After Jungkook was done speaking, he stared in a particular corner of the room.
"Bro Jeon, what are you looking at?" Seeing Jungkook's gaze fixed at a certain point, Taehyung couldn't help but ask. He turned to look at where the other was looking, but all he could see was empty air. He touched his nose in slight confusion.
Jungkook turned away, his voice indifferent as he replied, "It's nothing." Then he glanced at Taehyung.
Taehyung nodded, then turned to look at the judge. He snapped his fingers, and a figure in black gave the judge a stack of documents. ."These are the evidence, apart from evidence of Eunha Manoban's bribery, there is also evidence of her embezzlement of Lalisa Manoban's oil paintings. Our lawyer will be here soon, and we intend to announce this to the media."
"As for you guys." Taehyung turned to the group of people from the art world, a sneer on his lips. "You are all distinguished figures from the art world, and you have countless fans. You should know how influential a single remark from you is. No matter who's at fault, don't you feel ashamed, attacking a dead person like this?!"
He left with Jungkook and the others once he was done speaking.
As soon as he left, every single person from the art world breathed a sigh of relief. An invisible hand seemed to be tugging at their hearts as they thought back to how vicious they had been in attacking Lisa just a few minutes ago. They hung their head in shame, feeling guilt coursing through them.
"These evidences must be fake and fabricated by them! Eunha is not that kind of person!" The same young man exclaimed. "How can someone like Lalisa Manoban paint such a painting?"
"Enough!" The old man beside him shouted once he was done. "Do you know who those people were? You dare to say these things about them?"
"Who cares? It's not right to fabricate evidence!" The young man was so angry that you could see the veins popping out. " I want to sue them!"
"Sue them?" Another person chuckled when he heard that. "Do you know of the Yin family? The top dog of N City? The one who brought in the evidence is the one and only young master of this generation of the Yin family. Wanting to sue him, do you dare?"
As soon as the words were out, the young man had nothing to say. His face had frozen in shock, the words stuck in his throat. Of course he knew who the Yin family was, the most influential family in N City!
That person just now was from the Yin family?
"Based on the Yin family's style, they have no reason to fabricate the evidence at all, because it isn't worth their time." The old man beside the young man said, and he seemed to age another few years as he sighed. "Those paintings really were painted by Lalisa Manoban."
The young man opened his mouth a few times, but no sound was forthcoming. The disbelief was on his frozen face.
But in his heart, he already knew the truth.
The Yin family really had no reason to fabricate the evidence, after all.
The judge watched these people who had sauntered in with their heads high in the air and their arrogant attitude now left with looks of despair on their faces, their tails tucked between their legs. He couldn't help but glance down at the documents in front of him, and felt his heartstrings being tugged. An illegitimate daughter who was not significant in anyone's eyes, could attract such support from the Yin family after her death. Really...
He sighed, it really was an unfortunate matter.
Everyone in the know of the truth felt that Lisa was pitiful, especially the people from the Yin family. However, the person herself didn't feel that she was pitiful, but was staring at Jungkook.
Lisa had been studying ways to return, and the reason she was here in the first place. Wasn't she fighting heaven's will?
But there was nothing to be found as a clue at all. She wanted to rub her temples very much in frustration, but her hand would pass through her own body.
Beside her, Jungkook was browsing the net on his laptop for any follow-up development of the case.
He was scrolling very slowly, and Lisa knew that he was doing it so that she could also read, and so she sat next to him to look. She turned her head to see the other was pursing his lips without saying a word, the usual cold, indifferent look on his face.
The corners of Lisa's mouth twitched. "You must be bored to death right now!"
Then she turned back to look at the webpage, seeing that the development of this matter was still continuously being updated. Just like the scene in the courtroom, the majority of the people were cursing Lisa.
【She's already dead, why is she still making so many problems!】
【So disgusting, she's dead but still pulling our Eunha down the grave with her!】
【It's a blessing to society for this kind of person to be dead!】
The comments were all along the same lines, and Jungkook's face got colder by the second as he scrolled down. He closed the lid of the computer with a pop, and said under his breath, "Don't worry, I'll handle it."
