Chapter 3

After hours of searching for Kuroka around Kyoto, it became apparent that trying to find a wanted criminal in a big city without a single clue about her location was a tiny more difficult than I expected at first, but calling this whole journey a failure would be highly inaccurate.

Every Young Master worth his salt understood that sidequests are of vital importance in any kind of adventure, which means blindly exploring the city would be beneficial to my cultivation regardless of my actual goal. There are hundreds of hidden experts disguised as ordinary mortals waiting for the chance to test a wandering young man by asking seemly mundane favors to check whether or not they are worthy of countless heavenly defying treasures they secretly possess. It only makes sense that I would rather spend my time helping an elderly couple to clean a Buddhist temple than visiting one very famous spa with Ravel. While she wastes her time on skin treatments that people with regeneration do not really need, I will be receiving some secret cultivation manuals from the hidden experts after my job is done.

Foolish little sister....

In a strange turn of events, all those ordinary mortals I helped ended up being just ordinary mortals instead of godlike experts as common-sense dictates. While it is true that one elderly couple gave me some Buddhist Scriptures after I helped to paint some old Buddha statues, they are worse than useless to me since I'm a Daoist, which mean that Buddhists are people that I should be wary of.

At least Ravel seems to be having a good time talking amicably with that hot kitsune lady over there.

"You did not tell me that you brother was a monk."

"He isn't."

"Are you sure about that? He certainly fits the rumors going around about the strange Buddhist devil helping the elderly around here."

The fox girl smiles in a coquettish fashion at me, offering a breathtaking view of her generous cleavage. She appears to not be wearing underwear…nice.

Maybe I should let Ravel wander on her own more often.

Actually, that sounds like a terrible idea. She is not ready to deal with those shameless MCs who believe that rape is a valid seduction tactic.

"Those are just the stuff that he stole from some guys who tried to attack us."

"You did mention something like that, I guess. Shouldn't he have a staff then?"

"I don't want to talk about that." Ravel flinches at the memory of what happened to that guy's chrysanthemum, something that I am not sorry about. That was something that she needed to learn at some point. "Riser, this is Kaguya. I met her in the spa, and she says that she is willing to introduce you to a few youkai that can teach you senjutsu for the right price. Can we stop looking for the dangerous criminal now?"

...Why is Ravel introducing a badly disguised Kuroka to me right now?

It's impossible that someone as smart as my sister hadn't noticed the similarities between the rogue cultivator's disguise and her real appearance. There must be something I am not seeing since even a blind idiot would have realized that they are the same person.

Then again, Ravel has always been talented at strategy games, so I should assume that this is part of her master plan. By introducing her like this, my sister is telling me to play along with this charade and take the opportunity to seduce Kuroka before she realizes that she has been found.

My sister is truly wise.

"This young master's name is Riser Phenex. It appears that fate is smiling upon me today; it's not everyday that one gets to meet such a lovely lady."

"What a gentleman!" Kuroka hides her mouth behind the sleeves of her kimono and giggles in a girly manner. "A Phenex, right? That explains why you're hot."

"It's likely one of our best qualities, right after our stamina."

"I suddenly feel like doing a marathon if you know what I mean."

"Could you stop flirting in the middle of the street?"

"Ravel-chan is right." Non-Kuroka sagely nods in agreement. "We should keep flirting in a restaurant instead."

This is getting both dangerous and exciting.

...

Rule 57

When an unknown cultivator acts flirty and invites a young master for a meal, there is a 70 % chance of her being a rogue cultivator that is planning to get the young master drunk in order to get information out of them and then steal their stuff.

To avoid castration and the loss of your wealth, you shouldn't try to have sex with them until they have opened their heart to you. If you managed to do this, congrats, this kind of femme fatale are known to be kinky in bed.

Do not worry, you can still enjoy the eye candy. Actually, make sure to enjoy the eye candy, they tend to take offense if you don't.

...

Accepting is likely a terrible idea.... but I really want to tap that ass in the future.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"I hope that you're enjoying the food. I know for sure that I'm enjoying the view."

"This young master is unable to decide if he feels the same. But I believe that a few more encounters like this would help me to reach a decision."

"Maybe I can do something to help you to decide sooner. Being indecisive doesn't fit a strong man like you."

"Can you shut up? I'm trying to eat this…thing." Ravel groans and continues to use her powers to cook a piece of shushi.

"You shouldn't be doing that. If you don't like shushi, I can get you another dish. How does fried rice sound?"

"Too much oil and fat."

