Chapter 23 – Forest and Demons

They ate together. She was squeaky clean from the Fox constantly using some strange technique on her. She didn't mind that, since it was quite a nice feeling, although it couldn't compare to a proper bath, it was still nice enough like a shower. The most important thing was that she was completely clean!

The Fox levitates her on her back. Aiko was startled and confused, but couldn't question the Fox as she couldn't talk nor express herself.

"I will be carrying you around until your Core settles down." The Fox said gently.

Aiko was taken aback. 'She understands me?' She scrunched her face.

"I don't understand you, you are just easy to read sometimes." The Queen answered gently, slowly and carefully moving through the Forest. "When we leave the Forest we will have to cross and go around several cities, so be a good girl and stay put." The Fox still said gently but with a hint of seriousness. "If you wait for me I will give you delicious meals." She negotiated the terms since it would be bad if Aiko hunted like this.

Aiko felt like she was losing on this deal, but since she was carried around on this soft and fluffy back... she didn't mind as much.

Queen and Aiko made it out of part of the Forest. In front of them, the forest was thinner and there was less vegetation. There was more light since the trees were much farther apart. Aiko also felt weaker as she was in the light, but that wasn't all that bad since this stinky Fox at least carried her gently.

This part of the forest was much quieter, there were fewer birds and beasts around than before and even those beasts looked weaker than the others. It felt like a completely different world as there were much more peaceful animals/beasts, like deer or hedgehogs. It would be a lot easier on her if she 'spawned' in here as the food was abundant and easy to obtain and there was much less danger.

What she didn't know was that the Inner part of this Forest had thicker ambient energy, making it easier to advance and gather energy. If she tried to Evolve in here she would surely die, being sucked dry by her own bloodline.

"We will be leaving the forest shortly. this might be only a Middle part of this Forest, but it gets smaller the further you get from the centre." The Fox slowly explained as she felt Aiko looking around curiously. "We also were nowhere near the centre of this Forest. While we were considered to be in the inner part, it was only on the edge, much more powerful beings roam the inner parts and they would constantly fight for territories destroying the forest in the process."

Aiko was puzzled. 'Then why isn't this forest already destroyed?'

"The Forest in the inner parts is much tougher and quicker to grow. So it actually helps thin out the forest, when the beasts fight." She explained, getting back into rhythm like she did with her boy toy, just this little one was paying more attention. *Sigh*

'You can read my mind right?!' She angrily slapped her back.

"I can't read your mind." The Queen answered flatly.

'I call bullshit on that one!' Aiko was very angry, but no longer slapped her paws as it was exhausting and it's not like this stinky Fox would feel it.

They fast walked through this part of the Forest arriving in a much thinner part. This was the Outer part of this Forest. The trees were far and few in between, there was plenty of light and very little vegetation. Aiko also felt heavier as the amount of ambient Qi was much lower.

"We beasts are more dependent on ambient Qi until we reach at least pseudo-human form. That's when we can keep Qi inside our bodies and expend it if we go through Qi-deficient parts of the world. This allows them to stay in top shape even if the Qi disappeared, while beasts would be troubled since we use part of the ambient Qi to empower our Abilities." The Fox explained as this was very important information if she managed to enter the 'Fox Village'. If someone would set a trap for her it would be in a region with little to no ambient Qi to limit her powers. "If you can help it, it is better to avoid places with little Qi, as they are often plagued with bandits and traps." She warned the curious Aiko.

Aiko nodded slowly. She didn't like this place as it didn't have much shadow and she felt weaker here. She wouldn't want to spend any time in here if it could be helped.

There were peaceful plains in front of them. Sheep and cows were freely grazing. They were obviously wild animals because of the lack of any signs of Human intrusion and while there were many humans they often would not leave their Villages. While Humans were the main and most powerful Cultivation beings in this plane, that didn't mean they purged the world from monsters. They were greatly beneficial for them and if they wiped all of them they wouldn't be able to have their own pets, so most powerful individuals would restrict the hunting to a certain degree as they didn't want their possible future Dao Companions or Cauldron to be hunted till extinction. That was especially true for Foxes as they had many beneficial arts that could aid Human Cultivators greatly, as such they would severely punish or straight up kill if someone hurt a Fox too much. They would be abused, but not to the point that they would die, which again was beneficial for the leaders.

"We will be passing near a Village soon, I will take a slight detour but still don't make too much noise. I don't want to dirty my hands with filthy Humans." She said flatly but with a hint of danger in her voice.

Aiko nodded blankly, it's not like her ride was hurting her, she did not need to do anything, maybe she would appreciate more meat? A bit more? A few kilos more?

