Ch. 1076..1080: The Secretly Rich Man Chapter 1076-1080
Chapter 1076
Gerald Crawford:The Secretly Rich Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter 1076 Upon walking over to have a look for himself, he had to agree with her on how strange they looked.
From what he could see, the murals depicted how the people living here back then went about with their lives. However, some of the people that were painted looked extremely odd.
To put it simply, the murals seemed to be telling a story. Upon closer inspection, they seemed to tell the tale of the items that had been hidden in this stone room.
Noticing the Giya was also looking intently at the murals, Gerald then asked, “Do you understand what the murals are trying to say, Giya?”
“…W-what? What… did you just call me?” asked Giya as she immediately came to her senses and stared at Gerald, a blank expression on her face.
“…Why, Giya of course! I didn’t get your name wrong, did I? After all, I’ve heard quite a few people calling you that by this point!”
“…Y-you got it right… My name’s Giya, yes…” replied Giya as she felt her heart quivering slightly.
Shaking the feeling off, she then replied, “…I’m able to understand some of them… But the tale they tell is rather odd… The first mural here seems to say that something… incredibly odd happened, to say the least… From what I can gather, apparently strange corpses fell from the sky!”
“All the corpses were wearing odd-looking clothes as well, and they each bore strange appearances. The corpses seemed to have suffered a miserable death before falling from the sky… Regardless, it caused quite a stir back then since the locals were all superstitious. They believed that the corpses
were heavenly soldiers, so they planned to build them a tomb in order for the locals to make offerings to them!” explained Giya.
“Unbelievable, right…? As if corpses could just fall from the sky… I’m guessing that all this was just some fairy-tale they came up with!”
“Anyway… The second mural talks about the heavenly soldiers as well. Among the corpses, one of them seemed to be particularly more mysterious than the others. This heavenly soldier seemed to have received very special and different treatment from the locals. Based on the murals, it appears that they worshiped this particular corpse like a king, even going so far as to kowtow before him while they were transporting his corpse! Actually, after taking a closer look, they seemed to worship the dead body like a god more than a king!
“This corpse was apparently more special than the rest since they found his body on a big tree that had fallen from the sky with all the other corpses!” added Giya, feeling that the story was getting a bit too unrealistic, even by fairy-tale standards.
“Aren’t there two coffins being transported though?” asked Meredith.
“Well, the third mural seems to explain that… According to the mural, a woman dressed in white should be buried in the other coffin… She was supposedly extremely beautiful, and everyone who saw her would end up feeling shocked. Apparently, she looked extremely beautiful even though she was as dead as the other corpses! What more, she was found lying on top of the heavenly soldier who was found on the same big tree I mentioned earlier. From what the locals could tell, the two of them were lovers who wanted to be buried with each other! Because of that, the people of that country held a very grand burial ceremony for the two spiritual beings on the day they found them!”
“As for the fourth mural… I only understand the former part… Apparently, the mysterious heavenly soldier had a weapon with him, though it was placed someplace else… Also, both he and the woman
dressed in white ended up not getting buried together… This was supposedly because some old beggar had stood in their way, preventing them from proceeding with the plan. Due to that old man’s interference, the mysterious heavenly soldier ended up being placed inside a very special coffin before being stored in a secret room… As seen on this part of the mural, the ones present at that particular scene were the king, the ones burying the mysterious heavenly soldier, and also… that old beggar. From the looks of it, the old man was laughing the entire time!”
“…I see. And the latter part of it…?” asked Gerald, feeling extremely confused as he was bewildered.
“I… don’t quite get the latter part… It mentions something about the old beggar knowing black magic…? Apparently, the moment the burial ceremony was over, he laughed a few times before disappearing into thin air! Right after that, a massive object appeared that shrouded the entire royal city! It’s… improbable to say the least, but it looks like a battleship! I… can’t make sense of this part either…” replied Giya as she shook her head.
How the hell could such a huge battleship even exist thousands of years ago?!
Meredith shook her head as well before saying, “I guess this is all just the result of people of old’s exaggerated imagination… From what I can see, the heavenly soldier couple must have been the prince and his most beloved concubine. It would make sense for the people of that time to paint the mural this way to symbolize their deep love for one another. What more, the prince theory also explains why everyone in the murals is bowing to him! He’s a noble after all! As for the corpses that fell from the sky… I’m assuming that they’re the prince’s personal soldiers. Since the countries in the western regions were constantly at war in the past, the prince could’ve died while leading his soldiers into battle…”
Hearing Meredith’s theory, Giya couldn’t help but laugh before saying, “Though the love story you came up with sounds a little unrealistic, it still makes sense, in a way. At the very least, it’s by far the most
logical conclusion we’ve arrived at! I’m guessing most of what you said was right!”