Having said that, he took out his phone.
Lisa sat in the same spot, and if she could speak to him directly, she would have told him that she didn't care one wit about those comments about her, really. But it wasn't like she could.
Jungkook was on the line with Taehyung outside, and when he heard Jungkook's words, he explained, "Master Jeon, the bigger this incident becomes, the shock that comes from the truth will be even bigger. I've sent someone to shadow and record the Manoban family, don't worry. It'll be handled within the hour."
One hour later, Jungkook sat in front of the laptop once again, turning it on.
【What a disgusting person, it's great that she's dead!】
【Eunha is innocent, why bother her?】
Such comments were still being made. Eunha just had too many fans, and those passersby that didn't know the entire story was disgusted by Lisa's vicious heart.
There were some occasional comments that were different.
【Where is your conscience? Talking about someone who is no longer alive in this world like this?】
The Manoban family was in a panic initially, but when they saw the comments on the internet that were all supportive of Eunha, they calmed down, thinking that she would be fine.
However, at this moment, several influential users posted a Weibo at the same time.
There were two video links on the Weibo post. One was the house where Lisa had lived when she was alive, one that she had rented outside by herself. There were many oil paintings in the video, and even the unfinished ones were warm and familiar.
The other was a video of Lisa herself painting which clearly showed her face. It was probably taken by a random passerby.
Finally, there were nine pictures which were evidence of Eunha's bribery and smuggling...
(verified) Li Seokjin: Although this is something that someone requested for me to repost, I would have done it without needing to be prompted anyway. I am very familiar with the painting 'Starlight', this was the painting that gave me hope in the darkest days of my life. The reason I reposted this late was because I was reading the online comments. I only wish to say, keyboard warriors, please, let her off? //@OP
(verified) Xiao Rosé: The truth may be late, but it will never be absent. I didn't know it was you before this, now that I know, Lalisa Manoban, thank you. //@OP
(verified) Mu Lucas: A painting will never lie. She has lived such a hard life, but she still managed to be a good person. Her painting has illuminated the life of countless people, but we've only been giving her criticism and injustice. I think that's the reason she didn't have any attachment to this world. Lalisa Manoban, I owe you one word, I'm sorry. //@OP
All comments on the internet went silent in that instant, as the netizens read the Weibo posts of all these influential figures. Then they thought back to what they had said, and they had no words to describe the feelings they felt.
Especially after they read Lucas and Rosé's words.
Lisa's paintings had illuminated the lives of countless people and garnered countless fans. But these fans, what did they do? Not only were they unfair to her, not helping her at all, and instead abusing her existence online.
When they thought about what they had done, it felt like all their breath had been knocked out of them.
A young girl dropped her favourite cup that she was holding, the glass shattering into pieces when it hit the ground, her hands trembling.
【I'm sorry, Lalisa Manoban! Please forgive me!!】
【It turns out that the paintings were painted by you, I didn't even manage to express my gratitude to you 】
【 I'm sorry】
And then the matter of Lisa funding an orphanage came to light, and the currently most famous youth in the financial world, Yoongi said, "Everyone may not be aware of this, but I came from this orphanage. In my hardest time, it was Miss Lalisa who reached out to help me, but I never had the chance to meet her. When I had the power to finally repay her, she was no longer around."
When this incident was announced, it attracted the attention of the mass media. All the big screens on the side of the roads were playing what little videos they had of Lisa while she was alive.
Lisa's popularity soared to its peak after her death. Because of this incident, the entire N City was thrown into an uproar. Numerous people from all over the world came to pay their last respects, and the flowers placed on her grave were so many to the point it spread to the roads. However, the person was already dead, no matter how popular she was, what was the point?
Jungkook watched coldly the video that was being played on the big screen, his nails digging into his palm as he lowered his head.
***
At the same time in prison, Eunha was still waiting for her master and senior brother to rescue her.
She waited for a long time, before Lucas finally came to see her.
The police officers who came to escort her pushed her to walk roughly, and Eunha sneered at them. "Just wait till I'm out of here, I'll make sure you pay for this!" She would remember the few days that she was here, them giving her only rancid food to eat and giving her the dirtiest and most tiring work to do!
