The weather had gone much colder in the last few days. And with the dropping temperature, it might even snow in the next few days. If this were to happen, it would be quite a scene for the bay area in a much needed time: it was almost Christmas.
The disastrous supernatural battle in San Francisco caused an unspeakable shock in the Bay Area. A huge part of San Francisco, centering around the police precinct where the body was stored, was almost completely decimated by the dark energy outburst. The civilian casualties were in the thousands, the government and the Division also lost many capable people serving under them.
The government and the Division tried their best to cover as much as possible, but now it was the age of the internet and cheap photography technology, people were not so easily fooled by any lame excuse. Not to mention, when it happened, there were many people with smartphones and other recording devices and got a lot of footage on camera.
Then these footage were shared on the internet and almost instantly became trending all over the world. Although before that fateful night, there were already rising levels of talks, rumors and theories about paranormal activities and ghostly entities on the internet, the occurrence of the incident and the video footage instantly made the theories and speculations about the hidden world of ghosts, spirits and monsters thousand times more believable. And on a related note, similar discussions and speculations about alien invasion and underground kaijus were also pushed to the top of the trending topics list.
But those were no longer the concerns of Jianmen’s two students. They were personally affected, yes, but they also were also aware that dealing with the cleaning up and the aftermath was something way out of their hands. Jianmen could possibly be of great help should he offer, but he seemed mostly disinterested.
“I would help with a price if they asked me.” when Caroline asked Jianmen for the second time, in a more casual manner, this was Jianmen’s answer: “But I will not just do it for free. People will think you’re weird and have ulterior motives.”
“And why would they do that?”
“You can try to get out in the world more, and you’ll see.” Jianmen shook his head while playing with his phone, then he looked up at Caroline: “Are you going out with you friends?”
“Yeah, well. They were pretty shaken up by what happened. And I am supposed to be the level-minded and calm-mannered one, to be there and comfort them.” Caroline shrugged and pulled her purse higher on her shoulder: “If Kane or Alex come looking for me, can you tell him I am at Samantha’s?”
“Will do. Have fun.” Jianmen nodded: “Don’t forget to come back in time. ”
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“Yeah, of course. A visit to the farm!”
Just when Caroline walked out of the door, Jason came into the lounge with a box of fish food and headed towards the water tank placed on a table near the entrance of the lounge. Inside the water tank, was the small and almost completely transparent jellyfish and nothing else.
“I thought you were preparing to start your new channel.” Jianmen asked: “What are you here feeding the jellyfish for?”
“I want to get to know more about the latest member of the inn here.” Jason smiled and shook the fish food in his hand: “Looks like ‘Rushmunba Declare’ likes fish food. Who knew?”
“It’s ‘Rashmumba D’Eclaire’.” Jianmen looked up at Jason and corrected Jason with squinted eyes and an “okay” hand sign.
“Alright. Rashmumba D’Eclaire.” Jason mimicked Jianmen's mannerisms with a sarcastic flare: “At least it sounds better than what it means.”
“That’s your American brain thinking. In its native tongue it's quite an elegant and prestigious name. You can think of it like Helios, Apollo or Tyrael.”
“Yeah, but I can’t think of any other languages on the earth where the name ‘He Who Sucks Negativity’ sounds good.” Jason chuckled.
“You forgot the pause. The pause is really important.” Jianmen made another hand sign: “It’s like ‘The Honorable’, or ‘The Great’. So the name is actually ‘He who sucks … negativity’.”
“That’s ... even worse!”
----------------------------------------------
“Okay, Boss, when you say visit the farm. I was thinking of something else.” standing right in front of the two plots of land in the garden, where the rosebud and the cuddly minor spirit Snowball resided, Jason asked: “Are you telling me this is one of those places where it appears small on the outside but is actually big on the inside?”
“Bingo. Since you are far enough along your cultivation path on the second layer, it is safe enough to visit it now.” Jianmen extended his hands to Caroline and Jason: “Now, hold my hand and be prepared to land.”
“Why would it be unsafe?” Caroline frowned but still held Jianmen’s hand.
“Normal people can’t set foot in spaces with this kind of enchantment. And unfriendly individuals will face the same crushing force as well as the wrath of my protective array.” Jianmen explained: “They simply cannot enter. And even if they do, they’ll be crushed. You guys can enter anytime because I granted you the permission and registered your Xuanli with the protective seal. But it may still feel a bit strange for the first time.”
“Sounds like a hell of a place..” Jason laughed.
“Oh you’ll love it.” Jianmen smiled: “You know, for cultivators, even the ones that are most adverse to chores and busy work, having a private farm, or at least a garden where one can grow their own tea or raise their own familiar or spirit animal companion, is as important as having a nice set of weapons, or a set of well crafted cultivation methods. You know, as cultivators, we gotta grow some stuff! Now, take a deep breath and prepare yourself for some incoming dizziness, one foot at a time into the garden, you’ll get a feeling of how to best control your Xuanli in order to make your landings more stable.
“Ready? Three, two … one!”
Caroline and Jason raised their legs and moved them into the garden with Jianmen, but as they tried to step down, they felt the scenes swiftly change before their eyes and their feet stepped on nothing but air. They almost lost balance and fell, but an invisible force helped them maintain their standing position. When they recovered from this strange feeling and looked down, they were already on the ground.
A pleasant and calming smell was the first thing they felt as they entered this place. And the next was the sound of flowing water nearby and breezy wind on their skin.
Right in front of them was two pieces of land, with two homesteads on the side. And in a bit of distance, was a huge mountain with a small house on top and a waterfall.