Ch. 1766..1770: The Secretly Rich Man Chapter 1766-1770
Chapter 1766
Chapter 1766 “So what you’re saying is that the spiders will only attack those who touch the treasures?” asked Gerald.
Watching as Old Flint nodded, Gerald and his party were instantly shocked. To think that the spiders would actually select their prey…
Meanwhile, Lech and his remaining team members were being swallowed alive by the gigantic spiders! It was truly a gruesome sight…
Staring at Gerald—who was still standing by the door—the pitiful Lech who was getting devoured could only plead, “B-brother Crawford…! Please, save us…!”
“H-Help! Please…!” screamed the other agonized members of Lech’s team as well.
Even so, there was nothing that Gerald could do. All of them had taken the cursed treasures due to their immense greed. In other words, they had brought all this upon themselves. With that in mind, Gerald could only watch helplessly as they continued screaming and getting eaten…
Lech himself was torn clean in half before being tossed right into the abyss…
As for the rest of his team members, they were completely swallowed up by the smaller spiders, and all that was left of them now were puddles of blood…
It had barely even taken minutes for Lech and his group to be completely taken out…
Regardless, now that Lech and his men had been dealt with, the giant spiders then turned to eye Gerald and his party.
Though Gerald and his party vigilantly stared back at them, in the end, the spiders never made a move on them. Instead, they simply returned into the abyss under the stone bridge along with the smaller spiders…
This was naturally a pleasant surprise for Gerald and his group. To think that the spiders would actually leave them be! With their worst fears now over, they could all finally take breaths of relief…
Ray himself—who had earlier been anxious out of his mind—couldn’t help but sit on the ground, finally able to catch his breath now that the danger had passed. After a while, the still jittery Ray then turned to face Gerald and Old Flint before saying, “That was way too nerve-wracking, Gerald! Thankfully you warned us about not touching the treasure, Old Flint! Otherwise, we would’ve surely suffered the same fate!”
After nodding in agreement, Gerald and Old Flint then began heading over to where Lech’s teammates had died… Even from afar, all the treasure they had been carrying could be seen lying in piles on the ground…
As they got closer, Gerald’s nose couldn’t help but twitch, prompting him to ask, “…Do you smell that?”
Smelling the same light scent that Gerald was, Old Flint then explained, “…This is sandalwood incense. The vampires must have used this to lure the spiders! It appears that this is how the ‘curse’ operates!”
Feeling enlightened, Gerald then replied, “So what you’re saying is that the smell—that had originated from the treasure—ended up transferring onto Lech and his men after they touched them? And that the spiders only attack those who have the smell lingering around them? If that’s the case, everything makes sense now!”
As it turned out, the ‘curse’ was merely an overstatement. In the end, it was an explainable phenomenon that simply required a little more investigation…
Shaking his head, Old Flint then sighed before saying, “Still, they only have themselves to blame… Had they not been greedy enough to touch the treasure, the spiders wouldn’t have attacked them in the first place!”
As the saying went, you reap what you sow…
Whatever the case was, Gerald wasn’t interested in thinking any further about it anymore. Some things and people were simply destined to be ruined. While he wanted to say that Lech was simply unlucky, it was honestly not that much of a surprise that he ended up dying this way…
Chapter 1767
Chapter 1767 Soon after, Gerald and the others returned to the chamber once more…
However, once inside, they were suddenly greeted by odd knocking sounds…
Now feeling vigilant, Ray couldn’t help but look at Gerald as he asked, “…Do you hear that, brother Gerald?”
Nodding, Gerald then replied, “I do.”
With that, all five of them immediately began looking for the exact source of the sound… until eventually, Gerald realized that it was coming from the very center of the round platform in the chamber…
“…The sound is coming from over there!” said Gerald as he pointed at the platform.
Hearing that, everyone quickly gathered around the platform before pressing their ears onto it… True enough, now that their ears were directly on the platform, the constant knocking became even clearer! Upon closer inspection, the knocking sounded almost rhythmic as well.
