~~~十二~~~

~~~狼和雪莲~~~

"You don't have to worry about wasting time, this should be quick," Xuělián said when she was met with the multiple wide eyes of her companions. She then walked past them to get some food from off the fire. "We were going to pass through Dingkun anyway and that's where she said her son was being held."

"Do you have a plan for how we're going to do this?" Dàoyì questioned as he stood behind her. He wasn't the only one who was curious about this, but the servants just stood back until called upon. The only ones who seemed actively concerned about the situation were the students.

"Dào-gē, none of you have to get yourselves involved, I'll have the entire situation dealt with by the time we have to leave the city," the princess replied with a shrug. Her posture was still straight, but surprisingly relaxed for wAcademy. They change every year so it's hard to know what to expect."

Long Hǎyáng let out a sigh before crossing his arms to ask, "No offense to you, Your Highness, but I don't think it's possible for us to stay out of this anymore." Before he could be questioned, the male stepped forward to continue, "You've already explained everything to us and it's our job as official mages to deal with things endangering the people. Right?"

Upon hearing the small words of agreement from most of the others, the ravenette shook her head with a small chuckle. She looked up at the male to say, "I think you've been spending too much time with your upperclassmen." She then clicked her tongue. "Thank you for the concern, I'll call upon your help if I need it, but honestly I can take care of it on my own or with help from local authorities. This practice is illegal after all."

"In the Yín Empire, it's illegal to sell hybrids but not for people to have children with magical beasts?" chimed the pink haired student with a haughty huff. Her eyes were narrowed as her face twisted into one of disgust. "It's honestly disgusting. The hunters wouldn't have anything to sell if the production was prevented in the first place."

"Kāihuā, I suggest that you shut your bratty little mouth. Right now," snarled the Seventh Princess. Her face bore no expression, but there was a fire raging deep within her eyes. "I have tried to tolerate your behavior as a sign of goodwill between empires, but your attitude is beginning to piss me off."

The temperature seemed to drop as she stood up to loom over the foreigner and continued, "Having children and starting a family with magical beasts is legal in the Jin Empire as well, you know?" Her eyes seemed to glow against her silhouette as she stood with her back against the fire. "You've just insulted your own empire as well with your ignorant statement."

The woman's spiritual pressure could not be felt, but it wasn't needed to keep everyone else quiet. The pupils of the charm magic user dilated slightly to see that the other's fists were clenched so tightly at her sides that they began to shake.

"I've already resolved to keep quiet about your behavior to my emperor so that it wouldn't reflect badly on your empire as a whole or your well behaved companions, but don't think that I won't take that kind of slander against living beings again," she warned in a low tone. "Am I understood?"

Kāihuā could only nod wordlessly before the princess turned on her heel and retreated into her tent. The higher level mage was gone, but the pressure of her presence remained and the one on the receiving end of her venom couldn't help but shiver. The state she endured felt like how she imagined death would be, there was no escape and there were no lies, just the cold hard promise of what would happen should she act out of line again.

The others stood frozen in their spots, too shocked by their companion's display of cold seething rage to do anything in the moment. It wasn't until the soft whimpers of their classmate reached their ears that they returned to reality.

Looking over at the shaking form of the Heart-Eating Swallowtail user with tears streaming down her face, they still couldn't help but feel bad for her even though this situation would have happened eventually. The princess had been tolerant of the other’s blatant insults and attitude ever since they arrived. It wasn't surprising that even she would run out of patience to deal with it.

"Kāihuā, we tried to warn you that your actions would come back to bite," the orange haired female spoke as she shook her head. There was a frown on her face as she looked down at her classmate with arms crossed over her chest. "The Seventh Princess isn't one to take things completely lying down."

The Lùsè twins nodded along with their senior's words as they sat on either side of the girl. They stroked comforting circles into her back, but said nothing as they believed that the young noble deserved what had just happened. They had witnessed how she treated other girls who she saw as threats to whatever relationship she wanted with Dàoyì. She had definitely gotten the lighter end of the stick of karma.

