Chapter 133 - 124: Hunting the Giant Toad
The group sat resting in a clearing on the hillside.
"I just don’t know if the Giant Toad will return to its nest today or tomorrow," Deng Guang muttered to himself. "At its speed, if we wait until it’s already on its way back to leave the Gated Community, we might not make it in time."
Li Yue pondered for a moment before saying, "It’ll be either today or tomorrow."
"Isn’t that obvious!" the others rolled their eyes.
Wang Yun said, "I checked the number of mayflies in the river this morning. There are basically none left, and there aren’t many mayfly corpses on the water’s surface either. Given the Giant Toad’s appetite, it’s very likely today."
Yang Cunshen said, "It’s most likely today."
As they were talking, a faint but distinct sound suddenly came from the foot of the mountain, striking their hearts like a heavy hammer.
"DONG."
The familiar sound made Qin Ziwen jump to his feet.
"It’s here!"
He could feel his heart pounding.
He couldn’t tell if it was excitement or fear, but he could feel the adrenaline quietly coursing through him.
"Everyone, get ready," Qin Ziwen reminded them.
"Don’t be too scared. No matter how big it is, it’s still a toad! Toads aren’t particularly brave creatures. If it gets injured, it’ll most likely run away. We don’t need to go out of our way to stop it. Even if it escapes back to its cave, we have a Plan B," Wang Yun reassured the group.
Yuan Ming’s fair cheeks were flushed. His eyes were wide and his breathing was a little ragged. "Damn it, I’ve never killed a monster this big before. If we pull this off, I’ve got to take a few pictures as a souvenir."
The sound of the Giant Toad’s hopping grew closer from the foot of the mountain.
The group took cover.
The thumping steps grew nearer and nearer.
Suddenly, the Giant Toad stopped.
Hiding behind a rock, Qin Ziwen felt the sudden silence in the air and his heart tightened.
’Have we been discovered?’
After a long moment, the Giant Toad moved.
"BANG!"
The ground trembled slightly.
The Giant Toad leaped into the bottom of the pit, its tongue flicking out to snatch the two mayfly corpses placed there into its mouth.
Over a dozen mayfly corpses were packed tightly at the bottom of the pit, all of them salvaged from downstream.
Although the Giant Toad had claimed the most densely populated mayfly area in the river.
But the mayflies were active along this entire stretch of the river, so some corpses that the Giant Toad hadn’t eaten still drifted downstream, becoming food for the fish.
Previously, these mayfly larvae ate the river’s fish as they swam upstream. Now, their corpses and newly hatched offspring became food for the fish in turn. Every drink and every peck is part of nature’s cycle.
The Giant Toad’s tiny brain couldn’t be bothered to wonder why there were mayfly corpses here, or why the surrounding ground had a strange smell.
But it didn’t matter. To the toad, if it saw food, it ate it. It was that simple.
After all, it hadn’t encountered a natural predator in many years.
It sensed some strange little bugs nearby, but it paid them no mind, as they weren’t on its menu.
On the nearby hillside, Qin Ziwen and Du Yu rose simultaneously, nocking arrows to their Compound Bows.
They each aimed for one of the Giant Toad’s eyes.
The Giant Toad’s eyes were huge, like lanterns.
Which naturally made them easier to hit.
"SWOOSH—"
"SWOOSH—"
The Giant Toad sensed the movement. Its powerful motion-tracking ability allowed it to spot two black afterimages approaching.
But its body couldn’t react in time. Its unique anatomy dictated that when facing such high-speed targets, only its tongue could respond.
Its powerful tongue, tougher than a leather whip, shot out instinctively.
It swatted one arrow away in an instant.
A jolt of pain came from the tip of its tongue; the sharp arrowhead had sliced it open.
Immediately after, its left eye went dark, and an even more intense, piercing pain flooded its mind.
"CROAK!!!"
The Giant Toad let out a long cry.
It threw its head back. An arrow was buried deep in its eye, having punctured the eyeball and lodged itself inside.
Its claws dug into the ground.
It was about to leap—
But several strange sounds reached its eardrums.
"SMASH~"
"SMASH~"
Then, a searing pain erupted on its back, by its feet, and on its belly.
Flames engulfed its entire body.
