24. The Golden Maze - The Golden Toad 5

After the Golden Toad finished relaying orders to his subordinates, he returned to the guest room corridor and found two immortals, one tall and one strong, constantly collecting gold and jade jewels.

These two were arguing about something again. The piles of jewels that had been blocking their way were instantly wiped out, as if a typhoon had swept through and destroyed everything in its path. They quickly collected all the jewels that had been blocking the corridor into their storage rings.

The Golden Toad was overjoyed and so excited he almost cried.

"Masters, Masters, thank you all for helping this humble little toad clean these jewels! Thank you so much!"

That's what it said!

How could humans not crave money!

No sooner had it finished speaking than the two of them suddenly turned around and glared at it.

Bei Chen spoke up: "Who's faster, me or him!"

Gui Fang nudged him with his arm, "What's the point of competing in speed! It's about who collects the most!"

"You just said it was a competition to see who could collect it the fastest!"

"Isn't faster just more?"

"What kind of twisted logic are you spouting here, Gui Fang Wu Di? I'm breaking off all ties with you! I won!"

"I won! Stop pushing me, it's so annoying!"

"Don't push me!"

"You're bullying the weak!"

"You think you're weak? Who went to the rescue and slaughtered all of Yao Yuqian's men?"

"Enough with the nonsense, no jumping the gun!"

The Golden Toad was ashamed.

So these two were arguing?

The Golden Toad's eyes darted around, and he suggested, "Immortals, why not just use the Wishing Cocoon? That would be much faster!"

"A wishing cocoon?"

Bei Chen said with a hint of disgust, "It's another wishing cocoon. Those things look disgusting, like they're wrapped with worms. I don't want them."

Gui Fang, on the contrary, scrutinized the Golden Toad Elder more closely. "You seem quite enthusiastic about having us use the wishing cocoon? You're not up to any ulterior motives, are you?"

The Golden Toad was startled, and Gui Fang suddenly approached, "I find you, little frog, very suspicious! Don't you demons hate humans? Why are you so enthusiastic? Did you tamper with the wishing cocoon?"

"No, no, no!"

For some reason, Jin Chan Lao was particularly afraid of Gui Fang Wu Di. When Gui Fang Wu Di asked him a question in a suspicious tone, Jin Chan Lao was so frightened that he almost stammered, "Because the jewels in our maze are indeed the 'fruits' that grow from the wishing cocoons. If we just go to the wishing cocoons to ask for the jewels, we won't have to bother picking them up ourselves!"

Tang Xi asked again, "But, in such a large maze, where are your other companions?"

"Ouch!"

The Golden Toad instantly sprang to a distance, and upon closer inspection, discovered that the Dwarf Immortal was still standing behind where he had just been, with the Crow on his head.

This guy was already short and had no presence, and now he's even less noticeable.

"Did I scare you?" Tang Xihe still wore that harmless, kind smile. "Sorry, I didn't mean to."

"No, hahaha, Immortal Master, why do you walk so quietly?"

The Golden Toad chuckled awkwardly, "My other companions... they, they have things to do, they have to go to work."

Hurry up!

Jin Chan Lao secretly encouraged his underlings.

Even the slowest of them realized that the three immortals in front of them seemed to be putting on an act, and they didn't care how many jewels the wishing cocoon could produce.

But what is the purpose?

Are they playing mind games with each other?

Seeing Tang Xi staring at him without saying a word, Jin Chan Lao felt inexplicably uneasy. "Uh, Immortal Master, aren't you going to help us get the jewelry? Those two Immortal Masters are about to plunder all the jewelry in the entire corridor."

"I don't have any storage artifacts," Tang Xi said helplessly. "My storage ring shattered when I entered the blessed land."

How is that possible?

Even the lowest-grade storage artifacts require forging materials of at least mid-grade quality; this kid probably can't afford them...

No, how could someone who can't afford a storage ring be indifferent to jewelry?

The old toad felt something was off, but couldn't quite put his finger on it: "How could it be broken? How about I give you another one?"

"Isn't that bad?"

