The way Samuel looked at him slightly stunned Joseph.
"What's the matter? Did I say something wrong?"
Zoe smiled and ran over to Joseph. She hugged him and said with a smile, "No. Joseph, you're
awesome. I think you are smarter than my brother."
Joseph instantly felt a little embarrassed when hearing Zoe's compliment.
"That’s not true. Lucas is really smart."
When Joseph talked about Lucas, his eyes were full of joy without hatred.
Samuel knew that Joseph really loved Lucas and Zoe. He opened his heart and treated them as his
siblings.
They were all children, and there was absolutely no grudge between them. As long as they loved each
other, it didn't matter if Joseph hated him.
He was okay about that.
Samuel suddenly got relaxed.
"Alright, go and choose a room at the hotel we pick. Ask the bodyguards to follow you. This place isn't
the Seapolis City. We’re unfamiliar with the surroundings, so be careful. Do you understand?"
Zoe and Joseph nodded.
Joseph held Zoe's hand and took a step. When he saw that Samuel was about to enter the ancestral
hall again, he couldn't help but shout.
"Daddy, are you still going in?"
"Yes."
Samuel turned his back to Joseph, his eyes determined.
His wife was still inside the hall. He had to go in.
However, Samuel didn't tell that to the children in case they grew worried.
Joseph looked at Samuel's figure. His eyes suddenly became wet.
"Daddy, take this in case you smell the incense again."
Joseph slipped a small bottle into Samuel's hand and left with Zoe.
Samuel looked at the small bottle in his hand and suddenly smiled.
This kid was really reserved.
Joseph had both grudge against and love for Samuel. After all, Samuel truly treated him as his own son
in the past five years.
Samuel put the small bottle into his pocket and walked into the ancestral hall again.
"Stay outside. No one can enter without my permission."
"Got it."
The bodyguard nodded.
Samuel closed the door of the ancestral hall.
It instantly became dark inside. The cold and gloomy atmosphere was frightening.
After all, it was haunted by dead souls. Samuel looked at the spirit tablets in the ancestral hall. There
were more than 200 of those. He didn't know if all dead people in the town were honored here, or just
the grandmasters.
Right now, he was the leader of the Harper Town. The first thing he came to the ancestral hall was
worshiping the ancestors. He didn't expect to be set up.
Joseph said that Morgan arranged all this.
What did Morgan intend to do?
Samuel quickly searched around. He finally saw a small bump on the wall and gently pressed it. But he
soon lost balance and fell down.
He did not panic, but quickly checked around. The light here was so dim that Samuel could not see
anything clearly.
After he got used to the light, he found himself falling into a cellar.
The cellar was empty but small, with a capacity of less than three persons.
Samuel fell right on the ground. His back almost fractured.
He cried out when a sharp dagger got close to him. He subconsciously dodged and fought back at the
same time.
When he caught a whiff of faint fragrance, Samuel quickly held his breath and took a move. He
clenched the wrist of the attacker, who fell down with a scream.
Then Samuel kicked the attacker onto the wall. The attacker groaned and slowly fell down on the
ground.
Samuel looked around. Nicole was lying unconscious. He noticed that his attacker was a woman in her
thirties.
The woman's face was covered in camouflage. Samuel immediately treated her as an enemy.
"Nicole!"
Samuel quickly walked towards Nicole.
"Don't touch her! I'm warning you. I've put poison on her body. If you touch her, you'll bleed to death."
The woman sounded old.
She looked like in her thirties, but sounded like in her sixties.
Samuel's eyes immediately turned cold.
"Did you hurt her?"
He walked towards the woman like Satan.
His fury sent a chill down her spine.
"I didn't. She fell from above. I saved her. But who are you? You are the one who harmed her, right? I
won't let you hurt her."
The woman's eyes were filled with panic. But she still struggled to get up and protect Nicole.
Samuel's eyes suddenly became tender.
He ignored the woman and walked straight towards Nicole.
"I'm not trying to scare you. I'm serious. I've really smeared poison on her body. You have to believe
me, and...."
"Shut up!"
Samuel shouted coldly. The woman trembled with fear and extreme pain.
Samuel got close to Nicole and saw her asleep. Only then did he feel relieved.
