Smith felt a change in his body. The scalding golden coin was embedded in his left palm. Thin blood vessels on the coin joined it to his hand.He didn"t dare leave this room these past few days, because he finally realized what this coin was. It was a cursed coin or the coin of fortune and misfortune.
It could suck away someone"s luck. The one who lost their luck would be entangled in misfortune and have an accident. The one who had the coin would receive the victim"s luck while the coin received the victim"s soul.
However, the first one to lose luck was the owner of the coin.
Ever since Smith received the coin, he became its slave. Bad luck kept happening around him.
When the first victim appeared, Smith finally received luck again. The more victims there were, the luckier he became.
However, this wasn"t endless. The Cursed Coin couldn"t save too many souls at any given time. After a certain period, it had to release the souls.
The souls who"d lost their luck and were killed by bad luck would never receive salvation. Even if they died because their luck was taken away, it still belonged to them. When they were expelled or purified, the luck that belonged to them would disappear as well.
Last time Chen Zhao came, he expelled the evil spirits in the abandoned cla.s.sroom. This caused Smith"s luck to reach its lowest state. All sorts of trouble and danger started accompanying him.
This also led to the worst result: he was possessed by the Cursed Coin.
It started joining with his body. Of course, this meant he finally learned the coin"s background. There were still some ancient souls in the coin.
These ancient evil spirits badgered him, making him unable to sleep at night.
When Bruce appeared before him again, he was filled with terror. Right now, Bruce appeared in the form of a soul. He couldn"t resist Smith"s Cursed Coin and was swallowed completely by it.
"Let me go…I don"t want to die…I don"t want to die…"
Bruce"s voice echoed throughout Smith"s mind. It was a wail that would never be quieted.
...
When Sienna hurried to the site, she only saw Bruce"s body get lifted out of the elevator. His death had been tragic. Sienna also saw David.
"David, David."
"Sienna, how come you"re here?" David walked over.
"What happened? How did Princ.i.p.al Bruce die?"
"Elevator accident. The cable snapped and he fell from the 12th floor. You know him?"
"He hired me as UCLA"s special safety consultant, but we didn"t have an official contract. It was just a verbal agreement." Sienna was close to a breakdown. If Bruce died, it meant that her and Chris" job would be gone too.
"I think that his death is unnatural," she continued. "The moment before he died, he called me, but the accident happened before he could speak."
"You mean he was killed by an evil spirit?"
"It shouldn"t be an evil spirit. They won"t kill people in the daytime."
"Can you find the truth behind his death?"
"I"m not sure," Sienna said gravely. "Can you give me a copy of the forensic report?"
"Sure." David nodded.
"I"ll definitely find the criminal!" Sienna gritted out. "He stole my job!"
…
"Chen, I got-got invited to the IAAF Diamond League!" Rufford called Chen Zhao excitedly. "I can race in the Diamond League!"
The IAAF Diamond League was previously called the Golden League. It was the most prestigious race in track. It was even more compet.i.tive than the Olympics.
Every track athlete dreamed of standing on that stage, becoming the one under the spotlight.
Rufford had only been a B-list sprinter before. Now, he was a well-known athlete.
"Congrats, Rufford. When is the race?"
"It starts on May 14th. There are 14 stops."
"Is any stop in America?"
"Yes. It"s held in New York on June 21st. I"ll be really happy if you can come to that one."
Chen Zhao considered it. There was still half a year. "If I go, can you break a record?"
"I"ll try… No, I promise."
"Then I"ll come."
As Rufford"s fame grew, his commercial activities grew in number too. However, he knew that his current achievements weren"t enough to make him rich. He still paid more attention to training and all sorts of races.
Chen Zhao didn"t object. Rufford doing more commercial activities could make him more money, but these short-term benefits weren"t what he was looking for.
Sacrificing long-term benefits was the stupidest thing. Chen Zhao would rather not make a cent from Rufford in a year and make more after that.
Rufford was now signed under CAA Management and had his own manager. CAA"s plan for him was to mainly prepare for races.
Of course, this didn"t mean that CAA wasn"t an ethical business. It was merely because they wanted to dig out more value in him. As an athlete, his commercial value was completely expressed in his achievements.
It was just like how an actor"s value came from his box office or ratings.
…
"Kate, welcome to the club."
Kate was introduced to all the members there. This club was called Vertical. It was for people who liked climbing up tall buildings.
She obviously wasn"t interested in this at all. She"d only concealed her ident.i.ty and came for a secret interview. The leader, Liam Horton, knew who she was, but Kate had bribed him to let her in.
The other members were clueless. They thought she was a newbie with this hobby.
There were two types of building climbing. One was with equipment and another was without.
The latter was more dangerous. In most cases, it was illegal too. Most members of Vertical had been arrested. Of course, some also went to heaven.
"Kate, have you done any challenges before joining?"
"Uh…I"m a pure newbie… I"m not brave enough to try tall buildings. I"ve only tried my apartment building, ten floors."
"As a newbie, your performance is already impressive."
"I heard that you"re the most professional building climbing team in L.A. Is that true?"
"Of course," Liam said confidently.
"Then, as the leader, you should be the best one too?"
"Uh… We"re the most professional group, but I"m not the best of L.A."
"Why not?"