gentle beast

60

The door slammed open, hitting the wall with a loud bang.

. . .

The other side was empty and quiet.
Looking around at the houses across the street, the doors were all closed, like no one had come back at all.

Ryan’s brow stretched, then he turned to Winter and eyes glinted coldly, “If you day saw those words again, you won’t live long.”

Winter touched the top of his head, “Your female is at the back of the mountain and won’t hear it anyway. . .”

Ryan looked at him and his dark blue eyes seemed to carry a stormy sea.

Winter immediately shut up and respectfully said, “Yes, Chief.”

*

On the other side, beyond the hill.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu was “thrown” out of her space and dropped onto her knees, palms pressed against the rough grass. Her thoughts were in disordered.

All she could think about was Winter’s words.

They were deceiving her?

What did they mean, Pat wasn’t dead?

Why did Ryan do this? Didn’t he promise to help her find Pat. . . were they fake?

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu tightened his fingers and raised his eyes to find that she had reappeared at the back of the mountain.

Just as Ryan pushed the door, she hid in her space reflexively.

——Now that she had been “moved” by the space?

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu remembered the last time she had used the space’s teleportation that she had almost been killed by Laurence.

Why did she do it this time? Every time her mind began to fluctuate wildly and wanted to escape something, her space would make the decision for her?

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu was utterly confused.

“Hey, why are you still here?” a voice called out to Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu from overhead, suddenly interrupting her thoughts.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu looked up and saw Suzanna standing in front of her carrying a bamboo basket. There were two grey hares inside, and in her other hand, she dragged a few palm leaves. She looked in a rush to get home..

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu hesitated, “. . . what’s wrong?”

Suzanna pointed to the sky. Heavy dark clouds hung over the valley, looking as though rain could fall any moment. “Rainy season is coming. There will be torrential rain over the next few days. The terrain is low here. If you don’t hurry back, then heavy rain will come and you’ll drown.”

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu stood up, “But I haven’t spoken to Walker yet. . .”

“They’ve already gone home long ago!” Suzanna said the truth. Once the sky darkened, Walker, Joel and Selwyn left. “Who else do you see here? You’re staggering on the floor. . . by the way, why are you lying here?”