27. Land of Crows

The group followed the Golden Toad to find the mysterious "know-it-all"—according to the Golden Toad, it was a neurotic green chameleon who, besides eating, drinking, and defecating, liked to lie on the jade bed and contemplate life, and sometimes would suddenly have a fit of madness.

As they walked, Bei Chen suddenly asked, "Tang Xihe, do you know something?"

Tang Xi's heart tightened. "...Why do you ask that?"

When Gui Fang heard Tang Xihe's reply, he gave an ambiguous chuckle.

Are you laughing at me again?

Bei Chen glared at Gui Fang and continued, "When Jin Chan Lao mentioned the Na Dan Yi just now, your reaction was so calm, as if... you already knew about the Na Dan Yi."

We're doomed.

Tang Xi subconsciously touched her cheek and argued, "I was very excited, I even slapped him."

Gui Fang: "He has facial paralysis."

Tang Xi quickly replied, "Yes, yes, I have a bit of facial paralysis."

"Is that so?"

Bei Chen was skeptical. "But when it came to the man in black impersonating the Demon Management Bureau, you didn't show any expression or say a word."

"I have facial paralysis," Tang Xi said firmly.

"Yeah."

Pipi, nestled in her arms, sensed Tang Xihe's tension and would occasionally look up at Tang Xihe, then at Beichen. Before Tang Xihe could relax her guard, Beichen suddenly said, "You give me a strange feeling."

"What's strange?" Tangxi's heart, which had just been at ease, jumped into her throat again, and she glanced at him cautiously.

"You seem to have little presence, but... you're actually quite reliable in crucial moments? When you were entangled in the wishing cocoon, we thought something was going to happen to you, but neither Gui Fang nor I were able to help."

Bei Chen scratched his chin, then finally gave up, "Sigh, I can't explain it either!"

Gui Fang: "If you can't say it, don't talk. Look how pent up you are, I'm almost constipated."

Bei Chen felt his blood pressure rising again: "You're supposed to be a college graduate with a background in magic, can't you watch your mouth?"

“What you say makes sense,” Gui Fang Wu Di straightened his robes and said hypocritically, “I know I was wrong, and I will correct it now.”

"Are you two going to fight again?" Pipi suddenly flew onto Guifang's head. "You two fight, I'll listen and learn a lot."

Gui Fang waved his claws as if to shoo it away, "Where did this little chick come from? Go away... Ouch! You almost twisted my neck! How did you suddenly become so heavy? Did you steal some gold?"

Pipi spread its wings in fury and immediately landed on Beichen's head. "I'm not a chick! I'm growing, and it's better if I'm a little chubby! I'm not playing with you, Beichen! Use your silver tongue! Hurry up! Don't act like an old lady!"

"Whose side are you on? Gui Fang, look at what you're teaching!"

"What's wrong with my teaching...?"

The chatter behind them went on and on, and Tangxi and her thoughts drifted away.

I never expected that the seemingly dull Beichen would be so terrifying.

However, I almost forgot the original story just now.

Tang Xi discovered that her memories of the original work had become increasingly hazy, even though the main characters were gradually getting into the main storyline.

Could it be that I've been in this book for too long, and I've become one of the characters in "Cultivating Immortals to Destroy the World"?

Will I gradually drift away from my original world and become a random NPC in "Cultivation and Destruction"?

...Will I still remember the world I came from?

The two immortals behind them started arguing loudly, their voices echoing through the empty maze. The Golden Toad Elder looked back several times, afraid that they might actually start fighting in the maze.

The short immortal following closely behind him looked absent-minded and preoccupied. The Golden Toad Elder wanted to ask about the origin of the evil crow several times, but couldn't find a suitable opportunity. In the end, he could only glance back from time to time to see if the group had caught up.

Fortunately, the two immortals only disliked each other and exchanged a few insults; they didn't actually continue to destroy the maze. However…

The Golden Toad turned around.

It's hard to imagine that the thing that the immortal master manipulated so easily, with eyes so clear they were almost foolish, was actually the sole descendant of the Evil Crow Clan, who once dominated the blessed land.

At that moment, the thing flew down onto the dwarf immortal, and said in a spoiled and arrogant voice, "Tang Xihe, they bullied me and said I'm fat!"

