"What!?"
Panqa and Lanqua shot to their feet, looking at Mingzhi with a dumbfounded gaze.
Mingzhi was in her black robe, looking smart and beautiful like a fallen angel. She interlocked her fingers as though in a business transaction and spoke with calm.
"As I said, your third sister has been found, and she is on her way here."
"…"
Panqa and Lanqua were still dumbfounded. It wasn't until Panqa flinched awake that she pounced on her elder sister Lanqua and screamed out.
"Alive! Third sister was alive! Look, wasn't I right!?"
"Right! You were right…"
Lanqua shed tears, unable to believe it.
"…"
Mingzhi didn't know what to say. Her lips were parted, wanting to say something, but she didn't disturb them for the time being. She saw the two of them being abnormally happy and excited that their third sister would return to them, making her heart soften up a bit.
However, she still intended to do what she came here to do.
"Thank you very much, sixth sister!~"
"Our Zanqua was always a good and upstanding girl. I promise she would be useful if we were to buy her back and free her."
After a few minutes, Panqa and Lanqua gradually calmed down and thanked Mingzhi profusely. They knew that she had established an information network to protect the family and advance the family's interests, but it ended up helping them also.
Naturally, since their third sister was kidnapped, they thought she was sold as a slave, so they began working on how to convince their family to take her in. If possible, they would rather have her by their side even if all she gets to do is some menial tasks.
It would be fine as long as their third sister could live peacefully after going through such a tumultuous experience.
However, they saw Mingzhi suddenly place a bunch of scrolls on the table between them.
"This is information pertaining to your elder sister, Zanqua, otherwise known as the Cleaving Wolf Empress."
Panqa blinked, "Cleaving Wolf Empress…? Sounds cool…"
"Wait- what does sixth sister mean?"
Lanqua asked with some doubt. Her brows narrowed, feeling something amiss.
Mingzhi looked at their anxious expression and sighed. She took a scroll and opened it, displaying it to them.
"This is when your third sister abducted a seven-year-old daughter from a wealthy family. The ransom exchange failed, and she was trapped, but she used the child and escaped. In the end, they found the child's head ruthlessly crushed in the nearby woods."
"…"
Glancing at their mute reaction, she grabbed another scroll and displayed it.
"This is when she cornered a desperate merchant on a highway— who was escaping for his life after offending a City Lord. She disfigured him and killed all his guards as well as his family members, and then later threw him into a fire, including a three-year-old child who was burned alive or dead in the carriage, finally plundering all his wealth."
"This is when she went to a competition in a town and poisoned all the participants there to death, including the maids and servants, taking their wealth and escaping in a single night."
"This is when-"
"This… this must be some kind of mistake."
Lanqua raised her hand as she interrupted Mingzhi, her expression filled with disbelief. If not, she was scared that Mingzhi would read the few dozen scrolls as well.
Mingzhi pursed her lips. She heaved a breath and said it.
"Your third sister is no slave. She's a wicked bandit who has committed severe crimes against innocent people."
"…"
Lanqua shuddered as she steeled her face. Panqa was not the same. Her face twisted in horror as she held her mouth with her palms, her pupils trembling.
Looking at their reaction, Mingzhi inwardly sighed.
Her own father had done worse. Their family members sure had some dark history. Needless to say, she had more experience in tackling these kinds of emotions, so she quickly offered them advice.
"Of course, she might've been forced or had a history with all of them and had reasons to commit these kinds of crimes. Even our husband has done the same or possibly worse, depending on the perspective, so I wouldn't claim we are saints, but there's not a single good news about her for me to even consider. If she's still good despite what I've heard, then she has done a good job displaying her fangs, as every other bandit leader feels intimidated by her. She has completely branded herself to be a wild, aggressive, bandit woman who will snap your spine or cleave you into two at the slightest offense."
"No way… our third sister can't be…"
Panqa's lips quivered as tears began falling from her eyes.
Hearing the actions her third sister committed, she couldn't begin to imagine what she went through while they had been successfully saved by their Starlight Jade Wolf Clan.
They did everything in their power to grow stronger so they could save her when they found her, but their information network never got wind of her. At some point, they stopped thinking about her because it was only making them miserable as they imagined what kind of torture she would be experiencing as a slave, but it turned out that she became a bandit and committed innumerable wicked deeds to survive.
