Chapter 17 Jade Talisman

• Eddie was about to take his talisman out when his phone rang. Who is this? He went into a corner and took the call. Then, he frowned and put his phone down. He asked, "It's Silas' dad, mate. He says he wants to apologize to you. What do you think?"
• Cole answered curtly, "Sure. Get him to come over, then!"
• A moment later, someone knocked on the door, and in came a couple holding a gift box. The man looked to be fifty, and he had a square face. He wore a suit, and his eyes twinkled with guile. Meanwhile, the woman was probably a few years younger than the man. She was tall, lithe, and had almost perfect skin. Everything she wore was expensive brand-name items.
• They were none other than Cosmo and Naomi, Silas' parents.
• "My sincerest apologies, Mr. Firby. I'm sorry my son did something so stupid." Cosmo bowed deeply and placed the gift box on the table. Following that, he slapped himself twice.
• Cole looked at him. Whoa, he's not holding back. I'd better be careful around guys like him.
• Meanwhile, Naomi had a forced smile on her face. "We're very sorry Silas crossed you, Mr. Firby." Even though her son was crippled, they couldn't possibly take it out on Eddie. As such, they had no choice but to take the hit.
• "Don't apologize to me." Eddie pointed at Cole. "Apologize to Cole."
• "He's Cole?" Cosmo had been informed of the whole situation, and he knew Cole was the one who caused this mess. A hint of fury filled his eyes, but he quickly suppressed it and forced a smile.
• "Ah, Cole. I'm very sorry for my son's behavior. Please forgive him." He stepped forward and held Cole's hand while apologizing like a servant. "Here, something for you." He whipped out a check for 750,000.
• Naomi clenched her fists, her cheeks red with fury. If she could, she would've throttled Cole. I can't do anything to Eddie, but I can make this b*stard suffer. She had looked into Cole's case. He's just a remnant of a broken family—nothing but a commoner. Eddie must've fallen for his lies. Nonetheless, she kept quiet about that. She would bide her time and strike when it was right.
• "It's water under the bridge now." Cole declined the check. "However, I do not wish for it to happen again."
• "Of course, of course." Cosmo smiled.
• "We'll deal with your son's problem later." Eddie waved them off. "I have a crisis to settle, and I need Cole's help."
• Cosmo quickly backed off, and Naomi was getting visibly excited. She wanted to see what the deal with this so-called crisis was. Not only that, she wanted to expose Cole as a fraud. By then, Eddie will kill him for me.
• "I have your talisman with me, but I still don't feel good."
• Eddie took off the talisman and handed it to Cole. Cole observed the crimson talisman for a moment before he abruptly smashed the talisman against the ground. It shattered into little pieces, and a stream of blood spilled forth.
• "What is this?" Eddie couldn't believe his eyes. There's blood in it?
• "Heartblood. Yours, specifically," said Cole.
• "What?"
• Heartblood? That's even rarer than essence. Most humans only have fifty milliliters of that circulating in their bodies. Holy sh*t. The blood that came from that talisman alone must have been about forty milliliters.
• "This talisman was found in a tomb. It's filled with negative energy, but it shouldn't have absorbed your blood so soon. Unless… you ran into some dead people lately," Cole said.
• Eddie and his lackeys' legs gave out, and they plopped to the ground. With disbelief in their eyes, they gawked at Cole. "You're a pro, Cole. I can't believe you know that." Eddie was once again astonished by Cole's power. "Yes. Two days ago, I was about to head home when someone leaped off a building and died before me."
• He added, "'It was a woman and her kids. She was wearing red. She borrowed several thousand illegally and paid a heavy price for it. Interest racked her debts up, and she still couldn't clear them even after paying more than 300,000. She saw no way out, so…"
• Naomi scoffed in silence. Come on, anyone could have known that as long as they kept an eye on you. This is so obvious. Only an idiot like you would believe that.
• Cosmo had the same thought, and he smirked derisively as well.
• "A woman in red killing herself; that's a recipe for disaster. Her death must've generated immense fury and sped up the talisman's absorption of your heartblood. That is why you've been unlucky lately. Let me guess, there's a black mark the size of a fist three inches above your belly button."
• Naomi couldn't take it anymore. Bollocks! She shot up and roared, "Bollocks, I say! Dead people, heartblood, and now a black mark? All lies! Mr. Firby, he's bullsh*tting everything. I know him. He's Cole of the Stuart Family—the one that went into decline. He's just a scam! All the bad things that have happened to you? That's just bad luck!" Hah. Take that, you fool. That's what you get for hurting my son!
• Not a moment after she was done, Eddie roared back, "Shut it! You know jacksh*t about the situation."
• Oh, no. Cosmo quickly stepped in to defuse the situation. "Calm down, Mr. Firby. Naomi meant no harm. She was just shooting straight."
• "I said, you know nothing! Cole got it right. I do have a black mark, and it's in the exact spot he mentioned." Eddie slammed the table and pulled his shirt up to reveal what was underneath.
• Cosmo and Naomi gasped in horror. Goodness, there's a black mark on his stomach! How is this possible?
• Eddie had no time to argue with them, and he quickly turned his attention to Cole. "The mark didn't show up until recently. I have no idea what its deal is. You've got to help me."
• Eddie had nothing but trust in Cole, and he thought he had a supernatural problem.
• Cole said, "Your body has gotten frail since the talisman sucked your heartblood out. That mark is proof that you ran into some… supernatural entity. You're lucky you met me today. Otherwise, you'd have died in three days, even with the talisman protecting you."
• Once again, Eddie's legs buckled, and he plopped to the ground in fear.