“Still… The ancients must have had really amazing imagination for them to even draw such a huge battleship thousands of years ago!” chimed in Gerald without putting too much thought into it.
After saying that, he turned to look at the stone platform before adding, “So… the item hidden within that stone box should be the weapon the heavenly soldier carried, right?” said Gerald as he gently touched the stone box.
Luckily, he was easily able to open the stone box!
Chapter 1077
Gerald Crawford:The Secretly Rich Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter 1077 As dust flew right into Gerald’s face, both Meredith and Giya walked toward him—once the dust settled —before peering into the box as well.
Inside, lay a long, dust-covered sword. Despite the coat of dust on it, that wasn’t enough to hide the sword’s brilliant gleam. It was so shiny in fact, that all three of them felt that even people who saw it from far away would feel shivers run down their spines once they saw the sword’s sheen.
“…Despite it probably being thousands of years old, the sword still looks pretty sharp!” said Meredith as she tried picking the sword up with a smile.
Giya herself—who didn’t look particularly interested in the sword—simply returned to look at the murals.
“H-heavy…!” groaned Meredith as she continued attempting to lift the sword. It almost felt as if the sword was stuck to the bottom of the stone box.
“Let me try!” said Gerald as he reached out to grab the sword’s hilt. Applying a bit of strength, Gerald was able to lift the sword out quite easily.
“It’s really not that heavy!” added Gerald with a chuckle as he shook his wrist slightly to shake the dust off the sword. While it didn’t look particularly special, just as Meredith had earlier said, the sword appeared to be extremely sharp.
Upon closer inspection, the word ‘Lightbane’ was etched on it, and Gerald couldn’t help but feel that the sword was somewhat special despite its mundane appearance.
“Could… Lightbane be a magical artifact as well…?” muttered Gerald to himself in surprise.
While that was his assumption, he was unable to find any real spiritual traces on the weapon. Regardless, he was still very excited about his find.
The fact that he had already learned three longsword style moves—from the Dawnbreaker—made the find even better. Coincidence or not, he now had a perfect new weapon to accommodate his skills.
“…Hey, both of you… Come look at this! There seems to be something off with this mural!” called out Giya out of the blue.
“Oh, stop looking at that fantasy mural, Giya! Why don’t you come over and see whether this sword had any monetary value!” replied Meredith.
“No, you don’t understand! After looking a bit more closely at the latter part of the mural, I don’t think all of this is strictly just fantasy anymore! Just come over and look already!” said Giya as she pointed at the second half of the mural.
“If you just imagine that this huge building—that the ancients painted—was a battleship that could fly, then everything starts to make sense! Nearing the end of the mural, it’s shown that on the night before the heavenly soldiers’ burial, this huge battleship appeared and took three hundred young men and women away! See the king and the others bowing there? Don’t they look like they’re seeing them off? And then in the next panel, the battleship suddenly disappears!”
“Take note, however, that while everyone was kneeling, the mural made sure to highlight the old beggar’s face! Among all the painted people, only the beggar held his face up high while portraying an ugly grin. The ancients even made sure to make him look like he was trying to hide his sinister smile! Doesn’t everything make a lot more sense now by looking at it this way?” explained Giya.
“Hahaha! You surely have an active imagination, Giya! No wonder Professor Yale accepted you as his student! Giya, the mural was painted like, what? Tens of thousands of years ago? Whenever it was, the time period had to be ancient! With that in mind, how could your theory possibly make any sense? Battleships? Girl, if the ancients truly drew all this exactly as you had imagined, then I have to say, their imagination really is something else!” replied Meredith.
“I know it sounds bonkers but this mural just gives me a very weird feeling!” said Giya.
“You’re not alone there!” replied Gerald as he stared at the mural as well.
Hearing that, Giya turned to look at Gerald before flashing a smile.
Feeling uncomfortable by the way Gerald and Giya were looking at each other, Meredith immediately stood between them before asking, “Speaking of which, Giya, where was the corpse of the young woman in white transferred to?”
“That… Isn’t stated in the mural, unfortunately… The mural only says that both of them were separated! Regardless, do you think that all this is just a fantasy the ancients had, Xadrian?” asked Giya as she looked at Gerald.
