Chapter 704: Chapter 704: Origins

The neighbors around Jade Bennett couldn’t help but peek out after hearing the commotion.

Their village hadn’t been this lively in a long time.

“Oh, it’s a little jade cabbage. I guessed it was a cabbage yesterday, but you didn’t believe me.”

“Not even a hundred years old, it’s a modern Jade Cabbage.”

“This modern craftsmanship is a bit sloppy, look, a leaf is missing here.”

“Is this imitating that aesthetic of incompleteness abroad again?”

“Are you silly? Didn’t you hear the village chief say it was nibbled? Even the jade is gnawed, the outside world is getting more ruthless.”

The artifacts around chattered, reminding Stella Gibson of a hypothesis once made by an internet friend.

What if the museum’s artifacts could speak?

One of the highly praised comments was, “Then it would definitely be noisy.”

Looking at it now, it truly was.

But soon, Jade Bennett didn’t give them the chance to continue watching.

Scarlett Jennings and her group were invited into the house.

Everyone was a bit regretful for a moment, and just as they were preparing to go back and continue maintaining their own bodies, they heard the roar of Jade Bennett from inside the house:

“What did you say?!”

Instantly, everyone tacitly climbed onto the wall, trying to hear more gossip.

Don’t be fooled by Jade Bennett’s usual cold beauty appearance; her temper was actually explosive.

But due to her long history and being one of the earliest villagers in the village’s construction, no one dared to provoke her easily.

Also, how did that little cabbage provoke her?

Curious.

Inside the house.

Grace curled into a ball once more, but this time she directly knelt down.

However, no one present tried to intercede for her.

Jade Bennett stood before Grace with her hands on her hips, her brows and eyes growing colder with anger,

“I helped you transform into a spirit, yet you helped humans make replicas and absorb spiritual energy from other ancient artifacts! You’ve utterly disgraced the purity of us, the Grace spirits!

It’s a mercy that I haven’t shattered you with a slap! And you still expect me to help repair your damaged form?! What a foolish dream!

I think you should remain in this ruined form forever to remember the lesson!”

The village chief beside her shook his head and sighed, looking as though he was disinclined to advise.

It’s not just that humans dislike counterfeits; we artifacts utterly detest them.

No artifact likes to be replicated, this Sophia White is truly confused.

Scarlett Jennings and her companions only learned later about the connection between Jade Bennett and Grace, more accurately, the connection with Grace’s former owner.

According to the chief, Jade Bennett once ended up abroad, and someone wanted to swap it secretly, so they found a craftsman from home to make a replica jade, intending to replace it secretly.

That craftsman was the ancestor of Grace’s previous owner.

“That family was surnamed Dawson, with ancestors skilled in jade carving, and at that time many artifacts were ending up abroad.

Although the Dawson family despised making replicas, they were deceived by the other party, and for the sake of returning treasures to the country, they violated their principles to agree to it.”

“Deceived?” Stella couldn’t help but be curious, “Wasn’t that person a good guy?”

The chief’s face carried a hint of mockery,

“That person initially appeared sincere but was actually fooling Mr. Dawson into helping.”

He said,

“Mr. Dawson realized that the person’s supposed intent of returning Jade Bennett to the country was merely to sell the genuine item for a high price after obtaining it, but once caught up in the scheme, he couldn’t back out and had to complete the replica nonetheless, though he had a trick up his sleeve: he made two fake jade pieces.”

“His skill was indeed exceptional; along with the aging, they reached a level of indistinguishability from the real thing. Using the pretext of a transaction, he found an opportunity to switch the real piece and kept the authentic Jade Bennett.”

He carefully preserved Jade Bennett, thinking that one day when things looked better, he could return it to its rightful place, but unfortunately, he passed away before he could.

“Though Mr. Dawson couldn’t arrange a proper return for Jade Bennett, he did help it return to its homeland. After transforming into a spirit, Jade Bennett had always been grateful to Mr. Dawson and sought his descendants, wishing to repay the favor. Sadly, she was a step too late: when she found one, the person had already committed suicide.”

