"Finnley, you bastard! You're ruthless enough to want to kill even us!"Finnley hurriedly hid behind his father, crying out his innocence, "It wasn't me! My birth date is among them, and so is my father's. If you want to know who it is, just look at whose birthdate isn't there."Then, Mercer spoke up, "Who else could it be? Of course, it's missing the birthdates of Matias' family!"As soon as these words were spoken, the room fell into a deathly silence.The three Ward brothers were the eldest, Matias, the second, Mercer, and the third, Mika. The three brothers were highly influential in political and business circles and ruled the three northeastern provinces!However, they were cousins. Mercer and Mika's fathers had passed away long ago, while Matias' father had died five years ago.Just then, Mercer's phone rang. It was Matias!"Mercer, how's Uncle?"Mercer glanced at Mika beside him and sighed, saying, "I'm not sure yet, but the situation looks very bad.""Really! I'll be
"What are you all doing in Orcreek? The Cabinet is fine, but you seem to have too much free time?" Tenan, sitting authoritatively in the grand master's chair, sternly rebuked his former students, subordinates, and disciples.Finally, his gaze fell on Matias."And you, a minister, dare to run around? Is this how you usually work?""Uncle, I'm sorry! I heard that you were critically ill, so I—" Matias instinctively tried to explain but stopped mid-sentence.He saw the other Wards family members kneeling on the ground, not daring to rise, and a dead fox lying there.He quickly turned to look outside the living room. He saw endless wheat fields through the courtyard gate but no sign of his guardian spirit. The dead fox on the ground was the same white fox that had just run out to play.Tenan glanced at the six men. "Why are you still standing there? I need to handle some family matters. You can leave now!"Tenan dismissed those six esteemed dignitaries like children.Matias watched
Finally, Tenan cried out in anguish, "And you dare to conspire with the Saffronesians to harm me?!"Mercer could not hold it any longer and shouted, "Uncle, this has nothing to do with me or Mika. It was all Matias' idea; he arranged everything."Mika also chimed in, "Yes! He said that if you were dead, he could advance to become a minister."Matias suddenly stood up, tearing into them. "What do you mean it was all my idea? Don't pretend you weren't involved. Didn't you also want Uncle's shares in the Black Mosaic Group?"That statement instantly ignited a fierce argument, but Tenan quickly silenced them."Enough!"Tenan pinched the bridge of his nose and, after a long pause, looked at them coldly."You've all deeply disappointed me. Mercer, Mika, do you really think the Black Mosaic Group belongs to you? It belongs to the country, understand?"Mercer and Mika were stunned, and then they panicked.Tenan's next words drove them to despair."I've already donated my shares. The
Tenan glanced at Chad and motioned to Weldon, who immediately understood and cleared the room, leaving only Chad, Tenan, and Third Grandpa Fox.Once the doors were closed, Tenan turned to Chad and said, "I was strongly against sending your sister away back then. A little girl going to the celestial realm was a death sentence. But the others agreed, and my opposition was futile."Chad was taken aback. He did not expect Tenan to reveal such a shocking secret before he asked any questions.Tenan said, "At that time, I saw that those willing to go were divided into two factions—the Descent Faction and the Survival Faction. The Descent Faction hoped that the so-called immortals would settle on earth so they could learn the secret to immortality from them."As for the so-called Survival Faction, they believed that if those immortals came to earth, they would slaughter humans indiscriminately. They wanted to get on good terms with the immortals, preparing to become traitors. "Along with
Perhaps in ancient times, the so-called celestial realm could indeed be seen in the sky. Otherwise, poetic sayings such as reaching out to pluck the stars would not exist.However, what Chad found hardest to accept was that, according to Tenan, his sister Snow was most likely dead.Chad, unwilling to accept that, asked, "Are you sure all those people are dead?"Tenan hesitated as if trying to recall something, then shook his head uncertainly. "Not exactly. In fact, only less than half can be confirmed dead. Many others are presumed dead because we received no feedback from their life chips."Chad said, "Maybe the chips malfunctioned. Those people might still be alive!"Tenan shook his head. "That's impossible. The chips were embedded in the cervical vertebrae, a very simple technology. They only needed to be exposed to electromagnetic waves from the satellite to be activated."Even if they were hundreds of meters underground, as long as the electromagnetic waves reached them, the
Waves of golden wheat rolled past the car window as Chad stared at the scenery outside, speaking as if to himself, "You were one of those sent to the celestial realm, and you came back from the firmament, didn't you?"Dark Phoenix was stunned for a long time, unable to answer. She had not expected Chad to ask such a question.Seeing her silence, Chad continued, "When all of you went, each of you had a life-detection chip implanted in the back of your necks. How did you manage to remove them?"Dark Phoenix felt like she was going crazy, unable to understand how Chad knew that, but she still did not speak.Chad's next words shook her even more. "The first ones who tried to remove the chips all died. Even those who succeeded didn't live long. Even if someone had the cultivation level of an earthbound immortal, they couldn't withstand the backlash from removing the chip."Dark Phoenix shuddered and instinctively moved closer to the corner of the car.Chad, still looking out the windo
"Got it!" Weldon said as he turned off the engine, got out of the car, and padded to Chad's side. After whispering something, Chad shook his head and refused. "It's not right for me. I'm leaving!"Watching Chad depart, Weldon returned to the car and asked Dark Phoenix, "Where to? Should I take you to the Bellenuite Tower or..." His voice trailed off as he smiled mysteriously, glancing at Dark Phoenix through the rearview mirror."Do you know who I am? Why don't you tell him?" Dark Phoenix showed no surprise. "Some are blinded by the authorities, while others see clearly from the sidelines."Weldon grinned broadly. "How do you know Dr. Jennings didn't see through it? And how do you know he isn't pretending? You have your secrets, and so does Dr. Jennings. I won't reveal them just yet because it's not time to expose everything."Dark Phoenix opened the door, exited the car, and said, "I'm here. You can go now."Weldon lowered the car window, glanced at Dark Phoenix, and then departe
Chad never expected Evergrow to infiltrate a psychiatric hospital.The car quickly arrived at Bloomington Psychiatric Hospital, where Chad saw security personnel surrounding the perimeter. In the distance, he also noticed numerous special agents' vehicles parked inside the hospital, with many undercover agents busy at work.After Chad got out of the car, he walked straight toward the hospital gate, where a crowd had already gathered. Those were relatives of the patients, but instead of causing a commotion, they silently watched."I hope he dies, so we don't have to be burdened anymore!""It's been over a decade, and we've done all we could.""Having a lunatic in the family is nothing but trouble. If he dies, we'll be relieved!"Such remarks from the patients' relatives made Chad feel uneasy. He could not help but glance back at Matilda, realizing she was genuinely worried about her mother and brother.Chad also understood the sentiments of the patients' families—a mentally ill p