259 Lost Isle Alley

Aurelia Mountain Road was the most prominent street within the Upper District, where the wealthiest of nobles gathered for the most luxurious of entertainments and the highest class of eateries. It was a place painted with riches and glamour. 

No other place could compare to the thriving business and overblown prices of Aurelia Mountain Road in the Upper District, but as the universal balance dictates, there were two sides to everything like yin and yang, good and evil, the rich and the poor.

When asked what the most obscured street in the Upper District is, the answer would undoubtedly be Lost Isle Alley. 

Lost Isle Alley was an unpopular location that is not easily accessible from any main roads due to the way many high-rise buildings were designed closely like a clump and creating a dark spot that even sunlight does not reach. 

It was an eerie place that everyone would avoid like a plague once they learn about it. The temperature of the alley was always low, and the chilly winds send shivers down one's spine. It was like a little ghost town that no one visits, not even rats would dare to go there if there were any.

According to stories, a beautiful young girl was once tricked into that inconspicuous place and subjected to untold humiliation by a group of scummy degenerate young nobles. 

The girl eventually died from their restless abuse, but before her untimely and gruesome death, she cursed all the young nobles and their families to die a horrible death.

Since then, strange events began happening in that alley. All the lights lit in that place would die out and plunge the alley into eternal darkness. 

All the small-time store owners in the alley were unable to do business. They were also terrified of this unexplainable phenomenon and sold their stores in the alley and moved away.

The family of the degenerate young nobles took advantage of the small-time store owners' plight and bought over their properties at low prices before moving in, but that was when true horror began to unfold.

The degenerate young nobles would disappear one after another each night, only to be found dead at the center of the alley with their limbs bent out of shape, heads twisted a full revolution and eyes gorged out.

At the same time, the family of each degenerate young noble caught an unknown disease with rapidly declining health and would have nightmares every night.

Eventually, it drove them insane until they committed suicide.

Apparently, a powerful vengeful spirit was born due to the unique formation and environment of Lost Isle Alley. 

By the time the event blew up, it took the Capital by a storm. 

People always had innate fears of the unknown, darkness, and ghosts.

Instead of trying to exterminate the vengeful spirit, they sealed off the place and never tried to demolish the buildings forming Lost Isle Alley.

This was an event that happened over 400 years ago.

At this moment, a cloaked man was seen walking with hurried footsteps into the taboo alley that people eventually have forgotten with time but still avoid. 

The cloaked man stopped in front of an old decrepit bar and checked the pitch-black surrounding before he knocked on the worn-out wooden door with a unique rhythmic pattern.

Tap, tap, tap…

The secret knock contained three fast taps, one slow tap, two fast taps, and repeated the process twice.

The wooden door crept open and the cloaked man stepped inside.

"What happened outside—"

Before the person opening the door could finish his question, the cloaked man walked past him, pulled a secret lever that revealed a secret flight of stairs leading downwards, and entered the hidden chamber under the aged-old abandoned bar.

The person closed the creaking door and followed the cloaked man downstairs. 

The secret flight of stairs soon disappeared after.

"Shit, shit, shit! Those fucking crazy bastards! They have ruined everything for us!" 

The man threw away his cloak and began cursing at once. 

Underneath his cloak was a set of noble attire carrying the crest of the Marleigh family, a Baron-level family. The cloaked man had revealed himself to be Grant Marleigh, the current head of the Marleigh family and Baron himself.

He was a lower-class noble of the Crawford Kingdom and not a very prominent figure, inconspicuous in fact.

However, he also had another identity, an inner elder of Illusory Butterfly Sect.

"What exactly happened outside, Elder?" 

Hearing this question, Baron Grant Marleigh's blood boiled with more anger. 

"The Bloodfiend Sect has gone crazy and deployed all their disciples on a killing spree, shocking the entire Capital! Now, the king is on high alert and a search warrant will most likely be issued soon to have the Capital searched thoroughly!"

"I have official status, so I will be fine as long as I don't blow my cover or reveal anything that will put me under suspicion. You all, on the other hand, do not have official status in this kingdom. You will have nowhere to run once they find this place, especially you two." The inner elder continued grimly while singling out two people.

The two people mentioned were precisely Leon's adoptive father and mother, Brian and Helen who had gone missing with Mia since the start of the spider crisis.

Apart from them, there were 11 other people and one child in the hidden underground chamber. They were all inner disciples of Illusory Butterfly Sect, minus the child.

"If you two didn't use the secret passage to flee suddenly, and with a child no less, our plan might have still had some hope of succeeding."

