"I-I do!"
Young Master Ragoon quickly nodded, clutching his stomach slightly as if reminded of his poisoned state, "They forced me. They poisoned me and said that only the Hex Demoness would be able to heal me, but they wanted me to find you before that. They said… they said they have a surprise for you and you need to get them within three days' time, and… and… that you might be interested in working with the True Peak Emporium through me… yes... me... spare me..."
His speech was slurred, and he wobbled left and right, unable to maintain his composure as though he was drunk. As he did so, he cautiously retrieved a small, sealed scroll and held it up with both hands, "This is the letter. They said you would understand that it's them."
Davis accepted the scroll and looked through it.
It was certainly both Isabella's and Shirley's handwriting as far as he could remember.
They mentioned their current achievements in the secret realm, and their greatest find being the Nefarious Darkwill Rakshasa, which made his eyes go wide.
They battled something like that? He was flabbergasted.
He heard it was a scary Realm Calamity. However, little did he know that it was also ridiculously powerful in that fragmented shadow world. Isabella and Shirley didn't describe it as much other than for him to send people to come and pick them up so that they could deliver its core and other treasures before continuing to explore the secret realm, which they apparently grew fond of for adventuring.
While Davis was reading the scroll, Mingzhi snorted slightly, "Young Master Ragoon also tried to capture us before. Just a minor detail."
Davis's eyes twitched slightly. Which supreme genius didn't?
They all turned tail after he managed to defeat the Venerable Knights.
Nonetheless, he followed Mingzhi's line of interrogation.
"Did you now?" His tone deepened just a notch, and Young Master Ragoon instinctively dropped to his knees.
"I swear…! I thought too highly of myself and didn't know the extent of the enormous wall you were! Had I known, I wouldn't have dared!"
He trembled, trying to kowtow but couldn't because of the poison ravaging his body. It was apparent that he was in extreme pain.
Silence fell.
Fiora crossed her arms and leaned closer to Davis.
"He seems weirdly suspicious yet honest." She uncomfortably inclined her head and spoke softly, "Darling, perhaps we could just… follow the letter but eliminate him since there's no need for him."
"I'd say we let Shirley and Isabella continue tormenting him. They sounded like they were enjoying it," Mingzhi added with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes as she read the scroll she got from Davis.
But Davis just raised his hand, motioning them to be quiet.
"Give me one reason-" Davis said to Young Master Ragoon, "-why I shouldn't kill you right now."
Young Master Ragoon's lips trembled, "Because… I know I can be useful to you… and I know the secret deal the True Peak Emporium shares with the entirety of the other Upper Realms regarding the illegal slave trade and other dubious transactions that could get them in serious trouble with the Heaven's Warriors. I can give it all to you… I want to live, and I want to change sides… please."
This information actually made Davis pause. He figured it was somewhat useful but not so much since they could always deny such transactions happening in the first place.
"Hmm…" Davis finally muttered, "Get up. We'll see if what you say holds any weight."
He turned to Mingzhi, "Keep the poison in him. I want to make sure he walks the path we carve, not one of his own."
Mingzhi nodded with a wicked grin. Young Master Ragoon's face went paler. Was there no end to the abuse he was going to take?'
He wobbled and fainted right then and there.
"…"
Davis didn't know what to say. Isabella and the others actually used a non-lethal poison to fool him. It gave him all kinds of symptoms a drunk man would have in addition to energy sickness, meaning the more energy he accumulated, the more sick he would get.
However, the fear instilled in him didn't let him see that.
He was so caught up in not wanting to die that he couldn't see that this poison was easily removable as long as he didn't have any energy in his dantian. It didn't need Evelynn or anyone for that matter. Even he could remove it with ease.
'It seems like those two really did a number on him…'
Davis found countless scars on his body. They really tortured him, making him wonder just what he did to ignite their fury.
After all, Isabella and Shirley were usually kind and merciful. They didn't describe the reason since they wanted this merchant to be useful to the Davis Family.
After they collected him, they returned to their home and then he had Stella and Mingzhi make a beeline to the secret realm's entrance.
Naturally, he couldn't go, so he could only wait for Isabella and Shirley to be brought back. He was vexed, wondering if he still needed to adhere to the Covenant when he was confident he could break it but didn't want to rile up the Celestial Transcendent and escalate the situation.
The other party still didn't descend even after he kicked the Venerable Knights, so he felt that was a good thing.
Stella and Mingzhi arrived fairly fast at the Eternal Twilight Lower Realm's Great Desolate Plains and the secret realm's entrance. They waited outside the defensive formation. Seeing them, people actually closed their shops and fled the town.
It became empty as quickly as the tides receding in the morning, making them laugh. Like before, the Eternal Twilight Realm Master was there, but he stayed far and didn't bother to make eye contact.
"Mingzhi!"
"Stella!"
Finally, Isabella and Shirley appeared. They rushed towards them and hugged them. It had been a month, after all, so they missed them a lot.
However, Isabella and Shirley didn't stay for long.
After they discussed a few things and gave the treasures away, they returned to the secret realm, leaving Mingzhi speechless.
"Is it that fun?"
She sighed with a wry expression on her face. Since she entered the Empyrean Stage, she couldn't head there. She had the idea of using Everlight to regress but didn't think it needed or could be used like that. For all she knew, these dimensions could also have the aspect of karma blocking the lifeforms entering it.