CHAPTER 696: CHAPTER 696: MASTER, I WAS WRONG

The black wave of energy pressed the air as it rolled toward her.

In the nick of time, Scarlett Jennings was grabbed by the arm and pulled into an embrace.

Familiar golden light enveloped her completely.

Samuel Chalmers turned with her in his arms, pressing her tightly against him, shielding her with his back from the black energy wave.

The Benedict jade piece, just infused with Jade Spirit Energy, seemed to sense something, and suddenly a massive tortoise shell barrier expanded, covering everyone within.

Simultaneously, an explosive sound thundered throughout the entire building.

Everyone around poked their heads out from various corners in shock, trying to understand what had happened.

The hot pot restaurant patrons, waiting for their table, curiously tried to get closer, only to be stopped promptly by attentive staff.

"Just sit tight, I’ll find out for you!"

With that, the staff member darted off quickly.

Meanwhile, the reception room was left in shambles.

The barrier where Scarlett Jennings initially landed, alongside Adam Jennings and Grace, had been melted into streams of black water like the previous talisman.

The black water ran down from the barrier raised by the Benedict jade, hitting the floor and immediately sizzling with black smoke.

The system, having flown too high before, wasn’t covered by the Benedict’s barrier. The dense black mist that originally surrounded it was blasted away, leaving only a shallow layer, with black water now clinging to the tortoise shell.

Right after the explosion, Scarlett Jennings broke free from Samuel Chalmers’s embrace, first pulling him to examine carefully. Only after noticing the familiar tortoise shell barrier above did she let out a sigh of relief.

Yet, she still couldn’t help but glare at Samuel Chalmers.

For the second time.

This person always suddenly appeared, making presumptuous decisions to take the damage for her.

The last time, he shielded her from the Heavenly Dao’s Fire Thunder.

This time, again...

"I’m fine."

Samuel Chalmers paused, then added in a deep voice,

"I’m fine, and I don’t want you to get hurt either."

"I can protect myself."

Scarlett Jennings continued to stare at him intently, "Unless you don’t trust me."

Samuel Chalmers, resigned, softened his tone,

"Alright, it won’t happen again."

Only then did Scarlett Jennings finally relax her expression, her mind at ease, and turned to look at Adam Jennings and the Grace on the ground.

After the black smoke cleared, the eerie figure from earlier was nowhere to be seen in the room, likely having fled before the explosion.

Adam Jennings was safe beside Benedict, but the situation looked grim for Grace on the floor; its body was damaged, and its spiritual energy was considerably weakened...

[And me...]

The system’s weak voice came through, reminding Scarlett Jennings of the overlooked presence.

Following the voice, she found the system sprawled on the floor, its tortoise shell faintly emitting a black aura.

It was the resentful aura released by the explosion of the Black Mist Ball.

Clearly, the explosion wasn’t the endgame; these resentful auras were the real threat.

Sticking a talisman on the system’s tortoise shell, Scarlett Jennings quickly set up an array in the room.

To prevent these auras from dispersing and affecting the surroundings, the array was needed to seal the resentful auras in.

While Scarlett Jennings was busy working, Shen Shao and the manager from Jade Firm, having heard the commotion, rushed over. Seeing the mess of the explosion in the reception room, their expressions were complicated.

Samuel Chalmers stepped forward and said directly,

"The Chalmers Family will cover all losses here. If you’d prefer to switch to a different store, I’ll have my assistant come by, and you can coordinate with them directly."

Shen Shao, naturally recognizing Samuel Chalmers, hurriedly replied,

"There’s no need for compensation for such a small loss. I’m just relieved that nothing happened to Mr. Samuel or Master Jennings here. There’s really no need."

Shen Shao repeatedly waved his hands, and Samuel Chalmers didn’t say much more, planning to send his assistant to handle it later.

As they spoke, Scarlett Jennings had already completed her work. Seeing the arriving police cars and fire department, she also made a call to the Security Bureau to coordinate the response.

After resolving these matters, she finally walked to the corner to check on the barely alive Grace.

Its spiritual body was damaged, and spiritual energy depleted. Although the explosion hadn’t directly affected it, its weak state had left it tainted with some resentful auras.

Seeming to know it wouldn’t end well, it lay there, giving Scarlett Jennings a weak smile,

"Are you going to capture me?"

Scarlett Jennings didn’t answer its question but rather asked,

"You and that Mr. Nen have been creating so many fake jade antiques to replace the originals to absorb the spiritual energy from those genuine pieces, haven’t you?"

"You already know the answer, so why ask..."

Grace’s voice was lazy, as if tired of speaking.

Scarlett Jennings looked at it for a long moment before suddenly saying,

"You are a jade spirit, knowing the spiritual energy in legacy pieces is different from ordinary jade, but did you know that people, especially craftsmen who create, also have spiritual energy?"

Seeing it glance at her, Scarlett continued in a calm tone,

"The spiritual energy in craftsmen, often called inspiration by ordinary people, does not disappear for no reason.

When you cooperated with Mr. Nen, did you never consider that besides drawing the spiritual energy from the jade, he might also draw the energy from people?"

At Scarlett Jennings’s words, the already resigned Grace’s pupils suddenly trembled.

Then, inch by inch, disbelief rippled through its eyes.

"No, it can’t be..."

Its voice trembled, its spiritual body appearing increasingly fragile.

If what she said was true, then its master’s suicide...

"You’re lying to me!"

With eyes filled with hatred, it glared at Scarlett Jennings, "You’re saying this to make me betray Mr. Nen..."

"Believe it or not, that’s up to you."

Scarlett Jennings said, "But there’s one thing I can tell you very certainly."

Grace thought she was about to utter more provocative words, but instead, her voice was soft, and she said gently,

"You mentioned you are an imitation, but perhaps you forgot one thing—

There are no two identical leaves in the world, just as I don’t believe there are two identical jade cabbages in the world.

Rather than saying you are a replica, I believe more that you are the last piece he left, truly imbued with his spiritual essence before losing it."

Otherwise, she couldn’t explain why a replica could undergo a spirit transformation so smoothly, without a trace of evil.

Grace listened dazedly to her words, stunned in place.

In its mind, it faintly recalled the man’s inexplicably gentle look before his suicide, the last time he gazed at it.

It always thought it hadn’t been destroyed because it was an insignificant replica.

But what if it wasn’t?

What if, according to Scarlett Jennings, it was actually the last work he left in the world, carrying his soul...

Would he be angry at the things it helped Mr. Nen do?

Tears uncontrollably fell from its eyes, and Grace trembled violently, and in the next second, it couldn’t help but wail loudly.

"Woooo..."

Like a child, sobbing, crying incessantly.

It thought, if that person were still alive, he would surely be very disappointed, right?

It had truly made a mistake.

Master...

I’m sorry.