“…Do… you think someone could be trapped inside, Gerald…?” asked Ray.
“…Judging from the rhythmic knocking, that may just be the case!” replied Gerald, feeling that only a living thing would be capable of making such varied knocking.
After a slight pause, Gerald then instructed, “…Investigate the platform, Ray! We may be able to open it up!”
Hearing that, Ray instantly did as he was told. After a while, he noticed something odd.
Pointing at an obscure pull ring on the round platform, Ray then said, “Gerald, I think I’ve found something!”
Walking over to have a look, Gerald could see that a chain was attached to the pull ring. In other words, it could definitely be pulled.
“…All of you, stand back! I’m pulling the ring! The second you feel that something’s wrong, I want you to leave this place immediately!” ordered Gerald as he looked at the rest of his party members.
Once they were quite a distance away from him, Gerald then began tugging the pull ring…
As Gerald closed his eyes tight—since he needed quite a bit of force to even tug the pull ring—the others held their breaths as they kept their eyes glued on the round platform, ready to bolt if anything bad happened.
Regardless, the clanking of chains soon began echoing across the chamber…
After a little while, Gerald couldn’t be bothered tugging slowly anymore and simply yanked the chain— that was several meters in length—till it could no longer be tugged.
Now that the chain couldn’t be tugged any further, the round platform slowly split in two, revealing an opening in the middle of it!
Seeing that, Ray and the others didn’t dare to move an inch, simply remaining vigilant as they waited to see what would happen next…
Gerald—being the fearless person he was—on the other hand, simply tossed the chain onto the ground before walking toward the now open platform…
Staring into the hole, Gerald couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows…
Chapter 1768
Chapter 1768 Imprisoned at the bottom, appeared to be a strong, long-haired, ape-like creature…
“…What’s down there, Brother Gerald?” asked Ray in a whispery voice.
Looking at them, Gerald then quietly signaled for them to come over to have a look for themselves.
Seeing that, the other members of Gerald’s party then crept over before peering down as well.
Looking at Old Flint, Gerald then asked, “…Do you have any idea what that is, Old Flint…?”
After seemingly thinking for a while, Old Flint then replied, “…If my eyes do not deceive me, that should be a black gibbon. I recall a tale about the vampires raising a black gibbon and using it to help them catch humans… Perhaps this is the one!”
As Gerald’s eyes widened, Ray quickly said, “Then… this black gibbon must be a fierce beast! It’s best that we keep it locked under the platform!”
True enough, such a vicious black gibbon couldn’t be allowed to run free. Otherwise, it would surely spell trouble! Unfortunately, Ray had said that a bit too late.
After all, the beast had long broken free of its chains, and it had simply been trapped beneath the round platform for the longest time. Now that the platform was finally open, however, it naturally wanted to escape.
With that in mind, the second Ray’s sentence ended, an ear-piercing roar could be heard! A split second later, the black gibbon leaped right out from the bottom of the platform that was at least a few meters high! What superior jumping capabilities!
Seeing that, Gerald and the others instantly backed away as they vigilantly stared into the eyes of the beast. The gibbon itself stared back at each of them before beating its chest!
Before anyone could react, the beast bolted right out of the chamber, disappearing from view!
Since it hadn’t attacked them, all of them found themselves feeling slightly confused. Then again, they weren’t complaining. After all, at the very least, they now had one less problem to worry about…
“…Alright, we need to start looking for the exit. We shouldn’t stay here any longer!” declared Gerald. After all, who knows what other dangers they would face here.
While it was true that the gibbon and spiders hadn’t chosen to attack them, it didn’t mean that there weren’t any other threats down here. Gerald himself believed that they shouldn’t push their luck by staying down here for any longer…
Regardless, after hearing that, Ray, Juno, and Nori readily agreed. After all, they had all been eager to leave this place for a while now. Old Flint himself simply agreed calmly. After all, being used to such situations, fear was the last thing on his mind.