They tread the grassland, it's peaceful, yet chaotic.

"Kill that bastard!" A young male voice drifted from the treeline.

3 people were fighting among each other and near them was an herb that was glowing softly.

'Maiden's bells.' The Fox telepathically said to Aiko. 'These bells are special as they allow you to see in complete darkness if prepared properly, of course, once you reach high enough Cultivation you will be able to see in the dark, but they are at the beginning of Foundation Establishment and as such it's extremely beneficial to them if they want to explore it. That herb would also be beneficial to those that want to enter the Golden Core as it purifies the liquid Qi quicker.' She told her a few things about the herb so that if she encountered it she would know the basics and not fight for such useless herbs... well it wasn't useless for Aiko since she needed to purify her Core, but it would take too much time to refine that herb so it can be used by beasts, not to mention it could be used only once, so it's better to combine it with more herbs so that the effect is much greater than each individual plant.

They continued to watch and the Fox waited, she would kill the last one standing and take all of their treasures alongside the herb. If two were alive she would just leave, not because she couldn't kill them, but because she didn't want to stain her hands with grouping scum that can't even take the herb by themselves. Naturally, she would still take the herb either way, leaving them helpless and with possible inner demons. This would delight her as it meant less powerful Cultivators overall.

The guys fought, and fireworks flew everywhere as each one of them recited fanciful names of their techniques. Aiko watched over, but it was less interesting than seeing those at the peak of Foundation Establishment or in the Golden Core fight as their fireworks were much more powerful and pleasing to look at. It felt like the higher you went up the Cultivation chain the more colourful your techniques became, she didn't understand this. Shouldn't power rule over everything? Why make it more colourful?

The Queen stole the herb in the meantime and placed it in her [Storage Ring], watching over those dumb Cultivators still fighting even after the herb vanished.

'So idiotic, so dumb...' The Queen scoffed, as they finally managed to kill their comrade. How did she know he was their comrade? They had the same clothes with the same symbols, simple as that.

"Haha... finally..." The youth breathed heavily.

"Now for the herb." The other youth looked over only to freeze.

"What's wrong?" The first youth asked.

"T-t-the-" The second youth stammered and couldn't answer.

"T-T-T-What? Can't you speak more cl-" He ridiculed that youth only for himself to freeze. "W-w-w-where is that herb?"

They both looked in disbelief and one suddenly gripped his head. It was the first youth. He screamed like a madman and Aiko could see his eyes slowly darken and turn red. It was a mesmerizing colour if it wasn't for that sinister energy leaking out of him.

The youth laughed at his partner in crime and slashed with speed incomparable to when he fought with that youth, killing that still stunned youth instantly.

'That is how others become mad. They lose themselves to the inner demons whispering sweet things into their ears. At first, it starts inconspicuous, small whisper here and there, those whispers increase in frequency over time, "guiding" you for the better. At the last step, they increase in intensity, commanding you to do things, stepping/interrupting your meditation/advancements, until your mind finally slips and gates open. At that moment they overtake your body as pure thoughts and desires to fulfil their purpose.' She explained to Aiko in the wishes she would be able to avoid becoming one herself. 'He has killed his comrade in order to get that herb. Seeing the herb not there he developed an inner demon about killing. This demon overtook his body and is fulfilling its desires and that is to kill everyone he considers a comrade.' The Queen explained. 'After he kills everyone he will revert back, but that guy will lose his mind again meaning this kind of thing is never ending once you allow your inner demons to possess you.'

'For us beasts it's different, nothing takes over us, but we will degrade into Demonic Beasts. This way many beasts can skip the magical beast stage at the cost of their intelligence. Those beasts are loved by demonic cultivators as there is a possibility for their intelligence to return, but at that moment they would be already in contract unable to hurt anyone, but those that they are ordered to hurt.' She sighed. 'Some Humans also like Demonic Beasts more since they are a lustful bunch and love Dual Cultivation. They are quite sought after for the trait of live dolls, but people would go completely nuts over an intelligent Demonic Beast, as they can learn the art of seduction and invade righteous sects and destroy them from inside.'

She killed that Demonic Cultivator with her tail and gathered their [Storage Pouches], while those are unwieldy and smaller than [Storage Rings], you don't need to use Qi to open them, as such even mortals can use them. This trait also makes them much cheaper as you need just high-quality textiles and not rare and non-renewable metals. The Inscription on them is also much simpler as you don't need to carve into hard metal but just paint the pouch.

She took all of the items inside her own [Storage Ring], but kept those pouches around her neck for Aiko's use until she learns how to properly control her Qi.