Meanwhile, Xuělián was sitting in her tent with the small snake in her lap as she twirled her flute around in her fingers. She still wore her black crop top and haori, but her shorts were replaced with fluffy pink pajama pants to keep her legs warm as she slept. It was colder camping outside than it was inside an inn so she had to change to accommodate for it. A soft chime sounded throughout the small tarp structure as the bell hanging over her chest hit the pewter pentacle she wore.

Purple eyes were cast downwards as her fingers went over the carved piece of bone. In between the blow hole and the first tuning hole was a carving of a nine tailed fox beast. They were said to bring great luck despite their mischievous nature so it wasn't uncommon for them to be carved or drawn into various items. Unlike the female who tended to carve plants and flowers into her own instruments, her father would carve creatures of both common and mythical backgrounds.

As she stared down at the pointed eyes of the creature, she realized that it was probably a hint about her mixed blood. 'Papa, Mama,' the woman thought with a sigh as she ran her fingers over the carving once more. 'I wish that you could have at least told me about this. Then, I would have been more careful that day and you wouldn't have died at the hands of a hybrid hunter.'

The female quickly shook her head before patting her cheek as she came up with a counterpoint. 'No. Stop that!' she internally scolded before placing the instrument back in her basket. She then fell back onto her pillow and formed her blanket cocoon. 'Everything happens for a reason. If that didn't happen, then I wouldn't have ended up as successful as I am today. I wouldn't have Dào-gē by my side if that didn't happen. I'll always have them in my heart, but I can't afford to dwell on the past anymore... I can't make the same mistake in this life...'

When the sun rose the next morning, everyone began waking up to see that the princess was already dressed and halfway done packing her tent. Her hair was parted down the middle and done in twin braids that fell down her back instead of her usual braided circlet. She wasn't in the mood to deal with stray strands of hair falling in her face as she tried to pack things away in the dark.

"Morning, Everyone!" she chirped upon seeing the others begin to emerge from their own tents. Her anger seemed to have subsided from the night before, but she did not even acknowledge the pink haired woman. "I hope you slept well."

"We did, and you, Lián-mei?" questioned her sworn brother as he stepped forward wearing their house uniform. There was a small smile on his face as he reached out and placed a hand on top of her head. "You seem to be full of energy this morning."

"I wouldn't say that, Dào-gē," the ravenette chuckled in return, nuzzling into his hand a bit before she returned to her work. The tent was taken down and the poles were tied together so she just needed to fold the tarp. "I'm just trying to get things done so we can get to Dingkun faster."

The male nodded before noticing that some strands of hair were sticking out from her hastily done braids. As she packed the tarp and poles into their designated bag, he asked, "Do you want me to fix your braids for you?" This earned multiple looks from the others as a man even touching a woman's hair was quite an intimate action in their societies.

Xuělián tensed slightly and looked back at him with raised brows only to see that he just looked at her with a calm smile. He had said that in front of everyone on purpose. 'Looks like I don't have to worry about being rejected when I finally decide to confess,' she thought while giving him a small nod. 'Which might need to happen sooner than I expected.'

"You can do that when we're back in the carriage. Go help your classmates with their tents first," the woman replied while nudging him back to the others. She then gestured over to the other blue haired male who seemed to be struggling with his own.

Dàoyì let out a sigh, shaking his head before giving a small hum of agreement. He then walked over to assist the young nobleman, earning a soft giggle from the female before she went to assist the servants who were packing everything into the rear carriage.

It took just under an hour to get everything packed up before they had a quick breakfast that was made by the other servants that came along while things were being packed. It wasn't anything big, just some eggs and bacon with toast to fill everyone up before they set out on the road once more.

