Cultivation Struggles of a Lowly Fox

Aiko woke up grumpily, she was upset that the Blood Fox was gone for so long.

She stared at the Blood Fox with questioning eyes once again, but the only thing she got from her was a blush.

Aiko felt suspicious about this and wanted to get to the bottom of it, but first, she would nap a bit longer...

At this moment, the exhausted duo of Shadow Foxes returned to the camp.

The Blood Fox stared at them strangely. While they were not walking hand in hand, it was still obvious that something happened to them.

They were too close and very happy about something. The Blood Fox just hoped that Aiko wouldn't take issue with that...

She knew that Aiko would be cranky because of her disturbed sleep and would be highly irritable for a few days.

Aiko yawned again and transformed into her Human form so she could force herself to wake up. It was not a good idea to sleep for so long as it would make her body ache and it would not improve her sleeping quality.

She just had to bear it for the time being...

The Blood Fox gestured towards Aiko and Umbra nodded gently. She moved behind Aiko to smooth her hair and help her dress.

Aiko's nose twitched a few times and her droopy ears immediately straightened as she snapped her head at Umbra.

Aiko sniffed a few more times. "Who are you?" Aiko asked with narrowed eyes. She could feel that this was Umbra through the connection that was established by the contract, but the smell did not fit.

"I'm Umbra, Mistress." Umbra smiled innocently.

"Then why do you smell like her?!" Aiko questioned with a piercing gaze while pointing her finger at Shadow Passion.

Umbra didn't know what to say about that since she believed she had washed all the smell of off her and even when she smelled herself she didn't smell anything.

Seeing the blush on her Umbra she felt suspicious. Aiko skipped a few steps, suddenly arriving in front of the Shadow Passion, startling her greatly since she was not used to Aiko's shenanigans.

Aiko sniffed the Shadow Passion, but all she could smell was Umbra. "And why do you smell like Umbra?!" Aiko questioned, but Shadow Passion just turned her head as she continued munching on her food with a slight blush.

Aiko felt strange and felt goosebumps all over her body, which was obvious to anyone as it made her tails appear twice as big.

She immediately dashed behind the Blood Fox, startling the whole group.

"Skinwalkers..." Aiko shivered with a pitiful expression.

The Blood Fox almost spilt her tea from this absurd remark. Meanwhile, Umbra was stunned by this conjecture.

"I'm not a skin-walker! Whatever that is!" Umbra tried to defend herself, but the next question made her speechless.

"Then why do you smell like Shadow Passion?" Aiko narrowed her eyes, her fur still erect.

Umbra was at a loss for words, since she didn't want to talk about her intimacy with others. This was a new thing for her so she wanted to enjoy it behind closed doors...

"See?" Aiko glared at Umbra.

Umbra immediately gazed towards Wanshu with pleading eyes, but Wanshu just smiled and munched on her food, enjoying Umbra's distressed, yet cute expression.

Umbra whined pitifully when she realised that she was teased at the very worst moment. "It's really me, Mistress..." Umbra cried out softly, she felt like she was made into a doppelganger.

Aiko snorted at them and sat far from the duo and behind the Blood Fox, so that she would be her first means of defence.

The Blood Fox enjoyed this event and did not engage with it. She knew that it was Umbra and Shadow Passion as she observed them playing in the water.

'It's good to be young...' The Blood Fox sipped her tea with grace, she could be the only one considered to completely pass Lady Liu's teachings.

Aiko munched on her food far away from 'Umbra', ready for battle at any moment.

Meanwhile, Umbra was crestfallen that she was not able to talk with Aiko about Wanshu, which meant she would have to keep Wanshu far from the Mirage Fox so that he wouldn't do anything to her.

Fortunately for them, the Mirage Fox was nowhere to be seen and the same could be said for the Gluttonous Fox.

The Blood Fox wondered where they went, but at the same time, she did not care much about it. She knew that even if she knew, she would not try to seek them out.

Aiko finished her food and the Blood Fox readied her things. Since they didn't dress Aiko, that meant she would be more... pacified, in her conduct.

Fewer troubles for them, but that also meant that they would have to play catch with her again.

Umbra now had to pay attention to her Wanshu so she wouldn't meet with Mirage Fox, but also to keep up with Aiko's speed.

It was an impossible mission that she bestowed upon herself, but she would do her best to accomplish it!

As expected, Aiko was quick on her feet and only stopped for the Blood Fox. It felt like a rift was created between her and Umbra, so that is yet another thing that Umbra has to solve to get the approval.

Aiko arrived at another campsite and sat down with her Blood Fox. She would keep her distance and observe them, or just wait and see if those smells would go away before engaging with 'Umbra'.