They didn't know what to feel other than sadness.
Mingzhi couldn't bear watching them turn sad. As fellow sisters, she even played with their tails, or she forced them to let them play with their tails using her seniority, so she had some goodwill towards them even if they didn't interact much.
She extended her hand, voicing out softly, "What I'm saying here is that the little third sister you knew is no longer little or the same. Treat her with indifference, lest you two get hurt."
Back when she was a beheader in the Loret Empire, she targeted bandits and cultivators similar to Zanqua with no remorse. Their reasons didn't matter. She hunted them like she was on a killing spree to raise her skills practically, so she had mixed feelings when it came to their third sister but, most importantly, knew that she could pose an immense threat to their life because a true bandit would take advantage of anything, even their own family members.
Nonetheless, she informed them, preparing for what was to come, so she felt like she finished her job.
She was about to leave as she lightly stood up, giving them time to digest. However, looking at them tremble, she inwardly sighed and walked around the table, extending her hands into an embrace.
Lanqua noticed and hesitated, but Panqa immediately flew into Mingzhi's arms, shedding tears as she buried herself in Mingzhi's bosoms.
"There, there…"
Mingzhi caressed Panqa's head gently. She wished she had someone like herself who could've held her when she felt lonely without anyone in her childhood or even in her adulthood. It takes away a lot of burdens even just to feel the warmth of someone, and since she knew Davis hadn't visited them yet, it was of little doubt that they were feeling quite lonely and still unsure of their place in this harem despite his words as women needed more reassurance, especially when there were others in the same position as them.
A few seconds later, Lanqua also embraced Mingzhi from the side and cried silently.
She hadn't relied on or leaned on someone from the time she lost Zanqua, so this all felt new to her.
A sense of trust radiated between them, causing Lanqua to sniffle before she looked up.
"Sixth sister, what can I do to make sure Zanqua doesn't resort to these atrocious deeds anymore in order to live…? Is it… too late for her…?"
"…"
Mingzhi's expression twitched. Despite the unwillingness to bring such a person here, she opened her mouth as she felt relied on and advised.
Sometime later, they felt the undulations of Davis's soul force and ran out. They were on the first floor, so when they stepped out on the hall and ran to the balcony, Panqa and Lanqua finally noticed their third, or rather, their first and eldest sister, Zanqua.
"…!"
Looking at her appearance, they turned shocked.
Mingzhi nudged her forehead, realizing that she forgot to show them the actual image of Zanqua while she was consoling and advising them.
Davis descended and alighted from the flying boat with Zanqua still in the grasp of his soul force. He alighted from the flying boat and let her go slowly, causing Zanqua to descend to the ground, although her gaze never left her sisters.
Panqa and Lanqua were still shocked, but they jumped out of the balcony, gliding towards Zanqua before they stood before her.
For a few moments, Panqa and Lanqua were heavily staring at Zanqua.
What the two sisters saw in Zanqua was a terrible scar leading from the left side of her lips to her cheek. The black eye patch on her left eye was also striking, making her look quite wild and untamed to them.
However, the vice versa was also true.
Zanqua couldn't help but feel how beautiful and prim her two sisters were. They were so bright in her eyes that she couldn't bear to stain them with their darkness, causing her to shudder as she moved her foot back.
"What are you looking at!?"
She roared, causing numerous eardrums to be so shaken that it alarmed the Reaper Soul Legion. However, with Davis there, they didn't do anything.
At the same time, Panqa and Lanqua shuddered heavily, unable to believe the killing intent their sister possessed. It was unknown how many she slaughtered to be emanating such a murderous aura.
Davis was also cautious as he didn't know what this crazy woman would do. Her life was unstable, and she didn't bother to suppress her killing intent, and years of habit are so deadly that it could be accidental. However, he put his hand down.
Why…?
*Bzzz!~*
Panqa and Lanqua's aura surged. Their Late Stage Immortal King undulations actually suppressed Zanqua's Immortal Emperor undulations, putting a stop to her show of force.
Zanqua was beyond shocked. She clenched her teeth, instinctively wanting to battle it when suddenly, two sets of arms embraced her.
