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Chapter 281: Comforting Shadow

• Secrecy regarding the activities of the Ashfallen Sect and its members.

• You will agree to act as a proxy for the Ashfallen Sect.

I didn\'t even mention that this is a heaven-binding contract, and she is already this averse to signing it. Stella\'s patience was growing thin. After dealing with her sister in the past, I will not make the same mistake again. Without the curse, Nox would have gotten away with my earrings and the knowledge of what we can do. We now have the power to take the initiative.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Evelyn trembled, and a single tear rolled down her cheek to the floor, "Was killing my sister not enough for you?"

"Spare me the act," Stella rolled her eyes, "I know all about you and your family\'s situation. Nox hasn\'t been present in this family for many years, and you hate her. Yes, we killed Nox, but it had nothing to do with you. Now stop acting and sign the contract."

"I\'m not acting! It\'s just one thing after another!" Evelyn pounded the ground with her fist as the tears kept coming, "What have I done to deserve this? All my childhood, I was treated as a spare. Nox ran away from her responsibilities, and Father died, leaving me to pick up the broken pieces. I became her fucking fiance\'s plaything to buy time. After centuries of suffering and torment, I finally started to rebuild my family\'s strength, and then this accursed night happened. Mother is gone, and now you Ashfallen people show up making cold-hearted demands. Cooperation, my ass, what are you really after? Money? I have none left! You want revenge for something my sister did? Then just slit my neck and let me be done with this miserable existence."

Evelyn\'s words echoed through the room and were followed by her sobbing.

"Elder Evelyn..." The man with icy blue hair and eyes called out while barely able to raise his body against the pressure, "We stand with you! We won\'t sign anything until you do"

Diana slammed the man\'s face into the stone. "Keep quiet. We only need the Duskwalker family to cooperate."

This is getting out of hand. Stella frowned and looked back to Evelyn, who was still sobbing. Yet what am I to do? You call us cold-hearted, but I have little trust in those who wield shadow Qi. You are all pathological liars prone to backstabbing... I mean, you tried to take off my head a moment ago despite us showing no aggression. Evelyn, you brought this treatment upon yourself. Do you think I enjoy this? I was open to talking!

Stella sighed, "Evelyn, we don\'t want your moneyquite the opposite, we want to give you money. Anything you have, we can get ourselves. As for Nox, I am at peace with what happened and do not want revenge against your family. What we need is a proxy to take on the scrutiny for our actions here in Nightshade City and the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion. That is all."

"Who would believe such crap." Evelyn scoffed and looked ready to collapse as she panicked.

Nox warned us that Evelyn wasn\'t strong-willed, which is why she was easily bullied her whole life. It seems our arrival, and the sight of Larry has brought her to a breaking point. This is good, I can use this.

If I could somehow steer her feelings toward trusting me a bit, I might be able to get her to cooperate down the line of her own volition rather than having to force her at every step.

Evelyn\'s face scrunched up as she said with disdain, "Who do you work for? The Lunarshades? Did my husband finally tire of tormenting me and send you to humiliate me before finishing me off?"

Stella leaned in closer, held Evelyn\'s trembling hand, and placed a dagger firmly in her palm.

"Hey," Stella whispered into her ear, "Just relax and listen to my voice. I know it sounds unbelievable, but one day, you will remember this moment and feel like laughing. You don\'t know me yet, but I cherish and care for those I can trust. However, I will kill those who are a threat to me and my family. You are one drop of blood away from joining the former group and receiving salvation."

"You would cherish me and become my family\'s salvation?" Evelyn hissed through gritted teeth, "The silver-tongued words of a demon. There is no such kindness in this cutthroat life."

"I disagree," Stella said calmly. "Kindness really does exist. You were just dealt a bad hand in life and stuck with it till the bitter end, for better or worse. You can resent Nox all you want, but she made the wise choice to run away from this fate. With the powerhouse of your family dead, this was always the inevitable outcomeat my hands or that of another. The Duskwalker family would fall into obscurity as other powerhouses took its place."

Evelyn violently shook her head. "We were so close to restoring our power! If we can find my Mother, who was about to break through to the Nascent Soul Realm and bought a few more decades, it would be possible..."

I fear your Mother is already dead. Stella thought as she recalled what Maple had said about finding a powerful shadow cultivator to snack on. God darn it, Maple. Just because we are in a new area and can be more brazen doesn\'t mean you can eat anyone that looks tasty.

"What if she doesn\'t come back?" Stella asked, "And even if she does, do you think the Lunarshade family will sit around and let her get strong enough to contest them?"

"No. I refuse to believe this is happening." Evelyn glared at the dagger in her hand, "I worked so hard... gave up so much. Was it all for nothing?"

"How can you refuse to believe something that is happening before your eyes? Now, calm down and think logically. We really are here to cooperate despite my heavy-handed approach. You can blame the distrust sown into my heart by Nox for that."

