Chapter 230 — Running Out of Time

Chapter 230: Chapter 230 — Running Out of Time

Chapter 230 — Running Out of Time

Lyra slowly approached the entrance of the Graveborn estate.

Two guards stood watch, one on either side.

She remained hidden within the shadows as she walked toward them, doing everything she could to suppress her presence.

For a moment, it seemed to work.

Then both guards turned slightly.

Their eyes moved in her direction.

Lyra froze.

They felt me.

Neither guard could see her, but she could tell they’d noticed something. Their expressions changed as they searched the area, trying to figure out what had caught their attention.

Lyra didn’t give them the chance.

Shadow Step.

Her body disappeared from between them.

By the time the guards reacted, she was already well past the entrance and moving deeper into the estate grounds.

One guard looked toward the other.

"Did you feel that?"

The other glanced around before shaking his head.

"Kind of."

They stood there for another moment.

Then one shrugged.

With so many powerful cultivators living throughout the estate, an unfamiliar presence wasn’t exactly unusual. For all they knew, someone stronger than them had simply passed nearby.

Neither raised an alarm.

Lyra kept moving.

She quickly reached the mansion itself and searched for a way inside. The main entrance was out of the question, and most of the windows she could see were closed.

Then she spotted one.

An open window on the second floor.

Lyra studied it for a moment.

That’ll work.

It was high enough that reaching it normally would’ve been difficult, but that hardly mattered to her.

Shadow Step.

Her body vanished and reappeared at the edge of the window.

Lyra caught herself against the frame before slipping inside.

Her feet touched the floor without making a sound.

She immediately looked around.

Nothing.

No guards.

No servants.

No movement at all.

The room was quiet.

Some of the tension left her shoulders.

So far, everything was going smoothly.

Maybe this really could work.

Then the door opened.

Lyra’s entire body stiffened.

Already?

Her heart jumped.

How did they find me?

She’d thought Shadow Walk was almost foolproof. Even powerful Spirit Gathering cultivators had struggled to pinpoint her while she was using it.

Yet she’d barely entered the mansion and someone was already coming into the room.

Lyra prepared to move.

Then a little girl stepped through the doorway.

She looked roughly eight or nine years old, with red hair falling around her shoulders. She was already wearing a nightgown and didn’t seem the slightest bit concerned as she entered the room.

Lyra remained completely still.

The girl didn’t look around.

She simply walked over to her bed, climbed beneath the covers, and settled in.

Lyra stared at her.

Of all the rooms she could’ve entered...

She’d chosen someone’s bedroom.

There was nothing she could do about it now. Opening the door again risked alerting the girl, and Lyra wasn’t about to knock a child unconscious just because she’d picked the wrong window.

So she waited.

Thirty minutes passed.

By the time the girl’s breathing finally became slow and steady, Lyra was growing increasingly impatient.

She watched her for another few moments just to make sure.

The girl was asleep.

Lyra carefully approached the door and slowly pulled it open.

Creeeeak.

She froze.

Her head immediately turned toward the bed.

The little girl shifted slightly but didn’t wake.

She was still asleep, hugging a stuffed animal tightly against her chest.

Lyra stared at her for a moment before shaking her head.

This is the most stressed I’ve been in a long time.

She knew how dangerous this was.

At any moment, someone could discover her. And if she was caught by one of the truly powerful cultivators living here, there would be no saving herself.

Let alone her parents.

Victor briefly entered her mind.

He was going to be furious.

She knew that.

But there was nothing she could do about it now.

She’d already made her decision.

Lyra slipped through the doorway and slowly closed it behind her.

Now she just needed to find her parents.

She lifted her nose slightly and breathed in.

Nothing at first.

Then her expression changed.

There.

Faint, but unmistakable.

Shadow Foxes had always possessed a peculiar scent, and members of their kind had a natural ability to recognize one another.

Lyra hadn’t smelled that scent in years.

But she’d never forgotten it.

Her parents were here.

The problem was that they were still some distance away.

Lyra immediately began moving.

She followed the scent through the mansion, using Shadow Walk to remain concealed while Shadow Stepping whenever she needed to cover ground quickly.

Before long, the scent guided her toward a staircase.

It was an old spiral staircase that reminded Lyra of something she’d expect to find in a library. She started down carefully.

Creak.

Lyra stopped.

Then continued.

Creak.

Her expression tightened.

Of course the stairs had to be loud.

She descended one step at a time, each creak seeming louder than the last until she finally reached the bottom.

Lyra looked around.

Still no one.

The mansion was surprisingly quiet at this hour.

But that didn’t make her feel any safer.

She needed to figure out where her parents were being kept. There had to be some kind of slave quarters somewhere on the estate, but she had no idea where.

Lyra could already feel the strain of maintaining Shadow Walk for so long. At best, she had another ten or fifteen minutes before she wouldn’t be able to maintain it anymore.

Normally, she could extend that time by cultivating. Shadow Walk consumed little enough energy that she could recover more than she used while sitting still.

But she couldn’t exactly sit down and cultivate in the middle of the Graveborn mansion.

She needed to move.

Fast.

Lyra broke into a sprint.

She followed the scent through one hallway and into another.

Left.

Right.

Down another long corridor.

The scent was getting stronger.

She rounded another corner—

And slammed directly into someone.

Lyra’s eyes widened.

The impact knocked her straight out of Shadow Walk.

A maid stumbled backward in surprise.

For a fraction of a second, the two simply stared at each other.

The maid opened her mouth.

Lyra moved first.

Her hand struck the side of the woman’s neck.

The maid’s body went limp.

Lyra caught her before she hit the floor.

Shadow Walk immediately activated again.

Then Lyra heard footsteps.

Someone was coming around the corner.

She grabbed the unconscious maid and dragged her toward the nearest door, pulling it open and slipping inside just as a guard rounded the corner.

The door closed behind her.

Lyra held perfectly still.

Footsteps passed outside.

For several seconds, they remained close.

Then they slowly began fading into the distance.

Lyra finally looked around the room.

It seemed she’d stumbled into some kind of private library.

Thankfully, no one else was inside.

Lyra looked down at the unconscious maid.

She grimaced.

Lyra grabbed a nearby book and carefully slid it beneath the maid’s head.

"I hope you can forgive me."

She stared at her for another moment before looking away.

She hadn’t come here to hurt anyone.

Especially some random servant who had simply been walking through the mansion.

After roughly a minute, Lyra returned to the door and carefully opened it.

The hallway was empty.

The guard was gone.

She slipped outside and quietly closed the door behind her.

Her expression had become far more serious.

Having to reactivate Shadow Walk had cost her even more Spiritual Energy.

Ten minutes.

Maybe.

That was all she had left.

Lyra started moving again.

The longer this went on, the more she realized just how stupid her decision had been.

She’d entered the estate of one of the most powerful families in the entire Tower with no map, no escape plan, and an ability she could only maintain for a limited amount of time.

Victor had been right.

She should’ve waited.

But it was too late to think about that now.

All she could do was keep going and hope some kind of miracle happened.

Lyra picked up her pace.

The scent was stronger now.

Much stronger.

Her parents had to be close.

She disappeared around the next corner, following the one trail she could trust as the remaining time on Shadow Walk continued to slip away.