Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Fang Jia went and hugged Aiko. ”Hehe~” She had a silly smile, like she was plotting something.

”Hehe?” Aiko tilted her head.

”Hehe~” Fang Jia giggled silly, and Aiko could see her mother pout quite a bit.

”Are you sure you are supposed to be here?” Aiko asked her.

”How rude, when I took the time to get here.” Fang Jia pouted.

”Fine, fine, welcome. Now, why are you here?” Aiko thought that was an important question.

”I heard there were Demonic Foxes in here that would be abused if the Fox Village got their hands on them.” Fang Jia explained, even when her mother glared at her.

”Not abused, but definitely sold.” Aiko nodded. ”Unfortunately, there are no Demonic Foxes here.” She shook her head.

Fang Jie narrowed her eyes. She had a very sharp nose for lies and knew that little brat was lying.

She hasn’t called her out just yet, since maybe there was a reason for that.

The 3 groups of Foxes shrank back. The might that the flying ship brought was beyond them.

”Anyway.” Fang Jia let go of Aiko. ”You are coming with us.” She smiled from ear to ear.

”Why me?” Aiko blinked.

”Because of ’that’.” Fang Jia gestured.

”Ohhh... that.” Aiko nodded as if understanding, but soon after. ”What is that again?” She innocently asked.

”THAT!” Fang Jia gestured again.

”Ohhhh.... that that.” Aiko nodded again, but this time she understood.

’I didn’t think she would finish the instructions for [The Ever Shaping Cauldron].’ Aiko was impressed.

”Do we have to go now?” Aiko asked her.

”Not really. There are things that my mum wants to do, so we will go later.” Fang Jia explained.

”Oh, okay.” That was still pretty bad for Aiko, but not bad enough that she would reject this potion.

She wanted to know as much as possible about the [The Ever Shaping Cauldron]. So she would naturally follow Fang Jia.

’I can always run away later since I have the ’compass’.’ Aiko nodded gently.

”So what were you doing here?” Fang Jia asked.

”Looking for Demonic Foxes as part of my mission.” Aiko sighed. ”What a waste of time.” She shook her head.

”Was it that bad?” Fang Jia voiced her concern.

”Not really.” Aiko shrugged teasingly, and Fang Jia pouted.

”You can talk on the ship.” Fang Jie groaned unhappily. Her own daughter paid more attention to an outsider than her, and that outsider was even a Fox!

This quite upset her, but not enough that she would try anything bad against that Fox.

”Let’s go. We can go to my room.” Fang Jia dragged Aiko away.

”See you later, Char. I will try to visit again.” Aiko waved at them as they stood rooted in place with blank expressions.

”I hope we won’t meet again, and if we do... bring some painkillers, would you?” Char’s wife’s voice sounded from within the Village, startling even Fang Jie.

’She is still alive and fine.’ Fang Jie sighed gently.

”Jade Fox is working on that, so I will bring plenty~!” Aiko laughed happily.

’Jade Fox.’

She was quite famous everywhere, especially after the Tournament. There were even bounties for capturing her and making her into a Contracted Beast, but not many were willing to take on the missions.

’Vicious Cub or Vicious Jade Fox.’

It was the partner of the Jade Fox who was known for her vicious and exploitative nature.

She didn’t have any bounties, since her infamy spread far and wide, especially at that time when she used an assassin’s intestines as rope for a hammer made out of a living body.

Those kinds of rumours send chills down everyone’s spines. Especially those who wished to take on these bounties.

Fang Jie was concerned about her daughter, since her future partner had tendencies to go for the rear...

’I will talk with the Vicious Jade Fox later about this.’ Fang Jie hoped that the Vicious Jade Fox was less stuck up and horny unlike the normal Foxes.

’Considering my daughter dislikes perverse things, mostly, then that might mean that the Vicious Jade Fox should be alright... I hope.’ Fang Jie sighed tiredly. This will take a long time to investigate, but she didn’t really want to stop her daughter.

’Only with experience you will learn.’ Fang Jie narrowed her eyes.

’Vicious Jade Fox also has ’THAT’ Cauldron, which will be important for someone like my daughter, since she will be targeted a lot.’ Fang Jie held a positive outlook on the Vicious Jade Fox.

Her daughter would definitely be targeted, not for owning that Cauldron, but because she was her daughter. She left the Fox Village, so now she has a bounty on her head.

’It’s nice that the Vicious Jade Fox is an oddity.’ Fang Jie nodded her head slowly in appreciation. ’Moreover, she also doesn’t mind the fact that my daughter is a half-Fox, but mostly Human.’ At first, she was worried that the Vicious Jade Fox was acting, but now she knew that was not the case.

’My daughter likes her, but I’m not sure about the Vicious Jade Fox. I can already smell at least a dozen other Foxes on her.’ Fang Jie clicked her tongue. ’You will have to suffer, my daughter, but this is also a learning experience.’ She shook her head gently.

”Shall we talk inside?” Fang Jie asked Char, who was a long-time friend and once upon a time, a lover of hers.

