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(Jing Xiuying POV)
I elegantly walked around the hall while having light chats with those around. I had a faux smile the entire time as I thought back to what had happened last night.
With the scent I had acquired from darling before I retraced his steps. I got to the point where he had supposedly met those two people. My first thought at the time was simply to make sure they don't ever come near my darling again, that is until I remembered what he said about them.
Supposedly they wanted to help him, and with that thought in mind I decided to change my tactic of dealing with these women. Instead of simple scare tactics which I had to spend my own time and effort to achieve, perhaps I should make a small organization.
At some point while I was following their scent they splintered off into different buildings. There I thought for a moment how I would get both of them together.
The plan of simply kidnapping them in their sleep and bringing them into an abandoned building crossed my mind, but if I wanted them to join my organization I didn't want it to be based off of fear, it had to be based off of their free will or else it'll crumble quickly.
With that in mind I went with the less extreme route of simply knocking on their door and asking them. When the path splintered I followed the one which led to the closest house and knocked on the door.
From how heavy their scent was left behind I knew it couldn't have been too long since they went in. At most they should have just started falling asleep, but I currently wasn't too patient with the speed of her movement.
I took a quick look at the lock and took out a couple of picks. Slotting the picks in I made a few quick maneuvers and then a soft click was heard. With locks as simple as these I could get through them relatively quickly.
The hinges made a long squeak as I gently pushed the door open. On the other side a young girl who stood frozen in place stared at me with a look of shock and slight fear. I, on the other hand, had a calm and steady gaze as I looked at her.
"W-who are you? W-why are you here? Are you here to rob me? I-I don't have much, please don't do this! H-huh? Wait, you're that Big Brother's wife! Huh? Why are you here?" Halfway through her questioning she realized who I was and her expression only turned to confusion.
"Oh? You know who I am? Well, that's nice. Do you mind coming with me for a bit? I'm going to see your friend as well and I'll tell you both my offer then."
"Offer? What do you mean by offer? Is there something you want?"
"Shh! Come with me, let's go see your Sister."
"My Sister? Wait, are you going to do something with us?!"
"You're quite imaginative aren't you?"
Then I left the house without looking back to know whether or not she would follow. With the way she seemed, I felt that I didn't even need to see that she would follow behind. Continuing onward with the diminishing scent of the other person I heard a few taps behind me and from the corner of my eyes I could see the figure from earlier following me from a distance.
Soon I found a house which the trail led to. I knocked on it once again, and like before I picked the lock, but unlike the girl I had just met, the one here didn't even seem to make a move. The home was silent and the furnishings were still. With a scan of the room I stepped in and at that time the girl who had been keeping her distance ran toward me as the sound of her running echoed in the similarly silent street.
When she made it in the door I turned around with the same expression I had earlier.
"Nice of you to come along, let's go meet her now shall we?"
"Hey! Y-you're not going to do anything to use are you?"
"Why would I? If I wanted to, how come I'm speaking to you now? Now move aside so we can all have a little chat together."
She was anxious and weary of me, but most of all there was a sense of hopelessness. Perhaps she knew of the power I held, but not the extent of it. In the end she moved to the side and I walked past and up a set of stairs.
In a room at the end of a hall I opened a door to see a woman who lay lazily in a bed. Her eyes were still shut as if the knocks from earlier had no effect on her and strands of her hair covered the face below.
I walked up to get a good look at the woman before I held back a little more violent way of waking her up. I simply poked a point on her body and she quickly woke up.
"Huh, hah? What's happening? Wha- Who are you?!" As her eyes woke up and focused on me she immediately sat up as she pointed her finger at me.
"Sister Mei! Please calm down! This is that Big Brother's Wife."
"Sister Ya? Wait, what!?" She turned her head towards the girl behind me before quickly redirecting her gaze to me once more.
I spotted a convenient little spot in the corner of the room where a couch and a chair were side by side. Of course I took that single chair while signaling to those two to have a seat on the couch that I moved to be facing the chair.
"Come, sit, I'd like to offer you two something."
The girl walked a few steps with reluctance before the woman jumped off her bed in front of her. The woman had a defensive and hostile look to her as she glared at me. Her arms extended outwards as she looked like she was trying to cover the girl behind her.
"What do you want from us?"