Evelyn took the words to heart and tried to calm down. Her breathing slowed as she took in deep breaths, and she stopped trembling as much. "Of course, it\'s the bitch\'s fault; everything in my life is." She muttered before raising her head. Her eyes were red and puffy, and her hair was disheveledshe looked awful.

"You know it was Nox who asked us to help you?" Stella said.

Evelyn\'s eyes widened, "Liar."

Stella tilted her head, "It was her dying wish for us to save you."

"The selfish words of a dying bitch. I don\'t need saving... I was fine... everything was under control. I just needed a little more time to push through."

"And you still can. We aren\'t here to take over your family, you know? We just want to offer you resources and support in return for selling things for us."

"That\'s really all you want?" Evelyn muttered.

A man kneeling before Diana with deep violet eyes and silver-tinted hair like Elysia coughed to draw attention, "I think we should agree to their terms. The Mystshroud family deeply appreciates the support the Duskwalker family has given us and our cult, but we are not blind. Our necks lay the chopping block and are at the mercy of the Lunarshade family\'s mood toward Elder Evelyn. If there is a day the Celestial Warden leaves for another city, nobody in Nightshade City will be left to hold him back from destroying us. I have not heard of this Ashfallen group before, but if they have a mystic cultivator capable of summoning and controlling such a divine monster, I can only kneel in awe."

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Stella raised a brow behind her mask. Does this old man think Larry is made from Mystic Qi?

"It\'s as you say, Grand Elder Mystshroud," Evelyn looked to the floor in despair, "I did everything I could and still fell short like always. I am not as good a leader as my Father, as talented as my sister, or capable of bringing all of you together under one banner like my Mother. I can do nothing right..."

"Elder Evelyn, sign the contract," the gloomy man with long black hair like rotting wood, which hid half his face, said in a deep voice, drawing everyone\'s attention. "A person\'s dying wish is a legacy to be carried out by the living. To embrace their departing words is to give peace to the deceased soul, but to reject that legacy is to condemn that soul to endless suffering."

"Good," Evelyn hissed, "That\'s what Nox deserves"

The man slowly opened his eyes, "Elder Evelyn, as someone who cultivates death and has spent my life listening to the regrets of the departed, I cannot follow someone who rejects a dying wish. Just because someone is a criminal does not make them a bad person. It\'s all about perspective and context, something the dead can no longer provide."

"But..."

"I know what you are thinking, Evelyn." The man said slowly as his eyes flickered between Stella and Diana. "The killing intent around these two is non-existent so their aggression is manufactured out of distrust. They have come to honor a dying wish with good intentions." The man narrowed his eyes at Evelyn, "Meanwhile, I can sense the aura of death hanging over you. If your imminent death isn\'t the result of anyone here, then there is only one possibility." The man\'s gaze turned serious, "You are planning on killing yourself to escape this seemingly hopeless situation."

Evelyn\'s head shot up, and her eyes widened. She tried to say something, but the words wouldn\'t come out.

"Am I wrong? Your eyes are hollow as if you have already made peace with your decision," Grand Elder Blightbane shook his head, "Are you that desperate to meet your sister in the afterlife so soon?"

"Meet my sister? Why does it always come back to her?" Evelyn began to manically laugh as her eyes widened further, "You compel me to live, but what do I have to live for, Grand Elder Blightbane? Tell me. I can only take so many centuries of being treated like shit and ordered around before I give up. The only thing keeping me going all this time was the faintest hope that my efforts would be rewarded someday, but these Ashfallen bastards have shattered my delusions. I am weak and always will be. Forever at the mercy of someone else." Evelyn raised the dagger to her own throat and glared at Stella, "You said you needed me, and that bitch of a sister\'s dying wish was for me to live on, right? Well fuck you and screw her too. I won\'t live on in misery to please others"

Stella moved entirely on instinct, faster than even her mind could process. As the blade bit into Evelyn\'s neck, Stella gripped the tip with two fingers, stopping it from digging further. A trickle of warm blood ran down the blade and hilt before wetting Stella\'s hand and dripping onto the contract below.

"Get away from me," Evelyn hissed.

The words written on the parchment glowed with heavenly light and rose off the page to enter Evelyn\'s body. A pressure belonging to the heavens washed over the room as if verifying the contract had been made.

Stella pulled the dagger away from Evelyn\'s neck, throwing it to the floor, and embraced the woman in a tight hug. The woman froze in her embrace, clearly confused about what was happening.

I don\'t really know why I felt the need to hug you, either. Stella thought as she stared at the far wall. It just felt like the right thing to do.

Evelyn eventually slumped into her embrace as her body seemed to give up.

"I\'m sorry I put you through that," Stella said, "But it was hard to tell if it was all an act or genuine. Without an oath of loyalty verified by the heavens as some assurance, I wouldn\'t feel comfortable even telling you my name."

