Giant Frog Attack (4)

Mo Li was far too close to the Giant Frog. If he ran in a straight line, the Giant Frog could catch up to him in just one or two steps. When that happened, he would truly have nowhere to run. So Mo Li absolutely could not flee in a straight line.

After dodging the foot the Giant Frog brought down, Mo Li began moving quickly sideways, using the enormous fungus in front of him as an obstacle to block the Giant Frog's pursuit.

This move was surprisingly effective. With the giant fungus in the way, the Giant Frog was completely unable to attack Mo Li. All it could do was clumsily chase him from behind, circling around the fungus.

The Giant Frog's speed was not slow over a straight distance, but circling the fungus was another matter. After all, its body was far too huge, and turning took time. Thus, even after chasing Mo Li around several times, the Giant Frog still failed to catch him.

Perhaps it had decided that it could not catch Mo Li, because the Giant Frog suddenly stopped. Mo Li also stopped when he saw it give up the chase. Although he had not run many laps around the giant fungus, he was breathing heavily. The pressure he was under was simply too great.

Seeing that the Giant Frog was no longer chasing Mo Li, Zhong Lichun hurriedly called down to him from atop the fungus, "Hey! Hurry up and get up here too!"

Hearing Zhong Lichun call out to him from above, Mo Li's expression instantly changed. What was this woman thinking? The Giant Frog was right below her! The reason it had ignored Zhong Lichun earlier was that Mo Li had drawn its attention. Now that it could not catch Mo Li, would Zhong Lichun's shout not draw all of its attention over?

Sure enough, almost as soon as Zhong Lichun called Mo Li's name, the Giant Frog, which had been sitting motionless, suddenly raised its head and looked toward the top of the fungus. However, it was lying on the ground and was not as tall as the fungus, so it could not see Zhong Lichun up there.

Seeing that Mo Li had not responded from below, Zhong Lichun called out once more, "What are you standing around for? Hurry up and get up here!"

"Damn it! This stupid woman!" Hearing Zhong Lichun shout loudly again, Mo Li was utterly speechless. He raised a hand to cover his face and muttered under his breath. Just as he was feeling helpless over Zhong Lichun's foolish behavior, the Giant Frog on the other side suddenly made an astonishing move: it used its hind legs to support its body and stood upright.

Given the Giant Frog's body length, it was at least six or seven meters tall when standing. That was high enough for it to see Zhong Lichun hiding atop the fungus. The moment it spotted her, the Giant Frog became excited and immediately sprawled onto the giant fungus. Its surface was extraordinarily soft, and when the Giant Frog climbed onto it, the fungus sank deeply beneath its weight. Fortunately, that softness also meant the Giant Frog could not exert any force. It was impossible for it to climb up the fungus and catch Zhong Lichun.

Feeling the fungus beneath her feet suddenly tremble, Zhong Lichun lost her balance and fell onto it. When she instinctively turned her head, she discovered that the Giant Frog's enormous face was less than half a meter away from her. The visual impact was overwhelming, and at that moment Zhong Lichun realized how reckless she had been. What had I been thinking? How could I have been foolish enough to shout so loudly?

After seeing its prey again, the Giant Frog opened its mouth excitedly. Its forelegs kept straining as it tried to climb onto the fungus. Fortunately, the surface kept writhing, making it impossible for the frog to climb up. However, this caused the entire surface of the fungus to undulate constantly, leaving Zhong Lichun unable to stand.

What frightened Zhong Lichun most was that as the fungus's surface continued to ripple, she was slowly moving closer to the Giant Frog. To stop herself from sliding any farther in its direction, she grabbed the fuzzy surface of the fungus with her left hand. At least this temporarily brought her body to a halt.

The Giant Frog tried several times. When it realized that it truly could not climb onto the fungus, it suddenly opened its mouth and spat out its still-bleeding tongue. The tongue wrapped directly around Zhong Lichun's waist, and the frog immediately began pulling her back.

The tongue was incredibly strong. Zhong Lichun's body was pulled into the air, while the already fragile fuzz on the fungus was torn away by her grip. Wrapped in the tongue, Zhong Lichun was dragged toward the Giant Frog's mouth once again.

In desperation, Zhong Lichun drove the dagger in her right hand into the fungus. Her goal was simple: she wanted to use the embedded blade as an anchor to resist the pull. However, after the dagger pierced the fungus, it encountered no resistance at all. The outer layer was extremely thin and unusually soft, so the blade could not hold her in place.

As the tongue continued pulling, Zhong Lichun's body kept sliding toward the Giant Frog. The dagger in her hand carved a long gash across the fungus's surface. Despair filled Zhong Lichun's face. Mo Li had no time to save her this time. Was she really going to die here?

But just as the fungus was slashed open, a gas filled with an intensely pungent odor suddenly burst from inside it. The pressure within the fungus must have been immense, because it blew Zhong Lichun into the air and sprayed the gas directly onto the Giant Frog's head.

The high-pressure gas forced the Giant Frog's body backward, and its tongue, which had been wrapped around Zhong Lichun, loosened. Propelled by the blast, Zhong Lichun flew a good four or five meters before crashing to the ground.

On the other side, Mo Li suddenly seemed to realize something. He reached into the only pocket of his oversized shorts. When he pulled his hand back out, he was holding something—the Kerosene Lighter he had used to start the fire before.

Mo Li quickly flipped open the lighter's lid and spun the wheel, igniting it. Then he hurled the lighter toward the Giant Frog's head with all his strength. It traced an arc through the air before plunging into the gas spraying from inside the fungus.

Almost the instant the lighter touched the gas, the gas erupting from the fungus ignited. Pale-blue flames spread rapidly like a fire dragon, finally engulfing the Giant Frog's head completely.

Mo Li had no idea how hot the flames were. He only knew that when they swallowed the Giant Frog's head, the frog did not even have time to struggle before collapsing onto the shrinking fungus. Under the pressure of its corpse, even more gas sprayed out from inside the fungus, and the flames grew larger and larger.

Mo Li did not dare remain beside the fungus. He rushed to Zhong Lichun, picked her up, and immediately sprinted toward the Underground Lake. Behind him, the fire engulfed several other nearby fungi. Under the intense heat, their outer skins were rapidly burned away, releasing the gas inside. The newly released gas met the open flames and ignited once more, while the expanding blaze set the other nearby fungi alight. It had become a vicious cycle.