"Don't worry, you're growing up." The rogue cultivator rolls her eyes and pokes Ravel's thighs with a mischievous smirk on her face. "Believe me, boys will love to see you with a little more fat in your body."

"Wh-Who said that I care about that?"

"I see, so you like that kind of fish." The fake kitsune blows a kiss at Ravel. "Come back in a few years and I will help you with that."

It is impossible for me to hide my smirk after witnessing this little exchange. It reminds me about how our older siblings would tease Ravel about her being picky with her food during dinner.

Now that I think about it, it has been a while since I had dinner with the rest of the family due to my cultivation sessions. Compared to enjoying this kind of moment with my loved ones, the path to immortality appears to be tedious and bleak...And yet I will continue because the alternative is worse.

Being weak is a little scarier than being lonely.

"Ravel told me that you came to this city because you wanted to learn senjutsu from a wanted criminal or something like that?"

"I don't remember ever saying that."

"My mistake, I meant to say cultivation."

"Who better to teach me how to defy the natural order of things than someone who had already defied the laws of hell?"

The answer to that question is obviously a loli ancestor, but I'm currently trying to earn a few brownies points with the very dangerous criminal in front of me, so indirectly offering her compliments is a must. Besides, this isn't even a lie per say; exchanging points with her would prove to be very beneficial for my understanding of the universe.

"Didn't the gal murder one of your so-called leaders or something?" She raises an inquiring eyebrow. "One would assume that your kind would want to put the rabid beast down before it bites anyone important."

"Calling them a rabid animal is a bit too much since it's unlikely that Naberous was innocent by any stretch of the word. It wouldn't be the first time that an abusive king was rightfully murdered by a member of his peerage. He made his bed using a tiger hide and laid on it; his death and the corrupted desires of the Ars Goetia have nothing to do with this young master."

"That is what I call hellish selfish point of view."

"I'm very selfish indeed." I shrug unapologetically. "Besides, the Ars Goetia only cares about that stuff either because they want to save some face, or they are hiding something."

She was obviously trying to fish for information about the current stance of our government regarding her case, but I didn't have anything to tell her that she didn't already know. They want her dead and that wouldn't change even if she had the most rightful and reasonable of reasons to get rid of Lord Naberous.

Just being honest about my own personal stance is the best thing I can do since right now I don't know what she really wants to hear.

"I think that I need more sake to be able to follow this conversation. Do you want some?"

I politely refuse the offer by shaking my head. Due to my powerful regeneration, it's impossible for me to get drunk by drinking regular alcohol and while some would call this a benefit, getting tipsy is the biggest reason why people drink alcohol in the first place. Since there is virtually no difference between alcohol and juice in my eyes, I usually choose the latter because it tastes better most of the time.

Although being incapable of getting drunk during celebrations could be tedious at times, having a curvy disguised nekoshou is hugging my arm after drinking enough alcohol to kill more than four regular mortals is truly a sight to behold with a clear mind.

"You know what? You are an okay guy, how about we go to some nice place and then I rock your world?" The fact that she is giving me a peek of her dust pink nipples only makes the offer even more tempting.

"I'm still here."

"Sorry Ravel, you're still too young to join us."

"NOT WHAT I MEANT."

In any other circumstances, I would have loved bedding the hot catgirl, but the holy book has already warned me than doing so before melting her cold heart would end in my castration.

"Kuroka, I believe that you teased my little sister enough for today."

The cat is out of the bag.

… I hate myself for that pun.

"Since when?" It is interesting to see how uttering a single name managed to make everyone tense.

Kuroka is now coldly glaring at me as my little sister sagely takes a step back in case a fight between experts starts.

"Since the very beginning." Disguising yourself as an incredibly attractive foxgirl wasn't the best way to hide the fact that you are actually an extremely attractive catgirl. "It was a bit obvious, but I just decided to play along since Ravel had a plan."

"..Yes, it was all part of my plan to create a situation where my brother could talk to you."

She is a really smart and filial sister.

With a heavy and tired sigh, Kuroka stopped her illusory technique, revealing her true appearance to us. The beautiful young woman with a long dark hair akin to a summer night stood before me in utter silence. Her big golden eyes would subtly glance at the door whenever my gaze got lost in her generous curves that would put most models to shame. It isn't just her body that is attractive, there is some kind of feline grace in her movements that makes her look quite refined even as she jumps on the table.

Had it not been for her two black tails twitching ever so slightly, she would have appeared to be relaxed even in this situation.

"Shame, I wouldn't have minded making some kittens with a Phenex ~nya." She laments as purple clouds of poisonous mist fill the restaurant. "Anyways, this much should be more than enough to knock you out for a few hours or even da- how are you two still awake?"

