20. The Golden Maze - The Golden Toad 1
The group followed the Golden Toad Elder through layers of winding paths, their heads spinning, when suddenly something began to glitter before their eyes.
Upon closer inspection, amidst the dense forest and towering mountains, there was a cave that shimmered with a dark light. The cave entrance was adorned with numerous tiny gemstones embedded in the mountain wall. The evening breeze gently blew, obscuring the gemstones, causing them to flicker and dim, yet making them even more dazzling.
"This is it!" the Golden Toad said smugly. "Please follow me, esteemed immortals! We're almost there!"
Pipi exclaimed in surprise, "Your front door is so beautiful!"
The Golden Toad Elder secretly observed Tang Xi and the others' expressions, then chuckled and said, "Please come in."
As you walk further into the cave, it becomes brighter and brighter. The light seems to come from nowhere, as if it is emanating from the walls on all sides. The light shines through the transparent jade and illuminates the cave, making it as bright as day, even a little dazzling.
With a gentle peck, Pipi plucked a thumb-sized piece of gold from the mountainside.
"It's real gold!" Pipi exclaimed again. "Hey friends, this is real gold!"
Tang Xihe pried the gold out of Pipi's mouth and pressed it back against the soft, damp mountain wall. "Clumsy hands and feet, don't peck!"
Bei Chen: "The secret realm has everything. However, this is the first time I've seen a cave with so many jewels, there are so many..."
Weird?
Bei Chen followed along, subconsciously pretending to have this thought, but then felt that the idea was wrong.
How could a wall full of jewels, which looks pure and dazzling, feel eerie?
Bei Chen stole a glance at Gui Fang, who was clearly displeased, and then at Tang Xi, whose expression remained calm. He couldn't tell what the two of them were thinking.
With Jin Chan Lao present, it wasn't appropriate to say too much. So Bei Chen could only console himself that he was just being paranoid because of the two surprise attacks by the evil spirit master. He asked Jin Chan Lao, "Are there any gold mines around here?"
"No, there isn't. Within a radius of hundreds of miles, only this cave has such an organ. Originally, this was just an ordinary cave."
The Golden Toad Elder hopped along ahead, then led the group around a bend. “One day, our Toad Cave suddenly began to grow jewels, growing more and more, so much that we couldn’t possibly dig them all out! They even encroached on our living space! So some immortals who came from afar would ask us to be their guides and help them clear out some of the jewels. The immortals could take the jewels as payment.”
After speaking, the Golden Toad paused at the corner and waited, subconsciously observing the expressions of the group.
Apart from the naive bird demon, the three immortals remained calm and unmoved by the gold and jewels.
Tangxi and Liaoran said, "You said you were a 'guide' this evening, so you're actually a maze guide."
Golden Toad: "Yes, the Toad Cave is winding and twisting. You need a guide to lead the way, otherwise you'll get lost."
Tangxi chuckled, "How could gold and silver jewelry suddenly start growing? There must be something in the cave affecting it."
“The Immortal is right. We searched and searched in the labyrinth and finally found the source of the jewels.”
Jin Chan Lao turned his head to look at Tang Xi He, his round eyes narrowing into slits.
"There are strange cocoons hidden in the maze, which we call wishing cocoons. They will continuously hatch gold and jade treasures, so our gold and jade here will never cease to grow."
To the Golden Toad's surprise, the shortest immortal looked disgusted.
Tang Xi moved away from the mountain wall with some disdain: "Don't worms hatch from cocoons? Could it be that all these jewels on the wall are actually insects?"
Pipi's eyes lit up instantly, and she struggled to fly out of Gui Fang's arms: "Let me have a bite and I'll know!"
Bei Chen frantically tried to stop him: "No! Ill-gotten gains! We can't take them!"
Gui Fang slapped Pi Pi back down, his face even uglier. "Hey, Golden Toad, how much longer until we can lie down? Is the passageway going to stay this low?"
The Golden Toad was so frightened by the murderous aura in Gui Fang's eyes that he dared not look at him any longer and quickly turned his head away, saying, "Coming right away, coming right away!"
Tang Xihe: "It's because you're too tall."
"This place is not friendly to tall people!"
...
The group was disoriented by the Golden Toad, so the Golden Toad spoke again at the opportune moment: "Esteemed immortals, what time do you plan to go to Junxing Mountain tomorrow?"
Pipi: "What, you want to go too?"