Tang Xi was deeply moved, but she politely declined, saying, "You went to so much trouble to entertain us all night, and you didn't even hold us accountable for damaging the wall. Now you're even offering me a storage magic item?"

"Hey! Why be so polite with me, Golden Toad?" Golden Toad waved his hand. "Come on, I'll give you one! I guarantee you'll have more jewels than they do!"

"..."

Tang Xi glanced at the two who were having a great time, and said, "No, I don't really want to compete with them."

"It must be tough coming out with two friends who don't get along, right?" The Golden Toad said knowingly, hinting, "Come on, don't be shy, I'd like to give you a storage magic artifact."

"You're really giving it to me?"

Tang Xi immediately dropped the pretense and said, "Let's go then, thank you. By the way, is there a pattern to when the wishing cocoons appear?"

Yes! Yes!

The Golden Toad grinned widely, like a salesman who had finally found the most promising customer among a group of greasy potential clients. He nodded vigorously, "If you want to see, I can take you there right now! Come on, let's go to the main hall and pick out a storage magic item."

Tangxi followed, carrying Pipi, saying, "Thank you for your help."

Pipi looked up at Tang Xihe with some unease, then craned his neck to look at the other two people who had already run far behind Tang Xihe.

Gui Fang and Bei Chen were at the other end of the corridor, their figures so small they were just dots.

"He went with him." Gui Fang was a little worried. "Can he handle it alone? He needs to be a good actor with no temper, and he's also bringing along a silly bird. Won't Pipi be scared and cry?"

"It's alright... Tangxi and I should be confident."

While offering words of comfort, Bei Chen himself wasn't entirely confident.

It was only then that Bei Chen belatedly realized that Tang Xihe actually had the audacity to accept an invitation from a toad demon as a matter of course, and even openly and brazenly freeloaded a night's lodging.

Bei Chen said seriously, "Let's go find the cocoon weaving machine."

·

Tangxi held Pipi tightly in her arms and followed the Golden Toad as it twisted and turned. All around was quiet except for the croaking of the Golden Toad as it hopped and jumped, its webbed feet stomping on the ground.

"Now we finally have a chance to speak freely," Tang Xihe suddenly exclaimed.

Jin Chan Lao's alarm bells rang loudly. He stopped at the corner ahead and waited for Tang Xi He.

"What does the immortal master want to say?"

...Did he find out?

The Golden Toad was a little nervous, knowing that with its current strength, it couldn't defeat any of the immortals.

"Old Man Golden Toad, there's something I'd like to ask you," Tang Xi said seriously. "Are there any kinds of demons whose primordial spirit, under extreme circumstances, can leave their bodies and parasitize a cultivator's body?"

Pipi: !!!

Pipi instantly perked up; it had been so confused after entering the maze that it had completely forgotten such an important matter!

The Golden Toad was taken aback, not expecting this question. He honestly replied, "Any demon with a demon core can do it."

Is there a demon core?

Tangxi looked down in confusion, while Pipi blinked in bewilderment, its wings instinctively covering its belly.

“However, your statement just now was inappropriate,” the Golden Toad corrected. “After the primordial spirit leaves the body, it will choose the closest and safest place to hide. Moreover, that is not parasitism, but hiding.”

"Only by transforming into a human-shaped great demon can one form a core, right?" Tangxi asked uncertainly.

"Yes," the Golden Toad replied, "there aren't many monsters with demon cores these days."

Big monster?

Pipi was still inside the eggshell just two days ago.

Tangxi and Pipi looked at each other blankly, while Jinchanlao, who was ahead, darkened his face and a look of hatred flashed across his face.

"There's nothing we can do. We're demons, inferior to humans. To survive, we have no choice but to hand over our demon cores."

Tang Xi was taken aback by what she heard, and Pi Pi couldn't help but ask, "What does this mean? Why do we have to hand over the demon core to survive?"

"You're a demon too, didn't you know?" This time it was the Golden Toad's turn to be stunned.