Tangxi squeezed Pipi like a lump of dough, saying, "You're growing, it's good for you to be a little chubby."

"Did you hear that! I'm growing!" Pipi stretched his neck and said proudly.

The Golden Toad secretly wiped his face; he simply couldn't bear to look.

Upon arriving at a cave, the Golden Toad Elder pushed open the tightly closed cave door, his tone quite proud.

"Immortals, this is it. You cultivators have those with vast knowledge, and we demons have those who are 'know-it-alls'!"

The three people and the bird looked in the direction indicated by the Golden Toad.

What appeared before them was another cave. In the center of the cave was a jade bed inlaid with gold. As the fluorescent mushrooms on the wall lit up, the outline of the jade bed vaguely appeared, and a skinny chameleon gradually revealed its true form.

After it revealed itself, everyone could see the chameleon's appearance clearly. It was green all over and almost blended into the jade bed. Its webbed feet rested on its belly and undulated slightly, while its hind legs stretched straight out of the edge of the bed, hooking back and forth as if it were entertaining itself.

Upon hearing the voice, the chameleon turned its head and said, slowly and deliberately, "I am the Flower Wanderer, who walks among a thousand flowers without a single petal clinging to me."

As he spoke, 'Flower Wanderer' suddenly lay down on his side, propped his head up, a golden flower dangling from his mouth, and raised an eyebrow at the Golden Toad Elder.

Gui Fang was so frightened that he got goosebumps all over and took several steps back, which was unusual for him. "Is this the know-it-all?"

That's just its personality!

The old toad quickly beckoned the group outside the cave and whispered an explanation: "It failed to cultivate its demon core and went mad, changing its personality every day. Yesterday it was a know-it-all, today it's a wanderer among flowers... But! It really does know a lot! For everything big and small in this blessed land, just ask it!"

real?

Eight pairs of eyes converged on it.

'Flower Wanderer' changed its posture, flipped over and leaped in front of Tangxi, and put the golden flower in its mouth.

Tang Xi leaned back instinctively, holding the golden flower in her hands, and said, "Hello, Huajianyou, I'm Haidilao."

"...I am the know-it-all."

Now it was calling itself a know-it-all again, shaking its head, touching its non-existent bangs, grasping Tang Xihe's hand, and saying affectionately, "So it's Brother Hai, hello, hello."

Gui Fang glanced at Tang Xi and said, "I was just strolling by the roadside."

The know-it-all hesitated before grasping the golden skull claw of the ghost, "So it's Brother Lu, I've met you before."

After speaking, the know-it-all turned to Beichen, "And who are you?"

Bei Chen, looking slightly flustered, glanced left and right at the two unreliable humans who were suddenly spouting nonsense. "I, I..."

Who am I?

Gui Fang gave Bei Chen a gentle push from behind, "He swims in the water, you can call him Brother Turtle."

"So it's you, Brother Shui! I can swim too!" Know-it-all shook Beichen's hand, slightly excited, as if meeting a fellow townsman. "I've heard so much about you!"

Having said that, the know-it-all jumped back onto the jade bed, looking half-dead again. He lay flat on the bed with his hands folded over his stomach, muttering softly to the ceiling, without looking at the person who had come to him.

"Gentlemen, what brings you here?"

Tang Xihe: "We'd like to ask where the Crow Clan's cave is located?"

"A raven?"

A moment of clarity suddenly appeared on Baishitong's face, and he sprang up from the bed.

"Why are we looking for them?"

“There’s a little crow here who’s been separated from its kind,” Tangxi said, patting Pipi in her arms. “I’ll take it back.”

The know-it-all blinked, scrutinized Pipi for a moment, then reverted to his somewhat dazed expression, lying on his side facing the crowd at the cave entrance.

"The Raven Clan? Their territory has been constantly changing. They used to be located in Junxing Mountain, but now they've moved to the distant plains."

It really knows!

Pipi asked excitedly, "Which plain?"

"The crow family has a lot of backbone."

The chameleon suddenly blurted out this sentence out of the blue, then realized that his answer was a bit off-topic. After a moment of silence, he spoke again, "If you keep going in the direction of Fragrant Graveyard, you will find clues."

"Fragrant grave soil?"

