Starting with the frog, he has ruled for eternity.

Chapter 43 Quack! Mother Lu, how am I supposed to get out of here?

Nan Nan was taken out by Lu Feng.

Fang Yuan didn't pay much attention to it. After all, he had grown so big that he couldn't stay by Nan Nan's side all the time, so he stayed in Nan Nan's boudoir.

Fang Yuan lazily squatted on a thick plush carpet in the corner of the room; the carpet was quite comfortable to sit on.

And the chair...

Fang Yuan glanced at the wood chips next to him... He had originally intended to sit on the chair like a human, but he accidentally broke the chair by sitting on it!

quack!

hateful!

Is Fang Yuan really that heavy?! Those old-fashioned wooden chairs can easily support a couple hundred pounds, right?! How could a frog who's only half a meter tall possibly break a chair?!

quack!

That's outrageous! That awful chair! It's discriminating against us big, heavy frogs!

quack!

Fang Yuan let out a long sigh, and two streams of hot white breath shot out from his nostrils, leaving long trails of mist in the morning light.

He tried to look down at his current appearance, but frogs can't reach that angle, so he eventually had to give up.

However, looking in the mirror, Fang Yuan could also see what he looked like.

His squatting height exceeded half a meter, his muscles were like cast iron, gleaming with a dark blue-black metallic sheen, and the stratum corneum on his back was as hard as a shield.

This is the seventh level of the [Mountain-Shaking Force].

Currently, this is the internal energy that has the most noticeable effect.

However, while it is indeed powerful, its "tonnage" is just too inconvenient.

Right now, he's like a heavy tank parked in a china shop. Forget about going out to protect Nan Nan, he even has to hold back when he turns around inside, for fear of accidentally knocking down the wall.

After all, frogs can't walk; they need to hop to move.

When I was little, I could only jump half a meter or a meter at most, but now I can jump seven or eight meters, and I can easily knock down a house.

This is not a good thing!

He grew larger so that he could better search for martial arts techniques outside, find a way to become human again, and survive.

But... how do I get out now?

Given his current appearance, the moment he shows his face, the patrolling city guards would probably mistake him for a ferocious beast or a strange monster, and might even riddle him with crossbow bolts.

Just as Fang Yuan was deep in thought, footsteps suddenly came from outside the door.

The footsteps were somewhat dragging, as if stepping on cotton, weak and unsteady, interspersed with a few suppressed sighs that seemed to be squeezed out from the depths of the chest.

He's neither a martial arts expert nor Nan Nan.

It is Lu Mu.

Quack? What's she doing here?

Fang Yuan's heart tightened. Although Lu's mother had met him many times before and knew about his affairs, she had ultimately had very little contact with him.

Fang Yuan instinctively wanted to find a place to hide, but looking around, the boudoir was completely exposed to his current size, and there was nowhere to hide him.

"Squeak—"

The door was pushed open.

Lu's mother was carrying a red lacquered tray with a whole steaming, golden-brown roast chicken on it, along with a pot of warm yellow wine.

The door opened.

Sunlight streamed in, illuminating the dark green behemoth in the corner.

Eyes facing each other.

Fang Yuan froze. He tried his best to suppress the fierce aura around him and widened his eyes, attempting to make himself look a little "cute".

but……

In Lu's mother's eyes, it was like a giant frog, half a meter tall and ferocious, glaring at him menacingly! Fang Zheng's pupils revealed an inhuman ferocity.

Lu's mother froze.

Her pupils contracted sharply as she stared at the enormous monster inside the room, a creature that seemed to have stepped out of a nightmare.

That was an instinctive fear.

Where would a woman living in a secluded mansion ever have seen such a scene?

"Clang!"

The lid of the teapot on the tray slipped off with a crisp sound, and scalding hot tea splashed onto the back of her hand, leaving a red dot.

But Lu's mother neither cried out nor ran away.

Her body was trembling violently, her face turned deathly pale, her lips quivered, and her legs went weak, almost causing her to kneel on the ground. But she bit her lower lip tightly and managed to hold onto the door frame.

……

Fang Yuan inwardly cried out in alarm.

Oh no, this is terrifying!

He was about to open his mouth to explain—even if his voice was unpleasant, it would at least prove that he was sane and not a man-eating beast.

But before he could even croak out, he saw Lu's mother take a deep breath, and her terrified expression changed in just a few breaths.

"Is it... Little Frog?"

Lu's mother's voice was very soft and trembling violently.

"I remember you. Nan Nan went to get me some roast chicken yesterday, saying it was for you. I was puzzled at the time, wondering how a frog could possibly finish a roast chicken. Nan Nan didn't explain it to me then."

The old woman mumbled something, her hands still trembling slightly, the porcelain vibrating in her hands, making a crisp buzzing sound.

