Chapter 110 Chapter 110 May the Father of Insight guide them. …
"New drug" and "old place" were easy enough to understand, Spedo mused. Apparently, the former referred to some drug they used on those poor souls, and the latter to a certain place they often met. But what about "Father of Insight"? It sounded like code for a secret cult.
Without waiting for any questions, Scalera reeled off the details of the first two. Elio listened quietly, acquiescing while Spedo used his magic to deal with the fools who knocked on the door, preventing them from being disturbed. When Scalera finished his fragmented recounting, staring at Elio eagerly, Elio didn't let him go immediately.
"'May the Father of Insight guide us,'" Elio said. "How much do you know?"
Scalera argued, "I-I don't understand..."
The moment he saw his eyes twirling in their sockets, Spedo knew he was lying. Furthermore, it was clearly a code. But Elio remained silent for a moment, then unexpectedly withdrew the small sword. Spedo, assuming he believed him, was about to ask a puzzled question when Elio drew the longsword from his waist and placed it back on the neck of Scalera, who had just breathed a sigh of relief.
"Do you know this thing?" Elio asked.
Spedo interpreted this as a form of interrogation. Scalera probably understood it the same way, and he asked tremblingly, "…Should I know him?"
Elio studied him for a moment, as if trying to confirm something. "You should recognize this sword. Unlike the one just now, this one can rip you apart. Think carefully before answering. Now, I'll give you one last chance." Elio lowered his head and stared at Scalera. "Answer the question again."
"No—no! Please don't!" Scalera began to panic. "I can't tell you! They'll find out—you don't know what you're asking!"
Elio frowned. Just as he was about to ask more, Scalera grabbed him by the collar. Trembling in the shadow of the absent "Father of Insight," he panicked and berated the assassin who had just threatened him. "You absolutely do not want to mess with them! They are older than the Pope's army, older than the king's dynasty. We only control the streets of Sicily, but they control the world! You have no idea... they know everything. Nothing escapes their eyes or ears..."
Spedo, who had been crossing his arms and looking at the show, also frowned and lowered his arms.
"They... could be anyone..." Scalera shuddered, "could be anywhere..."
His face was pale, and the blood from his wounds was flowing even faster. Elio grabbed the blanket from the sofa and was about to try to keep him alive for a while, but at that moment, Scalera's eyes slipped and he saw a face reflected in the window. If that wasn't terrifying enough, the revolver in the man's hand was definitely terrifying.
"Ah!" Scalera screamed.
"Bang!"
The glass shattered.
Spedo tackled Elio in time to save him from injury, but Scalera was not so lucky. However, Elio and Spedo, who had just risen from the ground, were no longer concerned about the huge hole in his head; almost as they fell to the ground, the man threw a lit oil lamp into the window.
The ominous lamp flew across the room, clanging against a pile of books in the corner. Worse still, it was covered with velvet curtains. Elio's eyes widened as he watched everything unfold so swiftly: the glass shade shattered, the oil splattered like waves on a beach at high tide, and with a roar, the flames shot up.
Spedo leaped to his feet and rushed to the door, but judging by the way he frantically pried against the lock, it was already locked. Elio picked up a chair and swung it at the already shattered glass, and the air rushing in from the window immediately fueled the flames.
"Here, Spedo!" Elio shouted in the surging firelight. "Out the window!"
"Are you crazy? This is the fifth floor!"
Despite this, Spedo rushed over. He nimbly stepped onto the edge of the window and took a deep breath. But just as he was preparing himself, he suddenly heard the rumble of the darkroom door turning. Spedo froze for a moment, turned his head in disbelief, and saw that Elio's hand had just left the candlestick on the fireplace.
Spedo yelled, "What are you doing?!"
"There are still people down there!"
"They're already dead!"
"You know they're still alive!"
"What's the difference between them and the dead?"
Spedo found it all inconceivable, not only the fact that he had to jump from the fifth floor, but also the fact that Elio was clearly prepared to rush into the darkness with no escape for a group of dying people. But Elio didn't argue. The devilish dance of flames illuminated Elio's profile. He glanced back at Spedo one last time, then, without saying anything, rushed into the flames.
The darkroom rumbled, as if closing. Spedo cursed, his fingers instinctively loosening from the window frame, ready to retreat back into the blazing room for Elio. But at that moment, the flames surged again. A flashover began. Startled, Spedo leaped down. Behind him, the window erupted in flames and smoke. Had he jumped a second later, he would have been completely incinerated.
Spedo, barely hanging on the tree, was in no better shape. He climbed down from the tree, covered in dust and dirt, even forgetting to maintain his illusion; but no one noticed his presence at this moment. Everyone was frightened by the sudden fire in the chief's office and ran around, shouting to put out the fire and carrying buckets of water.