"You came back to us… elder sister~"
"Don't leave us again… Wahhhh!~"
Lanqua's tears fell as she smiled, and Panqa cried out while holding Zanqua tightly. The latter's grip was so strong that Zanqua was shocked again. Her expression sank, rage enveloping her face as she struggled, but without even realizing it, tears began streaming down her eyes.
Her left eye, which was enveloped by an eye patch, overflowed, and it began swelling lightly and dripping tears.
The urge to answer that she's back swelled in her heart, but she wasn't really back. She wasn't the same as them. The truth really hurt her that she wanted to curse the Emperor of Death to death, but the tumultuous emotions swelling and even spilling inside her from the embrace of her two sisters simply caused her to raise her head and cry out loud.
"Aah-ahhh~"
Panqa and Zanqua's cries resounded throughout the city, causing Davis to smile lightly before he turned to look at Mingzhi.
Seeing her tear up lightly, he was honestly surprised as he imagined that she would firmly oppose bringing such an unstable element here. After all, it was more work for her to eliminate harmful elements that couldn't be eliminated with violence.
'Well… she won't be allowed to stay here as it is soon time for the children to come…'
Davis thought and waited for them to sober up.
It took three whole minutes before Zanqua rubbed her eyes and stared at them, appearing fulfilled and embarrassed at the same time.
If Paleen and her subordinates were here, they would be wondering if she was the Cleaving Wolf Empress or some scarred woman who was lonely. It was her first time shedding tears for so long that she wanted to go bury herself somewhere.
Panqa and Lanqua also came out of their reverie. Their cheeks and eyes were all rosy from all the crying. Once they got to spill out their emotions, their minds became renewed with some clarity, wondering if they could trust their third sister. However, they still looked at Zanqua with fondness.
Grabbing her hands, they pulled her towards the mansion.
"…!"
Zanqua's gaze shook as she saw them pulling on her hands together.
The hand she reached out that was never grasped overlapped with the image of them finally grasping it, making her absentminded. Before she knew it, she was already in a luxurious room, one that she had rarely set her eyes on, even with her profession as a bandit.
"Just how much would this sell for…?"
She spoke without thinking as she looked around, causing Davis and Mingzhi to blink while Panqa and Lanqua were scared shitless that their husband would kick her out!
"What!?"
Panqa and Lanqua shot to their feet, looking at Mingzhi with a dumbfounded gaze.
Mingzhi was in her black robe, looking smart and beautiful like a fallen angel. She interlocked her fingers as though in a business transaction and spoke with calm.
"As I said, your third sister has been found, and she is on her way here."
"…"
Panqa and Lanqua were still dumbfounded. It wasn't until Panqa flinched awake that she pounced on her elder sister Lanqua and screamed out.
"Alive! Third sister was alive! Look, wasn't I right!?"
"Right! You were right…"
Lanqua shed tears, unable to believe it.
"…"
Mingzhi didn't know what to say. Her lips were parted, wanting to say something, but she didn't disturb them for the time being. She saw the two of them being abnormally happy and excited that their third sister would return to them, making her heart soften up a bit.
However, she still intended to do what she came here to do.
"Thank you very much, sixth sister!~"
"Our Zanqua was always a good and upstanding girl. I promise she would be useful if we were to buy her back and free her."
After a few minutes, Panqa and Lanqua gradually calmed down and thanked Mingzhi profusely. They knew that she had established an information network to protect the family and advance the family's interests, but it ended up helping them also.
Naturally, since their third sister was kidnapped, they thought she was sold as a slave, so they began working on how to convince their family to take her in. If possible, they would rather have her by their side even if all she gets to do is some menial tasks.
It would be fine as long as their third sister could live peacefully after going through such a tumultuous experience.
However, they saw Mingzhi suddenly place a bunch of scrolls on the table between them.
"This is information pertaining to your elder sister, Zanqua, otherwise known as the Cleaving Wolf Empress."
Panqa blinked, "Cleaving Wolf Empress…? Sounds cool…"
"Wait- what does sixth sister mean?"
Lanqua asked with some doubt. Her brows narrowed, feeling something amiss.
Mingzhi looked at their anxious expression and sighed. She took a scroll and opened it, displaying it to them.
"This is when your third sister abducted a seven-year-old daughter from a wealthy family. The ransom exchange failed, and she was trapped, but she used the child and escaped. In the end, they found the child's head ruthlessly crushed in the nearby woods."
