Above The Sky
Chapter 412 - 412 383 Sinful Eye 13

412: Chapter 383 Sinful Eye (1/3) 412: Chapter 383 Sinful Eye (1/3) Steward Moda actually managed to break free from the influence of Spirit Energy mind control on his own, which surprised both Ian and the Radiant Nun considerably.

He originally just wanted to extract some information and then have the other party lead the way, but he had never imagined that the old steward, who was usually responsible for all kinds of tasks in Leyan Castle, possessed such a strong spiritual force that he could escape from the false palace constructed by an unknown Spirit Energy User.

“…Indeed, the young master died a long time ago; in recent years, it was only a vengeful spirit accompanying me…”

Touching the column behind him, the old steward stood up and leaned against the stone pillar, taking a deep breath.

His gray-brown eyes were full of confusion and incomprehension, but he still slowly said, “I remember everything…

But I truly don’t know what the lord has done.”

“These past few years, it has always been the lord himself taking care of the young masters and misses’ meals.

I only occasionally prepared a few banquet meals, bringing over some snacks and afternoon tea…”

“However, I am very clear that the lord has indeed been acting very strangely of late, and the young masters and misses…

they were not normal children either…”

“You have indeed suffered, living with a vengeful spirit.

Even if it did not affect you deliberately, it certainly harmed your health.”

Ian nodded, turning around and heading toward the first floor of the castle.

“We are here to investigate Baron Leyan in connection with the cult, human sacrificial rites, and all kinds of wicked and evil methods.”

“I know you don’t wish to betray your lord, nor do I expect your cooperation.”

“But I think, you should join us in seeing just what your lord has done over these years.”

At this juncture, he turned his head, looking at Steward Moda who still stood in place, and patiently invited, “Come with us.”

“At the very least, tell us where the rooms of the young masters and misses are.”

“…All right.”

The previously confident and forthright middle-aged man was now showing his age, with even the wrinkles on his face becoming visibly more numerous.

He rose unsteadily to his feet, following behind Ian and the Radiant Nun while still muttering to himself, “Lord…

lord…

what foolish things have you done…”

“Could it be me, was it my mistake, was it I who persuaded you not to give up…”

Though somewhat entering another extreme due to self-reproach, Steward Moda soon led Ian and the others to the first room.

The white door at the end of the hallway on the second floor.

On the white door was a crude portrait drawn for himself by a little boy, with light brown hair, a red cyclopean eye, and a beaming smile.

Above the drawing, there was a name written very neatly, which seemed quite incongruent with the amateurish artwork.

[Yila’s Room]

When they reached the door, Steward Moda, who had been leading the way, suddenly stopped.

He shuddered for a moment, prompting the Radiant Nun to ask with concern.

“I just…”

Shaking his head with a wry smile at Ian’s offer of “do you need some sedative?”, the old steward said, “It’s just that I have once again recalled two sets of memories…

Memories that fill me with fear…”

As he spoke, he mustered his courage, gritted his teeth, and tried to open the door.

But the door seemed to be fixed in place with space itself, refusing to budge.

“Huh?” The steward expressed his surprise, reaching for his keys, but the Radiant Nun shook her head: “This door has been merged with the room using Earth Origin Quality.”

She stepped forward, drawing a folding crowbar from the pack behind her, causing Ian to glance her way, silently admiring ‘how well-prepared she is’ within.

The Radiant Nun inserted the crowbar into the crack of the door, then channeled Origin Quality, and a restrained heat flow carrying a surge of Fire System Energy broke through the obstruction, prying open the unmovable door.

With the door opened, a faint odor of decay, uncharacteristic of a child’s room, wafted forth.

It was the scent of life fading away.

The Radiant Nun raised her hand, and her gray radiance illuminated the surroundings.

Steward Moda bent over, trying his best not to be sick, while Ian stepped forward, his blue eyes scanning the interior and exterior of the room.

Even as someone well-versed and no stranger to killing, he couldn’t help but feel a slight stir of emotion.

Wherever he looked, there were only skeletons.

In the room, white as a base color, the floor was covered with human bones that had been polished and simplistically arranged in the likeness of deer antlers and heads.

Ian squinted his eyes as he silently looked up at the wall, where processed human skins were hung, each painted with an animal figure.

The drawings, in contrast with the crude human sketch on the door, were entirely different in quality, rendered in blood-colored ink that vividly brought the animal faces to life.

Besides, there were many bone carvings of pigs, cows, sheep, and various other animal heads, masterfully crafted yet with some youthful crudeness.

There were plates on the floor as well.

[Incappable Level · Preserved Processing · Ordinary · Not Recommended for Consumption]

[According to the Spark Civilization Protection Protocol, unless in the most critical of moments, the consumption of sentient beings is discouraged…]

Many other details announced the overwhelming cruelty that pervaded this place.

