Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Chapter 147 – Investigation

Aiko and her team left the Inscription Palace. She would get her Inscription Carving Pen in a few days, but that's not why they came here.

'We need to investigate the princess.' The Princess was in this Capital, so they had to gather information and strike when the opportunity was right.

"Should we find an Inn?" The Blood Fox asked.

Aiko paused, but soon agreed. "Sure, I will leave it to you. Umbra Fox and I will look around for gossip or any kind of easily obtainable information. You can find us once you book an Inn." Aiko gave her a ring with 10,000 Spirit Stones and 10,000 Black Gold Coins.

The Blood Fox wanted to say that it was too much when she glanced inside, but Aiko was nowhere to be found...

...

*Sigh*

An audible sigh escaped her lips. "It seems like I will have to look around for a quiet, yet lavish Inn." The Blood Fox shook her head.

She walked around with her Recognition Inhibition Bracelet, but that didn't stop people from looking at her. This was different from the outer regions, as the people in here would openly stare at her, yet those brave bastards were merely at the Qi Gathering stage.

The Blood Fox snorted coldly, releasing a bit of her monstrous bloodlust and suddenly no longer were there any lecherous gazes that befall her.

She shook her head at those cowardly bastards and walked away from the scene.

The people shivered and vowed to learn more about Cultivation since it felt like they would lose their heads if they didn't.

...

Meanwhile, Umbra Fox blended with the walking groups of Humans. They were completely oblivious that someone was walking with them, as the Umbra Fox was very slim and barely noticeable.

There were rumours here and there, but most of them were about the womanising prince and not about the princesses. It seems that all information about them was suppressed by the royalty.

She sighed, but still stayed with the group, maybe she would be able to find out more if she walked a little further.

...

Aiko jumped on the rooftops, unlike the Umbra Fox and Blood Fox she didn't like walking among Humans. Her ears were also more powerful and sensitive to sound, so even if she was up on the rooftops, she was still able to hear everyone below her clearly.

This was one of the advantages of her current species and she liked that very much, as she didn't need to mingle with them but watch them from shadows.

'This way, this way.'
'You should steal that treasure.'

Both of those familiar voices sounded much gentler and sweeter than before.

Aiko smiled and indulged herself in the guidance of the Darkness.

She came across a pretty-looking princess and her body stiffened.

'That is the treasure.'
'You need to extract it from her.'

Aiko was stunned, seeing the familiar princess from that banquet. That haughty thing was now looking very docile and obedient.

She felt like she was dreaming about the wrong person, but that was not the most important thing.

'What do you mean by treasure?' Aiko couldn't understand.

'You have it on you!'
'Take out the vial with the liquid. If it hums, you found the treasure.'

Aiko tilted her head and pulled out all the vials with liquid, but only one gently hummed.

'It's the vial that I stole when I was in that kingdom...' Aiko narrowed her eyes. It seemed like this vial was more important than she expected.

'Does that mean that some of this liquid is in her?' Aiko asked as this vial was only 1/10th full.

'Yes, yes.'
'That is correct, but you will need a Blood Cultivator to extract it.'

They answered her dutifully and Aiko nodded gently. It seems she will have to seek the Blood Fox's help.

Aiko got closer to them to remember their scent. There were plenty of hidden guards around, but they were low-stage Cultivators, so she was able to come over, take a sniff and leave.

...

She sighed. There were so many scents, but it was amazing that she was able to cut off some of them and sniff out her companions.

Aiko creeps up behind the Blood Fox, who is arguing with an Innkeeper.

"What's wrong?" Aiko asked, scaring the Innkeeper shitless.

"There are no Inns that are willing to take our money." The Blood Fox sighed.

Before the Innkeeper could say anything, Aiko said. "That's fine, let's go. They are losing money, not us."

Aiko grabbed her hand and dragged her outside and into a nearby alley.

"What are you planning?" The Blood Fox asked gently.

"How good are you at manipulating non-Cultivators blood?" Aiko suddenly asked, scaring the Blood Fox a little.

"W-what do you need that for?" She didn't want Aiko to turn into a Demonic Fox like she did.

"There is a treasure in someone's body and I need to extract it and separate it from her blood." Aiko didn't conceal she depended on the Blood Fox's help.

"You don't intend to torture her?" The Blood Fox asked with some worry.

"No." Aiko shook her head.

"Do you like their blood?" She asked a different question.

"No." Aiko's eyebrows twitched.

"..." The Blood Fox stared at her strangely.

"..." Aiko stared back at her.

"You are not possessed?" She asked cautiously.

"What?" Aiko stared at her like she was some kind of idiot.

"Nothing." The Blood Fox sighed in relief. This would be the first sign of falling into the Demonic Fox category completely, so she was very nervous and cautious. She didn't want Aiko to end up like she did.

"So can you extract things from someone else's blood?" Aiko asked again.

