Ch. 2426..2430: The Secretly Rich Man Chapter 2426-2430
Chapter 2426
“Enough! Bring the Second Young Mistress out now!” ordered the woman with a huff.
Once Fae was brought out, the woman helped the siblings up before saying, “I apologize… My younger sister is rather spoiled, which leads to her being unreasonable at times… Here’s a hundred thousand dollar cheque. I hope this’ll be enough as compensation for what my sister has done…”
Shortly after saying that, the woman wrote and presented that cheque for the two, though the siblings were clearly too afraid to take it. Instead, the sister simply bowed toward the woman and Gerald before running off with her brother.
Upon seeing that, the woman helplessly shook her head before turning to face her valet and saying, “Find out where they live and hand them the cheque.”
With all that done, she finally turned to look at Gerald before adding, “I’m sorry you had to see all that… Did my sister hurt you?”
“She didn’t, though she really needs to be disciplined,” replied Gerald, prompting the woman to nod with a smile before leaving with her valet.
And just like that, the incident was over. After they headed back upstairs, the professor couldn’t help but smile as he said, “With how similar they look, those two are definitely sisters. However, to think that one is so unruly while the other so elegant. That aside, it’s a good thing the elder sister could handle that little monster. Otherwise, the siblings would have suffered!”
“Fae’s sister… Isn’t what she appears to be… Haven’t you noticed that Fae feared her?” replied Saint Darkwind.
“Huh? Where’s this coming from, Mr. Darkwind?” asked the confused professor.
Chuckling in response, Saint Darkwind then explained, “Well, you couldn’t sense it since you’re only cultivating your inner strength. However, the three of us could see that that woman was cultivating essential qi. That, in itself, is rather unusual!”
Gerald had to agree. As Walter had previously said, there truly seemed to be many solitary cultivators pretending to be commoners and even having day to day jobs hiding in the secular world…
It reminded the boy of some news he came across years ago, regarding people suddenly disappearing while walking around on the streets. Though he had assumed that those were simply fake news at the time-since he hadn’t entered the cultivation realm yet back then, Gerald now knew that the disappearing individuals were most probably cultivators.
“Indeed… It seems that people are getting more and more talented across the generations. After all, I had assumed that those in the secular world could only cultivate their inner strength. To think that that lass from earlier was already cultivating essential qi! How rare!” muttered Lyndon.
“I have a feeling that her essential qi is different from ours, ” said Gerald.
Seeing how puzzled Lyndon looked, Saint Darkwind gave an apologetic smile before replying, “I know what Mr. Crawford is talking about… Since you were brought up in the cultivation realm-till the day you became the head of the Thunder Sword Sect-, you have seen little of the secular world, Mr. Moldell. With that in mind, it only makes sense for Mr. Crawford to know more about the secular world…”
“Fair enough. It was the only reason why Ryder was able to trick me. Regardless, how is her essential qi different?” asked the curious Lyndon.
“Well, there are three main variations of essential qi. The first is essential qi from heaven, which is the type of essential qi we’re using. You see, the essential qi in our bodies is from heaven and earth, and we use the holy spirits from heaven and earth as the foundation of our cultivation. With that in mind, heaven is our source of power…”
“Fun fact, all the cultivators in the cultivation realm utilize essential qi from heaven,” added Saint Darkwind.
“Moving on to the second type, we commonly refer to it as demon power. The cultivation techniques used to cultivate this type of essential qi are very different from ours. The beings who use this kind of essential qi are called demons, and they normally rely on absorbing the masculine aura of commoners to balance out their feminine auras. This allows them to take the shape of humans. That aside, some powerful demons are even able to absorb the masculine auras of cultivators when they’re at their peak!” said Gerald.
“The Corpse Demonic Spider is a good example of a Demon that utilizes demonic essential qi. It only takes that form since it hasn’t fully evolved yet,” explained Saint Darkwind.
“Indeed… Now for the third type, it’s called devilish essential qi, and it’s pretty similar to demonic essential qi. Daryl is a prime example of this. After all, he killed so many cryptic family heirs just to obtain their bloodline spiritual essence in hopes of enhancing his power and becoming a devil!”
After listening to their conversation, Professor Boyle whose interest had been piqued was prompted to ask, “So… Are you saying that the elegant woman earlier was actually a demon or a devil…?”
Chapter 2427
“Not exactly… From what Mr. Crawford and I could see, she’s still human, though she cultivates demonic essential qi! With that in mind, her strength should be somewhere between the Morningstars and the Weirs,” explained Saint Darkwind.
“I agree. Aside from that, she seems to have just recently started cultivating as well. I have to say that her elegant temperament really hides her evilness well!” added Lyndon.