Ian closed his eyes.

He took a deep breath, calming himself down.

No more need to look.

It seemed, when he had arrived at Leyan Castle and seen Yila apparently playing and eating something.

What he ate, what he played with, were these things.

The room, illuminated by a grey blazing light, was extremely sinister, with dripping bits of flesh and blood, twisted skin paintings, heaps of skeletons covering the entire floor, and the exquisitely yet eerily crafted human bone animal skulls that encircled the room, seemingly gazing at everyone within it.

The battle-hardened Radiant Nun, who had seen many a Cult sacrificial scene, also furrowed her brows, her dragon horns lighting up with a red glow.

This scene wasn’t bloody, but the fact it was the doing of a child made it particularly unsettling for her.

“What kind of twisted sacrificial rite is this…” the Radiant Nun gripped her staff tightly, “to warp a child to such a state?”

“It’s probably not the fault of the Cult, at least not this child’s.”

Yet Ian remained as calm and as cold as if he were without blood or tears, and after observing the scene, he turned his head and asked Steward Moda in a composed manner, “Can you tell me now?”

“The origins of these adopted sons and daughters of the Baron?”

The old steward, who had been suppressing his urge to vomit, eventually took a dose of the sedative provided by Ian.

He left the room and faced Ian and the Radiant Nun wearily in the corridor.

“My memory, it remembers that Young Master Yila liked to play with blocks, didn’t quite fancy vegetables, liked meat…

but…

my memory has been twisted, I clearly know the truth, but it’s as if I’m unaware of it…”

If it was an ordinary person, they would definitely think the old steward was trying to exonerate himself.

But both of the people present could see that he was telling the truth, and from his heart, he felt grief: “Young Master Yila is a child I bought four years ago from a wealthy family that had been accidentally killed by a wild beast attack…”

“But in reality…

that’s false…”

The hidden truth behind the curtains and false memories was narrated by the old steward, with a watery light flickering in Ian’s eyes.

As the steward recounted the story, Ian’s Spirit Energy was passively activated, reflecting past illusions.

Everything started with a tragedy.

The original name of Yila was no longer known; he was a child bought from a poverty-stricken family by human traffickers, because he resembled a deceased child of a wealthy family, so he was brought back to be raised and inherited the name of that early-deceased child.

The initial life he lived was considered decent.

But as time went on, things went from bad to worse.

The child who had died in that rich family had a pair of pure red eyes, while Yila had one green and one red, heterochromatic eyes.

For other children sold by traffickers, this was an added value, fetching a slightly higher price.

But to the wealthy family who bought him as a stand-in for their own child, it was a significant flaw.

Every time they saw a face very similar to their own child’s, those completely different eyes, the rich household that thought they would treat this child kindly could not help but reprimand and beat him.

Even…

due to this sense of being different, they developed a pitiful form of jealousy.

At first, it was just touching the eyes, the cold gaze containing depths the child couldn’t comprehend; and the myriad of toys and stationery forcibly given to Yila later made him even more bewildered.

—Because Yila liked reading and painting, so you should too.

—Because Yila wanted to become a Scholar, so you should too.

—Because Yila didn’t like small animals, so you shouldn’t go near them either.

—Because Yila liked quiet, so you shouldn’t move around either.

If he didn’t do well, if he didn’t mimic well, he would be beaten, scolded, punished.

The boy’s naturally lively and cheerful nature, who loved listening to the birds and beasts, was forcibly warped.

Slaps, fists, branches, whips—since the bodies of the Terra People are robust, even children’s endurance isn’t low, so it was possible to unleash many cruel emotions and desires.

Even the squirrel that occasionally made eye contact with the boy across the fence was caught by the wealthy household and smashed to death in front of him.

[What on earth are you doing?!

Yila would never do this, playing with these filthy animals!]

If it were just that, perhaps it wouldn’t be too bad.

Although the couple from the rich household had become somewhat mentally unstable from the death of their beloved son, the living conditions they provided were something Yila’s real parents could never offer.

Though there were many conditions, though the rules were strict, for a poor child, such a life was already quite good.

To be beaten, to be abused, to be asked to become someone else.

What does it count for on this vast land?

A substitute ought to have the self-awareness of a substitute.

Until one day, Yila, who was sound asleep, suddenly felt a sharp pain.

Letting out a piercing howl, the child woke up screaming—after a while, he realized in horror that he was left with only one eye.

And his ‘father’ stood in front of the bed, face twisted, holding the boy’s green pupil in his hand.

Then crushed it.

—As long as you don’t have this eye, as long as you’re without…

—As long as I don’t have this eye, as long as I’m without…

Perhaps, he could survive.