The market laughter faded behind them as the night deepened further and further and with it the softer mood of the evening vanished. Now came the real purpose of the excursion.
The rebel residence stood on a rise beyond the markets a sprawling fortified manor seized and expanded by the self styled Bizarre Barbarian. High timber walls ringed the compound. Braziers burned at the gates.
Armed patrols moved in steady circuits. Music and drunken voices drifted from one wing while the central hall remained lit far brighter than the rest.
Wealth announced itself everywhere.
Imported rugs hung from balconies. Painted screens lined walkways. Horses of fine breed stood in sheltered stables. Bronze statues stolen from somewhere no doubt, guarded the inner courtyard.
Unlike Su Kim who had once struggled with almost nothing as a rebel, this man lived in excess. Nang gold had clearly found its destination. Luo He studied the place with a faint expression of contempt.
"For a rebel camp," he murmured. "He has developed expensive tastes." Ningia glanced across the compound. "The Nang family invests where chaos can pay dividends." she said now with a friendly demeanor.
"Then let us reduce their returns."Lou He laughed lightly. They moved through the shadow along the outer wall slipping past torchlight and blind corners. Ningia was swift and disciplined but even she found herself watching Luo He more than the guards.
He flowed through the compound as if he had walked it before. Timing footsteps to wind gusts. Crossing open ground exactly when sentries turned. Using pillars, carts, curtains, and darkness with instinctive precision.
Twice she nearly warned him of patrols he had already avoided before she could speak. At one narrow corridor a lone guard rounded the corner unexpectedly and froze at the sight of them.
Luo He tilted his head toward Ningia.
"Princess." He said softly "care to assist?" She sighed once lifted her hand and with a small flick of the wrist sent a thread of pale frost through the air.
Ice raced across the man's throat and chest. He stiffened where he stood. Breath stolen and stood as he was with out collaps nor any sound but unlike before he was now dead.
Luo He looked impressed. "Remarkably efficient. What an unlucky fellow for being chosen." He said. She lowered her hand. "Why?" She asked. "I really needed to check how well your powers work." Luo He said with a smirk.
Third Princess Ningia was furious "So... you killed that poor basted just to check out my power? When you could have well avoided him?" "Yeah, some what" Luo He said. She didn't say much else but she was clearly upset about his childish nonsensens in the middle of the mission.
He also had leaned slightly closer as they stepped past the body. "What stops you from doing that to me whenever I insult you?" She hesitated despite being a little angry with him. For once she truly hesitated.
Then answered without looking at him.
"I might have the chance to try it out someday." Luo He grinned. "I look forward to the romance." She nearly froze his feet onto the floor.
They advanced deeper into the estate until the noise of revelry gave way to guarded silence. Ahead behind carved doors left slightly ajar voices spoke in low urgent tones.
The Bizarre Barbarian. And Nang family survivors. Ningia's expression sharpened. But even then part of her attention remained on Luo He. She had known he was dangerous in battle. She had known he was clever in conversation.
But this effortless infiltration through a guarded compound packed with soldiers. This was another face of him entirely. No wonder he had once appeared in her private training yard as though summoned by a god.
No wonder he moved through danger with amusement. He was built for intrusion into fortresses, into plans, into people's certainty and who knows what else. Luo He crouched beside the doorway and glanced back at her.
"Try not to admire me too loudly," he whispered. She gave him the coldest look possible. Then knelt beside him to listen.
The princess remained outside the chamber door hidden in the shadow of a stone pillar while Luo He dealt with the first sentry. The guard never had time to cry out. Once he fell Luo He immediately motioned toward the armor. "Put it on."
Ningia looked down at the unconscious man's gear with visible disgust. "It smells revolting." She said disgustingly "It smells like a lowly guard exactly how you should smell as well." Luo He replied.
"I am not wearing that." She said firmly.
"You are." Luo He said calmly. "I am a princess." she pushed back. "Tonight not anymore." She glared at him long enough to freeze lesser men where they stood.
Luo He merely waited. Moments later still muttering under her breath she was forced into the oversized armor. The helmet hid most of her face the rough cloak concealed her figure and in the dim corridors she passed for just another tired sentry.
Luo He didn't waste a second. His armor flowed over his body sealing him completely as the cloak activated and he engaged Silent Step. In an instant he vanished no outline, no sound, not even a trace of presence.
Ningia stiffened. She couldn't see him.
Worse she couldn't feel him. It was as if he had ceased to exist. "Stay here," his voice whispered faintly beside her. Then even that was gone.
He moved through the corridors like a ghost. Past guards, through shadows and between breaths. Ningia stood still gripping her weapon tight. For the first time she realized that if Luo He had ever seriously turned that ability on her She would have never seen that coming.
Guards fell silent and unbothered.
She hated how effective it was. The two moved through the manor's inner passages until they reached the final corridor leading to the private council chamber. Warm light spilled beneath the carved doors.
Inside voices argued in low urgent tones the Bizarre Barbarian and the surviving Nang leaders debating troop movements, supply routes, and how to answer the emperor's latest actions.
They had no idea death was already standing outside. Luo He's lips curved into the faintest smirk. From within his sleeve he drew a small sealed sphere no larger than a plum. Smooth, dark, unremarkable. Ningia frowned. "What is that?" She asked.
"Efficiency." Luo He said and before she could ask more he snapped its seal rolled it through the slight gap in the door and shut the panel again. "Seal it." Luo He said firmly.
Instinct overcame curiosity. Ningia thrust both hands forward. Frost exploded across the wood. Ice spread over hinges, seams, handles, cracks locking the chamber tighter than iron ever could. A thick frozen barrier layered across the entrance until not even air seemed willing to pass.
Then silence. At first there were muffled voices inside. Then coughing. Then pounding. Then shouting. Then less.
Ningia's expression changed. The sounds faded one by one until only stillness remained.
The corridor felt colder than her ice.
Luo He leaned casually against the wall and counted the moments in his head.
After nearly two minutes he straightened.
"It's done."
She stared at the sealed door. "All of them?" she asked. "I am certain." Luo He answered casually. Her gray eyes snapped toward him. "What did you use?" she asked out of habit. "Poison." Luo He said.
"That is not an answer." She insisted.
"It is the only one that matters tonight." He said. She looked back at the frozen chamber, disturbed less by the deaths than by how quickly it had happened.
No duel. No warning. No struggle worth naming.
Just a room full of powerful men erased behind a closed door. "You planned this from the start," she said quietly. "Ofcourse. It's really not pleasant to be my enemy." He said confidently.
"You brought me here without telling me." She asked annoyed. "I brought you here so you could witness it." Luo He said.
She was silent for several breaths. Then asked the question that truly mattered.
"Why?" Luo He began walking back down the corridor.
"To show you who I really am, before making the decision on whether you are going to stay with me or move ahead without me. If you stay however someday you may rule," he said without turning.
"And rulers should learn that battles are not always won on battlefields." Ningia followed him, her armored boots heavy against the stone. Her mind raced with questions.
What was inside that sphere? How many such things did he carry? How many times had he already done this?
And most troubling of all why did part of her admire him for all of it?