"…"
Glancing at their mute reaction, she grabbed another scroll and displayed it.
"This is when she cornered a desperate merchant on a highway— who was escaping for his life after offending a City Lord. She disfigured him and killed all his guards as well as his family members, and then later threw him into a fire, including a three-year-old child who was burned alive or dead in the carriage, finally plundering all his wealth."
"This is when she went to a competition in a town and poisoned all the participants there to death, including the maids and servants, taking their wealth and escaping in a single night."
"This is when-"
"This… this must be some kind of mistake."
Lanqua raised her hand as she interrupted Mingzhi, her expression filled with disbelief. If not, she was scared that Mingzhi would read the few dozen scrolls as well.
Mingzhi pursed her lips. She heaved a breath and said it.
"Your third sister is no slave. She's a wicked bandit who has committed severe crimes against innocent people."
"…"
Lanqua shuddered as she steeled her face. Panqa was not the same. Her face twisted in horror as she held her mouth with her palms, her pupils trembling.
Looking at their reaction, Mingzhi inwardly sighed.
Her own father had done worse. Their family members sure had some dark history. Needless to say, she had more experience in tackling these kinds of emotions, so she quickly offered them advice.
"Of course, she might've been forced or had a history with all of them and had reasons to commit these kinds of crimes. Even our husband has done the same or possibly worse, depending on the perspective, so I wouldn't claim we are saints, but there's not a single good news about her for me to even consider. If she's still good despite what I've heard, then she has done a good job displaying her fangs, as every other bandit leader feels intimidated by her. She has completely branded herself to be a wild, aggressive, bandit woman who will snap your spine or cleave you into two at the slightest offense."
"No way… our third sister can't be…"
Panqa's lips quivered as tears began falling from her eyes.
Hearing the actions her third sister committed, she couldn't begin to imagine what she went through while they had been successfully saved by their Starlight Jade Wolf Clan.
They did everything in their power to grow stronger so they could save her when they found her, but their information network never got wind of her. At some point, they stopped thinking about her because it was only making them miserable as they imagined what kind of torture she would be experiencing as a slave, but it turned out that she became a bandit and committed innumerable wicked deeds to survive.
They didn't know what to feel other than sadness.
Mingzhi couldn't bear watching them turn sad. As fellow sisters, she even played with their tails, or she forced them to let them play with their tails using her seniority, so she had some goodwill towards them even if they didn't interact much.
She extended her hand, voicing out softly, "What I'm saying here is that the little third sister you knew is no longer little or the same. Treat her with indifference, lest you two get hurt."
Back when she was a beheader in the Loret Empire, she targeted bandits and cultivators similar to Zanqua with no remorse. Their reasons didn't matter. She hunted them like she was on a killing spree to raise her skills practically, so she had mixed feelings when it came to their third sister but, most importantly, knew that she could pose an immense threat to their life because a true bandit would take advantage of anything, even their own family members.
Nonetheless, she informed them, preparing for what was to come, so she felt like she finished her job.
She was about to leave as she lightly stood up, giving them time to digest. However, looking at them tremble, she inwardly sighed and walked around the table, extending her hands into an embrace.
Lanqua noticed and hesitated, but Panqa immediately flew into Mingzhi's arms, shedding tears as she buried herself in Mingzhi's bosoms.
"There, there…"
Mingzhi caressed Panqa's head gently. She wished she had someone like herself who could've held her when she felt lonely without anyone in her childhood or even in her adulthood. It takes away a lot of burdens even just to feel the warmth of someone, and since she knew Davis hadn't visited them yet, it was of little doubt that they were feeling quite lonely and still unsure of their place in this harem despite his words as women needed more reassurance, especially when there were others in the same position as them.
A few seconds later, Lanqua also embraced Mingzhi from the side and cried silently.
She hadn't relied on or leaned on someone from the time she lost Zanqua, so this all felt new to her.
A sense of trust radiated between them, causing Lanqua to sniffle before she looked up.
"Sixth sister, what can I do to make sure Zanqua doesn't resort to these atrocious deeds anymore in order to live…? Is it… too late for her…?"
"…"
Mingzhi's expression twitched. Despite the unwillingness to bring such a person here, she opened her mouth as she felt relied on and advised.
