Under the moonlight of a beautiful starry night, a high-density impoverished city remained boisterous despite it being the middle of the night. The name alone described the exact condition of this city.
From the luminous rays, one could clearly see this was as its name, abandoned, not because it was devoid of people but because it looked like god had long abandoned this city ages ago.
The buildings were run down with paint chipping off the walls and the wooden panels rotting. If this was in the 21st century this entire city would have been condemned and seized by the government.
But in this era, the buildings were fully occupied mostly beyond capacity. From the architectural design, you could tell that this was once a city run by high-class nobles but now it was a filthy city with taverns at every corner and brothels at each end of the street. The pavements were filthy and infested by pigs as well as a mischief of rats.
In a slightly better-looking building close to the port, cries of a tormented man could be heard but of course, no one came to his aid. At most, the people would glance over and look away while whispering something.
The particular sounds were coming from a well-lit room on the top floor. How about going up to take a look?
The building looked like a townhouse probably belonging to a merchant well, that is before all the nobles and rich families left the city. An old lady was sitting in the lounge sipping a cup of tea purposefully ignoring the noises coming from upstairs. To be fair, she might not have been hearing anything at all because at her age her hearing could be considered bad.
Taking the stairs would lead to a second floor with bedrooms and a study room but those rooms weren't as interesting as the one at the end of the hall. The door was closed shut but the cries and wails were so loud that whatever little soundproofing that room had was useless.
One might ask what exactly was happening inside. Well, the answer to that question was simple. Rui Fei and his half-siblings were interrogating a man who was part of Huang She's Nocru trafficking ring. It had been two years already but they still hadn't yet found their benefactor.
I must say Rui Fei had truly underestimated this lady's abilities. It hadn't taken him long to find out that Huang She was already dead but as to who had killed him, he had no idea. The only reason he found out was that it was rumoured that the man's chopped off body parts were sent to the families of Huang She's victims as confirmation that the trafficker was dead.
Let's not forget this man had trafficked more than thirty Nocru and half Nocru women ever since he got acquainted with Prince Rui.
With that news spreading across the continent, it meant his accomplices and henchmen went underground like sewer rats which in turn made Rui Fei's job harder. He not only had to smoke out these rats but he also had to be careful as his father was vehemently hunting him and his siblings down.
After smoking out multiple rats it turned out most of them were small fries which meant they knew nothing only that the girl was abducted from a small fishing village which was inconsistent with the person he met that day.
How can a girl from a small village break into Prince Rui's Pavilion and possess a tool powerful enough to cut latrion? That lady in white obviously didn't have a simple background and the longer it took to find her the more intrigued he was.
In the past two years, he hadn't even sensed an ounce of her seraphic energy which made him suspect she was dead but he suppressed that idea and continued searching. What he didn't know was that the so-called 'lady in white' was at sea seventy-five per cent of these two years and on his father's private island for the rest of the time. This meant unless he had a physical lead he wouldn't be able to find her.
After two long years, he had finally found someone who was close to Huang She and that man was his business partner. Rui Fei had to come all the way here to this godforsaken town to have a lovely chat with this brawny greasy man.
Rui Fei was laid back on the chair with his fingers on his forehead like he was sleeping. The scrawny looking boy with matted hair and dirt on his face was long gone.
He had grown into a fresh-faced heartthrob with striking features that could have any woman smitten. The ends of his lustrous black hair transitioned into a silver-grey colour creating a dazzling ombre effect. He was adorned in black robes with gold patterns and a golden lapel inflating his sinister side.
There was a beguiling aura surrounding him as his sword eyebrows scrunched up from the man's cries. Irritated, he kicked the Kang table sending it flying across the room before it broke into pieces.
This had Rui Li who was crouched down tormenting the man turned her head with a swing of her pigtails in annoyance. She was the very same girl who had asked Ji Yao why his chest was crooked two years ago. She had grown up a little and from the looks of it, she had grown into a prickly little miss.
"Dage, I can't stop him from crying. He is doing more crying than talking," she said pouting her lips in displeasure, "so what am I supposed to do?"
"Just say it if you can't make him talk and I will handle it..... that's why us big brothers are there to clean up after you," said a boy slightly younger than Rui Fei leaning against the wall. In his hand was a black gemstone hovering above his palm with one of his heels pressed against the wall.
His name was Rui Yewan and his speciality were nightmares making him the nightmare king's minion. He was the other of the four children that escaped Prince Rui's clutches.
The fourth one was named Rui Pianzi but because he felt like he wanted to go off on his own he left. For the past two years, it had only been a party of three seeking out a benefactor they didn't even know was still alive or not.
Rui Li seemed displeased by his words as she stood up and stomped on the ground with her pigtails swaying along. "What? Do you think your silly little nightmares can get him to open his trap? Are you trying to say that you are better than me, huh?"
The right thing to do would have been to appease this little miss but Rui Yewan was born to be an antagonist which meant it wasn't in his nature to coax and appease. He closed his fist and the gemstone vanished as he brushed back his long hair. "What do you think?" he replied with a sly smirk on his face.