Whatever the case was, Gerald and the others then began looking for the exit…
Instead of an exit, however, the party soon bumped into what appeared to be the entrance of another chamber…
Upon entering, they were instantly greeted by the sight of a sandalwood casket decorated with gold trims… The casket itself was suspended a few meters above the ground by four chains that held onto its corners…
“My god! I never imagined all this to be within a mountain! What a massive place!” exclaimed Ray, his eyes widened. For Ray, this entire trip had been incredible, and nearly everything that had happened
had amazed him…
Old Flint himself slowly walked to the bottom of the casket. After examining it for a while, his voice almost sounded emotional as he muttered, “This… This must be where the vampires buried their ancestors…! This casket must have belonged to the first ancestor of the vampires…!”
“What? But that means this casket must have been here for thousands of years!” exclaimed Gerald.
Chapter 1769
Chapter 1769 “Indeed. Countless people have attempted to locate the casket of the first vampire ancestor in order to obtain the vampiric pearl within it…” replied Old Flint with a nod.
“The vampiric pearl? You came here looking for that, right?” asked Gerald.
“It is. The vampiric pearl is a treasure of the vampires that’ll allow me to obtain a new body!” explained Old Flint.
Upon hearing that, Gerald simply nodded. While the treasure certainly sounded intriguing, he wasn’t all that interested in it. After all, he had only come here to help Old Flint out.
Regardless, after properly inspecting it, Gerald then said, “…Well, it seems safe enough. Let’s open the casket!”
Hearing that, Old Flint then nodded, eager to finally be able to get his hands on the vampiric pearl.
Seeing no objections from Old Flint, Gerald then turned to face Juno and Nori before saying, “You two, stay a distance from us! If anything goes wrong, run for it, understand?”
Naturally, Juno and Nori obeyed. Quickly walking toward the entrance, both of them then stood still, not daring to move around too much as they waited for Gerald and the other two to begin uncovering the casket…
Seeing that the girls were now at a safe distance, Gerald then faced Ray before instructing, “Ray, come over here! You’re in charge of unchaining those two corners while I unchain these two!”
Once both of them got into position, Gerald and Ray then slowly began unchaining the casket… and once the final chains were released, the casket fell to the ground with a loud ‘thud’, instantly sending a cloud of dust flying all over the place!
Since the casket had been here for thousands of years, it wasn’t all that surprising for it to be this dusty. Whatever the case was, their next step was to open it…
“…Alright, stand there and help me push the lid off!” ordered Gerald.
“Sure thing, Gerald!” replied Ray as he did as he was told…
Following that, Gerald then pushed hard to open the lid of the casket… and soon enough, the contents inside were plain for all to see.
Everyone close enough was greeted by the sight of a body that couldn’t decay any further as well as several treasures that had been placed along with the corpse.
Seeing that, Old Flint instantly began investigating the contents of the coffin…
“Where could the vampiric pearl be…?” asked Gerald in a curious tone.
However, before Old Flint could come up with an answer, Gerald—who had noticed that the vampire’s throat was bulging slightly—quickly added, “…I… I think it’s in his throat!”
With that said, Gerald then took a small knife out before slicing open the corpse’s throat… And sure enough, a blood-red pearl soon revealed itself! It was the legendary vampiric pearl!
Handing it to Old Flint, Gerald then asked, “This should be it, right?”
The old man’s hands now quivering, Old Flint then emotionally replied, “…Yes… Yes, it is… I’ve finally found it… The vampiric pearl…! To think that it would be so well preserved…!”
Despite the joyous occasion, it was around then when the vampire’s body crumbled into ashes before promptly disappearing…
Seeing this, Gerald couldn’t help but frown slightly. For some reason, he felt that something was off…
Regardless, the old man quickly began mumbling excitedly to himself as he walked over to a lone corner to admire the pearl…
While his behavior was slightly odd, Gerald and Ray simply exchanged glances with one another. Whatever the case was, their mission was complete now that they had obtained the pearl. With that in mind, it meant that it was high time they finally left this horrible place…
With that, Gerald then said, “…Alright, since we’ve got what we wanted, let’s hurry and leave this place already!”