"We had no choice. If our son… the prince hadn't gained phenomenal skills overnight and we were taken to the palace so suddenly. Who would know the prince's capabilities better than us, the ones who raised him? Even now, we have no idea how he suddenly becomes so capable but those unaware would suspect his skills were taught by us. Facing the Queen's direct scrutinizing gaze. Even if we have a perfect disguise, it's impossible to guarantee that something won't slip. It was too risky. We have no choice but to escape while we had the chance." Brian explained with a sigh.

The inner elder also sighed, but his eyes soon fell on the child with a chilly gaze. 

"And what about this child?"

His intention was simple. Why did they bring the child and not just get rid of it?

"This… this child's history is too tragic, but it's also because of the tragic experience that no child her age should experience that she has great potential and affinity to learn our arts, elder…" Helen said as she tightens her grip slightly on the child's hand.

Mia was very sensible for her age. She did not throw any tantrum for her present predicament and just observed everything quietly.

The inner elder looked deeply into her black eyes that were deep like the abyss and felt an instinctive numbing chill with tingling scalps. It was not the first time they told him the story. 

A child who experienced the true cruelty and ugliness of reality the world had to offer at such a tender age of 5 would be forced to mature and develop their intelligence early in order to survive. One would not know how terrifyingly crafty the child will become if she was allowed to grow.

Others would see the child as a child, but he saw a witty little demon. Although the elder had only heard the story from another's perspective, he believes it was not luck, that the little girl was able to temporarily escape the gang's clutches and get saved by the prince.

"Then you should continue to teach her well." The inner elder acknowledged after refreshing his memory, before peeling his eyes away from the little girl. All was well if the little girl doesn't turn on them once she spread her wings.

"I heard that both the Bloodfiend Sect and the Illusory Butterfly Sect started a war with the kingdom. Is that the reason for the Bloodfiend Sect's craziness?" An inner disciple inputted.

The Brian, Helen, and the other inner disciples were startled when they heard this.

Although the Illusory Butterfly Sect was also mentioned, no one found it strange that the inner disciple did not add an 'our' in front of it.

"When and where did you hear that from?" 

"From an Earl when I was disguised as one of his servants yesterday."

"You crazy bastard. That was a pretty risky move, but well done. Unfortunately, there are no prizes for that." Another inner disciple said dully. Who would be happy about hearing such bad news?

Bang!

Another inner disciple smacked the wall of the hidden chamber with his clenched fist.

"Dammit! Those fools never learn! They are still walking down the road of self-destruction!" He said with gritted teeth.

In a single breath, the inner disciple had cursed all the upper echelons of the Illusory Butterfly Sect, but no one rebutted him as they were all had similar thoughts. The underground chamber was soon plunged in a gloomy mood, Brian and Helen included.

Mia blinked her deep eyes and rubbed Helen's hand with her little thumb as if to console her. Helen smiled weakly and rubbed the little girl's head with affection. 

She had truly taken the little girl as her daughter. It was a pity that they were caught in a situation with a bleak future.

The inner elder sighed, seeing that the inner disciples had also caught wind of the news now and did not deny its authenticity.

"That's right, the Illusory Butterfly Sect joined hands with Bloodfiend Sect to wage war against the Crawford Kingdom. In the end, those fools were unable to contain their greed. We are now stuck at an impasse and to be honest, our chances of survival aren't looking great."

Everyone felt sad.

Due to a disagreement in opinions with the ways the Illusory Butterfly Sect were doing things, they had long left the sect and were labeled as traitors as a result of that choice.

The Durham Kingdom was no longer safe with the Illusory Butterfly Sect hunting them, and the Bloodfiend Sect had always been at odds with the Illusory Butterfly Sect. They could escape to the Valaran Kingdom, let alone travel through it to seek refuge in the Ishaan Kingdom.

With no other choice, they could only hideaway in the Crawford Kingdom. 

The other inner disciples had settled in the other cities, but they hid in the Capital for the sole desire of being able to live openly under the sun freely instead of hiding away in its darkness. 

They were inner disciples when they left, but they are already old enough to be elders now.

Leon's birth was their first ray of hope in realizing their desire 17 years ago. 

For that purpose, they had foiled the Illusory Butterfly Sect's plan and saved the baby Leon at that time when he would have died in the fire.

According to the original plan, Leon would have been slowly introduced to their circle through his adoptive parents and one day become the mediator between them and the royal family, but they never commenced with the next step because they felt that Leon wasn't old enough to make mature decisions and intended to wait until he was 18.

After all, it was the same as handing over their lives to the boy. One misstep and they could lose their lives under the Queen's blade.

They were no longer affiliated with Illusory Butterfly Sect, yes, but there was no doubt that they once were. 

There was no doubt that they would have died, had they exposed themselves prior and the Queen manages to deduce the mastermind behind the rebellion and saw them as one and the same.

After a long silence, an inner disciple opened his mouth. 

"How about we take a gamble?"