Volume 5 Chapter 35
by Need_More_SleepVolume 5 + Chapter 35: The Sound of Wooden Clogs
The nights of Greenfield City were lively indeed.
This city was extremely famous within Fox Hill. It was a vital hub of both land and water transportation. Through here, one could reach almost any city within Fox Hill. As such, it gathered an enormous flow of people.
If one wanted to strike it rich, bringing some capital to Greenfield City to gamble on a deal or do a bit of business might just lead to sudden fortune.
That said, Greenfield City had not been particularly peaceful of late. Disputes and conflicts broke out frequently.
There were even some mysterious foxfolk groups that gathered in secret, muttering about things like the “true oracle of the Fox God”… stirring unease among the populace.
On one street, as a snack-stall owner was preparing to close up for the night, he heard a slightly childish yet crisp voice.
“Boss!”
“Hm?”
The stall owner looked up and found a hooded little girl standing in front of his stall. Under the cover of night, her appearance was hard to make out clearly.
“Little miss, want some snacks?”
“I want this.”
“Takoyaki?”
“Yes.”
“Alright then, just a moment.”
The stall owner took out the takoyaki, brushed on the sauce, packed it up, and handed it to the girl.
The girl took out some money to pay. The amount made the stall owner’s eyes widen.
“That’s quite a lot. I’m not sure I can make a change…”
“No need for change.”
“Huh?!”
The stall owner was shocked.
“Little miss, that’s not very safe. Money shouldn’t be flaunted. Spending so freely like this could attract suspicious people.”
“It’s fine, boss. Just consider it a tip. You only need to answer one question for me.”
“What question?”
“Has anything big been happening in the country lately?”
“The biggest thing would be the Fox God Festival, I suppose. During the festival, Princess Yue Liu, as the shrine maiden, performs ritual dances to convey the wishes prayed for by the people to Lord Fox God.”
“There really is a Fox God Festival? Boss, besides Princess Yue Liu, are there any other shrine maidens who perform rituals?”
“How could there be? Princess Yue Liu is the one and only Fox God shrine maiden. Among the younger generation of the Nine-Tailed Fox clan, she’s the only one. There can’t be anyone else… Say, how do you not even know this? It’s common knowledge among us foxfolk. Even six-year-old children know it.”
“Thank you, boss. I’ll be going now!”
The girl didn’t answer the stall owner’s confusion. Holding her takoyaki, she walked away.
“What a strange person. Gave me so much money and even said thanks. Still, I really lucked out, this much money is like hitting the jackpot. Must be some rich family’s young miss!”
The stall owner packed up at lightning speed, pushing his mobile snack cart away.
He planned to use the money he earned tonight to really enjoy himself.
“Tonight, I can go drink with the girls!!”
…
“Phew, that was close. If the conversation had gone on any longer, I would’ve been exposed.”
Running into a narrow alley, Xia Yi held her takoyaki and thought to herself.
She hadn’t attended the foxfolk’s banquet. Instead, she had slipped out alone and come into Greenfield City.
Since the talks with the foxfolk wouldn’t resume until tomorrow, she decided to go out and have a bit of fun tonight.
She had taken a transformation potion, but due to her developed resistance, the effects weren’t very strong. Her eyes and hair hadn’t changed and were still silver, though her tail had been concealed.
To avoid drawing attention, she wore a hooded outfit and moved under the cover of night.
As long as she could return safely before sleeping, everything should be fine.
To begin with, Xia Yi wasn’t particularly interested in the foxfolk’s banquet. On the other hand, she wanted to better understand the foxfolk’s true situation.
If she only questioned Yue Liu’s subordinates, the answers she got would surely be polished and filtered.
But if she personally approached foxfolk civilians, the information she obtained would be far more authentic.
She believed that only by understanding the internal conflicts and contradictions of the foxfolk could she gain more initiative during the negotiations.
As the saying went, know yourself and know your enemy, and you’ll never lose a hundred battles.
“Speaking of which, this takoyaki really does taste great!”
In no time at all, Xia Yi had completely polished off the takoyaki in her hands.
As far as flavor went, she’d give it quite a high score.
“Should I seriously consider conquering the foxfolk, then making them supply takoyaki exclusively to our dragonfolk?”
She was actually thinking about it.
And the most crucial point was this: if the foxfolk were conquered, she could first pilot the Osmanthus Cake Act in Fox Hill.
Shalurkan would definitely never allow her to do such a thing in the Dragon Nation, but if she took Fox Hill and held absolute authority, then Fox Hill would be hers to decide.
Once the plan succeeded in Fox Hill, it could immediately be implemented in the Crimson Empire, and then expand outward, conquering other nations and spreading the Osmanthus Cake Act everywhere…
Then the future world would inevitably become a world of osmanthus cakes!
Tap. Tap. Tap.
“Hm?”
While Xia Yi was lost in thoughts of the infinite possibilities of osmanthus cake, a sound suddenly caught her attention, interrupting her daydream of the future.
It sounded like wooden clogs stepping on stone pavement, crisp and rhythmic, strangely captivating, as if each step landed right on her heartbeat.
Judging by the rhythm and weight of the steps, it was most likely a young girl’s build.
Xia Yi turned around and saw a shadow cast on the wall. The outline belonged to a foxfolk girl, complete with fox ears and a tail. But what was most baffling was the number of tails behind her… nine of them?!
“Did I see that wrong?”
Xia Yi blinked, wanting to confirm more carefully, only to find that the shadow began to move and disappeared into the depths of the alley.
The foxfolk girl had left.
“Was the person I just saw really a Nine-Tailed Fox?”
Xia Yi was filled with doubt. The Nine-Tailed Fox royals were members of the foxfolk royal family. Among the younger generation, wasn’t Yue Liu the only Nine-Tailed Fox?
Could it be that… Fox Radish had discovered she’d snuck out and come to catch her?
She didn’t know the answer, but she couldn’t ignore it. So she chased after her.
The alleys of Greenfield City were tangled like a maze. Moving through them, Xia Yi’s sense of direction quickly fell apart, as if the world had spun several times over, north, south, east, and west becoming indistinguishable.
She nearly lost the trail several times. Fortunately, by following the sound of the wooden clogs, she managed to keep her bearings and continued chasing the shadow of the Nine-Tailed Fox.
“Fox Radish!”
Xia Yi finally caught up to the foxfolk girl and shouted toward the figure ahead.
“……”
Hearing her call, the Nine-Tailed Fox girl stopped, slowly turned around, and looked at Xia Yi.
The moment their gazes met, Xia Yi froze.
“No… that’s not right…”
The foxfolk girl before her wore shrine maiden robes and had nine tails behind her, indistinguishable from the Fox God’s shrine maiden. Yet her hair and eyes weren’t pink, but a pale bluish-white…
She wasn’t Yue Liu.
The Nine-Tailed Fox girl looked at Xia Yi, a mysterious smile appearing on her face. She slightly parted her lips and spoke a baffling sentence.
“You, too… want to join us?”
[Translator’s Note: My family failed me so badly, and mess up my life plans. I had an argument with them today because they said I should be graceful for what I have because others are worse off.]
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