"You two said that you wanted to help my Husband, correct? Neither of you should have forgotten, it wasn't too long ago after all. I'm here to talk about that very same man and how you've been to him."
"So what if we did? It's not like it was harmful! How could a man like him have to get such a jealous and vengeful wife?"
I felt my eyes twitch a bit at her comment, but I decided to suppress the dark thoughts which began to rise within. It wasn't a big deal to lose them, but from what I've heard it seems they were willing to risk their very lives for my darling. I can't say the same for other women who only covet, yet aren't willing to risk anything.
But perhaps I'm also giving them a chance because of how the biggest barrier I've had has been broken and the fact that this is almost negligible in comparison.
"No, I was wondering if… you two would… like to… cultivate?" I had a bit of trouble squeezing those words out as I still had a side of me which was reluctant to offer anything to my darling's suitors.
The woman with her hands up furrowed her brows as she looked at me.
"What are you playing at woman? Offer us a method of cultivation? What use is that for those with little talent? And even if you could provide such talent, how could that benefit you? You must certainly just be deceiving us or trying to make use of us, maybe even have this as a way to dispose of us!"
'She has already labeled me a woman of deceit and it irritates me. In fact it almost reminds me of a certain bastard who has an unusual amount of tunnel vision towards hating my husband.'
"Listen to what I have to say first."
I saw her just about to open her mouth once more, but her Sister clasped her mouth from behind with both hands.
"Please Sister, let's just listen to her. Maybe it isn't so bad and you're just overthinking! She hasn't harmed me yet has she? Besides, the wife of a cultivator has to be a cultivator herself. If you make her angry we won't be able to do anything to retaliate!" Hearing the Sister behind her seemed to calm the woman down and even her stance started slumping down.
'At least someone understands the situation. It was starting to be really difficult to resist caving in that woman's skull or lopping off her head.'
The girl behind began pushing the woman towards the couch ahead of me and together they both sat down. The girl in a calm way as if she has already accepted whatever the outcome may be and the woman sat with her arms crossed.
"Now of course I have a few conditions for the two of you to become cultivators. They aren't too restrictive though, only that when I require a task to be completed you two will try to do so. If you fail then you need only report to me that you did so. I won't be handing out any death punishments, because I don't expect you two mortals to be able to handle everything. This is the only condition I have right now, but I will add more if I need to.
I'll… even allow the two of you to… see my darling, occasionally. And only if you do well!"
"Sister, did you hear that? She called him darling! Hehe~" As I heard the girl speak that sentence I was prepared to see their amazed faces, then she spoke of the slip of the tongue I didn't even realize I had. A slight blush appeared on my cheeks for but a moment before it vanished unbeknownst to the two Sisters.
"You're focused on that? What about the condition? Hey, what kinds of tasks will you have for us?" Luckily, the woman wasn't focused on the nickname and instead changed the conversation.
"They won't be too difficult, after all I know how little mortals can do, but I'll make it worth your time if you do so."
The girl raised her hand before speaking.
"Does that mean I could ask for a kiss from him?"
*Crack!* *Crack!*
The armrests of the chair were crushed as dust seeped from my fists.
"K-K… Girl, you dare?! What kind of woman do you think I am?! Do you really think I would whore out my husband simply because you did a good job?! You are testing the edge of my limits aren't you?!"
Seeing the situation the girl started cowering as the woman stood to protect her.
"Didn't you come to make a deal?! Is negotiating not an option?!"
"You know what? This isn't a deal anymore, I was originally going to forget this ever happened if you refused, but now I'm telling you two what will happen! You will either accept or die! Choose now!"
"We accept." A hand rose and grabbed the shoulder of the woman as the girl rose up to look at me, even though her eyes trembled heavily.
"Humph!" I took out a couple of intermediate(previously middle)-grade Talent Inducing pills. They were pills which only worked on mortals to introduce cultivation talent into their body. Cultivators and cripples who took such pills had no effect on them as their talent had already been determined. The higher the grade the higher the chance of a high grade talent would awaken.
The pills were originally created when an cultivator emperor realized his son was a mortal and tried his best to make a cultivator out of him regardless by researching various methods and in the end this pill was created.
With a flash from my hand two pills flew into the hands of the women.
"I'll be back in two days."
'Why does it seem like everyone I meet lately only makes me mad?! The only comfort I can take is while with my Darling!'