Chapter 1770
Gerald Crawford: The Secretly or invisible Rich Man Chapter 1770 Naturally, Nori, Juno, and Ray agreed to that without a second thought.
As they quickly gathered their things to prepare to leave, Ray couldn’t help but notice that Old Flint was still standing in the same corner, though he was now trembling for some reason…
Finding it slightly odd, Ray then called out, “Old Flint, we’re about to leave now!”
However, the second his sentence ended, Ray’s eyes widened when Old Flint turned back to glare at him, his eyes now fully crimson…
Shivering in fear, Ray then yelled, “Um, G-Gerald? Something’s wrong with Old Flint…!”
Hearing that, he turned to look at the old man and quickly found himself shocked to see Old Flint’s state as well.
“…Old Flint…? What’s wrong?” asked Gerald in a serious tone, his eyebrows furrowed.
Unfortunately for them, this wasn’t the Old Flint they used to know anymore.
While his appearance remained the same, the red-eyed being before them was now nothing more than a blood-craving monster…
“Gerald, look at his throat! There’s a red glow there!” yelled Ray, prompting Gerald to focus his gaze there.
True to Ray’s observation, there really was a red glow there, and it was then when Gerald understood what was happening.
Old Flint must have swallowed the vampiric pearl! As a result, he was now a bloodthirsty vampire!
With a bloodcurdling roar, everyone watched wide-eyed as blood dripped from the corners of Old Flint’s widened mouth… before the old man bolted for Gerald and his party!
Vampires loved consuming the fresh blood of the living the most… With that in mind, Gerald knew that Old Flint now saw him and his party as nothing more than a meal!
Understanding that, Gerald quickly rushed forward while yelling, “Get out! All of you! I’ll deal with him!”
Upon hearing that, Ray instantly began dragging Juno and Nori out of the area, the trio then hiding not too far off to observe what would happen next.
Gerald himself immediately summoned his Astrabyss Sword before slashing it onto Old Flint!
However, what followed was a loud, ‘clunk’! As it turned out, not only was the sword ineffective against the old man, but Old Flint’s body was now as hard as steel! From the looks of it, the old man’s skin was now probably sword and bulletproof!
Seeing that Gerald was fighting back, Old Flint—who no longer recognized Gerald—attempted to claw at the youth, though Gerald was able to dodge his attack by taking a step back.
Growling in annoyance, the old man then leaped at Gerald, attempting to pin him down! Of course, Gerald wasn’t about to give him that chance. After waiting for the perfect moment, Gerald retaliated with a kick, sending the old man flying backward!
While Gerald managed to avoid getting attacked, Old Flint himself looked perfectly fine as he got to his feet again. From the looks of it, Gerald’s powerful kick probably felt like nothing more than a tickle to the old man…
Roaring in anger, Old Flint quickly began charging toward Gerald again, this time more frantic than before!
In response, Gerald tossed out what seemed to be a ghostly chain as he yelled, “Soul Chain!”
The chain itself flew toward the old man before wrapping itself around Old Flint’s body! Now bound, Old Flint began thrashing around, desperately trying to free himself.
With how violent the old man was, Gerald couldn’t help but think that had he used rope instead of the Soul Chain, Old Flint would’ve broken free by now…
Regardless, seeing that the old man was temporarily bound, Gerald wordlessly bolted toward Old Flint before poking at his throat!
And just like that, the vampiric pearl came flying right out of Old Flint’s mouth!
The second it was out, Old Flint appeared to calm down considerably, his eyes quickly returning to their initial color… As it turned out, the vampiric pearl truly was the culprit…
Whatever the case was, Old Flint soon regained his consciousness… Now sobered up, the first thing the old man asked was, “…What… What happened to me…?”