"Yes, Fragrant Gravesite is not far away. At night, you can see the top of Junxing Mountain from Fragrant Gravesite, it's beautiful."

After finishing his explanation, the know-it-all stiffened his neck, closed his eyes, and seemed unwilling to say more, muttering to himself.

"Fragrant grave soil, with clues of ravenous crows."

·

After a brief rest in the maze, the group set off again.

"My and Gui Fang's physical disintegration!" Bei Chen followed Tang Xi around to her side, giving a frantic hint, his tone tinged with excitement.

"Yes, I know."

Tang Xihe shoved Pipi into Bei Chen's arms, saying, "Hold me for a bit, I have something to tell Jin Chan Lao."

Bei Chen, who was traveling with him, looked slightly disgusted. "You have wings, why do you need someone to carry you?"

"Why do you have to do it yourself if you can just stay put!" Pipi said matter-of-factly.

Bei Chen paused, then looked meaningfully at Tang Xihe's departing figure and said loudly, "Tang Xihe really spoils you rotten. Which other contracted beast is as arrogant as you?"

Tangxi stumbled and almost tripped over herself.

The Golden Toad watched with bated breath as the short immortal returned.

"Young Immortal?"

"Stop calling me 'Immortal Master' all the time. My name is Tang Xihe," Tang Xihe handed the Golden Toad Elder a piece of paper. "This is a way to make your maze more interesting. If you're interested, you can take a look. Thank you for telling us about the Evil Crow and for giving us the map."

"Oh dear! I can't accept this!"

Jin Chan Lao was flattered and accepted the gold foil with both hands. It seemed that he had casually used his spiritual power to roll it into a thin gold foil, and then used some kind of hard object to carve characters on the gold foil. The characters were delicate and neat, and he wrote more than a dozen lines of text in a bold and unrestrained manner.

"But I...can't read."

Tang Xihe: "..."

Golden Toad: "..."

The Golden Toad carefully folded the gold foil and put it in his mouth. "Immortal Master... oh no, Tang Xihe, although I can't read, I appreciate your kindness! I'm just showing off my skills. Only monsters who have obtained official documents are qualified to read."

"Did you get the permit?"

Tang Xi was taken aback; a question suddenly occurred to him.

Can Pipi read?

"Yes, Immortal Master."

The Golden Toad Elder couldn't bring himself to change his mind, and subconsciously slapped himself. "I already have a demon core. Given more time, I can increase the difficulty of the secret realm and soon obtain the certificate and cultivate into human form!"

"Since it's a secret realm, we need to design some difficulty."

Tangxi pointed to the piles of gold mines that could be seen everywhere along the walkway.

"These can be faked; if a player encounters fake gold or jade, the challenge in the secret realm will fail."

"The mountain walls can be polished into mirrors with gold to mislead the direction of the maze."

"And with so many cave-like rooms in your maze, why not design each room to present a different challenge?"

"Each room? A different challenge?"

The Golden Toad seemed to be inspired, and he excitedly counted on his fingers and muttered to himself.

“I have so many rooms, with multiple investment rooms set up. Each investment room corresponds to a Lord, and the difficulty of the secret realm is divided into A, B, C, D, etc. Everyone who comes to my Maze Mountain has to invest in the secret realm and bet on which room has the highest level?”

"That's good. Then I'll make the amount of money in the room visible... and each time I contact the Lords to adjust the difficulty of the secret realm, the immortals who lose money will return to my Maze Mountain, while the immortals who win money will be even more inseparable from the Maze Mountain..."

Tang Xi and Hua Ran exclaimed, "Golden Toad, you actually have a real talent for making money!"

The old toad scratched his head shyly, "Not at all, not at all."

Tang Xi turned and walked towards her companions. "Let's go. I hope Maze Mountain will be even more fun next time we come."

"Wait, Immortal Master!"

With a light leap, the Golden Toad Elder released a storage ring from his long, thin tongue and held it out to Tang Xihe. "You forgot to take this."

It was when Tangxi untied the wishing cocoon that she put the storage ring back.

"Need not."

Tang Xi declined, saying, "I'm all alone; I'll leave with whatever I brought in."

"Yes, yes, let's just consider it making a friend."