Before Gerald could even reply, Meredith interrupted him by saying, “Y-you know, why don’t we discuss this once we’ve left this place? It feels a little hard to breathe in here anyway, don’t you think, Xadrian? Why don’t you get us out of here first?”
“Agreed!” replied Gerald with a nod.
Chapter 1078
Gerald Crawford:The Secretly Rich Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter 1078 By the time all three of them got out of the ancient well, it was already late at night and the moon was high in the sky. Gerald then led the two girls back to the dilapidated building.
Upon arriving there, they saw that the crowd of people had regrouped again. Ever Professor Yale and the other researchers were there. They had earlier returned to the building once they realized that there was no way they would be able to catch up to Gerald.
Aside from the two deaths, the only other person seriously injured was Wynn, and he was also suffering from a high fever. Though the others had made it out fine, all of them were equally feeling uneasy out of fear.
Now that Gerald was here, however, all of them could finally rest a bit easier after going through so much today.
As the others rested, Gerald himself remained awake. After lighting a bonfire, he kept guard over the others while making sure to toss firewood into the warm flames from time to time.
Meredith and Giya, on the other hand, stayed awake as well. Both of them had their eyes peeled as they continued staring at Gerald—who was currently sitting by the entrance—for quite some time.
Under the moonlight, his tall and muscular silhouette gave them a sense of peace and security.
Eventually, Meredith rolled to her side to look at Giya before whispering, “…You aren’t asleep either, Giya?”
“Not at all…” whispered Giya back.
“Say, ever since we woke up in that monster’s lair, I’ve noticed that you’ve been constantly staring at Xadrian… Do you like him?” asked Meredith, slight jealousy reflected in her voice.
“…No… Of course not…” replied Giya.
After all, the person she liked was Gerald and Giya knew for a fact that she would never be able to forget him for the rest of her life. While it was true that Xadrian and Gerald looked extremely similar, Xadrian wasn’t the person she was truly in love with! At least that was what Giya kept reminding herself.
However, Giya couldn’t deny that she just couldn’t take her eyes off him. Both Xadrian and Gerald really looked too similar!
“Look, I’m just staring at him a lot since he looks a lot like Gerald!” added Giya in a soft tone.
“Well they may look alike, but remember that he isn’t Gerald!” whispered Meredith in return.
Hearing that, Giya rolled slightly to her side before asking, “…Well, what about you then? You probably like Xadrian, right? I can tell…”
Giya was well aware that deep down in her heart, she was feeling slightly jealous when she asked that question.
“I do. While I’ve encountered many, many handsome and great guys before, I’ve never met someone who could impress me like Xadrian! I’ve already waited so many years for such a person to appear… Due to these feelings, I believe that I’ve finally found the right person for me!” replied Meredith.
“…I see,” said Giya, feeling a cocktail of emotions brewing in her heart. She just couldn’t help but feel upset upon hearing that.
“So… Since we’re both good sisters and all, I’d like to ask you something, Giya. Since Xadrian isn’t the person for you, would it be alright for me to try pursuing him? After all, I’ve waited so long for my heart to be moved by someone!” whispered Meredith as she gently squeezed Giya’s hands.
Giya hadn’t the slightest clue how to even describe her feelings after hearing that.
While she had convinced herself that Gerald and Xadrian—despite looking so similar—weren’t the same person, she couldn’t help but feel that Xadrian’s subtle behaviors were far too similar to Gerald’s as well.
This was especially apparent when she had just woke up in that monster’s lair earlier. Back then, she remembered Gerald calling out her name.
Though she couldn’t really tell if it was all just an illusion, she was sure that she had heard Gerald’s voice! For more solid evidence, when Xadrian had blushed earlier, he blushed the exact same way Gerald did back when they had first gotten acquainted during their university days!
As if that wasn’t enough, the way Xadrian pursed his lips—back when they were still in that stone room —was also very similar to how Gerald used to do!
Was Xadrian really Gerald? Was he deliberately hiding something from her?
He may have wanted to deceive her, but whenever she saw him looking at her, Giya could sense that those were the eyes of someone who had finally reunited with an acquaintance after a long absence.
Girls were usually extremely observant, and Giya herself was no different. In addition to that, her feminine intuition was also very strong.
Understanding that, the fact that she had been able to find so many similarities between Gerald and Xadrian made her unsure of how to even answer Meredith’s question.
