Even in a dangerous place like this, Shui could have stayed at an inn with little worry, but it was best not to trust the security now that he had companions. Putting aside the cases where the innkeeper became part of the enemy force, if he fought inside the town it would be easier to attract attention and gain more enemies, which would make it harder for him to protect the twins. Additionally, though his worries may seem pessimistic, the proof was already there.
The manager of the brothel looked satisfied with his reward, but the spectators wanted to get their own cut out of the walking money pie. He wasn't sure if they were just bad at it or if they weren't trying to stay hidden, but he could spot over five men following him. It was difficult to conceal both him and the women while lifting them with mental control, so he placed one on each shoulder and slipped into the crowd, leaving no trace behind.
Less than an hour later, Shui had left the town and was setting up a camp on the barren plain that surrounded it. He considered night attacks likely so while he had the twins wait in a tent, he used talismans set up several tier 3 pseudo-arrays. Once he was satisfied by his work, he entered the tent to talk to the women. Alia had listened to him and stayed quiet, but who knew how long that would be for.
"Dia, Diana, do you remember me?"
Naturally, he had removed the nooses, but their hair was still a dirty dark brown and their figures were gaunt. Once they heard their names for the first time in years, the twins raised their heads and carefully looked at the young man in front of them. It was true that he didn't feel like a complete stranger, but after the abuse they had suffered, perhaps even close friends would only leave a vague impression. As he examined their condition, Shui came up with a treatment method. Normally, healing potions were the most obvious option, but in this case he wasn't sure if their crippled veins would be able to process the spiritual essence properly. Instead, he decided to heal them personally.
"Excuse me."
He slowly stretched out his hands to touch their heads, causing both of them to flinch before forcefully staying in place. It seemed like they were instinctively afraid of his touch, but at the same time feared what would happen if they didn't allow him to go through with it. Shui felt sorry, but he continued. There existed medicine that could fix their veins and dantian, but it was very expensive on top of being rare so for now he could only stabilize their condition.
With his spiritual sense, he accurately determined where their injuries were and then focused the effects of 'Heal' symbols on these areas. However, the 'Heal' symbol could only work properly on injuries that could be naturally recovered from, for the rest, he would have to wait until their bodies were stronger so that he could give them pills.
As the initial healing process went on, the women felt wrapped in comfort. Every time Shui used 'Heal', they felt a gentle sensation inside an area of their body that sent pleasurable shivers throughout their vessel. Like a fantastic massage, they felt the stress and pain they had accumulated melt away, cleverly pulling them into the abyss of sleep.
It was past midnight when Shui removed his hands. It took longer than expected since he had to be careful with their frail bodies, but he got through it without any major mistakes. During the healing time, the camp was attacked by a couple of assailants, but they had either given up, or tried too hard and died. The nearby town rarely attracted visitors in the Sky Realm and above, so Shui expected this result.
He took another look at the women and wondered if he should get them cleaned up, but he changed his mind since that could make him seem suspicious. Now that things had calmed down, Alia flew up and took a seat on his shoulder.
"I think I stayed quiet for long enough. Would you mind explaining?"
She sounded arrogant, but he could sense the concern in her tone so he knew she wouldn't force him to answer.
"Just wait a little longer. You'll learn everything once I can get them to talk."
"Hmm, since I'll have to cut back on my sleep, this better be an interesting story."
Alia then returned to his pocket and silence reigned. He had enjoyed a lot of freedom so far, and Shui knew that he would be saddled with responsibilities once he heard the two of them out, but the option to ignore their trouble was long thrown off the table.
A few hours before noon, the twins awoke and then hurriedly sat up. While they fearfully surveyed their surroundings for clues from their hazy memories, Shui showed his face.
"Good, you're both up. Are you feeling well enough for porridge?"
The two hesitantly looked at each other. They hadn't decided to place their faith in Shui yet, but they felt that their conditions had improved thanks to his treatment so they maintained a polite interaction. However, their bodies were far more honest.
"It's done."
When the smell of the porridge entered the tent, it tickled their stomachs and evoked a grumble. Their cheeks reddened in embarrassment, a reaction so rare that they couldn't remember the last time it happened to them. They made sure to suppress all emotions as they drank the porridge, but the speed at which they did so still gave away their thoughts.
"I'm glad you liked it."
As he collected the bowls, Shui knew he heard a mumbled word of gratitude, but he decided not to bring notice to it. He would have to ask some harsh questions soon so it was better that they held back their thanks.
After he used a cleaning spell on the bowls, as well as the twins since they accepted his offer, it was time for questioning. As they still didn't remember him, Shui took out one of his old masks to put on and then gave another hint.
"The earrings I made seem to be missing, but were they useful when you had them?"
Finally, a click occurred in one of their minds. Dia brought up her idea to the still confused Diana who then also showed a look of realization.
"You're, the maker of the harmony series?"
"That's correct, but keep it a secret. My name is Shui, formerly of the Heaven clan."
"Shui? That was indeed the name of a talented child from the Heaven clan, but that would mean you made those earrings when you were under ten."
"Well, as you said yourself, I am talented. It would be easy to prove myself if you still had the custom artifact I made, but since the reasons why you lost it and ended up here are connected, let's start with that story. Dia, Diana, I know this will be tough, but could you tell me what happened after the Glaize clan fell."
As Shui predicted, the twin sisters showed a strong aversion to the topic, but didn't deny his request outright. He didn't know if they were afraid of what he would do if they refused, or were just considering it, and he was fine with either. Unfortunately, the circumstances required him to get this information as quickly as possible so though he wanted to respect their will, he would take the info he wanted one way or another.