Without a word, the Golden Toad Elder stuffed the storage ring into Tang Xihe's hand, saying, "Weak monsters like us can only make more friends and seek protection! You have a kind heart, I wish you all the best!"

A monster understands human relationships better than I do.

Tang Xi held the dark gold storage ring between her two fingers, and many faces she had rejected multiple times flashed through her mind.

Tangxi, let's go out and have some fun.

Tangxi, do you want to go to Xianqiao together? I heard the flower sea is in bloom, the whole class is going.

Tangxi, why do you always keep yourself out of it?

Do you hate us?

So you're an illegitimate child. No wonder you always have such a serious face.

Do you look down on us?

...

Tang Xi took a deep breath, clutched the storage ring, hesitated for a moment but then accepted it, "...Thank you."

The Golden Toad smiled with relief and waved goodbye, "Until we meet again! Thank you, immortals, for protecting the spinning wheel! Thank you!"

·

The group walked down the winding mountain road. After Pipi finished making a fuss, she got sleepy and hid in Tangxi and Xinde's storage ring to take a nap.

"Don't we look like we're on a pilgrimage to the West?" Beichen suddenly asked.

"How is it similar? We don't have a Tang Monk."

Tang Xi yawned, "Moreover, none of the bird demons among the four of them ate and then fell asleep, and the demons and monsters they encountered on the road were much stronger than the Golden Toad."

"At least the Golden Toad has cultivated a demon core... although it's just a kind of alchemy that doesn't have much offensive power."

Gui Fang said with a blank face, "Forget it, don't think too much about it. We're already weak, and if we encounter a powerful demon, we'll only have to run away."

"I just feel like we're on a journey without a destination."

Bei Chen sighed, "The school is in crisis. At such a critical moment, why did the teacher tell me to leave? Did he know that the men in black were after me? Was he protecting me?"

Gui Fang: "Don't you have Xuan Yingxian in your Martial Arts Department? His immortal lord is the Great Sage Equaling Heaven. Having him in the school is enough. Your immortal lord is unstable, so of course we kicked you out to gain experience."

"You know him? He's my friend."

Bei Chen had intended to share some interesting stories, but suddenly remembered something, "Oh, what a pity, there are no other students in your Department of Mystic Arts."

Every time Gui Fang Wu Di saw Bei Chen Sui Xing's righteous face and his clueless stupidity in saying something infuriating, he couldn't help but say, "Wow, you have so many friends, Bei Chen Sui Xing. I'm so envious."

"..."

Bei Chen turned to Tang Xi and asked, "Is he mocking me?"

Before Tang Xihe could speak, Gui Fang added, "If you can't even tell this, you're out of your mind."

"you--"

"Wait! Stop arguing!" Tang Xi hurriedly stepped between the two. "Bei Chen, besides the military dismemberment, did your teacher tell you anything else when he sent you here for training?"

"No. The teacher only said one thing: I am not allowed to go back until I obtain my natal sword."

Was there no explanation that Beichen's entourage was tasked with collecting star deities?

Yes, my natal sword!

Tang Xi smiled. "Maybe we'll meet soon."

He remembered that the original novel mentioned a ruler named "Jian Tan," a tiger clan ruler, near the Fragrant Tomb. Bei Chen and his companions suddenly encountered a strange fire in the secret realm; the flames roared and could not be extinguished.

The nearest prefect, Jian Tan, went to lend a hand. During the process, Bei Chen and Jian Tan met for the first time and hit it off immediately, quickly becoming friends. Jian Tan also gave Bei Chen an important material, which was the material that allowed Bei Chen to obtain the Heavenly Grade Sword 'Ju Que'.

Tangxi unfolded the map and examined it repeatedly. In the upper left corner of the dim, fragrant graveyard, a small piece of the map marked "Tiger Clan Territory" glowed with a pale green light.

"It's so far!"

Beichen leaned closer, "Let's just teleport there."

Gui Fang's expression suddenly changed drastically, "No, wait..."

Without further ado, Bei Chen Sui Xing flicked his wrist, offering up a talisman and activating his spiritual power. Immediately, a huge light blue array rose beneath the feet of the three, with the seven-star emblem at the center of the array shining with dazzling golden light, enveloping the three of them.

The light was dazzling, like a white beam, which then contracted and disappeared in an instant.