Its thick skin initially blocked the fire, but as the flames burned through the keratin layer, intense pain assaulted all of its nerves.
’It’s these little bugs!’
The Giant Toad’s single remaining eye glared viciously at the group of small bugs around it.
It opened its massive mouth, its tongue lashing out like a whip.
"THUD!!"
The tongue struck a tree, blasting a large hole in the trunk as if hit by some kind of Blunt Weapon.
Blinded in one eye, the Giant Toad’s vision was severely impaired. The accuracy it prided itself on was greatly diminished. It flicked its tongue out seven or eight more times, but each strike was wild, landing far from any person.
"Throw the second round of Incendiary Bottles and then get out."
Qin Ziwen said, quickly retreating. As he spoke, he noticed the Giant Toad had turned its head slightly in his direction.
The Incendiary Bottles dealt continuous damage. As more were thrown, the burning area on the Giant Toad’s back grew larger and larger.
The group threw their second round of Incendiary Bottles.
"CRASH!"
The bottles shattered one after another on the Giant Toad’s back, and the flames clung to it, burning fiercely.
The Giant Toad launched itself into the air, leaping seven or eight meters high, and shot forward like a meteor.
"CRASH!!!"
The Giant Toad’s massive body slammed directly into a tree so thick it would take two people to encircle it. The trunk shook violently, bending like a bow.
"CRACK—"
A fissure split the trunk’s surface, and leaves rained down. The entire tree tilted forward as its roots were torn from the ground, sending a wave of earth surging up.
The Giant Toad was also dazed by the impact.
"GURGLE!!!" An enraged sound rumbled from the Giant Toad’s throat. Engulfed in flames, it turned its head. An arrow protruded from one eye, from which blood and fluid continuously dripped. Its other eye was fixed on Yuan Ming.
The intense pain made it raise its left claw to paw at its eye, but this only pushed the arrow deeper, making the wound worse.
"GURGLE—"
The Giant Toad stopped moving, its one remaining eye staring intently at Yuan Ming, who was to its front and right.
The others frantically gestured for Yuan Ming to get away.
After the second round of Incendiary Bottles was thrown, everyone had slowly backed away, but Yuan Ming was closest to the Giant Toad, with a cliff right beside him.
Yuan Ming’s mouth twitched. He wanted to retreat, but his legs had gone soft.
He had thought he wouldn’t be afraid when facing the Giant Toad head-on, but he realized he had overestimated his body’s instincts.
This was a terrifying monster that, even just crouching there, was taller than a single-story building.
Yuan Ming grabbed a nearby tree to pull himself up, then slowly backed away.
Suddenly, the Giant Toad moved.
Like a furious gale, it leaped heavily toward Yuan Ming.
"BOOM!!!"
The Giant Toad slammed heavily into a tree that would take three people to encircle. The trunk bent, and the recoil sent the toad careening sideways. Half its body nearly fell off the cliff, but it reacted just in time, its claws digging desperately into the dirt to hold on.
Then, bit by bit, it started to climb back up.
"Good chance."
Qin Ziwen and Du Yu both took out their Compound Bows, aiming for the Giant Toad’s one remaining eye.
One on the left, one on the right.
"SWOOSH—"
"SWOOSH—"
"CROAK!!!"
The Giant Toad lost its grip.
It fell off the cliff.
The group heard an incredibly dull, massive thud.
They went to the cliff’s edge. The Giant Toad lay at the bottom, motionless.
"Yuan Ming, are you okay?!" Qin Ziwen helped Yuan Ming up from the ground.
A large lump was swelling on Yuan Ming’s forehead, and his eyes were shut tight.
Wang Yun’s expression was grim. "It must have been a secondary impact from when the tree bent. We’ll have to carry him down."
The six of them went to the cliff’s edge, looking down at the Giant Toad at the bottom. Its hind legs were still twitching.
"It’s still not dead after a fall like that!" Qin Ziwu clicked his tongue in amazement.
Qin Ziwen said, "Throw down the Incendiary Bottles."
The group found their stashed Incendiary Bottles and threw them down from the cliff.
The flames gradually covered the Giant Toad.
The Giant Toad’s body twitched occasionally in the fire. Finally, after more than ten minutes...
A large number of white light motes materialized from the surface of its body, coalescing into five Cards above it.
...
...