Chapter 11: The Thousand-Year Toad

Chapter 11: The Thousand-Year Toad

Upon seeing him, I had been brimming with grievances to pour out to him, but now his casual "Your hair's not messed up" left me speechless.

Was he doing this on purpose or was it unintentional? I had nearly been scared to death, and yet he was concerned about my hairstyle!

"Rotten fox!" I blurted, pushing him angrily.

He didn't budge an inch, looking at me with a forced smile. "What now?"

"Could you please not suddenly disappear in the future? Could you at least tell me before you go?" I was deeply aggrieved, tears rolling down uncontrollably. "I'm just an ordinary student. It's natural for me to be afraid in such a situation. Please, could you put yourself in my shoes...?"

Crying to the point of breathlessness, I couldn't resist sneaking a glance at the mirror in my pocket.

Perfect, my tears were flowing beautifully, like pear blossoms with raindrops—no man could resist such a sight.

"Alright, I was wrong. I overstepped," Li Fan admitted after a moment of silence, his voice unusually gentle.

He reached out to pull me closer, letting me lean against his shoulder while patting my back.

"Where did that boldness go just now when you were insulting me?"

"Also, stop crying. It's utterly unbecoming."

Me: ...

Inside, I was roaring. He called me ugly – this was the second time he'd done so!

Was he polite? What kind of gaze was that?!

"Right," I conceded, wiping away my tears before getting to the point. "What were you doing just now?"

"I was catching a cat," Li Fan replied.

Only then did I notice that he had been clutching the nape of an orange tabby's neck. The plump feline was curled up in his palm, its eyes tightly shut. I couldn't tell if it was alive or not.

Before I could fully inspect the situation, Li Fan tossed the cat in my direction.

Instinctively, I caught it. Fortunately, the cat remained unconscious, for I would have been genuinely fearful of being scratched otherwise.

Seemingly sensing my unease, Li Fan gave me a sideways glance. "It won't wake up anytime soon, and even if it did, it's harmless, just like me – it doesn't bite."

"I know you don't bite," I replied, somewhat exasperated. Why was he comparing himself to a cat?

The playground was now devoid of ghostly figures, but the sky remained gloomy. The buildings looked dilapidated, resembling haunted construction sites in TV dramas.

"Got some business to attend to. I'll come back for you soon. You can wander around and, you know, practice your courage." Li Fan rapped my head lightly. Before I could respond, he was gone.

For some reason, I couldn't quite pinpoint my feelings towards Li Fan. How long had we known each other? Yet, I found myself relying on him.

Shaking my head to dispel these ungrounded thoughts, Lin Yu, who had been silent beside me, suddenly sprang up, startling me.

"Classmate, are you also an exorcist? Was that man your spirit from the altar? He's the most powerful one I've ever seen!" Lin Yu's eyes gleamed with excitement.

I didn't know how to explain my relationship with Li Fan, so I just nodded repeatedly as a response.

Curious about Li Fan's abilities, I took the opportunity to ask her some indirect questions.

To my surprise, Lin Yu was more than happy to answer my naive queries. "You're probably new to setting up your altar, right? You don't know much yet. Look at that fox fire – I've been running my altar for over a year and have never seen such powerful fox fire!"

"For ordinary fox spirits, being able to burn a few minor ghosts is already impressive. That fox fire just now, forget about minor ghosts, it could have handled hundreds of vengeful spirits with ease!"

Holding the cat whose fate was uncertain, I walked around the area with Lin Yu. After all, Li Fan had made her declaration, and throughout our walk, Lin Yu kept chattering nonstop.

Her curiosity piqued mine, and a question suddenly popped into my mind.

"Lin Yu, do you mean that all fox spirits have the surname Hu?"

"Of course, fox spirits have the surname Hu, Liu spirits have the surname Liu, and White spirits have the surname Bai. Isn't that common knowledge?" Lin Yu replied.

I chuckled lightly, but a question then arose in my mind.

Li Fan is also a fox spirit. Why doesn't he have the surname Hu?

I put this question aside, intending to ask Li Fan when he returned. However, there was a more pressing issue at hand.

I came to this damned place to find my sister! Yet, I've found nothing and almost lost my own life in the process.

I shared this with Lin Yu, who pondered for a moment before responding, "Are you talking about that girl named Bai Zhi? I believe I've seen her. She was quickly discovered to be alive, but instead of being consumed, she was abducted..."

Scratching his head, Lin Yu said to me, "I'll accompany you in searching for her. Initially, I came here with the intention of saving lives anyway."

I agreed readily and started combing the area with Lin Yu methodically.

This place was indeed not large, roughly the size of an ordinary high school. Looking afar, the gray sky and earth seemed to merge seamlessly.

After over an hour of searching, we finally found Bai Zhi in the building that housed the principal's office.

Bai Zhi lay on her side in the first floor atrium, her face pale and eyes closed, seemingly unconscious.

"Found her!" Lin Yu cheered, about to lift Bai Zhi up. Swiftly, I pulled him back.

Looking at me quizzically, Lin Yu shook his head. I pointed to the side of the atrium.

The atrium should have been a well-lit space, but it appeared unusually dim.

Despite the poor lighting, I noticed four shadows beside Bai Zhi, resembling four snakes lying on the ground, using their surroundings to conceal themselves. Bai Zhi seemed to be functioning as bait in this scenario.

It was clear that this was a trap.

"Don't be so impulsive. I think it's better to wait…" I meant to suggest waiting for Li Fan to return, but Lin Yu clearly had a different plan.

She sternly lectured me, "Bai Ci, you need to be braver. You can't rely on immortals for everything, do you understand?"

I wanted to say that I wasn't running an exorcism session, and that the principle of 'if you don't court death, death won't come knocking' was true. It would be wiser for us two inexperienced ones to stay on the sidelines.

With a swift motion, Lin Yu drew her peach wood sword. "Don't be afraid. This wooden sword is specifically designed to counter these malevolent spirits. If you're too scared, just stay here."

In one leap, she charged forward. The four snakes beside Bai Zhi immediately responded, and in an instant, Lin Yu was locked in combat with them.

The floor of the hall was slippery, and Lin Yu struggled to keep her footing, quickly losing the upper hand.

I was extremely worried but couldn't offer any assistance. All I could do was hope that Li Fan would return soon.

"Bai Ci!" Lin Yu suddenly called out.

"What is it?" I turned to her anxiously, only to see her barely holding off the attacks from the four snakes with her peach wood sword. But those snakes were absurdly long... Could snakes really grow that long?

"Bai Ci, we were wrong. These aren't snakes…" Lin Yu took a few steps back, her face pale. "These seem to be tongues, toad's tongues."

"A toad?" I looked at her in surprise. "Can a toad have four tongues? Even a garlic turtle isn't that powerful!"

"Toads can grow four tongues after a thousand years of cultivation, and develop horns after a ten thousand years," Lin Yu's voice trembled. "This one is already a thousand-year-old toad!"