Heiress Unmasked: Shaking the World With Geomancy novel Chapter 1386

Emeralda's neighbors heard the commotion and stuck their heads out in curiosity. It had been a while since their village became this lively.

"Oh, it's a floret of broccoli. That was my guess yesterday, but you guys didn't believe me."

"And it's less than a century old; it's a modern piece!"

"But the craftsmanship is rather sloppy. Look, it's missing a piece."

"Was its maker a foreigner? Something about imperfection being perfection?"

"Are you dumb? Didn't you hear Mr. Boyle say it'd been bitten on? The world is getting crueler, where even a piece of emerald can be a victim."

The surrounding artifacts and chattering reminded Lexie of a scenario an online user had made up once—if the artifacts in a museum could speak, they ought to be loud and enthusiastic.

It appeared that the theory wasn't quite off.

Soon enough, Emeralda invited Shannon's group inside her place, dismissing the spectacle.

Everyone felt down, and just as they prepared to return to their true form, they suddenly heard Emeralda roaring, "What did you just say?"

Within seconds, everyone, in perfect unison, climbed up the wall, trying to overhear some gossip. Though Emeralda appeared like an ice beauty, she actually had a bad temper.

However, no one dared to provoke her, due to her long history and deep experience, coupled with the fact that she was one of the earliest villagers to help build the settlement.

Still, they wondered what that broccoli did to anger her.

Inside the house, Brooklynn curled into a ball. This time, she knelt on the floor, deeply apologetic. No one at the scene bothered to beg for mercy for her.

Emeralda, in particular, stood with her hands on her hips before Brooklynn, her brows and eyes growing increasingly cold with anger. "I helped you on your journey to becoming a spirit, yet you went and helped humans create forgeries to absorb the spiritual energy of other ancient artifacts!

"He knew that the so-called plan to return the artifacts to Crisea was just a scheme to acquire the real piece and secretly sell it at a high price. But once he was in, there was no turning back. He had no choice but to continue with the counterfeit Emeralda Stone.

"However, he had a trick up his sleeve and ended up making two fake ones instead of just one. His craftsmanship was indeed excellent, and with the aging technique, the fake Emeralda Stone was nearly indistinguishable from the real one.

"During the transaction, he seized the opportunity to secretly swap the genuine piece, leaving the counterfeit behind."

Josiah Dabney took great care of Emeralda, thinking he could return it to where it belonged when times had improved. However, before he could do so, he passed away.

"Although Mr. Dabney couldn't secure a proper place for the Emeralda Stone, he did indeed help it return to its homeland. Emeralda had always been grateful to him, and after she gained her spiritual form, she spent years searching for his descendant to repay the favor.

"Unfortunately, it was too late. By the time she found them, the person had already taken his own life."

Josiah had only once betrayed his principles to create a counterfeit of the Emeralda Stone, and perhaps it was fate's cruel irony that his only descendant followed the same path of forging emerald artifacts and even took his own life because of it.