Chapter 136 136: Caught?

"I'm glad you all came here on such short notice. Please have some drinks. We'll wait five more minutes to see if anyone else is coming. Then we can start."

Zhang found a way to get himself excused, leaving his men to keep the guests busy. He snuck out and straight walked to Lilith.

Lilith had managed to stop the Duke from before, but this time Zhang himself was coming. It didn't appear as if he was going to be distracted. There were people who tried to approach him, but he asked for himself to be excused, not stopping with them for too long.

Only a few meters of distance remained between Zhang and Lilith.

Zhang saw an empty glass in Lilith's hand. It was odd to see someone holding an empty glass and being zoned out. He couldn't help but find something odd in this decade.

Lilith's back was barely a few millimeters away from the wall, hiding the formations behind her. The distance was enough to make sure her clothes didn't get dirty by the blood while also making sure that no one could see what was behind her.

Lilith clenched her fist in excitement, finally locating Atlan! She finally knew where Atlan was and where the location of teleportation formation was. She had finally managed to locate what she wanted.

She could engage with the crowd for a bit now. She opened her eyes, straight, gazing where Zhang was standing previously. However, unlike before, she couldn't find Zhang there.

All she could see was Zhang's men interacting with the guests. She realized something was wrong.

"Looking for someone?" A calm yet composed voice came from down.

Lilith lowered her head, noticing Zhang sitting on a chair, right around the table, looking at him.

"Lord Zhang." Lilith didn't show intimidation. Her expression remained perfectly calm as age trapped the wall behind her twice, using her left hand before sitting down.

"You appeared to be lost there. May I ask if something was wrong?" Zhang inquired.

"Oh, that...? Don't mind me. It was just a little pain in the eye. When I feel the pain, I close my eyes for longer durations to give them some rest. It makes me feel better," Lilith answered. "I apologize if I worried you."

"Not at all. I just saw that your glass was empty. A pretty lady should never have an empty glass at a party. That's a shame for the host." Zhang slid the glass that he had brought closer to Lilith.

"You're so kind. Just like I've heard." Lilith smiled, complimenting the host of the party.

"I must say, I don't recognize ever meeting you. Who exactly are you?"

Finally, Zhang asked the question that Lilith was worried about. She thought she wasn't going to be recognized here, mixing in the crowd. Unfortunately, Zhang himself came to her, asking about her identity. This was troublesome.

She couldn't tell a lie that was easy to get caught. The only thing she could use was the lie she had made before. She told Zhang that she was from the guild in the north.

She also told him how she managed to receive the invitation to the party. However, she made one minor change in the story, being careful not to get caught in the future.

"Is that so? That's fine. Come, let me introduce you to others. Since you're new to these parts of the world, it's only my duty to help you around."

Zhang stood up, gesturing to Lilith to follow him. Things kept getting worse for Lilith. Not only was Zhang with her, but he also appeared to be suspicious. Losing him like this was really hard.

With Zhang following her so closely, how could she sneak away?

******

"Thirty minutes left... By now, Lilith should've been out of the party and on her way to the formation. Just a little more..." Atlas gazed at the beautiful moon sitting on the stone.

He stood up and stopped memorizing the spells. He started pacing back and forth, occasionally glancing in the direction of the mansion. Even as he paced around, he made sure to stay as far away from the red line as much as he could.

Meanwhile, back inside the mansion, Lilith was accompanying Zhang, wondering how she was going to find an opportunity to sneak out. She needed to lose Zhang at any cost, but it didn't appear as if it was going to be easy.

There were only thirty minutes left. Not only did she need to lose the man, but she also needed to get to the formation and destroy it.

Surprisingly, Zhang straight away took Lilith to the man who had given her an invitation last night. Since Lilith had spoken where she received the invitation, it didn't take Zhang long to realize who could've answered.

The young man was surprised to see Zhang approach him. He was not a high-ranking man in the clan. In fact, it wasn't even easy for him to get an audience with Zhang. To see Zhang coming to him himself was surprising.

He respectfully bowed to Zhang, wondering what could've brought Zhang to him.

"Did you give an invitation to any merchant guild from the north last night?" Zhang straight asked.

"Ah, yeah." The young man didn't understand why he was being asked this question. He didn't even know how Zhang found out since the ones he invited didn't arrive.

He swiftly issued an explanation. "They were the envoys from the biggest merchant guild in the north. I thought it was wise to invite them as well."

"So you did." Zhang smiled.

"Did something happen?" The young man asked. His heart raced. On the inside, he was even scared if he committed a mistake that she shouldn't have committed.

"Did the people you invite arrive?" Zhang asked another question, instead of answering the young man's questions.

"Ah, They didn't. They said they were going to leave today. I tried to convince them, but they said they'll think about it. So far, they haven't arrived. It makes me think that they won't come. Most probably, they already left," the young man explained, looking past Lilith.

Because of her illusion, he wasn't able to recognize her. All he saw was a different face that he didn't recognize. In fact, even now, he thought that the woman was invited by someone else.

He even considered the woman to be some royalty as she was being accompanied by Zhang himself. If only he knew that Lilith was the same person, his answer would've been different.

Receiving the answer from the young man, Zhang glanced at Lilith.

Lilith didn't show any expression on her face. She just held her glass firmly, ready for any outcome.