?

  If Aphrodite were to be evaluated from an Oriental perspective, she would be considered a straightforward and honest person who cannot tolerate even the slightest bit of injustice. It is precisely because of this that her glory and reputation are at odds with the existence of the Wind Duke, which causes her pain. However, this does not mean that she will resort to unscrupulous means. She has always followed the guidance of God in her heart, and therefore cannot tolerate the false accusation by the Spirit Duke that Xiao Yunyi is a necromancer, which is essentially a death sentence.

  Marquis Lington was shocked to hear that she wanted to refuse all his help, he wasn't stupid either, immediately understanding what she was thinking, and hastily explained: "Vienna, you misunderstood me, you should know that all of this is because I love you!"

  Aphrodite took another step back: "You have proven that there is no purely noble love in the world, your love has even become terrifying, I refuse your love and now also refuse your help, I detest darkness and do not like conspiracies!"

  Marquis Lington struggled to get up: "Weina, this is not a conspiracy, it's a misunderstanding!"

  "What misunderstanding? How was Mr. Ling Tong injured?" A voice came from outside the woods, and Gu Ying and Xiao Bai walked in. They were late, the real show had already ended.

  "I don't know what happened either, Mr. Lington just walked into the woods and got hurt himself." Aphrodite still gave him some face and didn't mention what had just happened, actually she really didn't know what was going on either.

  Marquis Lington wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said, "I tripped while walking and fell on a sharp rock that pierced my leg." His level of deception was not high enough. Although Xiaobai's Taoist skills were different from those in the West, he also knew how to use the Whirlwind Blade. As soon as he saw the wound on Lington's leg, he could tell what had happened. If Xiaobai could see it, then Gushiying could also see it.

  Marquis Lington was injured by magic, and the Wind Gentleman couple is not here. Is it that they wanted to take advantage of someone but got a nail in return? But looking at the situation, it doesn't seem like that. Because Aphthita clearly has contempt and anger towards Marquis Lington, even unwilling to stand close to him. This can be seen without needing to read minds. This situation is even causing misunderstandings - did Aphthita injure Marquis Lington? Was it because he tried to take liberties with her, which would be too humiliating?

  "Mr. Lingdon, would you like me to take you to the hospital?"

  "Aphrodite replied for him: 'No need, it's nothing serious and he has his own private doctor.'"

  She spoke like this, Gu Ying was also puzzled and suspected that Aphrodite had hurt him in order to prevent Lord Lingdun from taking action. Gu Ying didn't want the situation to escalate, so he said to everyone: "Since it's like this, let's go back. Lord Lingdun's carriage is parked at the west gate, Xiao Bai, help him up."

  When Gu Ying spoke, Xiao Bai was looking at Lord Lingdon with his waist straightened. He found that Lord Lingdon's eyes were wandering and his mind was flashing, as if he was looking for something on the ground. Xiao Bai had sharp eyes, and from the direction of his focused attention, he saw a shiny object faintly shining under a bush far away. Lord Lingdon seemed to be somewhat uneasy, not wanting that thing to be discovered by others, yet it was inconvenient for him to go over and pick it up in front of everyone.

  Xiaobai heard Gu Ying's words and walked over to grab Lord Lingdun's arm, saying: "Lord, you're injured on your leg. I'll carry you out." Without waiting for his response, he used a swift motion to hoist Lord Lingdun onto his back, just like carrying a sack of rice, and headed towards the west gate of Bin Hai Park. Gu Ying was both surprised and amused, calling out to Aphthita as she followed them out.

  Marquis Lington drove away, and Xiao Bai bid farewell to the other two ladies at the park entrance. As she watched them head in the direction of Luo Garden, Xiao Bai turned around and slipped back into Bin Hai Park.

  At the same time, in a rest room on the second floor of Luo Garden, Luo Xue's face was still wet with tears and she was sobbing lightly. Luo Shuihan had his arm around her shoulders and was patting her back as he spoke: "Good daughter, don't be sad. No matter who it is, this day will come sooner or later... Daddy can't protect you for your whole life, you have to take good care of yourself." He didn't know how many times he had repeated these words of comfort, all he could do was wait for Luo Xue to gradually accept the fact.

