Chapter 14: Family Z
Family Z's first son already downed the whole bottle. His eyes were glued to the slender hand that held him the last cup. It was fair and delicate, presumably soft enough for him to enjoy the feeling of her hand wrapping around his throbbing part.
He couldn't deny she was a true beauty and paired with her innocence, it made her even more appealing to him.
What he loved above all was power, precisely to hold control over other beings, especially women. They were gullible, he just needed to flaunt his title a bit and they would all come crawling to him to indulge him in pleasure.
Since he was the first son of the family Z, he was called 'First'. First found that this female in front of him was fairly familiar but he couldn't remember where he would've seen her. Surely, he wouldn't forget an S Grade woman.
He could slowly feel the alcohol numbing his senses and his intoxication only rose more. He grabbed the fair hand but the woman coyly pulled back, her cheeks were fair and her pretty mouth constantly calling him 'Master' only stimulated him more.
He lost patience, "Tell me what do you want? You're doing this on purpose. Any price, I'll pay it!".
He was a bit drunk but he meant those words, he wanted to have her but he didn't want to force himself on her because that would take away all the fun. She was right, a prey chased for a long time, a ripe fruit was the best.
"Master..." her sweet voice pulled on his strings and he almost burst.
"Say it! What do you want?"
"Then will Master pay the fees for me? The gentleman downstairs said I have to make double what everyone else does. If Master can do it now for me, then I'll be yours forever," her big eyes blinked in worry and fear.
"I will," he instantly rushed down, slapped the money on the clerk's table and went back to the room.
"Done."
"The Z family is truly amazing," she cheered and her praise was like angels singing in his ears.
"Of course, there's no other family that can match us," First has always thought this but he couldn't understand his parents' wary and hatred for the K family, that was until the daughter of the K family rejected his advances.
Instead, she ran after a familyless dog and even made that bastard the Ghost King. Even now he could feel the rage he felt being humiliated back then, 200 years in the past. After that incident, he left the capital and surrounded himself in pleasure and found the Red Light District.
He couldn't care less what his family was doing as long as he was able to blow his money and load. His parents and his brothers were all driven by their own desires, after all, that was what their family was built on and what made them so successful.
"I have heard the K family used to be more prestigious."
These words rubbed him the wrong way, the K family more prestigious? How? In what way? Just because they were able to use powers? Look what it got them into.
"They are nothing but a bunch of losers who deserved to meet their end," he laughed and the beauty in front of him shyly covered her face.
He smirked, was she smitten by his laugh? Females loved it when males laughed or smiled at them. They were emotional beings craving feelings and bonds after all.
"But I've heard-"
"Don't listen to what they say," he moved closer and embraced her. He smelled the delightful sweet scent on her and barely could hold himself together.
"Let me tell you something in secret. After they've been killed, I went to their place and watched the corpses. Haha, you should've seen their pitiful and pathetic state!" he laughed again and thought she was even more into him as she wriggled in his arms.
She remained quiet and he wondered what was wrong, but then she looked up at him and his heart almost stopped. That icy gaze and her cold voice were enough to turn a burning land into winter,
"Is that so?"
However, it was just for a brief second before her shy smile returned and he thought he saw wrong.
He nodded and caressed her cheek. Lia, on the other side, was finally sure.
Feeling bad for him? All of the Z family were scum, involved or not, they knew about the planned murder and instead of regretting it, they rejoiced over their demise.
Lia wished to cut that hand that dared to touch her into thousand pieces and one by one feed it to him.
She was seriously considering to change the plan and just torture him because he didn't stop going on and on about how pathetic her family was.
That was right. Lia suddenly laughed.
Mercy? There was no such thing as mery. Why did she have to reduce herself, why did all these women have to reduce themselves to mere body pillows and entertainers for scum like this?
Why did she have to lower herself? To catch him off guard? For a foolproof plan? To hell with all of this.
She already threw her life away the second she swore revenge. She didn't want to have her identity found out? She laughed again. It was just as Min said, corpses can't talk. So what if she was recognised? Once dead, they couldn't tell no tales.
Lia freed herself from his embrace and had to calm herself as he questioningly looked at her.
She couldn't be reckless, her temporary anger took over her. As long as they were out of the Red Light District and as long as no one properly remembered her, it was fine what fate she would bestow upon him.
"It's too public here, shall we go somewhere private? Like my place?" Lia could see the hesitation on his face.
"I'll be all yours and you can play to your heart's content. You don't want others to see me, right?"
He slowly shook his head and then agreed. Lia was a bit astonished to see how easy it was to wrap him around her finger. Men who think with their genitals were truly foolish, frighteningly foolish.
As they stepped out of the brothel under the clerk's disbelief, Lia lured First out of the Red Light District.
To leave the Red Light District the gatekeeper would not appear, if not actively sought.