She felt weird looking at them, but that couldn't be helped. People change after sex, and that is the same for both of them.

"Why didn't you question the Shadow Passions look?" The Blood Fox was interested in this part.

"Because if I were a skinwalker, I would like to appear more presentable, too." Aiko replied flatly, like what she said was a fact.

"She was not before?" The Blood Fox tilted her head. She didn't feel that the Shadow Passion was all that ugly...

"She smelled bad, her fur was all sticky, her hair was messy like she came from the forest after 30 years-..." Aiko kept talking about how she saw things, and the Blood Fox could only purse her lips.

"But I was in a similar situation when we met." The Blood Fox pouted her cheeks, trying to smooth the relationship between the two.

"No. The first time we met, you were beaten by me." Aiko said flatly and the Blood Fox deflated.

"Then when the Elder Punisher picked me up..." The Blood Fox was trying to salvage this situation.

"You didn't smell as bad and after the bath you didn't smell like someone else." Aiko flatly denied it again, since that was the case.

Aiko would not believe that her Umbra would go at it with a complete stranger, whom she met only a few days or was it weeks ago...

The Blood Fox felt that this was hopeless, sometimes Aiko would just beat them up with her words without care in the world.

"But Umbra is a good servant." The Blood Fox tried to appeal to what Umbra was good at.

"Yes, when she was not a skinwalker." Aiko agreed that Umbra was amazing.

Just then the duo arrived, all haggard and tired.

"See? Even Umbra is exhausted, while previously she would have been alright." Aiko pointed at yet another discrepancy and the Blood Fox could only give up.

Umbra glared at Wanshu when she heard those words, but Wanshu just looked away like she did not do anything.

Aiko did not observe them.

Meanwhile, the Blood Fox interrupted them. "We still need firewood for campfire."

The Blood Fox did think they were lucky that the weather was mild and that it did not rain too much, but once it did, they would have a lot of work drying everything.

She could only hope that this mild weather would last for weeks until they finish this mission...

Umbra nodded gently and went for the firewood, but right behind her was Wanshu.

Wanshu's eyes were always planted on Umbra and her delectable butt that liked to shake in front of her whenever Umbra ran in front.

Once they went some ways away, she could not bear it and groped Umbra's ass.

Umbra yelped and glared at Wanshu. "Stop it! We need Aiko's help, so hold your urges until we are back in the Fox Village." Umbra threatened her with her eyes.

Wanshu whined. "Then just tell her we made out, and she will understand." She teased the shy Umbra to her heart's content, since she was not allowed to enjoy Umbra's delectable body.

"Why are you always so horny?!" That was the only thing that bothered Umbra.

"Because of drugs. They keep me calm, but they make Demonic Foxes more lustful." Wanshu was not bothered explaining her situation. "It's even worse since Demonic Foxes are inherently more lustful, so that they would mate more."

"Ugh..." Umbra believed that she got one hell of a troublesome partner... "Can you keep it in check?" She asked, as this would help their case.

"If I don't use the drugs, it's manageable." Wanshu nodded gently. "But then it will be easier for me to lose my mind and Mirage Fox might use liquid drugs then." Wanshu shivered. She didn't want to experience those drugs ever again.

Umbra didn't know what to do... if she could explain it to Aiko they would have a new teammate. The Fox Village might not approve it as they already favoured Aiko a bit too much, thanks to Mei, but at the same time, they would have to cave in thanks to Mei and Grandmaster...

"I don't know what to doooo..." Umbra whined as she collected dead branches with Wanshu.

Wanshu gave her a quick peck and said. "Just tell her, it will clear everything up." She did not understand Umbra's worries and Aiko's nature...

She did not talk with Aiko all that much, the only thing she knew was that Aiko was a terrifying Shadow Beast that could easily devour her.

...

Umbra sighed, returning to the camp, where Aiko was waiting for them.

"Finished?" Aiko asked and Umbra nodded weakly.

Aiko did not mind her state and waited for her meat to cook.

After eating, she sneaked around to take a sniff from 'Umbra'.

But Umbra turned around, meeting eye-to-eye with the sneaking Aiko.

They both froze in place, Aiko in mid-movement while Umbra in mid-munching.

They had a staring contest for a while before Aiko slowly moved closer to take a whiff.

"Umu, now you smell like Umbra." Aiko nodded before scurrying away, back to eating more meat.

The Umbra was confused, but also relieved. It seems like this misunderstanding cleared quickly-

"So why did you smell like Shadow Passion?" Aiko asked with narrowed eyes while munching roasted meat.

'Never mind...' Umbra sighed gently in her mind, it seemed like Aiko would be fixated at that point for quite a while...