  "Father, don't go, I really wish you would never leave."

  "Father won't leave, he'll always be with you! ... Miss Weina said that in heaven, everything can be seen, and the loved ones on earth can also feel the eyes of heaven, do you understand?" His heart was also filled with sorrow, but he still tried to comfort Luo Xue, his expression very gentle.

  After a long time, Luoxi still had a sorrowful face. This was not something she could accept for the time being. Luoshuihan let out a soft sigh and supported her shoulder: "Little Xi, don't be sad for now, Dad has two things to leave for you, you must listen carefully."

  Luo Xue: "Dad has already given me enough, I'd rather..."

  "Your inheritance is your responsibility, you must take over the He Luo Group. Wealth is also a burden, this I only understood until now... Many things I have entrusted to others, but these two things I entrust to you."

  What are the two things that Luo Shuihan wants to entrust to Luo Xue separately? Of course, it's not the Luohe Group, those things have already been arranged. The first thing is the Luo Garden under their feet.

  Luo Garden covers an area of nearly one square kilometer, or one million square meters. It is a coastal highland that was once a suburban wasteland with scattered small residential buildings next to the seaside park twenty years ago. Luo Han spent almost ten years buying up the land bit by bit and building it into today's Luo Garden, which is a private property under his name and has nothing to do with the HeLuo Group. With the development of the city, today's Luo Garden is adjacent to the downtown area, just next to the park, making it an extremely valuable golden location worth astronomical figures.

  Even if the He Luo Group goes bankrupt and Luo Xue loses all her other wealth, as long as she still has the Luo Garden, it will be enough to guarantee her a lifetime of living, and the security measures in the Luo Garden are very strict, making it very safe to live there. Luo Shuihan had already made the worst-case scenario plans, if the He Luo Group doesn't work out, they can divide the Luo Garden into two parts, using one-third of the land facing the street as a bargaining chip to find collaborators to build a commercial property, and Luo Xue will own part of it. This way, she can continue to live in the seaside Luo Garden without worrying about food or clothing, and this plan was especially entrusted to Luo Bing by Luo Shuihan.

  There is another thing about Luo Garden that Luo Shuihan only told Luo Xue, which is that the two-thirds of the land near the sea in Luo Garden is a rare piece of auspicious land. Zhang Rongdao, the richest man in Wucheng who has had many business dealings with Luo Shuihan, is also an extraordinary master of Fengshui mysticism. He once came to the seaside and told Luo Shuihan that this place is where the Cave Heaven Blessing Land is located, where the spiritual machines of the sea and sky intersect. Therefore, Luo Shuihan decided to buy all the surrounding land, but he wasn't very clear about what kind of Cave Heaven Blessing Land this was.

  The second thing that Luo Shuihan gave to Luo Xue was also land, but it was not in Zhinei Country, nor even on the mainland, but rather three uninhabited islands in the Atlantic Ocean. These three islands belonged to the territory of Zhinei Country, but were 1,500 kilometers away from the main island of Zhinei where the country was located. Due to their small size and remote distance from land, surrounded by complex ocean currents that made it difficult for ships to approach, there were no living conditions or economic development value, so these three islands scattered in the shape of a character in the middle of the ocean were uninhabited islands.

  Last year, when Luo Shuihan went to the Demon Kingdom to see a doctor, he casually bought these islands and their surrounding waters at an auction for less than 30 million. Even Ai Si, who was by his side at the time, didn't pay much attention. The Demon Kingdom's property auctions often feature strange and exotic items from all over the world, as long as they have economic value. The seller that time was the government of Claw Mud Country, which was selling a batch of undeveloped islands to international tycoons for coastal development.

  The country of Clawdia has long been known as the land of a thousand islands, and many of these are uninhabited. At that time, the country had just experienced a coup, and the new government that came to power in the coup promised to improve public welfare in order to consolidate its position. The newly appointed officials also wanted to make a fortune, which required money, so they came up with this plan.