“Indeed… Now I’m starting to get worried about those siblings. After all, if that woman is truly evil, then the siblings are in for more trouble!” muttered Gerald as he shook his head.
“Shall I tail them?” asked Lyndon, as he hopped to his feet.
“That isn’t necessary. I’ve already locked onto them with my holy sense. Also, speak of the devil, I can sense that woman going after them now… Alright, that settles it. I want you and the professor to remain here while I head over with Darkwind to see what that woman’s up to,” ordered Gerald.
Before Lyndon could reply, Gerald and Darkwind had already vanished into thin air…
It was sometime later in front of a shabby house, far in the suburbs, when the young boy from earlier asked,
“Are you alright, sister…?”
This place was clearly the siblings’ home. Either way, his sister quickly replied, “I’m fine. Thankfully someone stepped in to help us… After all, we could’ve easily been doomed for offending Second Young Mistress Zandt!”
“But I really didn’t steal anything…! At the start, she told me to show her my identity card, and almost immediately after, she accused me of stealing something from her!” explained the boy.
“I see… Why she did that was anyone’s guess… Regardless, we can’t afford to offend such people anymore… Now let’s head in and see if mother’s doing better…” muttered the girl, prompting both of them to enter the house.
Upon entering, however, the two were shocked to see so many people inside! Though most of them were unfamiliar faces, the duo immediately recognized the woman-who had saved them earlier-sitting there. Aside from her, there also seemed to be what appeared to be a doctor treating their mother.
Whatever the case was, the now anxious elder sister was prompted to ask, “W-what are you doing here, Eldest Young Mistress…?”
“Oh, I simply figured that your mother’s illness would never be cured if she only has you two to rely on. With that in mind, I brought over Peaceton’s famous Dr. Xenos to treat her. You don’t need to worry about her anymore. Also, take these million dollars. You can use the cash to get a more decent house, job, and life!” replied the Eldest Young Mistress with a smile.
“T- this is too much, Eldest Young Mistress…! We simply can’t accept all this…!” exclaimed the stupefied sister.
“Worry not, I’m not doing all this for free. I need something from your brother, you see… Not to worry, though. It’s nothing big and no harm will come to him. In fact, he should be completely fine after recuperating for two to three years!” declared the Eldest Young Mistress.
“H-huh…? What do you intend to do…?” asked the confused girl.
The second her sentence ended, a breeze began blowing out of the blue… and shortly after, both siblings as well as Dr. Xenos started feeling extremely dizzy… Within seconds, all three of them were unconscious. Seeing that, the Eldest Young Mistress then placed the eight-year-old boy on the table.
Getting close to his face, she then gave a tiny sniff and not long after, a long wisp of white smoke began exiting his forehead and entering the Eldest Young Mistress’s body! As more and more smoke continued flowing out, the boy’s face turned paler and paler…!
Once she was done, she gently patted the boy on the forehead before saying, “Make sure all the money is transferred into their account. If I find out that any of you took even a single cent, I’ll make sure you vanish from the world! Do I make myself clear?”
“Y-yes, Eldest Young Mistress…!” declared the bodyguards extremely respectfully as they gulped. They were all well aware that making Elaine Zandt, the Eldest Young Mistress angry would definitely result in their deaths…!
After a brief pause, one of the guards asked, “Um… Eldest Young Mistress…? Is there really a need to go through all this trouble…? After all, if you really wish to acquire children born at noon, then you can just use your family’s power to obtain them… In fact, you could probably get as many as you like without even needing to pay them this much!”
“Silence… I’ll have you know that I’m a cultivator, not a devil! That aside, please remind my sister not to interfere with my business from now on. She doesn’t need to get children for me!” ordered Elaine.
Chapter 2428
“Understood, Eldest Young Mistress!” declared the bodyguards with a nod. Following that, they swiftly left the house together with Dr. Xenos.
Unbeknownst to them, Gerald and Darkwind had been spying on them this entire time.
“Seems that she really is a demonic cultivator, Darkwind,” muttered Gerald as the duo entered the house.
“Indeed. All humans have three strands of masculine aura, and the masculine aura of children are always the purest… That aside, that Eldest Young Mistress is surprisingly a person of principle. She only took a single strand without even considering harming his life!” replied Saint Darkwind who had just checked on the boy.
“I agree. I’m tempted to investigate who’s teaching her these evil methods, but we simply have too much on our plates at the moment… I, for one, believe that she doesn’t know what she’s really getting into!” said Gerald who was relieved that the siblings were still doing fine.