Chapter 1079
Gerald Crawford:The Secretly Rich Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter 1079 “I’ll be taking your silence as approval for me to chase after Xadrian then! I’ll start going after him starting tomorrow!” said Meredith.
“…Fine,” replied Giya in a soft tone.
Taking in a deep breath, she reminded herself again that Gerald was the person she was in love with. So what if Xadrian looked like him? In the end, he still wasn’t Gerald.
If Meredith truly liked Xadrian, then Giya knew she had no right to prevent her from pursuing her own happiness.
‘You can’t be so selfish, Giya!’ Giya thought, attempting to comfort herself.
Regardless, neither of the girls slept a wink that night due to how preoccupied they were with their own concerns.
Early the next morning, everyone was packing up—preparing to leave—when Meredith walked over to Gerald before saying, “Are you thirsty, Xadrian? I have some water with me if you want!”
Hearing that, Gerald’s first response was to take a peek at Giya through the corner of his eyes. Realizing that Giya herself was secretly staring at him, Gerald turned to look at Meredith, flashing a gentle smile before replying, “…Sure, why not? I am a little thirsty now!”
“Hehe… Since you were so focused on saving and protecting us last night, you probably haven’t gotten sufficient rest at all! So drink up to make sure you don’t get overly dehydrated as well!” said Meredith as she smiled back.
Taking a sip of the water, Gerald then said, “…Hmm? Why’s the water sweet…?”
“…Huh? Sweet? How could that be?” replied Meredith, surprised. However, she quickly caught on to what he was implying.
Once she did, she couldn’t help but blush as she added, “Oh, come on, Xadrian! Now you’re just teasing me!”
As the two of them continued bickering playfully, Giya—who was still standing at the side—couldn’t help but clench her fists slightly. She wasn’t even sure what expression to make, evident by how she occasionally scrunched her face up.
In her mind, she wondered if she truly had been overthinking everything. Perhaps Meredith and Xadrian truly were a perfect match. Just by looking at them, she could tell how good they looked together!
Even after leaving the building, Giya saw that Gerald occasionally ended up chatting with Meredith as they continued on with their journey.
Gerald, of course, was deliberately doing all this in front of Giya. Since he was well aware that it was impossible for a relationship to bloom between them anyway—regardless of whether he was Gerald or Xadrian to her—by flirting with Meredith, he hoped that Giya would just give up and forget all about him already and try starting a new relationship.
What more, there was no way Gerald could return to his previous life anyway after all that had happened. Knowing that, he really had no other choice but to do what he was currently doing. He just couldn’t bear hurting Giya any more than he needed to.
The group had set off early in the morning, and it was near midday when the Master of the Desert suddenly shouted, “…Hmm? What’s that in front?”
As he said that, he stopped his camels from proceeding on for the moment.
“…It looks like a crashed vehicle! I can see a few human figures lying on the sand!” shouted one of the tourists.
“Nonsense! We’re in the middle of nowhere! Why would a vehicle be out here out of the blue?” replied Professor Yale.
By then, Gerald himself squinted his eyes to look at the wreckage. Slowly frowning, he then said, “… That’s not just any vehicle. It’s a helicopter!”
Upon saying that, Gerald began running toward the crash site.
To the others, Gerald was now as much of a guide as the Master of the Desert was. As a result, they all chased after him, surrounding Gerald once they arrived at the scene.
Now up close with the helicopter wreckage, everyone could see several of the vehicle’s parts scattered all over the place. Since any flames from the crash had long been put out, Gerald estimated that the incident had occurred in the early hours of yesterday.
“Look there! I think those are corpses!” yelled out Meredith as she pointed at a sand dune.
Hearing that, Gerald ran over to where Meredith was pointing at. All in all, Gerald found that there were four corpses lying around the initial crash site. That, however, wasn’t what caused Gerald’s eyelids to twitch after getting a good look at all four of them.
“Why are all of them wearing black robes…?”
“Could they be tomb robbers? You know, like the ones they usually show on film and television dramas…? Why else would they be dressed like this?”
As the others began discussing the current situation among themselves in between gulps filled with worry, nobody was able to notice the shock on Gerald’s face.
Checking for all four of the men’s breaths—just for double measure—Gerald confirmed that all four of them were dead as he thought to himself, ‘…How could this have happened…? Why are they even here in the first place…?’
Chapter 1080
Gerald Crawford:The Secretly Rich Man Novel (Invisible or Poorest) Chapter 1080 The bodies didn’t belong to just anyone. The corpses were all his brothers from the Soul Palace!
