Chapter 11
Chapter 11: Golden Butterfly Manor, Golden Butterfly King
Seven Absolute Mountain truly resembled seven peaks when viewed from afar.
A lush, verdant green standing amidst the surrounding mountains.
The summits were rounded, the midsections slightly narrowed, blanketed in vines and shrubs—the mountain did not appear particularly treacherous; rather, it carried a certain endearing clumsiness.
The Toad Sprite said the demons' Cave Dwelling was set right in the narrowed waist of Seven Absolute Mountain.
Jiang Linxian looked alongside the Toad Sprite, and sure enough, it was.
The cave entrance had been cleverly hidden behind a curtain of hanging green vines—without parting them, it would have been virtually impossible to discover.
The entrance was arch-shaped, its edges irregular, as though it had been chiseled out by some tremendous force, with an iron door hammered into place at the center.
3 demons stood guard at the cave mouth.
On the left was one of the same kind as the red Toad Sprite—though this one was blue-green, wearing a stone helmet, its belly round and bulging, dressed in ill-fitting leather armor.
It stared ahead with a pair of large, protruding copper-bell eyes, not blinking once, its cheeks puffing and deflating with each breath, gripping a rusty spear taller than itself in one hand, unable to resist flicking its tongue to lick the tip of its nose from time to time—looking both diligently focused and a little dim-witted.
On the right was a pig demon topped with a boar's head, its tusks jutting outward, snorting heavily.
It leaned against a large rock, cradling a rake in its arms, a few withered leaves still caught between the tines.
Unlike the Toad Sprite, it was not nearly so devoted to its post—its eyelids drooped repeatedly in a losing battle, its massive head bobbing up and down until a sudden jolt of wakefulness sent it frantically looking left and right, before it hastily sucked back the drool that had nearly dripped onto its chest.
The most self-important of the three was the one standing in the center.
It had a slender frame, dressed in a gaudy robe covered in unidentifiable feathers, with a pointed chin and narrow face, a pair of tiny mung bean eyes spinning this way and that—it was a bat demon.
It carried no heavy weapon, only a short staff set with a cloudy gemstone, which it waved about periodically with great self-importance, issuing shrill commands to its companions on either side.
"Look sharp! Look sharp, all of you! My Lady is cultivating a divine technique—if you let any riff-raff wander in, you'll be paying for it with your hides!"
As it spoke, the pair of folded fleshy wings on its back gave an involuntary flutter or two.
Really now—did any of these 3 demons have even the faintest semblance of a human?
Jiang Linxian suspected that any reasonably clever person could have slipped past all 3 of them.
The moment the Toad Sprite spotted the other blue-green Toad Sprite, it called out in excited ribbit-ribbits.
"Ribbit ribbit, Cousin, what are you doing here?!"
The blue-green Toad Sprite saw the red toad and exclaimed in equal delight.
"Ribbit ribbit, Little Cousin, you're here too."
****
The Jiang Linxian and the bat demon standing to one side could only endure the chorus of ribbit-ribbits—the 2 Toad Sprites conversing with each other was practically enough to drive anyone mad.
Whether it was because the Cross Bone refinement was incomplete, or simply out of old habits carried over from their days as actual toads—
They always loved to toss in a couple of ribbit-ribbits when speaking.
Adorable, honestly.
Unfortunately, the bat demon lacked the taste to appreciate it, immediately cutting off the two ribbits mid-reunion.
"Toad Sprite, it's guard duty right now—you're consorting with an outsider like this? Be careful the King finds out and skins you alive."
The blue-green Toad Sprite said seriously.
"Ribbit ribbit, Bat Demon, what are you saying? This is my little cousin—he's come to join the King's service."
"Ribbit ribbit, Cousin, and also this snake demon."
The red Toad Sprite was surprisingly loyal—even in reuniting with family, it hadn't forgotten to include Jiang Linxian.
The blue-green Toad Sprite gave a single ribbit and said.
"Right, and the snake demon too."
The bat demon pressed on relentlessly.
"How do I know he isn't a spy?"
The blue-green Toad Sprite snorted. "You're saying the distant cousin of the Toad Captain is a spy?"
"That…" The bat demon could throw its weight around with the Toad Sprite, but the Toad Captain outranked it by a considerable margin.
"Blasted toad, I said no such thing."
Seeing that the bat demon had quieted its squawking, the blue-green Toad Sprite turned to its cousin and the snake demon and said.
"Ribbit ribbit, let's go then, little cousin and snake demon—I'll take you to meet the captain. Don't worry, the Toad Captain is my cousin's brother; you'll definitely be able to join Golden Butterfly Manor."
