The old man said: "Bai Wuyi is a scholar. He is nearly half a century old and the road to hell is close. What kind of inner strength does this coward have to learn? Go back."

Chen Lu felt as if someone had let go of him, and he staggered forward two steps. He was obedient, and the old man seemed to know everything.

The old man's words stimulated Chen Lu. Yes, he is close to the underworld. What else is there to be afraid of? Should he be frightened by a toad?

Chen Lu turned around, walked a few steps to the toad, closed his eyes, worked hard, and grabbed it with all his strength. His hands felt oily and dirty, and he said to the old man: "Master, I have caught it."

"If I catch you, I'll catch you. Why don't you call me master? If you scream again, I'll kick you out."

"Yes, Master."

"Get out!"

"Okay, no more talking, Master."

"Hey, forget it, bring the toad."

Chen Lu handed it over with his eyes closed. He heard the old man shout angrily: "Is this a toad? Open your eyes and see for yourself, and then get out."

Chen Lu was a sixth-rank official in the Celestial Dynasty. When an ordinary citizen saw him, he would be frightened and frightened.

"Parents (county magistrates) who confiscate homes, Dayin (prefects) who exterminate families", common people understand this truth, but this old man shouted around Chen Lu like a slave.

Chen Lu understood that this was not an ordinary citizen, definitely not. He knew that the old man was testing himself. It didn't matter. Since ancient times, there were Zhang Liang picking up his shoes and Cheng Menli Xue. How can I, Chen Zicheng, be inferior to the ancients?

But when Chen Lu opened his eyes, he was holding a flower snake as thick as a spear shaft in his hand. He was afraid but did not dare to show it, so he handed it to the old man calmly.

The old man said: "Let it go and catch the green-eyed toad."

Chen Lu loudly agreed "yes". He was emboldening himself. He needed to be emboldened. Emboldening himself, especially emboldening himself, also requires courage.

After he finished speaking, he stared at the green light, grabbed it, and looked at it carefully. This time it was right.

He knows very well that this is a psychological effect. Everyone is afraid of tigers, leopards, wolves, monsters and ghosts, that is inevitable.

Being afraid of these little things, mice, bugs, toads, and snakes, is all psychological. Chen Lu overcame himself and defeated himself. He thanked the old man.

Chen Lu felt that the old man was also observing his every move. Chen Lu had completely calmed down and walked over to the toad calmly.

He asked calmly: "Master, where do you put it?" Seeing that the old man ignored him and put it on the stone table next to the old man, the toad lay motionless on the stone table and had closed his eyes.

The old man said: "You can do it yourself, it's time for me to eat."

After saying that, he sat on the stone bench, picked up a bamboo stick, cut the toad in half at once, picked it up and put it on the plate.

He took the bamboo stick and cut it into thin slices, then took another bamboo stick like a fork, put a piece of toad meat into his mouth, chewed it slowly, with a satisfied look on his face.

Then he poured some liquid into the teapot on the stone table, and Chen Lu smelled a pungent sour smell.

The old man drank a glass, smacked his lips, and started eating and drinking happily as if no one else was around.

Chen Lu only felt that his internal organs were shaking, and he turned his face to one side.

The old man may have had enough to eat and drink, so he said, "Come here."

Chen Lu hurried over and the old man said: "There is a toad's leg here. Throw it into the basket. It will be where you are now. You are not allowed to move forward."

Chen Lu couldn't help but feel a little disgusted. Is this old man a pervert? After eating the toad, he just threw the leg casually and insisted on throwing it into the basket. Forget it, just throw it away.

He picked up the toad's leg, which was still dripping with blood, and turned around to throw it away.

At this moment, he found nine baskets lined up side by side. Which one should he throw into? He looked back at the old man, who seemed to have fallen asleep.

Forget it, throw it away, and put whatever you like into it.

When Chen Lu was about to throw them away, he realized that the mouths of these baskets were too small. He wanted to take a step forward, but just like before, he couldn't take a step forward.

At this time, light was emitted from the openings of the nine baskets, and the light emitted by each basket was different.

Chen Lu took a closer look and saw that the nine baskets were all labeled with Chinese characters that read "First Level, Second Level...all the way to Ninth Level".

He didn't know whether the word was pronounced "worm" or "public". It didn't matter to him, since all nine baskets were empty, just enter whichever one you liked.

So he threw it away casually, and the toad leg suddenly lit up, like a Cuju ball, flipping over and falling into a basket.

At this time, this basket emitted light, and the word "三重" on the label flashed on and off. The light dimmed little by little, and the light at the openings of other shrimp baskets also went out.

Chen Lu felt as if he had been pulled by someone. He looked around, but there was nothing. He just felt like something was missing. Looking at his whole body, there was nothing wrong. He was neurotic! He cursed self-deprecatingly.

At this time, Chen Lu discovered that there were still two green lights shining on him in the "three-layer" basket. He tried to move forward and could move.

When I walked up to it, I saw that it was clearly the toad; it was clearly the one that Chen Lu had just caught, and it was clearly the one that the old man had just eaten.

Chen Lu completely understood, turned around, and shouted loudly: "Master is really a master from this world. Disciple, what is your surname?"

"Toad!"

"May I ask your master's surname?"

"Toad, are you deaf? I told you not to call me master, and you're still screaming! Get out!"

A strong push pushed Chen Lu down.

When the fourth watch arrived, Ha San pushed him and he woke up.

Ha San saw Chen Lu sleeping with his clothes on. His clothes seemed to have been soaked by the rain, but the quilt was still dry. He knew that there was some reason and did not dare to say anything.

Chen Lu took off his cloak and let out an "ah" sound.

Chen Lu asked: "What's wrong, brother?"

Hasan's expression changed, and he pointed at Chen Lu's belt. When Chen Lu looked at it, a vertical line was gone, and the vertical line that was missing a piece had completely disappeared, which meant that his life span had been shortened by twenty days.

, how come there is so much less all of a sudden?

He was startled for a moment, it was the old man. No wonder he felt like he had lost something at that time. This old toad is waiting for me to settle the score with you.

He smiled bitterly and shook his head helplessly.

Ha San wanted to ask what happened at night, but after thinking about it, he swallowed the words that were on his lips.

Chen Lu went to the tent to have breakfast and expressed his worries. He was afraid that he would miss the deadline and had to speed up the march. He prepared water here and used a cart to pull some ice cubes in case of emergency.

Everyone set out at five o'clock, prepared enough dry food, and walked to Buji River. Everyone added some water and ice and continued moving forward.

After traveling for more than forty miles, we encountered vast stretches of gravel and boundless wilderness. The outpost reported that there was no human habitation within a hundred miles.

This is not yet a desert area, it is all rough gravel like river pebbles, making it difficult for people and horses to move, and there is no trace of snow. Dead horse skeletons can be seen everywhere, as well as human and camel skeletons.

The unobstructed northwest wind hit the mission unscrupulously. The sun was still shining brightly in the sky, but it could not give out any warmth. Even if everyone wanted to take shelter, there was no place to hide from the northwest wind.
Chapter completed!