I run a Taoist temple in a bizarre world.

Chapter 43 Does being older preclude one from working for the Special Affairs Bureau?

[Successfully offering a toad leg from a six-legged toad grants +2 Spirit Lamp Oil and +1 Incense Offering]

Upon seeing this notification, Chi Le clenched his fist and swung it.

Excellent, a great start!

He still has 4 [Strange Creatures] left, dropped by the six-legged toad.

Theoretically, he could gain another 4 points of incense.

But Chi Le felt she shouldn't be so optimistic.

"To be conservative, getting 2 points is not bad."

He was lucky enough to offer the [mysterious creation] to the statue of the deity in exchange for the [incense] and [mysterious core].

Chi Le had already gained a clear understanding a few days ago.

Beforehand, we should angrily ward off the demons and evil spirits near Qingshan Temple a few days in advance.

Not a single [Strange Core] has been revealed.

The only example is offering the obtained [mysterious creation] as a sacrifice to the statue of the gods.

In the end, they only received two jars of [Spirit-Controlling Lamp Oil] and a pitiful few [Incense Sticks].

In the end, after settling the accounts, not only did he fail to recoup the incense offerings he had ordered the local deity to hunt down the demons, but he also lost about ten points of incense offerings in the process.

Chi Le completely gave up on the idea of ​​exchanging the offerings of the "Strange Creatures" to the statues of gods and immortals in exchange for the "Incense" and "Strange Cores" he needed.

"My request isn't high, just two incense sticks will do, three will be fine, four would be even better, and ideally, one more stick would be free, making it five!"

After speaking to the statues of gods and immortals in the main hall with unprecedented piety, he finished speaking.

Chi Le offered up all four remaining [Strange Creations] at once.

On the offering table, the [mysterious creation] vanished into thin air like smoke in the blink of an eye.

"Come, [incense]."

……

A bizarre, merging region, deep within the swamp.

Yu Xun bent over slightly, his hands resting on his knees.

The burning pain all over his body made him hiss and gasp for breath.

After spitting out the blood and grime in his mouth, the feeling of not being able to breathe in his chest eased considerably.

One of his eyes was swollen, completely obscuring his vision, and the other eye, which could still see normally, was covered with a layer of blood.

Yu Xun's gaze was fixed on the five-legged toad not far away.

The toad was not uninjured; it had at least eight wounds of varying sizes on its body.

But without exception, none of these truly touched upon its core.

For it, this is just a superficial injury.

It's not even as bad as the injuries I get when I play around with my own kind.

With its bright red tongue out, the five-legged toad licked away the flowing thick green blood and moved towards Yu Xun.

Snapped!

Snapped!

The five-legged toad hops and jumps, and each time it lands, it creates a small ripple in the muddy, polluted water.

The waves washed over Yu Xun's ankles.

"No, the [Copper Bone Body] is no longer usable, and we've also run out of [Strange Cores] to replenish it."

Yu Xun tried to control his body.

His body and limbs responded to his commands with an extremely slow, sluggish pace.

"I don't have the strength to move anymore."

He laughed self-deprecatingly.

"And you said you could..."

Halfway through his sentence, Yu Xun's bloodshot-filtered eyes scanned his surroundings warily.

Great, Chi Le isn't here!

Only after confirming that Chi Le was not nearby did he feel relieved and continue speaking.

"He couldn't even withstand three hits, yet he dared to tell Ah Le that he could take four or five. If he could really take four or five hits, he could make dumplings by himself."

"However, Ah Le still listened to me."

"But why did you come back first and tell me to let him stall for two and a half minutes?"

"Never mind, it doesn't matter, as long as we got away with the people."

"Ah Le, Lao Wang, I really want to have barbecue with you guys again. Lao Wang still owes me two drinks."

After speaking, Yu Xun gently closed his eyes, his breath carrying a rusty smell, causing the mist around his mouth to billow.

"Don't you owe me a drink too?"

Upon hearing this, Yu Xun suddenly opened his eyes.

The speed of his response raises suspicions as to whether he uttered those words subconsciously or after careful thought and reflection.

"Bullshit! Even if I, Yu Xun, were to die drunk and jump off this cliff, I would never owe anyone a drink!"

Yu Xun spoke in a loud, boisterous voice, as if he had risen from the dead.

He quickly realized what was happening.

Why the hell is Chi Le back again?!

Looking at the familiar Chi Le beside him, who had somehow reappeared at some point in his life.

He had many questions he wanted to ask, and he pondered them for a long time, unsure which one to ask first.

In the end, all Yu Xun could utter was this word of compromise and helplessness.

"No, are you... sick?"

"..."

Chi Le glanced at Yu Xun, a question that she couldn't understand popping into her head.

Will I be criticized for rescuing people now?

However, he also knew Yu Xun's personality, so he assumed that Chi Le was looking at the three-legged toad while he was having an episode.

Because Chi Le suddenly appeared out of nowhere, the five-legged toad stayed in place, tilting its head and sizing up Chi Le.

Seeing the toad stop hopping, Yu Xun, who had just regained some strength, tapped Chi Le on the back.

"I don't care if you're crazy or not. You finally ran away and came back. Now listen to me, run!"

"Stop looking, this thing is deadly. While he's distracted, just run."

Yu Xun still hadn't given up on the idea of ​​making Chi Le abandon him and leave this place on her own.

Chi Le ignored Yu Xun, put his index and middle fingers together, made a sword-finger gesture, and pointed at the five-legged toad.

"What are you doing, trying to provoke me?"

"You think our deaths aren't gruesome enough, that we're not completely annihilated enough?!"

When Yu Xun saw that Chi Le was unwilling to leave, he reacted very strongly, wishing he could smash two big bumps on Chi Le's head.

Not far in front of them, the five-legged toad croaked, confirming that the humans who had suddenly appeared were just putting on a show.

It leaped closer, then opened its mouth, revealing a fleshy tongue poised to strike.

"Oh my, you really are..."

Facing his third impending death, Yu Xun couldn't utter any nice last words. All he wanted to do now was to kindly inquire about Chi Le's health.

Before Yu Xun could finish speaking, a sudden change occurred.

again and again.

It sounded like something had broken the surface of the water, a crisp sound echoing through the air.

Boom!

At the same time, the fleshy tongue from the five-legged toad's mouth shot out, instantly bridging the distance between them.

It landed on... a wall that looked like it was made of silt and soil spikes.

"……wall?"

Yu Xun stared wide-eyed at the mud wall that had suddenly emerged from the ground and was constantly dripping sewage.

quack!

The five-legged toad let out a strange cry.

Although Yu Xun could not see the five-legged toad's appearance, he could still hear its sounds.

The five-legged toad looks like it's in a lot of pain.

quack!

quack...

The five-legged toad continued to scream, its voice growing weaker and fainter as it went on, as if it had run out of strength.

"Damn it, Ah Le, what on earth happened?"

Yu Xun's gaze passed over the collapsed, nearly half-collapsed mud wall and came into view of the five-legged toad's current state.

The five-legged toad was now floating half a meter off the ground, its fate unknown.

Don't get me wrong, this isn't a new ability of the five-legged toad.

It was pushed up by the silt and soil spikes.

"Who...who did this?"

Yu Xun asked, his gaze quickly landing on the only possible figure present.

An old man with a long beard, leaning on a cane.

Enveloped in mist, Yu Xun could not make out the old man's appearance or clothing.

Therefore, he couldn't determine who the person was.

"Are you a colleague from the Special Operations Bureau?"

"Wow, you're really something, Chi Le! You even managed to get my colleague here!"

"But does the Special Operations Bureau have anyone that old?"