19. Secret Realm
After resting for a while, the group slowly began to look around.
Along the banks of the stream, dappled trees grow, their leaves rustling softly. Pale pink and soft purple leaves twirl and fall in the wind, like scattered jade fragments, fluttering down. Once on the ground, the leaves quickly lose their luster. The sky is a dazzling, bright blue, so bright that it can be mesmerizing and tiring to look at for too long. The light reflected from the babbling brook has a rich, syrupy golden sheen. Green butterflies flutter about, and in the twilight, the shadows cast by the trees are dappled, making everything look like a faded, yellowed photograph.
The dreamlike scene was disorienting. Bei Chen rubbed his injured leg and hesitated, "This place...we're not going to be teleported directly into a secret realm, are we?"
"Entering the secret realm without the approval of the Comprehensive Management Bureau? That's fantastic, it'll just deduct all my credits."
Gui Fang glanced sideways at Nie Tangxi and said, "Following you, every step is a surprise."
Tang Xi quickly sat up and said modestly, "No."
"Tang Xihe, I've noticed that you only look like a good student, but you often push the boundaries of the rules."
Gui Fang counted on his right paw, “The demon beast's soul can directly enter your body; you can use a large amount of spiritual power even with 0 points; and this time you were inexplicably teleported to the secret realm—”
Pipi cried out in surprise, "No! The Yuan Soul was an accident! I wasn't watching where I was going when I ran away!"
Bei Chen looked left and right: "What do you mean? Pipi's primordial spirit is in Tang Xihe's body? When did this happen? How come I didn't know? Tang Xihe, did you actually form a contract with this little crow?"
"Stop, stop, stop! Don't dwell on my issues right now!"
Tangxi, exasperated by the noise, interrupted them, "It's not my fault we were teleported here! Look."
He opened his palm; there was a piece of paper, still partially burned, with faintly visible runes and a line of text smaller than an ant:
[If this talisman is activated, please obtain ten toad skins. When the time is right, the person in question will come to collect them.]
At the end, two dice with grinning faces were drawn.
"Bu?"
Gui Fang recognized the signature monogram at a glance. "Have you met Bu Chengzhi?"
Tang Xi looked bewildered. "Bu Chengzhi?"
Bei Chen explained, "He's a senior in the divination department. It's said that he was offered a high-paying job by the Secret Realm Management Bureau as soon as he graduated."
After speaking, Bei Chen said with a heavy heart, "Couldn't you at least pay a little attention to what's going on outside? You know nothing, yet you dare to bring your classmates on missions."
Gui Fang rarely agreed with Bei Chen: "That's right, if you offend someone, you won't even be able to explain yourself."
So his name is Bu Chengzhi?
Tang Xihe tucked the torn talisman paper into a hidden pocket in her sleeve and explained, "He once sold me a protective talisman, which I put in my storage ring and completely forgot about... Just now, that evil spirit master shot the storage ring with a hunting rifle, so the talisman spontaneously combusted..."
“Forced teleportation has been initiated,” Bei Chen added.
Tang Xi rubbed her temples and said, "I feel really confused right now, and I don't know where to start to sort out my thoughts... By the way, who is this Fu Guanhong you guys are talking about? What is her relationship with the guy with the hurricane banner?"
Fu Guanhong.
When she was mentioned, Gui Fang and Bei Chen both fell silent and did not answer.
Bei Chen looked somewhat dejected. "How did one or two of them become evil spirit masters? Did something happen to them?"
Gui Fang: "Fu Guanhong was expelled for hurting a classmate, which is probably not the same thing as Yao Yuqian."
Pipi remained silent for a long time, his lips itching unbearably, but he couldn't get a word in edgewise, and he was a little unhappy: "Can't you say something I can understand!"
Gui Fang frowned: "Stop making noise, I forgot what I was thinking just now."
Bei Chen turned to look at Pi Pi, "What do you want to talk about? Then tell me first, what does it mean that your primordial spirit fell into Tang Xi's body? And what are you hiding from me?"
Pipi protested, flapping its wings: "No! You go first! Tell me why that guy named Fu Guanhong was fired! I want to know the gossip!"
The group chatted amongst themselves, while Tang Xi took a deep breath and focused her energy in her dantian.
"stop!!!"
·
The three people and the bird sat cross-legged in a circle by the stream.
“Let’s review this,” Tang Xihe said, pointing to Gui Fang Wu Di, “You, Qingxin Di.”
Gui Fang nodded, propping his head up with his right claw.
Tang Xi pointed to Bei Chen, "You, the material for forging the sword."
Bei Chen nodded shyly but solemnly, "Thank you for your trouble."
