The night sky was clear, dotted with stars. Moonlight fell on the valley, making the entire valley glow with a silvery hue. The Temple of Apollo far away was faintly visible in the night, giving off a mysterious aura. The nights here were beautiful.
Xia Lei stood at the windows, looking at the temple. “Arthur couldn’t have lied to me. So where is the Holy Mountain? Or is it just a name that the Knight Hospitallers use? While outsiders used a different name?”
When he found the mountain, he would have the opportunity to steal the armour. However, even an archaeologist familiar with Malta like Linda did not know where the Holy Mountain was, so how would he find it?
“Right, the Grey and Russo sisters should know where the Holy Mountain is. I should get the information from them. They’ve been humiliated after returning. This is my chance.” Xia Lei returned to his room and looked down at the wooden floorboard. He saw Theresa in the room below.
Due to the wounds on her back, she could not sleep properly. A thin blanket covered her body, he could see her curves underneath.
She was not asleep. There was a wet patch on her blanket left from her tears.
She was in the room below but Xia Lei hesitated. “If I go knock on her door now, that would announce my identity. Instead of being loyal to me, she’d probably tell the Knight Hospitallers about me in hopes for a reward. If that happens, I’d be the world’s biggest idiot.”
Just as he hesitated, a lady appeared at Theresa's door. This Caucasian woman was large and tall, around forty years old.
She rapped on the door with her fist. “Theresa! Open up! Open!”
In the room, Theresa scrambled to get up. She did not have the time to put on clothes, opening the door wrapped in her blanket.
When the door opened, the large woman slapped her across her face, then kicked her in her stomach.
Theresa fell backwards on the ground, her wounds on her back hitting the ground. Pain flared up as she cried in pain. However, she clutched to her blanket, covering herself.
“Hmm! Bitch! You think you’re some pure saintess? You’re as dirty as the whores in the street.” the large woman grabbed the blanket and tugged hard.
Her naked, curvy body was then revealed, together with the wounds all over it. It was a pitiful sight. However, the large woman did not sympathise. She suddenly kicked Theresa’s stomach again and spat. “You whore! Who said you could treat your wounds with medicine? You committed a sin, this is your punishment! You are evading your punishment!”
“I… Knight Tanni, my wounds are inflamed. If I don’t treat them, I’ll die.” Theresa begged and begged. “Please let me go, I beg you! We couldn’t complete the mission, but we did not betray the Knight Hospitallers.”
“Shut your mouth! You disgusting whore!” The woman, Tanni, still had her foot on Theresa’s torso. “It’s been so long, and you’re still lying. The information we got was that your four knelt before the Chinese man in Siberia and swore to become his Knights. There were witnesses, and yet you tell us you did not betray the Knights!”
“These apparent witnesses are terrorists who wanted to kidnap and kill us!” Theresa was angry as she roared, “Mister Xia used three million dollars to pay for our ransom. He… he was just doing it for his own amusement, we did not do anything for him!”
“If you’re all not that Chinese man’s knights, why would he spend three million dollars on you? You think I’m an idiot? A whore like you is only worth five hundred dollars a night in the streets. You think he’d spend three million on you all? Ptui!” Tanni spat on her face.
Theresa did not wipe the spit off her face, tears streamed.
Tanni retracted her foot and said sternly, “Follow me, we’ll go to the Repentance Room.”
Theresa suddenly panicked when she heard this, her face pale. “Knight Tanni, I was just… whipped… yesterday, why… why do I have to go again?”
“Hmmph!” Tanni laughed coldly. “This time, I will not be heading your repentance. Father William Arthur gave Bray the right to head the repentance for four of you.”
“Father William? Bray?” Her eyes filled with fear, her voice shaking. “Why?”
Tanni mocked her. “Why? So many people went to Siberia to carry out the mission but only you four came back. We don’t even know if Arthur is alive or dead. We could not find his body. You should ask for forgiveness for what happened to him, what’s wrong with that?”
“No! This is unfair!” Theresa had lost control of her emotions, sensing what would happen.
“This is not up to you! Rosa, Giovanna and Stella are already in the Repentance room, I give you one minute to put on clothes or you’ll go there naked,” Tanni said coldly.
“You should not do this to us, you can’t…” Theresa cried in agony but she did not forget what she was told to do. She crawled up to put on her clothes next to the bed.
One minute was never enough but Tanni did not give her one more second. Tanni grabbed her hair after one minute, dragging her out of the room roughly. She had not been able to put on her top.
Xia Lei retracted his gaze.
Although he wanted the Grey and Russo sisters to suffer a little, what he saw left him shaking in anger. This was torture. They weren’t even treated as their own members anymore. This was not punishment or repentance, this was going to kill them!
He also now knew why.
If Arthur didn’t die, perhaps they wouldn’t have gotten such treatment. Arthur died, yet they returned alive and well. Would Arthur’s father, William, let them go easily?
“That old man was actually a high-level member of the Knight Hospitallers. I really didn’t expect this,” thought Xia Lei.
Within a minute, he left his room with a scarf on his head. He had bought this from the Valletta market. His head and neck were covered, even his eyes were not shown. He wore the long black dresses they wore too, which completely covered his entire body. This entire fit cost him fifty euros. At the time, Linda had given him a long, weird look.
After passing through the hallway, he entered the stairwell to go downstairs. He was barefoot so he made no sound walking. However, Tannia and Theresa's footsteps echoed loudly.
When he reached the first floor, Xia Lei carefully walked down the steps.
“Hurry up! You whore!” came Tanni’s shouts. Other than her voice and footsteps, there were no other sounds.
Xia Lei turned on his special vision and looked around.
He saw an old hallway surrounded by thick stone walls on both sides. The hallway was fifty meters long, with a black door at the end. Just as he was prepared to look inside, the door opened. A man walked out.
The man was that annoying teaching assistant he hated.
“Bray, I’ve brought the girl. Don’t go soft.” Tanni thrust Theresa at him.
Xia Lei smirked. “So he’s Bray. This is going to be good.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of them. This is what Mister William wanted. He’ll be happy with the results.” Bray caught Theresa’s shoulder and pushed her past the black wooden door.
Xia Lei heard the sound of Theresa falling to the ground, then three other girl voices calling out her name.
“Enjoy.” Tanni smirked and then walked towards the staircase.
Tanni muttered to herself as she walked, “The Grey and Russo whores. They think they’ll get away with just a little punishment? In their dreams! They let Father William’s son die. This is just idiotic. If that were me, I wouldn’t come back. They deserve this. You all used to think you’re saints, all snobbish and arrogant. Now you’re less than whores!”
When she turned the corner into the stairwell, screams of agony came from the back of the wooden door. Tanni turned around and smiled in delight. She then turned around and prepared to leave. However, a black shadow suddenly appeared. Before she knew what it was, a sharp army knife was lodged deep in her heart.
It was only when she was stabbed when she saw what the shadow was. An Arabic lady. Her eyes widened in disbelief. She wanted to scream but she did not have strength to make a sound.
“You dare bully my girls? You must be looking for death.” Xia Lei pulled out his knife, pushed Tanni away gently and walked towards the black door at the end of the hallway.
Tanni collapsed on the ground in a puddle of blood.