and left.
Joseph wanted to say something, but Jason had already walked into the small cabin and closed the door. Joseph shrugged his shoulders, shook his head helplessly, got into the car, and hoped that nothing serious had happened to Lisa.
The car drove fast, the headlights sweeping across the road surface. Joseph felt somewhat flustered, as if anticipating trouble was about to happen.
The road wasn't very wide, but it was two lanes. The moonlight was initially bright, but it was now somewhat blurred. A beam of light shone forward, as if trying to pierce the darkness ahead, but the light always had an end. The motorcycle's headlight could only illuminate a distance of about thirty meters.
The roar of the motorcycle was very abrupt in the quiet night, because the noise was too loud, and the rustling wind could even be heard as it passed by. "Sean… Damn it, can't you slow down? Do you want us both to die?" Lisa suddenly slammed her fist into Sean O'Brien's back, discontented.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing? Don't provoke me... My patience has its limits." Suddenly, the motorcycle screeched to a halt, and Lisa nearly flipped over from the back to the front, saved only by her firm grip on Sean's back and the metal bar on the side of the bike.
"Sean... you damned jerk..." Lisa jumped off the bike, grabbed her jacket, and threw it at Sean in anger. She was furious. If she hadn't held on tightly just now, she might've been thrown off, with grim consequences.
Sean O'Brien propped up the bike, got off, and walked over to Lisa. He hummed in response to her outburst, grabbing her hand which was poised to swing at him again. He coldly said, "Listen, Lisa, I've done enough for you already. I'm not your slave or your puppet. I won't be manipulated by you..."
"All of that was willingly done by you…" Lisa couldn't help but huff, boldly saying to Sean O'Brien, "The only reason you did all this is because you wanted to get in bed with me. Don't think I don't know what you're thinking, but... are you up to it?"
"Yes, I did all this to sleep with you, and now... I've done what I needed to do, and you should pay for it, shouldn't you?" Sean O'Brien smirked, gripping Lisa's hand tightly, his mouth twitching, "I can have you right now, you damned bitch!"
Before he could finish speaking, a slap rang out. Lisa's hand swung across, solidly striking Sean O'Brien's face. The slap caused Sean O'Brien to stagger slightly.
"Damn—" This slap thoroughly infuriated Sean O'Brien, setting him off completely, it seemed as if the beast within him was ignited.
"I'll make you pay!" Sean O'Brien grabbed Lisa's wrist and dragged her towards the woods by the road. His intentions were blatantly clear. He wanted this woman to experience his wrath, "I should recoup what I've given, with interest. Damned bitch, I'll make you taste…"
His words were cut off as Lisa struggled and attempted to slap him again, but this time, Sean O'Brien caught her swinging wrist. He slapped Lisa across the face, leaving a bright red handprint on her pale cheek. Even under the dim moonlight, it was stark and conspicuous.
"Help—" Lisa, who had been slapped, only now realized her predicament. Yes, Sean O'Brien's consistent compliance had led her to believe she could control the situation. Only now, after being slapped, did she realize she was after all a girl who, against a man like Sean who towered over her, was always the weaker one.
"Shut up, bitch—"
Another slap from Sean, and Lisa was sent crashing to the ground, fortunately, into a bush. The slap seemed to have drained all her strength. Even though she continued to struggle and glared furiously at Sean, he had already dragged her into the woods, getting farther and farther from the road…
"Shh—" In the struggle, Lisa's clothes were torn by Sean. Her face was firmly pinned to the ground in the bushes, and she could hardly breathe. Her hands flailed around blindly, and she felt a chill on her back as Sean ripped a large chunk of her clothes off, exposing her bare, white back.
"God… save me…" Lisa could barely speak. She could only feel her face buried in the bushes, her face pressed against the dirt. The earth was slowly seeping into her nostrils and mouth, making her breathing increasingly difficult, and she felt that the bastard had begun to tug at her jeans...
Lisa's consciousness was gradually blurring, and her body began to convulse uncontrollably…