Chapter 215 – Cooking
He was ready to pounce on them, he would savour their meat and drain their blood.
Yet that little Fox was not afraid of him?
He couldn't understand...
Just then, another Fox came into the courtyard.
"Umbra, rope." Aiko said and gestured towards the Umbra Fox.
The Umbra Fox was confused, but she still gave a rope to Aiko.
"Also, let's store the snacks into the Storage Ring so they don't get contaminated even further." Aiko snatched the snacks into her Storage Ring.
Now everything was safe and everyone was prepared for what was to come. Well, everyone except for the ignorant Smelly Wind.
The Smelly Wind pounced on them, but the Foxes didn't even move.
After the last assassination attempt, Chen Shi upgraded the Defensive Arrays for their stay.
The Arrays were temporary since he didn't want to empower the Royalty, but at the same time still powerful enough to restrain anyone below Body Integration Cultivation.
That included Smelly Wind.
Smelly Wind pounced at them at an unimaginable speed that even startled Aiko. She was quite surprised that someone could be this quick.
But even if the Smelly Wind was quick, he couldn't bypass the Defensive Array...
He was bound by an invisible force and unable to move.
Aiko smiled at him like a Devil, stretching the rope.
The Smelly Wind shivered, but he couldn't get away.
"Get me a Cauldron! We will be cooking!" Aiko proclaimed. She was truly smiling like the Devil.
"Ah, also make the servants from the palace bring buckets of shit." Aiko had a very dubious plan.
The Smelly Wind was confused. Poo healed him, so he didn't understand why this Fox would bring that here.
Her team was likewise confused, but Aiko paid no mind to it. She will be cooking today! And on the menu was an Earthly Sludge!
Her team brought the big Cauldron, but they were still confused.
The unwilling servants brought buckets of shit. They had their own opinions about these strange kinks, but before they could voice it Aiko told them to dump it inside.
Everyone had a strange expression once Aiko lit a flame under the Cauldron... everyone except the Smelly Wind.
He was trying his best to escape this fate. He was unwilling to be roasted alive!
"What are you doing~?" Aiko smiled at him. She was bothered by the fact he attacked her twice now, so she would take her revenge properly!
The Smelly Wind shivered and whined, but Aiko ignored him.
"You already attacked me twice, so it's only natural that I will get some payback~" Aiko hummed happily, but there was a problem.
This pile of shit was really smelly and she was unwilling to touch him in order to throw him inside the Cauldron.
She immediately snapped at the servants with a strange expression.
"Come here." Aiko beckoned them with a cute expression, but they subconsciously took a step back.
"You either come here or I will drag you here." Aiko snorted at them.
They were scared of this little Fox, even more so since the rumours seemed to hold some truth.
None of them were brave enough to step forward, but they had to... otherwise, they would end up on a pike like they heard in the rumours.
They picked that strange pile of whining shit and threw it inside the Cauldron. Right after, they tried to excuse themselves so they wouldn't be forced to do more strange things or be submitted to the 'Fox treatment'.
Fortunately for them, Aiko was merciful since she already accomplished her goal.
"You can go." Aiko waved them away. She would be cooking from now on, so she didn't need their help.
They bowed and walked away, but Aiko still stopped them again.
"Also bring a large ladle or spatula, just something that I can use to mix this thing." Aiko kicked the Cauldron and a sad whine resonated from within.
The servants kept bowing and promising that they would bring something for stirring.
Aiko was satisfied, so she let them go. Naturally, the servants would fulfil this request since they were but mere Mortals.
The Foxes were Cultivators, so they had no other option...
Aiko went to the table and sat down. It would take a while before it started boiling and she also didn't want to close the lid for the time being, just in case he would suffocate and die before his healing kicked in.
'What a curse...' Aiko lamented as she saw it slowly bubble. 'I should be careful about what heals me so that I can't be abused like this.'
It would be fine to heal from something, unless it can be boiled like in the aforementioned case.
She would be absolutely depressed if something like this happened to her, but that is also the reason she doesn't fight just anyone.
Everyone likes her and nobody has any gripes with her... except Chen Shi... and the Ghosts... and a few Beasts... you know? Never mind, she should be careful about what she says too...
Aiko reflected on her 'special' mouth. She should be able to keep it in check if she tries really hard, but most of the time it should not be needed...
'It's good to curse once in a while and unbottle all those feelings~' Aiko hummed happily.
...
The Cauldron was boiling and he kept whining as he was burned and healed at the same time.
Aiko was unconcerned as this was her revenge, but she was really bothered by the constant whines.
"Did they include a lid?" Aiko asked the Blood Fox.
All of them were sipping a nice tea waiting for him to finally boil, so they could enjoy their snacks.
Unfortunately for them, it was one persistent bastard that just wouldn't die.
"They did." The Blood Fox replied positively.
"Hmmm." Aiko nodded happily. She would just close the lid and be done with that whining.