“I’m curious to learn who’s teaching her all this as well. To think that there are cultivators who are reluctant to leave the secular world just because it’s more convenient for them to cultivate demonic essential qi here…
We truly live in a big world where anything could happen…! That aside, I agree that we should prioritize finding Marcel, Mr. Crawford.”
“Agreed,” replied Gerald, prompting the two to begin returning to the cafe.
While they were gone, Professor Boyle had been busy, back at the cafe calling every student of his that he could think of. Thankfully, after making several calls, he finally got Marcel’s current address.
With that in mind, once Gerald and Darkwind returned, he immediately told them his discovery, and the four then made their way to Peaceton’s Sleeping Dragon Villa, the place where Marcel and his many girlfriends lived.
***
Meanwhile in the manor itself, a dozen katana wielding samurai could be seen standing around Marcel’s subdued family members, which included his seven girlfriends, four old maids, and a gardener in his sixties…!
“Hand Marcel over! Don’t make me repeat myself…!” growled one of the samurai.
“W-we really have no idea where he is, Mr. Chiba…! He hasn’t returned in two months, and we haven’t been able to reach him at all…! We aren’t even sure if he’s still alive… !” wailed one of the terrified women.
“It seems that I won’t get the truth till blood is involved!” roared Mr. Chiba as he slashed his katana toward the woman’s neck…!
However, before the blade could slice through, a flash bolted past Mr. Chiba’s eyes and the next thing he knew, his perlicue was bleeding and his katana had been flung out of his grasp!
Watching as the katana that was now embedded in the wall quivered in place, Mr. Chiba growled in a poor Weston accent, “Who the hell did that?!”
“Your worst nightmare!” yelled an unfamiliar voice, and shortly after, an old man appeared out of thin air!
Before Mr. Chiba could even react, the new person had already slapped him at least a dozen times!
As Mr. Chiba-whose cheeks were now bleeding badly fell to the floor, his men quickly realized that three other people were slowly approaching them…!
Now terrified out of his mind, Mr. Chiba quickly stumbled to his feet making sure to grab his katana as well before yelling, “R-run…!”
Once Mr. Chiba and his men were gone, Lyndon quickly untied the frightened victims. The women themselves who had been particularly terrified couldn’t help but wail, “T-thank you, old man…! Thank you very much…!”
Gerald, on the other hand, walked up to the victims before saying, “Alright, settle down… There’s something I’d like to ask. Earlier, I heard you mention that Marcel had disappeared for two months now… Is that true?”
Chapter 2429
Upon hearing that, the seven women exchanged glances before nodding as they said, “Yes, we haven’t been able to contact him all this time… As you saw earlier, many people are looking for him… We don’t even know whether he’s still alive…”
“Could he really have died…? Are we too late?” muttered Lyndon.
“I don’t think so… Where was he last seen?” asked Gerald.
“The base! At the time, Chairman Lurvink had called and told me to transfer some of the assets to my name. Following that, he told me to send him some documents to the base, and that was the last I heard of him…” explained the old gardener out of the blue.
Turning to face the old man, Gerald then asked, “And he disappeared right after that…? Didn’t any of you head to the base to check on him?”
“Of course, we did! We even called the police. Unfortunately, no matter how many times we went there, the base remained completely empty…” replied one of the women.
“I see. Where is this base? And what’s it used for?” asked Gerald.
“Well… Chairman Lurvink uses the base for research. Our company runs a biological sciences business, you see. With that in mind, Chairman Lurvink usually has to travel from home, to the company, and finally to the base every day!” explained the old gardener.
“As for where it is… It’s in a deserted suburb south of the city. However, it’ll be useless even if you head there. After all, the samurais from earlier have already thoroughly searched the place!” added
another one of the women.
“I see… Do any of you know anything about Marcel’s wife and son, then?” asked Darkwind.
“I don’t think Chairman Lurvink has ever met them again ever since they separated around ten years ago… However, the chairman did order me to transfer money to them a few times to help with their living expenses.
Each transfer was about a million dollars. That aside, the last transfer happened around five years ago. As the one who manages Chairman Lurvink’s assets, I was curious why he suddenly stopped sending her money at the time. With that, I did some investigating and soon found out that his ex-wife’s account had long been closed!”
The old man’s reply made it clear that rather than a gardener, he was actually Marcel’s butler! Regardless, after hearing all that, Professor Boyle was prompted to ask, “One last question… You said that several people were looking for him. Who exactly are they? And why are they so keen on locating him?”
“It’s either due to debts or because they want research results… If there are any other reasons, I’m not too sure of them. After all, Chairman Lurvink never allowed us to enter his base!” replied the butler.
“I see… Well, I don’ t think staying here any longer will help. With that said, we’ll be taking our leave now,” said Gerald as he nodded at the group before leaving with his party.