Evelyn hummed in agreement.

Good, she seems to be accepting me more. Now for the final push...

"I know how it feels to be alone and have nobody to talk to. It drives one crazy and makes the world appear bleaker than it really is. I said we are similar, remember? Trust me when I say this, life can get better, and I will make sure it does for you. Okay? This is not the end for your family, but rather a new beginning."

"Do whatever you want." Evelyn mumbled "I give up."

Stella tilted her head and looked at the other Grand Elders, "What about you lot? Will you join the Duskwalker family on this path?"

"Do we have a choice? If Elder Evelyn has signed the contract, then we should too," Grand Elder Blightbane said as he slit his hand and let the blood drip onto the contract.

"So this chain around our soul is a heavenly oath," The Blightbane Grand Elder muttered as he patted his chest. "I have heard about them before but thought they were usually spoken aloud."

The other Grand Elders in the room followed suit after exchanging nervous glances.

Once the heavens verified them as loyal to the Ashfallen Sect, Larry released his pressure on the room.

The hard part is over. Now that these Grand Elders cannot outright betray us, we can try to win them over to our side with rewards.

"Good. Let\'s start this again from the start with less violence and threats." Stella pulled back from the hug and stood up. Taking off her mask, she smiled at Evelyn while outstretching her hand. "My name is Stella. It\'s a pleasure to be working with you."

"You\'re younger than I expected," Evelyn sighed as she rubbed her eyes. "Now I feel even more embarrassed for showing such a display to a junior."

"We all have our moments of weakness. There\'s no shame in it. I am just glad I managed to stop you in time." Stella clasped Evelyn\'s hand and hauled the woman to her feet. "To continue introductions, this mythical beast is Larry. He is the pet of my Father and is not a creature made from mystic Qi. Sorry to disappoint you, Grand Elder Mystshroud."

The spider waved one of its legs to Evelyn, making the woman smile slightly in amusement.

"Unbelievable," Grand Elder Mystshroud muttered as he circled Larry, stroking his chin. "Your Father was able to tame such a creature? He must be on the level of an immortal."

Stella simply smiled and didn\'t give a straight answer. It was unlikely these people would interact much with the main sect back on Red Vine Peak, so the stronger they believed them to be, the better.

Diana also removed her mask and gave everyone a fang-filled grin, "My name is Diana, and as you can see, I am a part demon. I apologize for smashing your face into the stone, Grand Elder Frostveil. No hard feelings, I hope?"

The Grand Elder laughed with fear in his eyes, "N-None at all! But if you don\'t mind me asking, what did you go through all this effort to achieve? You mentioned something about us being proxies, right?"

Stella nodded as her spatial ring flashed, and a few pill bottles appeared. Handing them out to each Grand Elder, they eyed them with a mixture of suspicion and curiosity.

"These are the pills we plan to sell to the Eternal Pursuit Pavilion for Yinxi Coins. Due to their potency and rarity, if people were to figure out their source, it would bring trouble. That is why we want to lean on the reputation of the Duskwalker family and have them sell the pills for us." Stella explained and patted Evelyn on the shoulder, "This is where my promise to bring you salvation comes in. Each bottle contains 11 pills. You can take one from every bottle for yourself to use or sell. You can also keep ten percent of the Yinxi Coins you get for each sale. However, the rest must be transferred to me or Diana each week."

"A fair deal if these pills are as rare as you claim," Grand Elder Blightbane said as he inspected the bottles in his hand. "The Lunarshade family is bound to catch wind of this as they have deep ties within the pavilion."

Like that Lotus Informat I had the displeasure of interacting with earlier.

"How many of these bottles can you give to us to sell each week?" The Frostveil Grand Elder asked, his fear clearly turning to greed.

"As many as you feel comfortable selling," Stella replied simply.

"So many rare pills... just who are you people?" Grand Elder Frostveil ran a hand through his icy blue hair in disbelief. "Even the Lunarshade family hoards their pills and buys up whatever stock comes on sale."

"I never thought about the implications that whatever pills we sell could also be bought by our enemies,"Ashlock\'s voice echoed through Stella\'s mind. "We should keep the selling of the pills to a minimum while we look to weaken the Lunarshade family as soon as possible."

Stella nodded and turned to Evelyn. "We should focus on building up Duskwalker\'s strength, and for that, I need you to feel free and clear-minded. Tell me who your husband is. We can get rid of him first."

"What?" Evelyn was shocked out of her depressed mood. "That\'s..."

"Do you not want him dead?"

Evelyn shook her head, "I do, I really fucking do. His name is Albis Lunarshade. There\'s a bounty on his head, I believe, for 10,000 Yinxi Coins, but nobody would dare take it."

Stella realized she had heard that name earlier today. It was the person Seth was trying to track down and kill.

"Leave it to me," Stella smiled at Evelyn. "He will be dead by the end of the week."