Tang Xi pointed at Pipi: "You?"
Pipi puffed out his chest: "I think I know how to retrieve my primordial spirit! Help me regain my memories!"
Tang Xi narrowed her eyes: "If you lie to me again this time..."
"No, I never lie!"
Pipi said aggrievedly, "When I came to this place, I strongly felt that I was getting closer and closer to home... My memories are here! Maybe if I just wander around and bump into things, I'll be home... Hey, since I'm already here, retrieving my primordial spirit is just a matter of time!"
Tang Xi let out a long sigh.
"I'll trust you one more time."
Hearing Tang Xi sigh, Bei Chen assumed he was still in pain, so he sent a wisp of spiritual energy into his storage ring. "I don't have an antidote, but I do have painkillers. Tang Xi, would you like some?"
Before Tang Xi could answer, Gui Fang said in a disdainful tone, "Keep it for yourself! You walk with a limp."
Bei Chen's temple throbbed with a vein: "I don't usually carry medicine with me, so I have to use it sparingly! Besides, my right leg is injured, which is better than you losing your left hand, right?"
Gui Fang looked at Bei Chen Sui Xing with the same eyes one would give someone mentally challenged.
"You don't actually think that old bone is my hand, do you?"
Bei Chen was stunned, and Tang Xi also looked over curiously.
Isn't that right?
Gui Fang Wu Di, whose left arm was hidden under his wide robe, suddenly shook it, revealing his undamaged left hand. "I have to wear bone claws because the toxins in my body can be transmitted through the skin."
This was true. Everyone could clearly see the hand that Gui Fang showed. His fingernails and veins were blackish-purple, and the black veins on the back of his hand bulged out of his skin in a strange way, throbbing like living black snakes.
Pipi was curious and wanted to peck at it, but Gui Fang suddenly withdrew his left hand and warned, "It's poison from the karmic curse, don't touch it."
Pipi: "Is this poison very potent? Compared to the 'threads' you created using your strange energy, which is more powerful, the poison or the 'threads'?"
"There's no comparison." Gui Fang smiled brightly. "The silk thread can send you to your death in an instant, while the poison will make you wish you were dead. What do you think?"
"..."
Pipi shrank his neck.
Bei Chen followed: "Heh, chicken feet."
Gui Fang's temple throbbed, and he suddenly curled his lips into a smile, tilting his head as he asked, "Bei Chen, without a weapon, how long can you last in the secret realm?"
Bei Chen was stunned by the question, as if struck by lightning.
Yes, that sword was sent along with the sword when the barrier was broken.
Tang Xi added fuel to the fire, saying, "It's alright, you can condense your qi into a sword."
Pipi chimed in, "The secret realm is so dangerous, we have to be on guard at all times! Beichen, can you keep condensing your qi into a sword until we find the Qingxin Flute, find my memories, and find your sword-forging materials?"
Bei Chen: "...Condensing your Qi into a sword and being able to maintain it for an hour is already superhuman, okay!"
"Really? Then our Tangxi is pretty amazing!"
Pipi chuckled twice and comforted him, "It's alright! There are so many treasures in the secret realm! Beichen will definitely find a suitable weapon soon."
Suddenly, a rustling sound came from the bushes behind them.
Everyone became alert and immediately jumped up, staring at the bushes. Pipi was so frightened that she hid inside Gui Fang Wu Di's robe.
What is it?
After a moment of silence, there was another rustling sound. A monster emerged from the bushes and cautiously asked, "Immortal? So you're here... looking for treasure?"
A huge golden toad emerged from the grass, its entire body a dark gold, even the bumps on its back and head were golden. When it was lying down, it was about the height of a person's calf. It jumped and leaped between the three of them, startling them. When it stood up, it was about half the height of a person. "Immortal, are you looking for treasure?"
Pipi exclaimed, "It can talk!"
"Can't you talk too?" Tang Xi rubbed her temples.
He was used to being alone, and the sudden presence of several mouths around him was giving him a headache. Tang Xi said to the golden toad, "You misheard. We're not looking for treasure. Gui Fang, Bei Chen, let's go."
Tang Xi turned to leave, but noticed that the two people hadn't followed. She turned back in confusion and found the two people staring intently at the toad.
Tangxi called out, "What are you two doing?"
Gui Fang looked at Tang Xihe with the eyes of someone looking at an idiot: "What do you think!"
Tangxi, puzzled, urged, "Let's go! Find the mountain spirit, ask for directions, and go to the very center of this blessed land. Otherwise, I won't leave."
"We should ask the mountain spirit first, not the mountain spirit!"
