Chapter 45: Toad Granny

In a clamorous holding area, many children were locked up. They saw numerous walking frogs and toads wielding large sabers, calling out in terror and crying for their parents from the bottom of their hearts.

"Shut up! Keep crying and we will eat you!" To make sure he could rest in peace, a toad demon named Lai Da grabbed a knife, hauled out a small child, and slammed him onto the ground to knock him out. Then, with a flash of his blade, he severed the child's head. Fresh blood spurted from the mutilated neck and gushed into a wooden bucket. Some of the children were genuinely terrified, pressing their small hands over their mouths and daring not to cry out loud. Others continued to weep. Lai Da strode over, snatched another disobedient child from a cage, and killed him for his blood.

Nearby, another frog demon named Xue Bengda said, "Lai Da, you've killed too many. One a day is enough."

Lai Da replied, "If I don't kill a few to scare them, neither of us will get any sleep tonight. Besides, that Tiger Wang is coming, and he wants meat too. When he eats children's meat, he has a much bigger appetite than we demons!"

Xue Bengda remarked, "He is the Alliance Master of the Jianghu; a big scoundrel like him naturally eats people without spitting out the bones."

Lai Da said, "In that case, there are no good people left in this world."

Xue Bengda pointed at the children in the cages and said, "The big scoundrels have eaten all the good people."

Lai Da told him, "Keep watch here. I'll take the blood over. Beauty Xue likes to drink it warm."

Xue Bengda dared not argue. This Beauty Xue could be considered his great-grandmother. In order to retain her youth, she had practiced unorthodox arts, drinking the blood of young boys and virgins to maintain her beauty, and forcing all the frog demons to capture people for her. The younger generations thoroughly despised her; behind her back, they mockingly called her Beauty Xue, though to her face they still addressed her as grandmother.

Seeing innocent children being slaughtered, Xiao Bugui prepared to intervene, but Yin Xiangxiang whispered softly, "Do not startle the snake in the grass. Let us follow Lai Da and find the magic box first."

Lai Da poured the fresh blood into an exquisite small bowl, placed it on a tray, and hunched his back. Taking a winding path for quite some time, he arrived before Beauty Xue's door and knocked gently on the low lintel. Understanding a bit of worldly etiquette—since the beauty's paramour was visiting, it wouldn't do to call her grandmother without acknowledging the grandfather—he called out, "Grandfather, Grandmother, your lowly grandson has brought your drink."

Inside the room, Tiger Wang and Beauty Xue were expressing their affections physically and wished not to be disturbed by a demon. Thus, Beauty Xue said, "Just leave it there. I'll fetch it myself."

Stuck to the cave ceiling like a patch of mud and afraid to reveal his true form, Yin Xiangxiang poked Xiao Bugui with a finger, signaling that since the mouse had a small target, he should slip inside if the door opened.

A moment later, a disheveled Beauty Xue emerged from the room and drank all four bowls of fresh blood. After finishing, she did not forget to wipe the blood from the corner of her mouth. Truly fatigued after her exertions, she inevitably muttered, "My throat is dry as dust, I'm dying of thirst!"

Through the half-open door, Tiger Wang could be seen lying on the bed, snoring like thunder. Yin Xiangxiang simply dropped a lump of mud to block Beauty Xue's mouth and nose. Seizing this brief gap, Xiao Bugui resumed his human form and thrust his Seven-Sullies Spear, piercing a bloody hole through Beauty Xue's body. Without missing a beat, Yin Xiangxiang's entire mass of mud fell down, devoured Beauty Xue's corpse, and transformed into her appearance.

Yin Xiangxiang walked into the room and saw the magic box resting right at the head of the bed. He promptly retrieved it and concealed it within his body. At that moment, perhaps exhausted, Tiger Wang did not wake up. Yin Xiangxiang walked out cleanly to rendezvous with Xiao Bugui and rescue Young Master Yu Wushuang together.

