PNB Chapter 31 Ribbit! Ribbit ribbit! I'm a frog!
Chapter 31 Ribbit! Ribbit ribbit! I'm a frog!
Nan Nan instinctively hugged Fang Yuan tightly, while Lu Yong and Lu Feng quickly exchanged a wary glance.
Who would come so late?
This is the inner city of Yinyang City, the private residence of Lord Zhang, which ordinary people cannot enter. If it were Lord Zhang's subordinates or servants, they would usually announce their arrival outside the door first, and would never knock on the door without saying a word like this.
The servants and guards of the Lu family mansion have all been relocated elsewhere, so who would come here?
"Who?" Lu Feng shouted in a low voice, his hand instinctively reaching for his waist, only to find nothing—his knife had broken on the run, and now he had nothing to defend himself.
No one answered the door.
Only the knocking sound came again after a while.
Boom, boom, boom.
It was still the same unhurried pace, each interval as precise as if measured with a ruler, making Lu Yong and Lu Feng feel a strange sense of familiarity...
But for a moment, neither of them could figure out who would be knocking on the door at this hour.
After a moment of silence, Lu Feng suddenly spoke.
"I'll go take a look."
Despite his injuries, Lu Feng gritted his teeth and stood up. Although he had been seriously injured, he was still more suitable than his mother, who had no martial arts skills, or young Nan Nan, or his older brother Lu Yong, who was not very agile.
If they really are some kind of bandits, he can at least retaliate.
Lu Yong's hands and feet trembled, and he could barely stand. He could only sit in a chair and solemnly instructed, "Be careful, don't open the door rashly, peek through the crack first."
"I know."
Lu Feng cautiously walked towards the hall door, crossed the small courtyard, and arrived at the tightly closed gate.
Boom, boom, boom.
The knocking sounded for the third time, almost within reach.
Lu Feng took a deep breath, leaned closer to the crack in the door, and tried to look out.
Inside the room, Nan Nan held her breath nervously, while Fang Yuan stared wide-eyed at the wooden door.
Who is it?
Why didn't you inform yourself?
"Is anyone here? What are you doing here so late?"
Lu Feng asked a tentative question.
There was still no response from outside the door.
Lu Feng frowned, but the familiar yet unfamiliar rhythm of the knocking made him uneasy. He hesitated for a moment, then finally reached out and slowly unlatched the door.
squeak-
The heavy wooden door slowly opened in the night.
Fang Yuan's gaze passed over Nan Nan's shoulder and immediately fell on the door.
A figure stood at the foot of the stone steps outside the door.
He wore a dusty, gray robe with mud splattered on the hem, and looked tired. He was carrying the familiar sheathed longsword in his hand. He seemed to be injured, as he covered his mouth and coughed softly. It was probably because of the cough that he didn't respond.
It's Master Lu!
Fang Yuan breathed a sigh of relief.
As long as it's not some disheveled female ghost dressed in white.
Didn't Madam Lu just say that Lord Zhang sent word that Lu Family City was deserted, as if the entire city had vanished? Then how come Master Lu is here?
Could it be...
Was Lord Zhang's information incorrect?
Or is Lord Zhang lying and deliberately trying to frighten the orphan and widow?
Or perhaps, Master Lu was truly blessed with good fortune and escaped from the so-called vanished Lu family city, chasing all the way to Yinyang City?
If that's the case, that would be wonderful!
After all, Master Lu is the pillar of this family and a master of internal energy who has mastered the "Tiger and Leopard Thunder Sound". With him around, whether it's collecting blood jade or finding cultivation techniques, he is much better than his two good-for-nothing sons!
"I'm back...cough cough..." Master Lu opened his mouth, looking exhausted. He sighed and coughed twice, his voice so soft it was almost inaudible.
Perhaps that's why there was no response.
But it really is Master Lu!!
Fang Yuan felt much relieved. It seemed that Lord Zhang was indeed talking nonsense—what did he mean by the whole city disappearing? They've all returned safely, haven't they?
"Croak!" Fang Yuan couldn't help but exclaim.
But the next moment, Lu Feng's words were like a bucket of ice water poured over Fang Yuan's head.
"Nobody here?"
Lu Feng stood in the doorway, gripping the doorframe, and peered out, looking around with a mixture of confusion and wariness. "Strange... I clearly heard a knock, but why is it so empty outside? There's not a soul in sight!"
?
? ?
No...nobody?
Fang Yuan's eyes widened instantly.
...No, is nobody here?
Nobody here?
Are you kidding me?
Grandpa Lu is a grown man, standing less than three feet in front of you. Are you blind?!
"Xiaofeng, what's wrong?" Lu Yong, who was inside the house, asked anxiously upon hearing this.
"Brother, there's really no one here." Lu Feng pulled his head back, glanced into the dark alley again, and frowned. "Maybe it's some kid playing a prank? Or... the wind?"
"Can the wind produce that kind of rhythm?" Lu Yong clearly didn't believe it.
"That might be a bat. Brother, you don't know this, but I heard the butler and the others say that someone likes to smear something on the door, and in the middle of the night, a rat will fly over and bang on the door."