That's a fair question given that everyone in the restaurant has fallen into some kind of comatose state. The only ones seemly unaffected by the attack are Ravel and me.

"We're immune to most poisons." I explain. "Our mother made sure of that."

My mother, Damira Phenex, is an infamous poison mistress. She used to give me stronger sedatives than the one used by Kuroka in order to get me to stop crying when I was a baby. After years of her developing my immunity to poisons by adding increasingly larger doses of dangerous substances to my food and drinks, there are very few poisons that can give me even the slightest stomachache.

My mother really is a caring and gently person, although I'm pretty damn sure that she is the reason why father doesn't have a harem anymore.

"Maybe we should try talking like civilized devils." Ravel nervously proposes.

Because of the current circumstances, I choose to refrain from pointing out that she has just uttered an oxymoron. Devils are assholes and everyone and their mothers know that.

"Then I suggest that you all should let me escape and forget this ever happened. How does that sound?"

"I refuse." I instantly reply.

My future survival and my sister's chastity depended on me learning under the tutelage of the powerful expert backing the rogue cultivator in front of me.

I am not leaving empty handed.

"While this young master is both generous and magnanimous; there is a limit on how much I can ignore. The fact that you tried to poison my little sister makes you worthy of one thousand deaths." I say while covering the lower half of my face with a fancy looking fan which I received from a nice old lady this morning after I carried her groceries to her house. "Therefore, I will give you the chance to compensate this by serving me for ten thousand lives."

The fact that she hasn't thrown the knife infused with natural Qi that she's holding hopefully means that she is willing to listen. Either that or she is too dumbfounded to decide what to do.

"I know, I know. The offer sounds too good to be true, but this young master is whimsical and decided to take pity on his fellow Daoist. As long as you agree to exchange pointers every now and then, I swear to the heavens and myself that I shall shield you from any danger with my peerless reputation. In a few decades I should be reaching the Supreme Universal Calamity Realm, so the elders of the Devil Empire will be forced to give me some face if they want to avoid my righteous wrath."

The catgirl throws a glance at Ravel who just slammed her hand against her face.

"I think…that he is offering you a job. It should be easy for my family to forge some documents and create a false background for you and then say that Riser took a liking to you. As long as you wear a disguise, you should be able to go back to the Underworld as a regular servant."

That is a good summary of my generous offer, yes.

"With my blessed intellect, convincing everyone that you are just my Dao Companion or bodyguard should be child's play. I'm not asking you to trust us, but instead I am giving you the chance to use me and my resources as you see fit. Not only you'll able to remain in the Underworld without the Devil Empire being the wiser, but I also promise you access to any kind of information that our spy network can get their hands on."

Kuroka is still focused on my little sister for some reason. "And you are fine with this because…?"

Ravel actually scoffs at the question.

"Deceiving everyone in the Underworld is way easier than changing my brother's mind. Besides, if my brother says that you had a good reason for what you did, then that's the truth. Riser is always right except when I say he is wrong."

Instead of offering any kind of verbal reply, she sits down once again and pours some sake for herself as if nothing had happened. Her manners at the table are pretty decent, not flawless, but better than I expected from someone who was just about to attack me a moment ago.

It doesn't take long for Ravel and me to join her and finish the rest of the food. It is certainly strange to be doing this right now, but it doesn't feel unnatural by any means. Maybe there is a hidden meaning behind this, but I don't particularly care about that at this very moment.

By the time the table is empty, Kuroka suddenly starts to laugh out of nowhere.

"Weirdest job interview in my entire life."

"Are you coming with us?" I finally ask.

"Hell nya! You're cute and all that, but I literally just met you."

"Then let's make a bet. If I can get your ancestor's blessing, you will become this young master's bodyguard."

Everything is going according to my plan. Nobody with a functional brain would trust a random young master to help them out of the goodness in his heart. By making this bet not only I'm showing that I'm willing to put myself at risk in order to keep my word, but now I also have the opportunity to meet her ancestor and learn from them.

This scheming young master should not be underestimated.

The nekoshou grins mischievously and just as she is about to say something, she suddenly stops herself. Giving Ravel a quick glance, she shakes her head and lets out a long and tired sigh.

"My backer is Ophis, the apex of infinity. She kinda found me while I was running away from the Underworld and decided by herself that I would help her with something." She explains. "Look, I still can introduce you to good senjutsu user if you really want a teacher."

This isn't exactly what I had in mind when I planned this whole journey.

"Where do I find her?"

This is way better.