Fortunately, Yin Xiangxiang had left markers along the path he took upon arriving, and tracing his steps back, he quickly caught up with Lai Da. Now wearing the visage of Beauty Xue, Yin Xiangxiang called out directly, "Lai Da!"

Walking ahead, Lai Da turned around at the sound of the shout. Seeing Beauty Xue, he beamed with a ingratiating smile and asked, "Grandmother, do you have any other instructions?"

Yin Xiangxiang said, "Take me to see Young Master Yu Wushuang."

Lai Da asked, "Grandmother, didn't you say that brat didn't know what was good for him and kill him?"

Yin Xiangxiang asked, "Is he dead?"

"No, I was planning to kill him tomorrow. I will take you to see him right now." Spotting Xiao Bugui, Lai Da naturally felt curious upon seeing an exceptionally handsome young man suddenly appear in the toad's nest, and asked, "Grandmother, who is this? How is it that I have never seen him before?"

Yin Xiangxiang replied, "Too much chatter." Daring not to ask any further, Lai Da led the way to the water dungeon.

Young Master Yu Wushuang was imprisoned in the water dungeon, his hands and feet bound by ropes. Poisonous insects had been placed upon his face, biting his once handsome and fair visage until it became hideous. Now looking like an evil ghost, he saw Yin Xiangxiang and, mistaking her for Beauty Xue, cursed bitterly, "You toad hag, you might as well kill me! If you ever let me out, I will surely wash your Cliff of Life and Death in blood!"

Judging by neither appearance nor demeanor could Yin Xiangxiang detect the slightest trace of the Yu family young master's elegance at this moment, so he asked Lai Da, "Is this Young Master Yu Wushuang?"

Lai Da answered, "Grandmother, this is as you instructed—to rot his face with poison and cover his entire body in scabs, making him wish he were dead."

Since saving someone requires seeing the task through to the end, Yin Xiangxiang asked, "Is there an antidote? Can you help restore his appearance?"

Lai Da replied, "Grandmother, your poisons have always been without cure."

Yin Xiangxiang had no choice but to say, "Release him and let him go!"

Lai Da protested, "Grandmother, he is the Third Young Master of the Jiangsu Yu family! If we let him go, it's like releasing a tiger back to the mountains! The Yu family of Jiangsu will not let us off!"

Yin Xiangxiang said, "This mortal world is full of snobs. If he goes back looking this hideous, the Yu family will only treat him like a monster; no one will avenge him."

Lai Da said, "Then I will obey Grandmother. Your grandson will set him free right now."

The binding ropes were undone. Wearing handcuffs and foot shackles, Young Master Yu Wushuang was escorted out by Lai Da and two toad demons who guarded the water dungeon.

Following closely behind without leaving an inch, Yin Xiangxiang left the cave dwelling with them and had Lai Da remove the shackles from Yu Wushuang. Yin Xiangxiang even gave Yu Wushuang a kick, seemingly urging him to run faster.

Once the captive was sent away, Yin Xiangxiang instructed Lai Da, "All of you return to the cave dwelling!"

Seeing that "grandmother" did not wish to return home, Lai Da dutifully said, "Grandmother, it isn't safe for you to be here all by yourself!"

Yin Xiangxiang said, "It's fine."

Naturally daring not to press further, Lai Da led the two toad spirits back into the cave dwelling. Still harboring suspicions in his heart, he stealthily hid behind the cave entrance to peek outside.

He discovered that Xiao Bugui had gone beneath a big tree and brought out a young girl, whom Lai Da recognized as an escapee and an accomplice of the Yu公子. Originally sworn enemies, the group was now joyfully departing together. The more Lai Da thought about it, the more wrong it felt, so he decided to return to grandmother's room to take another look. Panting as he trotted back, he found the door ajar, grandmother absent, and grandmother's paramour still fast asleep and snoring away. Not daring to disturb him, Lai Da ran back to the cave entrance to wait. Tossing and turning all night, running back and forth through several trips until the sun shone brightly overhead, Lai Da finally realized—grandmother was gone!