As promised, the Seventh Princess undid her braids in the carriage and sat on the floor of the carriage, in between the fellow orphan's legs, before handing him her hair brush. While relishing in the tool and his fingers working at her hair, the female made conversation with the two who sat in front of her. Due to Kāihuā's most recent behavior, the foreign exchange students thought it would be best to have her switch carriages with Shīmāo for the rest of the trip.

Their conversation ranged from sharing the various adventures everyone has been on with their vastly different backgrounds to exchanging information. The adopted royal knew quite a bit about magical beasts, more than any books could tell them and it was quite intriguing for the scholastic focused mage. He supposed that it was from their difference in experiences in the outside world, but something in the back of his head was telling him otherwise.

Even before the seven had departed Jin's capital city to travel to the Yín Empire, he had heard of the notorious Seventh Princess. She had just appeared one day with no warning and was soon adopted into the imperial family with no real explanation. The girl was the fourth strongest out of the eleven already existing imperial children since the Thirteenth Prince wasn't born until a year after her crowning. She even managed to maintain this ranking amongst her siblings while growing stronger and gaining more power by becoming a Soul Maiden at the best magic academy in the empire.

When the male was done braiding, he used her simple silver hair stick to hold the ends in a small bun at the back of her head before handing her brush back. He then helped her back up onto the seat next to him, earning a quick thanks before the Iron-Throated Devil slithered up onto her lap.

Dingkun was a large village that marked the halfway point between the Yín Elite Academy and the Castro Academy of Magic. It wasn't as luxurious as some of the other places the group has been to, but it wasn't poor either. It was an average farming village in which its citizens made their income from their production of rice and other basic crops.

Despite its large size, the village was surrounded on all sides by three different forests that no one dared to cut down. They were home to varying magical beasts which gave the village a natural defense from any robbers or raiders; however, this also made it an underground hotspot for poachers and hybrid hunters.

'If memory serves me correctly, the prime minister in charge of this region said that the illegal poachers and slave traders had all been arrested,' the ravenette thought as she rested her head on her right companion's shoulder. They wouldn't get to their destination until early afternoon so they passed the time with conversation. 'Well, not only is someone about to get executed for lying to the emperor but his whole family is going to have their noble titles taken away to pay for the rest of his crimes.'

A small squeak left the woman's lips as she leaned the other way to stretch out her arms and back. This earned a small chuckle from the blue haired male before he asked, "Are you getting sore from sitting down for so long?" There was a large smile across his face as she narrowed her eyes at him. "Do we need to stop for a bit and stretch?"

"Dào-gē, is it necessary for you to make fun of me like this?" Xuělián huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest. Her lips were turned down in a small pout as she leaned against the carriage wall to her left.

"I'm sorry, Lián-mei, but that was too cute for me not to point out," the mage replied as he reached up to scratch the back of his neck. His features softened when he saw her reaction and bit his lip to keep from laughing.

Purple eyes widened once their owner comprehended the compliment on her being. Almost immediately, she could feel heat rush up to her face and lifted her hands up to them. She did this in hopes that she could cover them before the others could see how red they were but it was too late. Everyone else in the carriage had already seen the bright scarlet hue her porcelain complexion had shifted into and they were very amused.

The two males had tried to spare her pride by covering their smiles and trying to quiet their chuckles, but the fourth was another story. Tiě had no shame in showing her amusement as she was bent over laughing with tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

"Please stop," the female pleaded as she closed her eyes and turned to the window. Unfortunately for her, this only caused the orange haired female to laugh harder.

She slapped the open part of the seat to her right and gasped before exclaiming, "Oh my god! This is gold!" Some more laughs escaped her before she continued, "The most intimidating princess in the world gets flustered just by being called cute! It's too good!"

The subject of the warrior's laughter let out a small whine as she felt the others' stare into her condensed form. 'Fuck. I am going to throw myself into the nearest lake!' she thought while curling further into herself. The heat in her face began to spread and she could feel it in her neck. 'This is so cursed!'

