The car came to a halt.
Joseph stepped out and made a straight path to the house. He settled into the living room sofa, his brows furrowing as he watched Lisa follow him in. "Hey, Lisa," he began, tilting his head slightly, "I think we need to talk."
Lisa responded with an equally furrowed brow, "I'm tired and want to go to bed."
"Lisa, it'll only take a moment. If you don't discuss it with me now, we'll find another appropriate time… Regarding Huan, you can't avoid telling me forever," Joseph suggested, "We need to talk."
Lisa shrugged and nonchalantly took a seat across from Joseph. "Okay, what do you want to talk about? About Huan? Yes, I overheard your conversation in the living room. I admit that I said those things to him, but so what?"
"Sorry…I wanted to ask...why? When did it start?" Joseph managed to calm his inner turmoil and looked at Lisa, devoid of anger. "I need to understand, and so do you. I don't want you to…make an unforgivable mistake."
"It started when I was very young. From the time I remember what he looked like," Lisa gritted, "I know why. I know what I'm doing."
"My God!" Joseph couldn't help but groan, he continued through gritted teeth, "But...you didn't like him before, you called him a Quasimodo. Why...are you lying…"
"Yes, I did say that, but I also said that I'm Esmeralda, the girl who fell in love with the creature. I dated that jerk Brail, just to get his attention. I thought making him jealous might work, but...he's just a blockhead." Lisa grumbled, even letting out an annoyed hum, "I didn't let Brail touch me. I like Huan, yes, him."
"After this time, I have more conviction. Dad, if you love me, let me be with the one I love. I need your blessing, okay?" Lisa suddenly moved closer to Joseph, kneeling in front of him and clutching his hand, "He saved me twice, and I've loved him for ten years."
Joseph shook his head painfully, "No, Lisa, there can't be anything between you two. He's a principled man, he won't like you, let alone touch you. He...he's different from us. You know why, right? That's also why he was able to save you twice."
Lisa nodded and whispered, "Yes, I know. I know he's different, which is one of the reasons why he fascinates me. He's like a treasure…"
Joseph fell silent; he didn't know what to do. When Jason first told him about this, he instinctively opposed it. After all, he and Jason were friends, friends of over a decade. Yes, this was hard for him to accept. But upon hearing Lisa's confession, he didn't want to hurt Lisa either.
A little girl, who liked a man from a young age, and it had been a persistent affection for ten years. The thought was heartbreaking. If...if Melissa hadn't died, maybe...none of this would have happened.
Joseph waved his hand, sighed, and let Lisa leave. Lisa glanced at Joseph before silently heading upstairs. Today, she had finally spoken out. She felt a lot lighter.
Well, that jerk seemed to have no interest in her at all.
"What the hell is wrong with me?" Lisa cursed, then entered her room, pulled out her phone, and called her best friend Elizabeth.
After a few rings, the call connected, and Elizabeth's voice came through, "Hey, Lisa, I know, you won't call me unless there's something going on, darling, tell me, I'm listening."
"Okay, here's the thing. I want to talk about the Chinese guy, you know, Huan—you..." A busy tone came through, and the call got disconnected.
Lisa stared at her phone in surprise, then redialed, but after a few rings, the call was directly rejected. "Damn—" Lisa couldn't help but curse. Why did Elizabeth hang up as soon as she opened her mouth? Because the topic was about Huan?
This made Lisa somewhat puzzled. Could it be that Elizabeth also fell for that blockhead? What's wrong with the world? Why do women like such block-heads? It couldn't be true, could it? She couldn't help but feel some loss. Her best friend and she had fallen for the same man...
"Shit, it's just shit!" Lisa cursed, collapsed onto her bed, and fell asleep.
Elizabeth received Lisa's call, heard the name Jason, and immediately hung up. Elizabeth was very sensitive to the name Jason now, feeling an inexplicable panic. Yes, Jason was giving her immense pressure, and now a massive threat. Maybe she should do something about it.
The next afternoon, Jason was enjoying tea with Joseph on the balcony. The tea was precious, and they savored it slowly. Joseph sighed heavily facing Jason and shook his head.
"Old pal, about Lisa, I can only do my part. I watched her grow up, so… don't worry, she'll let go eventually. One day, she will leave here, or go to college…" Jason, sipping his tea with a smile, "Don't worry about this. But there should be other things for you today, right?"
Joseph managed to smile, "Yes, actually, about Lisa, I've come to terms with it. She has her ideas, I can't interfere with her, but I trust you, so I'm not too worried. Alright, stop looking at me like that, I do have something else. Luke Prescott, the small town's surgeon, recently he's been feeling haunted by his late wife. He called a medium, but...after one visit, the medium seemed to have gone mad."
"I know he's your friend, don't worry, I will take a look. Have you told him about me?" Jason didn't object to this. When the matter was brought up, he wouldn't refuse. Because when something is put in front of you, standing by would go against the nature of a practitioner.
Of course, he wouldn't give unconditionally. Receiving a certain fee was necessary.
"Do we need to prepare anything?" Joseph asked.
"No need to prepare anything, I'll bring it myself," Jason shook his head, suddenly looking outside. A red compact car drove in, a BMW sportscar. The car door opened, and a girl got out.
"Elizabeth?" Joseph was surprised, then looked at Jason.
"If you're interested, you can listen with us!" Jason didn't avoid it, speaking directly to Joseph, "She came to tell me something."
"I better go now, see you tomorrow!" Joseph got up and headed out, and looked back at Jason and pointed, "Don't forget...go to town tomorrow, I'll come get you, and we'll go together. Let's set it at 9 am..." Then he went downstairs.
He waved at Elizabeth, "Hi, nice to see you, Elizabeth, I have to go... Have a nice chat with Huan, and... his tea is quite good, don't miss it. He doesn't easily offer it to guests." The last part, Joseph whispered to Elizabeth with a smile.
"I will, nice to see you too, Uncle Joseph. Say hi to Lisa for me." Elizabeth managed a smile, waved at Joseph, watched him start the car and leave. Then she headed towards the balcony, standing in front of Jason, she pursed her lips but didn't say anything.
Jason pointed to the chair next to him. Elizabeth sat down, and couldn't help but speak up, "I don't know who you are, what kind of abilities you have, but what I want to say is, we have been living here for many years, earlier than you. We are peaceful, no different from the people here, don't disturb us." As she came to the end of her statement, she gritted her teeth, seemingly threatening but also aware that threats were futile.
"I know, that's why you're still sitting here. That's the reason!" Jason spoke without mincing words, stood up and left, leaving Elizabeth there, puzzled by Jason's approach, contemplating whether to follow him in. But then saw Jason bring out a cup of tea.
The tea cup was placed in front of Elizabeth, Jason pointed to it and said, "Joseph was right about what he said to you earlier, I rarely serve guests with such good tea, you are the first one besides Joseph. Drink up, it tastes good."
Elizabeth, as if to spite him, picked it up and took a sip. It wasn't too hot, drinkable. But she didn't taste anything special, she wasn't good at appreciating tea.
"What a waste of good tea!" Jason shook his head sympathetically, then looked at her, "I assume you have brought me an answer, what kind of creature is at the bottom of the lake?"
Elizabeth's face gradually turned serious and hesitant, in the end she gritted her teeth and said, "It's something you can't handle, so even if I tell you, you won't be able to do anything. We can't handle it either, one on land, one in the water, not interfering with each other. You should give up your terrifying idea!"
Jason just smiled faintly, didn't say anything. Instead, he turned his gaze towards the lake.
At the deepest part of the lake, a winding shadow was moving, disappearing into the underwater vegetation at a high speed.