Jiang Linxian had gotten quite the education in the demon world today—all he could say was that it was far more socially nuanced than he had imagined.
There were even social dynamics at play among them.
Even the gatekeepers had family ties to each other…
Wouldn't the red Toad Sprite have to call the Toad Captain something like Great Cousin-Brother?
"Ribbit ribbit, Cousin, if we join Golden Butterfly Manor, will we also be stuck guarding the gate?"
The red Toad Sprite had come in pursuit of wealth and glory—suddenly being relegated to gate duty was something it found rather hard to accept.
The blue-green Toad Sprite then launched into a full sales pitch directed at the toad and the snake, speaking in a measured, authoritative tone riddled with grammatical errors.
Don't ask why—because when the red Toad Sprite's cousin, the Toad Captain, had joined Golden Butterfly Manor, that was exactly how it had been told.
Jiang Linxian was not taken in, but the red Toad Sprite was already halfway convinced.
Following the blue-green Toad Sprite, both toad and snake came before the Toad Captain—a considerably larger Toad Sprite.
The red Toad Sprite, on account of the cousinly connection, joined Golden Butterfly Manor without any trouble.
As for Jiang Linxian—being a foreign demon from elsewhere, the Toad Captain decided to leave the matter to the Golden Butterfly King.
Jiang Linxian then followed the Toad Captain deeper into the Cave Dwelling.
Along the way, Jiang Linxian ventured a probing question.
"Toad Captain, what exactly is our King's background?"
"Our King is a rare variant—a butterfly of ten thousand years that has become a Sprite. Had she not been snared and suppressed beneath Seven Absolute Mountain by a divine immortal's technique, she would have long since become a Demon Lord."
The Toad Captain was quite proud saying this, believing that once the Golden Butterfly King recovered her cultivation, he too would ascend alongside her.
Jiang Linxian repeated the phrase silently to himself— divine immortal, Seven Absolute Mountain? Why not call it Five-Finger Mountain instead?
The Toad Captain, seeing Jiang Linxian walking with his head bowed, assumed he was worried about being denied entry, and offered some reassurance.
"When you face the King in a moment, keep your bearing humble—I'll put in a good word for you, and you'll surely be admitted."
Jiang Linxian nodded.
"Many thanks, Captain. Understood."
On the way, the Toad Captain also crossed paths with another demon—a Centipede Sprite; judging by its bearing and the Toad Captain's manner toward it, its rank appeared to be higher.
Both were centipedes, yet Pudu Cihang was simply that one-in-ten-thousand genius among centipedes—a prodigy who cultivated in both the Buddhist and Daoist paths.
****
The interior of the Cave Dwelling was largely rugged rock, with a complicated terrain.
Far below the standard of the Blue and White Serpents' Cave Dwelling.
The Toad Captain arrived before an inner sanctum within the Cave Dwelling, announced their arrival before entering, then went inside and dropped to his knees to make the introduction.
Jiang Linxian stood behind with his head lowered. After a short while, he heard a beguiling voice—entirely unlike Elder Sister Green's allure, carrying something rather gaudy and overripe about it.
"Little snake demon, raise your head."
Jiang Linxian looked up and saw the Golden Butterfly King reclining halfway against a stone seat, her posture languid yet carrying a lightness peculiar to insects.
Her upper body was that of a graceful and elegant lady, draped in a long gold-violet tube top dress—cut from an extremely sheer gold-threaded gauze, it draped over her delicate figure like a butterfly's wings, semi-transparent, shimmering with the iridescent luster of mother-of-pearl within the dim Cave Dwelling.
Her skin held a luminous, translucent quality, her face a finely crafted oval.
The Golden Butterfly King certainly lived up to her name.
Yet she could not compare to the Blue and White Serpents—after all, the world was full of beautiful women, but those who could truly be called peerless, city-toppling beauties were exceedingly few.
Even as Jiang Linxian studied the Golden Butterfly, the Golden Butterfly King was studying Jiang Linxian in return.
This little snake demon's appearance was truly rare in the world—judging from his bearing and looks, his post-Manifestation form would likely not disappoint either.
"Little snake demon, I hear you wish to join my Golden Butterfly Manor?"
"Yes, my King—the Toad Sprite said that joining Golden Butterfly Manor means enjoying wealth and glory."
"You certainly know how to seek a good life. This King permits it—but such wealth and glory are not so easily enjoyed. You'll need to make contributions."
"I am at my King's disposal."
Jiang Linxian wore the look of a perfectly obedient subordinate, while internally his mind had already begun spinning furiously. His original plan had been to flee—but fleeing was no longer realistic now.
Better to stay for the moment and see just what was going on.