NOVEL NEXT Chapter 6 Introduction
A quarter of an hour ago.
As she busied herself with moving to avoid her harassers, Zhuzhu suddenly noticed a Nascent Soul Realm Wolf Demon appearing before her eyes.
And was that a frozen person he was carrying in his mouth?
With caution, she jumped down from her spider web and inquired about his intentions.
After a brief exchange, Zhuzhu was surprised to discover that the frozen person in the mouth of the Wolf Demon was the one actually in charge.
Moreover, he claimed he was heading to the Ten Bamboo Cave to exterminate a group of demons.
But since entering the cave required showing an invitation certificate, and the "frozen person" had detected with his Spiritual Sense that she had one, he had come to ask to borrow it.
At first, Zhuzhu was skeptical, thinking it was a new trick concocted by the rat demon in pursuit of her.
However, after Jin Xu broke free from the ice, and gave a little demonstration of "Hand Palm Thunder," Zhuzhu immediately believed him.
This terrifying fluctuation of Spiritual Power could in no way belong to an assistant hired by the other side.
"Esteemed Taoist, my name is Zhuzhu. Instead of you borrowing the invitation certificate to attend the banquet, it might be more convenient if I accompanied you directly. After all, both you and your demon pet are new faces, and if that rat becomes suspicious, it may hinder your plan to save people and exterminate demons," she said.
Zhuzhu had been enlightened by an old monk who happened upon her when her spiritual intelligence was yet to awaken, and she had followed the path of cultivation since those days. She had always adhered to the monk's teachings, refraining from killing without cause, and showing compassion.
Thus, under the investigation of Jin Xu's Spiritual Sense, he had discovered that the Qi within this demon was calm and balanced, which led to the scene of lending the certificate just now. Otherwise, had the young Taoist sensed that she was an Evil Demon, he probably would have dealt with her at once, without wasting words.
"That would be good, but it will trouble Miss Zhuzhu," he agreed.
Whether he took the token himself or brought an extra person didn't really matter to Jin Xu, as long as he could rescue those who were trapped. After that, it would just be a matter of releasing a "Hand Palm Thunder."
The young Taoist turned and allowed the husky to freeze him again and carry him in its mouth, before the three set off on their journey.
On the way, Zhuzhu, the Spider Demon, eagerly recounted to Jin Xu the litany of misdeeds carried out by the rat demon of Ten Bamboo Cave over the years.
Such as slaughtering nearby villages, hosting human flesh banquets, attacking Righteous Path Loose Cultivators, or harassing beautiful shape-shifting female Spider Demons, among others.
The last accusation was more of a personal vendetta.
The rat demon of Ten Bamboo Cave, taking advantage of the opening of the Qingmu Secret Realm and the gathering of Righteous Path Cultivators in Qingmu City, planned to rally demons from within a five hundred mile radius to raid a nearby county.
It was said that with the blood and flesh of tens of thousands of townspeople within the city, he could break through the limits of the Nascent Soul and advance to the Void Refinement Realm in one fell swoop!
These were the very things the rat demon had boasted about to Zhuzhu herself when delivering her invitation certificate.
It was for this reason that Zhuzhu was in such a rush to move; after all, if the demon really did advance to the Void Refinement Realm, she would no longer stand a chance against him.
"If I hadn't encountered you tonight, Taoist, I was planning to covertly send a message to Qingmu Academy through Tingfeng Building and then move within the borders of Great Xia," she said.
While scurrying along on her eight legs to lead the way, the Spider Demon communicated secretly with Jin Xu inside the ice block.
The young Taoist lay within the ice block and responded politely.
...
Time returns to the present.
In the cave, the three followed the attendant through twists and turns and finally arrived in the main cavern.
Jin Xu, lying within the ice block, rolled his eyes, marveling at the vast expanse beneath the earth, wondering whether it was naturally formed or excavated.
He extended his Spiritual Sense, scanning the area.
The cavern was set up for a banquet with plenty of tables, but only a sparse eight or nine guests were seated. These guests were mostly in human form, yet each retained characteristics of their monster nature, just like the black patterns on Miss Zhuzhu's face.
The fat man sitting in the seat of honor within the cave had a nose that clearly belonged to some kind of rodent, most likely a Rat Elf.
To his left-hand side sat a man about eight feet tall, with an expression of honesty on his face, though the two horns on his head suggested he was an ox elf.
On his right hand side, the frail man in white was holding a folding fan, and while he looked no different from a human on the surface, he hid a fluffy fox tail behind him.
The other guests had wings on their backs or patterns on their faces, too numerous to mention in detail.
As soon as the three of them appeared in the main cave,
the gathering Demon Kings, who had been toasting and drinking, stopped what they were doing and shifted their gaze over.
The leading fat Rat Elf stood outright, his eyes carrying a hint of disbelief.
He had indeed sent the invitation to Zhuzhu, but Mao Jin was quite certain in his heart, convinced that she would definitely not come.
He had even prepared to advance to the Void Refinement Realm and then force the issue.
Unexpectedly, did the sun come out from the west today? This Spider Demon, who was usually indifferent to him, actually came to his lair.
While Mao Jin thought to himself, he greeted out loud.
"Zhuzhu sister graces my Ten Bamboo Cave with her presence; my face truly shines with honor today. Come, take a seat here," Mao Jin said jovially, as he quickly ordered the demon servants in the cave to add a table by his side.
At the same time, he resolved in his heart that no matter why the Spider Demon came today, now that you're here, you might as well not leave.
"No need, I'll sit here," Zhuzhu declined without ceremony, arbitrarily choosing an empty table at the end of the banquet and sat down with Little White.
She knew that by coming here today, her behavior was already quite abnormal. Therefore, she had to make sure her attitude didn't give anything else away.
"Hehe, that's good too, that's good too, it's spacious," Mao Jin laughed off the reply, not taking it to heart.
As for what he was really thinking, that was anyone's guess.
The other Demon Kings in the cave had long heard about the rat demon's pursuit of the Spider Demon, so their faces didn't show any unusual expressions.
"Big brother, this Spider Demon usually ignores you, yet she suddenly shows up today; be careful of trickery. Moreover, she has that short-haired little girl by her side. The girl seems to be a member of the Demon Clan too, but she's a new face. We should probe their background first," said the male Fox Spirit by Mao Jin's right hand, sending a telepathic message while shaking his fan.
"Second brother makes a good point. In that case, I'll let you open the conversation and investigate," the fat rat demon replied telepathically.
Within the ice, Jin Xu, enveloped the entire scene with his Spiritual Sense and heard every word of the two demons' conversation. He telepathically said to Little White and Zhuzhu, "The Fox Spirit and the Rat Demon are suspicious, planning to probe our background. Little White, be careful in your response."
"Rest assured, temple master," Little White replied.
"Thank you for the warning, Taoist Xie," Zhuzhu also responded.
Both ladies replied at the same time.
"The esteemed guests seated here are all outstanding individuals from the Demon Clan. My older brother is deeply grateful for everyone's participation in today's banquet. Many friends at this banquet are meeting for the first time, and it's inevitable that some are not familiar with each other. Now, allow Elder Hu to do the introductions," said the male Fox Spirit, waving his folding fan, starting from the right side and introducing each one in turn.
"This is Brother Man from the Green Bull Clan, a great demon at the Eighth Layer of the Nascent Soul Realm, he is a loner without a fixed cave," he said.
"This is..." The white-clad demon continued his introduction until he reached Little White, pausing slightly.
He then kindly said to the Spider Demon, "Miss Zhuzhu, this demon colleague was brought by you; Elder Hu is not familiar with her. So, it's best if you do the introduction."