Chapter Eighteen: The Golden Leopard Frog Reappears

But that desperate bite was not entirely useless—she seemed to feel the pain and released her grip on me. I kicked with all my might, rolling my body over, one hand yanking her hair, the other clamping tightly around her neck, like a lifeguard rescuing a drowning victim, dragging her behind me as I frantically swam upward.

This method was utterly unplanned, the result of panicked instinct. Drowning victims, gripped by the urge to survive, possess uncanny strength. To save them, one must first immobilize them, or else the rescue will fail. My original intention was simply to force that corpse-woman to let go of me, but unexpectedly, the maneuver was shockingly effective!

Pinned behind me, she thrashed her limbs, the whites of her eyes now turned a furious red, her mouth constantly spewing foul river water in guttural bubbles. Paying her no heed, I dragged her upward with all my strength.

Breaking the surface, a bamboo pole was thrust toward me. I heard Fatty Zuo shouting, “Grab it!”

I quickly released the woman and seized the bamboo pole, swimming desperately for the boat. Fatty Zuo lay stretched over the side, clutching the anchor hook with both hands, unable to climb up or down, his chubby face flushed crimson with exertion. The woman tried to pursue me, but upon seeing Fatty Zuo, she recoiled in terror and immediately sank beneath the water. Fatty Zuo couldn’t swim and couldn’t get back on the boat; heaven knows how he managed to grab the anchor after falling in.

I scrambled aboard, my heart pounding, sweat pouring cold down my back.

“You little rascal…! Pull me up already!” Fatty Zuo bellowed anxiously from below.

Once I hauled him aboard, his legs were shaking uncontrollably. Shivering, he pressed soggy talismans to the gunwale and barked at me, “Row, quick! We have to get out of here!”

I dared not linger a moment longer. I grabbed the oar and rowed frantically. But the boat spun in place, going nowhere. The oar felt as if weighed down by a thousand pounds, refusing to budge.

Looking down, I realized the Yellow River had somehow cleared, and what I saw froze my blood—a dense cluster of corpses, eyes rolled back, heads down and feet up, surrounding our boat in rows. The oar was jammed among them like a stick thrust into a pile of firewood, unable to move.

My mind went blank. How were there so many of these things?!

Fatty Zuo cursed, then drew a dagger and slashed his palm. Blood dripped down his arm into the river, swirling and dispersing with the current. Instantly, the corpses scattered in all directions as if the water had turned to poison, vanishing without a trace.

“You playing tadpoles looking for mama? Row, quick! I may not fear corpses, but drowning would be a sorry end!” Fatty Zuo yelled at me.

But I was transfixed by something else in the river. With the corpses gone, I glimpsed a massive bullfrog, as big as a round table, its eyes bulging and closed, limbs thick and muscular, its pale belly swollen, and on one side, an old puncture wound.

Could it be—the golden leopard frog that killed several people over a decade ago?

It was still alive!

Fatty Zuo saw it too. His face went sheet-white as he snatched the oar from my hands and tried to row. But unskilled as he was, the boat spun like a top in the middle of the river.

I snapped out of my stupor, seized the oar, and rowed madly for the shore. The terror of the golden leopard frog had haunted me for years; I would have sprouted wings and flown if I could.

A deep, booming croak erupted from below, shaking me to my core.

The golden leopard frog had been disturbed!

The river churned behind us; the stern shook violently. I nearly lost my footing and clung to the oar for dear life, rowing with every ounce of strength. Fatty Zuo shook like a leaf, tossing anything he could find—nets, buckets, pots—overboard toward the churning water behind us.

But the monster below was unfazed. Suddenly, the whole boat was lifted high, then dropped, sending us tumbling across the deck, battered and bruised.

We’re doomed. At this rate, we’d soon end up as frog food!

With another mighty heave, the golden leopard frog sent us flying like arrows loosed from a bow. Luckily, we landed back on the deck.

My insides churned, my body felt shattered, and I coughed up a mouthful of blood. Fatty Zuo hung limply from the gunwale like a dangling sausage, swinging back and forth with his eyes closed. The golden leopard frog reared up, snapping at his plump leg. In a panic, I rammed the bamboo pole into its gaping mouth—crack!—the pole snapped, and the frog submerged. I dragged Fatty Zuo onto the deck.

