Chapter 178 – Banquet
Aiko sneaked back into the Blood Fox's tails and Lady Liu pouted.
Why did she pout? Was it because Aiko left her? No. Aiko sneaked into the Blood Fox's tails and kept holding Lady Liu's hand!
Whenever Lady Liu tried to pull her hand away, Aiko would try to grasp it with her paws.
This was cute but annoyed Chen Shi. He wanted to spend more time with Lady Liu, but Lady Liu was so engrossed in playing with Aiko that she once again ignored him...
...
Days passed and the time of the banquet came.
Aiko was back to her normal pseudo-human form. She yawned a few times. She was sleepy, since she slept a bit too much these days, which made her even more sleepy.
Aiko would have to exercise once this whole ordeal was over and not look for trouble lest she might really become a salted fish!1Salted fish: is a Chinese (Cantonese) idiom to describe a corpse or people who lay around all day and do nothing.
Aiko didn't want that. She wanted to be energetic again and finish this mission. Visit the markets, find some nice things for Mei before going back to her.
'I can restart Massage Chair business, since I have the special Inscription Carving Pen.' Aiko smiled slightly and yawned again.
They were in their Assassination Uniforms, so they looked more like Chen Shin's attendants than normal guests, but they didn't really care. The fewer eyes on them, the better.
They were escorted to the main Palace, where the Emperor would hold his banquet. He had already assigned dancers and everything, so it was better to use the larger halls to 'demonstrate' his kindness towards the male Cultivators.
He smiled gently as he welcomed the guests from his seat.
Aiko stared around, there was too much open space, so it was difficult to defend.
She didn't like this place at all, since it was too shiny and overbearing.
There was gold and precious stones everywhere, which were jarring to the eyes, unlike the side palace where everything was in harmony.
Aiko sighed. She didn't like this type of decoration at all, noting down the differences in her mind so that she wouldn't forget it once she decides to flau- Ahem. display her wealth.
It was inevitable, since she heard the Blood Fox and the Umbra Fox talking about a base of operation.
They needed some kind of place like that to smoothen out future team activities. Though, they couldn't make it in the Grandmaster's abode, since it was already crowded enough, but that also meant that the responsibility of designing the base completely befell Aiko. As such, she would have to design something...
She refused to have a base of operation in a cave! No way would she allow that!
It has to be some kind of cosy place, it didn't need to be a house per se, but the wood in this place was really nice. It didn't seem so weak that the building would collapse from a strong gust of wind.
She could in theory use a cave and then place wood everywhere, but there were a few issues.
The moisture would be a large issue for the wood, the wood might twist and distort as it expands from absorbing more moisture.
Aiko did not know how to treat the wood so it wouldn't happen, she would need to find someone to do it for her.
Moreover, there was also an issue with furs. She wanted a fur carpet here and there, so there is some softness and fluff to sleep on when her team is doing their stuff.
But the moisture would make it not very appealing.
She also heard that some Foxes made bases on top of mountains, which is just... how stupid can you get?! High up on top of the mountains, where there are an abundance of wind! Wind that brings uncomfortable coldness and unpleasant whistles when it came to structures!
Aiko couldn't understand why the Foxes didn't build different houses, since some of them were just sound traps.
She would not be able to sleep inside them, since the constant sound would just beat her ears until they bled...
Aiko snapped out of her thoughts once they sat down.
The pillow under her was not very comfortable, it was even slightly cold. Under the pillow was a nice-looking stone, but Aiko noticed that stupid cold came from that.
She wanted to throw that stone slab away, but when she saw that others didn't move from it and even smiled happily... she stopped. She wouldn't cause trouble for Lady Liu this time, but she would definitely complain to her later.
Aiko noticed that Chen Shi swapped Lady Liu's stone and she glared at him.
Chen Shi glared back and made a few motions. In Runic Language, it meant warm and zone.
Aiko raised her eyebrow for a moment, but once he gestured to his stone slab and wrote cold and zone, Aiko understood.
Chen Shi swapped Lady Liu's stone so that she wouldn't be cold. Sure, it was constantly the same season on this continent, but that didn't mean they didn't get colder or hotter periods.
Aiko didn't really notice the differences in seasons, mostly because of her Beast Core and fur, but Humans were different. They didn't have fur nor did they have Qi, well, at least most of the time.
Which meant they were susceptible to the cold and unforgiving winds.
Aiko covered her mouth with a fan that was too big for her, but for the current occasion, it was perfect.
