Chapter 36: Family P 7
"Sera?"
"She's on the third floor with… Phil, Second P."
"What made you think so?"
Lia also was surprised not because she was suspicious of Sera but because she confided in Noel so easily.
Lia told him about the brief conversation they had, "She didn't know my name but was confident in Tom's."
"Just from that?" Noel raised his eyebrow.
"I've had my fair share with people. I would be dumb to not figure them out after everything."
Lia saw Noel's lips rise and instantly continued," Either way, I think it'd be the best to be wary of them. We have to figure out the purpose of the facility, then stop the facility and completely erase the P family."
"Depending on the situation the others too."
"Yes," Lia was aware that they couldn't be left alive, especially if they interfered which might be the case with Tom.contemporary romance
"The Ghost King wants this facility to create ghosts. Perhaps a ghost army."
Lia straightened her back when she heard this, "What?"
"Fourth P generously confided in me although she wasn't really sure why."
This was different from what Third P told her, either he didn't know or he lied. A ghost army was definitely something dangerous, especially if they were vengeful ghosts. In the first place, what did Min need to have an army for? Against who was he going to go to war with?
Lia's gaze wandered to Noel. She couldn't help but admit that he's found out more than her and it seemed like he already had Fourth P's trust… Was this because of his looks?
Lia instantly shook her head. Where did these thoughts come from? But this made things easier. If the P family would destroy each other internally then Lia could focus on Elder P.
"Then we've established everything?"
"You're going back?"
Lia wanted to sleep but she also wanted to check on the corpses. She always had the nagging fear that they might be discovered.
"Alright, night."
Lia stood still in the doorframe before also wishing him a good night.
The corpses were still there how she left them, apart from their eyes that followed her, nothing was wrong. She fell into her bed and closed her eyes.
And so a week has gone by with nothing happening. Lia constantly did her work and slowly bit by bit gained Third P's trust. Noel was also quite successful and they both laid more seeds of doubts within the P family's members.
The results also rose and as Lia thought, her assumption might prove to be true. Tom was also diligent in disappearing, one day before lunch she saw him sitting outside eating an apple before pulling out his gaming device. He didn't do anything suspicious but Lia still couldn't get rid of the feeling he was up to something.
Third P called Lia frequently to his office to talk about the results and how the other floors were faring.
Currently, all floors saw a major improvement in creating ghosts and soon every room's cage was full.
"Today there will be a meeting between my siblings and me. A group of exorcists will also come by to take the ghosts and empty the cage," Third P always tapped on the table when there was something that bothered him.
Lia was sure it was the meeting, however, she was more concerned with the exorcists.
"They're going to take the ghosts away? How is that possible?"
Third P stopped tapping and turned his face to her, "Kim, exorcists have different powers. There must be at least one who can transport or control ghosts."
"I see," in other words, Third P had no clues. Since he wasn't an Elder and just a family member there were a lot of things he could only guess.
Lia only figured that out after Third P didn't even know the purpose behind the facility. He was just a pitiful younger brother who couldn't stand the mockery of his older brothers, and especially his pride couldn't tolerate even his younger brother surpassing him and becoming the Elder.
Thus he took part in this competition. Third P wasn't stupid but he was incredibly narrow-minded and viewed his pride as the most important thing. But that just made it easier to control him.
If he didn't care about his pride, he could've just lived somewhere bathed in his wealth and be happy but he chose this path. There was no saving for him.
"When will the meeting be?"
"After lunch. It is the same time when the exorcists will come, so I hope you will supervise them in case there will be some inconveniences."
Lia nodded and was about to leave when Third P stopped her, "Afterwards you can take the day off."
"Thank you, Sir," Lia bowed and left to go back to work.
During lunch, everyone talked about the exorcists coming and the members meeting. Noel quickly ate his food and excused himself. Ten minutes later, Lia also said she was going to go back to work because Third P wanted her to finish something quickly before the exorcists came.