By the time the small caravan reached Dingkun, it was already afternoon. The students and their chaperone just waited in their carriages as one of the guards rented out an entire inn for their overnight stay. With how many people there were in their group compared to the size of the inn, it was a reasonable request. When the guard returned, they began filing out of the vehicles with the servants bringing out their luggage and bringing them up to the rooms.

Since they were in an area that was outside the capital, Xuělián wore her clay fox mask with features accented in red. It got some stares from some of the locals who were just passing by, but she paid them no mind. She was used to having eyes on her at this point even though it wasn't something that she was entirely comfortable with. Since it was difficult to see her eyes unless one stood right in front of her, the female would use just her eyes to look around without others knowing.

There wasn't anything notable about the village if an ordinary person were to look with just their naked eye. There were houses made of wood and stone, various stores that littered the market place, and friendly looking people working in the fields; however, she knew something was off. Despite the overall friendly energy that radiated all around the village, there was still something unnerving about it.

It was relatively quiet once everyone got settled into their rooms and had finished unpacking for the night. All of the female students shared a room and all of the male students shared a room, but the princess had a room of her own right next to theirs. This was not only due to the lack of room with the other females, but also because of their difference in status that the guard arranged it that way.

Even if the adopted royal was allowed to act more casually than the others who were born into the position, her servants were not. The servants and guards appointed to serve the imperial family were trained to keep formalities unless they wanted to receive punishment.

As the ravenette sat at the table in her room, her eyes were focused on the window instead of the food in front of her. As she rested her chin on her right hand she thought, 'Now how should I go about finding them?' A small hiss echoed from across the table as Nana dug into her own meal. 'I can use my spiritual pressure, but then I would just be exposing myself as a hybrid... I guess a pendulum would be my safest bet.'

Before the woman could get further lost in thought, a knock at her door brought her back to reality. She immediately perked up and looked at the sliding screen saying, "You can come in. It's not locked."

She was not surprised to see Dàoyì's face once the door opened and gave him a small smile as he stepped inside. His expression soon faded upon seeing the untouched dishes in front of her and he sat in the seat to her right.

"Lián-mei, if you're really going after that kid, then you're going to need to eat your meals," he spoke in a gentle tone. His hand was warm as it reached out to cover one of her own and rub small circles into the back of her hand using his thumb.

"I know, I will," the woman assured with a small smile as she lightly squeezed the appendage given to her. She then let go to pick up her chopsticks and begin picking at the food that had already gone cold. "I just got a bit distracted, but I was going to eat. I'm not going to let food be wasted."

"Have you found out where the hunters are yet?" the male asked as she took a bite of some meat. He noticed that she was eating slower than usual which meant she was still thinking about something. "They're still here. Right?"

The female nodded before swallowing her food. "They're still here," she said before taking a sip of her tea. After letting the warmth from the drink run through her system, she let out a sigh. "I don't know where exactly their base is yet, but it will be revealed soon enough. Secrets don't stay sercrets for long in my presence."

"It looks that part of you has stayed the same as well," chuckled the man with the blue hair as memories from their childhood surfaced once more. "It was like you knew everyone's secrets as soon as you felt their presence. It was too hard to keep things from you."

"That's just because I'm nosy," she replied. Her nose scrunched up slightly as she snickered at her own memories. "I was like this in my previous life too and it has saved my ass as a female in the palace. Having blackmail is a basic shield and you need it if you want to last more than a month in that place."

The two continued to converse through the ravenette's meal until the sun went down and she decided that it was time to go. She stood up from her seat and fastened the mask around her face before turning to the male.

"I'll be back in a few hours at most," she said while approaching her door. The female decided to leave Nana in the care of her sworn brother so she had less to worry about when she went in. "Make sure you go to sleep early and don't wait for me. Things might get a bit messy."

Once she exited the inn, the masked woman reached around her neck and took off the black cord that her Miracle Bell hung from. She held her hand out so that the bell dangled directly in front of her and kept herself steady so that it didn't move.