Aiko yawned, completely opening her mouth, but since the fan was so big, nobody would be able to notice unless they spied on her with Divine Sense.
The Sect Leaders were not interested in spying on the small Fox. They were still terrified of her speed and the Lion's Master. They wouldn't do anything foolish that would endanger their lives!
The tea was served first, it was supposed to start your metabolism so that you would process the food better.
Aiko didn't really like this tea, but she drank it just to keep pace with others.
Some Human Cultivators also frowned, but still drank it. It was the Emperor who offered this and they didn't want their relationship to turn sour since they still needed the Human Empires to provide new blood for them.
They smiled amicably, trying to maintain their dignity while also buttering up the Emperor.
Aiko wanted to vomit when she saw that sight. Old men were smiling like perverts trying to butter up their prize cow.
She shook her head, and her ears twitched, she was looking for food or anything she could place in her mouth and munch on, but they still didn't provide anything and she had to wait.
With the Emperor sat his Empress, but the Empress Dowager was nowhere to be seen.
Maybe she was fooling around with the Grand Emperor, but who knows what was actually happening.
Aiko also spotted two princesses. One was pretty like the Empress and the other was her target. Aiko's eyes trained on her for a while, she would find a way to extract that liquid from her.
Meanwhile, the lone prince was staring at Aiko quite openly.
Aiko noticed his gaze and their eyes met. He lifted his teacup to celebrate with that little Fox he heard so much about.
Aiko's face had momentarily distorted. She believed he was up to no good, but she didn't have any evidence.
Aiko would ignore him for the time being, not only did she not want to drink this kind of tea again, but she was also hungry, very hungry!
She pouted and supported her chin, she didn't care about etiquette if they didn't feed her!
Aiko would not be starved for nothing, she demands food now!
Her pout only inflated more and more. She could hear a few kyas from the maids, but she ignored them. She was looking around for a bite of something, anything meaty.
Then finally, her prayers were heard.
"Let's continue the banquet!" The Emperor said cheerfully, his ego was completely inflated like a balloon by those Human Cultivators.
Naturally, this meant that Beasts were left to their own doings, which meant that most of them were bored, since unlike that turtle which had a companion... they had none.
A small number of pretty royal maids served the food in front of them. Beasts were served with mostly simple meats, while Humans had well-decorated and elaborate food.
Naturally, Beasts didn't mind this, as long as they didn't blatantly serve veggies none of them would mind!
They munched on it without regards to any etiquette. The Humans stared at them disdainfully.
Aiko's team ate with grace, greatly shocking the Human Cultivators, but they thought it was natural.
Foxes were masters of seduction and sex, it was only natural for them to learn etiquette that would cater to the Humans.
Of course, if they said it out loud they would get stoned to death by Aiko's team, but fortunately, they were not narcissistic enough to voice their thoughts.
Aiko on the other hand was completely devouring the meat without any class. She would keep glaring at the blatantly staring elders until they looked away.
In between each of Aiko's fingers was a chicken leg. As this was simply the most efficient way of consuming meat!
Aiko happily munched when the Emperor introduced the dancers.
While they weren't blatantly nude, the Emperor also didn't skimp on the service as certain parts of their dresses were all but see through. Of course, the most important parts were covered and hidden from sight.
He didn't want to be seen as the lustful emperor, but at the same time, he allowed them to show some calves, a bit of thighs and slender arms with somewhat jade shoulders.
"Bleh." Aiko almost vomited when she saw them.
"What's wrong?" Lady Liu smiled, but everyone's attention was attracted to them, as they were supposed to enjoy the show.
"No good." Aiko shook her head.
"No good?" Lady Liu giggled, petting Aiko's head, since she was sitting next to her.
On her left side was Chen Shi, who was also closest to the Emperor, and then there was Lady Liu, Aiko, The Blood Fox and Umbra Fox.
The Great Roc Mother was nowhere to be seen for quite some time, or rather right after the revelation of the Berserker Powder.
And that was for a good reason. Bird Beasts were among the most susceptible to the Berserker Powder, but that was not the worst part. They would lose the ability to coordinate their wings properly, whilst under the effects of the powder, rendering them incapable of flight.
This meant that they would crash into the ground and there was a high likelihood they would get badly injured and unable to fly any more.
Of course, it was different for the two teams that were coming to the rescue, but they were a very small minority that could resist the effects of the Berserker Powder...
