Release

In an unnamed mountain valley, lush green grass carpeted the ground. Though it was the depths of winter, there was not the slightest air of desolation. Red flowers and green trees filled the valley, blooming in brilliant profusion.

A hundred zhang to the left of the valley, a vast waterfall, white as a silver curtain, plunged from a hundred zhang above, crashing into a thousand heaps of snowy spray.

The thunderous roar gradually grew clearer in Yan Zi's ears. Then an unbearable irritation began to rise within her.

Along with that irritation, Yan Zi's heavy eyelids slowly opened. The first thing she saw was Li Xiuluo, cutting a dashing figure in his blue robes.

Seated cross-legged on a slab of bluestone, Li Xiuluo smiled at her. "Miss Yan, you've slept well. You must be hungry by now. Have something to eat."

Yan Zi scrambled to her feet. Without even glancing at the plate of steamed buns and two pieces of cooked meat laid out on a white cloth to her right, she instinctively tried to move her legs.

"I advise you to sit down and behave."

A voice, cold as ice, rang out. A chill stabbed through Yan Zi's heart. She looked toward the sound and saw a toad covered in festering sores, crouched beneath a banana leaf.

"You... are you human or ghost?!"

Yan Zi felt as though a furry, icy-cold venomous insect had crawled onto her back. Her whole body trembled uncontrollably.

Yan Zi had been through plenty and seen much of the world. But aside from Auspicious Duck, she had never encountered another monster that could talk. And for a hideous toad like this to suddenly speak in human words—it challenged everything she knew about demons and monsters.

The toad snorted and opened its mouth, spitting out