Bei Chen crouched down and asked with what he thought was a friendly smile, "Do you have any unwanted skin?"
The toad shuddered and said warily, "No."
Gui Fang and Bei Chen exchanged a glance, both seeing disappointment in each other's eyes. The toad then asked, "Aren't you immortals looking for treasure? I'm your guide, Golden Toad."
The two turned and left, following Tang Xi and the group, who then started chattering again.
"Oh, I thought Bu Chengzhi was such a brilliant strategist."
"Exactly, then we still need to find toad skin?"
"Alas! I'm only a few days old, and I've never even seen a mountain spirit! What do mountain spirits look like?"
The Golden Toad was completely bewildered: "Hey! Didn't you come here to find treasure?! Hey!"
What's going on? Do immortals nowadays regard money as dirt?
"Forget it, let's wait for the next batch of destined immortals." The Golden Toad chuckled twice and jumped back into the bushes. "Anyway, there's never a shortage of unlucky ones."
...
An hour later, as darkness fell, the three returned to their original positions.
Bei Chen, arms crossed, looked down at Tang Xi and the whorl of hair on her head: "Lost?"
Gui Fang looked down at Tang Xi and said, "We're lost."
Pipi yawned: "When will we see the mountain spirit? I'm sleepy!"
"Strange, why aren't there any mountain spirits here?" Tang Xi rubbed her nose guiltily. "Something's not right, something's not right here."
Gui Fang was so tired he couldn't straighten up, so he leaned against a tree trunk with a hunched back. "Why don't we rest here for the night?"
rustling sounds.
The sound of leaves rustling came from the grass. The three of them fell silent and looked over at the same time. Beichen casually broke off a branch and held it tightly in his hand.
"You need accommodation... Hey! It's you again!"
The Golden Toad jumped back in fright, his eyes wide, "Why haven't you left yet?!"
Under the cover of night, the golden toad looked even more dazzling, as if it were carved from gold ore all over its body. This was the same golden toad that I had encountered by the stream before dark.
In other words, after walking for an hour, we returned to where we started.
Six pairs of eyes converged on Tangxi and his back.
Tang Xi touched her nose, feeling guilty, and said, "There was a little accident. We want to go to Junxing Mountain, or maybe ask a mountain spirit for directions. Do you know how to get to Junxing Mountain?"
"Junxing Mountain? That's so far away?"
A strange look flashed across the golden toad's face. "What are you going there for?"
Pipi: "I'm not telling you!"
Only then did Jin Chanlao notice Pipi.
In the evening, Pipi was held tightly in Tangxi's arms. Tangxi hadn't been able to see clearly what kind of monster Pipi was that afternoon.
At this moment, Pipi was being held in the arms of a burly immortal. The little demon was dressed in all black, while Beichen was dressed in all white. Even though they were covered in dust, their demeanor remained as steady as a mountain, making Pipi's blackness stand out even more. Nestled in his arms, Pipi was very noticeable.
For some reason, Jin Chan Lao's attention was drawn to Pi Pi.
Under the cover of night, the bird demon's pale black "flame" was very faint, but the Golden Toad Elder could detect a strange and faint aura from it.
Could it be... a raven?
The Golden Toad's eyes lit up. "You...you are? You're a demon, how can you travel with the immortals?"
What kind of talk is that!
Pipi retorted angrily, "Why can't I! I'm a contracted beast!"
Are you a contracted beast?
Tangxi stared at Pipi in Guifang's arms, then nodded silently, "It's my contracted beast."
—This liar.
The Golden Toad cast a sympathetic glance at Pipi, "Oh... a contracted beast, I understand."
Human cultivators often like to form contracts with weak demons as playthings, and when they get tired of them, they form contracts with new demons.
The Golden Toad Elder dared not say this aloud. He rubbed his hands together with a smile, "No other meaning. Well, since we've run into each other again, why don't you immortals stay here for the night? Junxing Mountain is in the very center of the secret realm, quite far from here. We're at the edge of the secret realm right now."
Bei Chen politely replied, "No need, we..."
"Okay," Tangxi and Guifang said in unison.
Beichen choked up.
What about teamwork?
Bei Chen cast a questioning look at the two men, only to see them smiling maliciously.
Tang Xi patted Bei Chen on the shoulder earnestly, "Brother Bei Chen, when you're in the martial world, you have to be careful with your in-game currency."
Beichen's entourage: ?
Gui Fang Wu Di agreed, "Don't be shy, take advantage of it if you can. You might not have the chance to do it again later."
Beichen's entourage: ?
"please."
The Golden Toad Man smiled obsequiously, but the moment he turned his back, his face instantly darkened.
Fools who walk right into a trap.
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