Demon hunters never harbor any feelings for the other species, hence the possibility of Hill Steven and Elizabeth being together is non-existent. Their approach towards the different species only yields two outcomes - annihilation or exploitation. Currently, due to Jason, they couldn't harm the Kote family, but they certainly didn't harbor any affection towards werewolves.
Jason has no clear likes or dislikes towards these people. After all, demon hunters have their own reasons and grounds for existence, and their consistency in hunting demons even garnered some admiration from Jason.
However, if Elizabeth herself chose to act in this way, Jason wouldn't oppose it. How others decide to act is their own business. He doesn't want to interfere. He simply thinks that Elizabeth is a good girl.
Elizabeth can now walk on her own. But to act as bait, luring a monster like Lamia, still carried a significant risk. Mr. Kote wanted to take her place but was refused by Elizabeth. Right now, she wanted to seek Jason's opinion. Because whether she was willing to be bait or not, she'd need Jason's support.
"I want to give it a try," Elizabeth said to Jason, "After this time, Hill Steven will no longer exist in my heart. Of course, this is also for the survival of our family. Lamia is a huge threat."
At this moment, Elizabeth gave Jason the impression that she wanted to bid farewell to her first love. Seeing her stubborn expression, Jason slowly nodded in agreement.
After Elizabeth left, she sat alone on the balcony. Neither Mr. Kote nor Sana dared to call her. They left her sitting there alone. As the setting sun cast long shadows, she appeared particularly lonely.
"Elizabeth——"
Someone downstairs was calling her name. It was Lisa, who had just returned from school. She came to look at Elizabeth, but Elizabeth didn't respond. Mr. Kote shook his head at Lisa, indicating that it was useless.
"I have this ——" Lisa held up two letters in her hand, "I just saw them in your mailbox. You probably haven't cleared the mailbox in several days. I think they must have also sent her emails."
"University of California, Los Angeles? Yale?" Mr. Kote examined the letters. They were acceptance letters to the universities Elizabeth had applied to.
While such news was usually cause for celebration, Mr. Kote wasn't in the mood for it. He just gave Lisa a bitter smile, knowing that even with these two letters, they could not change Elizabeth's decision.
"What's going on?" Lisa didn't know what Elizabeth was going to do. No one had mentioned the monster known as Lamia to her. After all, she was still just a high school student and everyone instinctively wanted to protect her, keeping her out of the whole matter, including Joseph.
This was a battle between demon hunters, different species, and Lamia. Of course, it was also a battle between Jason and Lamia.
"I should go now."
As the last rays of the sun gradually retracted, Elizabeth came downstairs. When she descended, she even wore a smile. She glanced at Lisa, reached out and touched her face, saying: "Baby, don't readily believe men's words, especially old men."
Lisa immediately blushed.
Because Jason, the man she liked, was an old man. Although he looked as young as any other man, he had a very old heart, perhaps even older than her father's.
"Don't lose faith in all old men just because you're disappointed in a bastard like Hill Steven." Lisa wanted to defend herself but seemed somewhat powerless. She felt more like she was wishful thinking, with Jason always remaining indifferent. How could that damned old man be uninterested in women?
Actually, it's not that Jason was uninterested. The successor of the pure Yang Taoist lineage could never be uninterested in women. Even Lu Chunyang, the founder of Taoism, could have three affairs with Bai Mudan, how could Jason really be indifferent?
Jason, over the years, had seen enough of beautiful women growing old and even dying. That kind of budding desire had long been well controlled. He could not control his desires, but he had to control his emotions. Therefore… Lisa was simply not a suitable choice for him.
But Lisa didn't know what was in Jason's heart, or if there was even a bit of a thought left. After hearing Elizabeth's words, she felt a bit uncomfortable. After giving the envelope to Mr. Kote, she waved at Elizabeth: "Seeing you can stand up again is great, Elizabeth. I don't know which school you will choose, but I'm sure I will follow you!"
Elizabeth just nodded, reached out, and shared a gentle hug with Lisa.
Lisa was somewhat puzzled by Elizabeth's inexplicable emotion. She nodded at her and then waved goodbye.
"Have you really decided to do this?" Mr. Kote still couldn't give up and asked, "Even if you want to be the bait, I can totally do it for you!"
"No, Dad, this is my issue, let me handle it!" Elizabeth also hugged Mr. Kote and Sana gently. Sana couldn't hold back anymore, tears flowing down her cheeks.
As the last bit of sunlight was fully retracted, the night slowly enveloped the town like a creeping creature. The flickering lights on the streets made the night less cold and lonely.
Elizabeth was in the dark woods. She didn't know if the monster called Lamia would come. She got out of the car and stood in the woods, squinting slightly, using all her senses to feel the world in these woods, sensing if any danger was approaching her.
There were many sounds in the night forest. These were the musical notes bestowed by nature.
However, tonight, the woods were very quiet. There was no sound, not even the sound of breathing. "I took slow steps forward…I came to halt when I reached a large tree…" Elizabeth's heartbeat raced, but she mustered the strength to even out her breaths while humming an unrecognizable tune.
She still felt fear gripping her, as if the entire blackened night was slowly creeping with her towards the forest. It seemed as though a single turn could bring her face-to-face with a terrifyingly grotesque visage.
"…I can't stop...I want mom's little pancakes…"
Perhaps it was the wind, or maybe the chill rising from the ground. It could even be the tremors of Elizabeth's own heart, her voice started to quiver. It was as if she were a lonely boat in the vast black sea of the night, or a fragile flower swaying unpredictably in the tempest.
"My father is about to hit me with a ruler..."
She continued to sing her trembling lullaby, a warm, familiar song from her childhood. But as she sang now, she felt a cold chill.
Indeed, a cold gust of wind blew out from the depths of the dark forest.
Gritting her teeth, she shockingly didn't continue forward, but instead turned around. She raced back down the path she came, the grass around her rustling as she sped.
One thought dominated her mind: run, run back the way she came. She caught a familiar scent. Despite Lamia's attempts to hide its tracks, its fetid breath was impossible to mask.
Just as Elizabeth was fleeing at full speed, a massive shadow flashed out from the forest. It slid rapidly between the trees as if soaring through the air.
Just as Hill Steven had said, Lamia was greedy. It couldn't resist the temptation, despite knowing the danger. It must have thought that with its ability to hide, it could reap the benefits and escape once more.
"Plop——" A dull noise echoed as Elizabeth fell onto the grass. She had made it out of the forest and was sprinting through the lush grassland, but she tripped.
Lamia was not humanoid. The might of the sword was enough to transform it back into its half-human, half-serpent form. Its one arm was still intact and it possessed incredible regenerative abilities.
The fallen Elizabeth seemed like a platter of delectable snacks laid before it. Vigilant, it glanced around and suddenly spotted a glimmering light amongst the grass a short distance away from Elizabeth. The radiant light was in someone's palm and was strikingly bright.
"Squeak——" Lamia screeched, finally realizing it had fallen into a trap. Before the radiant light could take off, it quickly turned around, attempting to dash into the forest at full speed and hide, using its gift of camouflage to evade the flying sword.
As Lamia's body sped towards the forest, a golden light suddenly flashed in the sky, resembling a wall glowing with golden brilliance. The wall of light was inscribed with cryptic spells.
Lamia collided violently with it, the golden radiance piercing into its body, inducing a stinging pain akin to being pricked by needles, forcing it to emit a terrifyingly pitiful scream.
A scroll of twenty-eight symbols, representing the twenty-eight constellations, sealing all malevolent spirits— the Pure Yang Thunder Pool Formation.