This would allow her to peacefully drink her tea while he gets boiled as punishment for attacking her twice.
Aiko went to slam the lid on the Cauldron, a very magical special Cauldron or maybe a one-time use Cauldron? Definitely the latter, since Aiko would not touch it again.
*Whine*
There was a sharp, piercing whine when she slammed it. She noticed a slim tail peeking out of the lid.
"Seems I forgot something." Aiko nodded, fortunately, those servants had already bought large tools for stirring and for some reason even tools like pickaxes and hammers? What for?
Aiko could not understand their line of thinking, so she just didn't think about it at all.
She picked up an oversized spatula and placed it near the Cauldron so it's ready to be used later.
...
Hours passed and Aiko was now tinkering with the Treasures inside her ring.
Those were confiscated from the second wave of assassins.
"Most of them are shit..." Aiko sighed.
"I think they are quite cool..." The Umbra Fox proclaimed.
"Then take them." Aiko shook her head. She would not question Umbra's taste as she was currently doing something tasteless too.
"I wonder if it's finished?" Aiko placed the Storage Ring in front of the Umbra Fox and looked towards the Cauldron.
The lid was jumping for quite some time, but that was better than whining.
Aiko went towards it and completely opened the lid.
An absolutely disgusting smell exploded through the courtyard and since it was quite windy it spread into nearby courtyards and penetrated the walls of the Royal Palace.
That awful smell attracted a lot of attention from everyone, especially Cultivators who were obsessed with cleanliness.
Soon someone came knocking on their courtyard gate.
The Umbra Fox went to the gate to answer them.
Aiko in the meantime was unaware about this issue and she was stirring the whole thing so it wouldn't smell as bad, but she didn't realise that she was making it worse...
Aiko sniffled from the awful smell.
"What in the hell are you doing?!" Chen Shi was the first one to come rushing inside the rest of the crowd following behind his back.
"What do you mean?" Aiko tilted her head, stirring the questionable liquids.
The Smelly Wind heard other voices and whined.
"Oh, shut up or I will close the lid." Aiko threatened. She was absolutely fed up with his whining.
Chen Shi paused. "Are you boiling someone...?" He wished for her to say no, since the smell was abhorrent and the colour and overall feel was sinister.
"Yeah." Aiko replied blankly, stunning everyone.
The Other Sect Leaders didn't want to talk so they wouldn't be harmed, which meant that Chen Shi was the main force.
Chen Shi held his temple like it hurt him. "Do you realise how bad it smells?" He asked Aiko.
"I'm stirring it so of course." Aiko nodded.
"Then why are you doing that?!" Chen Shi reprimanded her. "That smell is all over the Royal Palace!"
"Oh..." Aiko nodded slowly.
Suddenly, a head of the Smelly Wind popped out of the Cauldron, scaring everyone.
He gave a sad whine towards his Beast folk who came with the rest of the crowd since they had more sensitive senses.
It was unbearable for them to sniff this any longer!
Aiko closed the lid, not realising that the smelly bastard had popped his head out.
There was a crunching sound and Aiko looked down.
Noticing his head that was now deformed, but healing; she made a smooth motion, flicking him back into the Cauldron before closing it properly.
"There are only two hours left." Aiko jumped down from the chair, since she was too small to reach the huge Cauldron.
"You will get rid of it now!" Chen Shi said sternly.
The Beast wanted to likewise protest that their kin, albeit smelly, was tortured like this.
"No, he is being punished." Aiko scoffed at him. "If you leave someone who attacked you TWICE, without a punishment, you will look like a pushover." Aiko clicked her tongue. "No wonder Lady Liu is unwilling to be with you." She shook her head and sat down at the table.
Chen Shi's eyes burned with desire to punish the little Fox.
"And don't forget that if you try something petty, I will let Lady Liu know." Aiko snorted at him.
*Pffft*
Yanqi laughed. Her sense of smell was not as good as other Beasts, but still good enough that it did bother her.
She wanted to punish the bastard that created this smell, but paused when she saw Aiko.
"So he attacked you?" Yanqi stopped laughing and asked.
"Yeah, twice." Aiko was very animated on the 'twice' part.
Yanqi nodded. "It is fine punishing him, but we have to bear that same smell. Can't you dump him somewhere to get rid of it?" She asked Aiko.
"I don't want to touch it." Aiko admitted openly.
"Why not?" Yanqi giggled. She already knew the reason, but she wanted to tease this little Fox.
"Because it's disgusting, like his smell when he polluted this courtyard." Aiko openly said.
The Beasts frowned, but they couldn't move, since it seemed like the Bird Brain liked her...
"You will deal with it." Chen Shi said.
"No." Aiko refused.
"Then, how did you plan to solve it once his punishment was over?" He was confused.
"I would leave it here and leave." Aiko shrugged, once she left this Capital it wouldn't be her problem.
Everyone's eyes burned on her. Aiko already somewhat got used to this so she didn't mind as much.