When the bell was completely still, she allowed her spiritual energy to trickle down into the object before instructing, "Show me yes." Immediately, the bell began to swing straight back and forth. With one of the base motions confirmed, she reset the bell without stopping her energy flow before commanding, "Show me no." The bell slowly began to swing in circles that went in a clockwise direction. The circles kept on getting bigger, but she stopped the bell and brought it to her chest before taking a deep breath.

The female now had a clear intent on what she wanted so she held the necklace out once more and focused her eyes on the bell. With a firm, determined voice she said, "Show me the base of the hybrid hunters."

The bell was still for a few moments before it suddenly jolted in place and began rapidly swinging south of where the ravenette stood. She saw a large barn or storehouse standing directly where the bell was swinging. A small hum left her mouth before she stopped the bell and was about to put it back on when a rustle caught her attention.

Her eyes flicked back to the inn without moving her head before the female let out a huff. 'Ugh, so they're starting to disobey my instructions now,' she thought while walking off in the direction that the bell pointed. She knew exactly who was following her, but didn't bother calling them out just yet. 'If they complain about being tired tomorrow, then someone is getting slapped.'

Upon reaching the store house, the ravenette turned around and said, "I would come out now if you plan on going in with me." The mask turned to the bushes that rustled behind her. "It would be too difficult for you to get in behind me, given the fact that I plan on playing the violence card tonight."

"Eh, Your Highness, did you know that we were following you this entire time?" asked the first one to pop out of the foliage. Her orange hair and eyes were piercing through the dimly lit night as she blinked over at the masked mage.

"Yes, you all did a decent job at concealing your presence but I have strong instincts so that won't work on me," she replied as the others slowly emerged from the greenery. Her arms were crossed over her chest as she saw everyone but the blue haired noble and charm mage. "You really don't like following instructions now do you?"

"Lián-mei, we just want to help you get rid of these hunters," Dàoyì explained as he stepped forward. There was a determined look in his eyes as he then gestured back at the store house. "What these people are doing is cruel and wrong. We can't stand for that."

The princess let out a long sigh and shook her head. She was silent for a few moments before looking up at each one of them, "Normally, I wouldn't be so against this, but I really don't want any of you to see what I'm about to do." Her voice was completely serious as a cold breeze caused her hair to flutter lightly. "I genuinely hate hybrid hunters and will show no mercy when I come across any one of them. I actually like all of you so I don't want you to think badly of me because of this."

Blue eyes softened at the female's confession laced with warning, but before he could say anything his senior spoke up.

"Your Highness," Shīmāo called with a straight face, "We may not understand your grudge against these people, but we know you. What you do tonight will not change our view of you."

"That's right, everything we've seen you do so far is for a reason," Lùsè San started as she stepped forward with a small smile.

Shi came up from behind her with a matching expression before continuing, "You're definitely not a bad person from what we can see."

The three's statements were only backed up by the remaining two exchange students, but the ravenette still shook her head. Her hands found themselves at her hips as she said, "We'll see if that view stays the same after you actually see what I do." She then turned to face the doors of the building. "I won't blame you if you start to hate me after this."

Dàoyì opened his mouth to protest, but she had already moved forward to silently open the wooden doors. They slid open with a grating sound. She had to move slowly and only opened it enough so that she could slip through.

With her eyes closed, she could pick up on the soft cries only magical beasts could hear. A growl threatened to escape the woman's lips as she recognized the 'voices' as those that belonged to children.

'How many families did these people tear apart?' the woman thought while following the calls. She trusted the others to follow carefully as she easily navigated her way through the pitch black interior. 'I bet it won't be more than how many pieces they're going to be in when I'm done with them.'

She got closer and closer to the source until the female stopped right in front of a wall. Purple eyes narrowed from behind her mask before taking a few steps back. Their owner then held out her right hand before surging some of her energy outwards.

'Drawing from the element of Spirit: Dispel!'

