Old Gods, Rapid-Fire Guns, and Prohibition

Chapter 16 [Ten Questions for Requiem]

Half past one in the afternoon.

The dinner is over.

After the final mourning, the wake ended.

The next step is to comfort the soul, and then send the coffin to the cemetery for burial.

Originally, the funeral ceremony needed to be presided over by a priest, but the Pauletta family was not religious, so the ceremony was finally presided over by Luso, the coffin provider and the owner of the coffin shop who was also from Fengcui Immigration.

Another reason for choosing him was that he and Alberto were old friends.

The mourning hall was already full of people.

Everyone was witnessing the moment of requiem.

The master of ceremonies, Luso, stood beside the coffin, holding a requiem bottle filled with holy water in his hand. Ethan, Alberto's only son, stood in front of the coffin, waiting for the ten questions of requiem.

The others are distributed from the inside to the outside according to their status.

Those standing on the innermost side are naturally the people from the five major families.

Sandro took the lead, followed by George Evans and Dani Corleone.

But at this moment, George and Dani's expressions were not very good.

Because the previous conversation ended on a bad note.

Ethan was much tougher than they thought.

They originally thought that even if Ethan was ruthless enough to take care of Joan and Fred overnight, he had just taken over the Pauletta family and there were still too many problems to be solved and sorted out.

So he needs a stable external environment.

He would definitely not make enemies with others, especially those at the level of the five major families.

They all have legitimate reasons and are indeed prepared to pay the price.

The success of the negotiations is also foreseeable.

As it turned out, Ethan wasn't going to talk at all.

What a young and energetic guy.

The matter finally came to a temporary end with a word from Sandro.

"The funeral is still going on today. Please don't disturb Alberto's peace."

So George and Dani both kept quiet.

But their minds are still constantly thinking about how to deal with it.

Should we choose to go to war or raise the price?

Is Ethan determined, or does he just want to be more respectable?

While thoughts were flowing, the requiem ceremony had already begun.

I saw Luso, the owner of the coffin shop, wearing a black robe, with a solemn expression, holding a requiem bottle with his head held high, looking more like a priest than a pastor.

He held a willow branch in his hand, tapped the holy water bottle, and then gently sprinkled it into the coffin. Then, as if reciting a scripture, he asked in a long voice: "I have seen the place of the soul, I have seen the shadow of the dead, I am it, I am your father, Alberto, Ethan, my son, I will ask questions to make my soul rest in peace, can you answer me?"

"Yes."

Ethan nodded.

The so-called Ten Questions for Soul Comfort actually have strong religious connotations. Obviously, even if you are not religious, this set of soul comfort rituals inherited from the ancestors of Fengcui is still inevitably tainted with religious connotations.

"Can you lead your family further down the golden path so that my heavenly spirit may be illuminated?"

"I can."

"Can you take care of your siblings, relatives, and friends, and keep the bloodline flowing?"

"I can."

"Can you sacrifice everything for the glory of your family, even if your soul ends up in hell?"

"I can."

As he said this, a man in a bowler hat squeezed his way into the crowd and finally stood next to George.

He whispered something to George.

After hearing this, George widened his eyes and couldn't help but look up at the figure not far away who was a little thin but had a firm and straight back.

At the same time, Luso asked again.

"Can you swear that throughout your life, you will unwaveringly defend your family and never bring shame upon its name?" "I swear."

I swear.

This sentence fell into Dani's ears almost at the same time as another sentence.

He didn't know when a subordinate appeared beside him, reporting the latest news to him.

After listening to it, his reaction was almost exactly the same as George's.

He was also looking at the back.

Then he and George looked at each other.

Just one glance and they understood.

Why did this young man dare to reject them so firmly?

Tony is dead.

Francis also died.

No one expected that this young man was so cruel and decisive. At his father's funeral, he made the family traitor bleed to death.

His father's spirit will finally be comforted.

No wonder he was able to get rid of Joan and Fred in one night.

From the beginning to the end, they underestimated this young man.

George and Dani no longer cared about those industries. They were more concerned about how they should deal with such a new head of the Pauletta family.

The Ten Questions for Requiem are over.

As Luso sprinkled the final holy water into the coffin, Alberto's soul rested completely.

I don’t know if it’s an illusion, but Ethan always felt that there was a slight smile on Alberto’s face in the coffin.

Probably, it's an illusion.

The coffin was then covered and carried into the car by the crowd.

The cemetery is actually not far from the family manor, also in the eastern suburbs, less than 20 minutes' drive away. It has an excellent location. In Ethan's words from his previous life, it is definitely a Feng Shui treasure land.

But that's what he deserves, after all, Ethan paid a lot of money for it.

When the coffin was loaded into the car, Ethan saw Anya and Veron.

They were all a little tired, and the smell of gunpowder and blood still lingered on their bodies.

But they finally made it back and were not late.

Wei Lun was a little excited and wanted to say something, but Ethan patted his shoulder and interrupted him. He looked at Anya again and said, "Let's go and see my father off for the last time."

The car started and many guests followed.

In theory, they would also go to the cemetery, watch Alberto being buried, and then throw roses on his grave to comfort the deceased.

This is also the custom of Fengcui.

But obviously some people no longer want to do this, or they are simply not from Fengcui and do not have this habit.

So they left.

For example, George and Dani.

The burial ceremony finally ended before the sun set, and the grave was filled with flowers.

All the guests left, leaving only Ethan and the Pauletta family at the grave.

The sun is about to set, and a new sun will rise tomorrow.

Just like the Pauletta family, there will be a new beginning.

Ethan plucked the white rose from his chest, put it to his nose and sniffed it, then gently threw it on the grave. He turned around and looked at everyone, saying, "Everyone, we should all remember this day. This day is not the end, but a new beginning. Our Pauletta family will rise to the top of Winster like the rising sun."

Everyone lowered their heads.

At that moment, Ethan felt a strange fluctuation.

That was his 'true God's name' wriggling, like a butterfly breaking out of its cocoon.

　Second update!

　　Please read it!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)