A thunderous crash sounded from beneath us. The beast was trying to smash the boat!

Just as despair overwhelmed us, a ray of morning sun burst over the mountain peak, flooding the world with light. At that instant, a great splash sounded below; the boat rocked twice, then stilled. The churning water faded into the distance, and the river calmed.

It ran off?

What happened?

Does the golden leopard frog not dare appear in daylight?

Fatty Zuo and I stared at each other.

No time to wonder. Groaning in pain, I hauled myself up and instructed Fatty Zuo to mirror my rowing. We each grabbed an oar, ignored our injuries, and rowed for shore. This time, the boat sped along, and in just over an hour, we reached the landing. We lay on the riverbank, catching our breath, and hurried home.

There, we cleaned ourselves up. Fatty Zuo wrung his clothes, grumbling about how terrifying that thing was, almost scaring him to death. I asked if he’d found any clues; after all that, risking our lives, he’d better not say it was all a trick by that patterned snake!

He didn’t answer. Instead, he shook his fat, fished a dark lump from his pants, frowned, kneaded it, and in an instant, it crumbled to black powder, which he disdainfully flicked away.

I stared at him in horror. “Even if you can’t find a wife, there’s no need to crush your own balls, is there?!”

Fatty Zuo told me to shut up, then explained it was Ping’s wife’s hair, plucked during a fight a few days ago. He’d bound it with talismans and kept it in his pants. When the golden leopard frog appeared, his pants grew hot—proof the spell was working. Now the hair had turned to mush, meaning Ping’s wife’s spirit was no longer elsewhere; she was almost certainly inside the golden leopard frog.

A chill ran down my spine.

Her soul sealed inside the frog’s belly?

That was serious trouble! The golden leopard frog was not only guarded by a horde of corpses, but was fiendishly vicious itself. How could we possibly retrieve her?

“Hey… Comrade Xiao Xie, in Daoism we honor promises and merit. I promised you a hundred thousand to help with Ping’s wife and save the villagers; I can’t back out, or my merit will be lost. But you and I are kindred spirits, and I’ve enjoyed working with you these days. Do me a favor—burn some incense, face the sun, and declare: ‘All celestial stars and passing immortals, I, Xiao Xie, no longer need Zuo Panlong’s assistance, and will seek another expert.’ That way, the Five Thunder Tribunal won’t hold me responsible.”

Fatty Zuo hung his clothes on a bamboo pole, his face twisted in a complicated expression.

Was the fat fool trying to quit?

I snorted coldly and ignored him.

Seeing me unmoved, Zuo Panlong scratched his head awkwardly. “Brother, help me out… I’ll forgo the hundred thousand, or even pay you ten thousand extra, or introduce you to someone even more skilled?”

“Give me the incense!” I demanded.

Fatty Zuo beamed, hurried inside, and brought out a stick of incense. Lighting it, he urged me to pray to the sun.

I raised the incense to the sunlight and declared loudly, “All celestial stars and passing immortals, Zuo Panlong promised to take a hundred thousand from Xiao Xie to help the villagers with Ping’s wife. Bear witness! If he breaks this vow, may thunder split his fat head in two!” Then, I solemnly bowed twice.

Fatty Zuo’s face darkened instantly, stretching as long as a donkey’s. He snatched the incense from my hand and smashed it to the ground, jabbing his finger at my nose and cursing, “Xiao Xie, you little bastard, how dare you set me up?!”

I grinned back at him, “What can I say, we’re kindred spirits. I was thinking of burning yellow paper, pledging blood, becoming sworn brothers—perhaps not living or dying together, but facing death side by side. What do you say?”

Fatty Zuo was beside himself with rage. Spotting a wooden stick in the corner, he grabbed it and chased after me.

Seeing he truly meant business, I bolted, shouting as I ran, “Fatty Zuo’s after my life for money!”

Villagers along the road dropped their hoes and rushed over to restrain Fatty Zuo. “Master Zuo, what are you doing? What could make you want to kill Xiao Xie?”

Unable to explain, Fatty Zuo’s face flushed purple, his beady eyes bulging. He blurted, “Xiao Xie slept with my wife—shouldn’t I kill him?!”