He was their last shred of hope in this dire situation. It was as if someone had thrown them a lifeline on the verge of drowning. Xia Lei was their saviour and this wasn’t the first time he had come to their aid. The four women stared at Xia Lei blankly. Upon recognition, their eyes glimmered with warmth and relief. At this moment, Xia Lei was no doubt their closest friend.

Xia Lei said, “I know you’re faithful to your beliefs. But I’m certain there’s no need to remain as part of the Knight Hospitaller to keep your faith. There’s a lot of Catholics in this world. I believe a good half of them don’t even know the existence of the Knight Hospitaller.” He pointed to Bray. “And there’s no need to endure severe humiliation from a fucker like this. Is this what your loyalty got you? Are you sure you still want to be associated like this? Come with me. Become my knights. This will be another way to continue your destiny as knights and serve your God.”

“We...” Giovanna attempted to probe. “Are we still your knights?”

Xia Lei nodded. “Of course. I’ve never once given up on you. Why would I take such a risk to save you if that was the case?”

The four women locked eyes with each other and exchanged looks. Before long, they came to the front of Xia Lei and kneeled on one knee. They lowered their torso.

That reminded Xia Lei of something. He quickly picked up the military knife on the ground and tapped each of their shoulders lightly. While doing so, he dubbed, “Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Be brave and upright that God may love thee. Speak the truth always, even if it leads to your death. Safeguard the helpless and do no wrong. This is your oath!”

In unison, they took their oath. “I do swear to uphold the chivalrous tradition and protect the vulnerable against all violence. I will do my best to provide a voice to the oppressed strength to the weak and afflicted and largesse to the poor. I will bear only true witness to my brothers and sisters and will serve them and the Order to the best of my abilities.” Then, they slowly lifted their heads to focus their intense gaze on Xia Lei. “From now on, I shall serve as your knight and protect you till my death.”

The Knight Hospitaller had stripped them of their titles. Now that Xia Lei had dubbed them his knights, they were completely loyal to him. This was different from their time in Siberia as the women had their hearts to the Knight Hospitaller. Now, the organization had completely dimmed their passion while Xia Lei had given them a second chance at life in their most desperate times. Their bodies and hearts had now belonged to Xia Lei.

Truthfully, Xia Lei held no right to do so but in the eyes of the Russo and Grey sisters, he was their king and lord. To them, Xia Lei was their rightful authority. With that, the sisters could regain their dignity, faith and knighthood!

“You have absolutely no right for accolades!” Bray screeched hoarsely. “No one will ever recognize you and you’ll never leave this place! You’ll all die here!”

“I’m not sure if we’re going to die. But I am sure that you are definitely going to die.” With the military knife in his grip, Xia Lei came to approach Bray.

It was this moment that Bray realised that he had always been an insensitive prick and this flaw was about to bring harm to him.

“My lord, leave him to us,” offered Giovanna. She and her sisters rose from the ground.

Xia Lei halted his footsteps and gazed at them.

Their bodies were filled to the brim with wounds, poorly concealed by their tattered garments. Giovanna had a large part of her bosom exposed. Bloodied, she looked like a white magnolia which has been trampled on. Rosa had most of her buttocks out. Though the pale mounts were terribly wounded, its majestic roundness remained. On the other hand, there was no fabric left to cover up Stella’s lower abdomen. Theresa could feel the wind on her legs and part of her behind. Between the torn pieces of fabric, there was a constant hint of her feminine mystery. They were his knights but Xia Lei didn’t know where to rest his eyes on.

Giovanna reached for the whip on the ground while Stella retrieved a deboning knife from the wooden rack. Theresa went ahead to bring up a red scalding iron from the brazier and Rosa took an axe from another wooden rack.

Xia Lei moved aside.

The four women began inching closer to Bray, expressions terrifyingly cold.

“You... You... Are you looking for death?!” Fear gripped Bray, forcing him to frantically crawl towards the edge of the wall.

With a harsh motion, Giovanna whipped Bray’s face into a mess!

Rosa split her axe on his heels, immediately triggering an explosion of blood! She had actually chopped his foot off!

“AAAHHH!!!” Bray’s screams were ear-piercing.

As he continued to scream, Stella drove the deboning knife into Bray’s stomach while Theresa mercilessly stabbed the scalding iron onto his groin over and over.

The sight of their revenge was too intense for Xia Lei to stomach. The man quickly averted his eyes away, feeling a numbing chill crawl up his back.

Never mess with women.

Why was there always an idiot who forgot about this?

Under their torment, Bray died before lasting two minutes. The vile man’s body was still considerably complete before this but within those two brazen minutes, his head was cleanly detached and his two legs were split into four! Bray’s body was mutilated with countless holes. His penis was also scalded to a point beyond recognition!

“Ptui!” As if it was not satisfying enough, the axe-wielding Rosa spat on Bray’s face before kicking his skull away unceremoniously towards the wall.