”Just don’t make things awkward. I have a wife.” Char warned her before sighing. He was tired from the visit of the little Fox, and now, yet another troublesome Fox arrived.

”Obviously.” Fang Jie rolled her eyes and followed him inside.

...

Fang Jia touched a special marble on the table, and the room was sealed from the outside world.

”Oh? I can’t ’see’ outside?” Aiko tilted her head.

”That’s because I have set a boundary, so we can talk without restraint.” Fang Jia explained.

”Can I get one?” Aiko’s eyes twinkled, but when she saw Fang Jia shook her head, she could only click her tongue.

”Shame, I really wanted one.” Aiko shook her head.

”It’s too precious a Treasure to be given out so easily.” Fang Jia shrugged.

”I know, I know, shush now.” Aiko groaned unhappily, but she didn’t press on with this.

”Shall we talk about it? Or do you want to perhaps rest?” Fang Jia had a strange twinkle in her eyes.

”What? Why? You want to kidnap me?” Aiko teased Fang Jia.

”Huh? How did you know?” Fang Jia blinked innocently back.

”Huh? Hold on. Seriously?” Aiko blinked back at her.

Fang Jia choked when she realised that Aiko was just joking around. ”W-well...” She couldn’t meet Aiko’s eyes.

”Why do you want to kidnap me?” Aiko felt flabbergasted.

”Because I want you to meet my mother and my other mother.” Fang Jia spoke awkwardly, since she was not yet used to calling the Patriarch ’mother’.

”Do I have to? No, to begin with. Why do I have to?” Aiko blinked in confusion.

Fang Jia choked again with an obvious blush. ”I-it’s nothing. She just knows a lot about the Cauldron.” She made up some kind of lie, since she was too embarrassed to admit she wanted to court Aiko.

Aiko noticed that Fang Jia lied, but she didn’t have any negative emotions towards her, so she let it slide for the time being.

”For how long? I want to return as soon as possible, since I still have work to do.” Aiko groaned unhappily. She wanted to be done with the upgrades and then laze around hugging Mei’s tails.

”I’m not sure. If mother takes an interest in you, you might need to sneak out...” Fang Jia awkwardly narrated how her mothers might act, but she didn’t know what might actually happen.

”But they mean no harm. I made sure of it, and I can promise you that.” Fang Jia said seriously.

”That’s to be seen.” Aiko shrugged. ”After all, in theory, I’m supposed to be a bounty hunter going after your mother.” She sighed. ”What a bother.”

”They still have that bounty?” Fang Jia was shocked since the Patriarch said that she would deal with it.

”They do, but it’s not like anyone would be willing to take it. Everyone is too busy with their ’stuff’ to do most missions.” Aiko shook her head. ”Even this mission was assigned since I have been running around too much without them.” Or at least that’s what Aiko believed when she read the description of the mission from that ’room’.

”Oh...” Fang Jia felt that this was close enough to that promise, but it was not the best solution.

’Well, it’s probably the best she could do.’ Fang Jia convinced herself.

”How did you progress in Forging?” Aiko narrowed her eyes.

”I’m still a Forging Apprentice when it comes to the Patriarch’s evaluation, but in normal terms... I’m already Forging Adept.” Fang Jia gave a thumbs up with a happy smile.

”I’m not sure if that is good or not, but as long as you are happy with it.” Aiko smiled slowly. She was quite tired from running around.

’I have secured the Foxes. Reported findings, and the other teams are still outside, but with this flying ship around, they won’t be able to do anything.’ Aiko summed up her experience in order to see if she forgot something.

’I can’t meet Buddy or others, since they are elsewhere. The same goes for Char’s daughter. There is nothing else in here, really...’ Aiko blinked ever so slowly. She didn’t believe this mission went so smoothly.

’Well, not exactly...’ Aiko shook her head. She was still kidnapped by this Princess.

”If you want to rest, we can talk later.” Fang Jia nudged Aiko gently.

”You just want to cuddle me.” Aiko immediately laid out Fang Jia’s intentions.

Fang Jia choked. ”I can’t help it, alright! None of my servants nor even my mother has such a smooth and soft tail!” She pouted unhappily.

”What? You can’t sleep without something soft?” Aiko chuckled jokingly, but Fang Jia made an awkward expression.

”Seriously?” Aiko suddenly felt kinship with this Princess, since it was hard to sleep without proper ’bedding’.

”I can’t help it, alright?” Fang Jia blushed a deep red. ”I have been having nightmares due to certain events, and I can’t shake them off.” Her body shivered slightly.

”But no touching. The moment you touch, I will kick you off.” Aiko had already had a harder time sleeping on normal beddings, much less if someone was thrashing or touching her.

”En!” Fang Jia smiled happily and hugged Aiko.

Aiko could only stare at this gesture, since it was not like she disliked it.

’I think this is the fault of the Moon Aiko, I’m not excited about this at all...’ Aiko pouted unhappily as she went to bed with the Princess...