She took a deep breath, as if to encourage herself, then stepped over the threshold and even closed the door behind her.

This action surprised Fang Yuan.

Instead of running away, she locked herself up with the "monster"?

Carrying the tray, Lu's mother walked around the wreckage of the broken chair on the ground, and placed the tray on the intact table three steps away from Fang Yuan.

Then, she pulled over a round stool and sat down somewhat wearily, right opposite the giant frog.

"Eat."

Lu's mother pointed to the roast chicken, forcing a smile. "It was just made in the kitchen, it's still warm. Nan Nan went to practice martial arts, and Da Lang and Er Lang are busy... busy setting up a cenotaph for Ye Zi. There's no one home, so I thought I'd bring you some food."

Fang Yuan didn't stand on ceremony.

He extended his long tongue and gently rolled the roast chicken into his belly.

As Lu's mother watched Fang Yuan eat, her gaze was somewhat fixed, as if she were looking through him at something else.

"It really looks like it..."

She suddenly spoke in a low voice, her tone slightly dazed.

Caw! ?

picture?

Has this old woman gone mad?

What do I resemble? Do I resemble a human being?

She's not a weasel, and she doesn't ask for any titles, so why did she suddenly say something like that?

Fang Yuan paused in his swallowing motion and tilted his large head.

"Like those stone lions at the entrance of temples, they look fierce, but they are actually protecting the home."

Stone lions...that does seem somewhat like them.

Lu's mother gave a bitter smile, raising her hand to tidy up the stray strands of hair at her temples. "In the past, Ye Zi... that is, Nan Nan's father, always liked to take me to the City God Temple. He said that there are many evil spirits in this world, and the family needs something to keep things in check."

Mentioning Lu Ye's name instantly brought tears to Lu's mother's eyes.

She looked down at the back of her hand, which was scalded red by the tea, but she seemed not to feel any pain.

"Little frog...you're called Fang Yuan...that's your name, right? Nan Nan told me last night."

"You're a frog, how come you have a name?" She was a little curious and tried to reach out to touch Fang Yuan, but she pulled back halfway.

It's like being afraid.

Fang Yuan remained silent for a moment.

He opened his mouth, and a rough voice echoed in the room. Although he tried his best to control the volume, it was like the sound of two rocks rubbing together, still carrying an inhuman sense of oppression.

"Croak. I am the reincarnation of the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, and Fang Yuan is my Dharma name. I have come to the mortal realm to undergo tribulation."

Fang Yuan decided to stick with the setup that fooled Nan Nan, since explaining time travel and the system was too troublesome, and the old lady didn't seem like she could understand "system points".

Lu's mother was stunned for a moment.

She looked at the giant frog in front of her, who was talking nonsense with a straight face, and shook her head with a mix of amusement and bitterness.

"Great Sage..."

She murmured a sentence, a slightly helpless smile curving her lips.

"If you are the Great Sage, then our family is truly honored. Nannan went there yesterday and told me those stories about the Heavenly Court and the havoc in the Heavenly Palace."

"But I've lived this long and seen a lot of things."

"But where is the Heavenly Court? Where are all the gods in Heaven? You say that since you were born of Heaven and Earth, gods will come to capture you, but in all my years, I've never seen a god, let alone a demon, except for you..."

"..." At this point, she sighed, not refuting the veracity of Fang Yuan's stories, but there was something indescribable about it.

"You don't need to make up these things to comfort this old woman. I know the world is in chaos, and all sorts of demons and monsters have come out. Whether you're a demon, a monster, or even a Rakshasa crawling out of the underworld..."

"As long as you save Nannan and Xiaofeng, you will be a benefactor to the Lu family. Our family will definitely not treat you unfairly."

Fang Yuan was somewhat speechless.

quack...

They saw right through me.

Indeed, although Lu's mother is a woman confined to the inner quarters, she has followed Lu Ye through thick and thin for decades and has seen all sorts of things.

This story might fool a young girl like Nan Nan, but trying to fool an old woman who's seen it all is a bit too naive.

Moreover, her attitude of "I don't believe your words, but I believe your heart" made Fang Yuan a little embarrassed to continue bragging.

quack...

The main problem is that even if you brag, people might not believe you.

"Quack."

However, since things had already come to this point, Fang Yuan decided to stop pretending to be an expert. He swallowed the remaining chicken carcass in a few bites, let out a burp, and then looked at Lu's mother, asking a question that had been troubling him recently.

—That ghost.

Lu Ye...

"Quack. That night...you, none of you saw it?"

Lu's mother's hand trembled violently.

She naturally knew what Fang Yuan was asking.

A few days ago, Lu Ye, who was invisible and intangible yet truly knocked on the door, entered the living room, and placed the Blood Jade.

Her husband...

The pillar of the Lu family, Grandpa Lu.