On their way to Marcel’s base, that the butler had given them directions to, Professor Boyle couldn’t help but shake his head with a sigh before muttering, “It’s such a pity that Marcel’s dead… Our only lead is now exhausted!”
“We don’t know that for sure. Either way, let’s have a look around his base first!” replied Gerald. This was his best lead to date, and he wasn’t about to give in that easily! With that said, all four of them then
rushed to Marcel’s base.
Though the base itself was supposed to host a secret chamber within a subterranean steel structure, the base’s entrance was left wide open. That aside, upon entering, they quickly realized that the entire place was completely empty…
“Completely abandoned… Looks like Marcel’s truly either missing or dead by this point…” muttered the professor as he sighed again.
“Dead or alive, we have to find him!” replied Gerald with a slight frown. “Hmm? Are we not leaving yet, Mr. Crawford?” asked the confused Lyndon.
“Why the rush? Speaking of which, start using your divine sense to look for any potential secret entrances, Lyndon,” ordered Gerald as he placed his hands against his back.
“Right away!” replied Lyndon as he obeyed the boy’s orders.
It didn’t take long for Lyndon to raise a slight brow before saying, “Thank god you suggested that, Mr. Crawford. I can sense another floor right beneath us!” “Excellent. Move aside, everyone!” ordered Gerald.
Chapter 2430
“On it!” replied all three of them as they quickly made their way toward the exit.
Once they were all standing beyond the entrance, Gerald pinched his fingers together to form an aurablade and shortly after, he sent the blade flying toward the steel floor! A massive explosion ensued, and after the debris settled down, a large hole could be seen!
After peering into the hole, Gerald and the others hopped down and upon seeing all the equipment laying around, they quickly realized that the floor below was the real research lab!
“Thank god you told him to use his divine sense! I would’ve never imagined that this place would exist beneath the floor! To that Marcel even managed to fool us old people… That man is truly a master at concealing things!” grumbled Darkwind in a helpless tone.
“Indeed… Either way, it’s clear that someone’s trying to get us to stop trying to find Marcel. After all, with how barren the top floor is, anyone else would’ve surely been misled to believe that no clues to Marcel’s whereabouts would be found here,” replied Gerald.
“I agree. What an elaborate way to deter others!” added Darkwind with a nod.
“Regardless, let’s have a look around to see what we can find…” muttered Gerald as he closed his eyes and when he opened them again, two purple beams of light shot out, lighting the entire area!
After looking around for a bit, Gerald’s eyes fell on a safe. Raising a slight brow, the boy then walked up to it and with a single smack with his bare hands, the safe cracked before crumbling to pieces!
Now that its contents had been freed, Professor Boyle couldn’t help but drop his jaw. There was a corpse inside…!
“Good heavens!” exclaimed the shocked professor.
Naturally, the other three were equally taken aback, though they quickly snapped out of it when they realized just how familiar the corpse was. It took them a second, but everyone quickly realized that the corpse looked identical to the butler from earlier!
“What’s the big idea? Is this the real butler? He looks like he’s been dead for at least two months! That aside, who did we meet in the villa, then?” asked Lyndon whose brows were furrowed.
“We were all fooled. Marcel isn’t as simple as he appears! Either way, let’s rush back and ask him personally!” replied Gerald before immediately bolting back to the villa…!
Speaking of the villa, all the servants and maids there had just finished packing all the money up. As for the old man from before, his eyes were flickering as he ordered, “If everything’s packed up, we need to run! Quickly! The Chibas are incomparable to those people, and I feel that we won’t be able to keep our secret for much longer if we remain!”
“Do we really need to flee, Master…? They seemed to believe everything we said earlier… Won’t they just give up like the rest when they realize that nothing’s there?” asked one of the seven women.
“They aren’t ordinary people. Truth be told, even if they hadn’t chased those samurais out earlier, the Chibas would’ve still ended up getting poisoned from my colorless poison gas. With that in mind, the fact that those four weren’t affected by my gas at all is greatly alarming!” explained the old man just as a large truck stopped by the manor.
Hearing the truck, the old man then added, “Either way, we can’t stay here anymore. We’re moving to another province!”
With that order made, everyone quickly boarded the vehicle and once everything was good to go, the old man wasted no time and slammed on the gas! However, just before they got to the main road, the old man couldn’t help but feel his jaw drop.
Standing right in the middle of the road with his hands behind his back, was Lyndon! Quickly snapping out of it, the old man then honked at Lyndon while furiously yelling, “Do you want to die that badly? Move aside!”
However, Lyndon didn’t budge an inch! Seeing that, the old man roared, “Fine, be my guest!” Following that, the truck rammed straight into Lyndon!