  The country of Clawdi once put up for sale over a hundred islands, dozens of which were immediately purchased, mostly larger ones near the coast. Some people bought islands with water sources to build tropical banana plantations, while large companies bought coastal islands to develop international tourist resorts. The famous entrepreneur from the Mountain Devil Country, known as the world's richest man, Mr. Kowentz, also bought an island to build a private villa. However, dozens of remaining islands were left untouched - not every island has investment value, and some are useless even after being purchased, let alone having no development value, with the cost of just visiting them being shockingly high, such as the three islands bought by Luo Shuihan.

  Why did Luo Shuihan buy those three seemingly worthless islands? He had been thinking about it for almost twenty years, and now that he had the opportunity, of course, he would buy them. The reason was simple: there might be a large underwater oil field near that sea area. Who told him this? It wasn't anyone else but Gu Ying's father, Gu Chouci.

  Gu Chao Ci is a highly accomplished geologist and mineralogist. In his youth, he completed his studies in Shanmo Country and returned to Zhi Xu Country to serve. He made significant contributions in several major oil field exploration projects. However, this person, in modern terms, has low emotional intelligence and does not know how to curry favor or engage in academic politics. He strongly opposed the policy of the Zhi Xu government at the time to export crude oil to "friendly countries" and vigorously supported the theory of "Zhi Xu's poverty in oil". He believed that despite the discovery of several large oil fields within Zhi Xu, from a historical and developmental perspective, it would not be long before they would be extremely lacking in this strategic resource and be controlled by others.

  His academic views were inconsistent with the mainstream public opinion at that time, and also conflicted with the arguments of authoritative experts. He was even considered to be a "reactionary" academic theory lacking national pride. In a turbulent era, he was persecuted by his "academic political enemies" and almost lost his life. It was Luo Shuihan who saved him and secretly sent him and his wife abroad. Later, Gu Zhaoci settled in the country of Gilli and taught at a university, from then on he became disheartened and never continued his mineral exploration work again.

  Gu Chao had once studied the distribution of major oil fields around the world and their relationship with ancient climate changes and geological structures. He inferred that in a certain sea area east of Zhixu Continent, south of the Avian Islands, and north of Clawdi Country, there might be large-scale seabed oil fields. That sea area was far from any land, with complex sea conditions, high winds, and huge waves, and only had three uninhabited islands. The exploration conditions were not mature. If there really were oil fields, the cost of development and transportation would have been too high at that time, and the development value would not have been great. However, as history developed, it would eventually become a golden treasure land.

  His research conclusions had not been published yet, and Gu Chao Ci only told this speculation to Luo Shui Han, not even Gu Ying knew. This was just an academic conjecture, as for whether the oil field existed or not, no one was clear. Years later, when Luo Shui Han saw the government of Claw Mud Country selling an island at the Mountain Demon Country's property auction, he took a look at the map and found that there were indeed three islands mentioned by Gu Chao Ci. Without hesitation, he bought it.

  The three islands were the legacy he left to Luoxue. If there was no oil field, it would be fine. But if there really was an oil field, it would be a huge fortune, worth even more than the entire Heluo Group. In fact, in the eyes of a shrewd businessman, whether or not there was an oil field was unimportant. As long as Gu Chao's geological theory made sense academically, he could create a stir by spreading rumors and manufacturing an academic debate to draw attention to it. Then, the three islands would skyrocket in value, and Luoxue could keep them on hand for future use.

  Luoshui Han specially entrusted Lu Xie with two special legacies, the Luo Garden and three sea islands. What a small world, it was extremely coincidental that those three sea islands were where Feng Junzi and Aphrodite met in their dreams, and also where Mei Ye Shi killed Krigel. On one of the islands, the Spring of Youth was also located.

