Jurogumo by ear

"Halt!" One of the guards commanded, which made Miko jump in surprise. Tashi chuckled at her reaction, "Aww, don't be scared, they aren't even comming towards us."

Miko blushed a little in embarrassment, but turned to look at where he pointed. He was right, the guard was merely following the standard procedure of checking the carriage and carts of the merchant that had entered. At least that was something that never changed even in the previous dynasty.

Miko and Tashi continued in, blending amongst the crowded area. Miko lowered her guard slightly after passing through with no problems, and released a deep breath. Since her cultivation level was roughly the same as the person she was possessing, she was sure his body would be able to support both their souls, as well as cover her aura if she made sure not to accidentally leak any of her own. She would be safely hidden. However, upon entering the city, Miko felt a sharp increase in sword qi, a type of spiritual energy that could only be manifested by humans. With so many sword and cultivation masters concentrated in this city, Miko could not help but feel oppressed. That was probably one of the defence tatics to deter spirits from entering.

"It is quite late already. Shall we have some dinner?" Tashi asked. Miko nodded, and they set off to look for an inn.

They soon found an inexpensive inn at a decent location, and sat down for dinner there. Looking at the menu, Miko could tell that the food there was expensive, even if she was never really great with human currency in the first place. She glanced at him awkardly, to which he smiled and said, "It's on me, I made quite abit these past few days, and the time you were away." Miko smiled reassuringly and selected what she wanted.

Tashi raised his hand, waving a waiter over to take their order. One medium rare steak for her and one roasted lamb for me," Tashi said. The waiter nodded, before swiftly leaving to the kitchen for the cooks to prepare their meal.

Sipping on some water while waiting, Tashi couldn't help but comment, "This place is definitely the best compared to the other towns and villages." It was true. Although this inn wasn't it the best of locations, it certainly seemed to fair as well as, if not even better when compared to their village. There were mamy people, either chatting animatedly or busily eating their dinner. The interior was also tastefully decorated, with a giant, crystal chandelier hanging on the ceiling above them, giving light to the whole room. There were also some small paintings adorned by a carefully carved photo frame hanging on the walls, a sight unable to be seen in smaller, poorer inns.

"Definitely," Miko agreed.

"Anyway, would you like to tour the capital tommorrow? I am not sure if you have been here before, but I have been here a few times, and I wouldn't mind taking you to some good places," Tashi asked, a small blush creeping up his cheeks.

"Sure, I don't mind," Miko answered with a smile, although deep down, she must admit she was a little nervous.

Both their dinners soon came, and they focused on eating more than chatting. It wasn't because they had nothing to talk about, but rather because it was late and they were hungry. However, while eating, Miko's ears couldn't help but fine tune and listen to other's conversation. Incidentally, she overheard a passing conversation between two men.

"Did you hear what happen? Just a few days ago, I heard one of the live prey captured by the third prince in the Atsunji forest in the south escaped! I heard the guards there were careless, so it escaped unnoticed for quite a few hours..."

"I think it should be fine... There are quite many powerful cultivators here to prevent or at least reduce the damage."

"No, I heard it was quite a powerful one... I think seventh stage? The prince sure is powerful! He could subdue such a monster!"

"Ehh, some species are easier to kill then others, so they are more easy to defeat, you wouldn't know since you don't have such a talent to cultivate."

"I heard it was a jurogumo. I would say that is impressive since its not an ordinary spider that you catch..."

"I can catch spider spirits... you are the one catching the ordinary household spider..."

Miko gripped her fork as she continued to eat. The capital was a dangerous place if someone liked the third prince existed in it. If he was already this strong, what about the emperor? A jurogumo is not an ordinary spider spirit. It is a more powerful, more evolved version of a spider spirit, like how kitsunes were more evolved versions of fox spirits. Characteristically, they are half spider, half human, with the ability to grow spider legs on their back, or transform their lower halves into spider bodies in their natural half human form. If it could be subdued by a prince, moving to the capital was definitely a suicide move if Miko had not made preperations.

"Did you hear that? So it seems like a Jurogumo had escaped here..." Miko asked. She wanted to get his opinion on this matter.

"I didn't really hear them clearly, but yes, I caught some bits of their conversation," Tashi replied, "Don't worry, with so many powerful people here, it is as good as dead when caught. And besides, how far can it run in this city whole avoiding detection?" Although his words were harsh to Miko, she could still feel that he was trying to reassure her, which made her heart somewhat fill with warmth. She nodded and continued eating, although she prayed hard for it to escape successfully. With some masters dispatched to the neighbouring town where a snake spirit had attacked previously, it hopefully had a higher chance of escaping.