"Get out?" The police officer looked at her in disgust. "Just wait your days out in prison!"
Eunha felt that the police officer's attitude was different from what she imagined it would be, since she was going to see Lucas to get out of here. Perhaps there had been some problems? She didn't know what had gone wrong until she saw Lucas.
"I won't be saving you, but I won't let you die either... you have to atone for your sins towards her." Lucas said this all without any expression, just as he usually spoke, but Eunha could feel the underlying hint of cold and steel in his voice.
Eunha staggered backwards, falling to the ground on her behind. She looked at Lucas with disbelief in her eyes... He knew... How was that possible?! Lisa was obviously dead!
Lucas didn't offer any further explanation, turning to walk straight out of the cell.
Eunha was pulled up roughly again, and she looked at the police officer's contemptuous face. It was like lightning had struck her suddenly, and she finally understood that something was wrong.
Regret, Eunha really felt the regret creeping up on her. However, she was already in jail, and it was far too late for regrets now.
***
Having read the document on the updates on Eunha's life imprisonment, Jungkook closed the document. He then leaned backwards in his chair, narrowing his eyes.
"Bro Jeon, Hoseok said that there was a problem in the desert. What's going on there?" Taehyung sat in the driver's seat, a look of confusion on his face.
Jungkook looked out the window, not saying anything, before looking back to the ancient text on his lap. "You can leave when you reach the edge, I have something I need to do."
Lisa sat beside him, watching the scenery as the car drove past.
The car reached the edge of the desert, and Taehyung dropped Jungkook off before turning around and driving away.
At this time, Jungkook was looking in Lisa's direction.
His eyes gradually softened when Lisa stared back at him, and she naturally knew this was the Jungkook that she had come to know after her rebirth. But, how was that possible? She exclaimed with some shock, "Brother Jungkook, what are you going to do?!"
***
In the ancient martial arts world, where there used to be only two guards outside the Elders' Pavilion, there was now an entire team of elites who stood guard ever since Lisa and Jungkook had left.
Lisa and Jungkook had been gone for more than a month, and within this month, the strength of the ancient martial arts world had greatly improved. Even the peak era of the ancient martial arts world was not as great as the current strength that they had.
Especially Peace Manor, though they had not gone to the Trial Tower for a month, the last person on the ranking tablet had already reached the 52nd floor. Peace Manor was already the largest powerhouse in the ancient martial arts world, and even the elders of the ancient martial arts world would be far behind them in terms of strength.
Currently, Peace Manor was not bothered about anything, except training with all their might. They left everything else to Yoongi to manage.
When the great elder finished his training for the day, he walked past Peace Manor, and raised his head to look at it for a while. Then he turned to leave, but he didn't head home, instead going towards the Elders Pavilion.
"Great Elder." The team of people standing guard outside bowed respectfully when he arrived.
After receiving guidance from Lisa, the great elder and the others improved their strength very quickly. Generally, for people their age, it was difficult for them to go any further in their martial arts, and this was a well-known law of nature. But all these were broken by Lisa's hands.
It had only been a month, and the strength of the elders of the ancient martial arts world had already risen by one or two levels!
There were only a few people who knew the strength of the elders, and the youngsters of the ancient martial arts world had no way of estimating it at all. As they saluted the great elder respectfully, they also sighed inwardly about how terrifying Lisa was.
"Nothing unusual has happened here, right?" The great elder asked right before he went through the door.
"No, Great Elder." The head of the team answered him.
The great elder nodded his head. "That's good. I'm going in to take a look, don't come in."
"Understood."
After the great elder walked in, the people standing guard outside looked at each other in confusion. "The Great Elder would always come to the Elders' Pavilion to have a look after training every day. What in the world is he looking at?"
"Don't talk so much." The head of the team said coldly, and everyone fell silent.
On the highest floor of the Elders' Pavilion, there was an isolated room. The room was incredibly empty, and there was only a table, which held an intricate, vermillion red box on top of it. Inside the box were two pieces of snowy jade, the same two jades that Jungkook and Lisa had given them when they had left.