She didn't have to worry about Tom exposing her lies because he was outside again, bathing in the sun.
A few seconds later, Lia knocked on Noel's door and entered.
"What do you think?" Noel threw that sentence at her the moment she entered.
"I'm not sure. I'm torn. I want to see the exorcists but I also want to know about the meeting."
"Let's do both. No need to watch the exorcists the whole time."
"What are you implying?"
"Ha? Aren't you usually clever?" It's been a while since Noel has made fun of her and she wasn't happy about this return.
"Just say it."
"We eavesdrop."
"You aren't ashamed of saying it so proudly?"
"You also want to know, don't you?" Noel shrugged his shoulders.
"Do you even know where they're going to be?"
"Yea, Fourth P told me."
"Tch," Lia involuntarily clicked her tongue in annoyance. Her face wanted to contort but she held herself back. She wasn't competitive but she didn't like it that Noel was always a step ahead.
"Ha!" Noel knew what she was thinking and laughed.
"Fourth P is easy."Lia grit her teeth.
"Third P could also be." Lia turned on her heels and walked to the door. Noel was provoking her. She intended to let him know that the only reason he could get that information was because Fourth P was easy to trust someone and gullible.
But Noel threw the remark back that Third P was also that kind of person but Lia failed to fully grasp his trust. If it was Noel, the results would've been better by a mile.
"There's no time for you to feel inferior. The meeting's gonna take place on the ground floor. After the exorcists done, come here."
Lia briefly stopped and didn't say anything before she went out and slammed the door. He was the inferior one!
Lunch was over and Lia waited in the laboratory for the exorcists. She saw the brutally wounded corpses of the mortals and her heart felt heavy.
There was a loud dragging noise at the entrance. The next second a group of four came in. They took notice of Lia and briefly nodded before heading to the rooms and swiftly coming out again. This was done so quickly that Lia didn't even have time to question them.
The group of four turned to leave when Lia called out, "You 're already finished?"
One of the exorcists nodded and said, "Job's done."
Then they vanished out of her sight. The moment they were gone, Lia checked the rooms. The ghosts were gone but when the exorcists left, they were empty-handed. While Lia made her way to Noel's room, she debated if the exorcists actually purged the ghosts instead of transporting them like they said.
A few minutes later, Noel came and he saw the look on her face.
"You saw?"
"How did they do it?" Lia had no idea how the exorcists just came and go.
"Either they can teleport the ghosts or I think they can seal the ghosts in a pouch. One of the exorcists, when he came out of a room, put a small pouch in his pocket. Could barely see it but I guess that's it."
"Is that so?" because Lia's family has been the only one with powers for many hundred years, she never saw any other abilities than hers. Even now that exorcists were the norm, she wasn't able to see what variety of abilities there was.
It was even more out of her expectations than she believed. There were all sorts of abilities. She really hoped Elder P didn't have any power. The Z family's illusion power was already a big shock to her.
"Let's hurry," Noel led the way through the various shops and behind the cinema, there was a dark hallway that seemed to go underground.
The path ended in front of a small gate but Noel walked to the right and there was a small opening hidden by a black curtain that could be mistaken as the wall.
Behind the curtain was a staircase and at the top was another narrow hallway that went in a circle. There were small grid windows and through them Lia could look down into a round room with all the members of the P family present.
Lia narrowed her eyes and threw Noel a suspicious look. Noel had the time to scout this place or else he wouldn't know about this secret passage.
Lia clenched her teeth, just how much in advance did Noel know about this meeting? Since when did Fourth P tell him or was it Fourth P in the first place who told him?
Lia finally understood the difference between them and for the first time could fathom what a mysterious person Noel was.
It made it even more clear she couldn't let her guard down around him. She might've started trusting him a bit too much.
Lia focused her attention back to the room that watched from above when suddenly to the right of them, a faint rustle sound appeared.
Noel immediately jumped to the source and his hand held the frail figure of Sera. Lia widened her eyes, what was she doing here?
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