Pipi, having her sore spot touched, said tearfully, "I am a demon, but I left my hometown when I was young. I wandered outside like a bird, and was chased by bad guys..."

"Left their hometown?" The Golden Toad Elder asked in surprise, slowly widening his toad eyes. "Left their blessed land?"

"yes."

"..."

The Golden Toad swallowed hard. "No wonder they were chasing you. How can a demon leave its blessed land? For lowly demons like us who aren't even qualified to be listed in the 'Demon Encyclopedia,' leaving our blessed land is a capital offense!"

Tang Xi was astonished by the Golden Toad's exaggerated statement. "How is that possible? That's outrageous! It's not like we're committing murder or arson, why should we be sentenced to death!"

"...You guys are really strange. Is this your first time entering a blessed land?"

The old man with the golden toads had a gloomy expression. “These are all the ironclad rules that have been agreed upon by the grotto-heavens and blessed lands.”

Tang Xihe: "No, actually I often visit blessed lands, but the places I visit are around Junxing Mountain."

After she finished speaking, Tang Xi suddenly remembered something, "By the way, you said Junxing Mountain has been in a lot of trouble lately?"

"Hey, Junxing Mountain... Something happened there. Since you're going to Junxing Mountain, you'll find out sooner or later."

The Golden Toad stopped in front of a cave. The entrance, which was covered by layers of soft-light leaves, glowed with a pinkish-white light. The Golden Toad turned to look at Tang Xihe, stepped aside, and humbly nodded slightly.

"Immortal Master, this is my private warehouse. Please come and choose a storage artifact."

—You can't take it with you anyway!

The Golden Toad thought viciously.

"Bang!"

With a loud bang, the Golden Toad jumped up in fright, its head hitting the mountain wall with a dull thud. Before it could recover from the shock, three more explosions followed, the sounds growing closer and closer.

What's going on?!

The Golden Toad was terrified. He looked over in alarm, only to find Tang Xihe still maintaining her calm and composed demeanor. When Tang Xihe's gaze fell upon him, she wore an apologetic expression that the Golden Toad knew all too well.

"I'm sorry, they might have been arguing again," Tangxi said, clasping her hands together as she dragged the frightened Pipi along. "Or maybe they accidentally broke the spinning wheel that makes the wishing cocoons."

Spinning wheel...?

The Golden Toad was shocked: "How is this possible! How did you find such a faint sound!"

“We were lucky,” Tangxi shrugged, “there was a fairy with exceptional hearing.”

"..."

The Golden Toad looked at Tang Xihe, gradually lowered his body to the ground, and suddenly turned around and leaped.

With that leap, it went straight to the end of the corridor, then turned a corner, and the golden figure vanished instantly. Pipi cried out in alarm, "So far! It ran away!"

Tang Xi hurriedly caught up, but unexpectedly, when she turned the corner, she was met with an overwhelming cloud of white fluff.

Tang Xi casually tossed Pipi away, instinctively raising her palms to try and resist the vast expanse of white snow. The Golden Toad's voice was close at hand, laughing loudly: "So what if you found out? My underlings are changing the tunnels; you won't find out the correct route! And you…"

The Golden Toad roared, "Honestly hand over all your spiritual power!"

The vast expanse of white fluff weaves a giant net, spinning and wrapping around Tangxi layer by layer, rapidly drawing closer.

"Tangxi and!"

Pipi cried out anxiously outside, but there was nothing it could do. It could only watch helplessly as Tangxi was quickly wrapped up in white fluff and turned into a stick.

what to do?

Pipi was anxious, her eyes fixed on the white fluffy stick, unaware that the faint black flames on her body were showing signs of swelling.

Enveloped in white fluff, Tangxi and Xin Jingru emanated spiritual power from their palms, sensing the direction of each layer of silk threads winding around them.

The coiling force follows a spiral shape externally and a coiling path internally.

Amidst the endless layers of silk threads, Tangxi and her palms timely withdrew their spiritual energy, their movements gentle and continuous, slowly spreading their spiritual energy layer by layer along the direction of the silk threads' winding.

