Chapter 033 – Cassandra’s Hatred*****A sudden cry no one had anticipated completely shattered the serene atmosphere Xavier had subconsciously built in an instant, jolting everyone back to their senses.Upon looking, everyone realized that the voice belonged to Cassandra, who was now breathing heavily as though fighting for her life while pointing at Xavier with a look of disbelief on her face.“Don’t—don’t tell me you’re actually going to treat my grandfather with such a ridiculous and useless skill such as an acupuncture technique?” she gasped, and the crowd, upon hearing her, finally snapped out of their reverie“This…” they muttered blankly before their eyes widened with disbelief.“To think I was completely mesmerized just now, thinking I was witnessing some sort of magical event!” A young man abruptly gasps.“Aish! I’m so aggrieved. I thought he would suddenly reveal himself to be someone we had all underestimated, but he’s just another one of those worthless acupunctur
*****The place that was filled with the murmurs of the crowd and Cassandra's furious cries a second ago fell into a hushed silence in an instant and everyone gaped dumbly as if they had just seen a real-life alien.They stared at the old man, whom they had all assumed had already lost his life at Xavier's hands in a trance.‘Am I dreaming?’ ‘Did a ghost just come back to life?’ Many people thought blankly in stupefaction, and just at that moment, the old man who had just opened his eyes slowly sat up and amidst the stunned gazes, he sat in a lotus position and shut his eyes, appearing enigmatic in an instant.Everyone was further perplexed by the old man’s actions and they exchanged bewildered glances, trying to make sense of what was happening.‘He doesn’t look like the person on death’s door a moment ago.’ ‘Why does he look completely different from the dying old man from earlier?’ they all wondered and then slowly turned their gaze to Xavier.‘Could it be that he actuall
*****Xavier, acting as though he hadn't just performed a miracle that would have made other doctors in the world become arrogant merely stared at the Old man, looking unfazed at the face of his appreciation.You…” He opened his mouth, wanting to tell the old man that there was no need to thank him, as he had only helped out of a casual impulse. But before he could get the words out of his mouth, Cassandra, who had been utterly stunned by her grandfather’s actions, rushed over and glared fiercely at Xavier before turning to her grandfather with a look of displeasure.“How can you be thanking this con artist who almost took your life, Grandfather?” she demanded with unhidden anger.The Patriarch of the Blackwood family was taken aback by his precious granddaughter’s words, then he glared at her, ready to chastise her. But before he could say anything, she continued.“Do you even know that this… this fraud and faker actually dared to stab your heart with needles, worsening your co
*****The crowd's jaws dropped and their eyes widened as though trying to pop out of their sockets, gaping at the person who had just revealed the old man’s identity.This moment of shock, however, only lasted briefly before everyone slowly turned their gazes toward the old man and his granddaughter.Although the crowd had initially sensed that the grandfather-granddaughter duo wasn’t ordinary—especially after knowing that they own bodyguards, something very uncommon in the city—they had never expected their identity to be to this extent and be this scary.After all, who in Riverton City doesn’t know about the one and only prominent Blackwood Family? None.…Like every other place, families in Riverton City are also classified into various ranks, starting from the ordinary-ranked families to the first-rank families, and in between, there are several other ranks, each progressively harder to attain than the previous.In fact, many families have been stuck in the ordinary rank si
*****Everyone stared in a trance at Xavier for what felt like an eternity after hearing his casual words, unable to believe their eyes as he had casually treated the card—an item that anyone else in the city would have revered like a heirloom. if ever gotten, then the crowd exchanged bewildered glances.“Did—did he actually just…?” someone gasped in disbelief after a moment.They were not only stunned that Xavier had treated the life-changing gift casually, but he had arrogantly acted as though it wasn't anything special, yet accepted it.“Ah! I want to kill him! I want to kill this bastard!” the crowd finally cried out in fury, convinced that Xavier was merely pretending to be mysterious.Only god knew how they would have reacted if they were to know that Xavier had truly not taken the present to heart and he had only accepted the old man’s goodwill in order to avoid disappointing him.Even Cassandra was seething with rage right now, too furious to find any words to express he
*****While everyone else was eager to share the news of what they had witnessed that day and brag about seeing the patriarch of a first-rank family up close, Xavier, the one who should have been the most excited did not even take anything to heart and promptly erased the entire event from his mind the moment he got into a taxi.He quickly dismissed Cassandra and her grandfather from his mind, gave no thought to the cards he was handed, and contacting the old man became the last thing on his agenda.It wasn’t that Xavier looked down on them, no, he just couldn’t be troubled with matters that were of insignificance, a thought that would have caused a storm in Riverton City and make him the number one public enemy if known.…‘Knowing my father, he’d definitely be furious upon seeing me for all the distress And pain I've caused Mother over these past few years,’ Xavier thought to himself in the back seat of the taxi, his expression heavy and brows furrowed.After a moment of brood
*****Although Xavier had anticipated that his father’s appearance would have changed as well, he still assumed he’d be recognizable like his mother, but he was completely mistaken.This person he was observing was so unrecognizable that Xavier couldn’t believe he had already seen him twice in a row during his search for his father just now.It was a frail old man whose body was currently hunched with exhaustion as he sat weakly on the ground of the construction site, with beads of sweat trickling down his aged face.“Is—is this really my father or his uncle?” he mumbled with a hoarse voice that didn’t sound like his own, dazedly watching the old man in tattered and worn clothes that were smeared with dirt and dried cement.He subconsciously lowered his gaze and stared at his father’s hands, which used to be very strong and masculine but now calloused and constantly trembling as they rested on the edge of a heavy bucket of mixed cement whose weight seemed to be several times heav
***** As if time had stopped at the construction site, everyone was caught in mid-action at this moment, with each person frozen in a comical stance. Some were swinging their hammers, others pulling on ropes, some picking something from the ground, and so on. Apart from all of the pausing in unison, their gazes were currently fixated on Xavier as though he were an alien, gaping at him in both shock and astonishment. The scene, enveloped in an eerie silence lasted for what felt like an eternity before eventually, everyone returned to their senses and were covered to the brim in fear and trepidation. “He—did he just hit the little demon?” Everyone murmured at each other in shock and disbelief before hissing coldly, feeling a sudden sense of fear. “He’s done for,” they thought in unison, and just then, the Fatty whom Xavier had sent flying slowly began to sit up. In the next moment, however—gruh!—he spat out three teeth mixed with blood and his complexion paled signif