Chapter 242 – Corpses and Laughter

Aiko waited till her team had rested properly and recovered from their weakened states. In the meantime, she did not forget to beat the Mirage Fox, so that he would not be conscious in her presence.

She also looted his unconscious body for anything of value, but...

[Cold Iron Armour(Destroyed)][Armour that is destroyed and unusable, but its materials are precious and could be smelted down.]

[Two-Step Mirage Armour(Destroyed)][Treasure created from one's Soul. The creator is surely badly injured after trashing this Armour. Can't be used for anything and will dissipate naturally.]

The armours were pretty much unusable thanks to Aiko's tender care. Those suits of armour wouldn't fit her anyway in addition to being way too shiny for her liking. They are supposed to be one with the shadows, not lit up like lighthouses!

[Storage Pouch(Small, Living)]

Aiko tilted her head at the brackets, but fortunately, the system had not forsaken her completely.

[Storage Pouch(Small, Living)][A small Storage Pouch that can store living beings. You have limited time you can keep them inside before they start to suffer from a lack of Qi.]

Aiko found this to be the perfect Treasure for her current mission. If the Princess was still alive, she could just sneak her outside.

'None would know that I even came, hehe~.' Aiko chuckled in her mind.

There was also a Storage Ring on him, but she could not open it. She would ask Mei to open it later and learn how to open them herself. It was important if she intended to loot everything from everyone.

The Treasures were very little, it was possible that the fatty had some Treasures on him and the Shadow Passion should be the same...

But the fatty is nowhere to be seen and Shadow Passion is taken care of by Umbra, so she really shouldn't interfere and loot her. She had also taken a liking to the non-stinky Shadow Passion, so she didn't really want to rob her.

Aiko opened the Storage Pouch that could store living things. She wondered how big it was, but to her disappointment... It was really small.

Unlike the Fox Village's Storage Pouch which could store a lot of living, this one felt like a cheap knockoff.

Aiko frowned since 1 of the 3 places was taken by someone and she pulled out the living person.

To her surprise, the lady was sleeping and for some reason, she smelled god awful.

Aiko had to wave her hand in front of her face to prevent the smell from reaching her nose.

"What were those bastards thinking..." Aiko coughed as she smelled the fatty too.

The person was sleeping, so Aiko nudged her a few times, but there was no reaction from her.

'That is my... body...' A weak voice could be heard from within Aiko.

'Hm?' Aiko tilted her head. She could not remember taking any other Ghosts inside her body...

'Who are you?' Aiko asked, but there was no answer. She tilted her head at this strangeness, but chose to store the body back inside the Storage Pouch.

She felt quite weird after that voice.

Aiko had this nudging feeling that she knew that voice, but she could not remember from where, as the voice was too feeble to identify.

"Well, whatever." Aiko shrugged, it's not like the Ghost could affect her body, so there was nothing to worry about.

Aiko placed the Storage Pouch inside her prehensile tails, since she would be running through the forest, it would be better if she did it in her Fox form.

As for the Mirage Fox...

What would happen to him later was none of her business since she still needed to retrieve the last Princess and Treasures of course.

Aiko also wanted to check on the corpses to see if she knew them or not. She had a gnawing suspicion that she might be familiar with them.

Aiko waited several days for her team before leaving. Her team made a full recovery, so she did not need to stay on guard.

She dashed through the Forest in her small Fox form, as it was inconspicuous. Moreover, once her fur turned black, she was able to completely blend with the dark shadows.

Aiko had no issue arriving at the Capital, but she also noticed that guards had more than doubled on the outer perimeter of the Capital city.

Aiko guessed that their ruckus attracted their attention, so they strengthened the defences.

That was still no issue for her as Mortals would not be able to see her. Aiko was still a bit worried about the inner perimeter and Cultivators.

If there were too many it would be more difficult to walk around...

Aiko entered the Capital city soundlessly and without raising any kind of alarm. She was like a sneaky little loot goblin that was looking for shinies.

The Capital did not change by much outside the fact that there were more guards.

They still kept most lights on and even some torches for the dark alleys. Aiko could only shake her head at their lavish spending.

She would try to rob them blind as punishment, but first, she would scout the whole thing once more.

...

As she expected, the Inner region of the Capital was filled with Cultivators. Unfortunately, most of those Cultivators were either in the Qi Gathering Stage or Foundation Establishment Stage. They pose no threat to Aiko.

What was concerning was the fact that it felt like the strange barrier was stronger.

