“Linda, do you trust this Ma Lei?” Ferkel looked at Linda sharply.
“I trust him, he’s a good man. Don’t worry, he won't cause trouble. I promised to bring him around Malta’s tourist spots. I wanted to make a stop here before we went on our way,” said Linda.
“What do you want to know?”
“Professor, you could persuade the pope to pass the metal book to Professor Oman? You must know some secrets related to the book. Can you tell me about them?”
“You came here for that?”
“Yes, I want to look for the metal book. I want to find the culprit. Please help me.”
“You want to find the culprit?”
“Yes, I will not let the culprit escape the law. Professor Oman is one of the people I respect the most. He deserves justice.” She sounded determined.
“You’re a brave and determined woman. If I were you, I would make the smart decision to pass the case to the police. You’re a woman working alone, plus a Chinese man. What can you both do? Fight these armed robbers with your fists?”
“I will ask the church for help, but I need information. Professor, please help me.” She looked at him with begging eyes.
After a moment of silence, he said, “Alright, I’ll tell you. The book is older than the history of humans. From a religious perspective, it is something sacred. From a scientific perspective, perhaps it was left behind by an earlier intelligent civilisation. Different people believe different things about it. I’m in the middle. Professor Oman felt the same. It appeared during the ancient Roman times but no one can prove who the first person who discovered it was.”
“Professor Ferkel, did you say this to persuade the pope?” Linda was dissatisfied with the answer because she already knew this. This was obviously not enough to persuade the pope to hand the book over.
He furrowed his brows. “Haven’t I said it clear enough? From a religious perspective, it’s something sacred. That means it could possibly prove the existence of God. Right now, we are in an era that lacks faith in religion. If the church could prove that God exists, it could awaken the world in terms of faith. Isn’t this reason enough to persuade the pope?”
When he put it that way, it did seem a very persuasive reason.
“Professor, how did you know about it? It has always been stored in a secret chamber in the Vatican museum. Without the pope’s permission, almost no one can see it.”
“In a historical document.”
“Can you let me see it?”
“Of course, but it’s in the school’s library. I’ll return to the University tomorrow. You and your friend can stay here for the night. I’ll bring it for you tomorrow,” said Ferkel.
“Alright, thank you. I have one last question. Who do you think took the book?” said Linda.
He shrugged. “I’m not a detective, just a historian. To be honest, Linda, you should let the police handle this.”
“I’ll think about it, thank you.”
“I’ll make arrangements for your room.”
On the clock tower, Xia Lei retracted his gaze and thought to himself. ‘It’s obvious that Ferkel isn’t telling the truth. He just lied to her like that. Historical document? I don’t buy it.”
He went down the clock tower to see the annoying assistant still there.
“Don’t you have anything to do?” asked Xia Lei.
“If I were the owner, I would make you leave immediately.” The assistant looked at him in hatred.
Xia Lei smiled. “Is this the racism I hear about in stories? Or is this because of what happened just now?”
The assistant laughed coldly. “You want to know the reason? Well, I don’t really like Chinese people. I hate you even more. Do you understand now?”
“Are you stupid?” Xia Lei tried his best to suppress his anger.
“You dare insult me?” He suddenly shoved Xia Lei.
At that moment, Xia Lei had two options. Catch his wrist and slap him across the face or bear with it, not retaliating and perhaps pretending to be weak.
Xia Lei fell two steps backwards as if he was about to fall on the ground.
This was his choice.
It would have been easy to hit this annoying man but he chose not to do anything.
“Coward! Hit me back!” The assistant glared at him fiercely, mocking him.
“What are you doing?” came Linda’s voice.
The assistant stopped and said coldly, “You better watch yourself or you’ll regret it.”
Xia Lei avoided his gaze, looking weak once again. At this moment, he looked like a timid person.
Linda ran over and cried angrily, “What’s the matter? What’s going on?”
“Nothing much, Miss Linda. I was just having a chat with your friend.” Then the assistant turned around and left.
Linda came to Xia Lei and smoothened his dishevelled suit, asking caringly, “Are you alright?”
Xia Lei smiled. “I’m fine, just a racist guy, I won’t take it personally. Right, how did it go with the professor?”
“We’ve spoken but I didn’t get much out of it. He promised to give me a document but we’ll be staying here for a night. Can you accompany me for the night?”
“No problem.”
“Then I’ll bring you to your room. Professor Ferkel has already prepared rooms for us.” Linda held his hand and walked towards the hall.
“Right, do you know where the Holy Mountain is?” asked Xia Lei.
“Holy Mountain?” Linda thought for a moment. “I haven’t heard of any holy mountain, where is it?”
“Malta’s Holy Mountain, haven’t you heard of it?”
Linda shook her head. “Sorry, I haven’t heard of any holy mountains in Malta. Honestly, I’m familiar with the whole of Malta but I haven’t heard of any holy mountain.”
Xia Lei furrowed his brows. The sacred palace within the holy mountain. That’s where the armour stood. That was the information he got from Arthur too and it was impossible for Arthur to have lied to him. However, Linda did not know of it.
“Did you remember wrong?” asked Linda.
He pretended to slap his forehead and said awkwardly, “I made a mistake, I’m thinking of Mount Everest in the western province. That’s a holy mountain. Fine, let’s not talk about that. Let’s go to our rooms. One room or two?”
“Why would we get only one room?” Linda rolled her eyes.
Xia Lei didn’t respond.
When they arrived at the hall she brought Xia Lei up a flight of stairs to the second floor.
There were three floors. This was the level Xia Lei didn’t check using his special vision just now. As he entered the second floor, he turned on his special powers to observe every room. He was surprised to find that every room was normal. There weren’t even secret chambers or Knight hospitaller secrets. He didn’t even see a single Maltese cross.
He thought to himself. ‘What’s going on? All the signs tell me that this is the true headquarters of the Knight Hospitallers yet I haven’t seen many knights or any of the major figureheads. If this is the headquarters, more of the high-level members should be here. There should be more knights too. But…”
“We’re here, this is your room.” Linda’s voice interrupted his train of thought.
Linda opened the room door to see a lady arranging the sheets. When he saw her face, he was slightly shocked.
The person fixing his sheets was Rosa.
He’d already seen three of the four knights, they were all servants here.
He used his special vision and saw the same injury-ridden body. There were whip marks on her back and bottom. It was horrifying. There were also wounds on her chest, these people were cruel!
“You’ll stay here, I’ll be next door. I’ll go now, come look for me if you need anything.” Linda left for her room.
Xia Lei entered.
Rosa looked up and was also stunned. Although she thought she hadn’t seen this Chinese man before, this man’s height and stature seemed familiar. Also, his eyes.
Xia Lei averted his gaze. “Thank you.”
She did not speak, merely nodded. She quickly put on the blanket and left.
“Wait,” he stopped her in Italian. “Can I smoke here?”
Rosa furrowed her brows. “No, but you can smoke outside the castle.”
He shrugged. “Alright, I’ll smoke outside.”
He never smoked. He just asked to plant an impression of a smoker in her mind. This would make her less suspicious.
Rosa left the room and closed the door.
He heaved a sigh. If she recognised him, it would be disastrous.
After she left, he used his left eye to look around downstairs.
It was a simple room. A woman was kneeling on the floor, applying a green gel to her bottom.
It was Theresa.
All four knights had appeared. All of them in pathetic states.
He couldn’t help but smirk as he sat down to watch.