But the fire started on the fifth floor. There was nothing they could do.
And Spedo added fuel to the fire.
Why not? His goal had always been to strike at the Scalera family. If the castle hadn't been primarily made of stone, Spedo could have burned it down completely. He felt bad about that, but he quickly let it go. Only Elio could allow him to hold onto that regret for a while longer, because he was Giotto's friend and one of the few—almost the only—Vongola members who, after hearing his thoughts, partially agreed.
But this regret will not remain in Spedo's heart for too long.
How could he be so foolish as to return to the underground for those utterly breathless losers? Didn't he know that if he couldn't find an exit there—and the study above had been completely burned to the ground, making it impossible to leave—then he would be courting death! Why waste his precious life for those ants?
Spedo couldn't understand why Elio did this. He even felt annoyed, perhaps trying to suppress some inexplicable feeling in his heart. But soon, that annoyance turned into cold anger.
"'May the Father of Insight guide them'..." Spedo swore to himself, "May they be guided to a path of utter death. May they be led into the abyss of hell... This debt, they must pay with pain and blood!"
The fire was still burning. The people in the town were awakened, but they also retreated in front of the blazing flames. They could only seize the time to separate the fortress and the town and find a way to prevent the fire from spreading to their homes.
Spedo mercifully granted them their release. Although he was angry, there was still a last string of reason that tightened his actions - Elena would not be happy to know that these innocent people were harmed.
Spedo stormed off. He mounted his horse, untying Elio's as he went. The horse, not seeing its owner, snorted in confusion, seeming uneasy in the blaze of fire.
"Let's go!" Spedo said casually, "Maybe you can find him!"
Then, Spedo gave the horse a hard squeeze, urging it to hurry off. He had to get back to the Vongola Manor, the sooner the better. He had to tell Giotto everything that had happened tonight, and have him send someone else to clean up the mess. With luck, they might even be able to find Elio, who had escaped. As for himself, he had to make someone pay for this...
Meanwhile, Elio was stumbling down the stairs of the dark room. He was running too fast, but the smoke and heat that came in through the door and the cracks in the stone were chasing him relentlessly, like a sign of death.
When Elio reached the cell block, he nearly fell. He touched the stone wall and found it was actually warm to the touch. This was not a good sign. Candlesticks on the wall flickered, and the people in the cell were lying or sitting, the atmosphere as quiet as death; or rather, as if they had already accepted death.
Elio wasted no time speaking. He rushed to the nearest cell and fumbled for his lockpick. Using the dim light from the candlestick, he began to pry the lock from the iron door. Once, twice, the faint, strange noises gradually drew the attention of the people in the cell, who looked over in disbelief.
“Click.”
The door opened.
At first, they stared at Elio, as if in disbelief, wondering what was happening. But Elio did nothing. He didn't even bother to glance at them. With a stern expression, he hurried to the next door. Even when the man from the previous cell tentatively emerged, he showed no reaction.
Only when they tried to move upward did Elio speak.
"Don't go up there," Elio said, pretending not to notice their horrified reaction. "It's on fire up there. If you still have some strength, help pick the other locks."
As he spoke, Elio opened another door. His hand was so steady, there was no trembling at all. The person in the cell moved out tremblingly.
"Can any of you pick a lock?" Elio asked, "or offer any other assistance?"
Someone offered to pick the lock. Elio distributed his tools, and the process accelerated. Realizing that Elio had truly come to rescue them, the crowd erupted in a frenzy of hope and hysteria. Those still imprisoned cried out and begged; those who tried to ascend soon fled back, crying incoherently that there was no way out.
"Please! Hurry up!"
"God bless……"
"We'll all burn!"
But in this chaos, a calm and composed word quickly overwhelmed all the sharp and panicked voices.
"Quiet!" Elio shouted. "If you still want to survive, this chaos will not benefit anyone!"
He bought himself a second or two of silence. Everyone was looking at him. Elio took the opportunity to call out to a few people, assigning those who looked relatively strong to support the weaker ones. He assigned the more skilled ones to continue picking the locks while the others carefully checked those still lying on the ground, unable to stand up.
"And you," Elio finally said to a kneeling believer, "keep praying."
The temperature in the cell began to rise. They subconsciously carried out the task Elio had assigned them, watching over each other, saving each other. A gentle rustling sound mingled with the murmured prayers of the believers. Elio strode to the end of the cell and found the lever that opened the secret passage to the outside world. He breathed a sigh of relief and quickly exerted all his strength to pull it up.
But the lever didn't move.
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The author has something to say: Oreo:?
And "flash fire", in short, is the phenomenon that the temperature in the room is too high, reaching the ignition point where "everything can burn", and then everything burns up... It's quite scary... I hope you never need to use this knowledge point.jpg
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