Gerald already had a bad feeling earlier when he saw how familiar the helicopter looked. After finding out that his assumption had been correct, Gerald couldn’t help but feel extremely upset.
After all, those from the Soul Palace were essentially also part of the Crawford family!
From the looks of it, they must have come to the desert to look for him. Gerald was well aware that the helicopters from the Soul Place had been specially designed to be near impossible to crash. Looking at all the many spots of spilled gasoline that had darkened the sand, however, it was made evident how the culprit had gotten the helicopter to crash in the first place.
Still, who could’ve been the murderer?
After carefully checking each of the four corpses, he finally found a clue on one of them.
This person, in particular, had managed to crawl quite a distance away from the helicopter after it crashed. Gerald was sure that he had crawled since there was a faint trail of him dragging his body along the sand before eventually dying.
Lifting the corpse’s robe up, Gerald immediately saw an imprint of a palm on his chest. This person didn’t die from the helicopter crash… He was murdered after it crash landed!
Shocked by his discovery, Gerald muttered, “This palm print…”
Since the people from the Soul Palace were all champions, ordinary people would definitely have been unable to kill them at all. Only people stronger than he was would be able to do the deed. In other words, the murderer had to be a great master!
Since the palm print on the chest was of a left palm, it wasn’t hard for Gerald to put two and two together.
A left-handed great master… This could only have been the work of Christopher Moldell!
With that in mind, Gerald immediately heightened his vigilance.
Of course it was that old man. Gerald had personally witnessed Christopher crashing his helicopter. Only he would have the ability to commit such a heinous crime.
Could Christopher already have chased him all the way out here?
While Gerald now had the power of the Dawnbreaker, he knew that he was still far from being able to deal with someone like Christopher.
Regardless, what an utter b*stard! To think that that old man wanted to capture him so much!
“…Are you alright, Mr. Xadrian…? Could you perhaps know these people…?” asked Professor Yale the moment he saw how serious Gerald’s expression was.
“…I do,” replied Gerald with a nod.
“I see… It’s such a pity that they had to die in an aerial accident like this…” said the professor as he sighed.
“Oh, it wasn’t a mere accident. They were murdered!” declared Gerald as he stood up.
The moment the others heard that, the other members of the group began panicking.
“M-murdered…? Who could’ve been so powerful to do such a thing…?” asked one of the tourists.
“I’m afraid that I won’t be able to summarize the entire situation in a sentence or two. Regardless, the murderer is after me. Because of that, I believe it would be wisest for us to split paths from now on. Professor Yale, until you leave the desert, you have to make sure that everyone is careful in everything they do!” replied Gerald with a solemn look on his face.
From what Gerald had learned from Christopher’s character, the old man wouldn’t allow anyone to remain alive as long as they got in the way of him and Gerald. With so many people within that group, Gerald really didn’t want to be the reason all of them came to any harm. This was especially so for Giya.
Upon hearing that, Meredith’s eyes grew slightly red as she asked, “Are… are you leaving now, Xadrian…? You’re not traveling with us anymore…?”
“Yes, I have to… Following me will only result in all of you getting hurt!” replied Gerald.
At that moment, he thought of something. Retrieving the map of the desert from his pocket, he used his secret inner power and concentrated hard on the image of the eternal coffin. Somehow, he managed to erase the location of the eternal coffin right off the map! Following that, he seemed to ponder for a bit before walking over to Giya—who had been staring at him this entire time—with the map in hand.
“…Here, take this map. Use it if you wish to thoroughly research this desert. I’m sure it’ll be a great help to both of you in terms of work. If needed, it’ll also help you get your bearings and help all of you leave this place!” said Gerald as he looked straight into her eyes while handing the map out to her.
Giya herself was slightly stunned, but not because of what he had just said. Rather, it was because the way he was currently looking at her truly felt reminiscent of how Gerald usually did.
“You’re a fine girl, so always protect yourself until you find a suitable man to protect you. I recall you saying that I look a lot like this Gerald person… After listening to what you had to say about him, I believe that Gerald feels the same way as you do. Regardless, I hope you’ll live a happy and blessed life,” added Gerald as he gently placed the map in her hand.
As Giya’s breathing grew rapid, Gerald turned to look at Meredith and after giving her a nod, he turned around before saying, “Well, it’s time to go our separate ways then, everyone! Take care!”
With that, he began walking off, leaving them behind.