Their lifeforce had been infused in the jade, and as long as the jade was in one piece, it meant that they were still alive and well.
Jungkook used to have such a piece of jade before, and it had been returned to the Jeon family when it had shattered.
The great elder and the others were well aware of Lisa and Jungkook's strength, and they guessed that they wouldn't have many problems. However, that didn't stop the great elder from stopping by here every day, just to assure himself that the two really were still fine.
Today was no exception, and he had dropped by to check on the conditions of the jades.
When he came into the room, his footsteps were light and relaxed. He had managed to break through again today, and there was a smile on his face. He thought about how he needed to let Lisa know once she returned.
As he thought about it, he walked to the table and looked into the box.
The smile vanished from his face the moment he did, a stiff expression crossing his face. His limbs felt cold, spreading through his body as he stared blankly into the box. Both hands were pressed on the table as he tried to support himself so that he wouldn't fall to the ground.
As long as the jade was there, that meant they were fine. If the jade shattered, it meant they were dead!
"Go and call all the elders to gather." The great elder seemed to have aged ten more years when he said this, holding the box to his chest as he instructed the people out the door.
His voice was hoarse, completely unlike the person that had first gone into the Elders' Pavilion just a while ago. The guards outside were shocked to see him in this state, and it took a few seconds before they gathered themselves and went to do as the great elder had instructed.
From the second elder to the seventh elder, Peace Manor, everyone from the Jeon family, the Tang family, the Baili family, the Murong family, Minhyuk... basically all the important people in the power world had gathered here. They had been staying in the ancient martial arts world these days, and they were aware that the jade pieces that Lisa and Jungkook had left behind were in the Elders' Pavilion.
For the great elder to gather them all in such a rush, they were shocked and felt uneasiness in their hearts.
"Great Elder..." Taehee saw that the great elder was holding the box in his hands, and her voice trembled a little.
The great elder didn't say anything, only holding out the intricate box towards her, closing his eyes and saying nothing.
Taehee's hands were shaking so much as she took the box and tried to open it three times and failed. Joowon had stepped forward to help her, but Taehee stopped him. She took a deep breath, and finally opened the box.
The jade pieces that had been perfectly fine were now powdered dust!
Bang!
Taehee fell to the ground, a blank look on her face, her mind completely empty. She didn't know what to say. Every time Jungkook went out on a mission, she would always send him off. Now there was also Lisa, and she had sent both of them off, and had prayed with all her might that the two would come back safely.
But now, she felt like she was in a nightmare, her entire person in a dazed state. The blood rushed to her head, and she dropped into a faint.
In her heart, Jungkook had the capabilities to reach the skies, while Lisa could do everything beyond that. Who wasn't a fan of either of them in the ancient martial arts world right now?
You could say that the reason the ancient martial arts world could reach this state, the fact that the secular world could so easily accept the existence of the ancient martial arts world and the looming disasters were only because of Lisa's existence!
The turning point of the calamities, it was also Lisa!
Unexpectedly, everyone's hopes-Lisa and Jungkook, were no longer around!
Almost hundreds of people were now sitting and standing in the Elders' Pavilion, looking at the intricate, vermillion box. Disbelief and shock were on everyone's face, their bodies trembling. The jades that represented the lives of Miss Lalisa and Jeon Jungkook were broken?
"The main problem right now is not the jade." Yoongi clenched his fist tightly, his mind working at full speed. He could already map out the possibilities that may happen in the future. "But how to conceal this news, and deal with the coming calamity that will hit the world. The matter of Miss Lalisa and Mr. Jeon will be known eventually, and I'm guessing that those people will already know by now."
"Mr. Luo is right." The second elder picked himself up slowly, as though just waking up from a daze. "We definitely will not be able to conceal the matter of Miss Lalisa and Young Master Jeon. The danger both our ancient martial arts world and the secular world are facing is also about to arrive. If we can't hold this out, we'll all really be wiped out."
As soon as he said those words, everyone pushed down their grief and straightened up, looking at the second elder.
