As she spoke, her expression gradually became serious. She said, “Leni, let's make a promise. Let's try to live through this year first. If by next year, a miracle happens and neither of us has died, you can come to Oskia and meet my parents to get their consent. After that, I will go to the United States with you.”Leni, who had been cheerful all along, suddenly looked weary. He whispered, “There are still four months left until next year. I'm afraid that even if I don't die by then, I won't be able to come to Oskia to see you.”Shermaine's eyes reddened, but she smiled and said, “It's okay. We'll just video call each other every day. Everything has moved online now, anyway. Even courts often hold hearings online. If necessary, we can just hire a priest, and I'll marry you online.”Leni suppressed his tears, nodded gently, and smiled as he said, “Okay, it’s a deal. When I go back to the United States this time, I'll look for a priest to organize an online wedding ceremony for us on
Soon, the moment the sun set completely, everyone lit a bonfire and the barbecue pit. Since everyone had prepared ingredients and Charlie had specially bought more, this dinner was particularly sumptuous. Besides, Charlie also bought plenty of good wine, which further enhanced the mood and atmosphere. Basically, everyone decided to indulge in drinking that night.Therefore, Charlie specially infused some Reiki into the wine. This Reiki couldn't strengthen their bodies or treat illnesses, but it ensured that no matter how much they drank that night, they wouldn't even yawn at all. Moreover, once this faint Reiki was absorbed by their bodies, it wouldn't leave any traces behind. Even if Fleur came, she wouldn't notice anything.Yorkshire Hill was located on a plateau, and the temperature difference between day and night was relatively large. Combined with the altitude of Mount Turtle Back, the temperature dropped considerably after nightfall. So, everyone sat around the bonfire, wa
At this moment, with less than twenty minutes until sunrise, everyone added some branches to the bonfire and started waiting for the moment when the sun would rise from behind the mountain.After about ten minutes, the previously pale horizon began to glow with golden hues. This was the sign that the sun was about to rise over the horizon.Just as everyone was eagerly looking forward to it, Charlie suddenly sensed that someone far away was quickly approaching their location. Since he was worried about being discovered by Fleur, Charlie had been practicing the mental cultivation method taught to him by Ruby since last night, tightly sealing his own Reiki within his body.For cultivators, each person was like a submarine navigating in the deep sea, relying on sonar detection to find each other. Using this analogy, a person with higher cultivation was like a more advanced submarine with stronger firepower, better propulsion, and more advanced methods of detecting other submarines from
As she hiked up Mount Turtle Back and saw the several tents and a dozen young people not far away, she subconsciously furrowed her brows slightly.These people were all looking in the direction of the sunrise, clearly waiting to admire it. Fleur didn't suspect them, but she felt a bit annoyed and disappointed because these people were too close to the tomb of her senior, Elijah.The purpose of her visit to this place this time was to reminisce about the past at Elijah's grave and speak a few words from her heart to her senior.However, the position of these people was only two to three hundred meters from Elijah's tomb, and she would definitely attract their attention if she went there directly. That would make it inconvenient for her to talk to her senior.At this moment, Charlie caught a glimpse of the young and mature woman who had just appeared in the distance. Charlie could make out her appearance with his extraordinary vision.It had to be said that although Fleur had lived
Charlie's release of Marcius’ portrait in Aurous Hill had really shocked Fleur greatly, so much so that her biggest concern in coming to Oskia this time was exposing her identity.In her opinion, the young campers nearby were probably just students who were still in school. She didn't worry at all that any of these people could threaten her safety. However, she had just heard Charlie and Vera's conversation and knew that her behavior might seem suspicious to others. In this situation, she really felt a little hesitant.Her attention had also been inadvertently diverted by Charlie to another direction. Now, she was only worried about being suspected by others and hadn't suspected the identities of these young people.Just as Fleur was hesitating, a golden light spread out, and the rising sun had already risen from the east. The young people who had stayed up all night with Charlie were immediately excited when they saw this golden light. They cheered loudly as they saw the sun rise a
After turning on the camera, the two of them instinctively turned around, facing away from the rising sun and away from Fleur before they took a picture together. After taking the photo, Charlie quickly enlarged it. Thanks to the high-pixel front camera, Fleur's face was quite clear in the photo.After adjusting their poses, Charlie and Vera took more photos together, constantly taking snapshots with Fleur in the background using the front camera.Unfortunately, Fleur soon disappeared into the woods, and the front camera didn't have a zoom function. Trying to capture her in this situation was wishful thinking.So, Charlie kept his cell phone away and continued pretending to admire the sunrise with Vera.However, he was still carefully watching Fleur from his peripheral vision. After searching for a moment in the woods, Fleur chose a relatively open area, then took out a hammer and a cylindrical object made of wood from her bag.Fleur then spread out the yellow paper on the gr
