Chapter 284: Fiery Temper
Solving a puzzle, Fang Mu felt no joy, only worry and fear.
Even between humans there are differences in ability levels and seniority, so it must be the same between abnormal gods.
Whether the Frog God or Toad God, or the Evolving Daughter whom he has never met, their being compared to the Lord of All Things residing in the Ultimate Abyss is so insignificant. The gap between the Toad Frog God and the Lord of All Things is like the gap between Fang Mu and the Toad Frog God; that gap might be even greater than he imagined.
Even now basking in the sunlight, Fang Mu’s mind kept replaying the appearance of the Lord of All Things; he could even faintly sense some kind of sensation with the other. That existence whose full appearance could not be directly viewed was surely watching him from some corner of spacetime at this moment. He was like a little figure under the pen, at the mercy of the Lord of All Things to depict.
Luo luo luo… Gua gua gua…
Turning off the water, after finishing a hot shower, Fang Mu wiped his hair with a towel. Before he had wiped half of it, he suddenly heard an anomalous croaking from the drain. Without needing to listen carefully, he immediately guessed it was the voice of the Toad Frog.
Those Toad Frogs were right below the drainpipe, perhaps right at the drain.
Fang Mu stiffly turned his head, looking down, only to see that in the damp, dark drain hole on the floor, several large fleshy eyeballs had appeared. Their owner emitted bursts of strange calls, constantly pushing up against the slotted cover over the drain. The slotted cover emitted bursts of metal clanging.
“This damn thing followed me here too?” Fang Mu’s facial expression darkened; he could now clearly feel that ever since he read 《Night Tour Notes》, the connection between him and anomalies seemed to have grown stronger in some inexplicable way, which also amplified the “blessing” on his body as if it had been boosted. The Toad God’s blessing was exerting even more intense influence on him.
Originally just observing him from afar, setting up eerie signs around him if faintly present, now they almost wanted to shove right in his face. These toads were like soldiers receiving orders from a general, starting a frontal assault!
“Damn it!” Seeing this, Fang Mu felt fear but also anger. He stepped into the shower cubicle, took down the showerhead, deliberately turned the water heater to the highest temperature, and aimed the showerhead at the drain for a fierce attack. “Even clay figures have a temper. Toad God and Frog God bullying me is one thing, but you stinking toads daring to jump in my face too? See if I don’t scald you all to death!”
Facts proved that the Toad Frogs clogged in the hotel room’s drain at this moment were just ordinary beasts, far inferior to the mutated toads he saw on Nong Mountain. Under the scalding hot water, they had no power to resist, emitting bursts of miserable cries. Soon they were scalded swollen; some didn’t die yet, staring at him with deformed eyeballs, but their swollen bodies blocked the drain, preventing the Toad Frogs below from pushing out directly.
After doing all this, Fang Mu wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. Though he seemed heroic and mighty just now, he was actually afraid that doing this would further enrage the Toad God, strengthening the blessing even more, leading to more and more weird phenomena appearing around him.
To avoid prolonged delays, Fang Mu changed his clothes and went to the inn counter to check out, taking that 《Night Tour Notes》 with him.
Perhaps not wanting others to see his hard-to-conceal anxious and terrified expression, Fang Mu deliberately turned into a less crowded street alley, hurrying along.
Fang Mu felt something was tracking him; he didn’t know if it was human or frog people disguised as humans, but they were all ill-intentioned toward him.
“Fang Sen.”
Just as Fang Mu turned into a dark alley, head down hurrying, he suddenly saw a pair of old flat canvas shoes enter his line of sight. The voice ahead was so familiar.
Fang Mu slowly raised his head, his line of sight gradually focusing on that gentle and scholarly face. He forced a grin, “Heh, isn’t this Teacher Wang Zheng? What a coincidence, running into you here.”
“Yeah, really too coincidental.” Wang Zheng laughed.
“I don’t buy it. You’ve been tracking me, right?” Fang Mu took a deep breath, deciding to confront the other.
Hearing this, Wang Zheng dropped the pretense, slightly lowering his eyelids, and said, “Yes… After thinking all night, I finally made the decision just now.”
“What do you want to do, kill me?” Fang Mu watched the other warily.
Wang Zheng approached step by step, neither admitting nor denying, “No… that would be too wasteful. I won’t do that. Actually, I have a better idea. I want to ask for your help.”
“You want me to pray to the Toad God and Frog God for blessings, right?” Fang Mu immediately exposed Wang Zheng’s heart. “Looks like what you said yesterday was true. You want to find someone blessed by the Toad Frog God to help you make a wish to Them, fulfilling your wish.”
Wang Zheng’s face showed excitement. He spread his arms as if wanting to embrace Fang Mu, or perhaps to pounce on him; his clawing movements made him look even more eerie and ferocious. “Don’t you want to? Just make a wish to the deity, and there’s a high probability it really comes true. It’s wish fulfillment, omnipotence!”
Fang Mu’s retreat speed wasn’t as fast as Wang Zheng’s advance. Not only did he fail to immediately pull away, but he was quickly closed in on and grabbed by the shoulders.
Fang Mu was still refusing: “I don’t believe in such pie-in-the-sky good fortune. Fulfilling wishes must come at a price.”
“You’re right.” Wang Zheng laughed, a squinting expression appearing on his elegant and refined face. In the dim light and shadow, the smile became eerie and ferocious. “So just sacrifice yourself nicely, fulfilling everyone’s wishes.”
As soon as the words fell, Wang Zheng’s seemingly skinny body suddenly erupted with powerful strength, almost instantly slamming Fang Mu against the wall, his smile growing more deformed. “Be good, help me fulfill my wish, and I’ll let you go right away.”
“Impossible!” Fang Mu resisted desperately, trying to struggle, but felt Wang Zheng’s grip on his upper arm suddenly tighten even more, lifting him into mid-air. “Why should I do this? Don’t get too arrogant, bastard!”
Fang Mu could only kick out, landing a heavy kick on Wang Zheng’s belly. “Let me go!”
This kick was very heavy, aimed at a vital spot. Fang Mu had thought Wang Zheng was some terminator or enhanced human, but this kick immediately left Wang Zheng unable to get up again.
Gua gua gua…
Dense Toad Frog croaking sounded inappropriately from the surroundings. Fang Mu looked around, immediately breaking into cold sweat. He discovered that in those dark and unexpected corners, one, two… even hundreds of toads had appeared, staring fixedly at Fang Mu, completely surrounding him.
“See, the Frog God’s envoys are urging you to complete the ritual quickly.” Wang Zheng hissed in pain while clutching his seemingly kicked-out waist. “Offerings and prayers are essential!”
“You fucking do it yourself!” Fang Mu kicked Wang Zheng flying, using him to forcefully clear a bloody path, then stepped on Wang Zheng to jump out of the Toad Frogs’ encirclement and flee.
However, before Wang Zheng could say anything, he suddenly felt intense body pain. Looking toward the stinging spot, he saw that group of toads that had approached unnoticed had bitten him.
Wang Zheng tried to crawl up and chase, but as soon as his legs straightened, his whole body couldn’t hold up anymore, crashing down covered in injuries.
And these toads influenced by anomaly factors were clearly no longer ordinary beasts; they possessed even more terrifying and unknown toxicity.
The toads’ poison quickly eroded Wang Zheng’s body. Wang Zheng only felt his body both cold and painful, like his whole body was cramping, with some bugs moving inside.
He took off his clothes, revealing large patches of toad-skin-like pimples.