At the gate, Lia hung herself onto his arms and he pulled her into his embrace as she coaxed him to blindly follow her. Not far from the Red Light District was an abandoned are where ghosts loved to roam around, that was another reason why people wouldn't bother going near the gate.
"Do you live somewhere close to here?" there was nervousness in his voice when he recognised the abandoned area.
"Yes," Lia simply hummed, "Don't worry."
She smiled at him. There was no way he didn't know about the ghosts, in fact, he was very aware of them. No one dared to go anywhere near this place yet because of a single woman who seemed fearless enough, he had to endure and not shrink back or else he'd feel emasculated.
There was a reason why the ghosts stayed in the abandoned district and didn't venture further into the city filled with preys to satisfy their appetite. It was because of the talismans hanging around and confining them.
When Lia went to scout this place a week prior, she immediately saw the familiar talismans her family used to create. However, now that she had no power, there was no way to create them anymore and creating a talisman, to seal power within it, wasn't an easy task because it took years upon years to learn.
Not even the students who graduated from the academy would be able to create them at their current state. That was why the talismans, warding ghosts off were so sacred. The individual life force needed to be precisely adjusted to the talisman and take its form to merge with it.
Sometimes the talisman would reject the life force and it would take hundreds of years to refine one's life force to match it.
Since this abandoned area was protected by the talisman the exorcists didn't bother to come and purge the ghosts within, after all, they couldn't harm anyone who wasn't foolish enough to step into this area.
Lia had taken off one of the talismans and carried it inside her dress, so she wasn't afraid of any ghosts coming close to her.
"Are we there yet?" First didn't seem to like the idea to venture further inside, especially now that he caught a glimpse of the ghosts,
"Let's go back. How about my place?"
Lia turned to him and smile. She put her hand on his cheek before viciously slapping him. The impact was so loud, it echoed through the silent night.
"You-! What the fuck was that for?" First got angry and raised his hand to slap her back but instead, she kicked him in the stomach and he fell backwards on the ground.
Then without giving him time, she stepped on his head and ground it underneath her shoe.
"You fucking bitch! Wait till I-"
"What?" Lia crouched down and a mocking smile decorated her enchanting lips. Under the moonlight, yet hidden in the darkness her face was eerily beautiful.
"What will you do to me?" her smile grew wider as she lightly slapped his cheek again and again.
"I've endured your filthy advances and your filthy mouth spitting nonsense for a long while now."
First wanted to stand up but with her index finger, she poked him in the forehead and slammed his head back on the ground.
"Tell me again how you enjoyed the corpses of the K family."
"Is this about them? What? Revenge? What has it to do with yo-" before he could finish his sentence, his eyes widened in disbelief.
"No way, you're that bitch? Haha! You're still alive! Wait till my fath-"
"Shh," Lia covered his mouth and her eyes narrowed as if daggers would fall from them and pierce his eyeballs out.
"You can tell your daddy in hell," she stood up and walked a bit away as he jumped to his feet.
"I'll fucking murder you but before that, I'll violate and ravage you for the humiliation back then and now!" he charged at her but she remained unfazed.
First didn't know where her confidence came from but the last thing he saw was her arrogant form covered by translucent and rotten ghosts. Their saliva flowed to the ground and their hands grabbed after him. One by one they started feasting on him.
Lia watched as the ghosts sucked his body dry and his flesh started to corrode.
"That's enough," she stepped closer to his corpse and the ghosts retreated.
"You can't reduce him to bones," she felt his pulse.
He was dead.
"Because I still need him," she transferred one of her floating soul pieces into him and commanded him to follow her.
Her first soldier was ready. Now, she needed number 2, 3 and 4.
Back at home, she stored the corpse in a room, away from the window and anything that could fasten the process of his decomposition.
Then she retracted her soul and took a shower. The warm water felt like hot steam purging her body of impurities and sins, yet her hands were already stained.
She made up her mind. From what First said, he and his brothers, his whole family as well as for P, G and C after sacrificing her to the abyss, went back to see the corpses and the mansion while stealing anything valuable.
They lived a lascivious life without getting punished while she spent 10 000 years suffering. She would not show the slightest bit of mercy and regret.
After her shower, she laid in her bed and closed her eyes. She could only gather small information about the second and third son of the family. They were living together and had a business that was booming. They were based in a city not far from this one.
Money was their greed and desire. If it was money what they obsessed over, then she would pull the golden goose out of their grasps and kill it before their eyes. To first let them despair, then give them the option out.
Lia didn't want to go to the other city as she had to get familiar with it and she couldn't let the corpse First walk in broad daylight. Even if she hid him underneath a robe and cloak, it was too much of a hassle.
So, the best idea was to lure them to this city. Her mind was occupied with all sorts of thoughts when suddenly a knock pulled her back to reality.
She froze, her house was cut off from any people and they rarely would go into a desolated place like this.
Especially at this hour.
Who could it be?