"Many of these charlatan tricks and superstitious practices are done in this way."
Lu Feng explained, then looked around at the distance and scanned both sides of the street.
"There's really no one here! Sigh...of all times like this." Lu Feng was also helpless. "This alleyway can be seen from one end to the other, there's not even a place to hide. If there really was someone, they couldn't have run this fast."
Is nobody here...?
Is nobody here...?
But Lu Ye's cough was so clear, and he even spoke, yet they... couldn't hear him?
Just then, "Master Lu" outside the door moved.
He seemed not to see Lu Feng standing in the doorway, talking to himself in front of the empty street, nor to hear Lu Feng's speculations about bats and pranks. He simply picked up his knife, stepped over the threshold, and walked straight into the courtyard.
His footsteps were light, barely making a sound on the ground. The hem of his gray robe brushed across the threshold, stirring up a barely perceptible, chilly breeze.
Lu Feng was completely unaware, still frowning at the night.
He bolted the door again, turned around and walked back, brushing past "Master Lu". The two were so close that their clothes almost touched, but Lu Feng didn't even look at him, as if the person passing by was just a wisp of air.
!! !! ?
quack!
Lu Feng, are you blind?!
That huge thing, I don't even know if it's human, followed you in! Can't you fucking see it?!
He coughed so many times, couldn't you hear him?!
Are you deaf?!
deaf……
……
Fang Yuan stared intently at Master Lu.
He can see! Only he can hear!
As "Master Lu" entered the hall, his gaze first fell on his mother.
Mrs. Lu was looking worriedly at Lu Feng, who was slowly walking back from the direction of the door, and did not react at all to "Master Lu" who walked to her side.
"Master Lu" reached out, seemingly wanting to pat her shoulder, but his hand stopped just before touching her, hovering there for a moment before stiffly withdrawing it. His weary expression seemed to contain something extremely complex and difficult to discern.
Is he mentally sound?
Does he know his own condition?
He was aware of his own situation.
Then, he turned to Lu Yong.
Lu Yong's face was pale, his fingers unconsciously gripping the armrest of the chair, still feeling lingering fear from the strange knocking sound earlier.
"Master Lu" stared at him quietly for a few seconds, shook his head slightly, and let out a very soft sigh that almost dissipated into the air.
Finally, "Master Lu's" gaze fell on Fang Yuan.
At that moment, Fang Yuan's heart almost stopped beating.
This guy is weird...
Fang Yuan tried his best to disguise himself as a harmless frog, croaking twice as he searched for mosquito and fly venom in the air...
But his gaze still met "Master Lu's" gaze in the air.
There was weariness, drowsiness, and an indescribable emotion in the other person's eyes.
He didn't say anything, but the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.
Fang Yuan's heart was pounding in his throat. He desperately resisted the urge to turn his head or close his eyes, maintaining the blank, frog-like appearance with his compound eyes, not daring to even twitch his eardrums.
Then, "Master Lu" extended his hand.
That hand, with traces of dirt still clinging to its fingernails, and large knuckles, was the hand of someone who had wielded a knife for years.
"Master Lu" gently poked Fang Yuan's bulging, smooth belly with the tip of his index finger.
……
His fingertips weren't as cold as I'd imagined; instead, they were about the same temperature as Nan Nan's.
Fang Yuan once thought that was Master Lu...
but……
Lu Feng and Lu Yong still didn't notice anything! ? ……
!! ?
……
Run! Jump!
Run!! Run as far as you can!
In that instant, his body's instinctive will to survive made him tense up instantly!
I wanted to use all my strength to jump out of Nan Nan's arms!
But he can't.
He remained rooted to the spot, only an uncontrollable, physiological tremor emanating from his fingertips.
He didn't even dare to move his eyes, and could only maintain that blank "staring" posture.
How did he run away?
The strange encounter he had with the pond last time was limited to the vicinity of the pond, and that strange thing ultimately just manifested as a cat...
But now...
The strange thing he was facing was Master Lu!
A perfectly healthy person! A bizarre creature whose abnormality is completely indistinguishable!
"Master Lu" seemed to feel the tremor coming from his fingertips.
He paused, then poked it again, this time with a bit more force, as if confirming something.
Fang Yuan was almost suffocating.
Just then, Nan Nan, who had been holding Fang Yuan, seemed to sense the unusual stiffness of the frog in her arms.
She looked down and exclaimed in surprise, "Little frog... why are you shivering? Are you cold?"
As she spoke, she hugged Fang Yuan even tighter, trying to warm him with her body heat.
Lu Yong and Lu Feng's attention was also drawn to it. They saw the frog in Nan Nan's arms, its body taut and its eardrums motionless, a stark contrast to its previous arrogant demeanor.
They both paused for a moment, stunned.
What happened?!
What's going on?!
Why...
The frogs have stopped croaking?
Why is this frog, which was just directing Nan Nan, suddenly acting like this?
...?
Seemingly on the same page, Lu Feng and Lu Yong exchanged a glance, and the next moment, almost simultaneously, their expressions changed drastically as they looked towards the door!
Something dirty has come in! ? ? ? ?