27 Family Z 14

Lia struggled as the figure who captured her pulled her back into the dark area. She felt their hands around her waist and a familiar smell crept into her nose.

"Don't," the voice was also recognisable.

Lia lightly turned her head and in the darkness, she could see the brown hair and the indescribable eyes of Noel. She nodded her head to indicate she understood.

He slowly let go of her and his body that has been pressed against her left a cold feeling but before she could say anything he grabbed her hand.

"What's that supposed to do?" she cocked her eyebrow and tried to remove his grip but was surprised to find that he was stronger than had she anticipated.

"In case you run away," his light smirk was vibrant in the dim of the moonlight.

"I don't have time for you, I need to-"

"That's why," he pulled her closer to him and refused to let go, "you can't go after him."

Lia grew angry, "Didn't you say you won't interfere?"

He hummed, "You can't go to the palace. Your chase ends here. Once inside you won't stand a chance."

Lia thought for a second and came to the conclusion that he was right, yet she couldn't just give up after she came so far. Even more so now that Min still wasn't informed about her escape but if Elder Z smoothly got into the palace and met Min then she would be doomed.

Either way, she couldn't stop here, she had to kill Elder Z. She was ready to kick Noel when he threw her against the wall and confined her between his arms.

"Think clearly, inside the palace there's the Ghost King and his private army. Do you really think you stand a chance? Honestly, I'm even surprised you came this far."

Noel's eyes were different than two weeks ago when they met for the first time. They were less distrustful but there was still that slight alienation.

There was this blatant terror welling up in Lia. This anger inside of her, this unease and this inescapable urge where should it go? She waited for so long and now that she was so close she had to give up?

There was no way. If she gave up now, then she would forsake her own life.

If she called her corpses and attacked the palace then-

Then it would instantly become her demise.

She knew that, she knew that yet-

"Stop it," Noel exerted more strength as he tried to talk sense into her, "Calm down. I know you want to do this but think clearly now. Think! There will be more opportunities."

"There won't!"

"There will, I assure you, ok?" Noel didn't seem like he was lying or just simply trying to coax her.

After a few seconds, her eyes widened and she seemed to grasp his meaning.

"You-"

"Yea, I will help you and I've done enough preparation myself. So, now let's go back and think of a new plan, ok?"

Lia shivered. She didn't like the thought but it was better than to be reckless and walk into a lion's den. Slowly, she nodded and all the tension in her body vanished. She felt wobbly like a pancake and her legs suddenly gave in.

She had to hold herself against the wall and steady her balance. Her anger slowly dissipated and she felt a sense of rationality overcoming her.

Noel was right. There will be more chances. Now, it was time to retreat and come up with a new plan. She tried to convince herself and let Noel lead her out of the centre.

"We should find a place to stay. It's too late to go back home," Noel looked around to find a lodge.

"Wait," Lia suddenly remembered, "we need to go back to the Z mansion. I have left something very important!"

"We can't-"

"No! If it's found out then there will be no turning back," she forgot that her corpses were still there. She could command them to hide but such a large amount would be discovered sooner or later and if the bodies of the Z family disappeared, it would cause a huge commotion.

The only way to avoid this was for her to take back her soul pieces. She knew Noel's worry about the soldiers and maybe even other families being at the scene but she had to take a risk. If her powers were found out, no amount of lives in this world could keep her safe.

"Noel, please."

Noel briefly stopped in his tracks and sized her up with an unreadable expression. There was surprise, doubt and something else.

"Heh," he laughed, "it's rare to hear you beg me."

"I wasn't begging! It was a simple 'please'."

Noel's smirk grew wider, "It was begging. Accept it."

Lia's veins threatened to pop again but she calmed down and admitted, "Fine, I'm begging you."

There was no point in humouring Noel and he did prevent her from a calamity. The tense and thick air surrounding them got lighter and it became natural for them to walk along the streets.

Lia suddenly felt it wasn't too bad to have a companion. If she had allies then this whole ordeal tonight would have gone smoother but having allies also meant trusting them and she wasn't sure if she could do that.

