Chapter 157 – Nuzzle and Glare
The Umbra Fox was deep in thought. Meanwhile, Aiko was running around sniffling.
A pillow here and a blanket there, soon the Blood Fox was wrapped and comfortable, but Aiko was still restless.
The Blood Fox had to pull Aiko down and hug her for her to stop running around.
Naturally, Aiko didn't fight the Blood Fox since she was a patient and she didn't want to hurt her.
The Umbra Fox snapped out of her thoughts only to see the chaos surrounding them. She tilted her head and felt a bit sad that she missed this event, but seeing Aiko sniffling near Blood Fox... it seemed that everything was back to somewhat normal days.
"How are you feeling?" The Umbra Fox asked the Blood Fox.
"Better, it was an experience." The Blood Fox nodded. It seems like the only way to get rid of her condition would be the romance route...
'Mei will eat me alive...' The Blood Fox thought. 'But not if I awaken my Divine Sense.' She narrowed her eyes and hugged Aiko till she fell asleep.
...
Aiko paused, seeing the Blood Fox's sleeping face. She was a lot cuter and harmless when she was like this...
Aiko looked around, spotting the Umbra Fox. She didn't really want to stay like this, so she pleaded with her eyes for a rescue, but the Umbra Fox just giggled and ignored her.
Aiko was stunned by the Umbra Fox's reaction, but she couldn't do much about it, since any movement might wake up the Blood Fox.
She could only sigh and quietly lay with the Blood Fox until she woke up.
...
The Blood Fox stirred awake half a day later. She yawned cutely and blinked a few times.
In front of her was Aiko staring at her.
She blinked a few more times and rubbed her eyes, but Aiko didn't disappear, she was still staring at her.
The Blood Fox blushed and released Aiko.
Aiko silently stood up, stretching, and went back to her table without a word.
The Blood Fox glanced towards the Umbra Fox, but she was likewise ignored with a light blush.
The Blood Fox could only sigh at the fact that everyone was silent, like she had done something immoral.
She rubbed her bad bed hair a few times, straightening it.
Aiko likewise had bad bed hair, but she never really cared about it.
They resumed their tasks as if nothing happened...
Aiko was playing with the Inscription Carving Pen. She was wondering what that connection meant or what she could do with it.
Unfortunately, there was no one to answer her, she would have to wait till that Chen boy was better for her answers to come.
Aiko doodled a few Runes with a happy expression, her hand worked like she imagined and her Runes were more stable and beautiful.
The Blood Fox finished her hair and came close to Aiko.
When she touched Aiko's hair, she flinched, but didn't move away.
The Blood Fox was happy that she was not disliked for what she had done.
She gently grasped Aiko's hair and gently untied the knots so that the pain wouldn’t disturb her during her work.
The Blood Fox liked to do this to her brother, but those times were few and far between, since he was too wild and uncontainable when he was younger.
'That changed when "that" happened...' The Blood Fox sighed, but it was pretty unavoidable circumstances.
Aiko was playing with a few Runes, burning the paper here and there.
She was testing the potency of the Pen when the poison did not restrict her.
It was much more potent since each one of her lines was elegant and flown much better than with her old Inscription Carving Pen.
'But I still like to use the previous one more since it was my first gift...' Aiko thought.
She absent-mindedly stared forward, when a hand covered her eyes.
She briefly panicked until she could see again.
"I tried calling you, but you just ignored me." The Blood Fox pouted.
"Sorry, I was thinking about something..." Aiko was apologetic... a bit too apologetic.
"It's fine." The Blood Fox caressed Aiko's hair. "The food is ready and we are invited to eat with them." The Blood Fox delivered the message.
"Okay, let's go." Aiko nodded slowly.
She stood up and was followed by her team.
...
They came into the dining room. Lady Liu was already sitting down and watching over the Chen boy who was cooking.
Aiko sat down near Lady Liu silently and watched him too. Her team shook their heads, but also sat down.
The Inscription Saint was quick with his hands and the food was prepared in large quantities. What was even better was the fact that the smell of the food was simply divine.
"You have gotten even better." Lady Liu nodded.
The Chen boy blushed, but his hands didn't stop. He would always create the most delicious and nutritious meal for her.
He turned around and involuntarily frowned.
Aiko mimicked his gesture in almost perfect sync.
Lady Liu laughed loudly at this, she didn't expect them to be so in sync and she was caught off guard.
She immediately picked a small snack and munched on it, watching their expressions change in sync.
Lady Liu was surprised that Chen Shi was able to recover so quickly.
She was not aware that he hadn't recovered, but since her stomach rumbled, his instincts prompted him to cook delicious food for her.
The Inscription Saint kept glaring at Aiko as he was cooking. Meanwhile, Aiko kept stealing food and munched on it with a blissful expression, which enraged him even more.
Unfortunately for him, he couldn't blow up. He had to keep his mind steady or this Spiritual Food would be wasted alongside many precious herbs and ingredients would have to be thrown away.
"This is delicious. Cook! Bring more!" Aiko munched and ordered the Inscription Saint around.
"I'm not your cook!" He yelled back. "And stop eating so much! Liu Zhi is hungry!" He glared at her even more, but Aiko just brushed him off.
