Chapter 19: A mysterious hermit
The closer Xia got to the house in the woods, the more details she saw. Some roof tiles were replaced with wooden boards. The ground around the house was footworn and free from any garbage. In a small garden to the side, several plants struggled to survive. A massive brown bear was lying near the doorstep; its presence was subdued and quiet, but Xia could tell that it wasn't less than level six.
By the time Xia was close enough to see it, only two percent of the battery left in the car. She stopped it a couple dozen meters away from the house and turned out the engine. Two percent wasn't enough to escape from the bear if it gave chase. It was also clear that it wasn't the bear who took care of the garden, repaired the roof or swiped the yard. 'Could this bear be a domesticated one? Does this house have an owner?'
On the backseat, Eve lifted her head. From her position, she couldn't see much of the outsides of the car, but she didn't want to suffer trying to sit up. "Xia? Are we out of battery again?"
"It's not exactly that, Sister Eve… If you can sit up, you better see with your own eyes." Xia's voice was soft and low as she spoke. She glanced at Eve's pale face in the rear-view mirror and met her moss-green eyes with her own worried ones.
After this, Eve had no other options but to bring herself up despite the protests from her wound. Not only her muscles tore further when she moved, all the dried blood around pulled at her skin, clothes and, most painfully, hair. When Eve finally got herself up, she was dizzy from the change of positions. Then, she became dizzy from the scenery in the front window too.
All that time the bear kept lying in his spot. Only the hard stare of its beady eyes showed it noticed them. Looking at it, lying there like a well-trained dog, Eve's mind automatically brought up images of Russians with vodka and balalaikas riding bears through one of the legendary Siberian winters that had actual snow in it.
In that moment, the house's door suddenly opened, making the bear scurry away in a hurry that looked comical when applied to a creature of that size. A man stepped out, ignoring the bear completely. Despite his casual clothes, everything about that man created an oppressive and stand-offish aura.
It started with his level seven presence, but didn't end here. His face and body had perfect proportions of a Greek sculpture, but his frown looked like someone carved it on his face with a chisel, and his brown eyes were narrowed almost into slits. His black hair was gathered together in a short sloppy tail on the back of his head, adding to an image of a recluse who didn't care for his image because he didn't meet people at all. At the same time, he had a bearing of a person of power—even the set of his shoulders carried a kind of arrogance that needed to be trained from childhood. He didn't look older than thirty, but with an attitude like that he could've as well been an old man—old, but still influential even after the passage of many years.
"Go away!" he said before Eve and Xia could even greet him.
Xia's eyes turned cold. Eve grit her teeth. Both of them understood, though, that this man wasn't someone whom they could offend. Even Xia's gun wasn't something able to harm him—a level seven people could catch bullets with bare hands.
At this moment, Ellin stirred up. He rubbed his eyes and yawned, before looking around in a daze. "Huh? What did I miss? Wait, is this a bear?"
When Xia didn't hurry to drive away, the frown on the strange man's face deepened. He walked towards the car with brisk steps; seeing this, Xia pressed the button to open a window. Then she looked at Ellin.
"Lin-Lin, we are out of charge, and this man out there is being unreasonable and chasing us out! It's like we aren't all humans here," she said with a pout. Even with deep bags under her reddened eyes and the dirt smears on her cheeks, her round face still looked young and her skin was pale and smooth. When Xia fluttered her eyelashes, it made her look like a pitiful, abused, but still beautiful schoolgirl able to endear even hearts of even the most cold-blooded people. She glanced at the man outside the act to see if her act had worked on him.
The man's face was still as icy, and his deep voice was still as unfriendly as before. "I have my reasons. Leave."
Ellin looked at him, then at Xia, then back at him with a strained smile. "Hey, hey, mister, let's talk it out! We don't want to bring you any inconveniences, but we are re-eally in an unpleasant situation here! Maybe we can compromise or something? You see, we-"
Eve had enough of it. She glared at the man outside. "Listen. The two of them," she nodded at Xia and Ellin, "can leave on foot, but you will move me only over my cold dead body. Because this is what I will turn into if my wound will open one more time. Get it?"
The pressure of the man's presence caused warning bells to ring on the back of her head, but Eve ignored all of them. In her opinion, a person who cared more for their privacy than for people's lives wouldn't have spoken to them after they first refused. It might have only been her hunch, but Eve believed it enough to bet on it right now.
The man didn't speak for a while. "Do whatever you want," he finally said. Then he turned away from them and walked back towards the house.
"Eve! I can't believe you spoke like that to someone like this guy!" Ellin flailed his hands in disbelief. "What if you angered him and he really killed you?"
"At this point, I almost don't care," Eve said. The last vestiges of strength leaved her, and she fell down on the backseat with a groan. Then she let out a blissful sigh as her body relaxed, and continued, "But this man didn't seem like a truly bad person."
Xia bit her lip. "He is almost like some legendary expert who went to the mountains to live in isolation from the society… People like these are always very eccentric. We can't afford to annoy him. We should move on as soon as the car charges again."
"Are people like these actually exist, Xia? You know, I've never heard about stuff like that before! Though, he really didn't look like he appreciated our company. Such a pity. I'd give my last tobacco for a bed to lie in right now…" Ellin sighed, leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes. "My neck always hurts after sleeping in this position."
"If it hurts, I can give you a massage later, Lin-Lin." Xia smile stretched until dimples appeared on her cheeks.
"Really?" Ellin even opened his eyes for a moment. "Thanks, Xia! That would be amazing! Hey, aren't you tired as well? If your neck will be stiff after sleeping in a car seat, I can massage it too!"
Xia blushed. "You are so kind, Lin-Lin… Alright, I will definitely catch a nap after I look whether Cole followed us."
'These lovebirds… I don't believe that Xia can still call Ellin just a friend after talking with him like that,' Eve thought from the backseat. She sighed. At least here no one could see her awkwardness in front of PDA.
While Eve and Ellin continued to rest, Xia went out of the car. She eyed the lying bear, then looked around in search of a tall enough tree to climb. Suddenly, the door of the house opened again and Xia saw its owner walking outside. She froze on the spot and watched with narrowed eyes as he came up closer.
"Bring the wounded woman inside," he said. His eyes shoot past Xia's shoulder towards the car's backseat.
Xia blinked in surprise and hurried to nod; but from the corner of her eyes she was still watching the man with suspicion. 'Could Sister Eve be right about this guy being secretly good deep inside his heart? Or does he have some hidden motives?' At least he didn't seem to be a pervert; he didn't react even a little to her previous act.
Xia shook Ellin awake again, and together they carefully moved Eve inside of the house. The entrance door led straight to the living room. Xia wanted to place Eve on the couch there, but before they could do that, their host opened the door into a bedroom.
Each of his sentences was a command, or at least felt like it. He didn't leave any room for objections. "Put her on the bed. I will take the couch. You two can sleep whenever you want."
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone