Vera was surprised to hear Charlie say that he was scared, and she asked worriedly, "I wonder if you can tell me what you're scared of?" Charlie was silent for a long time as he sorted out his thoughts. Then, he cleared his throat and began, "I have already told you the story of how I obtained the Apocalyptic Book, as well as the life experiences that followed. Since we opened our hearts to each other, many events have been things we've shared and experienced together, so you know them well. Moreover, during my recent trip to America, I confirmed our earlier speculation—the Apocalyptic Book was not something I stumbled upon by chance. Instead, it was all part of a series of plans my father made after transferring his destiny to me." At this point, he continued, "Look at how these clues are all intricately connected. First, over thirty years ago, my father accidentally came across the Preface of the Apocalyptic Book. This text not only allowed him to gain enlightenment but also to u
Vera bit her lip, her expression filled with shame as she muttered, "Actually, that day, I didn't tell you all the details..." Charlie was not surprised and simply asked, "Can you speak about it now?" Vera nodded and began, "Since things have come to this point, I will not hide anything anymore." She then seriously explained, "That day, the fake nun knew everything about me, and she also knew about you and Fleur. She knew I had lived for over three hundred years, and she knew Fleur had lived nearly four hundred years, and that the Qing Eliminating Society was very powerful. But at that time, she said the real danger ahead was actually another person. She said that compared to 'that person', Fleur was just a three-hundred-year-old small-time clown." "That person?" Charlie exclaimed, "Who is that person?!" Vera shook her head. "She didn't say it directly because she hinted that if she revealed too much, it might affect your judgment. If you thought she was just trying to make t
Vera's reasoning instantly made Charlie see things more clearly. He spoke, somewhat excited and nervous, "What you've said is absolutely right! If this is a scheme set in motion over three hundred years ago, the one who set it up would definitely ensure that every step stays under control. If all of this is truly Master Marcius's doing, then the Apocalyptic Book must contain a way for both me and my father to possess the Dragon Fate!" He then looked at the photocopy of the Preface of the Apocalyptic Book again and said, "If it's convenient, why don't we study this book together?" Without hesitation, Vera nodded, stood up, and said, "Please help me move the table back to the hall. Let's go inside and discuss it." Charlie immediately moved the table and went into the main hall of the top-floor courtyard with Vera, which was also the living room. There was a long desk in the main hall which had been specially prepared by Vera when she painted the landscape scroll. It remained he
Vera then added, "The Flood Dragon Fate is the closest fate to the Dragon Fate and the only one capable of transforming into a Dragon Fate. This means that when your mother was pregnant with you, before your fate was established, your father had already split his Dragon Fate into two Flood Dragon Fates and given one of them to you." "Afterward, your father underwent the transformation alongside you, and both of you became Dragon Fates together." "This is how your father ensured that you possessed the Dragon Fate." Charlie's eyes reddened as he murmured, "Raymond told me that Fate Extraction is excruciatingly painful. He said it was the most agonizing thing he had ever witnessed. Although this 'splitting one dragon into two flood dragons' is not a complete extraction, it still involves dividing one's fate in half. That must also be incredibly painful... Dad... He endured such extraordinary pain for me not just once, but twice..." Vera nodded gently and, pursing her lips in agony
As Charlie was overwhelmed with guilt toward his parents, Vera, sitting beside him, was also filled with complex emotions. She continued flipping through the content in the Preface of the Apocalyptic Book and became increasingly astonished the more she read. Picking up one particular sheet of paper, she said, "Look here. This section records the method of locating Mount Tason. It seems that your parents back then must have used this information to find the secret of longevity hidden within Mount Tason and brought back the Apocalyptic Book from there." Charlie nodded and said, "Mr. Chardon mentioned the secret to longevity during our battle back then, and all the clues lined up with your speculations." Vera's expression changed abruptly as she gasped, "Huh... Why do I feel like Master Marcius might have started planning a massive conspiracy over 300 years ago?" Charlie asked, "Are you saying that everything I am experiencing today was orchestrated by him centuries ago?" Vera
Vera then continued, "So, regarding this trap, I think there are two possibilities. One is that the trap has a time-sensitive trigger, meaning it must be activated while Master Marcius is still alive for it to work. However, the Master himself might not have expected the trap to be delayed for so long. By the time he died, he still hadn't found anyone to trigger it, and it only activated when your father discovered the Preface of the Apocalyptic Book. If this is the case, Mount Tason shouldn't pose any real threat to you." She paused, her tone growing more serious as she added, "The other possibility is that the Master knew the trap could be triggered at any time, and it didn't matter when—just as long as it was triggered. If that's the case, Master Marcius... is most likely still alive!" "Still alive?" Charlie frowned and asked, "If he's still alive, he must have found a way to extend his lifespan beyond a thousand years. And if he's still alive, he should be many times stronger t
Charlie exhaled heavily and suggested, "So... what he needs is a body of the Ascended Dragon Fate, right?" "That's right!" Vera nodded swiftly. "I believe this logic is very reasonable, and it also aligns with what the fake nun said. She mentioned that anyone could go to Mount Tason except for you, and she also said that the person there is far more terrifying than Fleur. Now, it seems that the person she was referring to is Master Marcius, and he has been waiting for you in Mount Tason!" Charlie accepted this speculation, gritting his teeth and saying, "Good old Marcius! I've seen people use black magic before, but using a drifting bottle as a black magic vessel? This is the first time I've heard of it!" He then added, "Since we've figured out his plan, does that mean that as long as we never go to Mount Tason, he'll have to wait there indefinitely?" "I think so too!" Vera agreed and said. "Alright, then." Charlie heaved a sigh of relief and said, "From now on, I won't go an
At this time, Charlie looked at the photocopied contents of the Preface of the Apocalyptic Book and sighed. "If our hunch is correct, then the fake nun saved my life."Vera nodded gently, then held her chin and muttered, "I think the fake nun should be following someone's orders, and the one who helped you should be the person behind her." Charlie fully agreed with her point but was somewhat puzzled. "This person can see through Master Marcius's meticulous plot, and they were able to stop me at a critical moment. Their background must be extraordinary. But I can't understand it. If this person is willing to help me and knows all about me, why are they unwilling to show their true face? If we meet face-to-face, perhaps we could cooperate and fight against the Qing Eliminating Society together." Vera said with a smile, "Perhaps everyone has their own secrets to protect, just like me. If you hadn't saved my life and if my father's ring hadn't brought me here, I would never have revea
Charlie was driving Jacob to Thompson First when the latter received the text from Matilda.Seeing that they were reaching the front gates, Jacob promptly snapped at Charlie, "Charlie, stop the car now!"Charlie did so and asked in curiosity, "What's wrong?""Matilda just texted me," Jacob replied, showing the chat log between him and Matilda.Charlie was just glancing at it nonchalantly when he saw that Matilda's contact name was 'AAA July Florist'."Wait, why is that Aunt Matilda's contact name?" He exclaimed in surprise."I changed it."Jacob explained gingerly while reading through the text Matilda sent. "Her profile picture is an iris, so I changed her contact name to a florist since I'm mostly worried Elaine would peek into my phone.""Anyway, she's asking if I'm attending her wedding with Yolden. They would send us an invitation if I accept, extended to our whole family… what do you think I should say?"Charlie asked in return. "You're planning to skip it, aren't you? T
Then, Matilda suggested, "How about this—I'll ask him before deciding." "I'll pass on inviting the rest of my former classmates too. They're too vain and love comparing, so I'd rather not have anything to do with that. Also, there are our Korean friends who have it together, and they were telling us to invite them if we were going to get married. We have to keep our promise, right?""Yeah—then, it's basically decided. Aside from Charlie, we shall invite our colleagues and Korean friends while we wait for an answer from Jacob."Yolden nodded and said, "Now, I'll talk about the honeymoon—cut me short if you have a different opinion."Matilda nodded, resting her chin on her hands and smiling. "Shoot. I'm all ears."Feeling a little embarrassed by Matilda's glowing stare, Yolden took a sip of his ice water before continuing, "My idea is to head to the States for our honeymoon after the wedding…"He trailed off, staring at Matilda and waiting for a response.However, she was merely
"Oh, Jacob…?"Matilda chuckled awkwardly. "Just today, he offered to buy me dinner, but I said I didn't have the time, and I also told him about our wedding… So, we should invite him since he's aware of it.""Jacob offered to buy you dinner?" Yolden exclaimed in surprise. "Did he say why?""Nope," Matilda shrugged, smiling. "Probably just dinner between old classmates."However, she was actually smart enough to guess Jacob's intention even though Jacob was inviting her somewhere near campus. That was why she had also mentioned she was marrying Yolden while turning down Jacob, all so that he would give up on her.After she had managed to get over their past fling completely, she didn't want to give Jacob false hopes before she walked down the aisle.In the same regard, she didn't want to worry Yolden, and therefore, had deliberately discouraged Jacob.Be that as it may, Yolden was smart too.He knew about Matilda and Jacob's past and that her son, Paul's full name was Paul Jam
Before Charlie had arrived, Jacob was still furious that Matilda would soon marry Yolden.After Charlie came, however, he was instead worried that Matilda would send him a wedding invitation.Meanwhile, Matilda and Yolden were discussing their list of guests.They had different social circles, but most of their friends were Stateside, and they only had some distant relatives in this country.Still, they had colleagues in Aurous Hill. Matilda had classmates too, but she was out of touch with them aside from Jacob, whom she often met.Still, as they discussed who should be invited, Matilda first suggested, "Let's go through everyone. First, our Stateside friends… I don't think we should tell them at all since it's a long journey, and inviting them would seem tactless. What do you think?"Yolden nodded, smiling, "I was just thinking the same thing. We're close with our Stateside friends and always keep in touch, but inviting them to our wedding might be a stretch. We'd just hit a wa
With that being said, once Matilda was thrown in the mix, Elaine would suddenly become an African honey badger, with every bit of black air force energy that was implied.As such, if Jacob had managed to be brave and take that one step back then, Charlie would have tried to help, stopping Elaine from harassing Jacob or Matilda.However, the reality was that Jacob had to bungle the chance when Matilda offered it to him.That was why the best option was for Jacob to understand that he couldn't get together with Matilda now so that he would feel much better.And since he had always been a coward, Charlie's slight intimidation cleared his head considerably.He then sighed, "Well, that's just life—you don't always get what you want, and you should never try to claim what you couldn't. I couldn't bring myself to choose Matilda over thirty years ago, so not being together now only makes sense.""Now, I can only pray that Elaine never finds out… or at least that things don't get out of h
Then, Jacob quickly pressed, "Dear boy, maybe you could stay a few days instead of taking more jobs. At least you could be there to stop my wife if she snaps.""Sure," Charlie chuckled, cheerfully agreeing to it. "Don't worry—Claire's returning in a couple of days too, and you'll be fine with us around. You're cheating in your mind, anyway…"Pausing, he then added a reminder, "But if she's really furious, just bear with her beatings and clawings. Live and let live, as they say."That left Jacob sulking, however. "What the hell! If I knew this would happen, I should have just taken her to court and divorced her openly! That way, I'd definitely make things work with Matilda. Yolden wouldn't even stand a chance!"Charlie had to keep a straight face. "Now, you're not quite right there—don't you know what would happen to your wife if you took this to court?"Jacob snorted coolly. "Elaine would just snap at me, hit me, and make sure I don't get a cent in the divorce. That's no big deal—
"Fuck!" When Jacob heard what Charlie said, he was horrified. He nervously asked, "Matilda isn't going to come to our house to deliver the invitation, is she? If Elaine finds out that I've been hiding Matilda's return from her all this time, I'll be so dead!" Charlie, having long seen through Jacob, knew he would never escape the shadow and claws of Elaine. He shook his head and said, "Whether they'll invite you, I have no way of knowing. If you're worried, you can tell Matilda that you don't want to be invited to her wedding and that you don't want to go." Jacob sighed. "That's just a temporary solution. Even if she doesn't know now, she'll probably find out sooner or later. A lot of our mutual friends already know about Matilda's return. You went to the gathering too. But those friends are not really in contact with Elaine, so she hasn't found out yet." Charlie smiled and said, "Matilda's return to the country was at a pretty sensitive time. If I'm not mistaken, she came b
Jacob then realized that Charlie was also driving a Rolls-Royce, and it was a more expensive Phantom. Surprised, he asked, "Charlie, where did you get this car?" Marilyn had prepared the car for Charlie when he left Scarlet Pinnacle Manor. He had driven it to Thompson First, so he had decided to use it today. Charlie replied, "A client lent it to me. You sounded urgent, so I drove it over." Then, he added, "You're something else. You're crying like a baby yet you're still in the mood to ask about the car. What's going on? Your friend said you'd cried twice already?" "That bloody Simon!" Hearing this, Jacob became furious and cursed, "He still doesn't have the slightest clue! He's such a damned fool! The more I try to avoid him, the more he keeps blabbering on and on. Argh, he's so stupid!" Charlie asked, "What exactly is bothering you?" Jacob's face instantly turned dejected, and with a long sigh, he choked up and said, "Charlie— Matilda— She's getting married—" "Gettin
Things were a little different and unique in the United States, though. Westerners tended to approach marriage with greater caution. Many couples stayed together for years, had several children, and yet remained as boyfriend and girlfriend. Being together, having children, and raising them jointly didn't necessarily mean they would get married. In fact, it was not uncommon for some to walk down the aisle only after having multiple kids. Because of this environment, elderly couples in the West often limited their relationships to dating, and at most, cohabitation. Very few progressed to the stage of marriage. However, Yolden, like a young man in the throes of passionate love, had invited her on a trip, secretly prepared a proposal ceremony by the seaside, and gotten down on one knee with a ring to propose. These actions deeply moved Matilda and, at the same time, gave her an unprecedented sense of security. Now, Yolden had moved their wedding up a big step and set the date just on