Samuel panicked when he found that Nicole had disappeared. But he couldn't go search for her
immediately. He had to confirm whether there was any more threat.
Now he was finally relieved when seeing his wife safe.
Samuel's hands trembled imperceptibly.
He took out the small bottle that Joseph gave him and slowly applied the ointment on Nicole's temples.
The woman's face turned pale.
"Hey, you will die!"
"You are being too noisy!"
Samuel threw a stone to her. It didn't hit her but left a bruise on her face. The woman was so scared
that she almost rolled her eyes.
"She has...."
She covered her mouth in fear when seeing Samuel's cold gaze.
The man had beautiful but scary eyes.
She was so scared.
The woman trembled, but Samuel did not pay any attention to her. Instead, he gently rubbed Nicole's
temples.
Nicole woke up after a short while.
"Samuel?"
Nicole felt too feeble to get up. Samuel immediately hugged her.
"Hey, you...."
The woman was too afraid to say anything again due to Samuel's exasperation.
Samuel sensed a sting on his fingers. He knew that the woman was not lying to him.
She really smeared something on Nicole's body.
But Samuel did not care. He held Nicole in his arms and said gently, "I'll take you out. Are you hungry?
What do you want to eat for dinner?"
"What happened?"
Nicole only remembered that she was dizzy when burning the incense. Finding out she was not in the
ancestral hall, she felt strange about the place and the woman.
After being glanced by Nicole, the woman hurriedly smiled and said, "Hi, my name is Juliana. I saved
you just now. I saw that you were unconscious. I couldn't move you, so...."
"Show us an exit."
Samuel interrupted Juliana.
He didn't want Nicole to be worried about his poisoning.
Juliana was silenced by Samuel's angry gaze. She said somewhat gloomily, "I can't get out of here."
"Samuel, what exactly is going on?"
Samuel looked at Nicole's puzzled gaze and whispered, "The incense will give you hallucination. I was
afraid that something would happen to you, so I stuffed you under the table. I thought I'd pick you up
after I settled everything. Who knew that there was such a secret cellar beneath the table? We fell
down from above."
Nicole immediately understood.
She wanted to get up, but she was hugged tightly by Samuel.
"The effects of the incense are not over yet. You're too feeble. I'll hold you."
"Alright."
Nicole really didn’t have any strength. She trustfully leaned against Samuel's chest and whispered, "Is
Juliana yours?"
"Don't talk nonsense. You’re my woman. I don't know her at all. She appeared here for no reason. I'd
better kill her."
Samuel sounded casual but frightening. He scared Juliana into screaming.
"You can't kill me! I'm from the Harper Town!"
Samuel's eyes became even colder when Juliana said so.
"Are you from the Harper Town?"
"Right!"
Juliana forced herself to be calm. Samuel sneered at her bluff.
"Do you know who I am?"
"I don't care who you are! This is the territory of the Harper Town. You'd better hurry up and leave this
place, otherwise you'll die."
Juliana struggled not to show her fear. Nicole found it really funny.
"Alright, let's leave first. Samuel, do you know how to get out? I can walk by myself. We'll find an exit
together."
"No need."
Samuel took out the phone from his pocket and called the bodyguard.
"Drop a rope down. There's an opening device under the table. Hurry up."
Then Samuel hung up the phone.
Juliana hurriedly said, "You guys will bring me up, right? I haven't been home for three days. If I don't
go back, my husband will be anxious."
"Aren't you a member of the Harper Town? What? Aren't you living here?"
Samuel's mocking voice embarrassed Juliana. She looked at Nicole and begged, "This kind lady, your
fall was cushioned by me. Please bring me up later, okay?"
"Who knows whether you're telling the truth? There's no surveillance here. You can say whatever you
want. Besides, how did you get into a private territory? And how did you fall down here? You'd better
give me a good explanation."
Samuel's cold expression frightened Juliana so much that she clenched her teeth and looked at Nicole
with tears in her eyes.
Nicole didn't want to leave her here alone. But she wondered about the camouflage on Juliana's face.
Generally speaking, a soldier or a mercenary would wear camouflage. What was Juliana's identity?
She acted like a gentle and polite woman without any threat. But Nicole wasn't that silly to believe her
innocence. After all, she had experienced so much with Samuel. She certainly knew something wasn't
right.
Who did Juliana work for?
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