Chapter 5 The Forty-Nine-Day Memorial

With Betty's abilities, avoiding The White family would have been easy.

Betty revealed a calculating smile. "I lured them in for my own purposes."

Before Alan could question her, a sudden scream erupted from the dance floor.

Someone shouted, "I think someone just dropped dead!"

The blaring, stimulating music came to an abrupt halt, and the revelers quickly dispersed.

A young woman knelt beside the collapsed man, sobbing uncontrollably.

The club staff reacted swiftly, dialing emergency services.

Betty put on a mask and stepped forward, pressing two fingers to the man's wrist.

His breathing was weak, his face turning purple-he looked as lifeless as a corpse.

The young woman continued wailing, "Joyce, wake up! Please wake up! Don't scare me like this!"

Betty snapped impatiently, "He's not dead yet, stop crying like an idiot."

The girl immediately fell silent.

As Betty checked the man's pulse, she asked, "Does he have a heart condition?"

The woman shook her head. "I don't know. He was just having fun on the dance floor when he suddenly clutched his chest and said he felt suffocated. Before I could ask what was wrong, he just-he just collapsed!"

Betty stopped asking questions. She tore open the man's shirt, exposing his chest.

With a slight flick of her wrist, a fine silver needle slid out from the end of the spinning pen she carried.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Betty swiftly inserted the silver needles into various acupoints on the man's body.

The once noisy club was now so silent that even a pin drop could be heard.

Everyone was curious-what exactly was this slender girl in a mask doing?

Alan followed Betty over and ordered, "Step back and make sure there's enough air circulation. Lee, how long until the ambulance arrives?"

The named staff member quickly responded, "No more than five minutes."

As the silver needles were inserted one by one, the man on the floor suddenly coughed.

A mouthful of fresh blood spurted out, causing gasps from the crowd.

The man took a deep, labored breath and looked around in confusion.

The wail of an ambulance siren echoed from outside the nightclub.

In less than three seconds, Betty removed all the silver needles from the man's acupoints.

Medical personnel swarmed in, asking about the man's condition.

Feeling his chest, the man muttered, "I was suffocating just now, but it doesn't feel so bad anymore."

Someone in the crowd suddenly realized, "That masked girl knows medicine!"

"Wait, where is she?"

By the time people tried to find Betty, she had already disappeared.

The next day was the forty-nine-day memorial for Henry's father, Frances.

According to The William family's ancestral traditions, the current head of the family must lead the clan to their private cemetery to pay respects to the late patriarch.

The cemetery was the final resting place of The William family's ancestors, nestled among mountains in a location chosen by renowned astrologers as a supreme burial ground.

At the entrance of the cemetery, over a hundred black luxury cars were parked.

Henry, dressed in solemn black, led the procession. Flanking him were Berd and Jackie, his two closest aides.

Behind them, twenty bodyguards in black suits followed.

Further back, hundreds of The William family members, also dressed in black, stood in an orderly formation, waiting for the ceremony to begin.

At the officiant's signal, Henry knelt before the tombstone to pay his respects.

As he knelt, hundreds behind him followed suit, their collective motion creating a solemn and synchronized display.

The ritual was not complicated-kneeling, bowing, burning incense, and scattering paper money.

Everything proceeded in an orderly fashion...

At the officiant's final call, the ceremony concluded, and the cemetery became shrouded in drifting paper ashes.

Henry, at six-foot-two, stood tall with a strikingly handsome face. The black attire only amplified his aura of dominance and ruthlessness.

Standing like a ruler surveying his domain, his gaze swept over the gathered clan.

"My father died in a car accident," he said. "I'm sure you are all aware."

"On the surface, it appeared to be an ordinary crash. But upon deeper investigation, I refuse to believe such a thing could happen to the head of The William family."

Henry's deep voice carried across the cemetery, each word striking the crowd like a hammer.

Standing at the highest point, he looked down at everyone.

"On the day of my father's burial, I swore that before this forty-nine-day memorial, I would bring the true culprit to justice."

The gathered family members trembled, their minds racing-who had killed the late patriarch?

Henry's sharp gaze swept across the faces before him.

"I am giving you a chance to confess," he stated. "If you admit your crime now, I will spare you from the clan's punishment and be lenient."

The cemetery fell into a tense silence.

Murdering the patriarch-who would dare admit to such a crime?

Seeing no one step forward, Henry chuckled coldly. "I have given you an opportunity-only once. Miss it, and don't blame me for being merciless."

He gave Jackie a subtle glance. Jackie responded with a sharp snap of his fingers.

Moments later, two muscular bodyguards dragged a middle-aged man forward.

One of them kicked the man's knees, forcing him to collapse onto the ground.

Gasps rippled through the crowd as they recognized him-the late patriarch Frances's personal driver.

The driver scrambled forward, grabbing Henry's leg. "Mr. William! I swear, I don't know anything! I don't know anything! Please, please spare me!"

Before he could touch Henry, Jackie stepped in and stomped down on the driver's back.

Henry remained unmoved by the man's pleas. His voice was indifferent. "My father will not die in vain."

Pinned to the ground, the driver wept and begged for mercy, his saliva nearly splattering onto Frances's tombstone.

Henry turned to Jackie. "He's too noisy."

Jackie struck swiftly, dislocating the driver's jaw with a single blow.

Now unable to form words, the driver could only let out muffled cries.

The William family members watched in silence, holding their breath. No one dared to speak out in such a setting.

Henry took out a silk handkerchief and gently wiped his father's portrait.

As he wiped, he said calmly, "Since you claim to know nothing, you might as well join him in the afterlife."

At his signal, Berd pressed a remote control.

With a loud rumble, a freshly dug grave appeared beside Frances's tombstone.

The driver's terrified screams echoed as Jackie kicked him into the pit.

Henry's command was simple. "He failed to protect his master-bury him alive."

The driver, now completely panicked, flailed his limbs in vain.

Ten bodyguards wasted no time, grabbing shovels and throwing dirt into the pit.

The William family members trembled in horror.

No wonder Henry was chosen as the successor-his ruthlessness exceeded even the old patriarch's.

Someone in the crowd finally found the courage to speak. "Burying a man alive... that's against the law."

Henry's eyes glinted with amusement as he turned toward the speaker. "Are you here to teach me how to handle things, Second Brother?"