121 Just bear it a little

The wind arrives from the mountains and brushes the surface of the lake, causing the ripples in the tranquillity. 

"Did you find her?" He questions Izo, distressed. He is dripping from the head to the toe with water. They have been looking for Huang Qiuyan in the lake, but they can't even find her hair. Did she swim away again? How could she be this fast? 

"She's not here," Izo tells him and sighs. "I think that she escaped."

"This is not good." Aiken knits his brows. They failed to keep Huang Qiuyan inside the castle. If something happens to her, the king will also suffer. Where could she go? How many people do they have? Jin woke up once. After waking up, he only asked about Huang Qiuyan before going back to sleep. His body is healed, but his magic will take some time to restore itself. Noah is with the princess who had minor injuries. The princess is in shock. She keeps crying for the king. Noah is doing his best to appease the princess.

At the moment, Aiken can't help but feel helpless. They haven't been able to prevent the disaster. The future queen is gone. The princess got injured. How will he face the king? 

"What should we do?" Izo has never seen Aiken in this state. Aiken's anxiety is infecting him too. 

"We must find her," Aiken answers him. Huang Qiuyan is one of them. She is his king's mate. "Inform Noah. He and Kai must guard the princess and take care of Jin. Find me when you are done. I am going to look for her."

After saying those words, Aiken speeds away from Izo. 

***

Far away from the castle, Sung Na-Mi exhales when she looks at the crowd of vampire-zombies approaching them. The ghosts are hovering above their heads These vampire-zombies must be recent deads. Her heart tightens. How many people have died?

"I have explained how to finish these creatures," Lei tells them. "It's better if we deal with them now. Otherwise, they might follow us to the gate."

It's not easy to kill these monsters. She looks up at the sky. The sun is about to set. It will be difficult to travel at night. She can't channel heaven's energy at the moment. The spiritual energy would do. 

Sung Se-Yong charges toward the creatures. His eyes burn orange as he punches the creature on his shoulder, trying to grab the life force. It slips through his fingers. The creature raises his arm and aims for Se-Yong's head. He lets out a low laugh and ducks his head while shoving his hand deeper toward the creature's belly. The creature's raging screams excite him as he grabs the crystal and rips it out.

"Ugh!" His arm is wet with the creature's blood. It only lasts for a second. The blood vanishes in the air. There's little time. An arrow pierces the vampire-zombie lunging toward Se-Yong right at its thigh. Se-Yong looks over his head at Han and gives him a nod. The vampires aren't that bad.

The intensifying anxiety in Fu Sheng's heart isn't allowing him to concentrate in the battle. The gate isn't far away. Huang Qiuyan's mind is still out of his reach. The bond feels lifeless for some unknown reasons. He has been wondering why his throat is parched. He crushes the vampire-zombie's head along with the crystal. He wants to head back, but he made a blood deal with Sung Na-Mi. He has to complete 

The scent of dead blood lingers only for a minute before it disappears. The massacre perturbs Sung Na-Mi. But she can only harden her heart and ignore the looks on the ghosts' faces. These creatures are already dead.

Behind her, Klyn breathes out the spell. An invisible layer of dark energy surrounds her body. The barrier is so thin and yet, it masks her scent and repels the vampire-zombies. Sung Na-Mi can also sense it. But her eyes show no hint of awareness. She has no intention of completing the bond with him. The boy oozes the aura of a playboy. The true bond can't be broken, but they don't have to complete the bond if they don't want each other. Besides, he's probably doing this because he already knows that she's his true mate. 

"How many are left?" Lei yells. The damned vampire-zombies keep coming. Was it a wrong decision to stop here and face them? 

"A dozen more." Se-Yong clicks his tongue. "Let's get this over with. The darkness created by these creatures is teasing the sins of my heart."

When Fu Sheng hears those words, he blinks his eyes. A demon can have control over its darkness. With some restraint, they can co-exist in this world with other creatures. That doesn't mean that they can't be affected by others' darkness. 

The wall around Huang Qiuyan's mind is stronger than before. He inspects the bond. It's barely there, but he can feel it -- the source of the thirst. The thirst doesn't belong to him. He's affected by his mate's needs. Something happened to Huang Qiuyan. 

Fu Mian or Huang Qiuyan?