Tracks of the Black Dog Bandits

"Please."

A couple minutes had passed since he first asked the question, but neither gave him a response. He was holding himself back from charming them with a soul technique and then drawing out the answer, but he still wanted to hear a response from them soon. He was being polite because they had obviously suffered enough, but he had little connection to these two so he wouldn't feel guilty using his special methods of interrogation. Fortunately, they made up their minds before it came to that.

"If you're okay with me being vague."

"That's fine, I don't want to trouble you to that extent."

They nodded their heads and then the one he thought to be Dia spoke.

"After we lost to the Clite clan and the Black Dog Bandits, those of us that they captured became their slaves and were forced to follow them on their journey. Many of us, became toys for them to abuse. It didn't take long before we were forced to get used to sisters who had been with us since birth, dying in all sorts of disgraceful positions,"

She paused for moment to suppress the grief and fury that was finally free to be expressed again, and then continued.

"As for those that survived, they ended up like my sister and I, sold off to a brothel to pad their wallets."

Dia went on to explain what she had experienced. There were topics she would brush past, but also ones where she went into more detail than intended. When she had reached the end of her tragic tale, her eyes were already like dams on the brink of collapse, so he left the tent to give the sisters some space.

"So, was that story good enough, Alia?"

In response, the cheeky spirit stayed hidden but clicked her tongue audibly, "Don't ask when you already know my answer."

As he knew that he couldn't beat her when she was upset, Shui didn't bother teasing her further and instead focused on processing the information he obtained. Although the twins didn't know much about where their captors were headed or where they had stopped, the conditions they experienced allowed Shui to gain insight into the bandits' objective for helping the Clite clan. Maybe it didn't sound odd for bandits to pillage, but based on what he knew, the Black Dog Bandits had too much power and had evaded capture for too long to be considered a simple bandit group.

'Kalos probably gave them something in exchange for their help, but I can't figure out what that would be.'

Furthermore, with the amount of power the bandits had, it should've been simple for them to attack the Clite clan after finishing off the other clans, but that didn't happen. At his current strength, a mere Sky Realm expert wasn't strong enough to be called a threat, but the circumstances led Shui to believe that there was a powerful force behind the bandit group that accepted the Clite clan as allies.

As for the earrings that the twins no longer had, they had apparently given them to their Mistress to comfort her, saying that it was better for her to keep them than the bandits to steal them. Dia only briefly touched on what happened to her, so he didn't know much about her condition though he imagined it to be horrible.

Shui still intended to head to Ashen Star City, but now he also decided that attacking the Black Dog Bandits would be one of his main priorities after this trip was over. However, there was much to prepare before then, so he wasted no time in going to drag information out of the other source he had in mind.

Since making that terrific deal with an ordinary-looking man, the manager of a brothel in the lawless town was giddy. He was a cultivator in the Soul Realm, but he was from a poor background and only had mortal women and women with crippled cultivations in his shop, so the only spirit gems he normally came in contact with were the low quality ones. In fact, he only had to pay a few hundred low quality spirit gems for the goods bought this time, so he never imagined that he would be able to sell them for a normal quality spirit gem.

As he lovingly stared at the spirit gem while in his office, the manager suddenly felt a breeze brush across the back of his neck. He was going to ignore it, but then he felt a hand press down on his shoulder.

"It seems you're enjoying your payment. Do you mind providing an extra service?"

"H-H-How did you get in here?"

As enamored as he was by the normal quality spirit gem, the manager had arranged for protection in case the customer came back for revenge or to complain. However, considering the fact that the spirit gem seemed so precious to him, it was obvious that he didn't have the funds to hire anyone that could pose a threat to Shui.

"I just slipped in from your roof. I could have gone through the front door, but I'd rather this conversation be as private as possible, okay?"

Since he felt the grim reaper's scythe grazing his neck, the manager hurriedly nodded.

"What do you want? Is it the spirit gem? I can give it back!"

"No, I already gave you that as a payment. Do you think I'm some thug who would take the goods without paying for them?"

"O-of course not. A young noble as virtuous and dignified as yourself would never commit such a lowbrow act. The very thought is audacious! Any who would -"

"Okay okay, stop trying to flatter me. Just answer my questions. Who sold you those women?"

"Well, you see, my business has a strict confidentiality policy so..."

"Did I say you had a choice?"

Shui merely added a bit of extra force to his hand, nearly snapping the man's shoulder, and the manager quickly responded.

"Ah, ehem, yes! It was a small group of men..."

Once his lips were unsealed, the information that Shui wanted came pouring out like a fountain. He wasn't closer to figuring out the reason why the bandits cooperated with the Clite clan, but he was able to learn more about the structure of the Black Dog Bandits among other details like where they were coming from and where they were going. He didn't know their final destination, but he figured that since they came to this town recently, they had probably taken many detours.

'I can't tell if they're being chased or not, but either way it doesn't seem like they've stopped at their headquarters.'

According to the information he had, the bandits were keeping a low profile and were only occasionally attacking forces smaller than the Heaven clan. It would be better if they were brazen since that would make it easier for him to find them even if there was an entity hiding their whereabouts, but if they wouldn't show their heads then he would have to come up with a way to drag them out.

The fight against the Clite clan and the Black Dog Bandits would be further into the future, but Shui promised to use the time until then to prepare as best as possible. Unlike how he helped his loved ones escape, he would make sure that every one of them died together.