Chapter 19

Chapter 19

I was stomped to death by a boot.

This is a devastating turn of events for a toad.

Because I hadn’t seen the face of my assailant, after my soul left my body, I only saw my own flattened remains.

My emerald skin, which had been my pride and joy, was now sunken into the mud beneath the flower branches, filthy and ruined.

It was too ugly-eyes bulging, tongue crushed right out of my mouth!

I couldn’t accept this!!!

Soon, I discovered something even more unacceptable.

My soul didn’t even have a shape; it was just a flickering, drifting ball of white light.

When humans are at their most helpless, they choose to rely on those closest to them.

When a toad is helpless, it naturally chooses to rely on the toad closest to it.

Hardly thinking twice, I struggled to drift my ball of white light, like a firefly, wanting to fly to Fenghuan Palace to find Xiao Lan.

I hadn’t told him when I came back to see Anping.

I hadn’t told him when I decided to punish Consort Shu, either.

It was terrible. I tried my best to drift toward Fenghuan Palace, only to find that I couldn’t leave at all.

I was trapped in Consort Shu’s palace.

I watched as the place fell into chaos, with imperial physicians rushing in carrying their medical boxes.

Before long, King Liang arrived as well.

Just as Xiao Lan had said, the imperial physicians quickly diagnosed that the substance on Consort Shu’s face seemed to be Toad Venom.

The venom had already entered her eyes. Although she was receiving treatment now, there was a risk of blindness.

Floating outside the bedchamber, I felt a surge of toad-ish delight at hearing this.

But my joy quickly faded.

Because King Liang still cared for Consort Shu quite a bit, he flew into a rage upon hearing the news. He ordered the servants to spread lime and clam-charcoal throughout every corner of the palace starting today, determined to eradicate all poisonous pests.

Especially toads.

That damned Old Loach, actually calling toads poisonous pests.

In my fury, I… well, I got angry.

But soon I was filled with self-reproach, remembering Xiao Lan’s words.

I had been far too impulsive, bringing trouble upon all the creatures living in the palace.

Anxious and guilty, I crashed around blindly, trying to leave this place to bring word to Xiao Lan.

But I could only wander in the vicinity of Consort Shu’s palace.

It wasn’t until late at night that I finally drifted to Jingyi Palace.

Anping’s body lay in a coffin in the side hall.

Princess Anning, thinking it was bad luck and claiming she was worried about her Imperial Consort Mother’s eyes, had moved out immediately.

At this moment, the palace was empty, as silent as a graveyard.

King Liang had already ordered that Princess Anping’s body be kept for seven days before being buried in the Princess Tomb north of Guzang.

I couldn’t believe he’d think of that. That place was remote and utterly desolate.

My poor Anping-he wouldn’t even let her be buried in the royal tombs after her death.

My soul drifted over Anping’s coffin. Looking at her pale face, I finally couldn’t hold it in and let out a loud wail.

I don’t know how much time passed, but I was startled when I heard someone behind me let out a soft “Huh?”

I was certain I hadn’t heard any footsteps.

When I saw the person behind me, I was stunned.

It was a youth who looked like a transcendent immortal.

His cloud-satin robes were ethereal and elegant. Beneath a forehead band adorned with pearls and jade, his eyes were bright and spirited. He had a face as fair as carved jade, with elegant brows and a straight nose.

More importantly, he was wearing a pair of black boots with red soles, embroidered with the pattern of a Vermilion Bird among auspicious clouds!

This youth, who looked as noble and pure as a celestial being, was actually the assailant who had stomped me to death!

In an instant, my fury hit the ceiling. I drifted my soul forward, taking the initiative to attack him!

“It’s you! It’s you!”

The youth laughed heartily, dodging left and right. He actually spoke: “Sorry, sorry. A celestial official descended to the mortal realm and accidentally stepped on you.”

Though he said he was sorry, his voice held no sincerity whatsoever. Just like that initial “Huh?”, it was hypocritical to the extreme.

I screamed at him, “Is there any celestial official in the world who harms living things! What kind of celestial official are you!”

“I am one of the Twenty-Eight Mansions of Heaven, the immortal Zhang Su of the Seven Stars of Vermilion Bird.”

“I don’t care who you are! You stomped me to death! Give me back my body!”

“Can’t give it back. It’s flattened. Smashed to bits.”

“Aaaah, you villain! I’ll kill you!”

“Calm down. Do you want to be resurrected or not?”

“Resurrect your turtle-what? Resurrected?”

I swallowed my curses.

I stared at the arrogant celestial official before me, my face full of wild joy. “Celestial official, didn’t you just say it was smashed to bits? I can still live?!”

“You can. However, that toad skin definitely can’t be used anymore.”

“Then what should I do?”

“What else can you do? Isn’t there a ready-made one right in front of you? Consider it your lucky day.”