Chapter 702 From Below

Lee Seng turned to look at the Chimera and Halys. Halys looked over to Chimera and waited for his opinion. The group anxiously took in Lee Seng's odd plan.

'Would we really risk everything to go back there?' Manny thought. 'It would be suicide!'

"Going back there would be like walking into a prison and getting yourselves locked up." Chimera told them. "If you need these items, I can offer a couple of my men to grab your things, but you must stay here no matter what the news decides to say."

'Thank God.' Olivia let out a sigh of relief. She really didn't think it would be the smartest choice, but at least someone else could fetch Lee Seng's weapon and Evan's crest.

"Ysa, have two stealth members be sent out." Halys ordered.

"Yes, sir." Ysa double-clicked the item in her hand and listened to the two chirps that came out of it after a couple seconds. "It's done."

"In the meantime, we'll gear up to visit Olivia's grandmother." Chimera spoke. "Ysa, see if there's any nearby portals. We shouldn't waste time. Who knows how far they'll go to make sure these kids are actually dead?"

"What should we do in the meantime then, sir?" Rituska asked.

"Rest." Halys told them. "You've been on edge ever since the incident. You didn't let up with us. Go back to your rooms and rest. We'll have the Foxlings come grab you when we're all prepared. I'm sure the terrorist comment only happened that way so they could lure you guys out of hiding and capture y'all."

"So, they know we're alive or not?" Evan asked, confused. "I-I thought they would think we were dead."

"Someone assumes you're alive based on the footage given to the news channel. Let's take a moment to refocus before we go to Miss Ok's grandmother's place." Halys told them. "How long do you think they'll be, Ysa?"

"Couple hours at least." Ysa guesstimated. "Until then, you should rest like the General and Commander are saying." The group was ushered back to their temporary quarters. Despite how wired Lee Seng felt about the whole ordeal, as soon as he hit his head against the pillow, everything went black.

"Lee!" Keng called out to him. Lee Seng's eyes opened as he lifted himself into a sitting position. The smell of grass lingered in the air as wind gently blew past him. Leaves rustled as spots of sunlight trickled through the shade of the tree.

"Lee!" Keng called, again. Lee Seng turned to find Keng. A shadowy humanoid figure jumped and waved at him, happily. "Come out here! You gotta look at this!"

'Keng?' Lee Seng thought. He pushed himself onto his feet and yawned. He slowly made his way over to Keng, leaving the comfort of the shade. AS soon as he stepped into the light, the scenery changed around him. He was stepping over a dead body. The grass was replaced with blood and Keng was shouting his name. Lee Seng stopped, taking a step back and watched as the scene shifted, again.

Lee Seng stood at the edge of the shade, the smell of grass permeating the space and Keng waving him over. Lee Seng took a step into the sunlight and waited. Nothing happened. Lee Seng took another. Then another. Then another. Then another.

'Was that just my imagination?' Lee Seng wondered.

"Lee! Over here! Over—" Keng's voice cut. The entire scene shifted. A pile of dead bodies surrounded him. Blood continuously spilled out of the bodies and washed onto his shoes. Lee Seng lifted his foot up, noticing the blood falling from his feet.

"Lee…" Keng's voice shook. Lee Seng turned and noticed Keng was scared. "Please, don't do this… Don't give into temptation! Put the knife down and we can talk."

"What knife?" Lee Seng asked, looking down. In his left hand was a bloodied knife. He was caked with blood. Lee Seng gasped, releasing the knife and watched it plunge into the blood.

"It's alright, Lee Seng." Keng reached for Lee Seng, slowly. "You didn't mean to do this! This isn't you this—" The scene flashed and Keng was in Lee Seng's arms. He gasped for air as a knife was embedded into his chest.