Fleur hadn't visited Elijah's grave to pay her respect to him for many years. Even though it'd been centuries since she last came, she could still pinpoint where Elijah's grave was.Despite destroying the tombstone herself and the graves disappearing over time, she could still find the location of Elijah's grave. Although she knew that Elijah's body was not buried here, Fleur still regarded this place as the closest place associated with Elijah. Her current feelings were a mix of sadness, regret, and even a bit of resentment.As emotions overwhelmed her, past memories flooded her mind like a tide.Back then, Fleur had attacked Elijah impulsively out of love and hatred. After Elijah disappeared in front of her eyes in an instant, she guessed that the ring that their master gave to Elijah must have sent him to Vera. Therefore, she hurried out of the mountain and headed to Yorkshire Hill to search for him. However, the journey from Mount Tason to Yorkshire Hill was difficult and fa
“Therefore, even if it meant that I had to draw a sword and fight the Qing army face to face, I would do it without hesitation. This was what I thought, and it was what I did in the end.”“I became the third member of the Qing Eliminating Society from the day when you and my elder brother established the Qing Eliminating Society. At that time, both you and my elder brother strongly opposed my involvement, but I was determined and insisted on fighting side by side with the two of you no matter what it was.”“Back then, I said that it was for the sake of national justice, but in reality, I am just an ordinary woman who didn't care about the country's fate or its rulers. I only wanted to be by your side so I could be with the man I love.”“If you said that this is our country and we should defend our country and king, I would draw my sword and stay by your side to fight the Qing army to the end. If you said that you only wanted to live peacefully regardless of who ruled the country, I
When Jacob came to his senses, he was already in tears. The student presumed he was unwell and asked, "Mr. Wilson, do you want me to call your wife to pick you up?" Elaine's sarcastic face immediately popped up in his mind, and he trembled with fear. He quickly wiped away his tears and stammered, "D-don't bother... I... I just got something in my eyes..." The student obviously didn't believe him and asked worriedly, "Why don't you call your wife? Or I'll call a cab for you." "No, no." Jacob waved his hand and said, "I'll call my son-in-law to pick me up. He has just returned to Aurous Hill, so it shouldn't be a problem." After that, he quickly took out his phone and called Charlie. Just a few minutes ago, Charlie had left the cafe and was about to walk Yolden to his car. When he saw Yolden walking straight toward a domestic new energy vehicle, he asked curiously, "I don't think you were driving this model before, were you?" "I just bought it," Yolden replied with a smil
If Matilda still had feelings for Jacob, his nostalgic strategy would definitely have a strong impact. However, Matilda had already decided to move on, so Jacob's suggestion did not stir any emotions in her at all. With an apologetic smile, she said, "Sorry, Jacob, Yolden is downstairs waiting for me. We have something to discuss. How about another day? We can have dinner together, and I'll treat you." Jacob didn't expect the nostalgia strategy to fall flat. His original plan was to use nostalgia to get Matilda to go with him to eat near the school, then take the opportunity to revisit old places and subtly reignite their past memories. After all, revisiting old places was the best way to rekindle old feelings, no exceptions. It was like drinking the pasta water after cooking the pasta. However, he never imagined that Matilda's expression wouldn't change in the slightest. There was no shyness, no hesitation, no nervousness, and certainly no fluttering heart. She simply and
Matilda had been listening attentively before, but now, she was lowering her head, fiddling with her phone, and her expression even carried a hint of shyness and happiness, like that of a young girl. Jacob felt a pang of jealousy. While doing the presentation, he couldn't help but resentfully think to himself, "What has Matilda been chatting about with that Yolden guy? She's so happy..." At that moment, Matilda had just received a message from Yolden. In the message, Yolden informed her of the outcome of his conversation with Charlie and expressed his desire to have the wedding as soon as possible. Seeing how eager her beloved was to marry her, Matilda naturally felt very touched. At that moment, she had completely fallen into Yolden's love. For this man, who had a similar background, education, values, and even lifestyle to her own, she could find no fault with him. She felt that he was perfectly tailor-made for her by heaven itself, almost as if everything about him perfectly m
Charlie's worries were not unfounded. He had long known that Jacob had not completely given up on Matilda despite her relationship with Yolden. After returning from the cultural exchange in Korea, Jacob had been more dejected than ever before—something he hadn't even displayed when his family had gone bankrupt. If there was still a chance to salvage the relationship when one's beloved was merely dating someone else, their marriage was tantamount to a death sentence. Furthermore, considering the high intellectual backgrounds of Matilda and Yolden as well as their age and life experience, their decision to marry at this stage of life undoubtedly signaled their intention to build a long-term future together. This left Jacob with absolutely no chance at all. At this moment, Jacob was blissfully unaware of the devastating news and was busy conducting a calligraphy and painting workshop at Senior University. The so-called workshop was essentially a few slides showcasing classic
After that, Charlie asked with a bit of curiosity, "When did you and Matilda decide to get married?" Yolden smiled sheepishly and explained, "Remember when the city organized our cultural exchange trip to South Korea? I confessed to Matilda during that trip, and she accepted. After spending some time together, we both felt we were a great match. Considering our age, we didn't want to delay such an important decision any longer, so we decided to take the next step and build a family together." He continued, "Last month, we went to Lambonear for a few days. I bought a ring and proposed to her by the seaside, and she said yes. We also sought the opinion of our respective children—Autumn and Paul—and they were both very supportive. Both kids are exceptional and independent, so they urged us to have the wedding as soon as possible. I wanted to wait until you returned so I could check your schedule. For our wedding, we'd like to ask you to be our officiant." "What? Me as the officiant?