Master Lu!

She didn't even know how he got in, how he walked in, or how long he stayed...

...Mother Lu remained silent for a long time, as if recalling her past with Master Lu. Then she turned her head away, adjusted her posture, and dared not look at Fang Yuan's face.

She only dared to give a dry reply after looking out into the courtyard:

"I can't see it..."

As she spoke, she subconsciously raised her hand, covering her face with it, her voice slightly hoarse and choked with emotion: "I opened my eyes wide, trying desperately to see, but I just couldn't see. But I knew it was him... I knew he had come back."

"I remember the sound of his footsteps... I remember it all."

"Is he...is he worried about us? Did he come back to see us one last time?"

She raised her tearful eyes and looked at Fang Yuan hopefully, as if he were the only messenger in the world who could communicate between Yin and Yang.

"Little Frog, you saw him, didn't you? What...what did he look like? Was he injured? When he passed away...was he peaceful?"

Fang Yuan remained silent.

He looked at the weeping old woman, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

Is it peaceful?

That strange Lu Ye, though he retains the appearance he had in life and has empty eyes, is he injured? Who knows?

Fang Yuan didn't notice if the other person had any wounds, but it seemed like there weren't.

After all, who would care whether a weirdo has wounds?

Fang Yuan wasn't very clear about the injuries on Master Lu's body.

So, what should he say?

She bluntly stated that her husband had become some kind of indescribable, bizarre being.

Some say he might not even have a soul left, just a walking corpse acting on instinct.

No.

That thing might actually be the exact opposite.

Fang Yuan shook his head.

"Quack."

He tried to make his voice sound as gentle as possible.

"He's fine. Unharmed. He... is still protecting you. That blood jade was left behind by him."

This is a lie, but it's also the truth.

He had never seen the injury, though he only had a vague impression of it.

Whether to protect or not, Fang Yuan didn't know; he hadn't yet figured out what those strange ghosts were thinking.

But that piece of blood jade cannot be faked.

After listening, Lu's mother nodded silently, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, only managing a slight smile:

"That's good...that's good."

"As long as he can come back and see us one last time, and know that we are all alive, even if he becomes a ghost, he can rest in peace."

She stood up and began clearing away the leftover food on the table.

"Little Frog, this old woman doesn't understand any grand principles, nor do I know what you... capable people are thinking. But I do know that Ye Zi's most frequently said phrase was: 'A person must have something to strive for in life.'"

"Since he left that jade to you, it means he trusts you. Since he trusts you, then we trust you too."

Lu's mother carried the tray to the door, stopped, and glanced back at Fang Yuan.

"If you want to eat anything in the future, or if you need anything, just tell Nan Nan, or come directly to me. As long as the Lu family has food to eat, you won't go hungry."

After saying that, she pushed open the door and went out, gently closing it behind her.

The room returned to silence.

Fang Yuan squatted in place, staring at the tightly closed door, without moving for a long time.

"Croak..."

He called out softly.

Trust?

Fang Yuan was somewhat at a loss. In his previous life, he was a college graduate who had just graduated and worked as a food delivery driver. He had read a few online novels, had no interpersonal relationships, and didn't understand anything.

He was somewhat unable to handle the situation.

but……

Fang Yuan looked down at his hardened stratum corneum and explosive muscles.

He ate someone else's chicken, received the kindness of being rescued from the meadow by Nan Nan, and was also indebted to them for raising him. Although he said it was a deal made in exchange for protecting the Lu family…

Is it really a transaction? Even if the other party can't find the Blood Jade or the martial arts, will he not help?

I'm afraid that's not the case; he's a living, breathing human being. Even a dog develops feelings over time, let alone a group of people.

Spending a lot of time with the Lu family inevitably leads to developing some feelings for them...

When something happens, you probably can't just ignore it...

……

Thinking of this, Fang Yuan glanced again in the direction where Lu's mother had left.

But the most urgent task right now is to solve the problem of "difficulty in going out".

Nan Nan went to the martial arts school. Although the school's owner, Chen Tieshan, had a bad temper, he was a master of internal energy and should be able to protect her. But Fang Yuan still felt uneasy.

Especially after experiencing Lu Jiacheng's strange behavior, his sense of security in this world has plummeted to rock bottom.

What if something dirty gets mixed in with the martial arts school?

What if that Chen Tieshan is just a pretty face with no substance?

He has to go and keep an eye on it.

but……

Fang Yuan tried jumping around in the room.

"boom!"

Despite his best efforts to control his strength, he still landed with a muffled thud.

Fang Yuan frowned. What should he do?

quack!

Wind Spirit Moon Shadow... no, I mean Deep Blue, is there a way?

Thinking this, Fang Yuan opened Deep Blue.

They began to examine the skills he possessed.