My Substitute CEO Bride (Nash and Hera) novel Chapter 1971

“You! You crook! You’re going to die a terrible death!” the man yelled.

“Is that so? What a shame… I can’t die at the moment, but as for you…”

The man then fell to the ground, no longer breathing.

The other person burst into tears of fright and hurriedly began begging for their life.

“I… I’ll do anything. Please, please let me go!”

“Oh? Is that so?” the merchant asked as he smiled. “In that case… give me more money.”

“Well…. Well….”

“If you can’t… I’m sorry, then…”

…

Val was so scared that he did not even dare draw in a deep breath. Just then, a figure suddenly materialized behind him.

The door to the wooden shed opened.

A burly man walked through the door, dragging Val behind him. He threw Val into the shed.

“You were being followed, you idiot,” the burly man said.

“I did it on purpose. I was wondering who it was. Turns out it was him.”

“Do you know him?”

“He’s that woman’s child.”

“Did you kill him?”

“No, no. There’s no need to be so brutal. We’re merchants.”

…

“Wait, do you mean to say… that this is why I have a high fever?”

“That’s right, sir. You’re very smart. Allow me to show you one more thing.”

Then, a flash of gold appeared in the merchant’s hands.

“God gave this to me, and it can cure all illnesses. Isn’t that amazing?”

“God? All illnesses? You must be joking! Such things do not exist in this world!”

“No, sir. Just because you do not see it, does not mean it does not exist. Do you understand that? Your mother is a remarkable woman. In order to save you, she decided to… give up all her ‘spiritual power’ in one go. It was extremely touching.”

“Spiritual power?” Val knew perfectly well what that meant. His mother had once said that a human was made up of three parts—their body, their soul, and their spiritual power.

In other words, a person’s spiritual power consisted of their consciousness and volition. It was part of one’s soul, and it was irreplaceable.

If one lost one's spiritual power, one would lose one's sense of self. He learned all of this from the stories his mother told him. He never imagined that the merchant would use it as a product to be traded.