Amongst the humans

Miko decided to try her luck and entered the building. As she entered, she could roughly sense the ranks of these cultivators. Luckily, they did not exceed fifth stage, and there were very few of them in this large shop. Unfortunately, she was only on the second stage. Miko suppressed her aura further, and carefully avoided those stronger than her, so that her aura didn't override the humans' and she wouldn't be noticed. The last thing she wanted was for someone powerful enough to sense her. She looked around the shops, examining the goods. She saw high tiered spirit stones for sale, as well as some rare herbs. Looking further, she saw hunted beasts for sale. Most of them looked like they weren't sentient, thankfully. Miko continued to look, when she heard a familiar shrill voice.

"I want a pet. Preferably, a pink fox." The voice commanded.

"Sure, sure young miss! We have sentient beasts for sale! Whether for labour or eye candy, I'm sure you can find one which matches your needs!" Another voice answered, presumably the shop keeper.

Miko immediately recognised her voice. It was none other than the young woman from some wealthy family who she scratched on her face.

"Was her name Aimi? That woman, she said she wanted to marry me to some pet fox! How rude!" Miko thought, hiding in the corner. Aimi and the shopkeeper approached to see a long line of cages.

"This is for the smaller animals on sale. As for larger animals, we can let you see some simple paintings first before we send them to you." The shopkeeper explained.

"Mmm. Let me see your foxes." Aimi insisted. "Stupid marketing scheme," She thought. The shopkeeper obliged, and brought her to where a few foxes are kept. Miko followed them silently from behind.

"These are our foxes," the shopkeeper said.

"The're all brown! I want a pink one. One that has roughly salmon pink fur specifically, and hot pink eyes." Aimi insisted.

"Uhh, young miss, it is quite... difficult to catch a divine beast, which seems like what you are speaking of. Not only that, but rarely do our suppliers hunt that deep into the forests where they are found... These are really all the foxes we have..." The shopkeeper patiently explained, although he looked like he was about to scream in anger. After all, Aimi was a marquis's daughter who could marry the next ruler!

"Tsk, nevermind then, I'll look for other pets," Aimi said, waving the shopkeeper away, "Oho, this snake, it does look gorgeous,"

"Of course, this is one of the few sentient beasts we have. It has got the colouring of a evolved beast, but it is still too weak for us to determine which type. We were able to catch it as it is still young, and due to them being solitary in nature. This will make a good pet for you, young miss." The shopkeeper smiled.

Aimi waved the shop keeper to pack up the snake, while she eyed it without looking away. It was dark purple in colour, with dark, emerald green eyes. The end of its tongue was pitch black, and its belly was white. If the shopkeeper hadn't said anything, she was sure to have mistaken it as a evolved beast, as they usually have bolder colouring and patterns. This normal beast however, was probably made by a pairirng of a spiritual and evolved snake.

Miko stood by the corner, feeling pity towards the beast. She was in a dilema whether to save it.

"Do you smell that?" A customer whispered behind.

"Yes. It is faint, but it is definitely present," another replied.

"Its the scent of a spiritual beast - among us, srronger than those caged ones."

Miko knew they were definitely talking about her. Those customers were cultivators, seeming to be at the fourth stage. It would be no surprise they could sense Miko. Miko tried to keep calm, and feign ignorance. If she acted normal enough, nobody would notice, or so she hoped.

Suddenly, the large doors of the shop entrance slammed close. A loud screeching sound echoed throughout the building, its source from the heavy, metal doors.

"Everyone stay calm! A spirit beast is lose! We will do our best to control the situation, everyone who is strong enough can aid in battle!" The shop keeper yelled. Panic spread through the crowd as the windows slammed shut, as if strong wind was blowing. Except, there wasn't any wind. An eerie laughter spread throughout the shop, as light faded from the building as each window was shut forcefully. Many cultivators began to ready for battle, even the weakest ones. Even if they couldn't fight, they needed to be prepared to escape. Strong auras began to fill the building as the many cultivators got ready, a slight flame burning on their body which represented their strength. That slight aura lit up the enclosed building devoid of light, and Miko decided to take this chance to look for the bottle. If she was lucky, they could be distracted enough for her to steal it. However, she could not release any spiritual aura or she would be mistaken as the beast terrorizing this place. She could feel a stronger aura nearby, that of a snake beast. Spiritual beasts had a keener sense for auras and could tell apart different species of beast, as well as the different constituitions in humans which contribute to their aura. However, humans were more dull on this sense, being only to tell apart other humans, beast, ghost, plant and elemental spirits. Miko decided to not use much energy and transformed into an adorable pink fox. She ran across the shelves, still careful not to cause a racket bigger than the one already present.

"Everyone, hold your horses! I sense a second spirit!" One of the humans hollered, which made everyone raise their guard further. Miko froze in her tracks as well, knowing she had very well been discovered. Sure, they might not tell her aura apart from that snake, but they could tell there was a second beast present as there were too areas concentrated with more of a beast aura. Miko didn't want to hesitate further and grabbed the bottle next to her. She had found it! She proceeded to jump out from the shelf hiding her, which caught the attention of more then a few other cultivators. Even though there was barely any light, they could see the faint outline of a beast flashing by, like a mere shadow.

"Get that one!" One of them instructed, pointing towards Miko with his index finger, which resulted in over ten cultivators starting the chase for her. Oh boy, this was going to be long...