Right before everyone's eyes, the cement floor warped to reveal a large trap door. It was made of sturdy wood with a matching latch and didn't seem to have any locks. She knelt down and tried it only to find that the door opened without a problem.

"Alright," Xuělián started as she opened it fully to see a ladder going straight down. She then stood up to face the others who awaited her instructions. "Stay together, don't get separated, and don't let anyone get in between you. The main goal is to save whoever is being kept down there but you can't do that if you endanger yourself, understand?"

"Yes," they all answered at the same time. This earned a single nod from the princess before pointed translucent purple ears and eight matching tails appeared on her form. There was no more room for any deliberation as she turned and jumped straight down into the hole. Not even two seconds passed before multiple crashes and shouts could be heard coming up from the opening.

With a new sense of urgency spreading amongst the foreigners at the massive amounts of energy they felt, they each descended the ladder in their own ways. Tiě and Shīmāo just jumped straight down, activating their Astral Spirits part way to prevent injuring themselves from the descent. Meanwhile, Dàoyì and the twins slid down the ladder one by one, pushing energy out through their palms to keep them from getting burned by the friction.

As soon as they reached the bottom, everyone was met with a large room made of stone. It was very open with multiple tunnels leading off in different directions with high ceilings. Luckily, it was very easy to see thanks to the various torches on the walls and the large metal chandelier that hung from the ceiling.

Right at the center of the room was the adopted Seventh Princess of the Yín Empire surrounded by at least fifteen people. She held a wide stance with most of her weight balanced equally on the balls of her feet. The fox mask slowly moved from side to side, keeping watch of her enemies as her tails whipped back and forth. None of them dared get any closer to the translucent appendages as they looked down at the seven corpses of their comrades who had tried to do so first.

"I'll give you one chance to possibly spare your lives so listen up!" she barked. Purple eyes almost seemed to glow through the slits in her mask as they scanned over all of the hunters. "Tell me where all the children you've stolen are and if they're unharmed, then I'll deliver you all up to the Emperor instead of slaughtering you myself!"

"Sorry to burst your bubble, lady, but that ain't happening!" retorted one of the hunters as he brandished a large sword.

"Yeah, all of you are stupid for coming down here!" added a female, activating her own Astral Spirit. Red aura condensed into rounded ears at the top of her head and a scaled tail from her lower back. Her eyes flicked over to the students. "Who do you think you are to challenge us?!"

Before the princess could answer, a strong burst of energy exploded from just underneath the ravenette. Her eyes widened as it made contact with her mask, shattering it to pieces, before she was sent flying upwards as she thought, 'Shit!'

Much to her students' relief, the woman grabbed onto the chandelier with her tails before flinging herself towards them. She flipped backwards in the air before landing softly on her knees just in front of them.

"Lián-mei, are you alright?" questioned the blue haired male as he knelt down next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. Long strands of jet black were still falling back into place as she let out a breath with narrowed eyes before she slowly stood up "What spell was that?"

"Leer," Shīmāo identified as he stepped forward to help the female up. Green eyes darted around the large crowd that began to surround them before narrowing. "It's a spell that allows the user to identify exactly what the target's capabilities are while pushing them away, but it can only be used by someone with the Leering Guardian as an Astral Spirit."

"That is correct!" cackled a deep voice. All heads turned to one of the tunnels to see an older male walking into the light with his hands held out to his sides. Perched atop his shoulder was a large bird made of translucent green energy and no face. "You are quite a knowledgeable boy."

All of the hunters began cheering at the arrival of the newcomer, turning their attention to him. On the other hand, the ravenette could only crack her neck as she glared daggers into his form with pupils narrowed into slits.

"Today is truly a lucky day for us!" he cackled with a twisted smile. His followers began asking why before he gestured forward at the female with purple eyes. "A Fox Beast hybrid with eight tails would make us all filthy rich."

~~~Fin. Chapter 12~~~