With that said, Vera bent her knees and was about to kneel down.When the abbess saw this, she quickly stepped forward, supporting Vera's body before she could kneel down, and she said, “Miss Lavor has witnessed the vicissitudes of the world for hundreds of years. I dare not overstep in front of you. Please refrain from this grand gesture.”As she supported Vera, she continued, “Miss Lavor, you should surely know of the mysteries of fate. Even in the Book of Changes and the Eight Diagrams, the slightest changes could lead to vastly different outcomes. If I say too much, there is a risk of causing a backlash. If you truly wish to help Mr. Wade, it is best to minimize the variables. I can clearly tell you that there are dangers ahead for Mr. Wade, and you only need to ensure that Mr. Wade can give up moving forward. This would be the best outcome. Too much knowledge for either you or Mr. Wade could lead to even greater variables.”When Vera heard the abbess's words about her witnessin
Vera could guess the meaning behind the abbess's words, so she asked, “Master, are you saying that Master Marcius Stark’s ability to be reborn depends entirely on Mr. Wade?”The abbess said noncommittally, “I have already said too much. Please digest some of these questions on your own but remember not to let Mr. Wade know about these things.”When Vera saw that the abbess didn't want to say more, she quickly asked, “Master, do you have any other instructions?”The abbess clasped her hands together respectfully and said, “No. I have heard of you for a long time, Miss Lavor. Seeing you today has fulfilled a wish of mine. Mr. Wade is still waiting at the foot of the mountain, so you should go down the mountain quickly and persuade him to return to Aurous Hill.”Vera, unwilling to give up, hastily asked, “Master, what should Mr. Wade do next? If he can't move forward today, I'm afraid Mr. Wade will be in trouble. Where should Mr. Wade go from here? Please tell me!”The abbess's expre
Charlie spoke up, “Neither of us has figured out the other party's identity yet. I can't abandon everything we've planned just because the other party said a few words.”Vera said anxiously, “Young Master, someone knew we were coming here and even calculated our route in advance to wait for us. This proves that the other person knows both of us very well. Even if she has no ill intentions toward us, we have to admit the fact that our identities are exposed. If we continue moving forward under these circumstances, regardless of whether she's an enemy or a friend, the situation is likely to be very unfavorable for us.”Charlie was momentarily stunned by Vera's words. They made him reconsider the situation once again. As Vera said, regardless of whether the abbess was a friend or an enemy, their exposure was already a fact. Since she knew about them, it meant that others might also know about them. If he insisted on continuing to move forward, apart from the risk of encountering danger,
Meanwhile, at the foot of the mountain where Quiant Monastery was located, Charlie still hadn't decided to abandon the journey. Leaving like this would indeed leave him feeling dissatisfied. However, Vera's analysis made sense as well. If someone went through the trouble to warn them, it would be too arrogant of them to insist on going forward against the person’s advice. The thought of being arrogant suddenly dawned on Charlie, and he realized that his current strength was far from enough when facing the unknown. After pondering for a moment, he sighed and admitted, “That abbess is probably right. My strength is even inferior to Fleur's. I shouldn't be overly confident. Besides, she knows our information and movements, which means she's not an ordinary person.” As he spoke, Charlie looked at Vera and said seriously, “Miss Lavor, you are smarter than me, you think deeper than I do and see even more clearly than I do. Since you are also advising me to stop, I will listen to you an
Although he still looked visibly upset, she decided to comfort and console him. So, she took Charlie's arm and turned around to head back the way they came. As they walked, Charlie kept his head down, and Vera thought of ways to lighten his mood. She then asked him expectantly, “Young Master, do you think the Mother of Pu’er Tea has grown and sprouted more leaves over these past few days?”Charlie casually replied, “She should have grown a bit, and as for the leaves, it shouldn't be a problem if a few more tender shoots sprout.”Vera smiled and said, “Then, after we return, I'll pluck those newly sprouted tender shoots, dry them, and brew them for you to taste.”Charlie asked her curiously, “Isn't the process of making Pu'er tea quite complicated? After processing, doesn't it need to be stored and fermented?”Vera chuckled and said, “In fact, it can actually be drunk right after drying, though it will lack the fermented taste. However, it still has a fresh and mild flavor. Generall
Vera's words made Charlie a bit cautious. He couldn't help but ask her, “Do you think there's something off about her identity?”Vera nodded gently, affirming, “I've encountered some monks who are quite knowledgeable in Buddhism in the past. They all strictly adhere to Buddhist teachings, often quoting scriptures and using Buddhist wisdom in their daily lives and conversations. In simpler terms, even in everyday life, they always relate everything back to Buddhism. But for that abbess, apart from mentioning Amitabha, she rarely talked about Buddhism. So, I suddenly felt that she might not truly be an abbess.”Charlie became alert and said, “If she's not a real abbess, that means she was disguising herself as one here in order to wait for us. Regardless of whether she's an enemy or a friend, there must be another force at work behind her apart from the Qing Eliminating Society.”Vera nodded, saying seriously, “But don't worry too much, Young Master. I think they're definitely not ene
Charlie nodded and said, “Okay. Let's go up and have a look first.”-When the two arrived at the entrance of Quiant Monastery, the main gate was already tightly shut. However, when Charlie pushed it gently, the gate opened with a creaking sound.Charlie stepped inside, looked at the sturdy wooden bolt behind the gate, and furrowed his brows as he said, “It seems as if they knew we were coming and purposely left the gate open for us.”Vera's expression was somewhat shocked as she murmured, “They've taken every step that we are going to take into account…”Charlie chuckled self-deprecatingly, saying, “That’s right. I thought we were hiding well, but it turns out that they know everything. The key is they can anticipate everything. I really can’t wrap my head around it.”Vera sighed, feeling somewhat disheartened as she said, “For over three hundred years, I've always prided myself on my intellect, but now, it seems I can't compare to them at all.”Charlie smiled and said, “That's
Vera looked defeated as she looked at the three sticks of sandalwood incense that was about to burn out. She was somewhat confused as she said to Charlie, “They can even anticipate our last-minute plans. Who are they?!”Charlie shook his head. “I can't figure it out either. It feels like someone is given a God’s perspective.”With that said, he walked through the main hall, intending to explore the back courtyard, but he was drawn to a wooden door at the rear corner of the main hall.He carefully pushed open the door and found a small room of about five or six square meters inside. He glanced around but saw nothing aside from a simple wooden chair and a small wooden table less than half a meter wide. However, there was a special fragrance in the room, which was refreshing and invigorating.Upon closer inspection, Charlie noticed a string of beads on the small wooden table, which was almost the same color as the table itself. The beads, with a diameter of about one centimeter each,
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
Enraged, Julien cursed while angrily raising his leg, "Damn it! How dare you negotiate your terms now?!" Charlie stopped him and said, "Calm down. 1 billion dollars is quite a good amount. You offer 100 million, he offers 1 billion—doesn't that mean I'll make 1.1 billion?" Dumbfounded, Julien said, "Mr. Wade, how can you even take that money? Wouldn't taking the money expose you?" Charlie smiled and said, "That's simple. I'll give you a plan that not only makes your task impossible to complete but also gives me a chance to collect the money. What do you think?" "What's the idea?" Julien asked in surprise. Charlie replied, "Here's the plan, I'll have someone put these two on a cargo ship bound for the Middle East. Once the ship passes Sri Lanka and enters the Arabian Sea, I'll have them record a video with the endless ocean as the backdrop. In the video, they'll inform their family to prepare 1 billion dollars. The money will be transferred directly in cryptocurrency." "Once