Chapter 5
A calculating smile played on Valerie’s lips. “I had my reasons for luring them in.” Before Everett could press for details, a sudden scream tore through the pounding music on the
dance floor.
“I think someone just collapsed!” someone yelled.
The blaring music died mid-beat, and the revelers scrambled to the edges. A young woman crouched beside her unconscious partner, sobbing uncontrollably.
The nightclub staff hurriedly called for an ambulance.
Valerie slipped on her mask and walked toward the crowd. Dropping to her knees, she pressed two fingers against the patient’s wrist.
His breathing was shallow, and his face was pale with a frightening purple hue. He might as well have been a dead man.
Still shaken, the young woman sobbed. “Wake up, Josh! Please don’t scare me like this!”
“He’s not dead, y’know?” Valerie snapped. “Stop crying!”
The young woman was so startled that she fell silent.
While checking his pulse, Valerie asked, “Does he have a heart condition?”
The young woman shook her head. “I… I don’t know. He was having the time of his life on the
dance floor. Then, he suddenly said that his chest felt tight.
“Before I could ask what was wrong, h-he collapsed.”
Valerie didn’t press further. She tore open the man’s shirt, exposing his chest.
With a gentle flick of her pen, a set of fine silver needles dropped neatly into her palm. Under countless eyes, Valerie deftly drove the silver needles into the man’s acupoints.
The noisy club fell so silent that one could hear a pin drop. Everyone watched, transfixed, wondering what this slender, masked woman was doing.
Everett followed Valerie over and ordered the crowd, “Back up and let the air through! When’s the ambulance getting here, Shawn?”
Shawn hurriedly responded, “Five minutes at most!”
Needle after needle found its mark until the man on the floor jerked and coughed, spitting a mouthful of blood. Gasps rippled through the onlookers. He inhaled sharply, confusion clouding his face as he looked around.
Just then, the wail of an ambulance echoed from outside the club. In less than three seconds, Valerie pulled out every silver needle from his pressure points.
The medics rushed in, asking about the man’s condition. Helped to his feet, the man touched his chest. “I felt like I couldn’t breathe earlier, but it doesn’t hurt as much anymore.”
“That masked woman is obviously trained in medicine!” Someone gasped. “Hold on. Where is she?”
By the time it occurred to them to search for Valerie, she had vanished without a trace.
The following day marked the 49th day since Melvin White’s passing. According to the White family’s tradition, when a patriarch died, the new head of the family would lead everyone to the family’s private cemetery for the memorial rites.
The burial ground housed generations of Whites. Nestled against the mountains and with excellent geomancy, it had been chosen as an ideal resting place by several renowned geomancy experts for the White family.
The entrance to the cemetery was lined with over a hundred black luxury cars.
Dressed in somber black, Lucius led the procession, flanked by his trusted aides, Keane and Silas Fairchild, and 20 black-clad bodyguards following close behind.
Behind the main procession stretched hundreds of White family members dressed in black, standing still and orderly as they waited for the service to begin.
At the pastor’s clear call to prayer, Lucius sank to his knees in front of the tombstone to pay his respects. The moment his knees touched the ground, the hundreds behind him followed
suit in one synchronized movement.
The memorial was simple and reverent-the scripture was read, prayers were lifted, hymns rose softly with the breeze, and candles and flowers were placed on the grave in loving
remembrance.
Everything proceeded without a hitch. When the pastor declared the service complete, the ceremony ended, and soft candlelight and drifting incense smoke filled the cemetery with a gentle hush.
Lucius, tall and broad-shouldered, looked even more imposing in his black suit. Like a king, he let his gaze sweep over the gathering. “I’m sure you’re all aware that my father died in a car accident. Though it seemed like a simple mishap, I refuse to believe that such a thing could befall the head of our family.”
His deep voice rang through the entire cemetery. From a raised vantage point, he looked down
at everyone there. “I swore on the day of his burial that I would find the one who killed him and bring them to justice before the memorial on the 49th day.”
A ripple of shock ran through the crowd as they wondered who could have killed the former family head.
Lucius’ sharp gaze swept over every one of their faces. “I’ll give you a chance to turn yourself in. Confess, and I’ll forgo our family’s punishment and go easy on you!”
His words hung in the air, met by a heavy, eerie silence. No one dared admit to killing the patriarch.
When no one stepped forward, Lucius let out a mirthless chuckle. “That was your chance. You will not get another. If you let it slip, don’t expect me to show you any mercy!”
He shot Silas a look, and the latter snapped his fingers in the direction not far away. Moments later, two burly bodyguards dragged forth a middle-aged man. One of them kicked the back of the man’s knee, forcing him to kneel and fall face-first into the ground.
It didn’t take long for people to recognize Rex Armstrong, Melvin’s driver.
Rex crawled desperately toward Lucius. “I don’t know a thing, Mr. White. I swear! Please,
me!”
spare
Before he could reach Lucius, Silas stepped on his back, pinning him to the ground.
Ignoring his desperate pleas, Lucius said coldly, “My father will not die in vain.”
Pinned down and unable to move, Rex kept wailing and begging, his spit nearly splattering the photo on the tombstone.
“He’s too noisy,” Lucius remarked.
With one swift strike, Silas dislocated Rex’s jaw. The man could only emit muffled cries.
The Whites who witnessed this scene all held their breath, not daring to make a sound.
Lucius pulled out a silk handkerchief and gently wiped Melvin’s photo. “Since you don’t know a thing, you shall accompany the master you once served to the grave.”
As soon as his words fell, Keane pressed a remote control. With a deep rumble, a freshly dug pit appeared beside Melvin’s massive tombstone. Rex shrieked in terror as Silas kicked him into the pit.
Lucius casually ordered, “Bury him alive. He failed to protect his master.’
Panic-stricken, Rex thrashed and tried to explain himself. However, the dozen bodyguards gave him no chance. They grabbed their shovels and started filling the pit with dirt.
The Whites watched in horrified silence, their hearts pounding as if they might burst. It was
no wonder Melvin had chosen Lucius as his heir-his presence and methods were even more terrifying than Melvin’s.
Just then, someone in the crowd broke the silence. “It’s illegal to bury someone alive!”
Lucius shot the man a cold, menacing look. “Louie, are you trying to teach me how to behave?”
The man was Lucius’ second brother, Louie White. Louie blanched, hung his head, and didn’t dare to utter another word.
Claim Bonus For Free Every Day>>
Claim