"As long as they are not Cultivators I can forcibly extract it, but if they are Cultivators it will be more difficult." The Blood Fox confessed.

"She wasn't a Cultivator, so it's not a problem, but there are many guards." Aiko frowned. "Can you do it quickly or do you need time?" She asked the Blood Fox.

"It will take time since I don't know what I'm extracting. If it's something hard like metal, it would be somewhat quick." The Blood Fox with confidence.

"It's liquid." Aiko frowned.

The Blood Fox likewise frowned. "In that case, we need to kidnap that person, so I can take my time."

Aiko thought about it. "That might not be possible, but let's first find the Umbra Fox."

"Okay." The Blood Fox didn't ask questions and followed Aiko onto the rooftops.

While the Blood Fox wasn't really stealthy, she was good enough for most mortals and low-stage Cultivators.

The higher stage Cultivators ones only glanced at her. Sometimes they would do it when they hurried somewhere, so it was not an uncommon sight.

...

They were able to meet the Umbra Fox promptly.

"How is it?" Aiko asked.

"There are some rumours about the prince, but most of them are about his debaucherous journeys and his tastes." She had a disgusted expression on her face.

She was sick and tired of hearing about the length of his manhood and how well it was shaped and that it-Ugh.

"You have suffered." Aiko gently soothed the Umbra Fox.

She sniffled a little and hugged Aiko. Rumours could be so revolting...

...

"Have you calmed down?" Aiko asked the Umbra Fox.

"Yeah." She nodded, feeling a little sorry for Aiko.

"I have found the princess." Aiko said.

The Umbra Fox choked. She spent so much time searching for rumours or anyone who could tell her about them, yet she failed miserably.

Now her Mistress casually brought the news to her, which made her even more miserable.

"There are a few issues." Aiko said, ignoring the abnormal state of the Umbra Fox. "The first thing is that there are always guards around her, which is not bad per se, but if they call more of them it will be an endless downpour of guards coming after us."

"Why do we need to care about that?" The Umbra Fox was puzzled.

"Ah, right. I forgot to mention she has treasure on her that I want." Aiko said. "It's in her body and will be extracted by Blood Fox." Aiko said.

"Mistress..." The Umbra Fox was worried that Aiko was falling into the Demonic Fox's path.

"No, I'm not possessed. I don't like blood and I don't want to torture her." Aiko rolled her eyes when she saw the Umbra Fox's puppy eyes.

"But if anything is whispering sweet words to you, you should tell us." The Umbra Fox said gravely.

"Sure, sure." Aiko waved her away and both of them narrowed their eyes.

"So, we need to make some kind of plan about this." Aiko said gravely.

They all nodded, but still noted that Aiko was dismissive about whispering voices.

"Can we lure them out?" The Umbra Fox asked.

"Unlikely, we don't have anything that the princess might want." Aiko shook her head.

They all fell deep into thought.

"I heard she is favoured by the prince, how about invading them during their 'time' and extracting it?" The Umbra Fox asked.

"Wouldn't there be guards during that time?" The Blood Fox was concerned.

"There shouldn't be, rumours indicated that there was a scandal between the prince and his female guards and now they are barred from entering when he is doing 'that'." The Umbra Fox said gently.

"We will have to investigate more." Aiko said. She didn't want to risk anything.

The duo nodded, they would slowly investigate the ins and outs of this place.

"Where will we live?" The Blood Fox asked, not because of herself, but because she knew that Aiko wouldn't be able to sleep without a nice 'bed'.

"We will return to the Inscription Palace and ask him for accommodation. We will have to wait for the Inscription Carving Pen anyway, so we might as well be there when it's finished and leave right after." Aiko slowly nodded. "It will also give us protection against them if anything happens, since I don't believe the royal family will be able to do anything to them." Aiko smirked.

The duo nodded again, this was indeed a good idea as the Handsome Youth was quite fond of- Wait not! This was a bad idea!

They wanted to refute Aiko, but she was already jumping towards the Inscription Palace.

This was terrible news for them and they hurried forward.

"We need to stop her!" The Umbra Fox said, while she liked his handsomeness, she found something odd and off-putting about him, so she didn't want Aiko to reunite with him.

"You don't have to tell me!" The Blood Fox frowned and sped up, she was much faster than the Umbra Fox since she had two tails and [Blood Enhancement].

Yet, she was unable to catch up to Aiko. Aiko was simply too quick on her feet and they could only lag behind.

...

Aiko landed in front of the Inscription Palace and went inside. Nobody noticed her and she went by the smell to find that Inscription Saint!

"I'm here to ask for a small favour." Aiko barged in, but stiffened soon after.

The Handsome Youth also looked completely stunned, as he didn't expect someone to barge in. He currently had nothing on him!

Aiko awkwardly coughed as she saw water dripping from him, but before she could close the door, her team appeared behind her.

Oh, god...