But for some reason, she felt more reassured to have Noel with her. When she realised those thoughts, she instantly retracted her hand from his and rushed towards the Z mansion.

"Hey-"

"We don't have time, hurry!" the wind that hit her face felt liberating as she ran and finally arrived in front of the mansion.

Yet she didn't move until Noel came. They stood there for a few seconds just quietly listening. There were no noises. Lia silently commanded her corpses to assemble in the front area, then she told Noel to wait outside.

"I-"

"No," Lia's familiar cold gaze met him, she was back to herself, "this is my secret."

With that, she went through and slightly left the doors of the gate open, not enough to peek through but enough so Noel didn't feel too left out. She also wasn't sure why she did that but somehow she didn't want to leave him out completely.

Once she arrived at the familiar scene, the flames that have stormed have long gone out and the mansion was reduced to ash and black residues. The corpses waited obediently just like she ordered them.

She took back her souls from the servants' corpses and then stopped in front of the three brothers, debating if she should abandon them here or take them back and use them. If she were to take them with her, Noel was bound to found out, but if she didn't have any corpses her power would be useless.

Her sight then fell on the glowing weapons. She tore some pieces of clothes off the corpses and wrapped them around two small daggers. She put the daggers inside her clothes and took a sword and put it in a random sheath that was lying around.

Her decision was made. She would abandon the corpses and use the weapons to kill and gain new ones.

She put her hand on First and a slightly weird feeling tugged on her heart. Was she feeling emotional parting with those three? She mocked herself and quickly retracted the last three souls.

The floating soul pieces inside of her was something she could never really get used to.

The moment her hand left Third's chest, there were faint noises coming from above her. Lia instantly turned around and looked at the high wall only to see three people clad in complete black fall down.

The growing pit of blood surrounding them.

"They are the second force of the Ghost King's private army. They're mainly used for scouting and assassinations," Noel's voice rang from the gate.

She narrowed her eyes.

"Don't worry, I haven't seen anything. I was only focused on them," Noel held up his hands in defence and shrugged his shoulders.

Lia became wary, she didn't notice that she was being watched and especially didn't notice that Noel came in and even killed the presumable scouts. Also, with his speed and accuracy, he was able to completely kill all three of them in one swipe in less than a second.

It was obvious he was highly skilled and his combat skills must be extraordinary. Just a few minutes ago, she started to think of him as a companion but now his actions proved that he was a complete mystery.

Who was he? What did he want? And how was he so skilled?

The bigger question was, could she trust him or should she try to kill him now?

"Let's go find a place to stay. If the second force has arrived then soon this place will be swamped with them and soldiers."

Noel turned around, expecting she would just follow him. Lia took a last glance before she indeed trailed after Noel. For now, she had to use him and see what he knew.

***

After Lia and Noel left, approximately ten minutes later, three new scouts arrived the Z family mansion. They saw all the corpses of the members and servants and the burnt mansion, they also saw the corpses of the previous scouts.

They separated and searched the whole land. After being assured that there were no living beings anymore they hurried back to the palace to inform the Ghost King.

In the palace, Elder Z currently limped in search of the Ghost King. In his blind frenzy, he met the assistant and told him urgently to see the Ghost King.

The assistant nodded and led him to a room to wait. Elder Z's wound still barely healed and he was losing so much blood, he was about to faint. He needed to talk to Min as quickly as possible, and he needed to be healed and survive.

Only then could he eliminate that hateful daughter of the K family. That thorn in his eyes. That damned wrench. He gnashed his teeth as a mouthful of blood flowed out and tainted the ground.

Once Min was informed, Min didn't move and continued to sit in his studies, his fingers restlessly tapping the table. He propped his head with his arm and it was unclear what he was thinking of at the moment until one of the scouts arrived and whispered something.

Then the corner of Min's lips turned upwards and he told the assistant to bring Elder Z to the underground place where the ritual was held in.

He was in a very good mood.