Charlie said without hesitation, "Sure. When is it convenient for you? Send me the address, and I'll go meet you." Charlie had always respected Yolden not only because he was a nice and talented man but also because he and his mother went way back and went to the same school. Yolden said hastily, "I've just come from Senior University. It's the weekend, and I don't have classes today. Why don't you send me the address and I'll meet you?" Charlie gave it some thought. It was a little past 3 p.m., so Yolden had likely already had lunch, and there were still a few hours until dinner. Inviting him to The Heaven Springs didn't seem ideal for a discussion. Considering that he had lived in the United States for many years and probably had a habit of having coffee in the afternoon, Charlie said, "How about this? There's a Starbucks not far south of the university. Let's meet there for a cup of coffee." "Perfect!" Yolden said with a smile. "I was just thinking you could give me an addre
On the way back to The Heaven Springs, Julien was in a much better mood than when he had arrived. Initially, he was filled with anxiety, unsure of what Charlie had planned. But now, everything had become clear. The troublesome matter of Salem and Edmund was no longer his concern. All he had to do was wait for the video from the ship to be released and then head back home. Charlie noticed his improved mood and smiled as he asked, "Julien, you've resolved the most critical matter right after landing in Aurous Hill. You must be feeling pretty happy, right?" Julien chuckled and said, "To be honest, before coming here, I was worried that I'd end up going back empty-handed and being secretly mocked by others. But now, it's different. Once your video is released, no one can blame me for not doing my job. If anything, they can only blame their family for missing their chance. After all, so much time has passed, and it's their fault Salem and Edmund were moved to the Middle East." As he
"Good." With a light nod, Charlie turned to Jiro and spoke up, "Jiro, I'll give you a chance to prove yourself." "Okay, Mr. Wade!" Jiro beamed excitedly. "Please tell me what to do! I promise I will do my best to serve you." Charlie smiled and said, "Once the ship is ready, you'll board it together with them. Your only task is to keep a close watch on them the entire time. Don't let them pull any tricks. If you succeed, you'll be a free man here. You'll get a basic monthly salary and can ask for anything you like within reason—so long as it's not contraband, it will be yours." Hearing this, Jiro was so thrilled that he trembled all over. His current treatment was already decent, but he was still only a semi-free man. He didn't dare casually set foot on the ground outside. If he could become a truly free man, he would be able to enjoy the sunlight outdoors freely. More importantly, from then on, he would have a salary. Although he couldn't personally go out shopping, having a sa
Julien had uncovered Charlie's true identity quite some time ago and investigated Charlie's background. He was well aware that Charlie had become the head of the Wade family and that the Acker family fully supported him. Although the outside world believed that Ten Thousand Armies had subdued the Wade family, Julien had witnessed Charlie's methods firsthand. Even the top two figures of the Rothschild family had been toyed with by Charlie, so how could Ten Thousand Armies possibly make him surrender? Thus, Julien deduced that Ten Thousand Armies was undoubtedly Charlie's covert tool. Considering the combined strength of the Wade family, the Acker family, and Charlie's personally cultivated forces, it was evident that Charlie even had the power to contend with the entire Rothschild family. Moreover, with the life-extending pill in his possession and the life of the Rothschild family head in his hands, Charlie's chances of prevailing in a confrontation against the Rothschilds were e