"Taste this too, it's good." Aiko kept placing food on her plate, but only the pieces she found delicious, so no veggies.
"Eat your god-damn vegetables!" He openly cursed Aiko.
"No!" Aiko rejected him with a glare and munched on even more meat.
"You little-!" He was stopped by Liu Zhi. She was sneakily eating all the veggies, since too much meat was bad for her.
Soon enough, the Inscription Saint was too exhausted to continue cooking and plopped down on the chair.
"Finished?" Aiko said with sadness in her voice.
"What do you mean finished?!" He immediately sprung out of his grave. "You have eaten 50 catties of meat!" He slammed his fists on the table.
"I have never seen anyone as gluttonous as you are!" He glared at Aiko, he still held a grudge about his beautiful rooms.
Aiko shrugged. "It's on the lower side."
He choked up and almost cried. That meat was precious and hard to get, yet this glutton ate almost all of it!
Meanwhile, Aiko was smiling happily and for a good reason...
[Beast Cores(62%->65%): 20,000 (52,060)]
She was able to increase her Beast Core Purity by 3% just by eating this meat! That was incredible, as it took weeks to months to increase with Mei's cooking.
'But the meat was also more delicious.' Aiko gently nodded her head. She was aware that Mei didn't have these kinds of ingredients, but what if she had...
Aiko openly drooled at that thought, but the drool was stopped by Lady Liu and Blood Fox.
"We will need to resume our etiquette lessons." She chuckled at the little rascal.
Aiko blushed, but her stomach grumbled. Her imagination ran too wild, which made her hungry again.
Lady Liu couldn't believe her ears and laughed loudly.
The Chen boy grumbled, but he had no intention of feeding her more! This little glutton would make him go bankrupt within a few days of staying with them, much less in months!
[Your Title [Gourmand] upgraded to [Insatiable Gourmand]!]
Aiko ignored that bad title and smiled at Lady Liu. She should be able to con a bit more meat from her.
"No more." Lady Liu smiled gently.
Unfortunately, Aiko forgot that Lady Liu was mostly immune to her charms, which meant that Aiko would not succeed...
...
They returned to their rooms and Aiko immediately went to make Runes.
She would create the snake treasure for Lady Liu too. That way, she would have some kind of protection.
Aiko hummed gently as she prepared a piece of metal and slowly Inscribed that familiar set of Runes.
She did it much slower, since Lady Liu was just a mortal. Aiko had to be careful about how she Inscribed it so it wouldn't hurt her in the long run.
Aiko was able to finish this in two days, just as Lady Liu came to them to invite them for lessons.
"Lady Liu." Aiko ran up to her.
"What is it?" Lady Liu smiled gently. "Call me Zhi."
Aiko nodded gently. "I have something for you, Liu Zhi."
She placed the nicely engraved metallic stone in front of her.
*PFFT*
The Inscription Saint nearby spat out his tea when he saw the Inscription.
He choked and coughed a few times. "Isn't that the treasure you conned from that former elder?" He was confused. "Since when you could you buy them so easily??"
"I made it." Aiko said without looking at him. "But I'm not sure if the decrease in ambient Qi would harm Liu Zhi." She then stared at him like he was a guinea pig.
"It will decrease her lifespan, but let me see..." He snatched it from Aiko and Aiko growled at him.
"This is fine." He was shocked by the craftsmanship, but fortunately, he was not a Patriarch for nought! He kept his expression the same, even with his deep shock!
"Thank you." Liu Zhi gently caressed Aiko's head. "I will keep it close to me."
"It doesn't need to be activated." The Inscription Saint suddenly added and Liu Zhi stiffened.
"Huh?" She was stunned. "Didn't you always tell me that you can't have artefacts that work by themselves?"
"Most of the time, yes" The Inscription Saint corrected her words. "This is a replica of a very old artefact, a very faithful replica, which means it naturally shares the same properties." He smiled, but scoffed right after, since he didn't want to give this little bastard any credit.
"Oh..." Liu Zhi was shocked by the fact she was holding a very precious treasure.
"Thank you." She smiled gently and kissed Aiko's forehead.
"No problem." Aiko smiled gently. Her team didn't mind the fact she gave out this gift to Lady Liu, but they would definitely be against it if she gave it to the Inscription Saint!
They glared at the Inscription Saint, so that he didn't get any ideas about Aiko, but he just shrugged, ignoring them.
This upset them slightly, but they were not children. They snorted coldly at him and smiled at Lady Liu.
Lady Liu stored the metallic stone in her hidden pocket. There was a strange sense of calmness washing over her. She tilted her head confused.
"The old artefact was not only for poisons, but for alcohol too." The Inscription Saint suddenly said and then he smacked his forehead. "I forgot to give you an artefact that would allow you to keep a healthy body even when you drank alcohol." He cursed himself for this oversight and his dislike for the small Fox grew.
"Oh." Liu Zhi was confused as to why she felt so much better, but it seemed that the years of wine built up something in her body and this pretty-looking little stone helped her?
She was even happier about this gift and hugged Aiko.
Now she would be able to drink without worrying about her body!