Aiko narrowed her eyes and came closer to it.

She felt a strange pressure and accompanying sense of danger from it. She would definitely not touch it if she didn't need to!

Aiko went under the ground once again. She was already used to sneaking in like that, as it was the stealthiest approach.

As always, the barrier did not reach underground and Aiko was able to pass through the underground safely.

The wisest of the Cultivators and the one operating it would never acknowledge that his barrier was flawed and because of that, Aiko had a very easy time running around as the Cultivators inside were way too relaxed.

'I heard that the corpses are in his bedroom...' Aiko narrowed her eyes. She would check the corpses, locate the Princess and then think about whom she would take first.

She moved stealthily throughout the Palace, encountering way too many rooms for her liking, but eventually, she was able to locate the Emperor's bedroom. It was definitely not because the maid was just about to go and 'serve' him.

Aiko checked the corpses quickly, as she didn't need to watch as an old and fat bastard boned a very young maid.

To Aiko's shock, she knew those corpses! Those were the Mothers' of those Princesses!

Aiko could certainly nab them, but since the Emperor was currently inside... It was not the best timing.

Aiko immediately left the room to look for the Princess!

...

{Back at the meadow}

"Aiko has been gone for some time now." The Blood Fox gently said and for some reason, Wanshu shivered.

"Did she strip the Treasures already?" Umbra asked in a similar voice.

Wanshu stared in shock towards Umbra, but both of them ignored her.

"We can start the torture, since it will take time for Aiko to arrive." The Blood Fox smiled like a Devil and so did Umbra.

"Shall we?" Umbra gestured like a gentleman.

The Blood Fox giggled and took the lead, while Wanshu was curious. She was not curious enough to follow them and see what they would do with the Mirage Fox.

One part of the contract would make her obliged to protect him, so she would have to stop them, which she didn't want to do. So she would have to stay put or look for more firewood in the meantime.

Wanshu left the camp to walk around so she would not hear anything, thus the contract would not activate.

Meanwhile, Umbra felt a bit sad that Wanshu left, but she did not ask about it. She knew that certain parts of the contract might be different from team to team, so she believed that Wanshu left to not get in the way.

"Where will we start?" Umbra asked.

"Aiko has her toys with her and I did not want to disturb her, but we can use needles on him." The Blood Fox thought about it, but before they got too extreme and broke him, it's better to start with something light.

"Ah, right..." Umbra sighed. "I should've asked." She shook her head.

"It's fine. Aiko left us to him with no orders or anything, so she likewise doesn't care what will happen to him." The Blood Fox smiled sinisterly.

"That is a good point." Umbra nodded gently. They had a lot of time to work on him.

"Needles?" The Blood Fox asked with a charming smile.

"Needles~" Umbra hummed with a similar smile.

They took out the stitching needles, sewing needles, acupuncture needles, and many other types of needles.

"Let's start with his dick and make it into a porcupine." Umbra hummed.

"I don't want to touch it..." The Blood Fox sighed.

"We don't have to, just stab it and stab it again." Umbra gestured. "We can also stimulate him lightly so it's easier." She smiled innocently.

"I don't really want to do that part, sorry." The Blood Fox did not want to touch that place or even remotely get near it at all.

"That's fine, you can work in other places~" Umbra did not mind it. She knew that the Blood Fox hated this kind of thing, but as long as she helped to torture this bastard... that was all she needed.

"Alright, I will work on his nipples with needles." The Blood Fox said.

"Will you also stimulate them for me?" Umbra asked.

"If he likes cold iron, then sure, but I have no intention of touching him with my hands." The Blood Fox said softly.

"That is fine~" Umbra hummed, even if she didn't help with the stimuli, it was enough that she was around.

"I will start with the nipples-" The Blood Fox paused when she heard Umbra laugh out loud. "What's wrong?"

"Look at how tiny it is!" Umbra kept laughing so loud that even Wanshu could hear her.

Soon another laughter joined Umbra, it was the Blood Fox.

"How unbelievable that such a bastard had such a small-" The Blood Fox could not finish it, because she was laughing way too hard.

...

"This is incredible." The Blood Fox wiped the tears after her long laughter.

"En." Umbra followed suit. "But that means there will be a lot less needles..." She sighed, clearly sad.

"He still has the rest of the body and some more~" The Blood Fox comforted Umbra.

"You are right." Umbra breathed gently, happy that the Blood Fox was around.