I walked slowly towards the dining room; As I turned at the intersection, I could see the door.
Before I had even entered, I could already hear faint murmurs coming from her. I ignored the content of their conversation, since their words will not influence my decision no matter what they say.
'Either way, once it's over and I won't see them again.'
At a distance of one and a half meters; I controlled the wind to open the doors. I walked in with my hands clasped behind my back, ignoring the looks I was receiving.
Unlike my old self who always looked at them fondly; Now I look at them with a neutral expression, without expressing any facial emotion that is visible.
Instead of focusing on their scrutinizing glances, I focused on the layout of the dining room.
The room features a long dark wood dining table, adorned with dining places and a central flower arrangement.
The walls are decorated with brush-painted artwork; An elaborate, multi-tiered chandelier hangs above the table, providing warm lighting; and the floor is covered by a large light-colored area rug that contrasts with the dark tones of the wood.
There are two prominent chairs at each end of the table, and four simpler chairs along the sides of the table.
Five of the eight chairs were taken, leaving the two main ones and the three common one's empty.
I sat in the chair at the other end of the table, slowly passing behind them. I could tell that they knew what had happened in the great hall by their slight body tremors; It made me a little sad that he thought he was going to harm them, knowing how far he had gone to protect them.
"Don't worry, it will just be our last meal together."
I said that in reference to the fact that I would never see them again; but it seems they misunderstood, as the tremors increased.
I guess they assumed it would be their last meals as living entities.
'Funny.'
I exhaled with discouragement at the little trust they placed in me. I don't remember doing anything that would make them think otherwise; The supposed evidence against me seems to have had quite an effect on them.
I felt disappointment deep within me; I have raised them for years, but the words of a handsome man made them doubt how important they were to me.
In this moment, I understood that sometimes the most beautiful thing can also be the most deceptive.
They have not been manipulated by any celestial halo; I can easily see that. Sadly, that also showed that these were his true thoughts.
Both the five girls and the MC firmly believe in their part of the story.
When I was young, I also ignored the other party's situations; but there is a very big age difference. They are no longer girls; They are over hundreds of years old, so they can decide for themselves what to believe.
I can teach them, but I cannot manipulate their thoughts to my will; since, if so, they would be nothing more than simple puppets.
After I sat down in my chair, a series of plates of food came out of my ring. Foods of all kinds were placed on the table; whether it be meat from mythical beasts or herbs that have only been seen in a few millennia.
I poured them a glass of wine myself; I should be generous this time. None of them touched the plates, so I started myself.
After drinking a cup of blood from a mythical beast, I proceeded to put into words what had previously been limited to mere internal thoughts.
"The food is not poisoned, I don't need to resort to such a low trick if I want your lives, unlike some people."
After hearing my words, nervous sweats fell from their faces. Some tried to argue against it, but I didn't give them the chance.
"I am not here to listen to your complaints; I will say a few words and leave."
"I know what you have been told about me by that Ye Xiu guy. You are not young anymore, so you can believe what you want."
Even though I said everything calmly, my body didn't react the way I wanted. Showing sadness and disappointment in my eyes.
"First disciple, come closer."
Hearing my words, she came closer and knelt one meter away from me. Each of the five were peerless beauties, no wonder they were part of his harem.
But unlike how other people saw them, in front of me they will always be the girls with runny noses that I saw for the first time.
"Tell me, what did Ye Xiu tell you?"
In response to my question, she hesitated for a moment before replying with determination in her eyes:
"He informed me that you coveted my divine yin body, he gave me a list of ingredients that needed to be gathered to refine the cauldron with my body."
"I also know that you are collecting every ingredient on the list yourself; Even though you tried to hide it from me, Ye Xiu showed me proof of it."
I knew the tests were one-sided, but hearing it from his mouth surprised me more.
"You overestimate the importance of your constitution, if I wanted to make a cauldron with you I don't need you to be alive; I could have killed you the day I picked you up."
"I wanted to give you this as a gift for when you rise to the void stage; But seeing the situation, you better take it now."
What I gave her were the ingredients from the list she mentioned, as well as other rarer and harder to find resources, next to them was a sheet of paper.
It detailed the steps to follow to refine one's divine yin body and increase one's innate talent; In this way no one would covet her constitution, even if I were not there.
After reading the contents of the sheet and receiving the necessary materials, I could see a look of disbelief on her face. She wanted to tell me something, but I stopped her before she could speak. I gestured for her to sit down again, stopping her from continuing.
But to my surprise, instead of obeying my words, she ignored my order and began to speak.
"Master, I don't…"
"Sit down! If I wanted to listen your excuses I wouldn't be here. I just want to resolve the debts we owe, so I don't need to listen to your explanations or reasons."
I watched as her body shook at my roar and a tear slid down her eyes.
The others showed shock upon hearing my scream for the first time. No wonder, my old self pampered them excessively. I wanted to act like a master, but in the end, I spoiled them.
I should have taught them better so that you don't fall for such tricks, but it's too late. They have already shown me how 'valuable' I was to them. I didn't want to hear their justifications; That would make me waver in my decision, and I don't want that to happen.
With determination, I called to the next ones: "Second and Third disciples, come closer."
Hearing my words, the twins got up and approached me. Unlike the looks of determination, they showed me when I entered, now there was doubt in their eyes.
'I know it hurts you, I am the same as you feel. But we have to finish what we have started, we cannot give in to the slightest setback.'