  Actually, Aphrodite had long wanted to buy the three islands, but the situation in Clawdia has been turbulent in recent years, with military uprisings one day and presidential scandals the next, and there have even been several movements to confiscate the assets of wealthy individuals. Aphrodite didn't know how to buy them even if she wanted to, and wondered if it would be meaningful to do so. Moreover, the islands are in a remote location in the ocean, and ordinary people can't even find them, let alone visit, so she temporarily gave up on the idea of buying them.

  Last year, the new government of Zhāo Ní Guó sold the islands. Aphthita was just sent to Wū Yóu and didn't know about it. By the time she heard that the three islands had been bought by Luò Shuǐ Hán in the name of Luō Xī, it was already a done deal.

  When Luo Shuihan was telling the story of the island, Bai Shaofeng quietly arrived at a grove in the seaside park. He first found the thing in the bush, which was marked as an expensive Van Cleef & Arpels gold pen, with a model that was not available on the market. Xiaobai held it in his hand and shook it, and used his spiritual sense to feel it for a while, feeling that its internal structure was somewhat complicated and not like the structure of an ordinary pen. It was strange that the pen and the pen cap were both on the ground, but they were far apart. The pen cap was under the big tree where Lord Lingdun leaned, while the pen fell into the bush 6 or 7 meters away.

  Someone should stand under the big tree to remove the pen cap, and later throw away the pen. This person is likely Lord Lington, because when he left, he kept paying attention to the position of this pen in his heart, but didn't pick it up himself, as if afraid that others would discover.

  Xiaobai searched the surrounding ground again and found a piece of fabric with a clean cut, about the size of a cup mouth, stained with blood. It should have been cut from Lord Lingdun's outer pants. Although the light was very dim, he still saw a very small hole in the middle of the fabric, where both the horizontal and vertical fibers were broken. Then he found another piece of fabric, which should have come from Lord Lingdun's underpants. The shape was the same as the other piece of fabric, with a small, almost imperceptible hole in the same position.

  He saw the two holes and took a closer look at the pen tip, suddenly understanding something! He didn't dare to move the pen randomly, put on the pen cap carefully and picked it up, then went to the nearby trash can and fished out two intact plastic bags. He put one of them on his hand and walked into the woods again. Soon he found a piece of human skin with flesh weighing about four taels, covered in mud. He held it in his hand and gently scraped off the mud on the tree bark, and indeed saw a small hole-like wound in the center of the skin.

  He took out the Shenyue dagger tied to his right forearm, lightly cut a knife along the wound, and then looked at the bright spot of the street lamp in the direction of the Shenyue dagger's blade tip. The silver blade tip was obviously grayish, with dense black spots on it. This Shenyue dagger was made from the material of seven-leaf refined Wanzai Chenyin by Guardian True Person himself, and had a most ordinary yet simplest use - to test various toxicities and medicinal properties in the world, which White Hair had also briefly told Xiao Bai about.

  Xiao Bai discovered the change in Shen Xiao's expression and carefully cut open a small incision on the piece of meat, about one centimeter deep under the skin, where he found a tiny steel ball emitting a faint blue glow in the dark. From Shen Xiao's reaction, it was clear that this steel ball not only contained poison but also anesthetic, and its potency was extremely strong! Fortunately, the piece of meat had been cut open just in time and was large enough, otherwise, Ling Dun Hou would have been in big trouble.

  Xiao Bai thought for a moment and put the cloth piece and poisonous meat into a plastic bag, then wrapped it up and tied it tightly. He quietly left the place, but didn't immediately go home. Instead, he came to the small hill on the east side of the park where he usually practiced boxing. He found a spot with good visibility and looked far away at the woods and the path between them. In this position, no one could see what was happening over there, especially at night, except for Xiao Bai with his superhuman eyesight.

  As expected, after about half an hour, a person walked into the park's main entrance, pretending to take a leisurely stroll and slowly making their way onto that small path between the trees. Xiao Bai immediately became alert - who would be taking a solo stroll in the park so late at night? There must be something fishy going on! When this person stopped under a streetlamp to look around, Xiao Bai caught a glimpse of his profile, and astonishingly, it was Haito, the priest from the Uyu district.