Their gazes held each other's as if frozen in time.
"Hey, I know you, I know your name, but you might not know mine... Move out of the way, Mr. Jason, don't block my path. Men like you can never find a girlfriend, never can..." Finally, it was Elizabeth who couldn't help but lean out of her car window to yell at Jason.
Jason merely shrugged, spread his hands, and then slowly stepped aside, clearing the path. It appeared as though he had unintentionally blocked her way.
Elizabeth was slightly taken aback. She started the car, slowly driving past Jason. As she passed him, she gave him a puzzled look and then deliberately ignored him, accelerating her car and speeding away.
With the car speeding down the highway and Jason disappearing in the rearview mirror, she let out a sigh of relief. Indeed, the pressure that Jason brought upon her was immense.
After turning two corners, Elizabeth drove her car into her mansion. As she exited the garage, she saw her father sitting in the living room. He gestured for her to come over, saying, "Come here, Elizabeth. I think, it's time for us to have a talk."
Elizabeth nodded. She never defied her father, so she walked over and cautiously sat beside him, though her mind was elsewhere.
"Do you know why we've adhered to our ancestral teachings for so many years?" The middle-aged man looked at Elizabeth and asked, "I understand that you have deep feelings for Lisa, but that isn't the reason for you to risk danger on her behalf. This act of yours could put our entire clan in danger."
"No, it won't. Only Mr. Cox knew about that day...he's Lisa's father, he wouldn't say anything about it. Otherwise, the police would have started suspecting... "Elizabeth weakly retorted, but she knew her arguments lacked conviction. And so, her voice gradually faded.
"Sean? Burrell is dead. His body was found by the lake, the police have started investigating the incident. I believe they will soon turn their attention to this place... Damn, stay at home these days, don't go anywhere." The middle-aged man huffed and stood up, heading upstairs.
Elizabeth felt wronged, even if the police find the body, so what? There would be no flaws in this matter, her father was being overly cautious. She also turned around and wanted to retreat to her room, but suddenly the face of a Chinese man flashed in her mind. His eyes seemed to penetrate her.
She shook her head vigorously, trying to shake off the image of this man. She let out a self-mocking chuckle, turned around, and walked towards her room. Regardless, she didn't want to deal with this Chinese man.
As she opened her room door and walked in, she was about to scream in shock but quickly covered her mouth, leaning against the door, trying to open it but without success.
A man was sitting in the chair by her window, next to the bed. It was none other than the Chinese man she didn't want to see, the man who had brought her great pressure - Jason. Damned, how did he find her home? And how did he manage to sneak into her room before she did?
"Hold on, Elizabeth, don't panic...relax. You know I mean no harm, otherwise, you would not have made it back today. I know what you guys are... creatures! Stop looking at me like that, I know everything." Jason nodded at her and gestured towards the bed.
"I just want to have a proper conversation with you." Jason shrugged, "Do you understand what I just said? I know exactly what kind of creature you are."
"You do? No, you know nothing!" Elizabeth retorted.
"Of course I do. Why don't you use this to take a look?" Jason said, pulling out a circular object from his pocket. It looked like a mirror, a cheap little round mirror. He threw it on the bed, and Elizabeth could easily fetch it.
Elizabeth watched Jason with suspicion. Although he seemed to bear no ill will, she cautiously moved to the bedside, reached out and picked up the mirror, watching Jason warily, "What do you want me to see? Ah--" She screamed and the mirror clattered onto the floor.
Jason chuckled lightly, "Now you know why I asked you to take a look, right?" He made no move, instead, he nodded and said, "You can pick it up and look again. This mirror, in our Daoism, is called a demon-revealing mirror. It can expose the true form of many strange mutant creatures."
"This can't be... how can there be such a thing?" Elizabeth was terrified deep within, she resisted her fear and out of curiosity, reached out and picked up the mirror again. It was unbroken, she slowly lifted it up, and a horrifying face appeared in the mirror.
A wolf's face, with a head full of fur, eyes gleaming with green light, and sharp, white teeth. All of this stirred a storm in her heart. Suppressing the urge to scream, she slowly put down the mirror, took a deep breath, and asked Jason, "Are there many mirrors like this?"
This girl was smart, she immediately thought about the broader implications. If such mirrors were widespread, it meant that she and her clan could never live in human society again. This thought filled her heart with anxiety.
"No, this is my patent. I don't intend to monetize this." Jason laughed, "In this world, this is the only mirror of its kind. It used to be made of copper, now it's made of glass, keeping up with the times!" This seemed like a joke, but Elizabeth had no mood to appreciate it.
"What do you want..." Since the other party already knew her identity, it was enough to put Elizabeth on alert. She even made a growling expression, indicating that she could turn into a wolf at any time and wipe him out.
Jason nodded and said, "Relax, Elizabeth, if I meant you harm, I would have acted long ago, I wouldn't have waited until now. I just want to clear up one thing."
"What is it?"
"You know, Sean? Burrell is dead. But when the police found his body today, it was already skeletonized. Of course... not entirely skeletonized, at least some of the flesh on his head wasn't stripped off..." Jason spoke as if he was telling a mundane story.
"That's disgusting..." Elizabeth snorted.
"I know you don't eat human flesh, and you haven't for many years. At least that's been the case for the decade I've been here. So... even if you hated him, you wouldn't eat him. Even as meat, he's too filthy, beneath contempt." Jason continued.
"Of course, I just tossed him into the lake, I didn't... You're tricking me, you bastard, you're despicable!" Elizabeth exclaimed, suddenly realizing what was happening, she stopped talking and glared at Jason, her heart full of rage and unease, watching Jason's every move intently.
This was like confessing without being asked, revealing her secrets. She thought she had fallen into Jason's verbal trap, which made her feel quite upset.
"As I said, I'm not interested in the fact that you killed that bastard Sean? Burrell. I just want to know what's in that lake? I've been here for more than a decade, and this is the first time I've learned that there's a creature in that lake that I didn't know about. This is quite surprising to me." Jason didn't care about her threats or anger, he continued speaking according to his train of thought, not falling for Elizabeth's provocations. However, Jason's words still caught her attention. Yes, she merely threw that jerk into the lake, it could hardly be called murder. The jerk could swim, he would definitely climb out by himself. But now, he was dead. Of course... If all this happened while she hadn't shattered his bones, it could indeed have been possible.
She didn't admit to having crushed Burrell's bones. Instead, she just gave an embarrassed grunt, shrugged, and spread her hands, "No idea, I don't know. If it hasn't appeared for over a decade and now it has, then I certainly haven't seen it... I'm only eighteen!"
"You're right, perhaps your parents know, perhaps they don't. I'll find a time to ask..."
"No... Let me ask, then I'll tell you, okay?" Elizabeth anxiously gestured to Jason, "Please, I don't want my parents to get involved in the trouble. This... this is my mess. I should be the one to clean it up, okay?"
Jason seemed to contemplate for a moment, then he nodded at Elizabeth, "Alright, I'll give you one day. Tomorrow... I'll be waiting for you in my room. I hope you'll keep your promise!" Having said this, he stood up, ready to walk towards the doorway.
Elizabeth quickly leaned her body against the door, shaking her head, "You can't go out from here. It will unsettle my parents. They are peaceful people... this is my mess..."
Before she could finish her words, she saw Jason suddenly disappear from the room. Like air, he seemed to have dispersed, as if he had never been there at all.
Oh, God, who is this man! Elizabeth couldn't help but moan inwardly. At the same time, a wave of fear spread through her heart!