Travel · Imperial Capital Arc (Seventeen): A Certain Xiao's Kidney Crisis (Part One)

Imperial Capital, another ordinary afternoon.

"Phew~ Good morning..." Xiao Ling, still half asleep and sporting a messy hairstyle, walked out of the room.

"Xiao Yu, it's already afternoon?" Yangyang greeted from the living room, adding gently, "You look tired. Are you alright?"

"Really?" Xiao Ling asked in a hoarse voice, "I'm not sure, maybe I didn't sleep well..."

He walked wearily to the restaurant, ate a few bites of food, yawned repeatedly, and went back into his room, never to emerge again.

Seeing Xiao Ling's listless appearance, Yangyang's worries deepened.

He had been in this state for almost a week. During this time, Yangyang asked him if he was sick, but he denied it each time.

Yangyang thought it would be great if Baizhi were here, so she could use her Resonance Ability to find the source of the other person's illness. It's a pity that she didn't come with her.

As for Xiao Ling's second aunt, Xiao Ji, she is currently on a business trip and will likely not be back for some time.

Thinking too much was pointless. Yangyang shook her head, clearing her mind of those chaotic thoughts, and decided to prepare some nourishing food for Hajiling tonight.

Xiao Ling has been having the same dream lately.

In his dreams, he was always being ruthlessly exploited by a mature woman with fox ears, a curvaceous figure, and a fox tail. Hajiling tried to resist, but she restrained him with even more ruthless methods, so he could only be forced to enjoy it.

He knew perfectly well that the woman he saw in his dream was Heartfox; he would recognize her even if she turned to ashes.

But he couldn't find any evidence, and he couldn't tell anyone that he'd been having these kinds of dreams lately, otherwise those girls who had already taken advantage of him would probably just think he was repressed and would take even worse measures against him...

This created a vicious cycle: when Xiao Ling was awake, he was taken advantage of by his girls, and when he was asleep, he was exploited by Heartfox in his dreams. Over time, even though his body had undergone several enhancements, he could not withstand this dual drain on his body and mind.

That's why he's been looking listless in the eyes of other girls lately, not because he's sick, but because he's overworked, both mentally and physically.

"Ha... should I ask Sister Qingxiao for help...?" In the room, a dejected Hajiling buried her head in the pillow and muttered to herself.

Not long after, still feeling exhausted, he fell fast asleep again.

Meanwhile, in Roccia's room.

"Have you also noticed that Ling seems to be lacking in energy lately?" Dania asked tentatively, looking at the other girls who had also been invited.

Those present at this moment are all Xiao Ling's bed partners. They share information and are naturally aware that Xiao Ling's physical condition has shown obvious abnormalities.

"Hmm." Roccia. "At least from what I can tell, this little rascal isn't as troublesome as before. I'm actually a bit unaccustomed to it."

"Could it be that you've lost feelings for us...?" Sigrika's pretty face betrayed her worry and panic. "I've heard it said that romantic relationships enter a plateau after a while, could that be the reason...?"

"How could that be!" Iuno immediately denied. "Just a few days ago he was practically glued to me all night, how could our feelings have faded in just a few days?"

"You're right, Iuno A-Yu's infatuation with us is extraordinary. He's been craving us ever since we started dating. How could he possibly get tired of us so easily?" Aemeath also disagreed with this so-called "plateau period" theory.

"On another note, has everyone been following the rules we agreed on?"

None of the women present hesitated; they all nodded vigorously twice in unison.

After observing everyone's reactions, Aemeath nodded in satisfaction and said, "Very good, it seems the scoundrel hasn't appeared among us."

For Xiao Ling's physical and mental well-being, the group of girls secretly established rules: each of them would have their own time to be alone with Xiao Ling late at night, and they would also set aside a day specifically for Xiao Ling to recuperate and recharge.

Although they knew that Xiao Ling's physical condition was much better than before, they still didn't intend to keep tormenting him. On the contrary, it was Xiao Ling who always tormented them to the point of exhaustion.

But his current state of lethargy can only mean one thing.

"There's a vixen stealing the food," Chisa deduced calmly.

(She really is a vixen.)

"That's quite possible," Dania nodded, arms crossed.

"Hmm? Xiao Ya, why do I feel like your size is a bit bigger than before?" The sharp-eyed Aemeath immediately noticed the change in Dania's front armor.

"Hmm... really? I don't feel anything—is this the time to talk about this?!" Dania was about to test it out herself when she suddenly realized the topic had gone off track and quickly corrected herself, "Shouldn't the focus right now be on finding that vixen who's been exploiting Ling behind our backs?"

"Does anyone have any leads on this?" Roccia followed up by asking the others about the clues they had.

"Hmm..." Sigrika pondered for a long time before shaking her head with a bitter face, "It seems there are no noteworthy clues. I've asked my senior, but he just won't say a word."

"I don't have any useful clues either," Aemeath said with a bewildered expression.

Chisa and Dania shook their heads in unison, indicating that they also lacked any crucial clues to solve the problem.

"Come to think of it, I do seem to have noticed some suspicious things." Iuno was the last to discover them, said that he had seen something suspicious.

"Tell me about it?" Roccia for Iuno to continue.

"Here's what happened. We all have one day a week reserved for Blank as a day off, right?" Iuno said seriously. "Then, late that night, when I came out of my room, I saw the head of the Fell Family push open Blank's door and go inside."

"Later when I asked her, she just told me she was discussing important things with Blank."

"Very suspicious, add her to the list of suspects." Roccia slightly grim expression, "Miss Cantarella entering Xiao Ling's room alone late at night is itself highly suspicious."

"Does Principal Roccia think that Sister Cantarella and A-Yu are already having an affair?" Aemeath guessed the implication of the principal's words.

"Hmm, otherwise why would she specifically choose to enter that guy's room when we're not around?" Roccia said quietly. "It's also possible that he himself leaked our arrangements to the family head."

"Should we confront her face to face?" Dania asked doubtfully.

"You guys should think about how to get Xiao Ling's health back in order first. As for Cantarella, leave that to me." Roccia took the initiative to take on this task.

"Thank you for your hard work, Principal!" Sigrika said with a sweet smile.

"It's alright, it's my duty." Roccia nodded with a light laugh.

(So this is also part of the principal's job...)

"So, let's move on to the second topic, about how to nourish A-Yu's body..."

At this moment, outside Roccia's room.

"Oh? Is that so?" Cantarella, who had overheard part of the conversation at the door, thought to herself, "No wonder he's seemed so listless lately; it turns out there was a thief causing trouble."

(Aren't you a thief to them too?)

"Hmm~ Perfect timing, we can test the effectiveness of that 'poison' now." She said with a meaningful smile.