Mr. Dawson had violated his principles only once for Jade Bennett, making a replica, and fate played a cruel joke as his only descendant also ended up making replica jade artifacts, leading to suicide as well.

Because of wanting to repay this karma, Jade Bennett wanted to keep the one remaining work of the Dawson descendant to help it transform into a spirit.

As a result, it was still wrong.

After sealing Grace back into her original form for a century of self-reflection, Jade Bennett then turned to Scarlett Jennings and said,

“Because of me, Jade Cabbage transformed into a spirit, and the troubles caused by her mistakes involve some of my responsibility, which I won’t shirk. If there are any ways I can compensate, I am willing to help.”

Jade Bennett assumed that Scarlett Jennings and her group came with Jade Cabbage to hold her accountable.

Scarlett Jennings thought for a moment, then said,

“She has already been punished for what she’s done, and you need not take responsibility on her behalf. We didn’t come to pursue accountability, but instead, we wanted to seek your help.”

Scarlett Jennings then briefly explained the situation involving the Otherworld and the Black Mist Organization seeking Jade Bennett,

“I have someone very important who is stranded in the Otherworld.

I want to know if the ancient artifact they mentioned that could open a passage to the Otherworld is you?”

After listening to Scarlett Jennings, Jade Bennett seemed to ponder deeply before speaking slowly,

“I haven’t heard of this Otherworld you speak of, nor do I have the ability to open a passage to it.

However, the craftsman who created me said that a jade, with its circular form and hollow center, represents the idea of cyclical reincarnation. I don’t know if this is somehow related…”

Scarlett Jennings felt her intuition might not be wrong, but then heard Jade Bennett continue,

“Even if I wanted to help, I might not have the ability.”

Speaking with a tone that seemed resigned,

“I am left with only half a soul, and my spiritual power is weak. I need to bury myself in the soil at intervals to preserve my spiritual energy. There aren’t many things I can do now.”

“Half a soul…”

Scarlett Jennings was somewhat surprised and, after a careful sense, discovered the soul breath was indeed weak.

It wasn’t just her; even the village chief and the other artifacts in the village had indiscernible soul breaths.

This was why she didn’t immediately realize they were all spiritual objects last night.

Scarlett Jennings wanted to ask more, but it was evident that neither Jade Bennett nor the chief was willing to say much, so she had to let it go.

Thinking it over, Scarlett Jennings asked if she could stay in the village temporarily.

“If possible, I’d also like to see the pattern on your original form.”

Right now, Jade Bennett was her only clue, and she didn’t want to give up. Perhaps she could study it.

Hearing that Scarlett Jennings wanted to research her original form, Jade Bennett narrowed her eyes slightly,

“Your words are quite offensive. After all, my jade body is not something to be casually researched.”

Scarlett Jennings: …

Why did this sound so odd?

She wasn’t trying to see her naked body, so how was it offensive?

Well, with spiritual objects, it’s indeed not right to casually offend their original forms.

Scarlett Jennings decided to compromise and ask for any related documents on Jade Bennett instead, which should be alright?

But before she could ask, Jade Bennett spoke up herself,

“Forget it, seeing that I like you, I’ll permit it this time.”

Scarlett Jennings: …

Alright, even odder.

After sending Scarlett Jennings and her group away, the village chief then looked at Jade Bennett, a bit puzzled,

“Aren’t you the one who hates people tampering with your original form the most? Why did you agree as soon as she asked?”

There’s no need to sell yourself to compensate for a junior.

Jade Bennett gave him a sideways glance, then slightly lowered her eyelids, revealing a touch of nostalgia,

“Don’t you feel that her aura is somewhat similar to that person?”

The one who had initially established the Artefact Village for them and provided the transformed spiritual objects with a place to belong.

The chief, reminded by her words, thought back,

“Hmm… now that you mention it, there is a resemblance.”