Jin Chan Lao quickly said, "No, no, I didn't mean to test you, it's just... why did you go there? Junxing Mountain is in a lot of chaos right now."
The secret realm is divided into several parts. One-third is managed by human cultivators, and the other half is designated as blessed lands and grotto-heavens, known as the 'true secret realms'.
When students at the magic academy undertake missions, they are usually referring to blessed lands or grotto-heavens. Over time, these blessed lands have come to be known as secret realms by the students.
However, due to their weak strength, the students could only be teleported to the safest Junxing Mountain as the 'entrance,' which was a tacit agreement. That's why the Secret Realm Management Bureau designated it as the 'entrance.'
First, the school was attacked, and then the entrance to the secret realm was in danger. The group fell silent for a moment, exchanged glances, and realized that Bu Chengzhi's talisman might have ulterior motives.
"When did this happen? How did the chaos occur?" Gui Fang asked.
"I heard that Junxing Mountain has been seized by a terrifying demon!" Jin Chanlao said in a sinister tone. "Our Golden Maze is located on the very edge of the blessed land. The fact that this news has reached here means that the true situation of Junxing Mountain must be very bad."
After speaking, the Golden Toad Elder belatedly realized, "Fellow immortals, since you were going to Junxing Mountain, why did you come to the Golden Maze? Our place is remote, and usually no one comes here."
Tang Xi said, "We came in a hurry and don't know where we are. We wanted to ask a mountain spirit for directions at dusk, but we have been going around in circles and haven't seen a single mountain spirit."
“Junxing Mountain is located in the very center of the blessed land, and it is also the place with the most mountain spirits. Once I get there, I will know how to get there.”
Gui Fang said "Oh," and added, "You have a one-dimensional thought process, can't you move if you're in a different position?"
Tang Xi's temples throbbed with veins, and the next second Gui Fang said leisurely, "When you were a kid, when you were doing stupid problems like 'How many apples are there if you add two apples to one apple,' did you get stuck on the problem if it was about hawthorns?"
"...You're so annoying!"
The group ventured deeper and deeper into the maze, which seemed to have no end. The further they went, the brighter it became.
Beichen asked, "Golden Toad, have you always lived here?"
Jin Chanlao: "My fellow countrymen and I have lived by the stream nearby for decades. We accidentally discovered this cave, so we named this winding cave Toad Maze. More and more of my fellow countrymen have moved into the cave."
"One day, a celestial being got lost in the maze and came across that strange cocoon. He accidentally discovered that the cocoon could grant wishes, so he wished for a magical artifact that could fight against a hundred enemies. Unexpectedly, a heavenly-grade magical artifact actually hatched from the cocoon!"
"The fame of the Wishing Cocoon spread quickly, and immortals came from far and wide. If they couldn't find the Wishing Cocoon, they would help take away some jewels. So the immortals stopped calling this place the Toad Maze and started calling it the Golden Maze."
Gui Fang scoffed upon hearing this: "How could that be? Could it be that there's some kind of formation here that leads directly to Yao Yuqian's Wu Ding?"
The Golden Toad was bewildered. It didn't understand anything about formations or cauldrons, but judging from Gui Fang's tone, it thought the immortal was mocking the Golden Maze, and immediately became displeased: "It's not some kind of formation! The Golden Cave really will conjure up gold and jade on its own! If you don't believe me, you'll see after you rest for one night..."
"We're here, we've arrived, this is the place."
The Golden Toad stopped in front of a wall covered with Ink-Infused Mushrooms and gently patted them.
Suddenly, a crack appeared in the wall, and a huge arc emerged from the piled-up pearl and jade mountain wall. With a "poof," the Ink Ghost Umbrella sprayed a line of words onto the mountain wall: "Guests are here."
"Finally, I can straighten up!" Gui Fang was overjoyed and was the first to squeeze inside. "Thank you, Golden Toad, may good people be rich all their lives."
Pipi spread its wings wide and swooped into the soft blankets, rolling around: "I can't believe I can sleep in such a big bed! Tangxi, come play! This bed is actually made of mushrooms!"
Bei Chen followed closely behind: "Hey! Don't sleep in the bed with your dirty robe on! Get up!"
It's so noisy, I can finally rest.
Tangxi nodded slightly to the old man with the golden toad across the street to express her gratitude, then suddenly asked, "That wishing cocoon... can it grant any wish?"
I never expected that this short guy, who hadn't said anything from beginning to end, would suddenly ask such a question!