Like a lotus flower just beginning to bloom, the snow-white cocoon silk, guided by subtle spiritual energy, unfolded layer by layer, slowly fading into white floss around the Tangxi River and the flowing, swirling threads.

The Golden Toad stared wide-eyed.

"How is that possible!"

The short immortal was quickly wrapped into a cocoon. Before the cocoon could even close up, it began to shed its petals layer by layer, like a snow hibiscus. The immortal inside remained calm and looked over.

"Golden Toad."

The Golden Toad was so frightened that it trembled and turned to run away again. Then, there were several more explosions.

The sound of the explosion was very close, approaching the location of the Golden Toad at a terrifying speed. In his panic, the Golden Toad seemed to be hallucinating.

"Is the Listening Wind Ruler around here?" It was that tall, slender voice.

Another immortal firmly stated, "Then keep bombarding this area! I've already mastered the technique!"

boom?

The Golden Toad felt dizzy and soon couldn't stand up. It immediately realized that the two immortals who were "competing to pick up jewels" were approaching with great force, and the entire maze was shaking.

Tang Xi hurriedly pulled out the Wind Listening Ruler from her sleeve: "Bei Chen! Hold it back a bit!"

"He said he had tried his best to keep it to himself!"

Gui Fang's voice cracked as he shouted from the other end of the Listening Wind Ruler, interspersed with several toad screams. Then, Tang Xi and the Listening Wind Ruler in her hand echoed Gui Fang's furious roar: "What are you doing! Harvesting toads? I don't even dare to curse you anymore!"

The Golden Toad, who was closest to Tangxi, naturally heard the toad's croaking from the Wind Listening Ruler and was so alarmed that he didn't know where to look.

The exaggerated commotion of the earth shaking grew closer and closer. The Golden Toad swallowed hard, and the mountain wall in front of him exploded with a "boom." A series of gray toads flew high in front of him, like water droplets falling into a pot of oil. One after another, they took flight and fell to the ground with a patter.

The old toad scrambled and stumbled, his voice trembling with tears: "No! Don't hurt them! Take all the gold, just don't hurt them!"

"..."

Tangxi and the wind are messy.

He had just unwrapped the wishing cocoon when he received an even bigger surprise: a cloud of dust mixed with gold dust and jade fragments, making a clattering and tinkling sound.

Beichen's accompanying spiritual power was almost helpless against the evil spirit master's barrier, but this was a fragile blessed land with a fragile ecosystem. Even if he tried his best to restrain his power, he could still cause a landslide.

Tangxi and her few remaining consciences were truly feeling guilty.

"Cough cough... I'm sorry, I... cough cough cough!"

"Cough cough cough... Beichen is coming... I'm going to beat you to a pulp once I get out of here..."

Suddenly, a piercing scream came from beneath his feet. Gui Fang jumped up in fright, his head slamming into the mountainside above him, creating a small dent: "Holy crap! Bei Chen! These toads are actually alive!"

Bei Chen was shocked: "Watch your step! How can you be even more clumsy than me! Don't step on someone and make them bruise!"

Pipi caused a ruckus amidst a cloud of golden dust: "Where are you! I'm coming!"

"Stop fanning the flames, we can't see you! Gui Fang, don't move! Who are you going to harm now!"

You're the one who's causing trouble!

What's the situation now?

The Golden Toad strained to open its eyes, but the smoke and dust were too thick for it to see anything clearly. All it could hear were the groans of its underlings in pain and the two noisy immortals arguing amongst themselves.

As the smoke cleared, it seemed that a figure was approaching directly.

Amidst the chaos, Tangxi approached the Golden Toad Elder.

“We didn’t intend to hurt anyone. We won’t offend you unless you offend us, and overall you’ve been quite good to us. But I want to hear the truth from you.”

Tangxi squatted down in front of it, "Golden Toad, how many people have you harmed with your wishing cocoons? Where did those who were caught in the wishing cocoons go?"

The golden toad trembled and lay down, his throat tightened, and he closed his eyes.

"...The wishing machine, I made it."