Zhang Ming stood up and looked west. The ominous aura made him instinctively uncomfortable.
The ground trembled slightly, and a drab gray creature resembling a toad emerged from the soil. Unlike a toad, however, it had a pair of insect-like compound eyes.
Those cold compound eyes looked toward the Great Willow Tree, gleaming faintly.
A strange, grating voice came from its abdominal cavity. "This is the willow tree suppressing the Demon God? Its life has now run out, and it can barely keep the Demon God suppressed anymore, right?"
As the voice reached his ears, it gave rise to waves of murmuring.
"Yes. May I ask what I should call you, senior?" Zhang Ming asked politely.
"Youngster, you have courage. Just call me Toad." The gray toad gave a strange, mocking laugh and introduced itself. "I am a Demon God Anchoring One. My condition is hardly better than this Great Willow Tree's. Even I don't know when I might go mad and eat you."
"I heard you're living off a woman. Bring out that Demon God wife of yours and let me take a look."
Zhang Ming felt that this fellow had something wrong with its head. What was this business of wanting to see someone's wife the moment they met?
So he said self-deprecatingly, "I am indeed someone who lives off a Demon God. That Demon God wife of mine has an unpredictable temperament. I don't know when she might eat us all, either."
The gray Toad cackled. "Youngster, you're amusing, and very bold!"
"It isn't difficult to keep this willow tree alive a while longer. If you have the nerve, follow me. This tunnel of mine allows Earth Escape."
With a plop, Toad jumped into the hole it had emerged from.
Confident in his abilities, Zhang Ming felt