The Golden Toad was secretly delighted, but on the surface he was serious and thought it over carefully, saying, "Uh, the wish can't be too outrageous, otherwise the wishing cocoon will get angry and hide, making it even harder to find."
Tangxi asked, "You're the guide, do you know where there are wishing cocoons?"
"Yes, I led the way!"
The Golden Toad patted his chest, “I have the highest probability of encountering the Wishing Cocoon. Many immortals have specifically asked me to be their maze guide! Little immortals, would you like to go and take a look? Just think of it as a vacation.”
"You're looking for the wishing cocoon?"
Pipi popped out of the guest room. "Tang Xihe, since we're already here, why don't we go take a look?"
Bei Chen yanked Pipi inside: "I think you're the one who's tempted! Come and take a shower!"
Pippi struggled fiercely, "Ouch, I don't want the Cleanse spell! I want water!"
"If you keep chirping, I'll stew you! You stupid bird!"
"You're so fierce! Look at Bei Chen's entourage!"
The noise in the guest room was so loud it felt like the ceiling was about to fall off.
Oh my god.
Tang Xi was speechless. "Sorry, Golden Toad, we're a bit tired and want to rest early tonight."
"Alright, alright, no trouble at all! If you need my help, just come out and shake the ink-black ghost umbrella on the door, and I'll be there whenever you call!"
With a smile, Jin Chan Lao helped Tang Xi close the door, saying, "Sweet dreams."
·
Jin Chanlao skillfully navigated the maze's depths, and suddenly his vision opened up, as if he had stumbled into a labyrinth. Here, carved railings and painted beams were arranged to resemble a palace, teeming with countless toads, and in the very center of the palace stood a golden throne.
As soon as the Golden Toad appeared, a large number of his underlings surrounded him.
"The boss is back!"
"How was the boss's performance today?"
"A bumper harvest! A huge harvest!"
The Golden Toad laughed heartily, easily leaping onto the throne and snapping his fingers. "My minions, a grand feast awaits tomorrow night!"
The audience member, Wang Xiao, cheered loudly.
"Boss! How many did they catch this time?"
Three!
The old toad stroked his chin. "There's also a little sparrow that looks a bit strange... It's emitting a weird aura, and it seems to be faintly glowing with fire!"
The toads below the stage eagerly spoke up:
"Could it be a powerful demon?"
"If it's fireproof, can it be roasted? How would you eat it? Raw?"
"There must be some mistake."
"How could a demonic beast of that level possibly be reduced to a contracted beast?"
The Golden Toad raised his hands: "Stop!"
The audience immediately fell silent.
The Golden Toad cleared his throat. "This time, the boss has a bumper harvest. I guarantee you'll all have a feast!"
The audience roared with approval, "Let's offer them to the Wishing Cocoon tomorrow! Hahahaha!"
·
Tang Xi lay peacefully on the soft, cloud-like bed, letting Pipi snuggle up onto the pillow, her mind a jumble of thoughts.
The original work did not describe the Magic University being attacked twice, so Pipi's actions were indeed an unexpected surprise beyond the original work.
Those evil spirits called Pipi 'the evil crow'... The evil crow?
Tang Xi wouldn't dare call himself a "moving map of blessed lands," but he knows at least 80% of the routes and monsters, not only because he's read the original novel, but also because of the experience he's accumulated since entering school by leading his classmates on missions.
But the Golden Toad said... there's danger on Junxing Mountain...
As she lay there, Tang Xihe's consciousness suddenly went offline.
Bei Chen lay on the bed, his eyes gleaming at the almost blinding jewels. "Tell me, what's so special about spending an hour walking from dawn till dusk?"
Gui Fang threw a piece of cloth at his face, "You've got guts, go to sleep!"
Bei Chen turned towards Tang Xi and the bed, "Are you able to sleep?"
Tangxi could already hear even breathing sounds.
"You can fall asleep like this? You really have no sense of crisis." Bei Chen clicked his tongue helplessly and pulled the cloth flat to cover his face.
"Click, click, click..."
Bei Chen suddenly opened his eyes.
What was that sound?
He thought he had misheard, so he sat up, but the faint sound immediately disappeared.
Bei Chen Sui Xing lay down slowly again, puzzled. After a while, he heard no more strange noises. He wanted to close his eyes and rest to keep watch, but the bed was too soft and comfortable, and Bei Chen Sui Xing fell asleep without realizing it.
Unbeknownst to the sleeping group, something was operating behind a soft wall.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