Utilizing the time, Xia Lei had already stuck his human mask back onto his face, concealing his face back into the burqa. He looked at the heaving female knights. “Tell me, where is the Holy Mountain at?”

“You’re trying to get to the Holy Mountain?” Giovanna was surprised. “That place is dangerous!”

Xia Lei replied, “I have my way around it. Tell me, where is it at?”

“Did you happen to see the Temple of Apollo during the day?” Theresa’s voice rang.

Something clicked in Xia Lei. “I did. Don’t tell me...”

“Yes, that mountain is the Holy Mountain.” Theresa continued, “This old castle is just an outpost. The real headquarters are in the mountains. The Sacred Palace is also in the Holy Mountain but there’s literally no way to get in there.”

Rosa’s face was stern. “Don’t go there. The security they have there is beyond your imagination. You’ll die.”

Stella was equally anxious. “My lord, could you please tell me why you’re heading to the Holy Mountain?”

Xia Lei gave a light pat on Stella’s shoulder. “Please don’t call me that, you could just call me by my name.”

Giovanna frowned. “Alright, Xia Lei. Don’t switch the topic.”

“We understand if you’re not willing to share your reasons.” Then, Giovanna offered, “But we must come with you.”

“Yes.” The other three responded. “We’re your knights.”

Xia Lei took a good hard look at them. “Are you even in the state to fight?”

The female knights glanced at each other, their eyes were straight and unwavering.

“We can shoot,” said Giovanna.

“We’re familiar with the surroundings,” said Rosa.

“We took an oath to protect you,” Stella added.

“We won’t let you go to the Holy Mountain alone,” uttered Theresa.

Switching sides and becoming his knights had inspired them to display their chivalry. The sight brought glee to Xia Lei but it had also triggered a headache in the process. They meant well when they offered to come but their condition was just going to be a burden to him.

Xia Lei pondered and came up with an idea. “Alright, I won’t head to the Holy Mountain for the time being. I’ll bring you all away from this place. We’ll decide on further action after your wounds are dealt with.”

Giovanna smiled bitterly. “This whole island is the Knight Hospitallers territory. The organization is like a transparent kingdom on this island, where can we hide?”

“Yeah, unless we leave Malta island, there’s no way for us to avoid their pursuit.” Theresa looked troubled.

Xia Lei flashed them a smile. “Though this island is their territory, as long as you’re under my wing, I’ll make sure the Knight Hospitaller will not be able to lay a finger on you. There’s one place you’ve hadn’t thought of. The Chinese Embassy. Head there and seek medical assistance. The Knight Hospitaller won’t be able to do anything even if they located you.”

An embassy was like a country’s territory within a foreign country. Malta had sovereignty and despite the Knight Hospitaller holding a strong but transparent influence over the island, it was no match against a country’s military. Therefore, an embassy was their best option for shelter.

“That’s settled then, we’ll be heading to the embassy. But what about you?” Giovanna asked.

Xia Lei said, “I’m going to stay here. Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine. I’ll be delaying all further actions.”

The female knight nodded. “Understood. Please take care.”

With that, the other three women didn’t press on their offer to stay with Xia Lei.

Xia Lei then led the female knights away from the repentance room. Passing through a corridor, they reached the stairs. Upon catching sight of Tanni’s body, the fiery Rosa didn’t forget to kick her skull before leaving.

Returning to higher grounds, before Xia Lei could step foot into the vicinity of the grand hall, the four female knights quickly pulled him into another room. Following that, they climbed over a wall into the backyard where a stable came into view. It didn’t take long for Xia Lei to understand their plan as soon as he saw the horse. The man quickly went to hold the back door open as the female knights retrieved their horses.

Exiting the palace back door with their horses in tow, Giovanna questioned, “Xia, how are we supposed to enter the Chinese Embassy?”

“Yeah. If you’re not coming with us, I doubt that they would receive us,” said Theresa.

Xia Lei came closer to Giovanna. Abruptly, he tugged on a torn spot on her skirt harshly and tore off a strip of cloth.

“You...” Giovanna was extremely taken aback by his action. She was bewildered.

From that point on, things got awkward for her. Xia Lei reached a hand onto her perky exposed buttock and pressed his palm firmly against it to dip it in blood. He began to write a string of numbers on the fabric.

“When you reach Valletta, call this number and tell her that you work under me. She’ll help you arrange everything.” Xia Lei passed the dirtied cloth back to Giovanna.

On it was Fan Fan’s number.

“Go! Take care!” Xia Lei urged.

“You too.” Giovanna got on her horse and cued the animal forward.

Following suit, the other three female knights too rode their horses and left into the night.

Despite the situation, Xia Lei wasn’t the least bit worried about them facing attacks from the Knight Hospitaller. After all, this place had been placed under good control of the Chinese Zodiac Battle Team.