"Lee…. I-it's okay…" Keng forced a weak smile at him. His voice shook as he struggled to reach for Lee Seng. Tears spilled from Lee Seng's eyes as he shook his head. "It's okay… You… didn't mean to do it… You're not a monster… You were never a monster…" Keng wiped Lee Seng's tears, leaving bloody smudge marks under Lee Seng's eyes. "Don't… Don't be sad… I am… happy I met you…"

"Keng." Lee Seng's shakily called his name. He squeezed Keng closer to him, sobbing. "Keng…! I'm sorry! I'm sor—"

"Senior." Shang shook Lee Seng awake. Lee Seng's eyes were wet as he opened his eyes. He quickly sniffed and wiped his tears away and sat up. He turned to look at Shang who looked a bit worried for him but didn't want to say he was.

"What time is it?" Lee Seng asked, groggily.

​ "4:17pm." Shang glanced at his watch.

"I was asleep… for so long?"

"I tried to wake you several times to eat, but you didn't budge so I left you alone. Your friends said to leave you alone, so I did., but, uh, we got an update from those two people who went to grab your things."

"Oh, what is it?" Lee Seng slid his feet out from underneath the sheets and over the bed. Shang took a couple steps back and nervously glanced elsewhere.

"Well…" Shang forced himself to look at his Senior. "They managed to get the crest, but they couldn't secure the sword. There were… Strange people that showed up out of nowhere and the guys had to retreat."

"Strange people that showed up? From the front door?" Lee Seng asked, standing.

"That's the thing…" Shang scratched his cheek. "They came from the basement." Lee Seng was out of the door after hearing that. He turned, thinking Shang would have to lead him to the others, but found his friends and Felicity waiting for him. They all turned to him, all wearing the same spooked face.

"That place was actually haunted?" Lee Seng asked.

"I-I guess… We haven't heard a thing since we've moved in!" Evan replied. He turned to look at the others. "Right?"

"Just odd noises of the house settling." Ritsuka shrugged. He turned to look at Lee Seng and his spooked face turned into utter fear like he just remembered something.

"What?" Liz asked, noticing Ritsuka's face change. "You know something, don't you?"

"Y-yeah… I…" Ritsuka gulped. "There were a couple times I thought I heard movement from that storage closet. I didn't think anything of it because I thought maybe one of you guys was in there."

"Did you check to see who was in there?" Manny asked.

"The first few times, yeah. The light was on, but no one was in there. I thought one of you just forgot to turn off the lights, so I didn't think anything of it… C-could it have r-really been th-those… people?"

"W-what if they've b-been w-watching us as we slept?" Evan asked. The whole group groaned.

"You didn't have to actually say the thing we were all thinking!" Olivia shuddered.

"It could be true though! I didn't want to be alone in this!" Evan shouted.

"How long since the first time you heard someone in that storage closet, Ritsuka?" Lee Seng asked.

"Well…" Ritsuka thought about it for a moment. "Maybe two weeks after we moved in? The only reason why I didn't think there would be trespassers is because we actually use that storage! Liz goes in there once a lot!" The entire group's eyes shifted to Liz, who immediately shook her head and waved her hands.

"I leave my art stuff in there! When I go in there, everything's in place!" Liz defended herself.

"Who else goes in there?" Lee Seng asked.

"I've been cleaning and set some old stuff down there." Manny raised his hand. "Other than that, I don't step in that room unless I'm putting something away. I see Liz's art stuff in there, too. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary when I went in there."

"People showed up when the Fox Spirits were retrieving our things…" Lee Seng brushed his chin. He looked over to Shang, who seemed lost in the conversation. "Shang."

"Y-yes, Senior?" Shang snapped out of it and looked at Lee Seng.

"Did they get a good look at the people who entered from the basement?"

"Mmm, I don't remember if they said anything like that… We were just told people came from the basement, so the duo had to leave." Lee Seng looked to Felicity, who agreed with Shang.

"That's what we were told." Felicity nodded.

"What should we do now? You can't get your sword and we obviously are being tracked down." Ritsuka asked Lee Seng.

"I dunno." Lee Seng began to shrug as his stomach growled.

"You haven't eaten all day, huh?" Manny stepped away from the wall. "Why don't we eat and figure out how we're getting to Olivia's grandma?"