Chapter 123: A Tenacious Life
Chapter 123: Chapter 123: A Tenacious Life
Mrs. Jennings was furious. The others had no doubt that if circumstances allowed, she would have immediately hopped on a plane to Jarden and given that Miss Lynch a couple of hard slaps.
Warren Jennings had to do a lot of convincing, proving that the two kids hadn’t truly suffered any harm, before Mrs. Jennings finally let it go for the time being.
But once she calmed down, she couldn’t help but feel a little ashamed of her previous suspicions about Arabella Donovan. At the same time, she was grateful that Mrs. Donovan had found her daughter in time, giving her son a glimmer of hope.
However, Brandon Jennings and his father had also made it very clear to his mother and younger brother beforehand that Arabella Donovan wasn’t certain she could completely solve his brother’s problem. If things didn’t meet their expectations, they absolutely could not blame her.
Mrs. Jennings was not an unreasonable person to begin with, so hearing her husband and son say this, she shot them a look.
"The girl is willing to help, and that alone is a blessing our family should be praying for. To not be grateful and even blame her? Do you think your mother is the kind of person who repays kindness with ingratitude?"
Brandon Jennings: "..." ’Great. Now I’m the one being petty.’
For all these reasons, Mrs. Jennings was already seeing Arabella Donovan through rose-colored glasses before they even met. On the day they finally did, she recognized her brand-new niece almost at a glance, taking Arabella’s small hand and warmly leading her inside.
"You must be Serena. Your uncle told me all about you. You poor child, you must have suffered a lot all these years. But it’s alright, you’re back now. From now on, if you’re ever wronged out there, just tell your parents or your uncle and me. We’ll stand up for you and make sure no one bullies you!"
Although it wasn’t a weekend, the Donovan family were all concerned about Eugene Jennings’s condition and worried that Arabella Donovan might be in danger coming here, so everyone had come along.
Seeing this, they instinctively turned to look questioningly at the Jennings father and son.
Brandon Jennings gave a helpless shrug, a look on his face that said he had no idea how to explain it either.
Arabella Donovan just assumed her aunt was trying to butter her up because of her cousin’s situation and sighed to herself. ’What a parent will do for their child.’
She quickly puffed out her chest and said, "Don’t worry, Auntie, I won’t let anything happen to my cousin. Even if my skills aren’t sharp enough to solve this, I can call my master. My master is incredible!"
Mrs. Jennings was so moved her eyes welled up. "Yes, yes, of course. You’re such a good child."
Arabella Donovan: "???" ’Something feels a little off.’
As it turned out, there was no need for Arabella Donovan’s unreliable old master to get involved.
The moment she stepped into the hospital room, Arabella Donovan sensed an unusual presence, which made her instinctively cover her nose and take half a step back.
The others, who were already watching her closely, immediately looked over. "Serena, what’s wrong?"
"There’s a harsh smell in here. Don’t you smell it?"
"A harsh smell?" Aurora Donovan sniffed the air twice. "The smell of disinfectant?"
"It’s like..." Arabella Donovan uncovered her nose slightly to take a sniff. "The smell of blood."
"The smell of blood?" Mrs. Donovan exclaimed in surprise. "Eugene, are you injured?"
Eugene Jennings looked completely baffled. "No, I’m not."
Even the other members of the Jennings Family couldn’t help but pale. They secretly wondered, ’Could the reason for Eugene Jennings’s unexplained weakness be some internal bleeding we haven’t found?’
But that didn’t make sense. After all, they had run a whole battery of tests on him. If there were any internal bleeding, it would have been found.
Arabella Donovan stared at Eugene Jennings for a long moment before suddenly shifting her gaze to the nightstand by his bed.
"What’s in there?"
All eyes instantly snapped to the nightstand. Brandon Jennings was the first to react, walking over and pulling the drawer open. The contents were revealed.
Everyone instinctively stared, seeing a piece of red-and-white Ancient Jade. It looked ordinary, nothing special.
Arabella Donovan, however, saw at a glance the black mist and bloody aura roiling on it like thick smoke. She silently took another half step back.
Her action made her opinion perfectly clear. Brandon Jennings instinctively pulled his hand back and asked timidly, "Is there a problem with this Peaceful Coin?"
"A huge problem," Arabella Donovan said, her voice muffled from behind her hand. "If I’m not mistaken, this is... a burial good."
"A burial good?!" The Jennings family members in the room nearly started screaming their heads off.
The members of the Donovan Family couldn’t help but stare wide-eyed as well. "Why would there be a burial good in Eugene’s room?"
After the initial shock, the eyes of the Jennings family all landed on Warren Jennings.
"Warren, what in the world is going on? This thing..."
"It was a gift from a friend I’ve had for years. He said jade nourishes a person, and that a Peaceful Coin represents peace and good health," Warren Jennings said, his face as black as thunder. He clearly never expected a man he considered a good brother for so many years would stab him in the back.
"Jade can indeed nourish a person, but that doesn’t include this piece right here." Arabella Donovan took a handkerchief from her brother, covering her mouth and nose before daring to step closer and get a clear look at the piece of jade.
"This Blood Jade was placed in the coffin with its owner as a burial good. And judging by its texture and color, it was most likely placed in the owner’s mouth, where it absorbed their resentment and blood energy after death, turning it into what you see now."
Hearing Arabella Donovan’s explanation, everyone in the hospital room felt a chill run down their spine. ’What kind of person shoves something into a dead person’s mouth?!’
As the primary victim, Eugene Jennings was covered in goosebumps. Not long after his dad had brought the jade home, he had taken a liking to it and started wearing it.
The whole time, that thing had been lying on his chest, with him as he ate and slept. He only took it off after being admitted to the hospital, and even then, he’d kept it as close to him as possible.
Eugene Jennings was already creeped out just knowing the item was a burial good.
Now that he knew it had been pulled from a dead person’s mouth, he wanted nothing more than to run out, jump into a river, and scrub himself a hundred times over to get clean.
"Items taken from a tomb are naturally heavy with negative energy, and the longer they’re out, the stronger it gets. Judging from the quality of this jade, it’s probably an antique. And looking at the Evil Energy clinging to it... I’m afraid its owner died a violent death."
"What’s the significance of that?"
"Those who die violent deaths harbor the most resentment; they are unwilling to let go. To put it bluntly, this jade is saturated with negative energy. The person who wears it becomes steeped in that resentment and Evil Energy, causing their emotions to become unstable and their body to grow weaker by the day. Uncle, when did you get this item?"
"A little over a month ago. But I’m not fond of wearing jade, so I just left it in my study after I brought it home. Later, your cousin saw it, took a liking to it, and started wearing it."
"And how long did he wear it before all this happened?"
"About half a month. He took it off when he fainted and was brought to the hospital."
Arabella Donovan silently glanced at Eugene Jennings, a look of pity in her eyes.
’He’s incredibly lucky. He wore it for half a month and only fainted. It looks like my cousin is still a virgin. His original Polar Energy hasn’t been depleted, so his strong Polar Energy must have suppressed it. Otherwise...’
Everyone in the room: "!!!"
Eugene Jennings: "..."