Sometime later, they felt the undulations of Davis's soul force and ran out. They were on the first floor, so when they stepped out on the hall and ran to the balcony, Panqa and Lanqua finally noticed their third, or rather, their first and eldest sister, Zanqua.
"…!"
Looking at her appearance, they turned shocked.
Mingzhi nudged her forehead, realizing that she forgot to show them the actual image of Zanqua while she was consoling and advising them.
Davis descended and alighted from the flying boat with Zanqua still in the grasp of his soul force. He alighted from the flying boat and let her go slowly, causing Zanqua to descend to the ground, although her gaze never left her sisters.
Panqa and Lanqua were still shocked, but they jumped out of the balcony, gliding towards Zanqua before they stood before her.
For a few moments, Panqa and Lanqua were heavily staring at Zanqua.
What the two sisters saw in Zanqua was a terrible scar leading from the left side of her lips to her cheek. The black eye patch on her left eye was also striking, making her look quite wild and untamed to them.
However, the vice versa was also true.
Zanqua couldn't help but feel how beautiful and prim her two sisters were. They were so bright in her eyes that she couldn't bear to stain them with their darkness, causing her to shudder as she moved her foot back.
"What are you looking at!?"
She roared, causing numerous eardrums to be so shaken that it alarmed the Reaper Soul Legion. However, with Davis there, they didn't do anything.
At the same time, Panqa and Lanqua shuddered heavily, unable to believe the killing intent their sister possessed. It was unknown how many she slaughtered to be emanating such a murderous aura.
Davis was also cautious as he didn't know what this crazy woman would do. Her life was unstable, and she didn't bother to suppress her killing intent, and years of habit are so deadly that it could be accidental. However, he put his hand down.
Why…?
*Bzzz!~*
Panqa and Lanqua's aura surged. Their Late Stage Immortal King undulations actually suppressed Zanqua's Immortal Emperor undulations, putting a stop to her show of force.
Zanqua was beyond shocked. She clenched her teeth, instinctively wanting to battle it when suddenly, two sets of arms embraced her.
"You came back to us… elder sister~"
"Don't leave us again… Wahhhh!~"
Lanqua's tears fell as she smiled, and Panqa cried out while holding Zanqua tightly. The latter's grip was so strong that Zanqua was shocked again. Her expression sank, rage enveloping her face as she struggled, but without even realizing it, tears began streaming down her eyes.
Her left eye, which was enveloped by an eye patch, overflowed, and it began swelling lightly and dripping tears.
The urge to answer that she's back swelled in her heart, but she wasn't really back. She wasn't the same as them. The truth really hurt her that she wanted to curse the Emperor of Death to death, but the tumultuous emotions swelling and even spilling inside her from the embrace of her two sisters simply caused her to raise her head and cry out loud.
"Aah-ahhh~"
Panqa and Zanqua's cries resounded throughout the city, causing Davis to smile lightly before he turned to look at Mingzhi.
Seeing her tear up lightly, he was honestly surprised as he imagined that she would firmly oppose bringing such an unstable element here. After all, it was more work for her to eliminate harmful elements that couldn't be eliminated with violence.
'Well… she won't be allowed to stay here as it is soon time for the children to come…'
Davis thought and waited for them to sober up.
It took three whole minutes before Zanqua rubbed her eyes and stared at them, appearing fulfilled and embarrassed at the same time.
If Paleen and her subordinates were here, they would be wondering if she was the Cleaving Wolf Empress or some scarred woman who was lonely. It was her first time shedding tears for so long that she wanted to go bury herself somewhere.
Panqa and Lanqua also came out of their reverie. Their cheeks and eyes were all rosy from all the crying. Once they got to spill out their emotions, their minds became renewed with some clarity, wondering if they could trust their third sister. However, they still looked at Zanqua with fondness.
Grabbing her hands, they pulled her towards the mansion.
"…!"
Zanqua's gaze shook as she saw them pulling on her hands together.
The hand she reached out that was never grasped overlapped with the image of them finally grasping it, making her absentminded. Before she knew it, she was already in a luxurious room, one that she had rarely set her eyes on, even with her profession as a bandit.
"Just how much would this sell for…?"
She spoke without thinking as she looked around, causing Davis and Mingzhi to blink while Panqa and Lanqua were scared shitless that their husband would kick her out!