The second elder didn't continue to speak, turning to look at Yoongi instead. He knew that in Peace Manor, apart from Lisa, the real master of the place was Yoongi. Now that something had happened to Lisa, Yoongi was the only one who could control Peace Manor. "Mr. Luo, what should we do now?"
"Now the most important thing to do is find Mr. Zhuge." Yoongi stood up. "Elders and patriarchs, please follow me to Peace Manor to look for Mr. Zhuge."
The group left for Peace Manor, and they didn't leave until the next morning. When they came out, their faces were grave.
Lisa and Jungkook, the two most powerful people in the world had fallen, what hope did the power worlds still have at this point?
At first, the elder held out a sliver of hope that the information on the jade pieces was wrong. Lisa and Jungkook would send news eventually, but as the days turned into a week, and there was still no news, the elders and everyone else started to feel the hope die.
As news of Lisa and Jungkook's fall spread, many forces began to rise.
"Do you think Miss Lalisa has really... " Namjoon opened his mouth to say, but the rest of his sentence got stuck in his throat. He stood at the entrance of the network room of Nine Heavens, an unclear expression on his face.
Yoongi who was currently in the ancient martial arts world, had his fist clenched tightly. "Miss Lalisa must still be alive. Namjoon, you and Uncle Jinhee must stay strong. The Peacekeepers have gone out on missions, we won't have to fear once they return!"
Namjoon replied softly, his eyes lowered as he saw a group of people coming from downstairs. He hung up the call, walking into the office.
"President Mu, Mr. Yu Namjoon. Have you considered it?" The office door was pushed open, and those people downstairs were already inside the room. All of them had triumphant smiles on their faces, it was people from Chu Enterprise.
Veins were popping out on Jinhee's head. He had always been one of the most mild tempered people in Nine Heavens, but now all he wanted to do was throw these bunch of people out of Nine Heavens!
"What?" The leader of Chu Enterprise sat in an empty chair, a strange smile on his lips. "President Mu, you know that those who are stronger will prevail. I don't think you wish for a bloodbath to happen in Nine Heavens, right? If you agree to hand over all the research data on Star Net, then everything will be fine. If you don't..."
The leader of Chu Enterprise snorted coldly, a black flame emerging from his body. "Today is the deadline."
Jinhee was aware now that these people were not ordinary people. Ever since news of Lisa's death had spread, many families in the Imperial Capital suddenly popped up with a lot of mysterious people. Perhaps they had existed even when Lisa and Jungkook had been alive, but had been concealing themselves among the ordinary people.
Now that Lisa and Jungkook had fallen, the Peacekeepers were also caught up with various people. Once news of their fall had spread, the power world seemed to be tightly oppressed by an invisible strength.
While Nine Heavens in the secular world was the one to bear the brunt first!
If they were fighting with their brains in business, ten of Chu Enterprises wouldn't be able to compare to one Nine Heavens. But Chu Enterprise had countless master martial artists, and they were using brute force. They would just kill anyone who refused to obey them!
They wanted the research data of Star Net, the one that had been fueled by the efforts of Namjoon, Lisa, Jiji, and the rest of the web development team. There were huge amounts of information within it, and it wasn't an exaggeration to say that it would be a rewrite of a new era. These people had done nothing to contribute to the research, and now they just waltzed in and demanded for it?
How could Jinhee agree to that?! But just as he opened his mouth to speak, Namjoon pulled out a USB drive from his pocket, handing it to the people from Chu Enterprise. "This is the data for Star Net, Keep it safe."
"Yu Namjoon?!" Jinhee was looking at Namjoon, an incredulous look on his face. He knew that this project was Namjoon's life work! And the life work of the entire web development team!
He didn't expect Namjoon to just hand it over!
Namjoon didn't say anything, his eyes fixed on the people from Chu Enterprise. The leader of the group handed the USB drive to the person beside him, and signaled with his eyes. The one who took the drive plugged it into the computer, confirming that it was genuine. The leader then turned his head to Namjoon. "So we finally met, young man. But you dragged this on for two days already, wasting so much of our precious time. We're not ones to be easily bullied. How about this, if you bow down with your head on the ground three times, I'll let you off. Otherwise..."
He flashed Namjoon a triumphant smile.