Chapter 42: Peers
However, the legend of the delhi purple sapphire was not over; it had only just begun.
Although this sapphire was associated with all sorts of misfortune legends, people's curiosity and desire for it remained. So, 110 years ago, a British scientist named Edward Heron-Allen acquired the gem and became its new owner.
Edward was originally a well-known lawyer and violin maker in London, but later became a scientist. He conducted extensive research on foraminifera, single-celled aquatic organisms. It is worth mentioning that Edward was also a friend of the famous British writer Oscar Wilde.
As people expected, Edward also encountered a series of misfortunes after obtaining the "delhi purple sapphire."
The first to suffer were his friends. Two of Edward's friends once borrowed the gem to admire at home. As a result, one friend repeatedly encountered unfortunate events, while the other friend, a singer, suddenly began to "lose her voice" after borrowing the gem and never sang again.
When he first heard this story, Ling Xiao noticed some anomalies. Except for the first owner, Phrylis, the subsequent owners themselves were not harmed; it was more often their friends who suffered. Thus, Ling Xiao keenly sensed the strangeness in this.
Just as Ling Xiao thought, Edward himself was not harmed in this matter. However, although he initially did not believe in any "curse," when both of his friends met with misfortune, Edward finally steeled himself and threw the priceless gem into the Regent's Canal in London.
Unexpectedly, three months later, the gem mysteriously returned to his hands. A dredger had retrieved the gem from the canal, a businessman bought it from the crew, and "returned it to its rightful owner," Edward.
This was very interesting. Edward was just an ordinary scientist, yet someone was willing to return a priceless gem to its former owner without any compensation. Such people, throughout human history, have been few and far between over thousands of years.
Later, perhaps finally fed up with the shadow of this "cursed gem," Edward sent it to his bank manager, requesting the bank to keep it safe and that he should not see it again until his death. Edward reportedly said at the time, "I feel it will have an adverse effect on my newborn daughter."
Ling Xiao analyzed this matter and came to a terrifying conclusion: this dreadful "cursed gem" should indeed possess some kind of curse, but this curse is ineffective against its owner, and it is even highly probable that it has other special effects. At the very least, Edward obtained this gem 110 years ago and only passed away in 1943, more than fifty years later.
Ling Xiao could not determine Edward's age when he acquired this "cursed gem," but conservatively estimating him at 20 years old, then Edward lived for at least over seventy years. Such an advanced age was extremely rare over half a century ago. From this, some of its magical properties could be inferred.
After Edward's death, this "cursed gem," like most of his other treasures, was donated to the Natural History Museum in London.
Edward even left a warning note in the box, which read: "This gem is clearly cursed; it is stained with blood, and everyone who possesses it will lose honor..."
Why honor, and not life, money, friendship, or something else, especially since Edward's two friends had paid the price for it?
So a terrifying conclusion was drawn, especially after Ling Xiao obtained the god and demon list, his understanding of these things became even deeper. Edward must have exchanged something from his two friends for something he shouldn't have possessed.
Of course, these were originally just Ling Xiao's conjectures, but now, seeing that cursed gem, as a Cultivator, Ling Xiao could clearly feel some extremely subtle fluctuations emanating from the cursed gem itself.
In fact, it wasn't just Ling Xiao; everyone in the entire exhibition hall, male or female, was deeply attracted by this blue-purple gem. Their eyes only saw this blue-purple gem, with its deep hue, as if it were a swirling eye continuously drawing everyone's gaze.
Ling Xiao shook his head vigorously, snapping out of this temptation. He subconsciously looked around. At this moment, not many people remained clear-headed. One was Holly Robinson next to him, another was Scott West, and there was also a white-haired old man in a swallow-tailed tuxedo whom Ling Xiao had never noticed before.
At this good moment, everyone's attention was on the gem, and no one else noticed Ling Xiao's observation.
How interesting, Ling Xiao's lips curved into a slight smile. Almost simultaneously, the enchanting power accompanying the delhi purple sapphire instantly receded. Everyone present sobered up at the same time, yet surprisingly, they were completely unaware of their previous anomaly.
Holly Robinson and Scott West looked at the gem with astonishment, but Ling Xiao noticed that the white-haired old man stood there with a normal expression, as if he was accustomed to all of this.
Ling Xiao's gaze instantly shifted from the old man to the gem, because at that moment, the old man had already noticed others' attention, looking around with a surprised and questioning expression. Finally, his gaze flickered across Scott West, and a look of vigilance instantly crossed his eyes.
The exhibition ended in the evening, and by this time, the museum had already retrieved all the gems and locked them deep within the museum.
This exhibition lasted for three days, and this Sunday was only the first day. Even so, the museum would securely store all the gems. In addition to the museum's own protection system, there was also a small team of police officers patrolling nearby at all times, responsible for defending against any potential thieves attempting to break in.
Even as the owner who lent the gems for this exhibition, Scott West was not allowed to remain in the museum and could only know a small part of the museum's security system. He had no access to the truly core internal elements.
Despite Scott West protesting to the museum countless times about this, the museum did not budge in the slightest. Although all of this was within his expectations, he still felt a bit frustrated, hoping that none of this would disrupt his original plan.
As night deepened, fog gradually enveloped the entire museum. In the dead of night, hurried footsteps, shrouded in the mist, gradually approached the outer wall of the museum.
Within a hundred meters of the museum, the lights had dispelled the nearby fog. Black figures, armed with silenced weapons, could almost be seen rushing towards the museum. The few patrolling security guards nearby had already been silently dealt with.
Even more surprisingly, the occurrence of these events did not alarm the museum's external defense system at all.
Ling Xiao stood on top of a distant tall building, his sharp gaze fixed on everything happening below. He knew that such a situation could only occur because someone inside the museum was coordinating with those outside, covering their tracks while also guiding their advance.
Ling Xiao watched almost helplessly as the group of people entered the museum. It should be known that the exhibition hall on the first floor of the main museum building alone contained various rare ancient artifacts. Unfortunately, these items were not easy to take away, nor were they easy to sell.
Throughout the day, although Ling Xiao did not enter the main hall of the museum, having done his homework thoroughly, he was well aware of the situation inside.
Just as Ling Xiao had imagined, as the group entered the first floor of the Natural History Museum, two extremely large dinosaur skeletons, full of ferocity, came into view. These were the skeletons of a Triceratops and a Tyrannosaurus Rex, appearing lifelike in the dim light. The few people who entered the exhibition hall couldn't help but shiver.