Chapter 9: Stealing Talisman

Aunt Wu had not quite grasped the implication earlier, but later understood what Mrs. Guan and Miss Guan meant, and now she had a plausible excuse to defend herself against the slander by Scarlett Garrison.

Sure enough, as she spoke, Lucas Jennings, standing beside her, learned that there had indeed been prior context, and he looked at Scarlett Garrison with nothing but disgust,

"You're being too petty, Aunt Wu didn't even do anything to you, was there any need for this? Right after returning, you start causing trouble on the very first day, you're simply..."

Before he could finish the phrase "a home-wrecking spirit," he heard a voice beside him, cool and imposing, push gently toward him,

"Lucas Jennings."

With just those two words, he clammed up successfully and looked at his elder cousin, only to notice the smile on his face had cooled by several degrees, and he involuntarily shrank back without another word.

Yet, his dissatisfaction with Scarlett Garrison did not diminish by half in his eyes.

Now that Aunt Wu had Lucas Jennings standing up for her, she was brimming with confidence, straightening her back, a face full of the indignation of being wronged,

"If the young missus doesn't trust me, she can have someone search my room! I walk the straight path and sit upright, I'm not afraid of being searched! I may just be a maidservant, but I can't just let someone wrong me like this for no reason!"

The commotion here was getting quite loud, so naturally, all the house servants and stewards in the villa gathered, though none dared to come close.

They overheard the gist from a distance, and a few specks of resentment started brewing in their hearts against the young missus who had just returned.

It was said that the young missus was also raised in a wealthy household, now looking down from high above, likely seeing these nannies and servants as beneath her.

No one likes to be looked down upon, and naturally, their impression of the young missus who had just returned home was not favorable.

Luca Jennings, of course, noticed the servants' looks towards Scarlett Garrison, and as he watched her with a stern face, planning to halt this "farce", he heard Scarlett Garrison finally speak again, her voice neither hasty nor slow,

"When did I say she stole money?"

At this, several people present were taken aback.

Lucas Jennings was the first to speak out uncontrollably, "You just said yourself that Aunt Wu stole money, now you're denying it?"

Scarlett Garrison glanced at him, "I said she stole the Jennings Family's fortune."

It was Azura Loomis who had mentioned the stealing of money.

Whether it was to mislead others intentionally or a spontaneous misinterpretation, obviously everyone had been led astray by her words.

"Stealing fortune and directly stealing money are two different matters."

At least, nothing would be found by searching.

And it was with this assurance that she had been so brazen earlier about welcoming a search.

Listening to it, Lucas Jennings felt bewildered, thinking she was quibbling, "How can one steal fortune? Don't talk about these mystical things, it's all nonsense meant to deceive people."

Hearing this, Donovan Jennings looked at him again, his gaze full of warning.

Even if Scarlett was bluffing, with her status, what was the harm in bluffing a little?

Moreover, perhaps due to Scarlett's exceedingly calm and collected demeanor, Donovan Jennings had an inkling that what Scarlett said was true.

The elite circle did, to some extent, respect these sorts of metaphysical and feng shui masters. Even Jennings Group had a few familiar geomancy masters.

But his own sister... only eighteen years old, could she understand these concepts?

Donovan Jennings harbored his doubts, but unlike others, he did not think Scarlett Garrison was talking nonsense.

Scarlett Garrison could not be bothered to pay any more attention to the young man beside her who should be her cousin, instead turning back to Aunt Wu, suddenly pointing to a particular spot,

"What have you buried over there?"

She pointed toward a flowerbed in the corner of the garden, precisely the place where Aunt Wu had absentmindedly glanced while working earlier.

Already anxious and uncertain, Aunt Wu's heart skipped a beat the instant she saw Scarlett Garrison accurately pointing to the spot, and the cold sweat on her forehead almost slipped down.

Impossible, impossible.

She actually knows...

How could this be?

Luca Jennings saw Auntie Wu's reaction and was certain of something, turning his head to signal the butler, "You go."

The butler, already curious, quickened his pace towards the direction pointed out by Scarlett Garrison upon receiving the signal.

The onlookers moved along with the butler's actions, gathering by the flower bed.

Others were curious, but Lucas Jennings was utterly skeptical, following with an expression that seemed to challenge, "Let's see what you can come up with."

Then they saw Scarlett pointing at a certain plant's soil, and without a word, the butler squatted down and started digging with a trowel.

As the butler dug, Auntie Wu's face turned pale, and her legs began to wobble.

But at that moment, everyone's attention was on the butler, and no one noticed her complexion.

The soil of the flower bed was regularly refreshed, so it wasn't hard for the butler to dig, and in just a few moments, he had made a small hole. Immediately after, it appeared he hit something with his trowel, his eyes brightening.

"I've found it!"

As he said this, the butler dug out a black plastic package, tightly wrapped. He reached for the plastic layers and started unwrapping them.

It was at that moment of unwrapping that the onlookers could smell a foul stench emanating from a paper package within the plastic wrap.

The butler couldn't help but change his expression, holding back the urge to vomit, as he reached out to grab the paper package, but Scarlett suddenly stopped him,

"Don't touch it."

Everybody turned their heads to see Scarlett stepping forward, a yellow talisman appearing in her hand from nowhere. She pasted the talisman onto the paper package.

It might have been everyone's imagination, but the moment the talisman touched the paper package, the pages seemed to quickly darken and age.

The butler glanced at Scarlett again and saw her nod. Only then did he reach out, carefully opening the paper package with his gloves on.

Inside, the paper was red, seemingly ordinary red paper used for fortune-telling in temples, and as the paper unfolded, it revealed a set of birth characters written on it. The writing appeared as if it were penned in blood, now dried and blackened, still giving off a foul smell.

Besides, there seemed to be a few strands of hair in the package, along with a talisman marked with strange symbols.

Such an evil object was clearly buried here deliberately, and combining what Scarlett had said earlier, everyone could guess what these items were intended for.

But could it be true, that such things could actually steal one's wealth energy?

Lucas Jennings couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the items dug up, and immediately turned to look at Auntie Wu.

Auntie Wu's lips trembled, her face full of innocence, "No, it wasn't me who buried it. I really haven't seen these things before... Young Master, Miss, you must believe me..."

Lucas Jennings opened his mouth to speak, but Scarlett spoke indifferently,

"Whether it was you who buried it, we'll know after checking the surveillance cameras outside the villa."

She had already checked earlier; the surveillance around the Jennings Family villa almost covered every corner - it wasn't hard to investigate.

"The Stealing Talisman must be written with the blood of the transferor, which is you, and the hair wrapped inside is from the Jennings Family. To steal the Jennings Family's wealth energy through their bloodline, I'm not wrong, am I?"

Upon hearing this, Auntie Wu's entire body trembled, and she suddenly fell to the ground with a pale complexion.

With her reaction like this, it was clear to everyone present that she was definitely the one who had buried the package.

As for the hair, Auntie Wu had been working for the Jennings Family for many years; obtaining a few strands of hair from anyone in the family would be a breeze.

It remained unknown whose unlucky strands were included.

"Just because she buried it doesn't mean she stole whatever wealth energy, maybe..." Lucas Jennings was still stubborn, but Donovan Jennings shot him a cold glance from his peach-blossom eyes.

"Shut up, don't make me say it a second time."